There is no doubt or possible strong argue that there are toku shows better than Sentai. I decided to write about this thread because I’m very sick and tired of people crazy over kabuto and misjudge that KR is better around. Boukenger was under a shadow of overly popular of kabuto last year. Sad thing was Boukenger is not bad or even bad as Abaranger or Gaoranger. Boukenger has very excellent special effects and real action (properly better than previous magi). And the show has very promising awesome kick-ass villains’ teams and actors. Really! I don’t see how people can go bonkers over kabuto.
Super Sentai is the Best Tokusatsu show around always has being and always will.
When it comes to true quality of entertainment and action nothing can beat sentai. Here are some of excellent examples and proofs
Messages across to Kids
As we all know most toku shows are targeted to younger kids. I think what kind of messages should cross out to kids is important. Sentai always give out beautiful and meaningful Life messages to kids audience like how to respect your parents, older siblings, working as one team to overcome obstacles, better to have a good hearted, learn to give forgiveness, courage create hopes, never give up, Karma can come back to you, if you caused pain to others. Japan had been better place with beautiful kids grown up watching this show. And they had smallest crime rates than any other major industrial countries.
Life-size and Giant size Action mixed
We all know that Ultraman series is Giant Hero Toku genre. But Sentai cover both life-size and giant size action with sword action kicking from KR and giant size of hero from ultraman, with big mecha robots with ability to change and swap opponents. Properly sentai has best live-action mecha and robos theme so far to this recent with themes from animals or space ships. Where is giant hero or mecha robos in KR??
The Meaning of Action
Sentai is a God of Tokusatsu with Biggest explosion, big battlefield action, awesome mechas and robo action, colourful amazing special/ CG effects, impressive martial art moves with pretty hot girls kicking ass to bad guys, When it comes to Art of fighting, sentai covered every range of genre from acrobatic, martial art, kung fu, street fighting, judo. You have every martial arts covered in Maskman such as karate, kung fu, boxing, sword fighting and Tai Chi Chuan and Chinese martial art in Dairanger. You can see some of biggest Explosion and real special effect in older sentai. But Boukenger did reach to that level abit last year. With very creative weapons/ arsenals and unique combine/ combo attacks and Sentai Hero attacks don’t often repeated as KR so often as where in KR Series their rider kicks pose are all very much same. If you even compare with just few random episodes of sentai and KR series, sentai always had 2 or 3 more Action scenes than KR. Most KR shows fighting are punching and slashing and that’s not good action. You can clearly compared quality action battle scenes that KR has missing. Just too plain and simple for most of action in KR.
Popularity / Copied or Imitated similar Japanese & overseas Toku shows
Sentai had broadcasted and aired in many other countries such as Germany, France, Korea, Thailand, Philippines, and Brazil, with being dubbed and subbed. And Even Hollywood had to bring sentai over to US and made into PR series every year. This show had been non-stop airing every year for the passed last 32 years (which mean over three decades in Japan) on TV screen, that just simply proof that this series appeal to broader more audiences and better rating than any other toku shows,
There are countless movies, anime and manga that copied or inspired sentai with colourful suit with motorcycle helmet. One of big example of imitation or copied Japan toku series has to be Chou Sei shin series which has colourful big team with combine animal mechas and humours like sentai.
Properly France, Philippines and Brazil had made most sentai alike shows than any other countries. In the Pass like French Five, bioumen from France and shinesman. Recent good e.g series such as Korean sentai-metal heroes’ alike series called Exerion and that Thai toku show Sport ranger (that was very sentai theme)
Identity of True hero
Always every year’s sentai team were selected only to one and only those who truly deserve and suitable to theme/ title of the series as example like Kai was chosen as Magired /leader even though he was youngest but he got the most courage cuz main theme of series is courage. And none of any other civilian people or allies can wear or transform into Sentai Hero (good eg, Amy can't change into abaranger at all no matter how she tries). But worst one has to be KR 555 where everyone can wear and change into Faiz gear and other riders’ suits (even a girl can). That's not a true hero where anyone can change and that mean real true hero don't existed in faiz or KR series. One true hero only should belong to this change device and the suit. I think one guy is enough for one suit and stick with it all the way rather than everyone go around and change into main hero like in some KR series. I can’t even count how many guys wear thebee device and change in kabuto.
Symbol and Ideal traditionalism
Sentai outfits always have been simplistic, traditional with stick to old classic style of clothing with inspiration of Motorcycle helmet and spandex clothing with eye shield. Sentai outfit or helmet looks so cool, simple and very eye catching. The show make red colour as main leader which I think it's suitable as red represented brave, cool, courageous and strong.
Racialism
Sentai had never discriminated racial tolerant as you can see in some of series like megaranger, liveman and abaranger that they had other nationality allies like black guy in megaranger and European agents in abaranger. They even had one big baseball league player as very funny black actor as main character in that Abaranger episode 10. As far as I’d seen in most KR series, I had never seen one another nationality apart from Japanese.
Story Characters
Sentai series create storylines and characters that anyone and any ages can be related to. Such as the characters in a show have normal human feelings like rivalry, jealousy, greed, anger, affection and bonding. They show every days type of people change into real team player and hero. I like the fact that how all of characters in series had their episodes (their moments) where they show their true personality and their strength even they are just engines technician or mechanical. Sentai is really for every one and family entertainment which is suit for from Dad to your sister at home can watch. They had some girly episodes like love or musical theme for your sisters or your mom and hot girls in action with big gun for Grown up Dad.
Sentai always has being much anticipated show with wide range of real people using as civilians who get harmed by bad villains. They act quite well in term of suffering or acting crazy or in awe. And big budget production involved and used some of top company and TV studios in Japan (e.g. abaranger eps 23). Such as media, radio and even overseas production were involved.
Power of Feminism
Sentai series always included from one to three main female heroines characters in a show. Some of eps shown that female can be strong, tough, ability to defeat something more powerful than themselves in this male world and show their true personal identity aside from being soft and love fashion. Cute girls with hot outfits with big guns action there is nothing better than that. They even had a few female leaders like Timepink in timeranger and Ninjawhite in Kakuranger. I love how strong, touch girls who can fight so well which you can seen nearly every sentai series.
Genre of Entertainment
Sentai had covered every genre of entertainment such as drama, romance, comedy, musical, thriller, horror, and sci-fi. They had top dramatic and deep storylines series like timeranger, magiranger and dekaranger. If you watch even random eps of Timeranger or Magiranger, they had told story about meaning of Life and deep sad storylines. Or very funny and wacky series like abaranger and kakuranger. Sentai can be silly at sometimes but there are so many mature and dark sides of the series. Some of good examples series are Maskman, Liveman, Jetman, Gogo V and Magiranger as there was semi female semi-nudity, adult theme (Liveman too) and Cannibalism (in turboranger too). One eps in Gogo V where a kid get shoot with blood all over his body. Many blood scenes can be easily seen almost every sentai series.
Nothing can beat humour or comedy in sentai with feel-good storylines, crazy silly characters can make you laugh your sock off. Most humour in series doesn’t look silly and they really look very laughable.
Opening and Ending Credits
Sentai always has this very fun, colourful and creative fun theme for ED credits with great upbeat tunes of music.
Where else KR never had proper Ending Credit (only hibiki had one) since 2000 series. Some say it make longer for episode but it was just a lame excuse to save the budget because if you add averge length of Ending Credit with KR whole eps, it's about same exact length as recent sentai entire episode. Boukenger = 24:50 , Kabuto = 23:40. Averge ED Credit 1.10 to 1.20 min. 23:40 + 1.10 = 24.50 (you got boukenger’s ep length)
Has the Best Tokusatsu Soundtracks
You can’t deny that Sentai has the best toku music with a wide range of music genre from rock, j-pop, balled and dance with upbeat catchy OP/ED theme songs. They had those rising fresh talent singers such as Mika Kikuchi as Umeko/Dekapink in Dekaranger and Nao Nagasawa as Nanami/Hurricanblue in Hurricanger.had sang for Insert theme songs. And they became doing quite well in both music and TV industry. And they had old then-hugely popular singing stars singer like Daisuke Shima and Megumi Mori in Liveman. Sentai had any theme songs for every character from bad guys to Mecha robot.
I’m a perfectionist guy and when it comes to action or show and Sentai got it all.
Sentai always reach to audience’s expectation levels with unique themes, blend of many genres, I like the fact that I can really related to some of sentai storylines and some of characters in the series.
Why Kamen Rider is worst and most plain Tokusatsu.
First of there is no way KR can be better because Kamen rider is not even merely good as Sentai. (Like a wise man said "Let a fool talks because he is blinded by fake”) Watching Kamen Rider is like eating meal without a flavour or salt. I always had a feeling that there are big things missing in KR. That's so much talking and a little less action. At end of eps you didn't even know eps was finished cuz they left you with cliff hanger storylines and when you watch the next ep, they moved on to new story. And most character in series are so less active and no fun at all when compared with sentai actors. KR had very plain, confused, weird storylines with Lifeless characters act as expressed their emotion in a Dark room (Kuuga and Agito are good example).
Big humour and real fun side of life is missing is KR where most series are too serious and depressing. Some of Worst Toku Final episodes have to be kuuga and agito where I didn’t know the final eps story was ended and it was finished just like that. No feeling to it or dramatic.
I can tell this series will be no appeal to Hollywood in longer term. They had done once masked rider and now with dragon knight. It won’t last or be successful like PR series in future long term.
Some new toku fans started watching kabuto and they are like ohh its best **** or whatever but really! kabuto is not exactly Magiranger or don't have THAT quality of entertainment or standard of action like Sentai series had. Where is big fire explosion (I don’t mean those green explosions by worms)? When was last time worms caused huge havoc or disaster to whole Tokyo?? I mean building collapsing and I don’t see any meaningful life messages given except just those egotistic quotes from Tendo which according to his grandma.
Their looks are so weird, never being traditional or similar in term of suits, face or even colour, some say red eyes but really.. hibiki had no eyes and faiz had yellow and not friendly appeal to it with those uneven bug eyes and weird mask shape.
This series put a bunch of so many female characters in a show just to burden the heroes, some of them can’t even transform and go around assist the heroes.(sure there are a few female riders but only in KR movies) These simply shown that females were weak in KR series.
Never really had proper or defined villain teams or organisation as MOW as mainly as villain and monster. I don't even wanna go there when it comes to KR monsters of week. I feel sorry for them as they don't have any super-natural power or abilities like shoot laser or fire. I mean for God sake doing something like they look awesome and all they do is just go around and punch, slash the riders. And those most worms in kabuto what do they do? They run around with fast light speed and punch the heroes.
I don’t define a good toku show which doesn’t have Proper Ending Credit in it.
Some says KR is dark and mature which I agreed but really.. this series aimed to toddler and very young kids. This series really need to lighten the characters or story.
In the end you gotta see it to believe it this amazing Super Sentai series and you don't need subs to understand it. In generally Sentai is much much Better than Kamen Rider in term of everything REALLY.
