Monday, July 5, 2010

Power Rangers or Super Sentai? Or both?

Decisions, decisions. Power Rangers or Super Sentai. Your pick, your choice.


Super Sentai has higher quality of writing, characterization, believable performances by the casts, and a bigger budget. Not to mention a better handle on what entertaining action looks like. The music is great as well as the action. But some people, however, choose Super Sentai for these reasons:
  • It's original
  • It's Japanese
  • It's has more violence compared to Power Rangers
I think these reasons are pretty idiotic if you ask me.

And now let's move on with Power Rangers. Power Rangers, it can be original at times. It seems better that way. It -sometimes- does copy the Sentai's story. It's more mature than Sentai (in terms of let's say characters and sometimes villains). Saban's is aimed for all ages, even though it is a kids show. Disney's is aimed at children from the ages of 4-7. I think Disney handled the comic relief characters better than Saban did though. The music is okay...the music from MMPR-In Space is pretty epic! Power Ranger fans tend to choose Power Rangers over Sentai for these reasons:
  • It has more class
  • It's considered art compared to Sentai
  • Sentai is childish and overrated
I kinda agree with that last one, being overrated.

I think both should just be enjoyed on their own merits. I've found that when you dislike a Sentai, you can like or dislike the PR version and vice versa. For example, I did not like Power Rangers Operation Overdrive at all (then again, who doesn't). I absolutely loved GoGo Sentai Boukenger. I didn't care for Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, but I like Power Rangers Dino Thunder. Also, I couldn't get into Power Rangers Mystic Force and Mahou Sentai Magiranger. The whole magic theme wasn't really my thing.


But me, I prefer Power Rangers over Super Sentai. I can't really explain it well, but I just think Power Rangers is better than Sentai, The stories are told good (MMPR-In Space to be specific). And the music, like I said before, is just epic. Power Rangers is my childhood. It's the thing I "grew up" with. It's the thing that has stayed with me since it first began, and from that point on it's been a fairly large part of my life. It was a different kind of show.



As good as Super Sentai is in many ways, there's just no way it could replace the chunk of my nerdly heart that is already occupied by Power Rangers. And no matter how cheap, or phony, or downright ridiculous Power Rangers gets, it's always going to be THE show for me. Even knowing there are other shows that are technically so much better.

And to set the record straight, I do like Super Sentai as well...I just don't really like the newer series. Anyone else able to enjoy both, and if so what would you say makes them good in their own separate way?

9 comments:

  1. I kinda agree with it. Like, people I know only say Sentai is better because of the reasons I stated above. Power Rangers always seems like it's underrated compared to Sentai.

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  2. Kamen rider is overrated not sentai.

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  3. well about Super Sentai being childish, that is untrue, if you look at a single Sentai season, there is a whole theme of not only, good and evil, but also life and death; which is rarely seen in PR, i mean in Sentai, characters die. in Japan, Sentai is aimed for all audience, after all, a lot of adults grew up with super sentai. and i agree that PR brings childhood nostalgia, that doesn't mean one should use that argument to prove PR being better than SS.

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  4. "it's always going to be THE show for me. Even knowing there are other shows that are technically so much better."
    "I prefer Power Rangers over Super Sentai."

    He's just stating his personal preference.
    I don't think he is trying to argue one over the other. He's saying each are good on their own merrit and ultimatly not compairable. :/

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  5. Over all now I'm a sentai fan after learning that power rangers came from Japan from a classmate, but I still do have appreciation for pr since it's my childhood. Overall I just wish the tone wasn't toned down with the exception of RPM and stop putting all those bad puns while the rangers are fighting and focus with more character development and better music like for the intro, new megazords, and an actual ending theme.

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  6. Not for nothing, but I really don't get those three reasons people prefer Power Rangers over Sentai. "More class" and "Art" doesn't make any sense whatsoever and "more childish" is almost entirely wrong since the Sentai tends to be more serious (with some exceptions, of course) And nostalgia is not exactly a good reason to say something is better. You're not saying anything about the quality of the show; you're just saying that it's something you used to watch when you were younger. You could say that it's more dear to you and closer to your heart, but you can't really say that it makes a show better.

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  7. Yeah this is so biased lol, the reasons for both are pretty stupid. But overall, Super Sentai is more serious and action packed. I think Power Rangers (especially Samurai) is WAY too kiddy.

    I liked Power Rangers up until Wild Force. I then say Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder.

    Power Rangers isn't bad, but the censorship is painful. but then I will admit, sometimes Super Sentai goes too far too. (like when the monster was beating this chick in front of her kids, and when this girl was raped and kept as a sex slave hahaha)

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  8. I grew up watching Changeman, Flashman, Maskman and other japanese series. When Power Rangers came along, I was very much disappointed at how childish the stories were in comparison to the sometimes melancholic and fairly complex sentai series. It seemed to me as a very toned down version of the same concept: the heroes were no longer highly trained adults (in the case of Changeman, well-drilled soldiers), but innocent teenagers; the supporting villains no longer were ambiguous and sometimes likeable characters with tragic stories and tortured souls, but cardboard one-dimensional evil thugs; the main villains had no longer an intimidating, gloomy, mysterious presence, they were simply goofy. I mean, Bazoo, the main villain of Changeman, is truly a scary character, something I've never seen in any Power Rangers villain.

    I'm aware that modern sentai has been washed down as well, but 1980's sentai was really badass in a way Power Rangers never even got close...

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