Five Reasons Why I Think Ohranger Is Better Than Power Rangers Zeo

It's no secret that Ohranger had low ratings after Kakuranger. Ohranger wanted to be the most serious Super Sentai under Noboru Sugimura's watch. But events like the Sarin Gas cult attack on Tokyo Subway and the earthquake that year caused a forced retool. That resulted to Ohranger to switch between lighter and softer and darker and edgier more often than not. Then the show ended up as a super duper huge toy commercial to make up for low ratings. Carranger wasn't so fortunate either with ratings but still made it up for toy sales.

Let's take a look at the reason why I prefer Ohranger over the more popular (?) Power Rangers Zeo. Remember this is just my personal opinion so don't get too outraged by this one.


It's pretty much its own so it could start afresh

What I don't like about Zeo is how it's just cast recycling with Tanya as the only new ranger. That alone already derails the plot and doesn't offer anything fresh. I don't care if you want to connect Super Sentai series but what Power Rangers did in its earlier days was a bad move IMO. The cast is pretty fresh and I find the actors miles better than what Zeo could offer. Goro Hoshino is a better leader than Tommy. Yes, Tommy. And I could talk about the one true legend in the next point.


Hiroshi Miyauchi is always more welcome than Jason David Frank for me

I still can't forget how I gave a really bad birthday present to that self-glorified idiot JDF who's just a joke. So what does Miyauchi have that JDF doesn't have? He refused to become the face of Tokusatsu. He was in Goranger and JAKQ. He became the "Tommy" of JAKQ but he's no attention grabber. He's got real badass skills and JDF's just like Hercule in Dragon Ball Z. He was Kamen Rider V3 and Zubat. They're not the same character. Him acting as different characters is a much more refreshing sight than Tommy wearing different spandex. Miyauchi came back to act in other Tokusatsu seasons but he came in as the badass mentor that Tommy will NEVER become. He was the mentor for both Winspector and it sequel Solbrain. He was Ohranger's mentor. None of them are the same character. Should I mention Captain Miura made the Carrangers from wimpy idiots to manly soldiers in just one movie? I'd really sign up for Captain Miura's classes any day over Tommy's.


Better action scenes than Zeo

I admit Super Sentai's action scenes haven't been as good as the 70s to 90s (but some plots got better like how I think Abaranger is miles better than Zyuranger in terms of writing) but back then, it was pretty good. Ohranger was full of super intense action that Zeo couldn't have due to TV-Y7-FV ratings. Sure Zeo had the cast doing its stunts but it was limited by American standards. But this isn't much of a concern considering that Gaoranger up to present has toned down the violence considerably.


Better plotlines than Zeo's extra plots like Bulk and Skull's defective detective routine

Rewatching Zeo can be a pain for me and I don't intend to rewatch it. It just had a stupid beginning with Machine Empire throwing out Zedd and Rita. It just had Rito and Goldar going after amnesia. Bulk and Skull are so useless. Them as defective detectives is no welcome treat. The "useless family" is a better treat than Bulk and Skull's useless shenanigans. The sequencing at the beginning is properly done compared to Zeo. Zedd and Rita were almost useless. Bomber the Great may not be so great but at least he's better done than Louie Kaboom. Should I mention Zeo had an ambiguous finale while Ohranger concluded it? Ohranger also offered more development for the Machine Empire Baranoia especially how Hysteria contradicted herself. She hates the human emotion of love but she ended up showing a lot of it for her family. Should I mention that the Dear John letter may have been the big berserk button that made me a Super Sentai snob?


Kingranger's introduction is better than the Gold Ranger plot

I always found the Gold Ranger plot of Ohranger to be really annoying. First, we have to keep guessing then the power goes to Jason then back to Trey of Triforia. That whole plot was better off seen as we have no idea on what to do with the Gold Ranger. Ohranger had a better idea on what to do. Hurricanger did better with how it handled the mysterious Shurikenger and it remained a little more consistent. While I thought Shurikenger was probably a weakness for Hurricanger but it wasn't as dumb as how Gold Ranger's mystery got handled or how Sam is a ball of light in Power Rangers SPD. Was it really a perfect introduction for this warrior? Nothing's perfect but it certainly did better than the Gold Ranger plot in Zeo.

Closing notes

Do I find Ohranger to be miles better in terms of plot and execution? I gave my five reasons above to justify why my answer is yes. But do I want to ignore its flaws like the whole show ended up shifting moods too much and ended up having to adjust with real life events? No. The show still suffered issues during its run and that shouldn't be ignored. I find Ohranger better than Zeo but there's still better series before and after it. Every Super Sentai has its own flaws but learning from these mistakes is crucial to producing better Super Sentai series and that the path to progress will have its ups and downs. I still think Ohranger is messy in terms of plot with the ever constant change of tones. While I think it's better than Zeo but there's series better than it before it and after it.

So what series do I want to point out why I like them better than their Power Rangers counterparts? I already did that on Dekaranger vs. their SPD counterparts, Shinkenger vs. Power Rangers Samurai and Gokaiger vs. Mega-FAILED. I still find it unnecessary for me to do some between Megaranger and Power Rangers in Space, Gingaman vs. Lost Galaxy, GoGoFive vs. Lightspeed Rescue and Timeranger vs. Time Force because I'm just having my biases there while I acknowledge that the American counterpart did some things I like better while I still prefer Super Sentai overall. I prefer Ransik as a leading villain over Dolnero and I think Carter Grayson has a better personality than Matoi Tatsumi to name a few. Oh, I won't compare Nagare Tatsumi to Chad Lee as both are too different. One's a scientist and the other is a water sportsman. So I don't find too much need to compare and if I don't watch a show I just don't watch it.

So which series do you like better? Zeo or Ohranger?