#it was really fun checking out all the sentai shows. im even more pumped up to watch them! eventually

[gentaroukisaragi]

okay i thought of this like weeks ago, made it last week, but havent brought myself to post it til now

Also let's keep in mind that i've only seen like 6 sentai...and only finished 2 of them..So i might not have any clue what I'm talking about when I show you the below picture, because I'm working primarily off of Wikipedia summaries.

For slightly further explanation:

The sentai is the job = having superpowers and getting paid for them. most are about getting hired to be a warrior, especially early on, but I've also included ones where you basically make your own money through the powers (Gokaiger, Kyuranger, Lupinranger.)

The sentai is a 2nd job = primarily adults who would be focusing on their main work if they weren't also called to defend the world against evil or whatever. Usually unpaid, but I only learned last week that the inspiration for this tierlist (Boonboomger) literally has Mira say that being a Boonboomger(/working for the delivery service) is her second job, so I put them here even though they originally were in the first tier. This category is primarily about the drudgery and annoyance of having to work a second job, even if it's something as noble as guarding the Earth (or Japan or your town or whatever) from fuckheads

What's a job? = originally for teams comprised of people who aren't (and shouldn't) be in the job market, whether due to their age or due to their upbringing/place of birth, it's also a bit of a catchall category for teams mostly comprised of jobless/unpaid members.

ALSO I'm only working off initial team formations, aka whoever was in the first ep. If it's a three person team that eventually becomes five, i'm going off of the circumstances of the first three members, and only for how they were during the events of the show (so all the 10 years after, 20 years after, etc don't count in the eyes of this tierlist)

If you have further insight as to which category any of these teams SHOULD be in, please feel free to let me know! There's literally over 48 years of television shoved into a single image, I'm definitely not gonna know the ins and outs of various characters' circumstances. I would not be against redoing this.

Specific reasons why (i think) each team is in each category below the cut.

Gorenger - Originally hired by The Earth Guard League, these members survive a terrorist attack that kills every other member, before they are recruited to become the Gorengers. Verdict: The sentai is the job

JAKQ - Hired to become cyborgs, the JAKQ team fights against Crime's dastardly deeds and villains. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Battle Fever - Recruited to fight Egos. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Denjimen - Wikipedia says these five may or may not be related to the Denji people (aka the people who all died in the prologue to this series) so essentially they're randos, who all have other jobs according to the wiki, who have been called to defend earth. By a robot dog? Verdict: The Sentai is a 2nd job

Sun Vulcan - wait a sec this is a direct sequel to Denjimen? huh?! anyways these guys are already elite crime fighter-types who are recruited to become even more elite crime fighter-types. Against solar crime! anyways. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Goggle V - Theyre just randos who are also called to save the world by Dr. Hongo. I don't always take '[character x] used to be [occupation y]' as direct confirmation of the second category (especially as all of the previous ones have that) but since these guys clearly weren't doing a lateral job move/promotion, I think it's safe to say Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Dynaman - Literally the plot summary is that they're all inventors, working on other stuff, but they've been forced to work together ot stop the Jashinka empire. Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Bioman - What is with aliens leaving shit for future earth generations to clean up? Naw im kidding, every human in history does that. anywho looks like all of them have other jobs that they could be doing if they didn't have to drop things at the last minute to go be biomen. Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Changemen - Military people become super sentai members. A tale as old as the incarnation of sentai. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Flashman - The unfortunate thing is these five young people were kidnapped as infants to space and though they survived, they ultimately must continue to fight against the threat that initially hurt them, even as they search for their biological parents. the good thing is that these guys probably don't know jack shit about the horrors of capitalism. Congrats to my very first team of Verdict: What's a job?

Maskman - These guys do not seem to be getting paid for all the training effort they have to do to fight off Tube. They had to spend a year getting ready to fight them and it does not seem like Sugata paid them (except for Takeru and Kenta and that was for their racing related abilities, not the martial arts.) While training for a martial art can be a lifelong task…yeah i'm just putting them in Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Liveman - We finally come to the first sentai i've personally watched! (have yet to finish but i am really fond of this series!) That being said, everyone seems way too young and unemployed to care about having a job. (How do they pay for stuff? I dunno man but I think theyre just squatting on academia island.) Verdict: What's a job?

Turboranger - Wikipedia is telling me they are children, and i believe children should not be forced into labour. (also is this the first sentai with all child members? i know some of the other teams have had young members before, but this is the first one that says that they're all minors) Verdict: What's a job?

Fiveman - They are all siblings and they are all teachers! That's kinda fun. It's too bad teachers are unappreciated (hopefully they're not as underpaid in japan?) Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Jetman - Ryu was hired to be a jetman, Kaori is an heiress (not a real job), Ako is in high school and Gai seemingly has no job other than to be gay as fuck. Raita is the only one with anything close to a dayjob. Not enough sway for either of the first two categories. Verdict: What's a job?

Zyuranger - Ancient civilization guys who wake up after suspended animation? They surely do not have jobs. Verdict: What's a job?

Dairanger - This is tough because on the one hand they seem very young. But some of them appear to have jobs. But also I wish they didn't have a job. Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Kakuranger - I mentioned earlier that training for a martial art can be a lifelong task without clarifying whether or not that counts as a job. Primarily this silly little tierlist is about work as paid labour, and whether or not the sentai counts as that or if its members are willing to engage with that aspect of capital. it might just be me overhyping/fantasizing about this, but to me continuing a martial arts style is like preserving a language; it's noble and important and should be done, but capital doesn't always see it as something with monetary value. It's just something that someone feels must be done or something one is forced into. (Just like being part of a sentai team.) Anyways that's a longwinded way of saying Verdict: What's a job?

ohranger - More military guys become super sentai members. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Carranger - What if you went to work and there was an alien who wanted to give you and your coworkers another job? Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Megaranger - More children! Verdict: What's a job?

Gingaman - Members of a tribe willingly hidden from the modern world. (or at least that's what I'm getting from the wiki.) I think they should be allowed to not work. as a treat. Verdict: What's a job?

GoGoFive - Genuinely wonder what emergency services personnel outside of this family think of them. Literally all five siblings working to save lives? Wonder what kinda drama that leads to. Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Timeranger - Man I feel bad for this Tatsuya guy! What are you supposed to say when future cops force you to help them out with current future crimes? Verdict: The sentai is the job

Gaoranger - Literally the wiki page just says "Kai Samezu was UNEMPLOYED before he was chosen to become Gao Shark" which I think is kinda fucked up. But anyways, since everyone else also had to abandon their lives (and their jobs) to be Gaorangers; Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Hurricangers - These guys are ninjas who don't want to be ninjas, but are forced to be ninjas anyways. Based solely on the main series (and also just the ninjas.) Verdict: What's a job?

Abaranger - The wikipedia page says: Yukito Sanjyo (三条 幸人, Sanjō Yukito): A 21-year-old chiropractor from Sapporo who initially became Abare Blue (アバレブルー, Abare Burū) for the money there is no other mention of payment, getting paid or having a job that I can see (other than Abarekiller formerly being a doctor) Verdict: The sentai is the job (?)

Dekaranger - Dekaranger is another entry in the modern iteration of military guys become sentai members, which is cops/emergency personnel become sentai members. There could be something interesting about ideas of justice and who is capable/allowed to mete out justice in a more serious analysis of this that i don't currently have the ability to do myself. but maybe one day. (Also even this light hearted analysis is primarily focused on paid and unpaid labour so. another tangent for a different day) Verdict: The sentai is the job

Magiranger - Wikipedia says nothing about their jobs, only noting that the red leader is the youngest sibling in high school. My guess is that they're too busy being magicians to have jobs. so by default Verdict: What's a job?

Boukenger - A private company has their own special team to deal with some bad guys who want to capture powerful items called Previous. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Gekiranger - What if you went to your work and there was a weird cat who wanted you to give you and your coworker and some guy who was raised by tigers a second job? (2/3 wins) Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Go-onger - Everyone had to leave their old jobs to become Gon-ongers, so to me that means Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Shinkenger - Vassals get paid, right? Right?! Verdict: The sentai is the job

Goseiger - They're literal angels and they shouldn't have to work. Verdict: What's a job?

Gokaiger - They're pirates first and foremost. Stealing shit and fighting people is part of the job. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Go-Busters - The sentai is the job. They've been training like 13 years for this. They do not get to have regular lives and regular jobs after having their lives changed like this. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Kyoryuger - Daigo, Souji and Amy don't work, so just barely with 3/5, Verdict: What's a job?

Tokkyuger - If you know, you know. Verdict: What's a job?

Ninninger - team of mostly students/ninjas. Verdict: What's a job?

Zyohger - Team of mostly literal animals. Verdict: What's a job?

Kyuranger - Rebels against empire. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Lupinranger vs Patranger - Cops as sentai is old hat. Thieves as sentai? They should do it again. for me. Also cafe work is just a cover anyways. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Ryusoulger - Just like the Gingaman, if you don't have to interact with capitalism, you shouldn't. Verdict: What's a job?

Kirameiger - Allegedly CARAT was made to fight Yodonheim so. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Zenkaiger - The zenkaigers have human forms? Fucked up. Anyways, apparently some of them work at Colorful, and Vroom did have a job before he defected but he had to defect so he's not going back there. Anyways these guys don't have jobs are you kidding me. Verdict: What's a job?

Donbrothers - It's a second job, but just barely. Momoi's a deliveryman, Kijino's a consultant? and Tsubasa would be an actor. 3/5's enough for me. Verdict: The sentai is a 2nd job

Kingohger - When you become a king for real, they just give you a sword and a cool giant bug. Verdict: The sentai is the job

Boonboomger - As Mira said, it's a second job. She and definitely Jou have other

In conclusion, thanks for reading all of this fucking text oh my god, and remember: stealing and rebelling against empire are real jobs, being an heiress is not

#common sayings #whew! what a long post #it was really fun checking out all the sentai shows. im even more pumped up to watch them! eventually