Super Sentai, The Series That Started Power Rangers, To End Broadcast After a Half-Century

The Super Sentai series franchise is reportedly will wind up production and end broadcast after the end of the current installment, No.1 Sentai Gozyuger in early 2026, Fandom Pulse has learned.

Produced by Toei Company and aired in the TV Asahi network almost non-stop since the franchise’s inception in 1975’s Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, the tokusatsu (special effects) “transforming/henshin hero” franchise is best known internationally as the basis for the Power Rangers franchise first airing in the United States in 1993’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, adapted from the 16th Super Sentai, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger.

Like its Western adaptation, each Super Sentai series has a formula in every episode: an invasion to Earth by an evil organization (often alien), heralded by kaijin (human-sized monstrous beings) which rotates every episode, then a group of five heroic people (often teenagers) transform into five-colored superheroes and defeat the kaijin, only to see the kaijin enlarges into a kaiju, and then a super robot mecha (often combining) is summoned and piloted by the superheroes so they can the defeat the transformed kaiju.

Quoting anonymous people close to the production of Super Sentai, Kyodo News reports (Japanese language article) that Super Sentai will end due to “revenue from events, merchandise, and film adaptations [...] not enough to cover the costs of producing the program.”

Quoting CNA, award-winning actress-model Keiko Kitagawa reposted the news on her X page and wrote: “Despair”.

The franchise, along with the more famous Kamen Rider series, is best known to be a major stepping stone for young Japanese actors to be known. Award-winning actor Tori Matsuzaka, Tokyo Revengers star Yuki Yamada, and actor-model Ryusei Yokohama, all have their starts acting in Super Sentai works.

While not confirmed by TV Asahi yet, the network is reportedly planning to rebrand the franchise instead of ending it outright, due to licensing conflicts with Hasbro, which holds the exclusive license to produce Super Sentai-based works and broadcast Super Sentai installments outright worldwide except Japan and certain other countries in Asia, as several X posts have suggested, such as this below: “So many incorrect ‘News’ sites, it’s actually sad lol. They’re ending the ‘Super Sentai’ series, but the series will continue under a different name. There’s a 99.9% chance this was done so they could release it internationally without Power Rangers rights getting in the way.”

Quoting the same CNA source, the currently-airing Super Sentai installment, No.1 Sentai Gozyuger, to wrap in early 2026, serves as an anniversary tribute with the team having the ability to transform into past red Super Sentai warriors.

What do you think about the end of this legendary franchise? Leave a comment down below.

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