The Year's Super Sentai and Kamen Rider Comparison

I thought it would be interesting to compare the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider of their corresponding years, for example Hurricanger and Kamen Rider Ryuki that aired on the same year. According to an producer in a interview, the only time the Super Sentai team talks to the Kamen Rider production team talk is in the beginning to amke sure they are not doing the same theme. And that's it, then if they have corresponding things, it is not their fault.

There is not much in common between Kamen Rider Kuuga and Timeranger or Agito and Gaoranger...

2000
Timeranger and Kamen Rider Kuuga
Nothing in common, Timeranger had 6 members and Kuuga was just one guy. Well, they both dealt with police of a kind.

2001
Gaoranger and Kamen Rider Agito
Gaoranger was about nature and Agito had police force, so very different. Above is a little picture celebrating the two shows.

2002
Hurricanger and Kamen Rider Ryuki
Even though there was 6 warriors on Hurricanger and double that on Ryuki, what they had in common was in emotion, where there was one antagonizing another. Above is an advertisement for the video games.

2003
Abaranger and Kamen Rider 555
555 was more serious than Abaranger, but they both had ancient tribes (Orphnochs and the Ryuujin). And both series had one character that found a truth about themselves (Mikoto and Takumi). Above is an advertisement for the candy toys.

2004
Dekaranger and Kamen Rider Blade
Nothing really. One is the police and the other was not, Blade started in the middle and then we saw the past and future. Dekaranger was a single-episode sort of show, no real over-stretching arc, while Blade was very arc-y. Above is the poster for the movies.

2005
Magiranger and Kamen Rider Hibiki
Hibiki had some magicial infulence and Hibiki dealt with Oni/demons and Magiranger had demons from the underworld. Hibiki wasn't very popular with fans and Magiranger had some people divided. Movie poster above.

2006
Boukenger and Kamen Rider Kabuto
Both very popular, Boukenger was a symbol of the 30th anniversary of Super Sentai, while Kabuto was very true to its roots, dealing with insect-theme. Tokyo Dome City event picture above.

2007
Gekiranger and Kamen Rider Den-O
Den-O was definitely more popular than Gekiranger, but they had some things in common. Gekiranger had the color scheme of red, blue, yellow, violet and white/orange. Kamen Rider Den-O's main modes were red, blue, yellow and violet, with a white/olive-green mode in the movie. Above is the cover to a 2008 yearbook.

2008
Go-Onger and Kamen Rider Kiva
Kiva had more in common with Den-O, but both Go-Onger and Kiva had little buddies that helped the main heroes. For example, the Kivats and the Engines. Movie roadshow logo above.

2009
Shinkenger and Kamen Rider Decade
Nope, nothing in common.

2010
Goseiger and Kamen Rider Double
Well, Goseiger seems to have more in common with Decade as they both use cards. But Decade did end before Goseiger ended. Goseiger insert things on their guns like Double inserts things to his belt to change his image. And Shinkenger inputed things as well. So that's the one thing in common.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie / Season 3 - History Repeating

I made this video once before but because of copyright I couldn't post it anymore on another nameless site. This new video I spliced together footage from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season Three (I know the video is pretty bad but it's all I have), comparing the two and how the story had to. I think this is an appropriate song. No copyright infringement intended.

On Being an 'Old' Power Rangers Fan

[Actress Jamie Lee Curtis dressed as the Pink Lightspeed Ranger in 2000.]

There are different type of fans but I do not know how many there are. But there are those fans who watched Power Rangers when it first came out in 1993 and fans that grew up with Power Rangers and of course, those who are under 12 and are learning about the fandom. The other day I saw a curious post on a board about 'adult' fans, if there were older people who liked Power Rangers. I fall on the latter, where I was 11 when MMPR came out. I was a rather 'old' in age to be a fan, I was made fun of in middle school, all my fellow students felt PR was for little kids. Nowadays, not one second-grader would be caught dead with a PR bookbag or jacket, where as a kindergarten kid would proudly have one.

[Dearly departed Peter Boyle with the Dino Thunder Rangers in 2004.]
Update June 12, 2009: Peter Boyle was just at an event. I don't know for sure if he was a fan. I also have pictures of the Rangers with David Boreanaz, Michael Chiklis, Tony Hawk, Molly Sims, Jeff Probst and Rosie Perez.

I am open about other aspects of my life but not so open with new people or co-workers that I like Power Rangers. When I was 16 and was first into the internet fanbase, I was surprised to hear of 25 or 28 year-old fans. It did humble me though. I am now a 26-year-old fan and don't see anything wrong with it. I have met and spoken to Tokusatsu fans that are over 30 (of course because Tokusatsu has been around for more than 40 years). Most of the people I know around my age are not into it, but younger do, I have a friend that is 20 and grew up with PR and loves it. When I was about 20 or so I thought maybe my obsession with it wouldn't last (and working on my sites) but now I accept I will always like tokusatsu. I now accept that I will be working on my sites and blogs for a long while. Even if PR ends, I still have Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.

The Clock on the Corner

I have gotten asked about this and probably all Tokusatsu fans are tired of this, but maybe newcomers don't know about it. The first time I saw the clock was in Gingaman picture in 1998. The clock is common on Japanese television, it is for when a parent tells the kid to hurry up to get to church or school and the kid tells them it is not late or to keep up with the time. So if you see a clock in a Sentai picture, it is because the person got the picture off the TV. But now, there are different satelite channels that don't broadcast the clock.

Series Profile: Chouseishin Gransazer

In 2003, this new tokusatsu show started outside of Toei company (Super Sentai and Kamen Rider) and Ultraman, it was called Chouseishin Gransazer. It was made by Toho Company Ltd. (Godzilla), and Konami (the video game company). It was unique because it had a lot of heroes, 12 in total. What was smart was they made 4 teams, they called them 'tribes' and 3 in each one. They started out with two teams and later went on episodes later for the third and the last team by almost to the end of the series. The theme was Astrology, the 12 used in horoscopes.

I have seen the first half of the series and I liked it. It is the first in the "Seishin (Star God)," the second (Justirizer) only had three heroes (I also saw that one and it was pretty good) and the last one (Sazer-X) were three males (no girl)--I haven't seen it, but I heard it wasn't as great. The Seishin series was more like Super Sentai than Kamen Rider with their giant monsters and giant machines that changed and combined. I be a fan of the Tokusatsu heronies, I love that there are 4 heronies in Gransazer and they were all good characters.

My favorite was Sazer-Visuel (above), the girl from the Earth Tribe. She usually hanged out with the Flame Tribe, which was the main protagonists. I like how it had Tokusatsu mainstay characters like the shy one, the unsure one, the loner, the energetic one, etc. I loved the episode where surgeon Sazer-Remls (the leader of the wind tribe) had to operate on someone and Sazer-Tarious (the main protagonist) called his integrity into question as he was teamed up with an evil alien and didn't want to admit it.

Design-wise, I didn't like that green was not used, they could have had more diversity in the colors with the Water Tribe. Because Sazer-Gorbion and Sazer-Gans look like the same shade of blue, and officially close to the color of Sazer-Remls. I like the different shades of colors overall, where the Flame Tribe is red, Wind Tribe is purple-ish colors, Earth Tribe is orange and yellow, while Water Tribe was blue. Also, it was strange that the animals of the actual horoscope was not used sometimes and some other animal was used, like how Sazer-Gorbion was Scorpio but his theme was shark. And Sazer-Gans was Cancer (crab) but manta-ray-themed.

Heroine Profile: Kamen Rider Amaki

Nana Akiyama reprised her role as Akira in "Kamen Rider Decade" Episode 18 and 19. She is Ibuki's head apprentice, whom transforms into Kamen Rider Amaki, who resembles Ibuki. It is disappointing she doesn't have a new design like Kamen Rider Abyss. I would have hoped they made a new female rider in a series that did have one like Kabuto or 555. And what is it with having blue Kamen Riders? I agree that this suit is better than slapping a skirt on her like Kamen Rider Shuki, but I would have liked something more to differentiate between Ibuki. But should she be counted with the other Original female Kamen Riders or with those who merely wore a male suit (Ixa, etc.)?

She appeared on the Hibiki show as Akira Transformed Body (あきら変身体).