Samurai Sentai Shinkenger/YMMV

""Unfazed by fist(blow)s, he swings the sword with great skill.
 * Alas, Poor Villain:
 * And the Fandom Rejoiced:
 * Everyone who was disappointed when ABC/Disney decided not to make a new Power Rangers series for 2010 (especially Shinkenger fans) probably felt relieved to hear that Saban had regrouped, regained the rights, and was bringing Power Rangers (starting with a Shinkenger adaptation) to Nickelodeon.
 * Complete Monster: Akumaro revealed to Juzo in Act 42 that . However, in Act 43, . It was especially unexpected because
 * Akumaro himself also counts as one.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: The henshin theme, which is a re-mixed traditional Japanese tune. Starts with the henshin call, "Ippitsu Soujou!".
 * The Gedoshu Sanzu River Shamisen theme, perfectly setting the mood for the scenes on the Junk.
 * "Samurai Gattai ShinkenOh", the theme song for the eponymous Humongous Mecha, has to be one of, if not the, catchiest mecha theme songs in the history of Super Sentai.
 * Don't pick a fight with the Samurai, especially when this song is at work.
 * Genta has his own theme song, aptly named "Ikkan Kenjou! Shinken Gold". Not highly upbeat but it fits his character well, mainly because a good part of the lyrics is lots of vocabularies directly related to him, and it was especially cool while playing during his first battle in Act 17.
 * And the grandly Hot-Blooded theme song of : "". Give it a go here.

The absolute grandiose (icon of) invincibility!

ZEN SAMURAI GATTAI! ""

"User A: "...every 2 episodes it seems like everyone's being paired with someone else." User B: "Now it's Ryunosuke X Chiaki. What's next? Hikoma X Kuroko?""
 * For whenever someone is at the utmost seriousness: "Bushido Icchokusen", a.k.a: "that little tune".
 * How about ShinkenRed kicking Nanashi ass right on Act 1, to the tune of the main theme? Granted, it was a kind of a replacement to the standard opening sequence (maybe because the other four core Shinkengers were still about to be introduced), but it still looked and sounded cool like heck.
 * The ending theme to Shinkenger VS Go-onger: "Samurai First Rap Ginmaku BANG!!", basically the Shinkenger version of Go-onger's Dancing Theme ending. What adds to the music is all six Shinkengers dancing in the ending credits. It's slightly surreal, to say the least; especially Takeru dancing.
 * Warning: If you're familiar with the glossary in Shinkenger, you'll find it an Ear Worm. If you're familiar with the characters, you'll find the ending sequence an unstoppable Ear Worm/Eye Worm. If both, meet your new drug.
 * Ear Worm: The opening theme is plenty good, but the part that really sticks to the ears is the "Chanchan-bara chan-barabara...".
 * The ending song, with its "Wasshoi!", "Hai" and "Ya, ya, ya!", is pretty catchy too. If you don't end up chanting along with the bridge, you've got a stronger will than a lot of of your fellow tropers.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: The season itself is one of the most popular and beloved in recent years. Though, one could argue it had the deck stacked in its favor. Many Power Rangers fans, dissapointed in the original lack of an 18th season, watched Shinkenger as a replacement. Still, the season was so awesome, it made many Ranger fans into Sentai fans.
 * The characters themselves got a lot of following too. Mako joins in as one of the biggest candidates of 'Sentai Hottest Babes' (alongside Jasmine, Sakura and Nanami), Kotoha is probably the reigning Queen of Sentai Moe, Genta is also a well-liked Sixth Ranger, Jii is often praised as one of the best Sentai mentors ever, and Takeru himself becomes a shiny awesome horse. And of course, can count for a breakthrough concept that's done quite well ).
 * Fan Nickname: "Marijuana Man" for Ryunosuke, especially for people who don't initially recognize the Kanji for water and confuse his visor for that of a cannabis leaf. "Aibaranger" is often used as well, due to the popularity of his actor, Aiba Hiroki.
 * "ShinkenZengar" aka Shinken Red.
 * Don't forget "Elvis Mode".
 * Neko Tono
 * Bushido Icchokusen : "That little tune", the show's signature Let's Get Dangerous/Serious Business theme. Even when it borders on narm, a scene accompanied by that little tune somehow gains the awesome to pull it off.
 * "Ham Sandwich": Appropriately named for the duo of Ryunosuke and Genta.
 * Harsher in Hindsight: The Sanzu River flooding into Japan in Act 48 after the recent tsunami.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: In the first Act, Ryunosuke mistook Mako as his lord saying While Ryunosuke was wrong about Mako, we skip ahead to Act 44 when it is revealed that
 * Two Kamen Rider Decade movies would use the phrase "ika (squid) de beer" as an Incredibly Lame Pun for the Showa-era MotW IkaDevil. What are Dokoku and Shitari best known for? One's a squid and one's an alcoholic, of course. This point would get hammered home in the Shinkenger V-Cinema as
 * It's debatable whether this goes into Harsher or Hilarious but here goes: In episode 40 "The Sent Words", Kotoha thinks she's a substitute for her older sister until Hikoma points out the word "substitute" was never mentioned and that her sister and him thought she was the true and only Shiken Yellow.
 * Holy Shit Quotient: Actually takes place during episode 24 of Kamen Rider Decade, the Decade/Shinkenger crossover.
 * A subtle but effective one in Act 25: Playing the Jidai Geki elements completely straight has the effect of.
 * In Act 40,
 * Act 42:
 * Act 43:
 * If what Dayu pulls at the end of Act 47 doesn't double the HSQ for the entire series...
 * Forget Dayu.
 * And Act 48 beats all of the above
 * Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Kotoha is just so shippable. Not only with Chiaki, but with Genta (who often hits on her), Mako (Les Yay version) or... Takeru (Butler episode, anyone?).
 * Takeru must be the Lord of Black Dresses here. He has unique relationships with all his vassals, which is very much Shipping fuel, not to mention quite a bit of Foe Yay with Juzo.
 * The entire cast is shippable, even if not with every single character. Observe this excerpt from TV-Nihon forums.
 * Takeru must be the Lord of Black Dresses here. He has unique relationships with all his vassals, which is very much Shipping fuel, not to mention quite a bit of Foe Yay with Juzo.
 * The entire cast is shippable, even if not with every single character. Observe this excerpt from TV-Nihon forums.


 * Les Yay: Mako's Onee-Sama tendencies are interpreted by some as Ship Tease with Kotoha.
 * Kotoha idolizes Mako very much and is close to her. While this may be also seen as being a very close friend, in Shinkenger Returns, Kotoha's fantasy is being a girl disguised as a boy in an all boys school to be with the "guy" she idolizes and loves. Since guy is in quotations, no cookie for guessing Mako is playing Kotoha's character's crush.
 * Memetic Mutation: Ever since Kaoru adopted Takeru, fan artists have become very fond of making ridiculous scenes of her trying to act like a mother. (One had her attempt to give Takeru a bath. Another had her trying to play matchmaker).
 * Moe Blob: Kotoha
 * Moral Event Horizon: In Act 34, the Nanashi attack an elementary school, kidnap the kids that study there, and then they are tricked into piling rocks under the promise that, if the pile is high enough, the children will be allowed to see their parents again. As if that wasn't enough, Akumaro puts some Nanashi there with the little kiddies just to knock their rock piles down over and over again (if you read it all attentively, you'll see that this last part doesn't fall under Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking). Yep, Akumaro's that brand of dick.
 * It gets "better" - the scene is a re-enactment of the afterlife in Japanese folklore. Specifically, the punishment given to stillborn children in purgatory. And you thought it couldn't get worse.
 * Any hopes of redemption gets slashed when
 * Narm: SamuraiHaoh's Daishinken Daikaiten Giri in Act 41, which is likened to a brick spinning in mid-air thanks to it's terribly massive size.
 * Nightmare Fuel: Act 27. Just... ask Genta. The experience traumatized him so bad, . It would have been a really serious affair,.
 * One of the victims had a similar experience in that Act..
 * The Ayakashi in Act 41 has the ability to
 * In Act 42,
 * And who do these Ayakashi work for? Akumaro. This guy is a Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant!
 * Juzo's freaking eyes when he reveals.
 * One look at  during the first minute of this Goseiger vs. Shinkenger movie clip and you'll know why so many Japanese kids freaked out in the theaters.
 * Replacement Scrappy:
 * Rescued From the Scrappy Heap: Early impressions of Ryuunosuke just kinda irritate people off. He develops from it and now, people are okay with him.
 * Ship-to-Ship Combat: Takeru and Mako shippers vs Takeru and Kotoha shippers. Plagued many forums. Reached its zenith around Act 39.
 * The Scrappy: Tanba. At least Kaoru's rescue from the heap was successful as she was welcomed warmly when she returned in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger and has had some fan following on her own. Tanba reverts back to his Jerkass persona and throws himself back in.
 * Values Dissonance: A lot of American and European tropers find themselves invoking What Do You Mean It's for Kids? when watching Shinkenger. For a general-audience series, Shinkenger doesn't shy away from implied violence, and even death, of civilians by Gedoushu; also, the references to Japanese Myth invoked can seem as rather dark for a kids show. Often results in some Nightmare Fuel, so see that entry as well - oh, and some of it's high octane.
 * The Sake Dokoku's been chugging down like water is made from/of humans' fear and despair . So, he's trying to torment all those people basically just to keep his tank full and gain some real estate. What a nice guy.
 * Ayakashi attacks can also have varying amounts: Instead of killing the victims outright, they let them suffer for as long as possible, or until the Shinkengers cut them down. Considering most of their methods are, in principal, fantasized versions of torture and psychological attacks possible in real life... makes things actually much creepier.
 * Just narrowly averted in Act 38:.
 * Hell, the number of cuts and bruises the Shinkengers can get in a normal fight serve as constant reminders of one meaning of Shinken; the fight scenes are goddamn serious.
 * Act 42 is the embodiment of this.
 * The Woobie: Kotoha.
 * Act 42 is the embodiment of this.
 * The Woobie: Kotoha.