Samurai Sentai Shinkenger/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Alas, Poor Villain: Dayu
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: Takeru and Sosuke chasing motorbike-Nanashi on a red sports car?!? Dang, I'm sold!
    • 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 Uramasa was forged from the souls of his family and made him a deal that if he helps him create Hell, then the souls of his family would be free. However, in Act 43, Juzo betrays Akumaro and tells him that he knew from the very beginning that the souls of his family were forged into the Uramasa, but felt no remorse for their deaths and continued to kill anyway with Uramasa. It was especially unexpected because you expect that if any villain in a sentai series is going to turn out to not really be so bad, it's the human-appearing villain.
    • 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[1] , and it was especially cool while playing during his first battle in Act 17.
    • And the grandly Hot-Blooded theme song of SamuraiHaOh: "The Ultimate SamuraiHaOh Descends!". Give it a go here. [2]

"Unfazed by fist(blow)s, he swings the sword with great skill.

The absolute grandiose (icon of) invincibility!

ZEN SAMURAI GATTAI!"

    • 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, Kaoru can count for a breakthrough concept that's done quite well (first female Red ever).
  • 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.
  • 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 "I had no idea you were a lady, my lord!" While Ryunosuke was wrong about Mako, we skip ahead to Act 44 when it is revealed that Takeru is a stand-in and that the real lord, Shiba Kaoru, is a lady!
    • 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 Dokoku and Shitari's voice actors appear in person, holding a sake cup and dried squid respectively.
    • 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. The 'Hilarious in Hindsight' part comes a little over a year later when Luka becomes Shinken Yellow. 'Harsher' comes in when you realize/remember how Luka got the Shinken Yellow power, but 'Hilarious' returns because Gokaiger's finale and the Super Hero Taisen film (Super Sentai with Kamen Rider) make it obvious that Kotoha got her powers back, making Luka Kotoha's substitute.
  • Holy Shit Quotient: Actually takes place during episode 24 of Kamen Rider Decade, the Decade/Shinkenger crossover. Chinomanako, the Monster of the Week, steals Kaito's Diendriver. His contact with device not only gives him a powerful new weapon to use, but also removes his Power Limiter. The true HSQ moment, though, is he when uses the Diendriver to transform into a monstrous version of Kamen Rider Diend and then summons a mob of Nanashi from the gaps in his Rider armor. HOLY SHIT!
    • Too bad that by gaining Kamen Rider powers, it lost its second life. There goes the chance for Shinken-Oh vs Giant Kamen Rider...
    • A subtle but effective one in Act 25: Playing the Jidai Geki elements completely straight has the effect of turning Dayu's origin story into an outright period tragedy.
    • In Act 40, Dokoku actually getting off his ass after 40 episodes of doing nothing. That alone would qualify as Oh Crap but this goes straight into Holy Shit Quotient when he gives Akumaro and the Shinkengers the beating of their lives and fixes Dayu's Shamisen all while drying up to the point where he nearly becomes a statue.
    • Act 42: The entirety of Akumaro's Evil Plan to create Hell on Earth. The episode ends with the sites on which Shinkengers fought the Ayakashi commanded by Akumaro being nuked and the Shinkengers caught in the blast.
      • Act 43: Juzo appears to go along with Akumaro's plan, but at the last second, he turns and reverse-blade slashes Akumaro, then shatters the breaking point bewteen Earth and Hell, denying forever the one thing Akumaro has ever wanted. And the reason why his entire Evil Plan failed? Because he cares more about killing people than about Akumaro's Hell on Earth or the soul of his former lover.
    • If what Dayu pulls at the end of Act 47 doesn't double the HSQ for the entire series...
      • Forget Dayu. Uramasa stabbing Juzo in the foot, taking the form of his former lover, and then erupting into flames not only qualifies as HSQ but as one of the most spectacular deaths of any Sentai villain.
    • And Act 48 beats all of the above with the Rokumon Junk sailing out of a crevice as the Sanzu River floods Japan.
  • 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.

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?"

  • 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 Juzo's redemption gets slashed when he made it clear that even if his the souls of his family sealed in Uramasa want him to stop being a Blood Knight, he doesn't give a shit - all he wants to do is kill with Uramasa!
  • 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: It has its own page.
  • Replacement Scrappy: Kaoru is already getting a lot of hate for replacing Takeru as Shinken Red and a lot of her haters are trying to pick her apart in every Act after her debut [4]
  • 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.
    • The same applies to Kaoru. The fact that she doesn't quite approve her Jii's Jerkassness redeems her to many audience. It also helps that she shares the similar leadership qualities that Takeru had.
    • The final three Acts soften Tanba up enough to make him more of a Jerkass Butt Monkey rather than a complete Jerkass, at least for some. There's also the finale where he finally acknowledges Takeru as a true lord and gives him Kaoru's sealing character disc and a mojikara disc he made on his own, a disc that allows Takeru to dual wield his signature BFS, the Rekka Daizanto.
  • 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.
  • The Woobie: Kotoha.
  1. ↑ "Electronic Mojikara", "Ikkan Kenjo", "The Clap of Victory",...
  2. ↑ Audiences may be subjected to superhuman godly levels of heat, shouting and epicness.
  3. ↑ The Straight Path of Bushido
  4. ↑ "Oh my god! She's a cold bitch who stole Takeru's position as Shinken Red!" "What!? The Kuroko unsheathes her Shinkenmaru for her!? She's a spoiled princess!"
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