The Super Sentai Series (スーパー戦隊シリーズ, Sūpā Sentai Shirīzu; lit. "Super Squadron Series") is a Japanese superhero team media franchise consisting of multiple television series and films produced by Toei Company and aired by TV Asahi. The shows are of the tokusatsu genre, featuring live action characters and colorful special effects. Prior to its conclusion in 2026, Super Sentai aired alongside the Kamen Rider series in the Super Hero Time programming block on Sunday mornings on TV Asahi. In North America, the Super Sentai series is best known as the source material for the Power Rangers series. The series entered a hiatus following the 49th season, No.1 Sentai Gozyuger, as clarified by Toei Head of Production Shin-ichiro Shirakura, with a new Toei tokusatsu franchise, Project R.E.D., taking its timeslot in 2026.
Series overview
In every Super Sentai series, the protagonists are a team of people who – using either wrist-worn or hand-held devices – transform into superheroes and gain superpowers – color-coded uniforms, signature weapons, sidearms, and fighting skills – to battle a group of otherworldly supervillains that threaten to take over the Earth. In a typical episode, the heroes thwart the enemies' plans and defeat an army of enemy soldiers and the monster of the week before an enlarged version of the monster confronts them, only to be defeated once again when the heroes fight it with their mecha. Each Super Sentai is set within its own fictional universe. The fourth series, Denshi Sentai Denjiman, and the fifth series, Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan, are exceptional in that they share the same fictional universe, but there is only one cast member who appears in both works. However, on special occasions such as the Super Sentai VS series, where two Sentai teams appear together, or for some kind of memorial year project, previous Sentai teams will appear without being concerned about the consistency of the settings for each work. It is common for teams to announce their names and titles both prior to and after transforming, often referred to as a "roll call". This is inspired by Shiranami Gonin Otoko, a kabuki play first performed in 1862. Elements of kabuki were carried over into 20th century television with the jidaigeki genre. Kazutoshi Takahashi, a stunt coordinator of Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, is credited with introducing the roll call to the first Super Sentai.
Production
The first two Super Sentai series were created by Shotaro Ishinomori, then known for the 1971–1973 Kamen Rider TV series and the long-running manga Cyborg 009. He developed Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, which ran from 1975 to 1977, and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai, which released in 1977. Toei put the franchise on hiatus in 1978. Toei then collaborated with Marvel Comics to produce a live-action Spider-Man series, which is regarded as the introduction of giant robots to tokusatsu hero shows. This concept was carried over to Toei and Marvel's next co-produced series, Battle Fever J in 1979, which was originally developed as a series based around Captain America. The next two series, Denshi Sentai Denjiman and Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan, were also considered co-productions, with the remainder of the series has been solely produced by Toei Company. One of the earliest uses of the name Super Sentai to refer to the franchise was published in the Super Sentai Zukan, a series encyclopedia published by Tokuma Shoten in 1981 during the airing of Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan. Whilst the first episode of Kousoku Sentai Turboranger, which celebrated the alleged first ten teams, excluded the original two Ishinomori series and recognised Battle Fever J as the first, earlier releases such as the 1981 Super Sentai Zukan included them. Several early Super Sentai releases such as guidebooks and soundtrack collections have also included Ninja Captor, Kikaider, Daitetsujin 17, Space Sheriff Gavan, and others despite having no established links to Super Sentai. In 1993, the name Super Century All Sentai was introduced during the airing of Gosei Sentai Dairanger, recognising the two Ishinomori series and the Super Sentai series under one banner. During the airing of Mirai Sentai Timeranger in 2000, the franchise was officially rebranded as Super Sentai Series, with Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai being formally classified under Super Sentai. Spin-off series using familiar elements and concepts from Super Sentai have also been produced by Toei. Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger, a parody series produced by Toei and airing on BS Asahi, ran for two seasons between 2012 and 2013. In 2021, The High School Heroes mini-series aired on TV Asahi, starring Johnny's Entertainment unit Bishounen. Both productions are set in worlds where Super Sentai exists as a television series, with the protagonists being fans who become heroes themselves. On 23 November 2025, TV Asahi announced that Super Sentai would go on hiatus after the finale of No.1 Sentai Gozyuger. A new tokusatsu franchise, Project R.E.D., took its place in the Super Hero Time programming block in February 2026. Toei's Head of Production, Shin-Ichiro Shirakura, stated that while there are no immediate plans for such, a return of Super Sentai in the future was not out of the question.
Main series
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