Power Rangers has been a long-standing titan of popular culture since its original series aired in 1993. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is still a nostalgic series for many who grew up in the 90s, but some may not know about the Power Rangers series’ roots in the Japanese show, Super Sentai.
Super Sentai is responsible for the majority of PR’s content. Costumes, villains, and even many story elements are adapted from Sentai, but PR does things differently enough to set itself apart. For PR fans, making the jump to Sentai can be a fun and enlightening experience, but with over 40 seasons so far, there are some places that are a bit better to start with.
8 Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger
The aforementioned 90s kids will no doubt find Zyuranger familiar. It is the season of Sentai that was adapted into the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, meaning the costumes, powers, and many of the antagonists will be recognizable to PR fans.
Unlike MMPR however, Zyuranger doesn’t focus on teenagers. It actually follows a team of humans who have been released from suspended animation to face the sworn enemy of their dinosaur-descended civilization. The difference between these two series is a good indicator of the kind of variations PR fans can expect in the various Sentai series.
7 Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters
A fairly modern Sentai season, Go-Busters was recently adapted into Power Rangers Beast Morphers. While BM saw its cast taking on an organized, protector role in their city, GB is actually a spy show, with the main team being sent out on their fair share of espionage missions as well as the typical monster fighting.
This season actually contains some olive branches to the PR series. The most obvious of these is the use of the classic PR catchphrase “It’s morphin time” as part of the transformation sequences.
6 Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger
While the previous two Sentai series vary heavily from their PR counterparts, Dekaranger is nearly identical in premise to its counterpart, Power Rangers SPD, both focusing on a police force. The “SPD” organization even retains its name between both series, although standing for different things.
As SPD is one of the more popular PR seasons, a lot of the fanbase will find Dekaranger a gentle transition. Although, due to the several-year gaps between Sentai seasons and their PR adaptations, Dekaranger has lower production values than SPD fans may be used to.
5 Mahō Sentai Magiranger
Similarly to its PR counterpart, Mystic Force, Magiranger is a season all about magic and the mystical. Being the only season to focus heavily on magic, it’s quite unique within the Sentai library. Another unique aspect of this season is the way its main cast is set up.
Unlike most seasons of both shows, Magiranger’s team are actually all siblings. Due to this, sibling rivalry and familial relationships are common topics in the show, making it one of the more relatable seasons, despite all the mysticism present.
4 Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger
With the seemingly endless pop culture star power of ninjas, it’s no surprise that Super Sentai has 3 ninja-themed seasons under its belt. Of these, Hurricaneger might be the easiest for newcomers to get into. Partially due to its close similarities to Power Rangers Ninja Storm, even down to the villain designs.
With only 3 members in its starting team, the cast is a lot more manageable than the series’ standard 5. Hurricaneger also has a rather light tone compared to other Sentai seasons. The starting team is a fun-loving group of losers, who end up providing their fair share of comedy, and are easy to get behind.
3 Samurai Sentai Shinkenger
This season’s adaptation, Power Rangers Samurai, paid a lot of homage to Japanese history and culture due to its subject matter, but Shinkenger takes that to another level. In many ways, Shinkenger is Samurai with the added drama of an old samurai movie.
Its core cast is centered around the team’s leader, who is an heir to a long-standing samurai clan. They share a lot of similarities to their PR counterparts, with both red rangers even being Shiba clan heirs. Shinkenger is often touted as one of the better Sentai seasons, so is a promising one to jump into.
2 Mashin Sentai Kiramager
While there have been 2 more seasons released since Kiramanger in 2020, they have both taken huge deviations from the Sentai formula, and are thus too experimental to be recommended for newcomers. Due to this, Kiramanger is the most modern season that new fans can have an easy time getting into.
Being more modern means it has higher quality visuals and more contemporary subject matter, but the story and cast are also quite fun and loveable. Kiramanger doesn’t have a PR counterpart yet, so could work as a teaser for a possible future PR season.
1 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Anniversary seasons can be quite intimidating for some, but they also offer a way for newcomers to sample various parts of a long-running franchise to see what resonates with them. For this purpose, no Sentai is better than Gokaiger.
As the 35th anniversary celebration for Super Sentai, Gokaiger’s cast have the power to turn into any of the previous teams at will. This means they show off a little bit of what every season has to offer, as well as meet previous team members from week to week.
This season’s counterpart, Power Rangers Super Megaforce is shy about the obvious pirate motif, but Gokaiger fully commits to its cast of anti-hero space pirates and is still considered by many as the best Sentai season ever, even over a decade since its conclusion.