Most Underrated Sentai Series

[KingRanger]

Half of the tribute episodes that happened in the show wasn't supposed to happen at all

Source?

 

[Painted_Outlaw]

@Gokai Green: I know but, I only used "problems" since Clocktower did.

Source?

Here ya go!
(if that doesn't work, the guy's source is posted at the bottom)

 

[lazycoconut]

I wouldn't say they get unnecessary hate, they both had a lot of problems. I'm a bit more forgiving of Gokaiger, despite having shallow villains and a lack of character development.. it focused more on the anniversary aspect and I think it pulled that off really well, even if it caused other aspects to suffer. I think it got so much praise while it was airing because there was a lot of excitement about seeing the past teams and heroes, but now that it's over and people have rewatched it or had time to think about it more, the excitement has worn off and you aren't left with much.

Yes, heaven forbid an anniversary of the franchise play up the heroes rather than the villains! Especially when viewers have been known to respond poorly to villain-heavy stories including in Gokaiger's predecessor where they complained that Brajira was too important! People bitching about Gokaiger's villains is one of my absolute pet hates. I really think a lot of the Gokai-hate is people's attempt to look more intelligent than/superior to other fans by trying to have the "unpopular opinion" or pick apart the show and tear into it for being a fun, flashy tribute rather than a tightly-written superhero drama. The whole "but what would Gokaiger have if you take away the anniversary aspect?" argument is ridiculous. It's like saying "What would Magiranger be without the magic and family themes?" or "What would Shinkenger be without the samurai/jidaigeki elements?" Actually, Shinkenger's begun to suffer from this, too - it gets constantly nitpicked because it was a popular series and no way we can let too many people like something, it MUST be scrutinised for "flaws"!

On the subject of Go-Busters, I think it suffers from a similar problem as Wizard in that a lot of the fandom built up too much hope for it and then decided the show hadn't lived up to that. It isn't the only Sentai that performed poorly, but people overplay its failings. Wizard is also not the worst-performing Rider series and yet it's now being talked about as this huge flop that "killed" the W format or "forced" Toei to bring in a first-time writer for Gaim

I wouldn't say this is underrated, but Hurricanger doesn't get brought up a lot in conversation from my observation. Probably because it wasn't properly fansubbed or something. The HK's, for the most part, were fine. It's my favorite sentai.

I've come across a fair few Hurri fans out there but on the whole, I think people mainly remember Nanami (or more accurately, Nao Nagasawa's looks - Nanami on her own is so flat there's nothing else of substance about her) and/or Shurikenger than the show in its own right

 

[shamrocknroll]

"Not being left with much" is opinion. People have watched it after it ended and still enjoyed it. The whole "but what would Gokaiger have if you take away the anniversary aspect?" argument is ridiculous. It's like saying "What would Dekaranger be without the cop drama stuff?" Or "What would Magiranger be without the magic and family themes?"

You're wrong in that regard as Gokaiger also had pirates as a theme. You can drop the anniversary storyline, make the ranger keys into different trinkets and poof you get gokaiger without the anniversary theme. It's not ridiculous it's logical and to me the entire anniversary wastes an already awesome potential theme in pirates.

I'm no hater of Gokaiger but I'm also not a huge fan of it.

 

[lazycoconut]

You're wrong in that regard as Gokaiger also had pirates as a theme. You can drop the anniversary storyline, make the ranger keys into different trinkets and poof you get gokaiger without the anniversary theme. It's not ridiculous it's logical and to me the entire anniversary wastes an already awesome potential theme in pirates.

Oh but heaven forbid anybody bringing up legit arguments against something popular. I'm no hater of Gokaiger but I'm also not a huge fan of it.

What would you rather have seen as a theme for an anniversary series, then? If it had been something like animals or vehicles or whatever that has been done before and is pretty much a blank canvas, people would complain that it wasn't special enough. (Although I do admit that I wish the "mythology" of the show had been explored more and I do hope that in another ten years or whenever, we can have another pirate team that will do more with the theme.) We're not even talking about the same thing - you're saying that Gokaiger could have been done without the anniversary elements, and I agree. I'm saying that people complain that the Gokaiger we got has nothing other than the anniversary going for it. My response to this is that any show is going to look hollow if gutted of its main characteristics and underlying theme. Shinkenger and Magiranger are argued to be shows with great writing and production but even they would look empty without the primary things that made them what they were: samurai drama and Japanese tradition for Shinkenger, family and magic for Magiranger.

It has nothing to do with its "popularity", it's my anger at people tearing into Gokaiger for something it was never going to be. For me, Gokaiger's effort to reunite old cast and try to give something back to Japanese viewers is way more important than whether or not it lives up to arbitrary standards of "good" writing/production. I feel the same way about Fourze: I'm not in love with Fourze, but I still defend it fiercely. I don't care whether people think it was a good show; it was made to cheer up kids after the tsunami, not to hold up to critical scrutiny or entertain foreigners far older than the target audience.

 

[shamrocknroll]

What would you rather have seen as a theme for an anniversary series, then? If it had been something like animals or vehicles or whatever that has been done before and is pretty much a blank canvas, people would complain that it wasn't special enough. (Although I do admit that I wish the "mythology" of the show had been explored more and I do hope that in another ten years or whenever, we can have another pirate team that will do more with the theme.)

I'm not saying pirates was a theme they should've avoided (in fact I think it was about time they did them) but I also think for an anniversary show it should be about back to basics IMO, if you look back at Showa Era series, VERY few of them actually used themes (only 3 had an actual theme that you could count at least to me) they just had cool toys. That would've made the anniversary aspect much more grander and less bogged down than an having that AND a theme.

I am also saying that taking away JUST the anniversary concept for Gokaiger is doable without shaking the core of the show. You would obviously have to redo some stories and such but overall it was tacked on (whether it's a good idea or a bad idea is up for debate). I'm not saying either one is right but I am saying Gokaiger didn't need it to be a hit.

 

[lazycoconut]

I'm not saying pirates was a theme they should've avoided (in fact I think it was about time they did them) but I also think for an anniversary show it should be about back to basics IMO, if you look back at Showa Era series, VERY few of them actually used themes (only 3 had an actual theme that you could count at least to me) they just had cool toys. That would've made the anniversary aspect much more grander and less bogged down than an having that AND a theme.

Which three would you class those as? (I'm not disagreeing with you, just asking; it's something I hadn't given much thought to)

I am also saying that taking away JUST the anniversary concept for Gokaiger is doable without shaking the core of the show. You would obviously have to redo some stories and such but overall it was tacked on (whether it's a good idea or a bad idea is up for debate). I'm not saying either one is right but I am saying Gokaiger didn't need it to be a hit.

Not sure about tacked on but I do agree that it could have been done on its own. Someone (I think Aoi Kurenai?) said that the best parts of the show for them were the ones that explored the Gokaigers' backstories and the universe of the show, which is probably the closest glimpse we have of what it would have been if not an anniversary

 

[shamrocknroll]

Which three would you class those as? (I'm not disagreeing with you, just asking; it's something I hadn't given much thought to)

The ones I have are JAKQ with playing cards, Goggle V with gemstones and Changeman with European animals. Most other themes were either nonexistant or not very emphasized. I'm sure they are more as the Showa period lasted longer than 10 years but in the first 10 those were the only 3 to me .

The other three after the first 10 years (that I will admit to forgetting about) were Turboranger, Liveman and Maskman.

 

[Shaider03]

Well I liked both Go-Busters and Goseiger. They both took some time to pick up but had some nice fight's in them. They both had some good Final villains. I liked several things that Go-Busters did. (Spoiler Alert) The fact that the team had to make the hard choice of killing their own parents to try and stop Messiah. Which is even more raw when you consider the fact that it ultimately didn't work. Also when Enter was using Hiromu to constantly copy himself. Forcing Hiromu to be a tool for the world's demise, not even allowing him to kill himself to stop it. Also I like the two Gavan Type-G episodes the first one more then the second. Geki's confidence makes sense if you consider that his movie took place before those two episode's.

I like how in Goseiger they had 3 sets of villains. All three with different backgrounds. Kind of like how Boukenger did it except they didn't have them around all at once. Bretheron was the classic villain that was easy to hate. Plus I really loved their cross over film with Shinkenger it's still my favorite out of all the Sentai Team up movies. (Spoilers over)

Both show's may have had the misfortune of coming out after a very successful predecessor. Which might have made some fans dislike it right out the starting gate. Which could be called the Jetman scenario. Perhaps they where good but not as good has their predecessor. Which is what I believe regarding the case of Shinkenger to Goseiger.

Also I liked Maskman its got to be my Favorite 80's Sentai.Live Man being the second. I'm still waiting for the episodes with Silva are subbed before I watch more of Bioman.

 

[lazycoconut]

Both show's may have had the misfortune of coming out after a very successful predecessor. Which might have made some fans dislike it right out the starting gate. Which could be called the Jetman scenario. Perhaps they where good but not as good has their predecessor. Which is what I believe regarding the case of Shinkenger to Goseiger.

I don't follow you? Zyuranger is generally disliked by western fans because it's seen as "bland" and childish, not because it followed Jetman. Most English-speaking fans would not have watched the shows at the time of airing or made a point of watching in chronological order. It's not really an accurate comparison to the dislike of Goseiger and Go-Busters after a popular predecessor.

Unless you're talking about how those shows were received in Japan, which has nothing to do with the reaction of western fans. Goseiger did moderately well, the majority of Japanese fan complaints about Go-Busters did not relate to Gokaiger (and Gokaiger's ratings suffered anyway), and Zyuranger was a success in Japan and is a significant entry in the franchise.