Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, KENZAN!! ~ Thoughts & Opinions

[MetalSymphony]

Kakuranger was a damn good series, it could be silly at times, and just down right Mindscrewy at others, but it was pretty good at keeping the excitement level up.

Tsuruhime is defiantly a really great female character, hell, one of the best in franchise history. She struck a balance between being a tough, more than capable fighter and being a young women with feelings and learning how to act on them. She showed that Female characters can still be feminine while being strong leaders, It''s something i think both Tsuruhime and Lin the year before did very well (though Tsuru leaned more towards the Tomboy side and Lin more the Girly side, but they don't leave the 'Grey' area in the middle of the two extremes).

I really liked the guys too. Sasuke was a pretty cool red who you could really cheer for. But he was also fallible and had a bit of a dirty-mind :169:

Saizou was the brains of the team, and he's good swith kids. Reminded me of Billy

Seikai's the guy i know i wish i was A gamer, all he is after is Food, sleep and some fine female tail :anime:

Jiraya was just a blast, from spouting English all the time to seeing him in more funny situations was just great.

The Mecha have to rank amongst some of my Favoirtes, with Muteki Shogun right at the top. Though the suit was pretty bulky and they had to make the Juushou Fighters to make better fight scenes. Kakurae DaiShogun was pretty cool and Tsubasamaru was a damn good support mecha!

 

[lazycoconut]

As OTT as Kakuranger can be, I think it handled its character stereotypes in a much better way than many recent Sentai. Tsuruhime had "feminine" qualities, but she wasn't a ditz, she didn't need a love interest to make her a more interesting character, she wasn't used for male "fanservice" and she had ambitions other than housewife or idol singer. Sasuke is a loud, childish Red, but I've never seen people dislike him the way they do Ban or Jan. Saizou was supposed to be the girly one of the team and no one complains about him like they do about Alata or Philip supposedly being "too feminine" etc.

 

[Fox-Chan]

Sasuke is a loud, childish Red, but I've never seen people dislike him the way they do Ban or Jan. Saizou was supposed to be the girly one of the team and no one complains about him like they do about Alata or Philip supposedly being "too feminine" etc.

It helps that Sasuke isn't deafeningly loud like Ban, nor does he belt out meaningless onomatopoeia like Jan. He's childish in a way that doesn't make me want to strangle him.

As for Saizou, it's because he still appears to be manlier than the other two you mentioned, despite some of his more effeminate mannerisms.

 

[Dr Kain]

KakuRanger is by far my second favorite Sentai series as it is so well done. It starts out silly, but the silliness does not go over the top like other series have done. Then halfway through, they have a huge story arc and the show gets really serious, which is where it truly shines. However, the episode that really sold the series for me early one was the one where Sasuke is being hunted by the Flower Ninja Girls, who have set up a perimeter to block him from using his Doron Changer. That to me was such a well done episode and stands out that it is one of my favorites from the series. The other thing I enjoyed is the subplots are almost as deep as those in DaiRanger even though not every character gets one like in Dai.

 

[Lynxara]

Sasuke isn't really loud the way your Bans and Sousukes are. Sasuke can be extremely childish, but this character trait is pretty crucial to the satirical elements of the series. You get good scenes out of Kakuranger basically making fun of Sasuke.

Since it's the mash-up of satire and straight action that makes Kakuranger fun, people are willing to take Sasuke as part of that. The problem most people have with "loud Reds" is that they'd enjoy the show more if the Red would just shut the hell up. I don't really see that argument for Ban, where he had strong characters for contrast, but boy do I sure see it for Sousuke.

 

[HibariHime]

I just started watching it and so far I think it's pretty good. Sadly, I only watched the first 2 episodes and can't find any of the others anywhere else which is saddening because I really want to see how the story and characters develop since this is the series I really am interested in the most.

 

[Liquid Chris Sentai]

My transition of NSK to MMPR season 3.

Sasuke = Rocky & Aurico
Jiraiya = Adam & Corcus
Saizou = Billy & Cestro
Seikai = Aisha & Tideus
Tsuruhime = Kimberly/Kat & Delphine
Non Existing Sixth Ranger = Tommy

Ninjaman = Ninjor

 

[Araki]

one of my favorite sentais as a kid, nuff' said
dont let the childish beginning fool you !! things keep getting serious and better

 

[lazycoconut]

I'm pretty sure that Tori Matsuzaka (ShinkenRed/Takeru) was quoted at one point as saying Kakuranger was his favourite Sentai as a kid

 

[masorick]

I love Kakuranger. It was lighthearted fun, but knew how to be serious when it needed to be. I'd watch it over Dairanger or Liveman (two shows that, in my opinion, try way too hard to be dark) any day.

That said, something bugs me about the Three God Generals: is one of them supposed to be a woman? It seems to me that when we're shown a drawing of them in human form in #23 or #24, one of them looks very much like a woman, but this is never addressed (and what I mean by that is that none of them speak in a female voice).
And if that's the case, which one is it? My bet is on Kakure Daishogun, but I'd like people's opinions there.