Super Sentai Idol: Actors and Actresses who Have Musical Talent

For a while I've been thinking about making a post on which Sentai actors and actresses who I think are great singers. In the past decade, many Sentai actors and actresses have sung their own character songs. While others throughout the 80's, 90's, and 2000's have sung theme songs and insert songs. There's plenty of Sentai actors and actresses that have good songs, but these are the ones that I think have the best singing talent (in chronological order). I'm including samples of some songs as well.

Daisuki Shima (Yuusuke)/Red Falcon Liveman



Yuusuke/Red Falcon sung both the opening and ending themes of Liveman. I'm not a big fan of 80's Sentai music, but I think both the opening and ending theme for Liveman are the best among 80's themes. My favorite of the two is the ending theme. Overall I think Shima has a good voice with talent.

Megumi Mori (Megumi)/Blue Dolphin Liveman



Megumi Mori began her entertainment career as a singer before taking the role as Blue Dolphin on Liveman. She sung the insert song "Spark Umi E" on the Liveman soundtrack. That song has a nice rock beat, as you can see on the top video. Megumi also has diversity in her music. The second song I'm showing (Hoshi no Namida/A Star's Tears if my English translation is correct), has a much more relaxed, peaceful tone.

Kenta Satou (Riki)/Red Turbo Turboranger



Kenta Satou (Red Turbo) sung both the opening and ending theme songs for Turboranger, as well as the opening theme for Zyuranger. The openings for both Turboranger and Zyuranger are popular among the Sentai fandom. I personally don't care much for the Turboranger theme song, but the Zyuranger theme song is one of my favorite Sentai themes.

Toshihide Wakamatsu (Gai)/Black Condor Jetman


Toshihide Wakamatsu, who played one of the most popular Sentai characters ever (Gai Yuuki/Black Condor), also sung the Jetman insert song, Honoo no Condor (Flame of a Condor). I think the song is good, but not great.

Nao Nagasawa (Nanami)/Hurricane Blue Hurricaneger


Nagasawa Nao - To you by KHproductions

I had trouble trying to find videos for Nao Nagasawa (Hurricane Blue), but managed to find them. She sung the Hurricaneger insert song "Shinobi Koi" (first video, from 7:03 to 7:28) and also had some mild success in the J-pop industry (her top song reaching #27 on the J-Pop charts). I think Nao has a beautiful singing voice and some diversity in her music (some rock, slower ballads, evens some salsa thrown into a couple of her songs). However, her music is mixed for me, and tends to range from good (like the song in the second video, "To You") to pretty bland.

Shou Tomita (Yukito)/Abare Blue Abaranger


This is the only song that I know of from Shou Tomita (Abare Blue), which is Yukito's character song. However, I think it's a kick ass song. Nice rock beat, and Shou sings it perfectly. IMO it's the best of the character songs by any 2000's Sentai male actor.

Ayumi Kinoshita (Jasmine)/Deka Yellow Dekaranger



Ayumi Kinoshita's song, "Hard Rain," (first video) I think is perhaps the best character song. It has a nice, up-tempo beat. While I don't think Ayumi's is the best singing talent, she's descent and the up tempo beat to her character song suits her well. She also sung the Dekaranger insert song "Girls in Trouble" (second video) with her Dekaranger co-star Mika Kikuchi (Umeko).

Mika Kikuchi (Umeko)/Deka Pink Dekaranger




While Ayumi Kinoshita has possibly the best character song, I think her co-star Mika Kikuchi (Umeko) is the best singing talent among any Sentai actor or actress. She has a beautiful voice that's made for slow melodies. Like other Sentai actors/actresses, she has a character song (Sunao ~ Ima wo Shinjite) (first video), and also sung an insert song on the Magiranger soundtrack (Tenkuukai no Yasuragi/Peace in Heaven) (second video). She's not only good at slower ballads, but at rock songs as well, like the song in the last video, "Chihei no Kanata."

Yumi Sugimito (Miu)/Go-On Silver, Go-Onger


Yumi Sugimoto also has a good singing voice that really shows in her character song "Yume no Tsubasa." She joined her Go-Onger co-stars Rina Aizawa and Nao Oikawa to sing the song "G3 Princess." That song personally I think is ok, but Yumi and Rina both have much better character songs.

Hidenori Tokuyama (Hiroto)/Go-On Gold, Go-Onger


While not an actual character song, Hidenori Tokuyama's song "Miss You" managed to make an appearance in episode 31 (the G3 Princess episode), which I thought was easily the best song in the episode. The song sounds kinda like country, which isn't my type of music, but it's still a good song (the full version of the song is in the video above. I think Hidenori displayed a great singing voice in the song, which makes it easy to listen to.

Most Childish Sentai's

Recently, Sean Akizuki made his list of "kiddie" Sentai series, so I decided to make my own list of Sentais I consider kiddie or childish.

Go-Onger

G0-Onger IMO is easily the most childish Sentai series with the talking mechas complete with anime eyes (the engines), cartoon strips, and its comedic style. Commercially Go-Onger was a success, selling 12 Billion Yen in toys, the highest since Abaranger. However, this strategy alienated older adults. Among English-speaking fans Go-Onger has come off as a love it or hate it series with many calling Go-Onger the worst Sentai series, mostly due to its childish nature. Personally, I don't think Go-Onger is a bad series at all. Actually, I feel that its childish nature works well in its favor and makes the show entertaining. The engines have really cool and vibrant personalities with my favorites being Speedor, Birca, and Bear RV. As for the show's comedy, I thought it was ok. Not as good as the comedy from Dekaranger, Boukenger, or Shinkenger but much better than say Goseigers, Power Rangers Ninja Storm, and Power Rangers Samurai.

Magiranger

Magiranger I think is the second most childish Sentai behind Go-Onger because of the magic motif, characters like Mandora Boy and Smokey, and its goofy comedy. However, this series mixes its childishness with some pretty dark and serious moments. Unlike Go-Onger, Magiranger doesn't get as much criticism for its childish nature due to its unique story. Personally I think the childish aspects of Magiranger were ok. I'm not a fan of magic shows but I felt the magic motif overall was handled ok. Mandora Boy was ok and I actually liked Smokey quite a bit. The comedy, like Go-Onger's, I thought was just ok. However, for me Magiranger is at its best when its more serious, like when the story focuses on the villains or Magiranger's family aspects.

Zyuranger

Zyuranger is another childish Sentai. The dinosaur motif was handled in a fairytale fantasy setting, the child of the week gimmick, and its kiddie outro. This seemed to work well with kids but like Go-Onger it alienated older audiences. Among Western fans, Zyuranger has fans split between fans who think it's not that good and fans who tend to overrate the series due to MMPR nostalgic factors. Personally, I disliked Zyuranger's childish aspects. I don't really care for the fairytale setting in Zyuranger, but unlike Magiranger I didn't think it was handled well at all. Also, the child of the week gimmick I feel is pretty lame and distracts the show from character development. However, like Magiranger, I think Zyuranger is at its best when its story circles around its more serious aspects such as Burai's touching story, his relationship with his brother Geki, and to an extent Bandora.

Goseiger

Goseiger is fourth on this list for a few reasons. The show's motif IMO is pretty childish with the angel motif and the second outro was kinda kiddie. However, it's last on this list because when you actually watch the show it seems unsure as to rather it wants to take the turn of childish comedy like Go-Onger or go for the more serious tone. Goseiger hasn't been well received among Western fans. I have to admit like Magiranger's motif, I'm not much of a fan of Goseiger's angel motif. But at least Magiranger did handle the magic motif reasonably well, here Goseiger does virtually nothing with the angel motif. Initially it was set up well with the 5 Gosei Angels from three different tribes but other than having different powers and abilities, nothing is really done to distinguish how these tribes are different. In Zyuranger for example, when all the characters are from different tribes, we do at least get some background story, particularly surrounding Geki and Burai. However, unlike Magiranger or Zyuranger, the serious moments in Goseiger aren't that well handled IMO, at least not until towards the end a little bit. So for me, this series fails both with its childish and comedic tone, and its more serious moments. Goseiger so far is the only Sentai series I truly dislike.

Some Sentai Characters That I Feel Mixed About

Among most Sentai characters, there's been many I've liked, some I feel are ok, some bland, and a few others that I disliked. However, there's a handful of characters that I don't know what to think about and generally have some mixed feelings about. Here they are.

Mei- Ptera Ranger


Generally, I think Mei is cute and some of Mei's focus episodes are pretty good (especially the punk episode with Dan). But other than Mei's "cuteness" and her rivalry with Lamie I feel she doesn't have much else to offer. She's really stereotypical of other pink senshi, granite she was one of the first kawaiiko's, and having a rivalry with one of the main villains is also pretty common among pink senshi. Also being the way Zyuranger is written, it feels often that the only two characters in Zyuranger that matter much to the story are Geki and Burai.

Naoto- Time Fire


Naoto is on both my mixed and dislike list. The reason why he makes my mixed list is from a story perspective, he works out perfectly well. I felt like the first half of Timeranger is kinda slow and episodic, but when Naoto arrives the pace of the story really picks up. He added the spice to the story and another dimension. The problem I have is with his character, and he's the only Timeranger character that I don't care much for. I know some others may like it but I feel his arrogance makes him too unlikable for my taste. To me he comes off as too much of a jerkass, and unlike many other of the jerk-like characters like Gai, Hoji, and the Go-On wings, Naoto's attitude doesn't change the slightest bit.

Yousuke- Hurricane Red


Yousuke really has me split. Sometimes I like him and other times I feel he's kinda bland. I really liked his rivalry and evolving relationship with Ikkou, but from a development and personality perspective there's not a lot to him. Especially when you compare Yousuke to many other red senshi. He's not a bad character, just that for a red senshi Yousuke feels like he's lacking.

Ran- Geki Yellow

Ran is probably the character I like the most on this list. She's kinda like the kawaiiko and the action girl rolled into one. She's cute, sweet, and tough, kinda like a mix between Sakura (Bouken Pink) and Saki (Go-On Yellow). I think some of her focus episodes during the first half of Gekiranger are some of the better ones IMO, specifically 11, 15, and 23 where she was named team captain. What I'm really mixed about is her lack of development, focus, and how her leadership was handled during the second half of the season. While I think the second half of Gekiranger improves quite a bit with the action, story, characters, and drama, it falls short with Ran's development. After episode 23, she only got a single focus episode (37). Being the team captain, I felt they should have figured out how to squeez in at least a couple more focus episodes for her. In short, I like her character and don't have a problem with the character herself, I just don't like how her character was poorly handled by the writers.

My Favorite Sentai opening theme songs

The one thing I haven't done a whole lot of is focus on the music of Sentai and Power Rangers. I'll start here with a list of some of my favorite Sentai intros and opening themes. As you can tell, I'm not much of a fan of pre-2000's Sentai music, but 3 90's theme songs still manage to make my list. Enjoy.

Jetman's theme song is pretty cool. The song fits well with both the intro and the fighting songs.

I like Zyuranger's opening theme song, a lot better than its ending theme. It's not quite as cool as Go Go Power Rangers or some of Sentai's other theme songs, but it's still a pretty descent song.

Megaranger's opening theme is by far my favorite 90's Sentai theme song. The song starts out kinda slow but it still has a fun beat.

I like the Timeranger theme song a whole lot better than the Power Rangers Time Force theme song. It has a strong beat, it's fast pace, and goes quite well with the intro. It's a pretty intense song for a pretty intense season.

Dekaranger's opening theme is awesome. It's by Psychic Lover, and just about every song by Psychic Lover is awesome. By far my favorite Sentai theme song and I often catch myself singing along with it. It also surpasses all of my favorite Power Rangers theme songs.

The Gekiranger theme song is also pretty awesome. Like Deka's theme, I often find myself singing along to it and it fits the intro quite well. The intro is also pretty awesome with all the martial arts action, except for some parts in the early part of the intro where the foot soldiers look more like they're dancing instead of fighting.

Go-Onger's theme song is also quite catchy and fun. Much like the series is. Not quite as awesome as the Dekaranger, Gekiranger, or the Shinkenger theme song, but still fits the series quite well.

Shinkenger's theme song is another totally awesome song. It's a collaboration between Psychic Lover and Project R. Catchy and energetic. It's my second favorite Sentai theme behind Dekaranger's. The intro is pretty cool as well.

My Picks for Cute Sentai Heroine

Since I made a post on hot Sentai heroine, I've decided to make a post for cute Sentai heroine as well. A post for attractive PR heroine will come as well. Enjoy :)

Ako/Sayuri Uchida (Blue Swallow, Jetman)

Though not as adorable as some of the other girls on this list, Ako is still cute in her own way.

Mei/Reiko Chiba (PteraRanger, Zyuranger)

Mei is quite adorable and cute, especially the different hairstyles she would use. For me, Mei is one of the few bright spots from Zyuranger.

Matsuri/Kayoko Shibata (GoPink, GoGoV)

Though I haven't seen much of GoGoV (except for the team-up with Timeranger), I though Matsuri was cute.

Umeko/Mika Kikuchi (DekaPink, Dekaranger)

Umeko is cute and adorable in many ways. Besides being short, she's energetic and cheerful, the kind of girl I would like to date. And she has a nice singing voice to.

Houka/Ayumi Bepa (MagiPink, Magiranger)

Houka is much like Umeko. Very feminine, bubbly, and a ditz. Though for me, not as cute as Umeko, nor as attractive as Urara.

Natsuki/Chise Nakamura (BoukenYellow, Boukenger)

Natsuki is one of the few yellow rangers that is feminine, and bubbly. She's childish but in a cute way. She's even more interesting of a character because she's a 100,000 year old princess of a destroyed civilization.

Ran/Mina Fukui (GekiYellow, Gekiranger)

Though Ran is much more serious personality wise than most of the girls on here, look's wise, she's kinda cute. For me, her best moment was when Jan was turned into a kid and Retsu was turned into a baby, her reaction was hilarious.

Saki/Rina Aizawa (Go-On Yellow)

Saki I think is another cute, cheerful character. Though not as feminine or as bubbly as Umeko, Houka, or Natsuki, she's cute.

Kotoha/Suzuka Morita (ShinkenYellow, Shinkenger)

Kotoha is another cute and adorable girl. Though she's tougher and more serious (most cute Sentai heroine are used for comic relief), her interaction with Chiaki, admiration for Mako and Takeru, and her innocents make her adorable, and like Umeko she's tiny. I guess what also make's her adorable is that she's so young as well.

Why Dino Thunder is not a parody of MMPR

Power Rangers Dino Thunder is often criticized by Power Ranger fans as being a poor attempt by Disney to Parody MMPR. While I personally am not a fan of the direction that Power Rangers went under Disney ownership (especially during the Bruce Kalish era), Dino Thunder is one of my favorite PR incarnations, and I view this as a misconception. Sure, the series does poke fun here and there at MMPR, but some of the similar elements are not Disney's fault. To start off, Disney and Doug Sloan (who was one of the main producers in both MMPR and PRDT) are only dealing with the hand they are given by TOEI, the company that owns Super Sentai. Some of the similarities between PRDT and MMPR include a dinosaur theme (even more specific the Red Ranger drawing powers from the Tyranosaurus, Blue Ranger drawing power rangers from the Triceratops, and the lone female ranger drawing from the Pteradactyl), an evil power ranger (in this series the white ranger), and even the Dino Thunder logo that looks similar to the original Green Ranger power coin. These similarities that I listed above are all in Dino Thunder's Super Sentai counterpart Abaranger. The white ranger in Abaranger (called Abarekiller) fought against the other Abarangers for excitement before ultimately joining with them to fight a common enemy. This is the source material that Disney was given and had to adapt to. Also, Mesogog is vastly different from Rita or Lord Zedd, and there is no equivilant of Zordon in Dino Thunder.

Welcome

As a fan of both Super Sentai and Power Rangers, I would like to welcome you to my new blog. This blog will be both informational, and my personal opinion. I grew up as a Power Rangers fan and have over the last couple of years started watching more Super Sentai footage. Disclaimer, I have not seen every single Power Rangers or Super Sentai series, so I do not claim to know everything about both series. However, I have begun to watch more of what I haven't seen, so that will change soon :).





About Super Sentai









Super Sentai is a Japanese kids show owned by TOEI, and is part of the Tokusatsu genre (or Super Hero in English). The Tokusatsu genre includes other Japanese shows such as Kamen Rider (also owned by Disney) and Godzilla. The word Sentai translates into English as "task force" or "fighting squadron. Super Sentai begain with Himitsu Sentai Goranger in 1975 and lasted two years. Since then, Super Sentai has changed incarnations, cast, suites, and weapons every year. The current Super Sentai series is Tensou Sentai Goseiger. Most Super Sentai series' have at least five super heroes or "rangers". Starting with Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger in 1992, a sixth hero (and sometimes a seventh) has also been added to the show midway into the season.





About Power Rangers

Most people who come across this blog will know what Power Rangers is. For those that don't I will give a brief discription. Power Rangers is the American adaptation of the Super Sentai series. Power Rangers was originally created by Saban Entertainment but is now owned by Walt Disney. Power Rangers uses battle footage from its Super Sentai counterpart, but Power Rangers is NOT a dubbed version of Super Sentai. Instead, Power Rangers has its own characters and its own story line. The first Power Rangers series- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR)- begain in 1993 adapting footage from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. MMPR lasted three seasons until 1996. After MMPR, the next series, Power Rangers Zeo (PRZ) begain. Unlike Super Sentai, the four incarnations of Power Rangers (and first six seasons) had the same characters and a common storyline. This is commonly known as the Zordon Era (named after Zordon, the Power Rangers commander who dies at the end of the "Zordon Era"). The Zordon Era includes MMPR seasons 1-3, PRZ, Power Rangers Turbo (PRT), and Power Rangers in Space (PRiS). Starting after the Zordon Era in 1999 with Power Rangers Lost Galaxy (PRLG), Power Rangers adopted more Super Sentai traditions such as changing the cast and storylines every year, and making team-up specials. Changing ranger suits every year had begain in 1996 with PRZ. Power Rangers ended (or at least is in hatius) in 2009 with Power Rangers RPM.





Differences between Power Rangers and Super Sentai


Besides what is written above, there are many other differences between Power Rangers and Super Sentai, mainly because of cultural differences. For example, what may be viewed in Japan as appropriate or acceptable for children to watch may not be in the United States. Super Sentai tends to have stronger, more mature content than Power Rangers. This includes more violence, sexual innuidy, and foul language.