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Frequently Asked Questions
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Frequently Asked Questions
Site Questions
Sentai Terms
Production
Series Traditions
Site Questions
Where do you get your pictures from?
Lots of the recent series pictures are from the official Japanese sites and our own scans. All of the older series are our scans. Some scans have our watermark but since we are slowly replacing old pics with new scans for most of all the entire site, we no longer use the watermark.
Who owns this site?
Gerald Conde and Michael Bastian.
Did this site always have the name it presently has?
This site was formerly known as the Super Sentai Time Capsule.
What relation does this site have with RangerCentral?
Michael is now in charge of RangerCentral from Ray and now is updating it.
HenshinHeroes is the official forum for which site?
HenshinHeroes is the forum for both RangerCentral.com and SuperSentai.com. A place to talk about Power Rangers, Super Sentai and everything of Tokusatsu around the world.
Where is your picture gallery?
We have lots of pictures of teamups, heronies, and etc. Located in the Super Sentai section of the RangerCentral gallery.
http://gallery.rangercentral.com/
To whom do I direct my questions?
You can direct questions to HenshinHeroes' Board Feedback forum.
Why are episode numbers mentioned in the Database?
We say which episode characters or items appears in because its is easier to track down.
Isn't [character name] spelled [another way]?
This goes for any character, item or terminology name, like Evorian/Evolian from Abaranger or Rouki/Loki from Gaoranger. It depends on interruption of the translation. In linguistics, Romanization is the representation of a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet. First comes for the Kanji, then romanization and actually translation. On this site, the transliteration is listed under the 'Alternate spelling' or 'Other sources listed' option. When referenced, we go with the most popular name.
Why isn't [Series title] in the Episode Guide?
The Episode Guide is fairly new, patience is golden. Much like Ray, we are not willing to commit that much time to all the series.
There is a typo/mistake on your site.
That is not really a question. There are tons of typos and mistakes on the site. We are well aware of this. The sheer amount of content makes it impossible to even begin proofreading it, so a great majority of errors will remain as is. Unless the mistake is so severe that it compromises the integrity of the site, please don't report it. We don't need anymore people pointing out that "the" was misspelled as "teh".
Why is there a picture missing?
If there is a picture mission on the warrior profile, it is a placeholder. It will be coming soon. If a picture is missing anywhere else, please report it to the board on its own topic.
Sentai Terms
What is Tokusatsu?
Tokustasu is a genre in itself, it roughly means Live-action. It refers to live-action science-fiction television programs. The ones that fall in this category are Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Ultraman, Metal Heroes, and the recent Capcom line started with Gransezar, Justiriser, and now Sazer-X. Haim Saban (the original creator of Power Rangers) tried to bring most of those mentioned to the United States and they are now considered American Tokustasu.
What are Mecha?
Mecha is short for Mechanics, like machine. While each Super Sentai series refers to their giant robots by other names, sentai fans use this term in response to the term 'zord' used each year of Power Rangers.
What are Grunts?
The definition of a grunt is that they are a lower lackey foot solider. American Sentai fans use this term to describe the horde that our heroes fight in every episode. The putty patrollers are the first of this kind in Power Rangers, so fans refer to these grunts as 'putties.' They have different names in each series in both Super Sentai and Power Rangers.
What does Henshin mean?
'Henshin' is a Japanese word that roughly means to change or to transform. When Tokusatsu (Re: Tokusatsu) heroes change into their super form, they henshin. Sometimes the word henshin is included in the 'transformation call.' The term for this in the Power Ranger world is Morph. The Super Sentai heroes' morphers are referred to as henshin devices but it is not the official name like the morphers.
What does Gattai mean?
'Gattai' is the sentai term used to mean for mecha to transform or combine. There is no official PR term for this other than morph or combine.
Production
What is Toei?
Toei is the company that produces Super Sentai and has a hand in Power Rangers.
What is TV-Asahi?
TV-Asahi is the Japanese Television channel that broadcasts Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.
What is Popy?
Popy is the first company to manufacture the Super Sentai toys and products and also designing the Super Sentai artifacts. Nowadays, Bandai is the company makes the toys for Power Rangers and Super Sentai for both America and Japan.
What is PLEX?
PLEX is the company that designs everything Super Sentai from suits to mecha to weapons. The company approximately started six or seven years ago, they were grew from the Popy company that took care of that task since the beginning of the Super Sentai in 1975.
Sentai Traditions
What is the clock always seen in screen captures and videos of Super Sentai Episodes?
Most likely if you are seeing a clock, it is an episode directly from television. Japanese TV channels, such as TV-Asahi that broadcasts Sentai, display a clock--much like the static TV channel logo. This is for children to keep track of time when their parents tell them it is time to go to school.
Is Super Sentai goofy as Power Rangers?
In way, yes it is. It depends on the series. Some are more serious than others. For example, Abaranger and Carranger had moments that were very campy, corny, goofy, and absurd. Also, Abaranger had very serious and dramatic moments including death and rape. Jetman, Dairanger and Timeranger are considered some of the more serious series of the franchise. They are also considered the best. As for differences in content, people and heroes actually die in Super Sentai. Villains have included perverts, pedophiles, and homicidal killers. Some allies are considered perverts (Master Elehan of Gekiranger) and some have even committed suicide.
Is Super Sentai more violent than Power Rangers?
Yes. Standards for Children's programming in Japan are significantly different from those in the United States. A lot is edited from the series when adapted, other than cultural references (like Hurricanger's use of umbrellas to introduce themselves was removed in Power Rangers Ninja Storm). A lot of the violence is toned down. For example, instances were the heroes are harmed, they are shown bleeding. In the first season of Power Rangers, no damage would be shown and seasons later, their faces are shown with dirt and gotten more bruised and greasy, yet no blood. In fact, blood in Super Sentai has toned down since Dairanger in 1993. It is the bloodiest of them all and it changed due to complaints.
Why is the leader always red?
This is not definite answer but this does apply to both Super Sentai and Power Rangers. Red is a very significant color to the Japanese; it is in their flag and it represents life and vitality. Symbolically, the color is also regarded to have the power to ward off evil. Ergo, it would only be logical to use it for their leader. Red has not always been the leader of every team. For example, Ninja White, Time Pink, Deka Master, and Geki Yellow have been leaders.
When do new 'seasons' of Super Sentai start?
They usually start in February, usually on the second or third week. Since Turbo, Power Rangers seasons began to start in February.
How many episodes does an individual series usually last?
These days since Megaranger (1997), episodes last up to fifty episodes. Sometimes they make it to 51. From Magiranger (2005), they are now 49 episodes.
When is the picture of next year's Sentai usually revealed?
It depends. Usually in the winter. From Hurricanger to Magiranger, it started around November but the 2006 series Boukenger was revealed in late December and 2008 Go-onger was confirmed early December. Lots of times the name changes occur. The prototypes shown are usually first but never anything major until a toy sheet or book scan is shown to confirm it. Sometimes people still don't believe it.
What are these Sentai picture books I heard of?
In Japan, many books and magazines are released covering many current Tokusatsu series. The most popular being Terebikun, a monthly magazine published by Shogakukan. Other popular magazines included New Type The Live and Hyper Hobby, covering toys and products. These magazines usually cover new and upcoming characters, weapons or villains. The majority have half of the pages in glossy colors and the other half in black and white or bi-colored pages. Other than Terebikun, Shogakukan also prints books covering individual series (Zyuranger for example) and all the Super Sentai series ever produced. A special photographer goes to the set to shoot pictures of the newest addition to the show. Other companies print other books, in many different sizes. From these, we get most of our pictures.
Are Battlizers present in Super Sentai?
In Power Rangers, almost every Red Ranger has a Battlizer and sometimes some other Rangers have had similar armor. These are original to Power Rangers but not exclusive. So far, the only Battlizer that has appeared in Super Sentai was the S.P.D. Battlizer in the teamup Magiranger VS Dekaranger, and this was after both Dekaranger and Power Rangers SPD were finished.
Have Super Sentai always used spandex?
Not always. In the beginning from 1975 to 1983, they used cloth and assorted materials. It was in 1984 with Bioman when they started using spandex.
Do Teamups happen in Super Sentai?
It does. Since 1995, a teamup special has been annual beginning with Ohranger vs. Kakuranger. The current team is the first mentioned. 'Vs' is present in all the titles even though they don't actually fight. Most teamup specials come out on videotape and DVD after both series have ended. They usually come in March of the next year. Actually, teamups have happened before and in fact, with the first two series. JAKQ vs Goranger was the first. In 1994, Super Sentai World came out that was less than a half hour and included teams Fiveman to Kakuranger. As for Power Rangers actually including footage from those specials, it depends on their budget; it costs more to use footage from the teamups and movies. For the record, only Ohranger VS Kakuranger, GoGoV VS. Gingaman, and a bit of Abaranger VS Hurricanger footage were used.
Why does Kamen Rider always paired up with Super Sentai?
It is made by the same company, Toei. It airs after Sentai on TV-Asahi. And since Gaoranger and Kamen Rider Agito movies, Sentai and Kamen Rider movies appeared together in theaters. Kamen Rider is actually older than Sentai starting in 1971, took a break in the 90's and came back with Kamen Rider Kuuga in 2000. New seasons start a few weeks earlier than Super Sentai. For those who don't know, Kamen Rider Black RX was used for the 1995 series Masked Rider. Kamen Rider teamups are common as well, but not yearly like Super Sentai. There is yet to be a special or movie where Super Sentai and Kamen Riders have appear together. The closest things that have come to a teamup has been stage shows, TV-Asahi promos, and the Power Rangers/Masked Rider three-parter.
What is 'Zyu2'? Was there a second season of Zyuranger?
'Zyu 2' is a term created by fans to describe the footage Toei made for Power Rangers when they needed more footage for the first season back in 1994. When it came to the second season of Power Rangers, they were leftovers and since they included the first Megazord, they were spliced together to match with the Thunder Megazord. Plans were also made to make a new Megazord to match with the White Tigerzord.
Is there a relation between the Dino Thunder symbol and Dragonzord's symbol?
When Power Rangers Dino Thunder came out, many had speculation over the Dino Thunder symbol and Tommy's old Green Ranger Dragonzord symbol had a relation. They don't. The Dino Thunder symbol is from Abaranger, it is meant to be a dinosaur footprint. When Toei created Abaranger, they didn't have Tommy in mind. The Dragonzord symbol is from Zyuranger and it is also meant to be a footprint. Abaranger has no relation with Zyuranger.
Are their any plans to have a sequel of a popular series?
Gekiranger producer Hideaki Tsukada believes it largely depends on someone within the company being so passionate about a series, that they want to do a sequel and convincing the company that it would be a good business idea to do so.
Is there any cooperation between the production teams of Super Sentai and Power Rangers?
No. According to Gekiranger producer Hideaki Tsukada, the only collaboration has been the opening scenes of Magiranger and Gekiranger series being shot in New Zealand. Bandai America has some put input in the production of the Japanese series. Apart from that, the Power Rangers producers are presented with the finished series to do with it what they desire. There is not much influence one way or the other.
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