The day that Super Sentai died...

Does that mean anything to you? It might just look like the entry from Toei's website about the eighth episode of Megaranger, but in truth, it is the obituary for the long running Super Sentai series.

Why?

The first seven episodes of Megaranger aired Friday nights at 5:30PM. The rest of the series aired at it's current timeslot of 7:30AM on Sundays. Hard to believe, but Sentai series had several timeslots between Goranger and Megaranger.

Hey! You said you love Kamen Rider Black and Black RX. What gives? They aired on Sunday mornings!

This is true. My gripe with Super Sentai is not that it moved to mornings, however. Kamen Rider Black and Black RX are perfect examples that timeslot alone didn't have a negative effect on how much a show can kick ass. There is a crucial X Factor that killed Super Sentai in the move to Sunday morning... They added five minutes to the show.

More is better! More Tokusatsu is the greatest gift anyone can give! You're seriously crazy, CC!

In it's history Super Sentai has fluxuated in runtime. Between Goranger and the ninth episode of Dynaman, Sentai shows had a full 30 slot. My favorite shows happen to fall within the shortened 25 minute slots. I feel that putting a tighter limit on something cuts the fat. Let's break it down...

25 Minute Show

Opening Credits: Approx 1:30
Commercials: Approx 3:00
End Credits: Approx 1:00
Episode Preview: :15

This leaves about 18-19 minutes of runtime depending on the show. That is absolutely plenty of time to start a show, have some fights, abbreviated mecha fight, show end. Keeping it tight keeps the momentum of the show. There isn't time for useless scenes of the characters bored, or goofing off (poorly), or endless mecha introductions.

Time limits are essential, IMO. I have had several complaints about Youtube over the years, but the one thing i've never had a problem with is the former ten-minute time limit. It worked for me. Even my longest mecha videos were worked into the ten minute frame. It was a challenge, but it worked well. I cut the fat. It was ten solid minutes when I had to put it all together.

So I have been tweeting about the death of Super Sentai this week. I promised an answer that didn't have to do with content, hell, I love Gogo Five. It's just... I cannot get into the shows anymore. They haven't figured out how to properly utilize the extra minutes in each show some fourteen years after they extended the shows.

I hope this was a little bit of enlightenment for a change.

Take care, see ya next time!

-CC

P.S. Gokaiger is really boring. Looking forward to seeing Kyousuke this weekend and how Red Racer plays in.