Some kind of Beast mode
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Flash has been my favorite, but I need to find dl's of it, non-brazilian.

But anyways, i really like Changeman...but still don't see why it's #1 or even top 2.

This is really a hard decision actually.
 
Would like to change his avatar
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The Changeman through Liveman run is my favorite run of Super Sentai -- all four shows are in my top five. (I also really like Turboranger. I think Bioman's pretty overrated, though.) I do think Changeman and Flashman are stronger than Maskman and Liveman, for many reasons, but also that main writer Hirohisa Soda seemed to have Change and Flash planned out ahead of time. It's always seemed to me that Mask and Live weren't as fully planned out, or things were changed from initial plans. (The unmasked Zeba seen in early promotional pictures, for example. What was that about? Surely a scrapped idea.)

Like Maskman had to write more Akira-centered episodes since he was, like, boy-band popular, and Liveman seemed to fall victim to a drastically reduced budget, which limited the kinds of stories they could do. (I know some Japanese fans say it's that Toei was spending more money on Kamen Rider Black, but I think they blew their money on getting Daisuke Shima and Megumi Mori. :laugh:)

I'd rank 'em as...

1) Changeman
2) Flashman
3) Liveman
4) Maskman
5) Turboranger
6) Bioman
 
Pony, please.
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May 21, 2008
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I don't really see a reduced budget with any of them; or didn't really notice. Besides, all their lasers look the same, good enough for me. :p

I think that's where some of the 80's charm comes in; every show has some of the same aesthetics but in different ways. I don't care that the blue laser is the same between Flashman and Maskman because they're both very unique shows, and really are different.

Nowadays it seems like shows do things differently from other shows because they have to be different, when it wouldn't hurt to go back to some simplistic effects. But maybe I have a soft spot for older-looking stuff.
 
Nice post!!
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I find modern tokusatsu seems to put more effort into making the gimmicks each year wildly different, while stories are often a bit more samey. Not from year to year, but typically you'll see the current series reusing a mish-mash of story ideas from shows made roughly two-to-five years ago.

I think the older 80s shows put a lot, lot more effort into more original storytelling than their modern counterparts, in part because they couldn't splurge tons of money on wholly different effects each year. It doesn't cost more to make your script good, though, or your plot twists compelling.
 
Not-So-Rabid Blade Fangirl
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I've never seen any of them, but if I could be pointed towards some subs, I'd gladly remedy that... :thumbs:
 
Active Member
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Unfortunately most of these shows have not been touched by subbers, so your only real choice is to just bite the bullet and watch the raws. Wiki usually has accurate info on stuff so you'll be able to get the jist of things. Shougo's Changeman site has detailed episode summaries.
 
Not-So-Rabid Blade Fangirl
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Wow, no HKs, even? Hmm. So probably go to Momo's site for the raws then, huh?
 
Pony, please.
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Here, BD. http://grownupsinspandex.blogspot.com/2008/12/been-little-while-since-we-released-one.html Those are about the best subs I can find for any of the four shows. Only Liveman, but they're worth it.
There's also plenty of summaries and such to where others would be pretty watchable, so whatever works. :thumbs:

I find modern tokusatsu seems to put more effort into making the gimmicks each year wildly different, while stories are often a bit more samey. Not from year to year, but typically you'll see the current series reusing a mish-mash of story ideas from shows made roughly two-to-five years ago.

I think the older 80s shows put a lot, lot more effort into more original storytelling than their modern counterparts, in part because they couldn't splurge tons of money on wholly different effects each year. It doesn't cost more to make your script good, though, or your plot twists compelling.

Yeah, this is a big issue I have with newer stuff, especially Sentai. If I've seen the same problems with characters so recently, there's no point in adding some new effects. That's just lazy writing at its best. I want my tv show characters to be unique from each other, I shouldn't be able to switch Ban with Kai and get the exact same show.

Of course, Toei would rather spend money on making things flashy because Bandai makes the weapons flashy. Which is a rather odd approach as far as I'm concerned; if your toys weapons are already shiny, why waste money on a background no one will actually need to look at?

And then there's the fact that nowadays stories aren't well written when they're based around a new powerup, again for the sake of toys. The LiveCougar episode? Pretty obvious selling episode, but it was done in an interesting way.
 
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Well, since I started this thread, I should at least give some of my input into it.

Am I the only one here who liked Bioman? I had no idea so many people disliked it. :disappoin
I thought the characters, the fight scenes, music, and the special effects were pretty well done.

Like what Shougo said, Changeman was probably the most well planned season out of them all. Plus, the fact that every character, especially villains had a story going on and were very well wrapped up at the end was definitely one of the elements that made Changeman such a powerful season.

Flashman was also very well planned. And like what Aoi Kurenai said, the chemistry amongst the characters on the show was very well done (possibly the best). And yeah, Bun is probably the best example. And the villains are really cool. I especially loved Lee Keflen. He just seemed like a really well developed villain to me. And the whole bittersweet ending was just perfect.

Comparing Changeman and Flashman together, it seems like these are all probably the most powerful elements of each show, and it would depend on what the fan likes.

Maskman and Liveman both took a bit of a different approach. It seems like Changeman and Flashman's episodes all revolved around a ton of action in it's plots. Maskman and Liveman's episodes seem to be more heavily character focused rather than the action.

Turboranger seemed like it went back to the heavy action plots for it's episodes. Loved how it perfectly mixed the vehicles, fairies, and demons all together. I thought that was cool. I was quite surprised with how they handled eps 27-30. That was a huge change! Same with ep 38.
 
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