Kara Dennison
August 29, 2021 
This weekend marked the official celebration of National Power Rangers Day! Fans of the long-running series, which premiered in 1993, have been sharing their fan stories all weekend. It’s a show that colored a lot of our childhoods, and got a lot of us into Super Sentai and tokusatsu as a whole.
If you’re itching for a little more fighting action before the weekend is out, try these on-brand anime titles. Are there any others you’d add to the list?
Samurai Flamenco
We all played at being Power Rangers when we were a kid. Getting to be one of the “teenagers with attitude” would have been a dream come true. But Masayoshi Hazama, the star of Samurai Flamenco, goes all in on his “make believe.” He’s got a suit, he’s got a name, and he’s going to go out in to the city and fight actual crime.
The story of Samurai Flamenco goes through several different phases, hitting a lot of tokusatsu topics along the way. Masayoshi is a vigilante. But then there are magical girls. Then there’s a whole team… But going into too much detail would spoil some of the show’s best twists, so best to ride that roller coaster yourself.
Astro Fighter Sunred
When they’re not fighting the forces of evil, the Power Rangers are drinking soda and bowling. At least, that’s what I remember. Admittedly it’s been a while since I watched it. But not all Super Sentai heroes are teens. Astro Fighter Sunred, for example, is just a normal adult man in a six-tatami room. He’s also kind of a jerk.
On the other hand, Florsheim — the evil group he’s out to defeat — seems pretty chill. They’re doing their best between battles, living mundane lives in Kawasaki City as they wait for the next fight with their nemesis. They’re still evil and bent on world domination. But, you know. They’re nice about it.
Sailor Moon
We can’t leave off without mentioning the show that brought magical girls and Power Rangers together at last!
Sailor Moon was revolutionary in its time, turning magical girls from idols and neighborhood problem-solvers into superheroes. Like Super Sentai, there was a color-coded team. And like Super Sentai, they fought monsters of the week in an overarching battle against the forces of evil. Nowadays that’s par for the course for magical girls. But Usagi and the Sailor Guardians (and their creator, Naoko Takeuchi) are why it’s such a popular trope today.
How did you celebrate Power Rangers Day?
