Super Sentai Series to End After 50 Years With Final Show No.1 Sentai Gozyuger
The long-running Super Sentai franchise is coming to an end. Kyodo news reported that TV Asahi’s Super Sentai series will wrap up with No.1 Sentai Gozyuger, the currently airing entry that first debuted on February 16. According to The Sankei Shimbun, the reason behind the decision is that revenue from events, merchandise, and film adaptations was no longer sufficient to cover production costs.
No.1 Sentai Gozyuger is the 49th entry in Toei’s franchise and was produced to mark its 50th anniversary. As part of those celebrations, the All Super Sentai Exhibition tour has been traveling across Japan since it launched in Tokyo in August, with upcoming stops in Nagoya and Sendai. NHK also ran a public poll as part of the anniversary festivities.
The Super Sentai franchise traces its roots to 1975, when manga creator Shōtarō Ishinomori, known for Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider, developed the first series Himitsu Sentai Gorenger together with Toei. A second series, J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai, followed in 1977. Toei later co-produced two more entries in the franchise alongside Marvel Comics.
The franchise inspired the overseas Power Rangers adaptation beginning in 1993. Power Rangers has had a long run of its own, including multiple seasons on Nickelodeon and Netflix, a 30th anniversary special in 2023, and ongoing discussions around a new live action adaptation reportedly in development at Disney+ and 20th Century TV.
My take: Fifty years is an extraordinary run for any franchise, and it is genuinely bittersweet to see Super Sentai end for financial reasons rather than on its own creative terms. It has been a massive influence on the tokusatsu genre and on action entertainment more broadly. The legacy it leaves behind is a real one.
