9.15.2008

Super Sentai In The Philippines

Super Sentai is the name given to Japanese superheroes genre (known as "tokukatsu").This genre contains live-action characters and special effects.The word "sentai" means "task force" or "squadron".It was first used by Japanese soldiers in World War II.The word "super" adds on that word because it consistently contains giant mechas and special weapons. Every sentai series depicted as five color-coded warriors (or some series fewer or more) who gains technological or magical powers in order to defeat small and giant monsters.The super sentai has giant robots made of combining mechanical vehicles/animals and each of the series has it's own plot and themes. Due to it's popularity, some of the super sentai series was later adapted into Power Rangers series in the United States.

I had discovered about super sentai series for a long time and I still used to it.I also found out that there are many people in the internet like super sentai.Like example here in the Philippines,Filipinos like to watch super sentai series before 2000. Out of current 32 super sentai series,7 series were aired and known in the Philippines in different network stations during the 90's.Namely Himitsu Sentai Goranger,Dai Sentai Goggle V,Choudenshi Bioman,Hikari Sentai Maskman,Koukosu Sentai Turboranger,Chikiyuu Sentai Fiveman and Choujin Sentai Jetman. I considered to those fellow Pinoys during the 90's are very lucky because they saw some of the super sentai series before Power Rangers series. After the 90's, these mentioned super sentai series was never aired again in any network stations because of unknown reasons.Here are some tidbit information about the mentioned super sentai series aired in the Philippines (although I only reached Bioman and Maskman before I went to elementary). I'd say these of the following shows should re-air in any network stations.

Himitsu Sentai Goranger

This is the first super sentai series aired around 1975 and was the series that had long episodes than the rest of the series in Japan. Unlike any the rest of Super Sentai series, Goranger doesn't have giant mechas but only special vehicles and weapons.The main characters are five members namely Aka Ranger (red),Ao Ranger(blue),Ki Ranger(yellow),Momo Ranger(pink), and Mido Ranger(green).In the Philippines, Goranger was released as Star Rangers between 1978 and 1979 on Saturday afternoons on RPN 9. In this version, aside from their color designations, the Gorangers also had numeric designations, in order of their introduction to the enemy prior to battle: Aka Ranger = Star 1, Ao Ranger = Star 2, Ki Ranger = Star 3, Momo Ranger = Star 4, and Mido Ranger = Star 5. The opening theme is here.

Dai Sentai Goggle V

Aired around 1982 in Japan,Goggle V was the sixth installment of Super Sentai series.The main characters are five members namely Goggle Red,Goggle Black,Goggle Blue,Goggle Yellow and Goggle Pink.I'm not sure when this aired exactly in the Philippines but I found out that somebody pointed out that it aired every Saturday afternoons on RPN 9 in the late 90's. Opening theme is here.

Choudenshi Bioman
This show was the eight installment of Super Sentai series aired around 1984 in Japan.Choudenshi Bioman is the first super sentai series that had to women in one team and a female sentai hero died in battle and replaced another female character as the new member.
The five members are Red 1,Green 2,Blue 3,Yellow 4 and Pink 5.In the Philippines,Bioman was the known and popular super sentai series for Filipinos. The show was first aired around 1986/1987 and last aired around 1998 along with Maskman every Sunday mornings on IBC 13 in English-dub.The first opening theme is here. Also,the second opening theme is here when a new member of Bioman was replaced.

What really surprising about this series is that there is a dedication about this popular tokukatsu show. There's two local music video that has the lyrics and theme of Bioman. One-entitled Psycho by Giniling Festival here produced in the year 2006 and the other is performed by Tito,Vic and Joey here.

Hikari Sentai Maskman
Aired around 1987 in Japan, Maskman was the eleventh entry for Super Sentai series.The main members in Maskman team are Red Mask,Blue Mask,Black Mask,Yellow Mask and Pink Mask and they specialized with different style of martial arts techniques and controlling the aura power. In the Philippine Tagalog-dub, it was called "Laser Squadron Maskman" and also the five members had their own Tagalog names-Michael Joe(red), Leonard(black), Adrian(blue), Eloisa(yellow) and Mary Rose (pink). It was first aired between 1989 to 1991 in IBC 13 and last aired around 1998 with the same network and along with Bioman every Sunday mornings. Also, the show had it's Tagalog opening/closing song version sang by Norman Caraan of 80's band Boyfriends during that time. Like in Bioman, Maskman was the popular super sentai series in the Philippines.The Tagalog opening is here and the ending version is here.

Kousoku Sentai Turboranger
Turboranger was aired around 1989 and the thirteenth entry of super sentai entry in Japan.The main characters are Red Turbo,Blue,Turbo,Black Turbo,Yellow Turbo and Pink Turbo.They are high school students who gain their powers as super sentai from magical fairies in order to defeat the Violent Demon Tribes. Somebody pointed out in Youtube that Turboranger was first aired around 1992 in IBC 13 in the Philippines.Like the names in Maskman,The Turborangers had also their Tagalog names-Ricki(red), Junny(black),Ian(blue), Ronnie(yellow), and Carina(pink). The opening theme is here sang by Kenta Satou an actor who played as Red Turbo.

Chikiyuu Sentai Fiveman
Debuted in 1990 in Japan, Fiveman was the fourteenth super sentai entry.The main characters are Five Red,Five Blue,Five Black,Five Pink and Five Yellow. This tells about five members (three male and two female) are actually siblings who are separated by their parents because of the Zone Empire.20 years later,the siblings become elementary teachers and had their own secret identity as Fiveman. In the Philippines, it was aired around late 90's in ABC 5(now TV 5) then in early 2000 in SOLAR cable network. Opening theme is here.

Choujin Sentai Jetman
Aired around 1991 and the fifteenth entry of super sentai series in Japan. Jetman was said to be the homage of Science Ninja Team Gatachaman.Unlike the previous series,Jetman contains darker plots and contains tragic ending even though the main characters will win the battle. The main theme about this series is about birds.The five main characters are Red Hawk,Black Condor,Yellow Owl,Blue Swallow and Pink Swan.These characters were first hit by "Birdonic Waves"accidentally and destined to defeat the Vyram's. In the Philippines,Jetman was aired around 1998 in RPN 9 and aired every Saturday afternoons in Tagalog-dub.The opening theme is here sung by Hironobu Kageyama, who also performed the songs from Dragon Ball Z.

21 comments:

Combattler V said...

they must be aired on hero TV to side with newer animes and tokusatsus.and there is one thing more,those super sentais that aired on philippine TV must be redubbed!

Sean Akizuki said...

BTW I remembered being able to see the endings of Fiveman and Jetman on ABC5 before. Sadly, we only have Power Rangers... :-(

Sean Akizuki said...

I wish Hero TV would show Dekaranger instead of SPD, Gaoranger instead of Wild Force but with a little editing of course while letting the audience know what really happened.

Anonymous said...

i really like green two in bioman., hes one of the best and i idolize him when i was a kid., i wonder what are the present faces of these actors and actresses i saw yellow four shes much beautiful now shes in germany while red one grows old already his still in japan both of them joined in one occation, im not sure if it was japan heroes or blah dunno.,i almost forget blie 3 was a friend of red one in real life. here a link for an interview to red one
http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~rsoldier/e_interview.htm

hey guys if you have any recent pictures of original actors of bio team plz share with us..

arnoldmcguire said...

They should reair them or air sentais that didn't have their PR counterparts aired yet (e.g. Megaranger, Gundaman, GoGoFive, etc.)

a reason was because Cartoon Network is to blame for they brought PR in the country.

Unknown said...

You lack something in the list, and that is JAKQ, it is mentioned in Kapitan Sino by Bob Ong when Bok-bok asked Rogelio who is stronger, Star Rangers (Goranger) or some other group which I forgot. Rogelio replied, JAKQ.

A friend of mine said that its Disney's fault why the Philippines can't air Super Sentai. Hope that once RPM is over here, we will have a chance to air Shinkenger.

Anonymous said...

damn!another shown here in the philippines like battle fever j,sunvulcan was first seen on ABS-CBN-2 starting 1987!pinapanood ko pa nga yun eh!

this is my blog said...

Ang susunod sa Jetman,Go-onger
Right???

this is my blog said...

ipi-premiere kasi next month yung Go-onger sa TV5.....

Unknown said...

do you know where i can buy dvd of these sentai's thanks...

Rena Alfoster said...

If u want to watch super sentai series try supersentaiplanets.webs.com....lagi akong nanonood dito since nadiscover ko ung site...complete hanggang sa latest na super sentai.....I'm currently enjoying kaizoku sentai gokaiger which they are able to chnage into the previous super sentais....cool!!

Anonymous said...

Power rangers Samurai was aired on CN Philippines right?

Keep.Jesus.1st said...

So where can we watch or get English dubs of,
FLASHMAN
MASKMAN
FIVEMAN
JETMAN
JAKQ
GORANGER
GOGGLE V
TURBORANGER
or does Saban stop this? PLMK
Keep.Jesus.1st@gmail.com

Keep.Jesus.1st said...

Sadly racism & segregation are still in control of USA TV networks. Unless you're talking about POWER RANGERS , BEETLE BORGS etc are good examples. I feel sorry for the Asians now. When I talk to Asian friends or Asians online they pretty much agree in what they have to say that "Segregation has Returned!" Only this time for the Japanese / Asians , on USA TV! How do you think Japanese feel when they see POWER RANGERS on USA TV? When you look at USA TV in the past decades It's alot like ETHNIC CLEANSING ON U.S. TV! As compared to if you travel to other countries and watch TV there, ya know? USA made shows are shown in many countries but how many Asian or foreign made shows are on US TV?
Keep.Jesus.1st@gmail.com

Keep.Jesus.1st said...

About the only time the Alphabet Networks ever took some big steps in what some hoped would be the right direction was of course with Fox and their attempts during the 1990's with POWER RANGERS & other Saban programs. Sadly however this again was another example of how USA TV networks would now begin to import quality made Asian
programing in the coming decade by totally replacing the Asian actors! It's sad. What other country on Earth has had television networks that show such extreme prejudice in such a manner? Does any other country on Earth ever censor our programs any time we have a black actor in an USA made series? Not that I know of. Probably not even Germany! Why then must broadcasters here in the U.S. censor programs that are made with Asian actors? Some would say it's partly because dubbing such shows does not work well,although this never seems to be a problem in most other countries. But imagine what if the voice over was perfected by using computer animation to match the mouth movements perfectly? This eventually can become a reality! US TV Networks sadly are not carrying on "Dr King's Dream" if we keep seeing POWER RANGERS segregate the Japanese!

Keep.Jesus.1st said...

In Asia, Europe and almost anywhere else for example it is not unusual to see programs imported from Hollywood or other countries or to hear English music from the USA broadcasted on the radio there as well. But why don't we hear more music from other countries on our USA radio stations??? Do America listeners really think that English music is somehow better than all other languages? I don't think so. But the corporations and networks that have been calling the shots for too long apparently seem to think so. I for one would prefer it if I could turn on my radio and hear some good Asian music, ya know? And I'm not Asian!
So do we have "HOLLYWOOD SUPREMACISTS" in the USA? In the case with television programs some would argue that some think Hollywood is in some way better than all other sources of entertainment in the world. But is it really? That in itself seems like a somewhat racist attitude. To act like your country is somehow superior to all other nations around the world in some way. Where is the equality in that way of running things? But I believe we can help change this!
We do see more imported Japan programs now than like we did 20 or more years ago but like I said before , often whenever this rarely ever does happen, the programs are marketed for mainly "just our children". That in itself can be a kind of "another derogatory way" of handling things as well one could say. To consider Asian programing to be only good enough to ever be marketed for only USA children? Many folks would much rather see more anime and other foreign made programing imported and shown during prime-time on the USA Alphabet Networks in the future instead of the trash they show now. And together I believe we can help make that happen in the future!
I believe "HOLLYWOOD NEEDS MORE COMPETITION!" The best thing tv networks in other countries could do to compete with USA broadcasters in the future would be for them to start offering more of their programs online with perhaps " streaming ". After all if you were wanting to advertise on a TV network , you would likely want to choose the one that reaches the most people at the cheapest cost , right? Streaming probably would be one of the best ways to start competing with more USA tv networks. Already some stations offer this but not as many as many viewers or advertisers would like.
Well I welcome your opinions folks. I live in the USA & want to help get more Asian made shows on USA TV Primetime. Because right now we have NONE AT ALL! Just a little kids anime at best during the day. I'd much rather see SUPER SENTAI English dubbed in the future & give Asians equality on USA TV Networks! God Bless!

Keep.Jesus.1st said...

Hi, I live in the USA & I must say I feel sorry for the Japanese/Asians now. When I talk to Asian friends or Asians online they pretty much agree in what they have to say that "Segregation in the USA has Returned!" Only this time for the Japanese / Asians , on USA TV! How do you think Japanese feel when they see POWER RANGERS on USA TV? When you look at USA TV in the past decades It's alot like ETHNIC CLEANSING ON U.S. TV! As compared to if you travel to other countries and watch tv there, ya know? Then you see series from the USA on their TV.
About the only time the Alphabet Networks ever took some big steps in what some hoped would be the right direction was of course with Fox and their attempts during the 1990's with POWER RANGERS and other Saban programs. Sadly however this again was another example of how American tv networks would now begin to import quality made Asian programing in the coming decade by totally replacing the Asian actors! It's sad. What other country on Earth has had television networks that show such extreme prejudice in such a manner? Does any other country on Earth ever censor our programs any time we have a black actor in an American made series? Not that I know of. Probably not even Germany! Why then must broadcasters here in the U.S. censor programs that are made with Asian actors? Some would say it's partly because dubbing such shows does not work well, although this never seems to be a problem in most other countries. But imagine what if the voice over was perfected by using computer animation to match the mouth movements perfectly? This eventually can become a reality! US TV Networks sadly are not carrying on "Dr King's Dream" if we keep seeing POWER RANGERS segregate the Japanese!
In Asia , Europe and almost anywhere else in America for example it is not unusual to see programs imported from Hollywood or other countries or to hear English music from the USA broadcasted on the radio there as well. But why don't we hear more music from other countries on our U.S. radio stations??? Do America listeners really think that English music is somehow better than all other languages? I don't think so. But the corporations and networks that have been calling the shots for too long apparently seem to think so. I for one would prefer it if I could turn on my radio and hear some good Asian music, ya know? And I'm not Asian!
So do we have "HOLLYWOOD SUPREMACISTS" in the USA? In the case with television programs some would argue that some think Hollywood is in some way better than all other sources of entertainment in the world. But is it really? That in itself seems like a somewhat racist attitude. To act like your country is somehow superior to all other nations around the world in some way. Where is the equality in that way of running things? But I believe we can help change this!
We do see more imported Japan programs now than like we did 20 or more years ago but like I said before , often whenever this rarely ever does happen, the programs are marketed for mainly "just our children". That in itself can be a kind of "another derogatory way" of handling things as well one could say. To consider Asian programing to be only good enough to ever marketed for only American children? Many folks would much rather see more anime and other foreign made programing imported and shown during prime-time on the Alphabet Networks in the future instead of the trash they show now. And together I believe we can help make that happen in the future!
Does anyone here know where we can get SUPER SENTAI English Dubbed like,
GORANGERS
JAKQ
GOGGLE V
FLASHMAN
MASKMAN
TURBORANGERS
FIVEMAN
JETMAN
Please email me,
And does anyone know which
UCHU KEIJI / SPACE SHERIFF series were English dubbed like,
GAVAN , SHAIVAN , SHAIDER ,
Or KAMEN RIDERS & Henshin Heroes like,
MACHINEMAN , BYCLOSSAR , JIRAIYA , etc
PLMK!
Keep.Jesus.1st@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

some of the Super Sentai series you've mentioned are UNFINISHED, Turbo Ranger and Google Five are Unfinished Sentai series because of issues.

Anonymous said...

RPN-9 Aired Gingaman,Dairanger,Liveman and Carranger,liveman as well as spielvan.

Anonymous said...

We're working on a project to bring some super sentai actors here in manila! please visit this page to support this project - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tokusatsu-Fan-Project-Super-Hero-Roll-Call/411207835618479

Anonymous said...

You forgot
DENJI SENTAI MEGARANGER
GINGAMAN (sorry if I forgot the full name
KYUKYU SENTAI GOGOFIVE
MIRAI SENTAI TIMERANGER
They replaced power rangers from 2000 to 2004 till it came back with wild force (SENTAI counterpart = GAORANGER)