What Could Have Been / Super Sentai

Official

General

• Apparently, Media Blasters had attempted to license Goranger through Jetman for distribution in the US, but Disney blocked them when they had the rights to Power Rangers. Strange, as they otherwise didn't care for the franchise when they had it.
  • Saban seems to have no such objections though, having granted Shout! Factory the rights to release Zyuranger. Its success with the older Peripheral Demographic of fans who want to see the source material to the adapted seasons ensured continual releases of future releases and two pre-Zyuranger seasons so far.
• Prior to Power Rangers, Marvel Comics attempted to bring Super Sentai stateside with a dub of Sun Vulcan on HBO.
• Sentai actors who have confirmed that they auditioned for other roles in tokusatsu include Mikiho Niwa (auditioned for BoukenPink, ended up as GoseiYellow), Tsuyoshi Hayashi (auditioned for AbareKiller, ended up as DekaBlue) and Yasuhisa Furuhara (auditioned for Kamen Rider Sasword and BoukenSilver, ended up as Go-on Red).
  • Idol Singer Shoko "Shokotan" Nakagawa, a big fan of Sentai, has auditioned to play a Pink Ranger on the show several times but never been cast - reportedly due to a lack of gymnastic ability. She did make a guest appearance as an alien in Dekaranger.
• Sometimes, early promotional material will mention character tidbits that ultimately never made it into the show (such as Samurai Sentai Shinkenger's pre-release material stating that Kotoha worked in a wood carvings shop before becoming a Shinkenger) or planned character details later changed in on-screen canon (early Tensou Sentai Goseiger information stated that Blue Ranger Hyde was to be the team leader, but they ultimately didn't have one, even going so far as to base an episode around the characters agreeing that they don't need an official leader.)
• As with its sister franchise Kamen Rider, many DX changers ship with unused sounds referring to collectibles and crossovers that don't exist in the final shows, either because they were scrapped or as a case of anticipating events that might occur but aren't set in stone.
• As revealed by Kazuo Oishi, the "Insect Sentai" concept was proposed in the early 1990s but rejected, with Katsushi Murakami saying that "insects are weak". This was followed by Metal Heroes Juukou B-Fighter (1995) and B-Fighter Kabuto (1996). Sentai dipped its toe with the Gouraigers (2002) then Beet and Stag Buster (2012) with Kamen Rider Kabuto in the interim (2006). Finally, the "Insect Sentai" was realised with King-Ohger (2023).

Himitsu Sentai Goranger

• Shigeru Araki (who played Jo Shigeru/Kamen Rider Stronger) was offered a choice between the titular role of Stronger and Akaranger from this show. Due to the established nature of Kamen Rider, he chose the former.
• During the initial planning stages, Shotaro Ishinomori first planned out Gorenger as the next entry of the Kamen Rider series. Ishinomori loved the idea of five heroes working together so much, he decided to make the concept its own show.
• Early proposals had the heroine in white before Toru Hirayama coined the title "Momo (Pink) Ranger", which incidentally was the first of the heroes to be designated and resulted in the colors being given in Japanese rather than the usual Gratuitous English. It would take ten years for a female White Ranger, and 41 years to swap Pink for White in the Goranger color line-up.
• Early imagery shows Akarenger with goggles colored black like the other male Gorengers. In addition, the other Gorengers all share the tall collar which would distinguish Akarenger in the show.
• Yoshitaka Tanba, who would play Goro Sakurai (Spade Ace) in the next series, was originally offered the role of Akarenger, but he refused as he felt uncomfortable about striking poses in public, and his lack of a motorcycle license. The producers eventually convinced him to play the role, as he does not need to pose out of suit, and the character would be driving a car instead of a bike.
• Hiroshi Miyauchi, recognised as the lead of the then recent Kamen Rider V3, was hesitant to accept the role of Aorenger as he was already committed to another show and did not like the idea of playing second fiddle to Akaranger. In fact, casting the toku veteran as the cool Blue Ranger to complement Aka Ranger was pursued as a draw for audiences since it was feared at the time that red was seen as a girls' color. Ishinomori himself convinced Miyauchi to take the role of Akira Shinmei by identifying him as the Sasaki Kojiro to Tsuyoshi Kaijo's Miyamoto Musashi. Miyauchi was accommodated by having Aorenger be captain of the Variblune, allowing him to film scenes separate from the rest of the cast as well as spending more time voicing over Aorenger than appearing in the flesh for production of the early episodes. Miyauchi's presence was also highlighted by having his character appear last in the opening credits, despite Aorenger being the second Gorenger.
• Singer Akihiko Kishi was initially cast as Kenji Asuka (Midorenger) but dropped out early on, and so Yukio Ito was drafted in to replace him. Director Koichi Takemoto recalled that his departure caused the shooting of the first episode to go on for twice as long as usual.
• Commander Gonpachi Edogawa was initially named Gonpachi Omaeda and Yoko Katou would have been his daughter, Yoko Omaeda. The chief assisted by his daughter was later used in Sun Vulcan. Incidentally, an idea to introduce Gonpachi's granddaughter was considered but rejected in planning for Gokaiger.
• The Variblune airship was initially named "Red Blune", then "Jaguar Blune". It was also considered to give it the appearance of a dog, or a two-headed dragon.
• Varidreen was initially named "Jet Variblune".
• Early names for General Temujin included "Ironface General"^note Tetsumen Shogun, "Mongolar", "Golem" and "Golam".
• Pachinko Mask was a monster concept by Ishinomori which was rejected by producer Susumu Yoshikawa.

J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai

• Originally, the colors of Spade Ace and Dia Jack were switched - the former would've been the blue ranger, and the latter would've been the red. There is a clear logic in the original line-up in that J precedes A in the team name and, indeed, that is the order in which the four-man team typically poses.
• To combat the declining ratings, one idea for a complete overhaul involved introducing a being known as "Empirian", a man from the future who controlled CRIME behind the scenes who was pursued by another future man named "Page One" which would join the team, taking them along in a time machine to smash the evil conspiracy. The concept was not quite used due to difference of opinions on the current direction of the world; Page One became Big One, Empirian became Shine, and the Time Travel aspect was dropped altogether.

Battle Fever J

• Produced just after the Japanese version of Spider-Man, this series expected to be a Japanese take on Captain America. And then it became a Sentai.
• The original plan was for Battle Fever J to be broadcast on TV Tokyo as a follow-up to Spider-Man, rather than Goranger and J.A.K.Q.'s home on TV Asahi (formerly NET) which Super Sentai holds to this day. Sticking to TV Asahi allowed Battle Fever to premiere over a month before Spider-Man itself concluded, in what would become the traditional February, whilst its place as follow-up to the latter was taken by the anime series Future Robot Daltanious.
• In the "Captain Japan" pitch, Battle Shark was intended to transform from a battleship into the Battle Fever Robo rather than carrying it. This "Transforming Robo" concept would make its debut in Denziman.
• Battle France infamously performs a Spanish dance because he was originally "Battle Spain". Though the nation motif was changed, French music deemed to be "not suitable for battle" and so the dance stuck.

Denshi Sentai Denziman

• Toei did consider following up Battle Fever J with more Spider-Man-type adaptations with the Hulk and/or the Silver Surfer. Ultimately, it was decided to stick with the team of heroes format and so Super Sentai continued with Denziman.
• Back when the show was Denshi Man Trigger, the character that would become Princess Denzi was devised as the heroine Crystal / Trigger 5.
• Toei was considering extending the series past the original year, but opted for a new show. Notably Toei has considered this several times with Sentai seasons that have done well, but as of 2022 has yet to do so.

Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan

• Despite various hints of a possible crossover between the Sun Vulcan and Denziman teams (including Queen Hedrian outright mentioning Denziman in an early episode), no such thing actually happens in the series. There was even a publicity still of both teams posing in costume that was published in magazines when the series was still airing. A five-episode crossover arc was planned, but due to scheduling issues with the Denziman cast, it was rewritten into a more limited two-part story that tied into the Denziman backstory instead.

Dai Sentai Goggle Five

• The team members were originally to be designated by the naming scheme "[color] [number]", which would be used in Choudenshi Bioman.
• According to some sources, Miki was to be played by a different actress, who's actually older. That idea quickly got shot down since she's supposed to be the youngest of the team, the actress only got to film several episodes before being replaced by Megumi Ogawa, and the rest is history. Never mind the Dawson Casting.
• While Goggle Black was the one who solidified black as a standard color for Sentai teams, he was considered to be Goggle Purple while the show was in production. It was changed to black because the production team decided purple wouldn't look good in printing; it would take 25 years for a Purple (or Violet) Ranger to be realized. The legacy of this remains in Goggle Black's gem, which shines purple, and future Black Rangers over the decades tend to be represented by purple light.
• The design Fuhrer Taboo's true form was originally much different. He would have resembled a sea squirt combined with a computer and had numerous scientists assimilated into his body. He was also originally going to pilot a "Taboo Kong" instead of growing giant.

Kagaku Sentai Dynaman

• Kagaku Sentai Dynaman was originally planned to be a baseball-themed Sentai team before it was changed to be about science and Stuff Blowing Up. However, the team's suits still somewhat resemble baseball uniforms.

Choudenshi Bioman

• Ironically for the show which changed Sentai's Smurfette Principle to Two Girls to a Team for the first time, it was originally planned as being essentially Sun Vulcan Three Plus Two, that is having all five heroes be men!
• One concept had the protagonists be derived from fairy tales (Momotaro, Kintaro, Isshiki, Kaguya Hime). These characters would have met Bio Robo in the past before being flung to the present day and joining up with a contemporary female warrior. This was dropped for fears that the young audience would be too unfamiliar with these characters.
• Before it was settled that the heroes be descendants of humans, the idea of five aliens searching for utopia was thrown around.
• The names of the five heroes were changed multiple times.

Dengeki Sentai Changeman

• While Uchu Sentai Kyuranger kept the space theme it was originally proposed to have, the idea of a space-themed sentai actually dates as far back as Dengeki Sentai Changeman - originally, the series was going to be called Uchu Sentai Cosmoman, and have a space exploration theme. Elements of this do exist in the final product, such as the villains being aliens, the design of Change Robo, and the Shuttle Base. Changeman, the title they actually went with, was likely chosen because the team's uniforms already had "CM" on it, which could stand for "Changeman" or "Cosmoman".
• Changeman was originally slated for 51 episodes but was afforded an extra four due to delays in the production of Flashman.

Choushinsei Flashman

• A plan for a five-piece robo ran into trouble, with the Second Robo being introduced as compensation. The concept would be fulfilled in the next series.
• Titan the Hero was originally planned to be a semi-regular character who would show up once in a while to help out the Flashman team and pilot the Great Titan. Had this been the case, Flashman would've been the first Sentai series to feature an extra hero.

Hikari Sentai Maskman

• Originally, the series was going to be titled "The Fiveman", and the five would be reflected in many of the team's elements, such as the Great Five, the first five-piece mecha. Three years later, another team ended up using the name "Fiveman".
• More for its predecessors, but the concept of a five-piece giant robot did not start with Maskman, but had taken time to manifest due to the difficulties in reproducing such a combination in toy form and fears of the cost of such a product.
• The Five-Man Band were originally to be part of a Sugata Detective Agency. That was changed to Sugata Racing, which was quickly dropped in the first episode.
• There may have been earlier plans for Zeba to be human and a former friend of Sugata's, only to be changed when Zeba's first actor left.
• The development of Galaxy Robo, the second "Second Robo" following Flash Titan, hinged on the commercial success of Great Five; had Great Five disappointed, there would have been no Galaxy Robo.
• Maskman lost one episode than usual for a Super Sentai 10th anniversary show which, due to delays in shooting brought about by bad weather, was pushed back a year.

Choujuu Sentai Liveman

• As Liveman was the 10th Super Sentai starting from Battle Fever J, a special episode featuring all 10 Sentai was scheduled to be aired in the final week of February. However, due to bad weather, the shooting schedule for Maskman was delayed, so there was no room to shoot the special program, and the schedule was moved up to start "Liveman" from the last week of February. The special program of the 10 Sentai, which was ultimately a glorified Clip Show, was carried over to the first episode of Turboranger the following year.
• It was originally planned for the Power Trio to stand alone, much like Sun Vulcan, before it was decided to make Three Plus Two.
• The suit for Monster Obular was originally intended to be worn by Yoshinori Okamoto, only for him to end up being cast as Doctor Ashura instead.
• Guildos was originally designed with the idea that he actually was an alien. It wasn't until after his design was finished that the twist of him being a robot was decided upon.

Kousoku Sentai Turboranger

• As acknowledged above, the Super Sentai Recap Episode which opened Turboranger was originally planned for Liveman''.
• Kousoku Sentai Turboranger was originally meant to be named Gekisou Sentai Carranger, a name which would be reused for another car-themed Sentai.

Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman

• Ryohei Kobayashi was given the role of Fumiya as compensation after he auditioned for an unmade follow-up to Kamen Rider BLACK RX.
• There was a plan that Ken (FiveBlue) would not be blood related to the other Fiveman, and in fact was meant to be revealed as Empress Meadow's son instead and the actors were even informed of this, but it was ultimately dropped because producers at Toei found the plot too dark for the show.
• Producer Takeyuki Suzuki objected to the introduction of the Five-kun Dolls.

Choujin Sentai Jetman

• A Super Sentai art book showed that they were gonna have a giant, heavily armed fortress robot, like in Turboranger and Fiveman, but didn't go through with it (from the sketches, it would've been a retooled version of the Turborangers' Turbobuilder), possibly because of how badly the previous fortress robot, Max Magma from Fiveman, had sold (there were reports of toy stores having shelves of unsold Max Magma toys).
• Like Sun Vulcan, Bioman and Turboranger, this series was originally going to be the first Power Rangers series. However, Saban passed on this series in favor of the next one.
• Due to how much Fiveman flopped (as noted on the trivia page for that series), Toei originally had intended for this to be the last Sentai series. Fortunately, this series ended up saving the franchise.
• Director Keita Amemiya gave the tentative title of Jumpman in a magazine before the premiere, while Toshihide Wakamatsu (Gai Yuki) would recall that it was originally Birdman.

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger

• Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger was initially developed under the Working Title Kyoryu Sentai Saurusman. The team was originally going to be comprised of 3 boys and 2 girls (Red Tyranno (male), Black Brachio (male), Green Tricera (male), Yellow Stego (female) and Blue Ptera (female)) and their secondary mech was originally going to be a Mammoth. A team with Yellow and Blue being the two females wouldn't happen until 20 years later, though said series is unofficial, but still.
• Early concept art shows that the Zyuranger suits were originally going to have diamond patterns on the arms. This idea would latter be utilized for the Abaranger suits.
• Not so much for this series but for all the ones that would follow. The introduction of a recurring Sixth Ranger was an experimental gambit which at one point was planned to be a one-off before Burai's popularity paved the way for the concept to continue in Dairanger and beyond.

Gosei Sentai Dairanger

• Gosei Sentai Dairanger originally cast Keisuke Tsuchiya as Ryō and Keiichi Wada as Kazu, and they filmed early promotional material before it was decided to switch their roles because of Wada's martial arts skills.
• Jin Matoba's Garouki form was initially going to have a Sinister Scythe as shown by his concept art and production image. However, he ended up not using it and instead attacked with his claws.

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger

• Kane Kosugi was initially cast as Red but his poor Japanese led to his role being changed to Black.

Chouriki Sentai Ohranger

• Chouriki Sentai Ohranger was meant to have been a much darker season^note it was specifically planned to be a Spiritual Successor to Choujin Sentai Jetman, even bringing Toshiki Inoue, the head writer of Jetman on board, but had to have a Retool early in its run after the Tokyo sarin gas attacks. Some elements of the show involving superpowers and ancient civilizations were felt to be too similar to the claims made by the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
• Olé vs. Kakuranger was originally conceived of as a simple special V-Cinema episode without any crossover, but then producer Susumu Yoshikawa suggested a team up with Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, thus beginning the yearly Vs. Movie tradition. In addition, at first it was only planned to bring back Teruaki Ogawa and Satomi Hirose as Sasuke/NinjaRed and Tsuruhime/NinjaWhite, but the actors for the other three Kakurangers offered to come back, making it a full reunion.

Gekisou Sentai Carranger

• There was going to be a MazingerZ-styled enemy called Ballinger Z that Gynamo, Glutch, and Zelmoda were going to pilot (and Hiroshi Otake even said "JAN JA-JAAN" in an ad-lib)... but the production staff realized afterwards that they hadn't gotten permission from Dyanmic Pro to do so. They'd already shot all the in-costume scenes, and in the interests of salvaging something they reused the Ballinger Z's cockpit scenes as Norishiron-Final's; this is why it is wearing a "crown" that greatly resembles Mazinger Z's mouth. However, Hiroshi Otake did get "Norishiron, GO!" in as a Shout-Out, so all was not lost. The costume was given to Saban, who remade it into a minor monster over in Power Rangers Turbo.

Denji Sentai Megaranger

• The original concept for Megaranger was originally titled Gigaranger and it was going to have a space exploration motif. The mechas were meant to be based on five space vehicles and their base was going to be set in a transforming colony. Concept art for the mechas and the base exists, and a few of them would later be modified and used in Gingaman (such as a mecha originally designed for this concept being resigned as Gigarhinos).
  • As an interesting aside, these early concepts were shown to Saban, which is why it's Power Rangers adaption went with the space theme.

Seijuu Sentai Gingaman

• Like the Turboranger/Carranger example above, Seijuu Sentai Gingaman was planned to be called Seijuu Sentai Gaoranger. However, since a certain Sunrise mecha anime with the name "Gao" in it was running at the time, they changed it and reused the name a few years later.
• Bandai proposed going without a giant robot for this series and producer Shigenori Takatera proposed that the heroes fight with kaiju as a way to shake things up, explaining why the Starbeasts initially appear in an organic form before transforming into mecha. One wonders to what extent the franchise would have been impacted had they followed through with such a massive change to the status quo.

Kyukyu Sentai Go Go V

• Joe Odagiri was forced to audition for a part in this show by his acting agency, but was rejected after he refused to do a pose that the staff asked him to do. He later went on to play the main character of the series that aired alongside the final episodes of this show - details as to why he chose that role can be found here.
• Despite the name, there were rumors that the team would get a Sixth Ranger, GoSilver, but this idea was scrapped because of budget issues^note the closest thing the team would get to an actual Sixth Ranger was Beast Demon Hunter Zeke, from the movie. The idea of a silver ranger was eventually used when the series was adapted into Power Rangers.

Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger

• Gaoranger was so successful (especially coming out of the Acclaimed Flop that was the previous year's Mirai Sentai Timeranger) that the TV producers and sponsors even requested for Toei to break the Thematic Series changeup and make a proper sequel the next year. Toei refused on the grounds that if they did, they'd end up with a constantly narrowing Periphery Demographic.
• A Gaoranger VS Timeranger crossover was considered but never materialized. Also, rumor was there were plans to allow the Time Shadow to combine with Gaoking. That being said, the closest to such crossover was when the Gaorangers interacted with the Timerangers in the last episode of the latter.
• For Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai, Red Turbo was the alternate plan for the returning Red Swordman type, if Daisuke Shima was unable or unwilling to return as Red Falcon. Kenta Satou (who loves Sentai and is always happy to make appearances) agreed immediately and was set to return if Shima didn't make it, but in the end Shima agreed to return and this was unneeded. Incidentally, Red Mask was the first choice before both of them but this was quickly deemed impossible as Ryosuke Kaizu was no longer acting and not in Japan at the time.

Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger

• The title Abaranger, as in Abare (Rampage), had been thrown around for some years before it was deemed the perfect fit for the Sentai which brought back dinosaurs.
• Had Bandai not demanded his redemption, it's possible AbareKiller would have remained a villain for the whole show, potentially even becoming the final Big Bad .
• Following the success of Hurricaneger: 10 Years After, there was a rumour that there would be an Abaranger: 10 Years After DTV special, however it didn't happen due to Aiko Ito (Ranru's actress) now being retired. Eventually the closest thing to it was the core three Abarangers' appearance in Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger vs. Go-Busters: The Great Dinosaur Battle! Farewell Our Eternal Friends, and even then only Koichiro Nishi (Ryouga) appears unmorphed. Another 10 Years After DTV special didn't happen until Dekaranger in 2015. Eventually Abaranger will get its proper reunion film in the upcoming 2023-2024 film, Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger 20th: The Unforgivable Abare with Aiko Ito even coming out of retirement to reprise her role.
• Tsuyoshi Hayashi, the actor for Hoji/DekaBlue in the following year's Dekaranger, made it all the way to the final round in auditioning for AbareKiller and was so disappointed at not being picked that he went into the Dekaranger audition resolving to not audition for hero shows again if he didn't get picked this time. Hayashi ended up playing a villain in episode 19 of Dekaranger (via the Monster of the Week using Hoji's body), so it's possible his theoretical AbareKiller performance would have been similar to that.

Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger

• In an early interview, Naruhisa Arakawa claimed that Agent Abrella represented a greater organization which would be revealed as the series progressed. This ended up ultimately not happening, and a later Arakawa interview revealed that plans had changed midway through because they wanted to portray crime as something close to reality: not something that can be destroyed just by defeating a great evil, but something that'll always exist as long as society does.
• The character who ultimately became Doggie Kruger was not always set to be a canine, and at one stage it was considered that he would be a more Human Alien played by an actor in make-up.
• As additional Rangers DekaSwan and DekaGold were both female, it was considered that DekaBright would be male. However, writer Michiko Yokote made the case that Tetsu's Stern Teacher should be a woman to defy the norm.
• The original planned title was "Sirenger", but Toei was denied the copyright because there was already an eroge with that name. Ironically, the eroge's full title was "Tokumei Sentai Sirenger".
• Hideaki Tsukada, who was one of the producers on Dekaranger, confirmed in an interview that he had tried to interest Toei in making a sequel or second series; but the idea wasn't picked up. Ironically, Dekaranger has practically become the Sentai equivalent of Kamen Rider Den-O in terms of how many times they've been brought back - aside from the standard "Sentai Vs" with their predecessors and successors, they also had a crossover with Space Sheriff Gavan, and even appeared in an episode Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger^note although this is more due to the fact that the cast is one of the easiest to reunite for any Sentai series, as opposed to Den-O's status as a Cash-Cow Franchise.

Mahou Sentai Magiranger

• According to this interview, Ayumi Beppu, who played Houka, tried out for the role of Magi Red, and Hiroya Matsumoto, who played Tsubasa, supported her in this. Thus, we would have gotten the first female red Ranger four years earlier. Atsushi Hashimoto, on his part, went into the audition realizing it was a Sibling Team and, due to him being young enough to be the kid brother, he thought he would wind up being Magi Green, as he thought Red as a leading figure would be better suited for an older brother type of character (funnily enough, the older brother turned out to be Green).
• There was a plan for Tsubasa to be established as a talented dancer, but this ultimately did not manifest in the show.
• Meibi Yamanouchi was originally considered to play Yamazaki before eventually being cast as Lunagel; the Ship Tease between Lunagel and Kai could be taken as a bit of a glimpse into what that would have been like.
• There was a scrapped idea about Hikaru being the heir to a Magitopian train company, hence explaining his use of Travelion, but it ended up unused due to there being no good place for it.
• Furthermore, there were many different mech configurations, like SeraphKaiser, a fusion of Wolzard and Unigolon, that never made it into the show.
• There was a 10 Years After movie in the vein of Hurricaneger and Dekaranger planned, but due to difficulties in getting the main cast back together (most of them are retired by this point), the project eventually evolved into the Gavan vs. Dekaranger movie.

Go Go Sentai Boukenger

• Writer Shō Aikawa considered pitting a three-man team against a two-man team as in Hurricaneger.
• Producer Jun Hikasa had some reservations towards Satoru Akashi subverting the "hot-blooded Red" trend which had been popularized since Gaoranger.
• An initial design for the Karths was a face with goggles like Akaranger. This was rejected as it was deemed inappropriate to have the enemy grunts look so much like the original Sentai hero.
• The Jaryuu Soldiers were planned to be be the primary mooks but ended up as second to the Karths.
• Mikiho Niwa who would play Moune/Gosei Yellow in Tensou Sentai Goseiger 4 years later, mentioned that she auditioned for the role of Sakura Nishihori/Bouken Pink when she was only 16 (for what it's worth, she is 3 years younger than Haruka Suenaga, Sakura's actress).
• Boukenger vs. Super Sentai was originally devised as a Boukenger vs. Magiranger crossover. As a result, Time Demon God Chronos was designed to resemble Magiranger's enemies, the Infershia.

Juken Sentai Gekiranger

• According to leaked production notes, the series was originally going to be a Spiritual Successor to Gosei Sentai Dairanger, with a much greater focus on Chinese mythology, including mecha based around the Eastern Zodiac. Interestingly, many of the rejected elements, such as a black ranger with a snake mecha, were later recycled to make Tensou Sentai Goseiger, accounting for its many Dairanger-esque elements despite their wildly different premises.
• Miki Masaki was initially conceived as a single mother with a 5 year old child. This child became a teenage daughter, Natsume, and it was established that Miki had a husband in Lesson 13.

Engine Sentai Go-Onger

• Kenji Ebisawa, who portrayed Gunpei/Go-On Black, stated in an interview that he struggled to play the character as the tough guy originally written in the scripts. As a result, the character became The Comically Serious and later sided with the other Go-Ongers against the more uptight and no-nonsense Go-on Wings.

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger

• Initially, Blue and Pink were to have the "Heaven" and "Water" kanji symbols respectively. This was switched to balance their Origami, Blue being a Dragon and Pink being a Sea Turtle.
• Before settling on "Wood", Shinken Green's kanji was to be "Mountain" (山).
• The kanji for "Light" was considered for one of the original five Shinkengers before being assigned to Shinken Gold.
• In addition, it was considered to have Shinken Gold be a ninja, however, writer Yasuko Kobayashi shown reluctance to this idea and opted to have Gold be distinguished by a sushi motif instead. Had the ninja concept stuck, it would have made for an Ironic Echo of Power Rangers Ninja Storm (Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger), which translated Sixth Ranger Shurikenger into the Green Samurai Ranger.
• Ryota Ozawa auditioned for the role of Shinken Red; he would be cast as Gokai Red two years later. Yui Koike also auditioned for Shinkenger and would later be cast as Gokai Pink.
• It was considered to have Tori Matsuzaka play a second role, potentially another Shinken Red. Kobayashi dropped this, deeming it too similar to Masaru Nagai playing both Tatsuya Asami and Captain Ryuya (Time Red) in Mirai Sentai Timeranger.
• Juzo Fuwa was not initially planned to have a human form until it was deemed appropriate to cast a face actor for Shinken Red's rival swordsman.
• For the Final Battle with Dokoku Chimatsuri, it was suggested that, being a Sentai Big Bad, he should change his form for the Behemoth Battle. However, this was not followed through as director Shojiro Nakazawa was satisfied with his default appearance.

Tensou Sentai Goseiger

• The original plan for Goseiger called for there to be more of a rivalry between the different heroes, hence why they were split into different tribes ala Chou Sei Shin Gransazer. The Skyick Tribe (Red and Pink) would have been the idealistic straight heroes, the Landick Tribe (Black and Yellow) would have been closer to Anti Heroes and clashed with the Skyick Tribe a lot, and the Seaick Tribe (Blue) would have either been a Wild Card or a neutral arbitrator. While this was scrapped before the show even started (so the team pretty much gets along from the start), you can catch occasional glimpses of it from the way the characters interact with each other.

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger

• According to director Hiroshi Butsuda, it was considered that the 35th series would be a "Mecha Sentai" before, as testified by producer Takaaki Utsunomiya, the pirate motif was proposed by head writer Naruhisa Arakawa. A Mecha Sentai would appear ten years later in Zenkaiger.
• The Mobilates were proposed to be smartphones but changed to conventional mobile phones to fit the classical motif of pirates. It was also considered to have Tomokazu Seki record a Gokai Change announcement for every individual Sentai warrior before this was scaled down to just the teams and certain subdivisions such as Gouraiger, Shurikenger, Go-On Wings, Gosei Knight etc. However, an announcement for Go-On Gold alone would be used in Super Hero Taisen Z.
• A potential gimmick of combining the Gokai Saber and Gokai Gun with a steering wheel was dropped, with the Gokaigers instead routinely swapping their weapons for Dual Wielding.
• Yutaka Kobayashi, who we now know as Kaito Kumon / Kamen Rider Baron, almost won the part of Captain Marvelous but had to drop out because he was committed to Tenimyu. .
• Luka was initially devised as a character who would use her sex appeal as a weapon. Remnants of this concept can be seen in Gokai Yellow's "provocative" pose, and Luka's Fake Defector ploy to Basco in #16.
• Head writer Naruhisa Arakawa stated in an interview that his original idea for Don's backstory was for Don to have been an orphan who witnessed his scientist father's horrific death at the hands of Zangyack; this would have been established in #3 to explain the fear and hesitation which Don demonstrates in that episode. This was dropped in favor of having Don be "an ordinary guy." He ultimately left the character backstory-less once he realized he preferred characterizing him as a Ridiculously Average Guy. The only remnant of this scrapped story that did make it in a sort of way is that Don's homeworld did get blown up by the Zangyack. It gets only a passing mention when he talks about being able to restore his homeworld with the Greatest Treasure of the Universe in #49. And, aside from the whole thing he fabricated about being an amnesiac dragon-slayer, not much is said of his backstory except for the details on how he joined the crew.
• An early concept by Arakawa was introducing the granddaughter of Commander Gonpachi Edogawa, The Mentor of Gorenger, as an "Earthling representative" who would teach the Gokaigers about the legendary Sentai. Remnants of this are seen with the nursery teacher who recognises the Gorengers when the Gokaigers change into them in #1, and the young boy who mentions having lost his grandfather during the Legend War in #2; ultimately, the position of "Earthling representative" was taken by Sixth Ranger Gai Ikari.
• Gokaiger originally wasn't meant to have that many returning characters. It was said that the only returning characters would have been those connected to Gokai-Oh-related toys (which mean those from Gorenger and the series between Gaoranger and Gokaiger) with exceptions including Gekiranger, where the actor wanted to return, and Carranger, which was done purely for comedy. One of the returning actors expressed how awesome it was on a Twitter post and it didn't gain traction until the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, where a special Twitter set up by the original actors to calm the children, inspired others to try to return to their roles, even if they had retired from acting. This led to some tributes essentially being shoehorned in, at the cost of giving the characters development and the Fully Absorbed Finale afforded to all other post-Shinkenger teams.
  • Gai Yuuki of Choujin Sentai Jetman nearly didn't get to show up in the Great Legend War. One of Gokaiger's writers was one of the writers for Jetman and actually got into a fist fight with one of the other writers over the man's fate and if he should come back.
• Initially, the show was committed to focusing on the legendary Red Rangers. However, Ryuji Sainei's schedule made it apparent that Banban "Ban" Akaza (DekaRed) could not be accomodated into the Dekaranger tribute (#5) as originally planned, so his role was taken by former DekaMaster Doggie Kruger (voiced by Tetsu Inada), with Ban making a brief appearance at the end of the episode.
• For #9, the Gaoranger tribute, writer Junko Komura initially wrote Kakeru Shishi (GaoRed) as the hot-blooded character he was back in Gaoranger. At the request of producer Takaaki Utsunomiya, his character was amended to be more reserved so as to establish Kakeru's maturity post-Gaoranger.
• For once, admitted by the filmmakers themselves, in regards to the 199 Sentai movie (taken from the translated pamphlet given out during the film and posted on someone's webpage; warning, this page also contains a spoilery synopsis of the film)
  • Dead characters from previous seasons were apparently brought back to life to fight in the legend war. Who brought them back isn't clear. Apparently Rio and Mele being killed in the series and then revived to fight Long in Go-on vs Geki is mentioned in the pamphlet as something that happened, so this adds a bit more evidence that Gokaiger incorporates everything as "canon."
  • There was a massive battle that happened prior to what we saw in the Legend War where over 100 robots/giants fought against the Zangyack fleet. Many of the robots were destroyed or killed during this battle. This was also mentioned in an interview with the Director, Takemoto and was posted on 2ch long before the pamphlet came out. The only hint towards this in the actual movie is a brief shot of a destroyed Gosei Great during the opening battle.
• Much like with Secondary Riders in the crossovers for Kamen Rider, Gokai Silver has an Early-Bird Cameo in the crossover with Goseiger; however, it's reported that had it not been for the earthquake forcing a change of plans, his debut would've been much bigger than what the end result was.
• Thanks to owners fiddling around with the Mobirates toy, they had learned that it had already been preprogrammed with the cry of "Kamen Rider OOO!" a year before Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen was even announced. It is highly possible that they had planned for the Gokaigers and OOO to team up while OOO was still airing, but was scrapped.
• Zodomas, the MOTW in #4, was originally named "Zanzas".
• Initially, Basco's partner would have been a woman pirate. The monkey that would be named Sally was added to the pitch, and the difficulties of juggling the two was resolved by axing the woman in favor of the monkey.
• Sally was initially envisioned as a large figure in the vein of Chewbacca but this was changed to a smaller stature, necessitating a modification to the costume.
• #28, the Jetman tribute, was subject to a number of modifications:
  • Veteran writer Toshiki Inoue did consider bringing back Kotaro Tanaka as Ryu Tendo (Red Hawk) but decided against it lest he overshadow the Gokaigers and so Toshihide Wakamatsu was brought back as Gai Yuki (Black Condor).
  • The scene in which Gai Yuki punches Joe was challenged by one who claimed that Joe would not fall to him and so suggested that he punch Don instead. Inoue, however, insisted that Gai Yuki, being one of the strongest Sentai characters, would throw a punch at the stronger Gokaiger rather than the relatively timid Don, as it would not suit his character to bully the weak.
  • The script called for Gai's ghost to give the expected cry of "Cross Changer!" as he transformed. However, both Wakamatsu and Inoue decided it would be better to do the transformation without a word.
  • There was a scene confirming the reason that Gai Ikari could not see the ghost of Gai Yuki when the other Gokaigers could was because he was an Earthling. However, it was cut for time.
• The first draft of #29, the Abaranger tribute, had Ahim and Emiri commandeering a television station where they sang and dance while showing off their cosplay.
• For #31, the Ohranger tribute, it was proposed that Masashi Goda (who had recently appeared in Samurai Sentai Shinkenger) return as Yuuji Mita (OhBlue), who would keep the Gokaigers busy whilst Basco was confronted by the former OhRed. However, director Noboru Takemoto opted to bring back Tamao Sato as Momo Maruo (OhPink) instead.
• Emperor Akudos Gill's appearance is derived from an early design for Prince Warz Gill.
• There was an idea that Damaras would betray The Empire. Ironically, he ended up as perhaps the most loyal Zangyack member.
• Writer Yoshio Urasawa and director Taro Sakamoto planned for Jealousto, who had appeared in two episodes, to return in the later stages where he would die on a beach evoking Death in Venice. Ultimately, he survived the series.
• In #40, the Timeranger tribute, Honami Moriyama and her son Mirai were not part of the original draft. It was only when Shuhei Izumi was secured to reprise his role as Domon (Time Yellow) that director Noboru Takemoto incorporated them in to give Domon his Fully Absorbed Finale.
• Early info for Gokaiger vs. Gavan said that Warz Gil would appear in the Makuu Castle prison scene, but this turned out to be false, presumably because it would be a Plot Hole for Zangyack's own prince to be there.
• Whilst Don sharing his name with the long-dead Big Bad of Space Sheriff Gavan ended up being Played for Laughs in Gokaiger vs. Gavan, it was apparently considered at one point that he would be infact be the grandson of Don Horror.
• For the Kakuranger tribute...
  • The pamphlet for 199 Hero Great Battle states that Ninjaman was among the giant army which fell to the Zangyack fleet. This was overwritten by the Kakuranger tribute which established that Ninjaman missed the Legend War.
  • The return of Tsuruhime (Ninja White) was a very last-minute affair. Utsunomiya inserted a cameo by an unidentified Kakuranger in the final script for #45, and it was only after that that Satomi Hirose was secured to reprise her role.
  • Ninjaman was initially planned to turn into a Ranger Key (which was realised in the toyline post-Gokaiger), but Junko Komura changed this to him fighting alongside the Gokaigers as the Greater Power of the Kakurangers.
  • There’s a cut scene where the Gokaigers Gokai Change into the Zyurangers as a nod to Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Season 3. It’s presumed that it was scrapped because Season 3 wasn’t dubbed, thus the joke would be lost.
• Initially, only Sun Vulcan's Takayuki Hiba (VulEagle) was to grant the Gokaigers approval to use the five Greater Powers that had been stolen by Basco. Noboru Takemoto insisted that all of the five Sentai be represented and so invited their actors to return.
• Dyrandoh was originally planned to be killed off in #50, the penultimate episode, but in the end he made it to the first half of the finale.
• Ten Gokaiger would originally have featured an Alternate Self of Kaito Goshikida who had never found himself in the unique situation of ''Zenkaiger'' Kaito and so never became Zenkaiser, but Arakawa couldn’t think of a way to feature him without overcoming the Continuity Lockout caused by Zenkaiger’s multiverse premise.

Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters

• According to main writer Yasuko Kobayashi, Hiromu had a "weak" persona in the original script. Takayuki Shibasaki, who directed the pilot, wanted him to be more like Tom Cruise's Maverick from Top Gun and so his character was given a firm and stubborn tone.
• Enter's Red Buster form was originally conceived as being colored in a simple red but was changed to a dark red to differentiate him from Hiromu.
• Prior to the series getting adapted in the form of Power Rangers Beast Morphers, one other proposal for an adaptation of Gobusters was produced by Amit Bhaumik, by the name of Power Rangers Cyber Corps. Said series would've been significantly Darker and Edgier, and would've been a sequel to Power Rangers RPM, as well as tying into other aspects of prior series. Details can be read here.

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger

• The Blue Ranger was initially conceived by writer Riku Sanjo as a 40-something man with a wife and children, but Toei rejected the idea. Instead, the character is in his early 30s and lives with his sister and young niece.
• Nao Nagasawa, known to Sentai fans as Nanami Nono in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, stated after the announcement of Kyoryuger that she had signed on for a guest role in the series; but she never appeared, possibly due to scheduling conflicts.
• After Torin was revealed on the show as KyoryuSilver, Sanjo claimed in an interview that he'd had trouble deciding whether Silver should be Torin or Dantetsu Kiryu, and that it could have gone either way. Dantetsu does ultimately become Silver at the end of the show.
• Before Kyoryuger began, producer Takahito Ohmori stated in an interview that the production team had decided the show should have only one female Ranger in order to make the team look stronger. However, Koichi Sakamoto later convinced him to have Yayoi join the heroes as the second Kyoryu Violet (and later, Nossan's sister Yuko briefly becomes the second Kyoryu Cyan, making three women on the team.)
• Initially, it was planned to join Kyoryuger with Zyuranger and Abaranger in the Summer Movie, but the 30-minute runtime was deemed to be insufficient for such an event so it was pushed to the Vs. movie.

Ressha Sentai ToQger

• Hacking the DX ToQ Changer revealed several ToQ Ressha which remain unrealized. They include Rider Ressha, Gaim Ressha, Dump Ressha, Dozer Ressha, Mixer Ressha, Crane Ressha, Jet Ressha, Blizzard Ressha and Ring Ressha.
• Then there's the Legend Ressha. While the Kyoryuger Ressha appeared on-screen as a Humongous Mecha in Kamen Rider Taisen, then as a mere trinket in ToQger vs. Kyoryuger, the Changer has sounds for all of the first 37 Sentai. The Go-Onger to Go-Busters Ressha are toy-exclusive, derived from the Red Ranger's mecha like the Kyoryuger Ressha, while Goranger to Gekiranger have no form beyond SG Ressha^note Generic train cars with the eponymous Sentai plastered over the sides..
• While the the previous series by the same writer also was skipped for adaptation into Power Rangers initially, with Go-Busters having been adapted into Power Rangers Beast Morphers, ToQger is notable for being the only Sentai in between Gokaiger and Ninninger to not have a corresponding Rangers series. A likely reason for this is that trains in the US are not as prominent as they are in Japan or Europe^note the majority of trains in the US transport industrial materials, trainspotting and model railroads are not prominent hobbys, and unlike Japan, the majority of passenger trains are private-owned corporations, and in general, the reputation of vehicle-based Rangers series are mixed in the US^note on one end, you have Power Rangers Turbo, which had some of the lowest ratings of the Zordon Era; on the other hand, you have Power Rangers RPM, which is one of the most beloved series. Still, one can't help but imagine how an adaptation of the series would've turned out, especially since unlike Gobusters, Shinkenger, or Hurricanger, no proposed adaptations by Amit Bhaumik or other former writers have been revealed.
• Unusually for a major recurring character, Z does not appear in the V-Cinema or Vs movies, suggesting his actor was unavailable or declined to take part - possibly because he retired from acting shortly after the show ended.

Shuriken Sentai Ninninger

• An early proposal for the 39th Super Sentai was a corporate Sentai based on the dream jobs of children. Ninjas were then added into the mix and, once the development of job motifs was deemed too much a challenge, the dream job aspect was dropped altogether and Ninninger was born.
• All five Ninningers were planned to be cousins before a sibling duo was added in. Given a choice between a "little brother" or "little sister" character, the latter was chosen as it was deemed to have more story potential and so Shironinger was made into Akaninger's little sister.
• The series would have been set in a full-fledged ninja school like the one the Hurricangers came from (which was massacred by the Jakanja in their first episode), but was reduced to the Igasaki family home doubling as a ninjutsu dojo.
• There was some hesitation in making Yōkai the Monster of the Week due to the overlap with not only Kakuranger but the Yo-kai Watch game series. It was ultimately decided that the growing popularity of Yokai amongst children would only be positive for Ninninger.
• There were originally 108 Yokai-birthing Sealing Shuriken in reference to the 108 earthly temptations in Buddhism. This was amended to 48 to differentiate Ninninger from Kamen Rider Drive, which already had 108 Roidmudes. Writer Kento Shimoyama is on record that it is a coincidence that 48 is also the number of the subordinates of the legendary Doshun Igasaki who was the inspiration for the Ninninger family.
• Fuuka was initially to have been a more serious character cooler in personality before pilot director Shojiro Nakazawa took a more comedic route.
• Takashi Sasano's schedule led to projections that the character of Yoshitaka Igasaki may only be able to make a total of five appearances throughout the entire year. These projections were flipped when he ended up a constant fixture for all but a handful of episodes in the series.
• Director Noboru Takemoto revealed that Starninger's debut was brought forward as a result of the series having premiered a week late due to a Breaking News Interruption.
• Director Katsuya Watanabe also revealed that #6, in which Fuuka is taken hostage, was modified in light of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.
• Super Starninger was not part of the original plan and was only devised with the introduction of the Ninja Gekiatsuto, the form's design being based one of the initial ideas for Starninger.

Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger

• The idea of "Phantom Thieves" was thrown around for this series before the animal motif was chosen. Producer Takaaki Utsunomiya and writer Junko Komura would go back to that idea two years later.
• Zyuland was originally named "Zyutopia" but this was changed to avoid comparisons with other works. This naming convention was later used for the many parallel universes in Zenkaiger five years later.
• Before the team was settled, it was considered that it would be the Red Ranger who would be a Zyuman, the sole Zyuman of the team.
• Although it was set from the start that Yamato's father Kageyuki would be a doctor, it was at one stage considered to be changed in light of the cast of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, which premiered halfway through Zyuohger, being doctors, but an alternative could not be decided upon. It was also suggested that he could be a high-ranking physician attached to a university attended by Yamato. In the end, Utsunomiya saw that he was kept as the practicing doctor who was on hand to help Bud.
• Known for playing Token Evil Teammate, The Friend Nobody Likes and Manipulative Bastard Masato Kusaka in Kamen Rider 555, Kohei Murakami was unsure as to where he would end up when he was first cast as Bud, whether the character would be a hero or a villain. At one point he speculated to himself that Bud may turn out to be Yamato's father. In any case, Junko Komura considered a scenario in which Bud would die in a Heroic Sacrifice to protect Yamato or Yamato's father, but when it was decided that he would transform into Zyuoh Bird, he was retainined as an extra Ranger assisting the Zyuohgers.
• The character of Bangray was created as Utsunomiya requested a new recurring enemy who could bring back past monsters so that their costumes may be reused. Initially, Utsunomiya envisioned Bangray as a literal necromancer bringing monsters Back from the Dead, but this was changed to him manifesting them from people's memories in order to distinguish him from characters in Kamen Rider Ghost, which had aired alongside Zyuohger.
• Masahiro Ueda of Bandai insisted that Cube Leopard be a leopard rather than proposals for a jaguar or a cheetah as he wished to show children what a leopard is.
• Quval's purpose was originally to restore his planet which was destroyed by the Deathgalien, but this was amended to mere revenge against Ginis.
• Originally, Naria would have been revealed as an artificial life form created to be Ginis’ only friend. This and a backstory for Ginis himself, were removed from the finale by the producer to focus on more action scenes.
• Yamato's 11th-Hour Superpower, Great Instinct Awakened, was proposed to be introduced for Christmas but it was decided to save it for the final battle.
• For the endgame, the Evil Plan for the Sagittari Ark was for its arrow to destroy the Earth by absorbing its energy. When it was realised that this was the same concept as the Jark Matter Moraimarz from the then upcoming Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, this was amended so that the arrow would have destroyed Earth by infusing excess energy into it.

Uchu Sentai Kyuranger

• The character of Balance was originally devised as "Doctor Balance" and would have been The Smart Guy of the team. It was after the completion of his costume and the casting of Taiki Yamazaki as Naga that he was taken down a more comical route, similar to Fuuka Igasaki. Space 33 having Balance's personality flipped by the Monster of the Week may well be a nod to this original vision.
• As Balance's appearance was based on C-3PO, producer Takumi Mochizuki considered having his partner be modeled on R2-D2 before Yamazaki was cast, inspiring him to develop a Spock-type character.
• Hammie's character was conceived as being a high school girl before the casting of Sakurako Okubo, who molded her into a "cheeky little sister" figure.
• Raptor 283 was originally devised as a "cool beauty", with suit actor Ryoko Gomi considering acting with "sexy" mannerisms when she saw the concept drawing. This was changed to emphasize cuteness in contrast to Hammie.
• Initially, there was a plan for a parent-child duo of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor inspired by Lone Wolf and Cub. This idea perhaps led to Kotaro Sakuma being paired with Stinger as a little brother figure.
• There was a time when Weapon Voyagers were thought of to make the DX Set of Kyutamas more appealing to collect. The Futago Voyager would be a pair of scissors and the Pegasus Voyager would a crossbow. Low sales of the Weapon Zyuoh Cubes cancelled this idea, however Orion Voyager remained and was reused as a full robo.
• Early scans indicated that Ohguma Skyblue was intended to be a full-fledged suit with the Koguma decals removed, instead of the Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever powerup that Koguma Skyblue uses.
• Similar to Baron Lemon Energy Arms, Naga's transformation into Hebitsukai Metal was not part of the initial plan and was more of a last-minute deal.
• There's no Kyuranger vs. Zyuohger. This is possibly due to the series itself taking place in an Alternate Universe than the rest of the Super Sentai series, but it is speculated that the real life reason is actor unavailability. Zyuoh TheWorld appeared as a guest star in Lupinranger vs. Patranger vs. Kyuranger to compensate. The closest to said team-up before the end of Kyuranger's run is the Kyurangers making an Early-Bird Cameo in Zyuohger vs. Ninninger and the two teams being among the teams who took part in the battle in Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Chou Super Hero Taisen.
  • Interestingly, it's worth noting that if one does hack the Seiza Blaster, there is a sound effect for a Zyuohger Kyutama, suggesting that either the crossover was planned at one point, but scrapped, or they weren't sure if they would go ahead, and ultimately decided not to.
• If one hacks the Seiza Blaster toy, a Gemn Kyutama sound effect can be created^note if one uses the regular Ex-Aid Kyutama on the Dark Seiza Blaster, it will register it as the Gemn Kyutama, suggesting that it's possible that the crossover with Kamen Rider Ex-Aid was going to be a full-blown TV special as opposed to The Cameo in an episode each of each show^note presumably, the Gemn Kyutama would've been used to summon Dan Kuroto, since assuming the crossover occurred after episode 7 of Kyuranger/episode 24 of Ex-Aid, Kuroto would've been dead.
• Although Kyuranger wound up sorta-adapted as Power Rangers Cosmic Fury season, it would have been extremely likely that had Saban renewed their toy manufacturing partnership with Bandai of America (as opposed to selling the Power Rangers franchise to Hasbro), it would've been adapted first instead of Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters after Ninja Steel finished, as it was stated that the cube gimmick from Zyuohger was not feasible for American merchandise and it was unlikely that they'd skip straight to Lupinranger vs. Patranger.

Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger

• In an interview with Toku Nation on April 2018 after leaving Bandai America (who had a hand in developing the toyline for Uchu Sentai Kyuranger and developed the toyline for Power Rangers from 1993 to 2018), Gregory Mitchell revealed that the original concept for the 2018 Sentai series was going to be flight-based, which would've been a Spiritual Successor to Choujin Sentai Jetman and that Bandai America would develop it after the success of Kyuranger. The plan changed when the Power Rangers franchise was sold to Bandai's toy industry rival Hasbro, but elements of it did made it to the final version, most notably being the motif for the Lupinrangers' mecha.
• Hacking the VS Changer reveals a sound for Kamen Rider Build in addition to the general Kamen Rider sound effect, meaning it's possible that at one point, a crossover between the two was planned. However, likely due to the decision to stop making Spring crossover movies, said crossover was never made.
• Additionally, VS Changer sounds exist for three extra rangers and their Trigger Machines/Dial Fighters, specifically Patren 0gou, Patren -1gou, and Lupin Black; as of writing, any plans to implement them seem to have fizzled out. Curiously, both Lupin Black and -1gou produce the same sounds in the VS Changer except for their names and "Masquerise" vs. "Patrise" when used to transform, suggesting that they were connected and would have served as the evil Sentai for the season together (-1gou's Trigger Machine jingle literally translates to "atrocious and inhuman.")
• Toy catalogs show images for a PatKaiser Splash and Keiichiro using the Keisatsu Boost for that Trigger Machine.

Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger

• Katsumi Hyodo mentioned in an interview that he initally wanted to audition for the role of Koh, but when he went to the audition venue, he found out that it was time to cast the 6th ranger and the 5 main rangers had already been casted.
• Messages on the show's official Twitter account stated that Asuna was from a rich Ryusoul Tribe family and her backstory would be explored in upcoming episodes. This ultimately never happened.
• Mana Kinjo, who played Ui, had serious health problems during filming which forced the character to be written out by having Ui travel abroad.

Mashin Sentai Kiramager

• In an interview with main writer Naruhisa Arakawa, he notes that Juru was supposed to be a darker character. However, Rio Komiya's natural positivity during his audition influenced Arakawa to change Juru's characterization to the dorky leader we know him as today.
• In and out of universe, an entire suit and transformation sequence was made for Muryo as Kiramai Gold in a One-Scene Wonder Imagine Spot, however it did not come to be because Muryo never wanted to be a warrior.
• The show ultimately lost out on a grand total of five episodes owing to the hiatus between Episode 10 and 11.

Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger

• As revealed by Tom Constantine, a proposed title for the series was Sentai Sentai Sentaiger.
• Kiita Komagine revealed in an interview that he tried to portray Kaito with a much higher voice as he was Playing Against Type from his more serious roles. Head director Shojiro Nakazawa told him that he didn't have to force himself to do a higher voice since he already had the personality down, so he settled on his natural tone of voice.
• Both Shintarō Asanuma (Juran) and Takuya Sato (Vroon) also auditioned for Gaon.
• Zenkai Magine's Concept Art had her "loincloth" mostly black down the middle, suggesting it was meant to either accentuate or blend into her Leotard of Power design, while her shoulders had gold trimmings.
• Originally, both Zenkaiser and Zenkai Juran were supposed to be red. But Junko Komura didn’t want two reds on the same team, and suggested changing Juran to green. Instead, they simply decided to make Zenkaiser white.
• An attempt was made to design Armors for the Sentai Gears, but came into difficulties to differentiate between teams as some share the same theme, so they instead opted for techniques. A few Gears do retain elements of this, such as Twokaizer's form changes as well as the super modes.
• Having the Zenkaigers summon the past Sentai was considered, but that ability was given to Stacy to avoid having the summoned warriors steal the spotlight. The Zenkaigers ended up having such a power much later into the show anyways, thanks to obtaining the Zenryoku Zenkai Cannon, however the Rangers they can summon are grouped by their themes rather than their original teams.
• According to staff interviews, Ryo Sekoguchi originally auditioned for Kaito, and the casting team liked him enough that the role of Stacy was created for him.

Avataro Sentai Donbrothers

• According to Shinichiro Shirakura, during pre-production planning, the show was actually going to be inspired by Journey to the West, but they couldn't figure out how the human was going to work in there. They eventually decided to go with Momotarō, with some Journey to the West themes being incorporated in Don Doragoku's suit.
• The five Donbrothers would've been human, monkey, kappa (frog), pig/boar, and either a horse/dragon had they stuck with Journey to the West.
• The early script for #23 would've featured the boy in the beginning making a grave for his dog, instead of a flower memorial seen in the episode. The grave was changed due to strict television guidelines regarding and relating to the subject of pet memorials. This post on the RangerBoard forum goes into more detail.
• According to an interview he did with Oricon, Kamen Rider Geats's Hideyoshi Kan (Ace Ukiyo/Kamen Rider Geats) had auditioned for the series, but failed in the early audition process.
• Shinichi was originally written as a YouTuber running a philosophy channel, before the writers decided to make him unemployed instead.
• The preview for #34 briefly shows a scene of Tsuyoshi collapsing on the floor of his apartment but it was ultimately not included in the episode. In an Instagram live, the actors of Tsuyoshi and Tsubasa explained that the scene would have shown him having a breakdown after Miho leaves him, but was ultimately cut - perhaps because it was considered too dark.

Ohsama Sentai King-ohger

• Toy retailers reported that in early preview images of the toys, PapillonOhger was pink and Spider Kumonos purple. Ultimately, designs changed so that PapillonOhger became violet and Spider Kumonos white.

Other

Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger

• The series was originally intended to be a Gokaiger spin-off called Kaizoku-ban Sentai Gokaiger (Pirate Copy Sentai Gokaiger).
• There was a proposal that the team consist of a female red and two males before the genders were reversed.
• There was a plan to give all three Akibarangers a Super Mode in the second season before this changed to the Aoi-themed Super Akiba Red with Akiba Blue and Yellow receiving minor modifications to their costumes.

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