Sentai Review: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger

So I have to blame my absence on the blog on Samurai Sentai Shinkenger.At first I  was only going to watch a couple of episodes to see if Power Rangers Samurai was worth watching, but in the end I went through the whole series fairly quick. Hit the Jump to see what makes this Sentai Series good.



First of all the cast has some memorable characters. Shinken Green (who was too busy playing Tekken to train properly), Blue( who has an eerie fanboy obsession with being a retainer to Shinken Red) and Gold( the sushi seller with bland sushi) really pull the show together. They keep the show from getting too serious and offer some of the more memorable  and entertaining episodes.

Overall the show feels a little more mature than some of the other Sentai series and even feels a bit like a J-drama at times. I think this helps make it more accessible to an older audience, thoough it is aimed a little kids. The story progresses at a fairly good pace , with only some of the episodes dragging on ( mostly the Shinken Pink episodes). As for the fight scenes they are decent  and nothing really out of the Sentai norm. Each character has their own elemental weapon and their powers increase when they use the disc in combination with their sword.

As for the mech, the show has a lot of variety. The show first introduces the five main mech ( Origami as they are called) which for the Shinken Oh.

Later other Origami are introduced that serve as the Samurai Busou ( Weapons), and also replace the helmet on the Shinken Oh with one pertaining to that origami. The most entertaining of these is the swordfish origami, which attaches the Shinken-Oh's katana to it's helmet and swings it around with its head , culminating in the Shinken Oh bowing as its ultimate move.

The show later introduces other Origami that existed from the previous generation of Shinkenger, as well as some original creations by Shinken Gold. 
Although the number of  origami seems a bit too much , at least it helps the show's battles against the giant Gedoushuu interesting.

All in all I would highly recommend this show to any Sentai fan or fan of the Power Rangers franchise. After its American counterpart Power Ranges Samurai , it is obvious that much of what makes this show good is lost in translation.