SUPER SENTAI HEROES of the 1980S!
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StrangerAtaru Ranks THE 50 (+1) SUPER SENTAI HEROES OF THE 1980s! Introduction: The 1980s: a time period that was alive with pop cultural relevance; with things emerging that came about and touched our hearts and souls even today, over 30-plus years later. Of course with all that was going on in the 1980s in the United States and the Western cultures, we shouldn’t forget everything that emerged in Japan in this time period. And while Super Sentai is a peculiar franchise to talk about in relation to the 80s, remember this: while it was created during the tokusatsu boom of the 1970s after the successes of franchises like Ultraman and Kamen Rider, it really was in the 1980s that the franchise actually “found itself”, creating an identity beyond its original basis of being “five Kamen Riders fighting together against evil villains” as defined by Shotaro Ishinomori. Due to certain flukes, the franchise dominated a major section of the tokusatsu sector that its predecessors brought about while likewise working alongside and creating other franchises alongside it, such as the Metal Heroes and Fushigi Comedy series. It was the only franchise that actually was able to survive all the way from 1980 to 1989; sure it had to evolve along the way and had a lot of its own unique problems in remaining relevant to the kids watching it (while dealing with many that became more popular for periods like the Space Sherriff trilogy and Kamen Rider Black), but its constant survival is a testament of it being a major force in Japanese popular culture. But while there are probably many factors that drive what makes Super Sentai what it is then and now, it is the characters that drive these stories; and that’s sort of what I’m going to be talking about here and now. With the generalizations that tend to happen regarding the seasons and the teams, we tend to forget about the actual individual Rangers who make up these teams. Unfortunately with a franchise that has lasted this long, we end up just grouping the teams together, giving a one-sentence description, and then move on; not even that in some cases such as with recent seasons where many of the much older seasons are just “there”. Its obvious why: these teams don’t matter to the kids watching today and obviously there isn’t enough of an older audience to even watch and care enough to give a greater context of the franchise’s history since they move on when they grow out of it. So that’s where being a geek comes in I suppose: with as much “love” that can be given to these “teams”, I sort of wanted to rank the Rangers themselves, not just as some spandex costume, helmet-wearing hero but as the characters who appeared in the series that came about and what they went through during these ten seasons. Thus this little countdown, which I have to admit is a biased, personal feeling regarding these characters. This list is going to be of the 50 Rangers (well…51; there is one I’m counting as a Ranger even though he only appeared in one episode because, technically, he is an official Ranger as defined by the season and I just felt like giving him the respect he deserved) of the 10 Super Sentai series that emerged in the 1980s, from Denshi Sentai Denziman in 1980 to Kousoku Sentai Turboranger in 1989. These are my opinions about all of these Rangers and more or less why they are where they are. This comes about more or less after spending the last 5 years watching the shows; and while I’m a bit rusty on some of them, the general ideas and feelings are genuine. A few guidelines before I get started, though: -I decided to do the 80s mostly because it just felt like a concise unit of the franchise in being 10 years and 10 seasons I’ve seen. While some would probably want me to do “pre-Zyuranger” due to all the changes that come about due to Noboru Sugimura and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, I find that having the first two series of the 1990s, Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman and Choujin Sentai Jetman, stay in the 1990s is a better classification to show the evolution of that decade in particular. And while it leaves out the first three Sentai from the 1970s, they just feel somewhat different from what came after; with Denziman literally being a complete overhaul of the franchise for a new period, it felt like the best starting point. I may list the Rangers of Gorenger, J.A.K.Q. and Battle Fever at a later time though… -I know that Battle Fever ends early in 1980 and likewise Turboranger ends at the start of 1990, but for consistency sake I just stick with what aired and when they started since it is one season per year. -There are probably some wondering why I went with one particular Ranger for my extra and not others; while there are others you probably could count as Rangers or associated, they really aren’t identified as Rangers or don’t last long enough. Probably one of the weirdest omissions I have made is the 2nd Blue Turbo, Ken’ichi Yamada, while including “someone else”. I didn’t use Yamada mostly because it was one episode and he doesn’t really do that much as Blue Turbo; plus the “other character” is a unique identified Ranger who has an entire storyline that is told in his one episode. On the other hand there is also Bioman’s Magne Warrior…who literally isn’t a Ranger at all: he’s a soldier basically tied to a Neo Mecha-Gigan that was to be part of a mass-produced Gear plot. While his human identity, Shota Yamamori, does have heroic elements to his character, it is only in his human form; he’s brainwashed as Magne Warrior and the moment the suit is finally removed, he never uses it again and remains an allied human. While some sort of see this as a pseudo Kamen Rider (or Metal Hero considering his actor becomes Juspion), I would have included Magne Warrior if Yamamori ever used it on his own as a heroic suit/warrior character; which he doesn’t and thus he’s not here. -As with Magne Warrior, I’m not including the Evil Rangers on the list either: if they were good at any point then they’d be here, but most of the time the Evil Rangers never really have anything significant to bring to the series. I may change that when I get to the 1990s due to the likes of the Flowery Kunoichi Team, Jaden Sentai Neziranger…and “that first Gingaman team” (Ginga Sentai Gingaman of Fiveman), but we’ll see. -I was originally thinking of doing this by color I admit, except that due to the weird elements of colors and Rangers even back then (mostly due to one White Ranger, 8 Pinks and 11 Reds due to Sun Vulcan), I just decided it was easier to do all of them on one list since it more or less comes out to an even 50. -And of course remember this: these are all my opinions; if you say or think otherwise then no worries. So with that said…Let’s Change…er, Prism Flash…um, Aura Mask…OK, let’s just get this started. 50. TAKERU (RED MASK – HIKARI SENTAI MASKMAN) My list begins with an obvious one, and those who have read my Maskman review should know why. Takeru is probably one of the most overhyped, overdone and overly “perfected” Rangers in franchise history; more or less the definition of “Red Hype” before such a thing even existed. Obviously the main reason why has to do with him being the main focus of the season: he’s the one who ends up falling for an underground princess without realizing it and essentially becomes the focus by which Maskman has to fight their war against Tube. But I think that the reason that Takeru is at the bottom is simply because they make him too flawless a character, being not just the main focus but the one who becomes Ial’s love interest, the “main racer” of Sugata’s team before Maskman, and this out and out Aura genius who can literally summon aliens to Earth to communicate with him with nothing but his Aura Power! I think that with Sentai’s evolution of storytelling throughout the 80s and the successes in Flashman with a character like Sara, they wanted to push it forwards by having the “face” of the season be the one with said storyline; but did so in a way that unfortunately just made him the face of “how not to write a main character”. Now if you excuse me as I stop talking about him before I get sick…again. Preferred Episodes: Ep. 10: Igam vs. Takeru, Ep. 39: Revival! The Mysterious X-1 Mask 49. HARUKA (YELLOW MASK – HIKARI SENTAI MASKMAN) I know there are quite a few people who sort of find Haruka as a rather underdeveloped character…but unfortunately, I just had a hard time with her, period. You don’t make a character you make out as your first female ninja of the franchise and turn her into a generic female Ranger who threatens to quit the team over a doll or who claims she’s worthless because “she can’t do ninja abilities anymore due to not practicing”…when you’re martial artists regardless! The problem with Haruka isn’t that she’s underdeveloped; it’s that she’s just a terrible character in general that no one had any ideas what to do with.