Early 2000s Sentai: How They've Aged

[Fantasy Leader]

A lot of people talk about how the early Heisei Kamen Rider shows (Kuuga to Hibiki) have aged and how it was such a different era for Kamen Rider compared to the stuff now. I know there are some talks about how the early 2000s sentai have aged here and there, but thought I'd make an actual thread for it. I'm particularly referring to the Gaoranger to Magiranger run of shows.

I remember about five years ago when the Carranger to Timeranger run of shows had become the then "new old school" sentai and people were starting to look at them in many different ways due to how they've aged as time went on. It's been a little over seven years since the finale of Magiranger aired, and looking at the stuff from Gao to Magi, many things have changed for the sentai franchise since then. This run of shows seems to have their own styles that made them unique during the time of the early 2000s. This was also the era before sentai started getting into trouble, starting with Boukenger.

We've also got two prominent chief producers (before Toei started changing them around every year like they do now) who succeeded chief producer Shigenori Takatera (Car, Mega, Ginga, Kuuga, first half of Hibiki, Daimajin Kanon). Jun Hikasa (GoGoFive to Abaranger, Kamen Rider Blade, Bouken, Go-on, 2/3 of Gosei, Akiba) and Hideaki Tsukada (Deka, Magi, Geki, W, Fourze). Hikasa worked closely with three primary writers: Junki Takegami (Mega, GoGoFive, Gao, Go-on), Yasuko Kobayashi (Ginga, Time, Ryuki, PGSM, Den-O, Shinken, OOO, Go-Busters), and Junichi Miyashita (Kamen Rider Black with Noboru Sugimura, Exceedraft, Janperson, Blue SWAT, B-Fighter, B-Fighter Kabuto, Hurricaneger).

In Japan, all five of these shows seem to be very fondly remembered.

Gaoranger (Hikasa/Takegami): Seems to be a basic fun sentai show for the Japanese audience to enjoy. Plus, toy collectors really enjoyed the high quality toys of the Power Animals.

Hurricaneger (Hikasa/Miyashita): You know, lately I've started to question if it's Hurricaneger that's really popular, or if it's just Nao Nagasawa herself. Like, Nanami to some extent seems to be treated as the Black Condor of the early 2000s as far as popularity goes.

Abaranger (Hikasa/Arakawa): Seems to be fondly remembered by the Japanese fanbase and did break a lot of ground as far as sentai storytelling goes. Like a story where a hero loses his wife to evil (Asuka and Mahoro). A hero being a father-like character (Ryouga). And the concept of a pure evil ranger (Mikoto). Also the very first sentai written by Naruhisa Arakawa.

Dekaranger (Tsukada/Arakawa): One of the most popular sentai of the early 2000s. Taking the format of a cop show style, Dekaranger like Abaranger also broke a lot of new ground for the franchise. It lifted a lot of Sentai's usual tropes and did a completely new spin on them, creating very unique stories for each episode, while still feeling like a Sentai show.

Magiranger (Tsukada/Maekawa): The last sentai to not be filmed in HD. And also the last sentai before Sentai got into trouble during the whole Bouken-Kyoryu run. Also very popular, riding off of the then massive popularity of fantasy and mystical stuff like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings in Japan. Like many shows of this era (and even the late 90s as well), Magiranger has a lot of focus on plot and world building, especially in comparison to many of the shows that would be coming after. Deka and Magi (and even Geki) also had noticeably much less mecha compared to the next several shows. Magi and Geki are also some of the last couple of shows where we'd have long story arcs and even frequently have a MOTW that could last for more than one episode.

Anybody else have any thoughts about how this era has aged in your eyes?

 

[cypsiman2]

Regarding Gaoranger, while its not one of my favorites and the passage of time hasn't appreciably improved or degraded it in my mind, I do think it has a sort of universal, timeless quality that comes of it being as much of a "back-to-basics" sentai as you can get, to the point that the Gaorangers are almost entirely referred to by their color rather than their civilian name. You can drop it in pretty much anywhere and it's going to do its thing no problem. So, to that extent, I'd say Gaoranger is something that has and will likely continue to age well.

Hurricanger does seem like its almost entirely remembered for Nao Nagesawa, or Shurikenger, which I think is a shame; I found the show as a whole to be very enjoyable with a good balance in its tone and a lot of interesting details in the overall story and setting and stuff. Like Gaoranger, I don't regard it as a favorite, but unlike Gao I don't think it will be particularly remembered as you can't really sum up its strength and appeal as a show in a single sentence.

Abaranger is extremely standout and unique and I think it will continue to pass the test of time; same with Dekaranger.

Magiranger, while I think it was definitely aided by the sheer popularity of fantasy with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, is another series I think will endure from the strength of its own innate quality as opposed to the train that it was hitched on. Something else that helps is that while it is very different in many ways from the typical sentai, both in its team composition and way the episodes focus on pairs of characters to name just a couple factors, Magiranger is also a series that manages to really encapsulate the full spectrum of the sorts of stories that Sentai likes to tell; epic and grandiose, small-scale and silly, one-shots and long story-arcs. Basically, I regard Magiranger as being universal like Gao, but far better.

 

[Goty]

Unlike the early Heisei Riders, i think it's still soon to say time affected the perception of those Sentai series. That's because although the overall quality became more unstable, this franchise didn't change as much ever since, in my view (and for the things it tried to change, it mostly failed).
The only thing that aged was the cgi overuse in Gaoranger~Abaranger, which was not only intrusive but also looks really bad now. It was like Toei found a new toy and couldn't stop playing with it.

 

[Sentaifan'07 Xman]

Well, I never pay attention to the quantity of toy sells or whatever, for story-wise and character developments, I have most of the early 2000 sentais had the most unique developments in most likeable and least likeable characters.

 

[Fantasy Leader]

Hurricanger does seem like its almost entirely remembered for Nao Nagesawa, or Shurikenger, which I think is a shame; I found the show as a whole to be very enjoyable with a good balance in its tone and a lot of interesting details in the overall story and setting and stuff. Like Gaoranger, I don't regard it as a favorite, but unlike Gao I don't think it will be particularly remembered as you can't really sum up its strength and appeal as a show in a single sentence.

Abaranger is extremely standout and unique and I think it will continue to pass the test of time; same with Dekaranger.

Yeah, Hurricaneger is kind of a weird one in that regard. When you really analyze the season, people do praise the whole Hurricaneger and Gouraijer rivalry (though this is only a portion of the show) as far as breaking ground for sentai goes. But other than that, it seems to mostly be remembered as the Nao Nagasawa and Shurikenger show (mostly Nao).

I really wonder if Aba and Deka will be joining the ranks of the Car through Time run of shows as major important sentai classics. These two really seemed to have left a unique impact on the franchise. Heck, a good chunk of the shows airing after these two seemed like they tried to remake the magic that Arakawa created.

Unlike the early Heisei Riders, i think it's still soon to say time affected the perception of those Sentai series. That's because although the overall quality became more unstable, this franchise didn't change as much ever since, in my view (and for the things it tried to change, it mostly failed).

Maybe. In Gaoranger's case, I feel like the show still has a lot of 90s elements to it. I know many say that Timeranger was the last show to have that 90s feel, but I think Gaoranger can count as well.

Like I said earlier, I feel like Aba and Deka really left a huge mark on the franchise, setting up many things for the many sentai seasons to come. Similar to how Kuuga and Agito set things up for the Heisei Riders. I can easily find elements of Aba and Deka in shows like Bouken, Geki, Go-on, and perhaps even Shinken. But after Shinken, it really feels like the franchise is trying to take some more extreme turns with it's direction.

 

[KingRanger]

This was also the era before sentai started getting into trouble, starting with Boukenger.

Exactly what trouble did sentai get into?:sly:

 

[Loghorn]

Exactly what trouble did sentai get into? :sly:

I think he means either ratings, toy sales, or both.

 

[Fantasy Leader]

Exactly what trouble did sentai get into?:sly:

Toei's more frequent executive meddling in the recent shows of course. It's a big reason why Akibaranger was created. Not to mention some of the then people who were frequently working on these shows were starting to burn out.

 

[Scissors]

One thing that I miss about the 2000s Sentai is how the characters were handled.
Much like Kamen Rider, I feel that Sentai has become stuck in a comfort zone, where they are simply trying to create a live-action Anime.
Its the same type of characters every year, just with new names and new backgrounds. We hardly get anything unique anymore.

I also miss the MOTD actually having personalities and being part of the plot.
I feel that Sentai has taken a step back in that department. We are almost back to the 80's style MOTD that are only there to fight and then get blown up

 

[Painted_Outlaw]

Not to mention some of the then people who were frequently working on these shows were starting to burn out.

Exhibit A: Junki Takegami giving us Gaoranger..... before turning up with Goon-ger.

I also miss the MOTD actually having personalities and being part of the plot.
I feel that Sentai has taken a step back in that department. We are almost back to the 80's style MOTD that are only there to fight and then get blown up

Um, a lot of the 80s Sentai monsters were relevant to their plots.