New Kingranger Custom Project! SH Figuarts Lady Battle Cop!

 



A couple of months ago I stumbled upon the pictured model kit. It is a 1/12th Scale model of the titular character from Lady Battle Cop.

A little back story...

Lady Battle Cop (or Onna Battle Cop...same thing) is a Toei one-off film from 1990. It was basically a ripoff of Robocop, but it served as a kinda important role in Toei chronology.

Following the Shotaro Ishinomori penned Star Wars ripoff Uchuu kara no Message (seriously...the Japanese government stepped in to delay the opening of Star Wars in Japan so that this film could be released first) there was a twelve year gap in production for original Toei films. We did see festival films for many Tokusatsu series that were airing on television as well as the two feature-length Sukeban Deka movies (which were decent), but nothing original.

Lady Battle Cop came along and changed that. I'm not sure why this film was made (I guess they felt that Jiban didn't do an adequate job of being their Robocop) but it opened the door to a nice run of original Kamen Rider one-off films (Shin, ZO, J) as well as the reimagined Jinzoningen Hakaider to cap it off. Sure, Kamen Rider is a franchised series...but Lady Battle Cop is virtually a Metal Hero movie given the costume and "heavily armed cop" nature of Metal Hero shows of the era. Rider was dead at that point anyway.

The film...well, I'm planning to review Lady Battle Cop in the future along with the 90s Rider films (I did Hakaider already). So...stay tuned!

I've always been a fan of the costume from Lady Battle Cop. It has always been a bit of a bummer that there was never any merchandise from the film outside of the soundtrack, a CD Single of the two songs from the movie, a VHS, and a Laserdisc. That is.......until I discovered this officially licensed 1/12 scale model kit by Argo Nauts on my regular sweep of YJ Auctions... Perfect scale for Figuarts!

I put in a modest bid for the kit...and won it for a reasonable price (cheaper than the aged ¥3000 sticker on it). Woohoo!

After initially spotting it, I contacted Kingranger. He said confirmed that the figure would be an ideal base for a custom Figuarts without damaging the original kit. I mean...seriously. Check out how straight all of the pieces are. Any area that isn't straight would be an articulation point anyway...

I didn't snap any pictures of the kit itself since I pretty much immediately sent it off to King once it came in. If you want to get a detailed look at the real suit in action, this clip has some nice shots of it...

If you are unfamiliar with Kingranger's work, check out his Flickr page or one of the following customs that he has made for me in the past...

X1 Mask Ranger Key
Fire Wolzaphone
Dekabright Brace Throttle

So stay tuned for updates! Both of us are on Twitter @CCLemon99 and @kingrangerprops.

See ya next time!

-CC

CD Collection -- 90s Shotaro Ishinomori Movies

OK, maybe I have been spending a little bit too much time covering Sentai recently in my lists and CD Collection posts. To make up for that, I am going to focus on the Music Collections and Song Collections that cover all of Shotaro Ishinomori's Kamen Rider work from the 90s (and Hakaider)! The good and the...slightly less good! So let's get to it, shall we?

Shin Kamen Rider Prologue Original Soundtrack
BCCM-14 1992.03.21

Shin Kamen Rider was such an awesome movie. The soundtrack is also pretty incredible. You know how pasta and ice cream are both delicious? Well, they aren't so good when you mix them together. Maybe this soundtrack could've worked with the movie, but the final cut is just awkward in it's sound design. There is one scene where Shin is riding his motorcycle to the warehouse lab and the music is just...out of hand. The sound of just his bike wouldn't been a thousand times more appropriate.

So yes, the music is very good on this CD, just poorly utilized in the film in my opinion. The CD is broken down into three sections rather than the usual random assortment seen on Music Collections similar to this. Tracks 1~4 are the "Band Arrange", Tracks 5~9 are the "Synth Arrange", Tracks 10~20 are the "Orchestra Arrange" and Track 21 is the film's ending song "Forever". There is a full color booklet, which is loaded with the usual production info along with several images.

Overall this is a fantastic release. I believe it was reissued as part of the ANIMEX 1200 series...so this is an easy one to find still. Just beware...ANIMEX 1200 CDs don't come with booklets, just a slip with the cover photo.

Kamen Rider SD Shudaika
CODC-119 1992.12.01

 



I talked about this CD previously in one of my Rare CD Round-up posts. Not much else to say. As a bonus I even uploaded the CD to Youtube. Enjoy...

Kamen Rider SD Ongakushuu
COCC-10588 1993.01.21

This is easily one of the rarest Kamen Rider CDs out there. The Kamen Rider SD OVA was released the same day as this CD. Well...this CD is exclusively made for the OVA and that is it. It contains the opening theme, ending theme, and all of the background music featured in the special.

So how is the CD? It's...excellent. I love the music on this disc. Usually rare CDs contain nothing special in terms of quality music. The flavor of music here is upbeat and very 90s. If you saw the OVA, you heard most of the music here.

The only thing that kinda sucks is how short it is. It comes up to about 33 minutes. It would've been cool if they tossed in some instrumental versions of the opening and ending themes to pad it out.

If you happen to see this CD for sale...BUY IT. Seeing as there were only two vocal tracks, it's easy to why the music on this CD doesn't get much love. However, they had a perfect opportunity to reissue this during the ANIMEX 1200 run. All of the other 90s Rider Music Collection were reissued...but this one was forgotten.

Kamen Rider ZO Shudaika
APDM-5001 1993.04.05

This CD Single features the Ending theme song and image song from Kamen Rider ZO. It also has Karaoke versions of both songs. Enough said.

Kamen Rider ZO Original Soundtrack
APCM-5011 1993.04.05

Eiji Kawamura took over soundtrack duties for the Kamen Rider ZO soundtrack. Seeing as he was composing the score for Dairanger at the same time, there is a similar style among the tracks. A handful of the music here actually ended up in Dairanger if you listen closely. The biggest difference is that there is more of a cinematic feel to the music with a bit more depth on the orchestra and action pieces.

This disc is very nicely put together. It features a wide track list (36 tracks) which makes finding specific tracks easier. There are also instrumental versions of the songs (versus Karaoke on the CD Single that I mentioned above) as well as the vocal versions.

Of the 90s movie music collections, this is easily my favorite. It is very comprehensive and the music is absolutely great. Recommended!

Kamen Rider J Shudaika
APDM-5006 1994.04.10

This CD Single features the Ending theme song and image song from Kamen Rider J. It also has Karaoke versions of both songs. So there you have it...

Kamen Rider J Original Soundtrack
APCM-5032 1994.04.10

Eiji Kawamura is back for another Rider movie! While not as good as the Kamen Rider ZO soundtrack, the music here is pretty decent. It retains the cinematic feel that the ZO music has, but it also has a mixture of a handful of tracks that were clearly Kakuranger rejects (Kawamura did the Kakuranger music as well). So the quality of the music is pretty good.

The CD itself falls short, however. It is 13 tracks, 12 of which are music with the vocal version of the ending theme song tacked on at the end as the final track. No instrumental version of the image song or ending theme--hell they didn't even include the vocal version of the image song "Just One Love". If they had included the instrumentals, this CD would've felt more complete.

There is a happy ending to the missing content, however. Skip down to the "Kamen Rider Song Collection" after the Hakaider stuff.

MODE - WILD SIDE
FHDF-1464 1995.04.26

This is the single for the ending song to the 1995 film Jizoningen Hakaider. Rather than produce a fourth Rider film, the popular antagonist from Kikaider gets his own role as a hero(kinda?). I talked a great deal about Hakaider earlier in this entry. Check it out -- both the blog and the film!

This single is unique in that it is a pop single that was adapted to become part of the movie. There is mention, in small print, that this is the ending song from the Hakaider film--but no image of Hakaider anywhere. Oh well.

Wild Side is a great song as I'm sure you're well aware. Even people I've spoken to who didn't dig the film walked out thinking that the song was cool. I've always had a theory that using Wild Side as the ending song was a last minute decision. Oh, and the other song on this album is a cool little song called "Shake To The Future". It's a little more dated than Wild Side, but it's still nice. The third track is the Karaoke version of Wild Side...and that's all.

I should note there was another single released for the Hakaider film. It is the two vocal image songs by KYOKO SOUND LABORATORY from the Forte edition of the soundtrack. It is one of maybe two 90s Tokusatsu CDs that I don't own. I'm not exactly tripping over my to get it because I already have the two tracks from the single, but more importantly it's flippin' $100+ whenever it pops up. I have no idea why it's so expensive... Hopefully I'll score a copy from auction for cheap.

Jinzoningen Hakaider Music Collection
FMCC-5058 1995.04.21

I've talked about this CD in the past. To summarize, this CD features a lot of music that wasn't featured in the movie. The record label behind this CD evaporated almost immediately after it was released and a second Music Collection was released the next year to coincide with the release of the Director's Cut of the film on Laserdisc and VHS.

Is it any good? Sure. The unused image songs are nice and hey, instrumental versions to go with it! The CD Single for the image songs didn't even have those (or Karaoke versions). The music itself is decent, but don't expect to hear some of the awesome music from the film itself--this contains bizarro versions of what ended up in the film.

Jinzoningen Hakaider Director's Cut Music Collection
COCC-13931 1996.11.30

This is the CD to get if you want to hear the music from the movie. It is a whopping 40 tracks with an insane number of variations of pretty much everything. It lacks vocals songs, but it totally makes up for that in content. Even the artwork is better...

Kamen Rider Song Collection
APCM-5042 1994.06.21

I'm so happy this CD exists. Remember how I mentioned during my review of the Kamen Rider J Music Collection that it was missing a bunch of stuff? Well, here it is. Lemme post a picture of the tracklist so that you can see what I'm on about...

Tracks 1~5 are all of the vocal songs from J, ZO, and Shin (in that order), Tracks 6~10 are Karaoke versions of 1~5 and 12~13 are instrumental versions of the J image songs that were missing from the J Music Collection. As an added bonus, track 11 is the movie size version of the ending song.

Also notable is that in addition to this being the only place to find the instrumental versions of the J songs, this is the ONLY disc to have the Karaoke version of the Shin Kamen Rider ending song.

This was pretty much the last Kamen Rider CD to feature new content in the 90s (yeah, in 1994). I'm just glad they were able to fill in some gaps before letting it die for a little while...

Kamen Rider Comple Song Collection of 20th Century Series EXTRA
COCX-36974 2011.09.21

Alright...a little back story.

Kamen Rider seems to get a lot more love when it comes to song collections. When it comes to the "Columbia Riders" as I call them (Kamen Rider 1-Agito), we get a reissue of Song Collections every few years. The first "Complete Song Collection" came out in 1992 with a follow-up in 1996. The Super Hero Chronicle Daizenshuu series came out in the early 00s, which combined multiple shows into volumes but did not contain Karaoke tracks. In 2011 a completely new series of complete song collections came out. This new series featured more Karaoke tracks and usually some bonus tracks tacked on to fill out the disc space.

I happen to have the 1996 series of CDs, which covers Kamen Rider-Kamen Rider BLACK RX. My Kamen Rider V3 CD is actually from the 1992 issue, so it annoyingly has a different cover (meh). I did end up picking up a handful of these 2011 versions though--Super 1, BLACK RX, and the EXTRA disc. Super 1 and BLACK RX has some missing Karaoke (and bonus tracks).

The EXTRA disc basically features all of the songs from ZX, Shin, ZO, and J. Karaoke versions of the 90s songs are absent, but for the first time ever we given the Karaoke version of the unused ending song from Kamen Rider ZX called "Forget Memories" along with a Karaoke version of that disco travesty known as "Stars on Kamen Rider". In addition to this, we are given MONO instrumental versions of the Riderman theme as well as "Tatakae! Kamen Rider V3" and "Let's Go!! Rider Kick".

While this CD isn't entirely for me, it is a fantastic disc to get if you just want to check out the songs from the Rider films of the the 90s...and ZX. All of the songs are great, as you probably know.

-----------------------------

There you have it. This is a look into the insane musical completionist world of just a handful of films. If you take anything away from this post...umm...Kamen Rider SD rocks!

-CC

Top 7 Toei Sentai Heroine Songs + CD Review!

Super Sentai Song Collections seem to have a loose set of rules since the inception of the genre. There is usually a theme song for the mecha and there is usually a song dedicated to the heroine(s) of the series. As a result of this, many song and music collections have been dedicated to both mecha and heroine songs.

Since I am talking about my favorite Heroine songs...why not do a little review before I get to my list? Honestly, I don't know when else I'll have the opportunity to talk about this CD, so why not here? Let's take a quick look at Toei Sentai Heroine Song & Music Collection!

Toei Sentai Heroine Song & Music Collection
COCC-13106

 



I mentioned this CD briefly in my mega-post about the Super Sentai Music Collections of 1996-1997 last month. To summarize, this CD is part of a massive catalog of music releases by Toei and Columbia in the mid-90s. This is actually one of the first CD releases in all of the madness.

While the mecha music sets were spread out on to four discs, the Heroine Song & Music Collection is only one disc. In all honesty, it really didn't need to be much more than that. There is a pretty clever layout to this disc. Here is an example...

Series 1
01. Eyecatch A
02. Heroine BGM
Series 2
03. Eyecatch A
04. Heroine Song

If your reading is up to scratch, here is a photo of the back cover tracklist:

As you can see, there isn't much in the way of description from the tracklisting. Most of them just say something like "Ninja White Image BGM", etc. In a handful of instances, vocal songs sung by the actresses are used (Flashman, Liveman, the Ako-chan Ramen song from Jetman, and the slow versions of songs from Goggle Five and Dynaman).

The actual BGM tracks are hard to explain. There are some pretty rare gems included, but not too much that isn't included in the Music Collection series that followed this set. Sometimes the BGM tracks are nothing more than one-chorus instrumental versions of the heroine songs. Other times it might be a few BGM tracks strung together. For Dairanger, Kakuranger, and Ohranger it is a medley of BGM *and* instrumental versions of the heroine songs.

The eyecatches...are strange. Only the outgoing eyecatch (Eyecatch A) is included. The Goggle Five Eyecatch actually sounds better here than on the Music Collection. Some of the eyecatches sound like they were recorded off of fourth generation VHS copies of the shows (Turboranger, Fiveman) while others were clearly recorded from TV, but sound decent enough (Dairanger, Kakuranger). The Kakuranger one bugs me because this is the only CD release of the proper Eyecatch A...and the quality is a bit off. The Eyecatch A that was used in the 2-Disc Music Collection is missing the percussion. Ugh. The only way Toei can make this right is by letting me raid their music vault.

Overall, this is a pretty good CD. There is a lot of variety and they made some good selections. The format may be offbeat, but it is definitely fresh.

 



------------------------------------

Top Seven Sentai Heroine Songs!

Alright, on to the main topic. I will try to include links for songs if they're available. If not, you might have to do a little internet digging on your own if you don't already have the tracks.

07. Mermaid & Phoenix / Dengeki Sentai Changeman 1985

I could only find the Karaoke version on Youtube for this one. > <

I think that this is one of the more underrated songs from the Changeman Song Collection. It isn't upbeat like a lot of heroine songs, but it is still a nice little song with great singing.

I also really like the song "Love Forever" from Changeman. It's kinda similar to this one.

06. hana no Momoranger / Himitsu Sentai Goranger 1975

The song that started it all from the series that started it all. I'm not a fan of too many of the songs from Goranger (or Gorenger if you're a PUTZ) but this is clearly one of the better ones. Also, Mitsuko Horie sings this song! Anison legends can't do wrong!

05. Spark! Umi e / Chojuu Sentai Liveman 1988

I'm not a fan of too many songs by the cast members. For the most part they can't sing...and recently they can't act... This time around we have Megumi Mori, who was an established actress prior to her year on Liveman. On top of this, she is also a decent singer and displays that here.

The great thing about this song (and a lot of the Liveman songs) was that this was a genuine return to a rock sound. I'm also a fan of synthesizer/dance stuff, but it was nice to have a brief break from the norm.

In the end, this song was a very nice combination of great music and vocals.

04. kagayaki no mai / Choriki Sentai Ohranger 1995

Another underrated song in my opinion. I think a lot of people favor the Tsuruhime song from Kakuranger since it has the same singer, Mari Sasaki, and sounds a little similar. I just think the music wins out overall here.

03. Seishun Circuit / Gekisou Sentai Carranger 1996

This one is sung by Hiroko Asakawa. She was an anison regular from the late 80s until the mid 2000s it seems and it's fair to say I'm a fan of her work. This is my favorite Sentai song of hers...actually, this is probably my favorite of hers overall.

It's a catchy little song that manages to have a certain sweetness to it at the same time. If I recall correctly, this song was used during the montage in Gaoranger vs Super Sentai...so atleast I'm not alone here.

02. Cosmic World / Denji Sentai Megaranger 1997

Alright, now we're getting serious.

For a while I kinda ignored this song. I always thought it was decent, but never thought too-too much of it. Recently it popped up on random in a playlist and I was won over completely.

This has to be one of the most lively Sentai songs of the 90s. It's right up there with the Megaranger theme song itself in terms of intensity. The singing is great on top of the music. Great song.

01. hard rain~yamanai ame wa nai  / Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger 2004

This song pretty much knocked me on my ass. Not only is it a song from a show I didn't care for at all, it's also a song by a cast member. The fact that it goes against all odds and made it to the top of my list.

Ayumi Kinoshita played Dekayellow in the show and actually did a decent job here singing this song. Who knew? On top of this, the music is a solid imitation of the kind of stuff other record labels were putting out at the time *cough*avex*cough* while managing to sound fresh.

It's a killer song. I'm definitely not alone in liking this one either...

THE ABSOLUTE FUCKING WORST: Girls in Trouble / Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger 2004

...and then there is this shit. Fuck this song. I know a lot of people out there like this one...but nope--I don't.

-------------------------------------

That's it for my latest list! Be sure to check out my other Top 7 lists on this page right here. Stay tuned for more Top 7 lists if that's your thing--I have plenty more to write about!

See ya!

-CC

The CD Collection -- Super Sentai Music Collections (1996-1997)

If you were a fan of music from Toei Tokusatsu shows in the mid-90s, you were having the best, or worst, time of your life. On one hand, Columbia went absolutely crazy with the amount of musical treasure they were releasing. On the other hand...these CDs were not cheap and were hitting stores fast and furious. This isn't like how they're putting out DVDs these day, it was an absolute flood. For perspective, here is a list of CD series that began in 1996 and ran into 1998...

-Toei Sentai Battle Music Collections (4 CDs)
-Toei Sentai Robo Battle Music Collections (4 CDs)
-Toei Sentai Heroine Music Collection (1 CD)
-Super Sentai Music Collection Series (19 CDs)
-Super Sentai Complete Song Collections (18 CDs)

...and there were also similar CD series for Kamen Rider, Metal Hero, and other hero shows! On top of these nostalgic releases, Carranger had a whopping 21 CDs released--Megaranger and Gingaman each had 10 CDs. Whatever fire was lit under the asses of the people at Columbia was being fueled by large piles of our money.

Today I am going to talk about probably the most sought after series of the Columbia releases listed above. I will be talking about the Sentai Music Collections! This series of CDs packaged together background music from every show whose music was either out of print or never released on CD. As you will see below, many of these CDs also featured unreleased music--a lot of which hasn't been released since.

Now...before I get into it, I just want to note how much of an investment these CDs are for the wise individuals who bought them new. The 2-Disc sets regularly sell for ¥10,000-¥25,000 depending on the series. That is a pretty decent turn-around considering they were ¥4,800 new. The earlier single-disc sets ran at a more reasonable ¥2,500 and can be found for about that price today...or less when it comes to shows like Goranger, JAKQ, Denjiman, Sunvulcan, or Goggle Five.

OH! Don't be fooled by the 2005-2007 ANIMEX 1200 releases of some of these CDs. I checked after some suspicions, and some of the priced-down re-releases are missing a lot of content on the CDs (notably Battle Fever J). If you're a crazy bastard like me, only the originals are worth getting. The misleading part is that they use similar covers to the 90s Music Collections. Be careful...

Some key terms: A "Bridge" is small piece of music that runs anywhere from 4-15 seconds. It's typically played during a reaction or revelation of some kind. Example: Burai is trapped in a cave an looks up to see a small opening where light is coming in, a short horn note is played. An "Eyecatch" is short piece of music that transitions the show to and from commercials. Eyecatch A plays the show into a commercial and Eyecatch B returns the show from the commercials. Instrumental versions of songs remove the vocals and replace them with an instrument of some kind--usually a horn, synthesizer, piano or guitar. TV size versions are short versions of theme songs that are usually what open and close the shows as you watch them on TV. Music collections typically open and close with TV Size versions while song collections open and close with the full sized versions. Oh, and a Song is a reference to a vocal song. I know that seems obvious, but some people can't tell the difference between music and songs.

One more...absolutely critical point. NO, I WILL NOT SEND YOU MP3s. The point of this article is to shed some light on these CDs since I can't imagine Columbia or Toei having these collections re-released or doing modern versions. It just seems impossible at this point. If you want the music, do what I did and buy the CDs.

After that long winded intro, let's get to it!

------------------------------

Himitsu Sentai Goranger Music Collection
COCC-13265

Being the third CD released in this series (skip down to Battle Fever J for the first-Heh) it kept the tradition going of giving a lot of content and providing some previously unreleased gems. My favorite track on this disc has to be the S.E. Mix of the TV size opening theme song. The song itself is in stereo, but it has all of the awesome sound effects (MONO) mixed it. It isn't very distracting, either. I kinda wish they could've done this on every release in this series of CDs. Imagine the TV Size version of the Dairanger theme with the opening and closing sound effects? Awesome.

This CD is essential listening when it comes to Sentai or even Tokusatsu music. Joy of joys! This is the release that they reissued in 2005 for the ANIMEX1200 series of priced-down reissues. Very easy to find and definitely worth a grab.

JAKQ Dengekitai Music Collection
COCC-13266

Lots of instrumental versions of vocal songs on this one. It's a good CD, but a little bit on the repetitive side. Fortunately the ANIMEX1200 re-release appears to have a similar tracklist...

Battle Fever J Music Collection
COCC-13211

Weirdly this was the first CD released in this series. Maybe they put this out and then backtracked to accept Goranger and JAKQ as Super Sentai the same way Toei did a couple years earlier. Either way, they got off to a strange start. The cover art is the disco cartoon picture that was featured on the original (and incomplete) music vinyl from the 70s. This lead to confusion later on when the ANIMEX1200 CD was released in 2005 and used the same cover art.

This is the version to get. It features TV size versions and instrumentals that are featured on no other disc. As a starter for this series of CDs, it was a good one in giving a complete package. Just make sure you buy the one with the catalog code COCC-13211.

Denshi Sentai Denjiman Music Collection
COCC-13212

This CD is heaps better than the original music collection. It features far more content than the original (and it's ANIMEX1200 re-issue).

That glorious Denjitiger theme.....it's just glorious.

Taiyo Sentai Sunvulcan Music Collection
COCC-13349

A good CD. I...uhh...am not very familiar with the original release of the Music Collection in 1981, so I can't say if anything is missing or not. It seems complete!

Dai Sentai Goggle Five Music Collection
COCC-13350

I was never a huge fan of Goggle Five or it's music. It's basically like listening to any soundtrack from the 70s, except in 1982. Dated, but decent I suppose.

Goggle Five does have my favorite Eyecatch of the 80s atleast. It's featured here.

Kagaku Sentai Dynaman Music Collection
COCC-13410

I like the Dynaman music, but never realized just how little of it there seems to be. A good portion of this disc is instrumental versions of vocal songs. That isn't a horrible thing, but on a single disc it sure does take up a lot of real estate. I already have these songs with the lyrics they're meant to have on the Song Collection.

Good CD, but surprisingly rare.

Chodenshi Bioman Music Collection
COCC-13411

This is one of the first major turning points for this series of CDs. Beginning with Bioman, and continuing on to most CDs after, there is a "prologue" track to capture your attention and ramp up the excitement to hearing the TV size opening theme song. The Bioman CD features the crazy drum rollcall music. I love that track so much. Setting the tone is what made these CDs appealing to me. Just diving right into the opening theme song doesn't really do anything to excite. It's just lame and expected.

The Bioman music, naturally, is awesome. I especially love the Biorobo music. There isn't too much in the way of Instrumental versions of songs if that's what you're into.

Great disc--right down to their choice of picture for the cover art.

Dengeki Sentai Changeman Music Collection
COCC-13487

This CD...

I love Changeman. I especially love the Changeman music. Naturally I should love this CD, but I just don't. They shoved 31 tracks on to one disc. The selections are very thorough, but the execution is woeful. There is no breathing room between tracks--everything just plays into the next piece. It's not Zyuranger Symphonic Fantasy bad, but it's pretty ugly.

I appreciate how packed this CD is, but I really feel as though they should have given it some more space to stretch it's legs on to another disc. I'm sure there was a little more content laying around that they could have used to fill up the space.

Oh, and they skipped the Prologue this time for some reason. Probably space. It starts off right with the TV size OP.

Choshinsei Flashman Music Collection (2-Disc)
COCC-13584→85

Mercifully they switched this series of CDs to a 2-Disc format beginning with Flashman. On top of giving ample space for these tracks not to run over each other and have more content, there is a certain coolness about owning a brick of CDs over a single disc. Owning a tactile thing is way cooler than any download will ever be, but owning one of these sets goes beyond even that.

Anywho...

Flashman has some excellent music, so naturally this is an excellent set. Given how much space this set has, it is waaay more thorough than the vinyl from 1986 was. The prologue prior to the TV size OP is probably one of the best put together in this series. Jetman also has a great "prologue" track with "Aozora 360". Highly recommended set.

Hikari Sentai Maskman Music Collection Vol.1
COCC-14504

For whatever reason the Maskman Music Collection was released after the Kakuranger Music Collection. Annoyingly it was also released in two volumes. No sexy brick of CDs!? Ugh! Why they were broken up AND released after Kakuranger leaves me very confused. Rights issue? Forgotten? What was going on?

Maskman was the first series to get the CD treatment in the 80s. Those discs were actually pretty decent in terms of content...but were missing a lot of bridges and alternate versions.

To add to the weirdness, the Maskman Music Collections can command absolutely astronomical prices. I've seen them go on auction for as much as $200 a volume. Some searching and waiting will bring you to a much more reasonable-ish price.

Hikari Sentai Maskman Music Collection Vol.2
COCC-14779

Not much else to say about the rest of the Maskman music. The disc I own is actually a sample pressing that wasn't meant to be sold. The only differences are that a "Not For Sale" sticker covers the barcode and the disc has "SAMPLE" printed along the inner rim. Normally this would bother me, but I found this CD a while back for a pretty low price. Considering how rare the Maskman discs are, I just let it slide and welcomed it into my collection.

Chojuu Sentai Liveman Music Collection (2-Disc)
COCC-13726→27

Contains a lot of bridge pieces that were missing from the original releases. You're going to see a lot of this going forward since all series after Flashman were given atleast two music collection releases during the run of the series.

Also, it's worth noting that the obi (or spine, or belt--the little paper thing that covers the CD case spine under the plastic wrapping when they're new) from the Turboranger set onward lists this show as "超獣戦士ライブマン" or "Chojuu Senshi Liveman". They sure were committed to this typo!

Kousoku Sentai Turboranger Music Collection (2-Disc)
COCC-13833→34

Some good stuff here. A lot of the music missing from the original releases made it here. As I will mention later on, this set is worth a purchase if you're a Zyuranger fan as it borrows some music from this series.

Chikyu Sentai Fiveman Music Collection (2-Disc)
COCC-13932→33

Nothing too exciting. There is a lot of nice bridge music here. I'm pretty bummed about a lot of missing music. The only Fiveman BGM I ever wanted was the wacky synth/bass tune that plays when they make their first appearance in the first episode. That was a pretty badass moment. The "Henshin" music from the second episode is also missing. I really liked that one too.

Good release in general, but a disappointment for CC. : [

Chojin Sentai Jetman Music Collection (2-Disc)
COCC-13978→79

Jetman had *three* music collections released during it's run. There isn't much new on this set. It's also kind of a given that this is the easiest set to find. It's Jetman...yeah.

As I mentioned earlier, it opens with a great prologue.

Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger Music Collection (2-Disc)
COCC-14016→17

This set is E-S-S-E-N-T-I-A-L if you are a Zyuranger fan. Prior to this, all we had were Symphonic Fantasy 1 and 2 and those CDs are AWFUL. I'm not sure what the thinking was behind those releases, but they were all we had before this set came along.

If I had to guess, the basic idea of the Symphonic Fantasy CDs was to release none of the music you wanted...mashed together in the sloppiest way imaginable. It would be like typing a sentence without being able to fini--ddenly you're on the next sentence. Fuck the Symphonic Fantasy CDs. Buy this set.

Missing tracks? Some instrumental tracks like Dragon Caesar no uta (we heard a little bit of it on the Zyuranger Super Action Sound CD) are missing. Any missing BGM can most likely be found on the Turboranger and Fiveman Music Collections since all three series were composed by Akihiko Yoshida.

Gosei Sentai Dairanger Music Collection (2-Disc)
COCC-14045→46

These last two releases are a little weird.

Eiji Kawamura is my favorite Tokusatsu composer, so this set is right up my alley. There are plenty of little bridge pieces that never made it on to the previous releases along with bizarre alternate versions of some tracks. The subtitle music that plays in the first few episodes is also on here (it's sliiiiightly different--a little more upbeat from the common subtitle that was used for most of the series.).

The Daijinryu music isn't here, sadly. I'm not as well versed in classical music as I'd like to be...but is it possible that Daijinryu's music was sourced from outside of Eiji Kawamura's realm? It doesn't sound like his style...so maybe it's just licensed/stolen? Any help would be appreciated possibly identifying the music.

All-in-all a very important set--lots of little oddities.

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger Music Collection (2-Disc)
COCC-14283→84

Oh boy. I could write an entire article on this set. First I'll talk about the good...

This set is incredible. It is absolutely packed with previously unreleased music. It has a TON of bridge music (four tracks worth!). It has the full sized instrumental version of the ending song (which is probably my all-time favorite instrumental of any Sentai song) along with several other good instrumental versions ('Into Danger Kakuranger' is a great instrumental). There are some great unused and alternate versions of tracks. This set makes me all giddy when I hear it.

Missing stuff: The Nekomaru BGM track from the first music collection is completely missing. Instrumental versions of Junior's song and 'Kiai haku hatsu! Kakuranger' would've been nice since we heard them in the show. The correct version of the outgoing eyecatch would've been nice (the version on this set is missing percussion, the version on the Toei Sentai Heroine set is MONO/recorded off a TV but has the percussion). Some of Junior's guitar abuse would've been excellent. The horn version of the Tsubasamaru theme is also missing.

Bottom line: I love this set...but it really should've been three discs. So much incredible stuff included, but it could've been umm...incredibler! I'm just super picky because I know and love Kakuranger in unreasonable quantities.

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That does it for that second chapter in my CD vault. I will be back next month with a blog about a topic of some sort. Probably a Top 7...who knows!

See ya!

-CC

The CD Collection -- CD Singles!

Welcome to the first in a series of articles detailing and cataloging my Tokusatsu CD collection!

To start things off, I am listing my 3" CD Singles. This list is incomplete as I am posting this. I have more CDs in storage that will be added when I get them out of storage. To be honest, some of the stuff in storage isn't all that interesting. Stuff like singles from Cybercops, 90s Ultraman shows (blah), Japanese dub Power Rangers singles, etc. I'll be sure to update!

Oh, and I might sit down one day and put full tracklistings. I'm not sure if there are any other serious CD collections out there, but I'm sure tracklists would be of some use to someone out there.

So here goes, I will be adding notes to give a little more information. If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.

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Between 1989 and 1991, CD Singles were pretty disappointing. They typically contained two songs. If it was a single for TV show themes, it contained just that. For 1989 the formats were still overlapping. Both Jiban and Turboranger also had 7" Vinyl singles, which are actually WAY more common than their CD counterparts.

There are actually a handful of Tokusatsu CD Singles from as early as 1987, but infomation of anything older than 1990 is hard to come by. For now, though, I am just typing about what I own.

1989

10CC-8161 Kidou Keiji Jiban OP/ED
10CC-8162 Kousoku Sentai Turboranger OP/ED

1990

CC-8403 Tokkei Winspector OP/ED
CC-8415 Chikyu Sentai Fiveman OP/ED
CODC-8535 Kamen Rider 99 no uta/Mahou Tsukai Sally 99 no uta
CODC-8536 11 Rider dai sanka/Towa no tame ni Kimi no Tame ni

1991

CODC-8655 Tokkyushirei Solbrain OP/ED
CODC-8663 Chojin Sentai Jetman OP/ED
CODC-8920 Ultraman-Love For Children (25th Anniversary Single)
SRDL-3394 Ultra Q/Ultraman Dance Remixes

-----------------------------------

The first major change to the CD Single format happened around this time. In fairness, the first single on this list to have Karaoke versions of it's featured song would be the "Ultraman-Love For Children" single from 1991. I don't entirely count that, though, since that CD would be pretty lousy if it was just the title track.

Regardless, the CD Single changed to it's current format of featuring two songs along with a Karaoke, or off-vocal, version of atleast one of the songs.

Oh, and I should mention that 1993 is the first year that Forte Music Entertainment reared it's ugly head. The Forte singles begin with FMDC. Sometimes you got Karaoke, sometimes you didn't. I hate Forte.

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1992

CODC-8982 Tokusou Exceedraft OP/ED
CODC-8983 Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger OP/ED (Promotional)
CODC-8983 Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger OP/ED
CODC-119 Kamen Rider SD OP/ED

1993

FMDC-502 Tokusou Robo Janperson OP/ED
FMDC-503 Yuugen Jikkou Sisters Shushutorian OP/Sweet Dreams
CODC-138 Gosei Sentai Dairanger OP/ED
APDM-5001 Kamen Rider ZO Shudaika ED
VIDL-10346 Denko Chojin Gridman OP/ED
FMDC-504 Ultraman vs Kamen Rider ED
GSS-1159 Gosei Sentai Dairanger Kiryoku Disc (Promotional)
APDM-5005 Ultraman Powered OP/ED

1994

FMDC-506 Blue SWAT OP/ED
CODC-383 Ninja Sentai Kakuranger OP/ED
APDM-5006 Kamen Rider J ED
CODC-487 Ninja Sentai Kakuranger Kakuredaishogun/Muteki Shogun

1995

FMDC-517 Jukou B-Fighter OP/ED
CODC-615 Choriki Sentai Ohranger OP/ED
APDA-136 Hitomi Sudo Starlight Fantasy (Ultraman Powered)
FHDF-1464 MODE Wild Side (Jinzoningen Hakaider)
CODC-765 Jukou B-Fighter Black Beet/Mega Herakles
BVDK-1001 Scatultraman/Welcome to Planet M78

------------------------------

Alright, this is the year that Columbia went off of the deep end. With Forte now out of the way, Columbia now had three out of the four Tokusatsu franchises that aired in 1996 (Guyferd being the fourth...I have to get those CDs out of storage).

You might have noticed that there are quite a lot of Carranger singles. Yes, yes there are. I have them all no easy feat. Every single song from the three (!) Carranger song collections was featured on a CD single. The only Carranger songs not featured are the alternate version of Pegasus Thunder Go!Go!Go! (has only some minor backing vocal differences), the Zokuranger theme (which is a lightly reworked parody of the first Carranger Opening theme), and all songs from Merry Xmas! from Carranger except the title track. So in total, 28/39 songs have a Karaoke version. That's quite impressive!

It should also be noted that as the year went on, the cover art for the Carranger singles got progressively better and more creative. There were some duds, but the traffic safety/Abbey Road mash-up cover was pretty cute. Also the Carranger ONDO single includes a seperate lyrics sheet with a photo guide to the dance steps.

Best year for CD Singles? Yes, absolutely!

After Carranger, all songs from the first Song Collection for each Sentai between Megaranger and Timeranger were featured on a CD Single. So if you own the Singles, you only need the second Song Collection from each series to have them all...plus Karaoke versions!

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1996

CODC-879 Gekisou Sentai Carranger OP1/RV Robo
CODC-880 Gekisou Sentai Carranger ED/Oretachi wa Carranger
CODC-881 B-Fighter Kabuto OP/Ryoute de dakishimetai
CODC-882 B-Fighter Kabuto ED/Wake Up Justice
CODC-922 Choko Senshi Changerion Opening Theme Single
CODC-936 Gekisou Sentai Carranger OP2/CATCH THE WIND
CODC-937 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Signalman/Seishun Circuit
CODC-961 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Zonette/Kokoro no mama ni
CODC-962 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Dap no uta/Kuru! Kurumagic Power
CODC-983 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Carranger ONDO/Pegasus Thunder
CODC-1000 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Utaou! Kotsu Anzen/Dakara Tatakau
CODC-1001 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Gekisou Taisou Carranger/Shoot! Carranger
CODC-1002 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Kumori Sora no yoru dakara/Carranger Kagayaku
CODC-1009 Choko Senshi Changerion Ending Theme Single
CODC-1021 Gekisou Sentai Carranger VRV/Dokomademo, Itsumademo
CODC-1022 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Victrailer/Kazoete Battle da! Carranger
CODC-1046 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Yumemiru LoveLove Rajietta/Red Zone Battle wa Bin!BinBin!
CODC-1047 Gekisou Sentai Carranger Merry Xmas! from Carranger/Gekisou Machine Daishugo
CODC-1048 Ultraman It Was 30 Years Ago (30th Anniversary)

1997

CODC-1166 Denji Sentai Megaranger OP/Install! Megaranger
CODC-1167 Denji Sentai Megaranger OP/Denji Gattai! Galaxymega
CODC-1168 B-Robo Kabutack OP/Super Dream 13
CODC-1169 B-Robo Kabutack ED/Do Up!! Kabutack
CODC-1202 Denji Sentai Megaranger Degitank/Multiweapon
CODC-1203 Denji Sentai Megaranger Cyberslider/Cosmic World
CODC-1233 Denji Sentai Megaranger ED2/Mighty! Megaranger

1998

CODC-1423 Seijuu Sentai Gingaman OP/Chikyu ni hikaru o
CODC-1424 Seijuu Sentai Gingaman ED/Mugendai no yuuki
CODC-1431 Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack OP/Wonder Power Robotack
CODC-1432 Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack ED/Aishuu Wonderful Bow
CODC-1484 Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna OP/ED
CODC-1490 Seijuu Sentai Gingaman Gingaioh/Kiti o muke
CODC-1491 Seijuu Sentai Gingaman Misetsukero Seijuu Tamashii!/Ginga Tensei! jikuu o koete
CODC-1514 Seijuu Sentai Gingaman Unare Juugekibo! Juugekiha!/Gingapink Saya! Hana no Senshi
CODC-1655 Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack ED2/GET HIGH!

1999

CODC-1699 Moero!! Robocon OP/ED3
CODC-1700 Moero!! Robocon ED1/Oozora no tobu youni
CODC-1705 Kyuukyuu Sentai Gogo Five OP/Go! Five Go! Fight
CODC-1706 Kyuukyuu Sentai Gogo Five ED/Kinkyu Gattai! Victory Robo
CODC-1724 Kyuukyuu Sentai Gogo Five Hashire Goliner! Sukue 99 Machine/Tango Psyma
CODC-1725 Kyuukyuu Sentai Gogo Five Yuuki wo nakuseba/Psyma~Hakai no rakuin
CODC-1743 Kyuukyuu Sentai Gogo Five Cho Kyodai Robo!! Grandliner/Kyuukyuu shouka~son bousai kenkyujo uta
CODC-1758 Moero!! Robocon OP2/ED2
CODC-1770 Moero!! Robocon Kitto Daijoubu/The Sound Of The Wind

------------------------------

2000 was pretty much the end of the 3" CD Single format as it most famously known. 3" CD themselves kept going through 2002, but were sold inside 5" CD slimcases beginning with the final two Kuuga singles. By the time Abaranger started in 2003, the CDs themselves were 5" CDs while keeping the four song format. Eventually they would experiment with the six track single by the time Shinkenger rolled around, but this isn't something they have done every year.

Anyway, I'm rambling. This was the beginning of the end for the golden years of CD Singles.

------------------------------

2000

CODC-1833 Kamen Rider Kuuga OP/ED
CODC-1837 Mirai Sentai Timeranger OP/ED
CODC-1851 Kamen Rider Kuuga Try&Chase/Power of Soul
CODC-1852 Mirai Timeranger OK! Timerobo/ai taiyo
CODC-1875 Kamen Rider Kuuga Red Desire/Blue Higher
CODC-1876 Mirai Sentai Timeranger Timeshadow~sugatanaku otomanaku/Who Are You?
CODC-1877 Mirai Sentai Timeranger Frozen Beauty/CHI-KA-RA 2000
CODC-1894 Kamen Rider Kuuga Believe in Miracle/Edge of Green
CODC-1895 Kamen Rider Kuuga Bara no okite/Purple Pride
CODC-1896 Mirai Sentai Timeranger Kakusei! V-Rex Robo/T.I.M.E. Timeranger
CODC-1901 Kamen Rider Kuuga It Comes Rain/Beatchaser 2000
CODC-1902 Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising your power to gold/Sokoki Gouram
CODC-1911 Kamen Rider Kuuga Tanpopo no ohana/Say Alright!
CODC-1924 Joe Odagiri "t"/sora e tobu toki (Kamen Rider Kuuga)
CODC-1925 Bricks Carry On/yuuki wo kureta hito e

------------------------------

So there you have it. This is the basic framework of something I hope to build up to be useful...or atleast a little bit informative.

Thanks for reading. I will be back next time with Sentai Music Collections!

-CC

Ninja de gozaru! 20 Years of Kakuranger! +Top Seven Episodes

On the 18th of February, 1994--twenty years ago today, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger hit the air! Following Dairanger was certainly not an enviable spot to take in Sentai history, but I think Kakuranger pulls it off! In fact, Kakuranger is my favorite Sentai of the 1990s.

I may have done a Top 7 list about my problems with the series, but I have been able to look past these minor issues enough to marathon the show once, and sometimes twice, a year!

In short, I feel that this is the most well-rounded Sentai series ever. It tackles heavy comedy, heavy drama, heavy action and does it perfectly. The part of me that argues that Dairanger is the better show relies on the action and drama that the series has. Sure, Dairanger had some of the best damn fights in Sentai. I would agree that Dairanger is even better production-wise. Outside of the ending and the constant family drama that Kou suffers through, Dairanger had a hard time getting into my heart.

Kakuranger, to me, is emotion set perfectly to Sentai. Every emotion is pulled off perfectly. Let me sum up some of Kakuranger's emotions in photos if I may...

Nothing!

...so cool..

totsuzen!! binbo!

There...uh...sure is a lot of man in that tub. O_o

Glorious mecha fights!

 

So there was tons of genuinely funny comedy, a lot of fantastic imagery, interesting and bizarre situations that the Yokai put them in, bonding within the team...and mecha fights that don't suck! I could go on posting pictures from one of the many great fight scenes or some of the more dramatic stuff...but you really need to watch the show if you haven't already.

 

I could go on and on about how much I like Kakuranger, but it seems to be well documented at this point (or atleast people no longer tell me that Carranger is my favorite Sentai). Also, since the series is still being subbed, I don't want to drop any heavy spoilers in this part of the blog.

tl;dr Kakuranger is excellent in that it isn't only well-rounded, but excels in all categories.

-----------------------------------------

Alright. Usually I tell *spoiler warnings* to go to hell, but I really respect Kakuranger. Hahaa. No, really...I am only putting this out there since I know a lot of people are watching and might not want to be spoiled. As of this writing the subs have only gone up to the 'New Years Hell' episode.

So yeah, turn back now if you don't want anything spoiled.

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Top Seven Kakuranger Episodes!

Honorable Mention: Fuin!! (Episode 53)

I can never bring myself to put finale episodes into my Top Seven proper, but this one does deserve good mention.

The Kakuranger are finally ready to take on Daimaoh as he is the only remaining Yokai, but something steps in at the last moment... Sanshinshou? That's right, the Kakuranger mecha step in and force the Kakuranger to stand down against fighting Daimaoh as his defeat would do nothing but spread his influence of despair and misery among all of humanity. Eventually they are forced to take Daimaoh to task after he goes too far. The only course of defeat is to return him to the very seal that started this series.

Daimaoh is sealed in by the Doron Changers and is trapped with the previously defeated Yokai. The Kakuranger celebrate but hopping into Nekomaru and driving to Fujisan.

As with the previous Sugimura-helmed shows, Kakuranger ends with the villains not exactly being defeated...merely dealt with. I always preferred the Dairanger ending because that shot of them parting ways is beautiful. However, the Kakuranger ending is very solid. In Zyuranger, Bandora was cast off once she lost her powers. Who is to say she won't regain her powers and return? Dairanger pretty much said "See ya in 2043!". Kakuranger had played the whole game and made it to the final boss. Maybe they didn't quite beat the Kunoichi Gumi on their own, but they made their way to the top and did what they had to do to rid the world of his menace.

Yeah, I liked this ending. I'm not sure why they left Hakomenro and Bun in the middle of nowhere, but hey... It was their victory lap!

07. Shinshun Manga Jigoku (46)

This episode came back full-force to show that the series still could be as weird this late in as it was in the beginning.

The Kakuranger are captured in a manga after a boy discovers a manga detailing the Kakuranger's defeat. Seeing as this is a Saizo episode, he seems to get the worst of it.

The sheer weirdness in this episode was great as well as the fights. It's also pretty funny how despite being a Saizo episode it's Sasuke that saves the day. By this point in the series, Sasuke saves the days pretty much every episode, so it's expected.

06. Maken to Pants!! (17)

This is a Saizo episode. It perfectly sums up why I kinda like Saizo (he seems to be pretty unpopular). The dude is a walking disaster. Infact *checks again* YEP! Saizo is actually the one who opened the seal in the first episode. Hahaha. The dude fails every single time, but does so spectacularly.

In this episode, Saizo buys a car. It is almost immediately destroyed by Yokai Amikiri who has a very serious grudge against his ancestor. He is forced to enlist the help of a young boy who happens to be blackmailing him over some unflattering photos.

The fights in this episode are great. As I was saying, I like this episode because it is Saizo in a nutshell. Guy just can't get a break.

05. Ge!! sugoi yatsu! + Akazaru no oni taiji (15+16)

Sasuke, man. Short synopsis since this happens again later. Everyone except Sasuke is brutally captured. He skillfully saves the day.

I could have left this episode off of my list, but it deserves to be here. Sasuke had some moments prior to this, but this is where he really began shine. The same guy who a few months earlier defeated someone by throwing his shoe at them was now sneaking past several very powerful Yokai, while badly injured, to rescue his friends.

04. Dokkiri namachukei (09)

Jiraiya's first real focus episode. Jiraiya has become TV obsessed and faces off against a Yokai who is equally as obsessed. A great episode to showcase Kane Kosugi's great fighting skills. There are also some great cameos by Shiro Izumi (Burai/Dragonranger, Yuma/Change Pegasus) and Rika Ishida (White Swan/Jetman)

03. Cho omono・Rainichi! + Shijo hatsu no Super Battle (28+29)

These two episodes were easily my favorite of the Shinobi no Maki arc that spanned from 23-31. After Sasuke, Tsuruhime, Seikai and Saizo had all gotten their Shinobi no Maki, it was now up to Jiraiya to retrieve his so that he could summon God Gamma. He easily had the biggest trial to overcome.

Waiting for Jiraiya was Gali, the very man who trained Jiraiya to one day become a Kakuranger--but also the same man who killed his father. Gali sold his soul to Yokai Nue to save the life of his daughter after a car accident.

Not only were the fights between Jiraiya (Kane Kosugi) and Gali (Sho Kosugi) great, but I loved getting that glimpse into Jiraiya's life before Kakuranger. It was a little strange having him show up in episode 3 spouting off in English, yet knowing why he was there and what he was looking for the scrolls, you fool. They belong to us. It certainly shed some light on that mystery, plus it was some nice story telling.

Also...Sho Kosugi vs Kane Kosugi....... IRL father vs son. Awesome.

02. Godatsu Ninja Power + Sanshinsho Saigo no hi + Kizu Darake Daigyakuten (42+43+44)

Three-parter. Daimaoh has turned 1200 years old which gives him the ability to create a clone. His clone, Daradara is able to absorb the powers of whatever he comes into contact with and redirect all damage to whoever he absorbed powers from. His first victim is Ninjaman and he eventually captures everyone except Sasuke. Sasuke and Sanshinsho are forced to fight Daradara back or risk him destorying the city despite every blow being directed to his friends.

Hakumenro secretly informs Sasuke of Daradara's weakpoint, which is attacking Daimaoh directly. Sasuke breaks into Daimaoh's hide-out to attack Daimaoh and free his friends, effectively breaking Daradara's link.

This is similar to the 15+16 arc, but it is done in such a more grand way. You are really left wondering what they're going to do to get out of this situation. Sasuke, ofcourse, shines bright here and the wheels for the finale are set into motion. Great arc.

01. Ninja de Gozaru + Abunai Obasan + American Ninja (01+02+03)

This series started off in three episodes. We were given plenty of time to assemble the team and differentiate each member. So Tsuruhime and Jiraiya were the only two that were aware of their destiny going into this thing? Interesting. I mean, this isn't the first time we've had most of a Sentai team going into battle completely unprepared but it was fun to see again.

Oh, and how could you not like their ancestors? Hahaa. None of them had kind words.

Overall, this is one of my favorite Sentai debuts ever. It may be spread over three episodes, but there is so much going on that it hardly feels slow or incomplete.

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There you have it! Here's to 20 years of Kakuranger!

 

-CC

 

P.S. More Top 7 Lists are on this page...