TOKYO – The half-century-old Japanese superhero franchise that spawned generations of television series such as the original Gorenger show, whose format was adapted in the United States as the Power Rangers, is drawing to a close, a source familiar with the matter said Thursday.
The end of the long-running Super Sentai franchise is attributable in part to inadequate revenues from related events, tie-in goods and movie adaptations when compared with production costs, the source said.
The final series in the franchise will be “No. 1 Sentai Gozyuger,” which is currently being aired on the TV Asahi network. It is set to reach its finale next year.
“Himitsu Sentai Gorenger,” distributed abroad as “Five Rangers,” began airing in 1975 as the franchise’s first series, featuring five heroes known by wearing their own color, such as red, blue, yellow and pink.
Each episode in the Super Sentai franchise has typically involved a climactic combat scene for which the rangers morph from ordinary-looking humans into battle-ready superheroes.
New iterations were aired at a pace of one every year from 1979, with a total of 49 being produced, including the latest.
These shows cast a number of up-and-coming actors who went on to appear in feature-length movies and popular drama series, including Tori Matsuzaka, Yuki Yamada and Ryusei Yokohama.