Trivia / Super Sentai

Works in this series with their own Trivia pages:

• Himitsu Sentai Gorenger
• J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai
• Battle Fever J
• Denshi Sentai Denziman
• Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan
• Dai Sentai Goggle Five
• Kagaku Sentai Dynaman
• Choudenshi Bioman
• Dengeki Sentai Changeman
• Choushinsei Flashman
• Hikari Sentai Maskman
• Choujuu Sentai Liveman
• Kousoku Sentai Turboranger
• Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman
• Choujin Sentai Jetman
• Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger
• Gosei Sentai Dairanger
• Ninja Sentai Kakuranger
  • Super Sentai World
• Chouriki Sentai Ohranger
• Gekisou Sentai Carranger
• Denji Sentai Megaranger
• Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
• Kyu Kyu Sentai Go Go V
• Mirai Sentai Timeranger
• Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger
• Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger
• Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger
• Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger
• Mahou Sentai Magiranger
• GoGo Sentai Boukenger
• Juken Sentai Gekiranger
• Engine Sentai Go-onger
• Samurai Sentai Shinkenger
• Tensou Sentai Goseiger
• Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
  • Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Great Battle
  • Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie
• Tokumei Sentai Go Busters
  • Tokumei Sentai Gobusters Returns Vs Dobutsu Sentai Gobusters
• Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger
• Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger
  • Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger: Gaburincho of Music
• Ressha Sentai ToQger
• Shuriken Sentai Ninninger
• Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger
• Uchu Sentai Kyuranger
• Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger
• Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger
• Mashin Sentai Kiramager
• Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger
• Avataro Sentai Donbrothers
• Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger

---

Non-trope related trivia

• Due to Marvel's involvement in the creation of Battle Fever J, Denziman, and Sun Vulcan, the universe Super Sentai (and thanks to crossovers Toei's done on their own, all of Toei's other Toku heroes) takes place in is officially part of the Marvel Multiverse, Earth-79203 (albeit Marvel officially considers said universe "Defunct" - meaning from their perspective, it's mostly off-limits for crossovers, so you won't get to see the Gokaigers appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe)^note it's unknown how Kyuranger, which explicitly takes place in another dimension, is classified. The closest thing to an official crossover between the main Marvel Universe (Earth-616) and the Toei Toku Universe was the Spider-Verse event, which Spider-Man (Japan) appeared in.
• It's unknown how the series fared toy-wise prior to Jetman, since either Toei hasn't released the sales figures for the first 14 Sentai, or they lost said figures. Although it's safe to assume that Fiveman has some of the lowest sales, given that ratings wise, Jetman only improved slightly.
• There have only been four Sentai Ranger actors who were born outside Japan: Diane Martin (Diane from Battle Fever J), Kane Kosugi (Jiraiya from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger) and Sotaro Yasuda (Ken from Juken Sentai Gekiranger) were born in the USA, while Ei Hamura (Shoji from Gosei Sentai Dairanger) was born in Argentina.

---

The TV series in general

• All-Star Cast: You can expect that in pretty much every installment in the series. Not only does the series use multiple actors who were or would eventually work on other live-action work, but it also uses a ton of famous, and well-known voice actors (some of which have actually played roles in-person). The series has even had characters played by celebrities at certain points.
• Franchise Killer: A commonly believed, albeit incorrect, myth is that Ohranger was this to the franchise, while Carranger saved the franchise^note if anything, Carranger would deserve the title of "near franchise killer" more, since not only did Ohranger have higher ratings for the majority of its run, but sold far more toys - in fact, it sold as many as Dairanger and Kakuranger combined; it wouldn't be topped until Kyoryuger...and that's only once one factors in sales that series had in South Korea. In actuality, the one that almost killed off Sentai was Fiveman, which on top of suffering from poor ratings (which had been on a constant decline since Flashman), also suffered from very poor toy sales^note a combination of bad construction, as well as bad management on what became a toy, led to poor toy sales; the series that actually saved Sentai, on the other hand, was Jetman^note ratings-wise, Jetman only faired slightly better than Fiveman - 7.092 compared to Fiveman's 6.490; it's safe to assume that Fiveman had toy sales worse than Timeranger or Ninninger, given that Toei didn't consider killing Sentai after those shows.
• Late Export for You: Shout! Factory, the DVD distributor of the Power Rangers DVDs, announced in 2014 that they'd gotten permission from Saban Brands and Toei Company to do an official subtitled release for the Region 1 market, starting with Zyuranger and continuing on as long as the sets keep supporting themselves and warranting licensing the next corresponding season to be subbed and released, with pre-Zyuranger seasons, starting with Jetman, being added to the lineup. There was a brief three year gap between the releases of Hurricanger and Fiveman, most likely done because the rights had to be renegotiated after Power Rangers was brought out by Hasbro.
• Magnum Opus Dissonance: While often lauded as the best writer in the franchise, Naruhisa Arakawa doesn’t like his work on Sentai other than the first series he wrote for (Jetman), feeling that his Signature Style is more suited to the Ultra Series than Super Sentai.
• Milestone Celebration: Starting with the 10th anniversary, every 5th Super Sentai anniversary is officially commemorated by Toei (even if 1 year off from when Goranger first aired).
  • The 10th anniversary was first commemorated with Choushinsei Flashman in 1986, the 10th series since Himitsu Sentai Gorenger.
  • The 10th anniversary was commemorated again with Choujuu Sentai Liveman in 1988, this time counting Battle Fever J as the first installment due to rights issues with Ishimori Productions, co-owners of Goranger and JAKQ.
  • The 15th anniversary was officially commemorated in 1993, with Gosei Sentai Dairanger being the 15th Sentai then.
  • The 20th anniversary was officially commemorated only two years later in 1995. As the rights issues surrounding Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai were now cleared up, Chouriki Sentai Ohranger (the 19th series) recognized 20 years since Goranger's 1975 premiere.
  • The 25th anniversary was commemorated in 2001 with Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger. From now on, all official anniversaries are done by series, not year. As a result, Sentai anniversaries also coincide with those of Kamen Rider, which is 5 ahead.
  • The 30th anniversary was commemorated in 2006 with GoGo Sentai Boukenger.
  • The 35th anniversary was commemorated in 2011 with Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger.
  • A year in advance of the official 40th anniversary, Shuriken Sentai Ninninger commemorated the 40th anniversary of Goranger.
  • The 40th anniversary was commemorated in 2016 with Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger.
  • The 45th anniversary was commemorated in 2021 with Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger.
• No Export for You:
  • A few countries have received some form of export of the series, but most of those countries are still missing some of them. North America (and most of the world), for example, has Power Rangers, but that only adapts the series from Zyuranger forward. And even then, people who want the original Japanese shows in countries where Power Rangers is shown are usually out of luck outside of possible fansubs & even then, not every series has been subbed in every language, since Super Sentai is expensive to be licensed in any country, except in Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea.
  • In the case of South Korea, this trope usually gets played straight if the show in question has a theme that's seen as too Japanese - Hurricanger (ninjas) and Shinkenger (samurai) were both skipped^note the former was skipped twice - the first time it was due to them deciding to switch over from dubbing PR and just dubbing the Sentai, resulting in them going from Power Rangers Wild Force to Abaranger; however, when Shinkenger was skipped, instead of dubbing Hurricaneger, Gaoranger was dubbed instead, despite Wild Force already having a dub. Strangely, despite what you'd think, Ninninger outright averted this fate in spite of being ninja-themed, whereas LupinRanger vs PatRanger was put off to be dubbed after Ryusoulger in spite of its theme (cops and robbers) being no more Japanese than any of the series that had been brought over^note the most likely reason for LuPat being skipped is a combination of a), the show supposedly doing poorly in toy sales, and b), the previous dino sentai, Kyoryuger, doing insane in South Korea to the point of making a sequel series, and Ryusoulger being another dinosaur Sentai.
  • While Shout! Factory was able to make an agreement to release Sentai seasons to the Region 1 market, the deal doesn't include anything outside the core series, making the Sentai movies and specials unavailable outside Japan.
• The Other Darrin: Occasionally used in individual seasons and noted as such, but the biggest use is also the one not usually brought up: Ranger suit actors. Usually the Stunt Double and/or Fake Shemp for the regular actor, Ranger suit actors can have fairly long careers and play multiple Rangers (with 23 of the franchise's Red Rangers portrayed by just two men). When it comes to normal team-ups (ie. just two teams), they obviously can't play both roles and it'd be a waste to use visual effects to have them play both when the costumes are designed to hide the wearer's identity. By most accounts, the older Sentai Ranger is Other Darrin'ed while the current Ranger keeps the same actor. This increases exponentially with more teams but can sometimes leads to The Original Darrin, with suit actors who aren't actively involved in Super Sentai coming back for an anniversary special/season and reprising one of their original roles.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: A longstanding rumor amongst fans claims that Chouriki Sentai Ohranger did so poorly that it nearly killed off the franchise, only for the next series (the goofy Self-Parody Gekisou Sentai Carranger) to perform well enough to singlehandedly save it. As explained in this article, there is no concrete evidence that this was the case (including an interview with an actor from Carranger where he was completely unfamiliar with the rumor).
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Twins Yuichi and Shouji Hachisuka have appeared together throughout the franchise; among their roles are Blue Dolphin and Green Rhino, Mega Yellow and Neji Yellow and Ginga Yellow and Illies.
  • Yukitoshi Hori narrated Mirai Sentai Timeranger and his younger brother Hideyuki Hori voiced Zubaan in GoGo Sentai Boukenger.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: The decade-later Reunion Show Specials, while slowly becoming a staple, usually lacks any Giant Mecha battles due to the studio set for the cockpits having been long-demolished and too costly to recreate.
• Referenced by...: Being a touchstone of Japanese pop culture, Super Sentai is often referenced and/or parodied in their media. The RangerWiki has an extensive list of all Power Ranger and Super Sentai references.
  • In episode 24 of HappinessCharge Pretty Cure!, the Pretty Cure team does poses by a fountain and Glassun tells one of them that "The Super Sentai always pose at this place!"
  • In GO-GO Tamagotchi! episode 11a, Miraritchi and Clulutchi show several costumes to Madamtchi for approval. One of them is a pink-colored Super Sentai costume with a bird face on the helmet.
• Star-Making Role: The Super Sentai series is often the first leading acting role for many young, then up-and-coming actors.
• What Could Have Been: Has its own page.
• You Look Familiar: Has its own page.

---