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The iconic Japanese superhero television series Super Sentai is reportedly ending after a monumental 50-year run. First launched in 1975, the franchise has produced a new incarnation nearly every year and has become a bedrock of Japanese pop culture, influencing generations of children and spawning the global phenomenon Power Rangers in the US. The current series, No 1 Sentai Gozyuger, began airing in February 2025 on TV Asahi. Episode 37 is scheduled to air on November 9 and new episodes are set to be released every Sunday until the series ends next year. A source told Kyodo News that the decision to end the series was made as production costs increasingly outstripped revenue from events, merchandise and film tie-ins. Super Sentai began with Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, distributed internationally as Five Rangers, and featured five color-coded heroes defending the world from evil. The format soon became iconic: each episode typically built up to a climactic battle where the heroes “morphed” from ordinary humans into armored warriors, piloting giant robots known as “mechas” or “Zords” to American audiences. Since 1979, new iterations have appeared almost every year, introducing fresh characters and storylines while preserving the core spirit of teamwork and transformation. Super Sentai’s trademark imagery of colour-coded heroes, giant robots, cliff-hanger team calls, and practical-effects battle scenes became a formative part of Japan’s “tokusatsu” (special-effects live-action) genre. A sense of nostalgia underlines the cultural weight of the series; many actors who played “Red Ranger” equivalents have become mainstream personalities, and the series has been a rite of passage for successive generations of children. Over five decades, the franchise has influenced toys, merchandise, live shows, stage events, and launched the careers of several Japanese actors like Tori Matsuzaka, Yuki Yamada, and Ryusei Yokohama, who went on to appear in major films and television dramas. The 16th Super Sentai series, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, served as the foundation for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the 1993 American adaptation that became a global pop culture phenomenon. In the US, the Power Rangers continuity effectively concluded with Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, but Super Sentai continued to produce new series annually until now. The last major US adaptation was the 2017 Power Rangers film starring Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, and Elizabeth Banks. A new Power Rangers television series is in development with 20th Television. Across Japan, the 50th anniversary of the franchise in 2025 has been celebrated with a reunion of the original Gorenger cast, an “All Super Sentai Exhibition” touring from August and fan-polls ranking decades of heroes. Award-winning actress and model Keiko Kitagawa reposted the news on X, writing: “Despair.” Yuma Nishi, a member of idol group NMB48, expressed disbelief: “Wait a minute, my whole life… Even if I wake up in the morning, the Super Sentai series is really ending?” Actor Yasuhisa Furuhara, who led 2008’s Engine Sentai Go-onger, said: “It’s been 50 years. I’m proud to have been part of that incredible history.” Voice actor Tetsu Inada, known for roles in My Hero Academia and Bleach as well as Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, wrote: “There were still so many dreams I wanted to fulfill through Super Sentai. But lasting for 50 years is truly an incredible achievement. It’s an honor to have my name included in that history.”
