yeah along with her co-writer google translate

Me too! I am also slightly weirded out that I'm this far into this thing. :p

There's a scene I immediately think of whenever I think of Shinkenger, and it's *THAT* scene from episode 47. It's one of the most emotional things I've ever seen in a toku show, where the precision of Shinkenger becomes as clear as ever, from Nakazawa's direction, Kobayashi's script, the performances the actors give, the music (the music!), to just how properly it feels like the show was always building up to that moment with the team... like, they just earned the heck out of that emotion in every way possible, and it's a beautiful scene like that which I look back on and can never see Shinkenger as anything other than a masterpiece. There are plenty of Sentai I like more than Shinkenger for various reasons, but the sheer quality of this show's execution is hard to surpass. I really think it deserves whatever praise it gets.

Shinkenger was a great show in that first off the casting was superb. Tori Matsuzaka, who seems like a laid-back goofball in real life as demonstrated by his appearances in Masaki Suda's ANN radio show, was a great choice at the time as the aloof leader Takeru, Hiroki Aiba was great as the overachieving but well-meaning Ryunosuke, Rin Takanashi was great as the horrible cook/big sister of the team Mako, Shogo Suzuki was great as the rebellious young man Chiaki, Suzuka Morita was great as the gentle and kind Kotoha, and Keisuke Souma was great as the comic relief/mediocre sushi chef with a gift in decyphering mystic arts into digital form Genta before he went on to be Master Logos in Saber. :lolol
Chiaki was my favorite in that he was this senior high school kid who is thrust into being a samurai and had to give up fun times with his friends to fulfill his family's destiny and wasn't completely reluctant by acknowledging that it has to be done. It was more of a "I don't like it but it has to be done, so let's do it" type of attitude. His brief rivalry with Takeru was fun to see and the whole late bloomer character angle was nice early in the show. And the transformation sequence was always cool to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGRQy7-c1C8

Oh, and let's not forget episode 1's intro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fb3nKL7Ukw

That was excellent choreography. It was from here I knew the show was gonna be good.

Ryu completed.

I thought this was a great series.

#47 and #48 weirded me out however.

What the heck kind of whacked out finale was that? It almost made no sense. Most confusing ending I've seen recently.

Go Busters

I thought it was a bit weird that one girl called herself Go Busters Pink. That threw me off a bit.

Bouken ordered for my Mylasian set so I will need to finish this next.

Hopefully I can track down Geki.

Found my Shout Factory disks so I'll need to finish Galaxy Man - Aba soon. (Aba VIA Malaysian sets)

Also now resuming Kyo - Lu Pat (6 year gap after Go Busters.)

Ryu now marks my 15th series seen start to finish. 31 more to go counting 2022.

Let?s go flashy with another instalment of?

Androzani?s Tsukai Detour

And today, we?re looking at?

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs Uchuu Keiji Gavan: The Movie

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComdJ8X...jpg&name=small

"The 34 Super Sentai who have protected the smiles of the people! They lost their powers fighting the Space Empire Zangyack, but their powers have been inherited by these unbelievable rogues! These youths travel the great seas of space searching for adventure and romance. They revolt against Space Empire Zangyack. These hearty fellows proudly bear the pirate name! And their name is..." (well a lot of this is a pack of lies)

Gokaiger:

Captain Marvelous/Gokai Red: formerly part of an organised movement of pirates fighting Zangyack with the Ranger Keys, who fell apart due to infighting.
Joe Gibken/Gokai Blue: A former Zangyack swordsman who defected when he realised what he was getting into.
Luka Milfy/Gokai Yellow: A pickpocket who?s moved onto outright burglary.
Ahim de Famille/Gokai Pink: The princess of the destroyed planet Famille and the only core Gokaiger with anything resembling a conscience.
Gai Ikari/Gokai Silver: A human who was granted transformation abilities by the ghosts of Yamato Knight Burai/DragonRanger, Naoto Takizawa/TimeFire and Mikoto Nakadai/AbareKiller. Also a major Sentai fanboy who knows stuff he logically shouldn?t know.

I think that?s all of them.

Allies:
Navi: a robot parrot with an annoying voice, fond of misquoting Denziman?s ending (he only says ?do suru? twice instead of three times). Whenever he gets hit on the head, he states some vague hint that inevitably pushes the quest along.
Gavan: The legendary Space Cop who prevented the Interdimensional Crime Sundicate Makuu from sending the Earth into the Makuu Zone almost 30 years ago. He is known on Earth as ?Retsu Ichijouji?.
Jealoushitto: A former Zangyack Action Commander who was kicked out for his incompetence. He later faked his death to settle down and marry the owner of a cafe.
Engine Machalcon (Mach + Falcon): The son of Engines Speedor and BeaRV and the Greater Power of Go-Onger. He joined with the Gokaigers due to feeling like an outcast.

Space Empire Zangyack: An intergalactic empire that has now set its sights on Earth.
Ackdos Gil: The emperor of the Zangyack, he came to oversee the invasion following the death of his son, Warz Gil at the hands of the Gokaigers.
Dyrandoh: Ackdos? bodyguard who oversees the invasion plans.
Insarn: The smart girl of the Zangyack, who invented their growth ray and upgrades their Action Commanders if they struggle the first time. She is the last member of the original invasion force still alive.
Gormin: the robotic footsoldiers of the Zangyack. Their greatest weakness is a dumpster (though it doesn? come up much).
Sugormin: A higher ranked version of the Gorman. They normally appear in groups of three.

Other villains:
Basco te Jolaika: Marvelous? former crew mate turned arch enemy after he rated out his fellow crewmen to the Zangyack in exchange for a reprieve, a reprieve that was later revoked after he acted in defiance of the Zangyack. He is also after the Greater Power of the Super Sentai, but for evil purposes.
Sally: Basco?s pet monkey, who houses Kaiju known as Solidroids.
Month Drekk of the Planet: Leader of the Universe Annihilation Army Warstar, he was lured to attack Earth by Brajil the Messiah under the guise of Bladerun of the Comet. After the deaths of his subordinates, Drekk took to the field to face the Goseigers personally, only to be defeated by Hyper Gosei Great and destroyed with his ship.
King-Gong the Bigfoot: Co-leader of the Earth Condemnation Group Yuma-Beasts, who were unleashed from the EllRai Box after being sealed by Brajil millions of years ago. He and his partner Mc-Quin the Blob set about polluting Earth to make it suitable for their people, with the aid of Brajil in the guise of Blade-Run the Chupacabra. They were eventually thwarted by the efforts of the Goseigers, with King-Gong being defeated by the new mecha Gosei Ultimate.
Calami-ten Robo-Gog: A scientist from the ancient society of Matrintis, who turned his body into a machine and took over the empire following its collapse, spending millions of years planning to subjugate the organics on the surface with his Matroids. However, he made the mistakes of implanting his loyal servant Meta-ALIS with a bomb in the event he was displeased with her and reviving Brajil from death as Cyborg Blade-RUN, giving the two an opportunity to take him down by destroying the Salvation Cell that had kept him alive for millions of years.

Personally, I think Gokaiger is overrated. There wasn?t a lot I found worth watching the whole series for and there were only two characters I found likeable and one more I found worthwhile. Among the show?s tributes, I found 5 to be actually good (none of which were written by the main writer). In fact, I?ve named this series my least favourite ever and I stand by that decision.

As for the credits, the writer is Arakawa and the director is Nakazawa, so with all of that said, let?s get on with this.

We open with the Gokaigers? Gokai Galleon being pursued across the skies by Gavan?s DolGiran.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComdKEW...jpg&name=small

After a prolonged chase, our heroes (such as they are) are shot down by their pursuer.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComdKHW...jpg&name=small

They then emerge to be met with Gavan.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComdKQX...jpg&name=small

The defence that the Dekarangers already pardoned them (as seen in episode 5 of Gokaiger) falls flat, since Gavan works for the Galactic Federal Police, which is a different jurisdiction (make your own tax avoidance jokes. I?m too lazy). After a short fight, Gavan manages to single handedly overpower and capture all of them.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComkKAW...jpg&name=small

Gavan escorts the pirates to his superior, Superintendent Weevil (played by Shiro Sano, the narrator for some of Tsuburaya?s Ultra Series shows, who later played Dr. PAC-Man in Heisei Generations and Valma in Ryusoulger?s movie), who has a firing squad ready. Gavan questioning the order reveals that Weevil is executing them because he?s a Zangyack loyalist (That would explain the lack of a trial)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComkKFX...jpg&name=small

But before the actual execution can be carried out, Gavan decides to save them (Boo.), revealing that he had the handcuffs bugged to open at the push of a button the whole time. The capture was simply part of a sting operation to bust the guy currently about to execute them.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComkKQX...jpg&name=small

?Weevil? commends Gavan on his detective prowess, while revealing his true face. (Which is still voiced by Sano, probably to make his disguise more plausible)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComkKKW...jpg&name=small

Ashurada then reveals that he?s combined the technologies of the GFP and the Zangyack to create an ?ultimate? warrior.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComruvX...jpg&name=small

(Bootleg = pirate copy)

Gavan tries to fight the robot double, only to be overwhelmed, though he returns everyone?s Mobirates so they can help out, while doing this (It?s not his catchphrase, it?s a quote from his ED that they made into a catchphrase).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComru1W...jpg&name=small

The pose causes Marvelous to have a Vietnam flashback.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComru9X...jpg&name=small

After beating his way through the Gormin single handedly, Gavan transforms to fight Ashurada, only to be overwhelmed by Robo-Gavan. And while the others fight, Marvelous is just standing there (Has he really betrayed them?)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FComrvAX...jpg&name=small

It?s at that point that Gai (who wasn?t with the others, since he was grocery shopping) bursts in for a dramatic rescue, with Luka (f*cking Luka) chastising him for being late (Where?s the thank you for saving your ungrateful hide?). Against his better judgement, Marvelous has everyone withdraw, while Gavan is sucked into a portal to the Makuu Zone (to his shock) along with Ashurada and Robo-Gavan.

And what is the Makuu Zone, you ask? Well here?s Gavan?s narrator to spell it out.

?Don Horror was able to control the Earth?s axis and create a Makuu Zone similar to a black hole. BEM beasts are able to absorb Makuu energy and have three times as much power as they have on Earth?

YouTuber playing through the Space Sheriff Spirits video game: He is not three times more powerful.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCom2pcW...jpg&name=small

Back to safety, the others ask Marvelous why he froze, to which he flashes back to his childhood (back before he figured out that Sitting around doing nothing won?t get us nowhere)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCom2pgW...jpg&name=small

He explains that when the ship came under attack, a man came to rescue him, giving him a rousing speech that ended with ?Yoroshiku, Yuuki?.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCom2ptW...jpg&name=small

Everyone then receives a call from Basco (f*cking Basco) who offers them some information on how to rescue Gavan.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConAnEW...jpg&name=small

Back at the Gigant Horse, Dyrandoh chews out Ashurada on not going through with the scheme he was ordered to carry out.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConAnkW...jpg&name=small

Ashurada reveals that he kidnapped Gavan for his own plan. He reveals that he is the son of Makuu?s leader, Don Horror and he intends to torture Gavan in order to enrage the blood of Don Horror so that the Makuu Zone will expand and engulf the Earth (okay, that plan makes no sense. Why would torturing his arch enemy make Don Horror angry? Wouldn?t having him torture you be more likely to produce results). Elsewhere, Basco reveals that Gavan has been locked in the Zangyack?s Makuu Prison, the deadliest prison in the universe, from which no-one has ever escaped in 26000 years. As the pirates ponder their next move, a guy shows up with a panda (or rather, a guy in a panda suit).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConJY-W...jpg&name=small

As everyone else assumes Gavan somehow escaped, Gai recognises who this really is. Namely, Shiro Akebone, or rather?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConJY7W...jpg&name=small

As Gai gets Shiro?s autograph, the others run into a familiar face (who they met in the 199 Heroes movie).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConJZAX...jpg&name=small

Daigoro Oume, or rather?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConTXtX...jpg&name=small

Gai explains how he can tell these two apart: Akebone smells like the Savannah, while Oume smells like anpan (which doesn?t help, but whatever). After filling the two in on the situation with Gavan (and Oume mentioning having met Gavan once, to further this joke), the two tell the Gokaigers that, to drag this joke further into the audience?s skulls, er I mean, enter the Makuu Zone, they need the combined powers of Battle Kenya and DenziBlue. Which they happen to have.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConTXvX...jpg&name=small

As the others decide to join Marvelous in his quest to pay Gavan back, they enter the Makuu Zone at the same place Ashurada did.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConTXsX...jpg&name=small

Against all odds, they arrive exactly outside where they need to go.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConTXuX...jpg&name=small

Once inside, they discover their old pal Jealoushitto in jail, but decide not to ask why, because it?s probably not important. Elsewhere, Ashurada?s torture turns out to be? Robo-Gavan lightly whipping Real-Gavan (what?s this meant to do? Annoy him?)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConcJ3X...jpg&name=small

And then they notice that the three Gaiark Ministers are also in the jail (aside from it being too cramped, they?re fine with the filthy living conditions).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConcKKX...jpg&name=small

And in the next cell is Kaze no Shizuka, who evidently suggested that Gekkou move from stealing Precious to selling gravure.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConcKKX...jpg&name=small

Oh, and Gekkou?s also in jail.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConcKMW...jpg&name=small

As is Bae.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCongDWW...jpg&name=small

And Yatsudenwani (but there aren?t any reformed bad guys from earlier series, despite there being just as many as the more recent series. Which kind of illustrates one of Gokaiger?s main problems. It panders way too much to the more modern series? fans), who drags Ahim and Luka towards him through the bars.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCongDWX...jpg&name=small

And to top it all off, Joe gets hit on by Vancuria.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCongDYX...jpg&name=small

But Don somehow has two villainesses going after him (is the curly hair and bow tie look really that attractive?)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCongDaX...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConmRwX...jpg&name=small

But all this noise catches the attention of a Gormin, who summons reinforcements, with Marvelous deciding to free everyone in the block. Elsewhere, Basco asks himself the greatest moral conundrum he?s faced since ?should I wear the red fur coat and tricolour today?.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConmR9X...jpg&name=small

But he doesn?t even get near the ship, as a new guy with a motorcycle blocks his route.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConmSCW...jpg&name=small

The newcomer introduces himself as Red Buster, as Basco?s exits are blocked off by two more newcomers.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConz9WW...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConz9cX...jpg&name=small

Basco takes note of their colour coded leather outfits and leaps to the obvious conclusion. (No, I am not making a joke referencing Among Us. That game sucks)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FConz9qW...jpg&name=small

But Yellow Buster says that they aren?t impostors (that?s the other RBY trio this year).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCon9KbX...jpg&name=small

Red Buster: Tokumei Sentai?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCon9KgW...jpg&name=small

Basco then engages Red Buster in a brief fight, during which the latter briefly displays super speed, with the other two providing interference both by joining the fight and doing to Sally the one thing Basco never would? feed her.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCon9KmX...jpg&name=small

Basco decides to withdraw, with the Go-Busters deciding to leave the rest to the Gokaigers (unless you have a method of interdimensional travel, there?s not much you can do). Back at Makuu Prison, Joe and Gai stay behind to let the others go to the next level, turning into DenjiBlue and Go-On Gold (no, I have no reasoning for the last one, but it?s nice to see some variety beyond ?same team, same colour or same motif?.)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCon9KrW...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooEo8X...jpg&name=small

The next level turns out to be a European town replica, where they meet their old foe Sneak Brothers Elder, now with a different younger sibling.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooEpCW...jpg&name=small

This time, Don and Luka hold the line, turning into Battle Kenya and HurricaneYellow.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooEpHX...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooEpQX...jpg&name=small

On level three, Marvelous and Ahim face Robo-Gog in the sea.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooMeBX...jpg&name=small

So the guys in the pirate suits decide to go into the Angel suits (still better than? nope, not gonna go there).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooMeLX...jpg&name=small

They make it to the woods, where they have an altercation with King-Gong.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooMeQX...jpg&name=small

And then they head to a quarry near the sky, where Drekk appears.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooW_BX...jpg&name=small

Ahim sacrifices herself so Marvelous can proceed, finding Gavan and his jailers on the top floor.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooW_GW...jpg&name=small

Unfortunately for simple plans, Robo-Gavan is just as tough as the real one in battle, with Marvelous having to resort to trapping it? and even that fails. Luckily, he manages to get close enough to Gavan to trick the robot into freeing him, which gives Gai the all-clear to blow the place with the Gokai Galleon Buster.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooW_PX...jpg&name=small

Everyone reunites and climbs out of the prison as it explodes behind them.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooeRdW...jpg&name=small

Back in reality, as Marvelous and Gavan properly thank each other for their respective saves of the other, Ashurada appears from the Makuu Zone with an army, deciding to kill them all here.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooeRjW...jpg&name=small

Which means it?s time to transform.

Gavan: Jouchaku (lit. ?Deposition?. Translated officially as ?Metamorphosis?).

?It takes Uchuu Keiji Gavan less than a tenth of a second to go through the deposition process. Let?s see it again.?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooeRnX...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooeRtW...jpg&name=small

Gokaigers: Gokai Change!

(Transformation)

?It takes Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger a tenth of a second to transform. So let?s watch it again.?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooqtTW...jpg&name=small

Marvelous: Gokai Red!

Joe: Gokai Blue!

Luka: Gokai Yellow!

Don: Gokai Green!

Ahim: Gokai Pink!

Gai: Gokai Silver!

Marvelous: Kaizoku Sentai?

All: Gokaiger!

Gavan: Uchuu Keiji? Gavan!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCooqs_X...jpg&name=small

And it?s time for the unadulterated awesome that is Gavan?s theme song.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=re8ZobtPsGE

You're a man, aren't you?
Then you shouldn't hesitate.
The engine of your heart,
Start it at full burn.

I'm on the scene, always one step ahead of you,
Moving at the speed of light towards tomorrow, now dash!

(Beam! Beam!)

Youth, youth, what is it?
It's never turning your back.
What is love?
It?s letting nothing stop you.

Gavan! Wipe away the tears.
Gavan! Yoroshiku yuuki.
Uchuu Keiji Gavan!

The heroes go through the grunts with ease, with the Gokaigers swapping weapons, while Gavan uses his Dimension Bomber to wipe a whole group out. As Ashurada engages the Gokaigers, Gavan goes after his robot duplicate, pushing it into a warehouse. And then the still pretty alright, but not as cool Gokaiger theme plays.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2tnMAins...uuN6xv9J6ja64s

Go ahead! Fly the flag of courage
Let's cut through the seven seas
When it's do or die, the invincible wind

Will take you in its stride
Open your eyes! For the place that's not in any map
Because it isn't an illusion

Each one of us, has their very own
Treasure that everyone is seeking
Test it out, because everyone
Is different from each other
Now is the time to do whatever you want
Your life's on the edge
So reach out for what you desire, and grab it!

Let's go! Let's! Gokaiger
Go! Go! Let's go! Let's! Take the helm
In the sea that spreads out in front of you
We will carve a path that was not there
Let's go! Let's! Gokaiger
Go! Go! Let's go! Let's! In the eye of the storm
Work hard on your "recklessness" right now
And you will change this world
Giant dreams are infinite
Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger

The Gokaigers then face Ashurada, while Gavan?s battle with his robot double continues.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCoo0vSX...jpg&name=small

After a fairly groan-worthy joke about how one of our heroes and Ashurada?s dad are both called ?Don", Robo-Gavan continues to press his assault.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCoo0vQX...jpg&name=small

But then Gavan pulls out his Laser Blade and manages to get the better of Bootleg, mocking it.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCoo0vRW...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCoo0vPW...jpg&name=small

He then destroys it for good with his main finishing move.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCoo7uyX...jpg&name=small

Elsewhere, the Gokaigers weaken Ashurada with a procession of All Colour changes.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCoo7uuX...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCoo7uzW...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCoo7uuW...jpg&name=small

They then revert to normal to kill him with a low-powered attack (Nice to see all of my issues with Gokaiger are coming to the fore with this movie). But this is bad, since he simply revives as a giant, having unlocked Don Horror's power (see what I meant earlier) and begins to have the Makuu Zone envelop the Earth.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCopEjYX...jpg&name=small

The Gokaigers call in the Gokai Galleon, Gai calls in the GoZyuDrill while Gavan calls in Denshi Seijuu Dol.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9EAqVTwE0cA

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCopEjiX...jpg&name=small

And then the pirates use the Abaranger powers to combine into GoZyuGokaiOh (aka, the most forgettable of Gokaiger?s combinations).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=N9bFLc1_Jyc

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCopEjqX...jpg&name=small

But that quickly proves insufficient, so they call upon Machalcon and combine into Kanzen GokaiOh.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bki2gilfHyI

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCopMdqX...jpg&name=small

As Dol joins the battle, Kanzen GokaiOh leaps onto it to have the two launch a combined attack that destroys Ashurada?s extra arms.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCopMd-W...jpg&name=small

Marvelous then joins Gavan on the hull for a combination attack.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCopMd2X...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCopSNyX...jpg&name=small

As Ashurada is destroyed, Gai decides to become a fan of Gavan, Marvelous tells the closest thing he has to a father now what he?s been doing with his life and Akebone and Oume show up again to pound the joke even further into the ground.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCopSN0X...jpg&name=small

Cue credits.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lv37pST7ouc

Final thoughts: All things considered, this annoyed me a lot less than the standard Gokaiger fare. You may think it?s because of the Gavan elements but I?ll tell you now I?ve seen little of that series, and what I share here is what I?ve managed to pick up. But it probably did make a difference.

This will seem like a dumb question but why did you skip the 35th anniversary movie that also doubles as a crossover movie between Gokaiger and Goseiger? That one is honestly my favorite out of all of the Sentai crossover movies.

I’m only doing Vs movies and that isn’t a vs movie. It’s a Gokaiger movie that features the Goseigers.

Space Sheriff Spirits is a legit great video game and everyone should go play it, even if they have zero context for Metal Heroes as a franchise.

Infact, you should play it especially if you have zero prior context.

With Ryu completed I'm finishing Bouken next VIA Malaysian sets.

Kyo (Episode 22)

To Quger is next to finish that series.

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

epic 34 – Tensou Sentai Goseiger

https://i.imgur.com/VA1YCoQ.png

I feel like it's my destiny to one day be a huge fan of Goseiger. I mean, defending the planet may be an angel's duty, but defending unpopular toku shows is mine, and not too long after it ended, Goseiger was without a doubt the Worst Sentai Ever. Flanked to either side by massive fan-favorite seasons, it was like this go-to fandom punching bag back in 2011, when I was getting into all this stuff. Granted, I don't recall the specific complaints ever being anything more harsh than "it was really bland", but from the way people talked about it, you'd swear that was some heinous criminal offence. Of course, people have moved on since, because the whole joke of this running gag is that there's inevitably going to be a new worst thing for people to dogpile on, but even now, that still leaves poor Goseiger without a particularly large vocal fandom. (In my limited experience, as always!)

All of that means that Goseiger is a series I kind of feel this half-connection to already, even though this is the very last show on the tour I haven't seen in full (again, I came in right after this show ended.) Indeed, I hadn't seen any of Goseiger proper, beyond crossovers they were in, where they always seemed like cool enough dudes to me. I've come really really close to starting the show a few times over the years, actually, but I always seem to end up putting it off, and I legitimately do feel bad about it in this case! I've got every reason to have watched this show already.

The designs and aesthetics have only ever grown on me with time, for one thing. I remember not liking the suits too much at first, before I realized their color balance is basically perfect and also that I just plain like when Sentai suits use lots of white, so now I adore the Goseiger suits. I thought the Tensouder was the most peculiar transformation device imaginable – a head that eats trading cards – but with the benefit of a decade of hindsight, I've realized that's the strength of that concept, because even now, there is nothing else remotely like it. The mecha were always pretty neat to me, with Gosei Great being exactly the kind of design I picture when I picture a Sentai robo. In general, Goseiger shoots for this cool fantasy vibe very much in the vein of Zyuranger (right down to having the team name also written in kanji at the bottom of the show's logo to explain what it means), and I tend to be all over that stuff to begin with.

And then there's this one very particular thing that pushed me towards ~almost~ watching Goseiger, which was just seeing the posts for its releases on the fansub group MillionFold Curiosity's website while going to watch some of the other Sentai they subbed. (i.e. Megaranger and Gingaman.) This might seem like an extremely minor anecdote to be bringing up, but this honestly did leave a notable impact on me. The thing about those release posts is that they also included these enthusiastic little blurbs basically just gushing a bit about the show, and something about seeing that done for Goseiger – a show that had already been subbed and that nobody liked or cared about – it kinda struck a chord with me, as someone so familiar with liking unpopular toku. Seeing unabashed affection for Goseiger was both refreshing and a little touching, and thanks to their extremely convenient and thorough Goseiger Monster File, I also got to learn all about how every monster in this show is named after and loosely themed around a movie for some inexplicable reason, and like, I just can't hate that kind of weird attention to detail!

So clearly Goseiger is actually pretty cool, right? I think Goseiger is pretty cool. I mean, I haven't seen it, but I think we can all agree – Goseiger is pretty cool.

...Okay, well, if you need more convincing, I can at least make an argument based around the one episode I have watched now, which I found to be a textbook well-executed premiere. I mean it, too! Start to finish, everything here felt very purposeful, and on top of that clarity, it's also got heart and excitement. Writing a first episode for a Sentai is always this tricky balancing act of exposition, action, and drama, and Goseiger finds time for all of those in fairly equal measure, all without it feeling cramped or messy.

The very first thing the show does, before the opening even plays, is establish the conflict for the series by way of a proper inciting incident, with a monster blowing up the Tower of Heaven on behalf of the group of alien invaders he's part of, while also getting into a confrontation with Gosei Red, a Gosei Angel who you can probably gather isn't too thrilled about a place called the "Tower of Heaven" being destroyed by monsters. So right away, we've got action, we've got our good guys and our bad guys, we've got a bit of a rivalry going on between two of them, we've got some hints of world-building and mythology for the show's universe... did I mention we're not even quite two minutes into this thing yet? It's a heck of a cold open, and the very clearly evil bad guys immediately causing destruction versus a literal angel brandishing a heroic sword and declaring himself a defender of all life on Earth definitely sets up the straightforward style of Goseiger well. They may have consciously avoided having the villains be demons, but the appeal of heroes who are even more unquestionably the good guys than usual is immediately present. This Gosei Red guy just seems like someone you can rely on, you know?

Really, throughout the episode Alata is pretty great. Everything I've ever seen of or heard about his character suggests he's a surprisingly nuanced take on a Red, and the way he's portrayed in the premiere matches up with all that. He's bubbly, youthful, and eager to leap into action, but he's clearly not a totally carefree idiot or anything either. I really enjoyed the little emotional core this episode finds once it picks up after that intro. A hair over a week later, Alata has already formed the Goseigers along with the four other angels in-training who happened to be on Earth when their way back home got blown up, and they've settled into a routine of fighting evil well enough. It's a good underdog setup for the team and everything, and again, the exposition is worked in there without breaking the episode's flow, but the beauty of skipping over that chunk of the origin story is that this episode gets to be about something else. More specifically, Goseiger continues to do Zyuranger proud by centering all its attention on the heroes helping out some kid with their problems.

Alata overhears a kid by the name of Nozomu trying to work up the courage to apologize to some other kids about an argument they got in, and when Nozomu can't quite bring himself to do the right thing, Alata swoops in like a proper angel to be the voice guiding him along the proper path. I know enough about Goseiger to know Nozomu is more than a one-off character, and that "just give it a try" is Alata's whole motto, and that's another way in which this is an extremely efficient debut. Even ignoring that this is all important setup, this works really well as a typical weekly plot, and the whole thing Alata is imparting about how you never even have a chance if you don't make the attempt... I mean, that's just solid life advice? I mean, dang, as if this episode weren't on fire already, they even made space for a moral in there. It's a strong backbone for the story, and I quite liked both how Nozomu gets caught up in the action, and how that so clearly frames the kind of hero Alata is. I'm always going to be in favor of a superhero story where the protagonist helps people beyond simply fighting villains.

The fighting villains part is pretty cool too though! As with everything else, the climax is very straightforward and very classic. It's the whole team all together, transforming for the first time, posing in front of explosions while doing their roll call, and then demonstrating their cool powers. Which might make it sound "bland", but on top of being made way more exciting by how it pays off the plot with Nozomu, you also just can't go wrong with a fight like this? It's a proven structure, with this nice escalation of the team going from their sidearms, to their personal weapons, and then finally bringing those all together to form the obligatory bazooka. The shot of them after landing the finishing blow makes them look cool, and there's still time after that to have Nozomu making that apology, and to bring back that dude Gosei Red was taking on at the start to make for a suspenseful cliffhanger. Again, they really stuffed this thing full!

I'm rather satisfied with this premiere, if that somehow hasn't been made clear enough yet. Again, I'm also pretty sure I'd be satisfied with Goseiger in general if I'd actually sit down and watch it one of these days. After all, I am mildly ashamed I'm not already part of the crowd hailing it as severely underrated (I'm sure they're out there somewhere!), which is probably why I'm basically doing that anyway despite having such a limited frame of reference to go off of. But really, it is a pretty cool show, isn't it?

Goseiger is basically the Wizard of Sentai; The one everyone accuses of being bland and bad, and yet it has some good stuff going for it.

Consider me as one of the few that finds Goseiger to be underrated though a part of it might be to due to how vastly overrated the previous series is and that I ended up watching Goseiger with much better English subtitles than from what I’m stuck with on Shinkenger to the point where I find the former series to be somewhat refreshing right from the start plus there are legitimately good elements to the series especially concerning this show’s sixth ranger that shows up later on and few other things which I really can’t say due to spoilers.

It's always left me a bit confused to hear Goseiger described as bland as someone who hasn't watched it. Because on the one hand I kinda get it, but on the other hand... the movie theming! The multiple villainous factions! The main villain! The characterisation of Alata! Everything I've heard about those seem so standout, and almost like they were crafted to make a Sentai that changed things up a lot. There's so many interesting traits going for it right away that it's hard to imagine how I'd find it being bland or generic when I do watch it

Well I will say that a blog that was giving reasons to watch every Sentai series (even ones the poster didn’t like, such as ToQger and Zyuohger) had a hard time trying anything to say to recommend Goseiger (as he pointed out, the producer quit on them halfway through, the director was too sick to work on many episodes and the characters are already literally angels, which kind of prevents a lot of meaningful flaws for them to overcome), but he did find something in the end (namely, that it arguably does the multiple villain factions thing better than Boukenger and Gingaman).

As for me, I definitely prefer it to Yokote’s other series as the main writer, but I won’t be calling it a personal favourite. It’s a bit of a 7/10 for me.

I both agree that it is bland and find it underrated lol.

Alata is a character that could have worked but IMO Right seemed like a better executed version. Like its counterpart which I definitely found worse, it is mostly the female characters I remember and a show with 5 members all the way through that's after 1992 can seem a bit like austerity, but it did keep me going through (this is an even more unpopular opinion) the time when W was on and I genuinely didn't like it! :lol

It is kind of a bit unmemorable and bland if I'm going to be brutally honest, but bad sentai is still fun and it does have its redeeming features, plus 1999 was also a quiet year in Japanese toku and I'm not the biggest fan of GoGoFive but that seems to have more people that like it!

Update

Completed

Deka - Go Busters

Finishing the remaining Bouken episodes this week. And next.

Man, when you put it like that, I feel like I should watch Goseiger right now! :lol

Man, it's super unfortunate if you can't find a way to watch Shinkenger with Over-Time's subs. I remember constantly feeling like those were such a high quality labor of love on their part while I was going through the show, and that alone made me glad I waited as long as I did to watch it.

Yeah, I mean, as someone who took a bit to come around on Gingaman, I can't pretend I'm above failing to see the value in a deliberately straightforward Sentai, but at the same time, it really does just seem like Goseiger deserves more credit than it gets? Hopefully we'll both make the time to find out some day!

From what I've read, the behind the scenes trouble probably wasn't as drastic as this makes it sound? Gou Wakamastsu was functionally the co-chief producer from the start, to the point that it was apparently his idea to make Nagaishi the pilot director, and on that note, I mean, even if this was a more drastic case than usual, these shows get bounced between a lot of directors anyway? For all the mean things I've seen said about Goseiger, I don't think a lack of cohesive creative vision has ever been one of them.

Really, if this person had to resort to bringing up production info to begin with, are you sure he wasn't struggling to find reasons NOT to watch Goseiger? :p

One of the things I like about Goseigers is the multiple villian faction coming right after each other. Episodic Toku shows run the risk of hitting a dry spell in the middle of the show. And this help prevenrs as were given enough time with each group and thier brand villany but not dragging the conflict out too long.

Goseiger to me was the best after Brajira arrived. Prior to that it felt bland and basic for some reason. Post-Brajira was great cause it gave Alata some badass moments along the way. That final Gosei Red vs Brajira I think is up there as one of the greatest fight scenes within the franchise.
The worst crime the show ever did was they Deka Gold'd Gosei Green. I was hoping they would bring him back for at least one episode. and Gosei Great is nice. the way it is divided up is nice and while I could care less about the header gimmicks, the overall design was good.

Galaxy Man - Aba

Zen in 2022

Don Brothers in 2023

Episodes through Hurri VIA Shout Factory DVD.

I don't think you can really class Goseiger as the same villain situation as Boukenger to be honest, the thing with Boukenger is it's a bit more about the four villain groups getting at each other whereas Goseiger is more just one show split into three even though Buredoran is working behind the scenes, I think Chinese toku may have done a similar thing! Personally I think I liked the Matorintis section the best, I thought the middle section could be a bit long although that seems to be a common problem occasionally!

GoseiGreen I personally don't count as a member, I mean he is just a recoloured GoseiBlue suit in one flashback at the end of the day, they could have put a bit more effort into that! :lol

Yeah, the villain lineup is more linear with Brajira at its core.

He isn't but it would have been nice if we got the full suit at least once like Midoninger. The helmet later on did get properly designed for one of the Premium Bandai ranger keys if I recall.

I got halfway through Gosei years ago now, before my sub source kinda ran out, and yeah, it was perfectly solid stuff. I honestly thing its biggest crime was coming right between Shinkenger and Gokaiger (and then maybe GoBusters, which is, if nothing else, different), which left it bereft of fans, which gave it a reputation, which means fewer people watch it, and it just snowballs until its left alone and unloved.

Well I'm almost done with Bouken.

The Rangers have had the Go Voyager megazord for a few now.

As for others pulled three disks to resume from Galaxy Man. Hopefully I can finish the shows adapted for Power Rangers before 2023 when I'll see Don Bros.

Let?s start our mission with this week?s instalment of?

Androzani?s Tsukai Detour

And this week, we?re covering?

Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters vs Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: The Movie

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?The Energy Management Centre, a group that works to thwart the ambitions of Vaglass, a computer program looking to integrate the entire world into its program, via the Special Missions Department.?

Go-Busters:
Hiromu Sakurada/Red Buster: The newest addition to the Busters. Thirteen years ago before the events of the first episode, Hiromu's father had saved the world by isolating his entire research building in Hyper Space to contain the virus called "Messiah". Hiromu, along with two other children, escaped this isolation. A program in his body grants him superhuman abilities. However, his sister Rika refused to allow him join the Go-Busters training program, which is organized and run by the Energy Management Center. Despite her refusals, Hiromu had already decided he would eventually join when the time comes that they truly need him. Thus Hiromu, though irregularly, undertakes some simulations and training in order to prepare for the eventual threat. His training sessions were done unbeknownst to his sister. His Buster Power is super speed. Thus his legs can move at an unbelievable velocity, making him look as if he were teleporting. His partner Buddy Roid is Cheeda Nick. His power, like the other Busters, has a weak point trade-off. Whenever Hiromu panics or is immensely startled, he freezes up completely, even in mid-air. However, it is commonly activated when Hiromu sees a chicken, an animal which he has developed a phobia of.
Ryuuji Iwasaki/Blue Buster: The oldest and most level-headed of the Busters. After escaping the destruction of the Energy Management Center and being injected with the Vaccine Program, Ryuji spent 13 years living with the Special Missions Department with Yoko, making him and Yoko so close that they are like siblings. He is a warrior with excellent fighting technique, as well as the oldest of the team. His partner Buddy Roid is Gorisaki Banana. His Buster Power is super strength. However, this has a dangerous trade-off. When Ryuji uses his power too much he will overheat and have to take time to cool down. If he completely overheats, he becomes very violent, and this puts a great toll on his body.
Yoko Usami/Yellow Buster: The youngest of the group, a high school girl. Her mother was killed in the Messiah incident 13 years ago, resulting in her being taken in by the Special Missions Department. She gained incredible kicking and jumping power from an accident, and as such this is her Buster Power. Her weakness is that if she runs out of calories for her "inner battery" to burn, she will be unable to move. Thus, she compensates by eating lots of candy. Her Buddy Roid partner is Usada Lettuce.
Masato Jin/Beet Buster: One of the engineers who created Enetron 13 years ago. He possesses a dislike for perfection, once awarding second place in a contest he judged to a perfect entry. When the centre was sucked into Hyperspace, he shielded himself from its effects by putting his body in stasis and creating a digital copy to function back on Earth. But unfortunately, the collapse of Hyperspace threatens to destroy his body, and when his body is destroyed, he too ceases. When he learned of the others' fate as Messiah's engineers upon being contacted by Sakurada, given the plans to the BC-04 he developed, Jin decided to escape the subspace and back into the real world.
Beet Jueki ?J? Stag/Stag Buster: Jin?s personal Buddyroid who functions as his partner, a beacon from his equipment to transport to him and a source for his transformations. It is revealed that he had stowed as trash data aboard a previous enemy Megazord from Hyper Space and now acts as a marker for the avatar of Masato Jin, who cannot come to Earth in person. As long as J is operational, he can conjure up the avatar of Masato to operate on Earth. Beet J. Stag is a living testament to Masato Jin's belief that quirks make machines more interesting. J's "quirk" is that he likes appearing cool, though he has a habit of always standing in the way of anybody,especially Masato, which greatly annoys his creator and partner. He is also a self-proclaimed egotist, appearing to have no concerns except for his own. However, underneath it all, J holds Jin in high enough regard that, should harm come to him, J would be relentless in protecting him.

Allies:
The Buddy Roids: Cheedah Nick, Gorisaki Banana and Usada Lettuce are the partners of the three Rangers, who have helped look after them following the Messiah Incident and share the vaccine program with them. They function as controllers for the Buster Machines, though Nick can additionally serve as Hiromu?s motorcycle (though he lacks a built in GPS or any memory of routes)
Ene-tan: The first Buddy Roid created by Jin. She acts as the interface for SS-00.
Takeshi Kuroki: The Busters? supervisor. Thirteen years ago, he was one of Yousuke Sakurada's subordinates. He then was left in charge of the three children that escaped the transport to Hyper Space. Now he commands the Go-Busters, the Energy Management Center's Special Missions Unit. He does not take kindly to being questioned, nor does he take kindly to being second-guessed or confronted about his methods.
Miho Nakamura and Toru Morishita: EMC?s technics who scan for incoming Megazords and deploy the Buster Machines.

Vaglass: An organisation originally founded by the Messiah program to destroy humans for its own amusement, its members have split up following Messiah?s destruction.

Enter: The first avatar created from the data of the EMC members who perished in the Messiah incident. Enter was an avatar sent into reality to create mechanical monsters called Metaloids with the use of MetaVirus Cards. He carries a laptop with him. He uses this to transmit Metaviruses to infect (as long as the Metavirus patch is in place) various inanimate objects. As an Avatar, he has the ability to transcend Hyper Space and uses this ability to speak to Messiah in person via his laptop. He has a propensity for thin disguises, though his goggles can be a giveaway. After Messiah's death, Enter embarked on a mission to evolve beyond his programming into the perfect human, by integrating the remnants of Messiah?s program into his own.
Escape: An avatar Messiah created to see its desire for destruction carried out, after Enter refused to in favour of planning to release Messiah. She desires to find and defeat a strong opponent, who she has found in Ryuuji. After Messiah?s death, she plans to gather the 13 Messiah cards containing copies of his program and use them to create a new ?papa? who will be able to destroy as much as he wants.

Zangyack:
Chief of Staff Damaras: A Zangyack warrior known among Zangyack as the "Strongest High Ranked Soldier" (最強格の戦士 Saikyōkaku no Senshi) due to his skills as a warrior and as a strategist. He is ordered to accompany Warz Gill by the Emperor and assist him as his second in command. After discovering the truth of the Greatest Treasure in the Universe, and with the prince refusing to act upon it, Damaras hired Basco to eliminate the Gokaigers so that the events of the first invasion would not be repeated. Following the death of Warz Gill, Damaras was imprisoned for his failure by Ackdos Gill, but was later released when he witnessed how powerful the Gokaigers were himself. Though Damaras initially overpowered the pirates, he was defeated and killed by them in a rematch.

What do I think of Go-Busters? Well to be honest, I don?t like it much more than Gokaiger. The plot meanders for too long, before being abruptly dropped after a retool and replaced with a new plot that doesn?t have much consistency with what came before. The characters themselves aren?t much better, ranging from actually pretty good (Jin, Enter), to bland (Hiromu, Ryuuji, the Buddy Roids, Escape, the EMC crew) to downright bad (Yoko, Messiah). The lack of actual character development or focus episodes doesn?t help. And I can?t even enjoy this as mindless action or for the music as, outside of the Gavan two-parter and Let?s Morphin? Keep Movin? Buster Ship, both are generally terrible. The show?s aesthetic also does nothing for me, which is something even Gokaiger did better on.

As for the credits, while the writer for this is someone Sentai fans will know (Shimoyama), the producer Naomi Takebe and the director Takayuki Shibisaki are ones who?ll be more familiar to Rider fans (the former, when she?s not the assistant to Shinichiro Shirakura, is known for producing Kiva, OOO and Gaim, while the latter was an assistant director on Kuuga and the main director for Drive and Saber). With all of that said, on with the review.

We open with narration expositing on the legend of the Phantom Ranger Keys. (Not to be confused with the other Phantom Ranger)

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We then cut to our bad guy (who?ll be named later) and his subordinate (who will be named later, but given how that name will break my speak-checker, I?ll just call him ?Not-Satan?) (a red version of the Action Commander from episodes 11-2 of Gokaiger, purely because he shares a voice actor with J), along with Enter, who vow to unlock the Phantom Ranger Keys? (which they?ve collected 4 of already. It?s amazing what you can do offscreen) true power to revive Zangyack.

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On Earth, after putting upon their Buddy Roids for minor issues, the Busters respond to a mysterious appearance that isn?t Vaglass? and are attacked by a black version of Gokai Galleon. (Surprisingly, there is no real world black version)

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Jon and J move out, forming Buster Hercules to fight the Black Galleon?? and get overwhelmed.

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On the ground, our bad guy appears, introducing himself as Bacchus Gil, Zangyack?s new Emperor. and requests that the Busters battle his subordinates? the Gokaigers (all of whom look considerably more piratical than their own series. If you ask me, it?s an improvement).

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The Busters are confused, since the Gokaigers once fought to save the world (no, they came to your planet to find a fabulous treasure that they ultimately gave up due to having it being morally wrong. The Zangyack were simply in their way and all of them had a reason to fight them). But that doesn?t stop a fight from breaking out, with Hiromu facing down Marvelous, Ryuuji taking on Joe and Luka, while Yoko (f*cking Yoko) facing Don and Ahim (how apt. The best character in Gokaiger fights the worst character in Go-Busters). In the middle of the fight, Gai and Navi (f*cking Navi) show up, with the Rangers Keys (so does that mean they asked politely if they could use their powers to destroy the Earth?)

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The Gokaigers then decide to counter the Go-Buster?s scientific energy source, with a group powered by a mystical energy source.

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After performing the Ribbon Spark (aka, the one Goggle V attack Toei can be bothered to recreate for more than 5 seconds in a Super Video), they then decide to counter the futuristic fuel Enertron with the actually from the future Zeta-3.

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Marvelous, Ahim and Don attack with their Vector End attacks to knock their opponents down, but Hiromu?s team escapes damage from Joe and Luka using their Voltech Bazookas by shifting to Powered Custom. As the fight resumes, the Phantom Ranger Keys in Enter?s hand begin to react violently.

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The final Phantom Ranger Key, the Red one, flies out of the ground. But the act of bringing all 5 together opens a wormhole that sucks the 6 Gokaigers, Yoko, J and Gorisaki into it before closing.

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One jump cut back to the EMC later.

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Hiromu wants to know why the pirates were acting like? well, pirates. So Navi explains what happened after they went to attack the Zangyack?s home planet.

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Gai and Navi escaped, but they lost contact with everyone else on the way back to Earth. He then fills them in on the same exposition about the Phantom Ranger Keys. As Morishita (had to scroll up to remember his name. Shows you how memorable he is) comes in with a scroll someone wants to deliver? we cut to Yoko and J, who have ended up in 1772, right in the middle of the Sakoku Period (200 years in which Japan closed itself off from foreign imports and visitors, which were ended in 1858 when the British Navy?s Commodore Perry led ?the Coming of the Black Ships?). Not that J seems to know or care.

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After making him adopt a disguise, Yoko immediately manages to run into Gai, who gets confused by how to address them since they?re younger (for a similar joke, also involving a character named Gai, check out Ultraman Geed?s movie).

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Gai mentions that he?s had no luck calling anyone, so J suggests that he simply writes them a letter, which Gai takes more viably than Yoko. Cut to the present, where Kaoru Shiba, formerly of the Shinkengers, presents the Go-Busters with a message her family has held onto since the An?ei era.

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After a scene where Bacchus says that he won?t be like his uncle Ackdos or his cousin Warz, in which Enter reveals he intends to use the Phantom Ranger Keys to open a gateway to Hyper Space so it can cover the Earth, Jin reveals that he?s figured out where everyone is in time through extensive research (Uh huh, but when did you have time to make these paper cutouts?)

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Jin is very apprehensive about using the GoZyuDrill?s time travel software to send everyone back to the past in the Buster Machines.

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With the mission given, Hiromu and Nick in Go-Buster Ace, Ryuuji and Ene-tan in FS-00, Usada in RH-03 and Jin in Go-Buster Beet teleport to the past.

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Ryuuji travels back to 1557 (a years which saw the printing of the Geneva Bible?s New Testament, England joining Spain in war against France, the Battle of St-Quentin and the ascension of Emperor Ōgimachi to the throne of Japan)

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He finds Not-Satan looking for the Blue Phantom Key with Joe and Luka? who promptly lose it to Ryuuji.

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In 1772 (which saw the first Partition of Poland, the discovery of Biela?s Comet, the people in the colonies deciding to create a group to UNITE them in their STATES of chaos caused by British rule OF AMERICA and Britain abolished slavery, which only annoyed the people in the previous point more), Yoko?s group run into Jeloushitto, who has the Yellow Phantom Key. (Don?t ask about either)

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In England, 1805 (which saw the Battle of Trafalgar and the death of Admiral Lord Nelson, with his infamous last words ?Kiss me, Hardy.?, Jefferson was re-elected President of America, Michigan was established, the abolishment of the French Republican Calendar and the birth of Hans Christian Andersen), Ahim and Don (wearing clothes that are 30 years out of date for 1805. Powdered wigs died in England in the 1780s) have found the Green Phantom Key in a mansion.

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But as they set off the booby traps, Jin, dressed as the Dandy Highwayman, saves them and takes the Key.

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In the Cretaceous Period, Gorisaki can only watch as the Zangyack take the Pink Phantom Key. He then gets chased by a T-Rex and saved by Usada.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFBymW...jpg&name=small

And in 2005 (which saw the return of Doctor Who after 16 years off the air, the establishment of YouTube, Bush getting re-elected, the death of Pope John Paul II, North Korea revealing they had nukes and Egypt trying and failing to hold a fair election), Hiromu finds Marvelous inside Dino Curry.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFBzyX...jpg&name=small

Marvelous reveals that he?s eating chicken curry.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFB0VX...jpg&name=small

After going outside, Marvelous reveals that he was pulling a Decade to get the Phantom Keys, a ruse that also gets revealed to Ryuuji and Jin. But it?s at that point that Bacchus, Not-Satan and their subordinates take the Blue, Green and Red Keys. (And the Gokaigers switch back to their old outfits. Boo.)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFK6kX...jpg&name=small

In 1772, Usada arrives to rescue Yoko, Gai and J.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFK7zX...jpg&name=small

As if history can?t get more messed up, Enter shows up in the Epsilon Megazord (previously seen in Go-Busters? movie, and episodes 30 and 35 of the show) to wreck the place, while Bacchus comes to claim the final Key.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFK8nX...jpg&name=small

But then Hiromu and Marvelous show up in Go-Buster Ace and Tategami Lioh to fight it off.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFTW3W...jpg&name=small

Marvelous then goes to fight on the ground, choosing an appropriate Legendary Ranger mode for samurai times.

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With limited resources, and having lost the Key, the heroes are forced to withdraw back to 2012? where the Buddy Roids promptly explode.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFTXzX...jpg&name=small

By the next morning, the three are repaired? but their personality data was beyond recovery, leaving them with ?Siri? voices.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFTYkX...jpg&name=small

As the Busters lament how they might lose their only friends (guys, you have each other. And you barely get any episodes with these guys, at least compared to other ?partner? based Sentai), Enter and his allies insert the Phantom Ranger Keys into their machine, opening the doorway to Hyper Space.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFayWW...jpg&name=small

But they get disrupted, as it turns out Navi went back in time and stole Gokai Galleon from the past Gokaigers (when in the show?s timeline did he do that?) to fight the Black Galleon.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFaz6X...jpg&name=small

As the commanders are knocked to the ground, the heroes show up to face them, transforming to settle the score.

Morphin Brace/Morphin Blaster: It?s Morphin? Time!

Gokaigers: Gokai Change!

Mobilates/Gokai Cellular: Gokaiger!

Busters: Let?s Morphin!

Hiromu: Red Buster!

Ryuuji: Blue Buster!

Yoko: Yellow Buster!

Jin: Beet Buster!

J: Stag Buster!

Hiromu: Tokumei Sentai?

All: Go-Busters!

Marvelous: Gokai Red!

Joe: Gokai Blue!

Luka: Gokai Yellow!

Don: Gokai Green!

Ahim: Gokai Pink!

Gai: Gooookaaaaiiii Silver!

Marvelous: Kaizoku Sentai?

All: Gokaiger!

Hiromu: Busters! Ready?

All: Go!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFa1BX...jpg&name=small

After the heroes make short work of the Gormin and Buglars, Enter decides to move onto the level 2 bosses: copies of Basco, Damaras and Escape.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFa2JX...jpg&name=small

Marvelous, Joe and Luka face Basco as the three-man Sun Vulcan team, with Marvelous vanquishing his rival with the Hiba Returns.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFvp0X...jpg&name=small

Don, Ahim and Gai fight Damaras, turning into the Gouraigers and Shurikenger (I just can?t escape Hurricaneger, can I?), defeating him with a series of attacks (although it?s not identified as such, I?m pretty sure Gai uses Shurikenger?s Tenkuu-Zan to win)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFvsSW...jpg&name=small

Finally, the Busters fight and destroy Escape, though not without having to use two finishing moves.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFvtqX...jpg&name=small

They then move on to fight Bacchus, only for Not-Satan to intercept from above with the Black Galleon. Hiromu and Marvelous put a stop to that, taking back the Phantom Ranger Keys and destroying the Black Galleon. Before Not-Satan can get his revenge, a new challenger appears. He introduces himself as KyoryuRed of Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOFvu6W...jpg&name=small

But as it gets pointed out to him, he?s only one man, hardly a full Sentai.

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But that doesn?t stop him from leaping in to fight Not-Satan and his entourage on the heroes? behalf.

KyoryuRed: It?s about to get wild! Just try and stop me!

It?s then that his teammates show up, having been held up (Black was on a date and Pink was at work).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOF6E4X...jpg&name=small

They then charge into battle.

Not-Satan: Who are you people?

Red: You?ll be surprised when you hear! The Fanged Brave! KyoryuRed! (Gabutyra!)

Black: The Bullet Brave! KyoryuBlack! (Parasagun!)

Blue: The Armoured Brave! KyoryuBlue! (Stegotchi!)

Green: The Slashing Brave! KyoryuGreen! (Zakutor!)

Pink: The Horned Brave! KyoryuPink! (Dricera!)

Red: The strongest braves in history! Zyuden Sentai?

All: Kyoryuger!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOF6F-X...jpg&name=small

Having finished the grunts, they then use their ?Zyudenchi? to kill Not-Satan, leaving the rest to the Gokaigers and Go-Busters. Speaking of whom, the latter get called away when Enter appears with his newest creation, the Omega Megazord (not to be confused with that Omega Megazord), which overwhelms them.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGCfBW...jpg&name=small

Then, the Gokaigers give Bacchus a lengthy speech about what the Busters are fighting for (the most ?Decade? this show has gotten), before doing an all red change to fight him.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGCgzX...jpg&name=small

After defeating him with a Gokai Legendream/Gokai Galleon Buster combo, Bacchus downs his entire drink, enlarging to giant size, causing them to call in GokaiOh and GoZyuJin.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rUf1cXkERQQ

However, Go-Buster Oh gets downed by the Omega Megazord, and despite Kuroki ordering them to abandon it and get in Tategami Lioh, they refuse to give up on their BuddyRoids, channelling their vaccine program into them as Go-Busters? usual ?heroic moment? insert song plays.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGCiXX...jpg&name=small

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0DaT2ayr...iIkS1pTn7-dtkr

Amazingly, this works, bringing Go-Buster Oh back to 100%. But that doesn?t stop them from separating so GB-02 and RH-03 can combine with Tategami Lioh to form Go-Buster Lioh. But it does cause the Phantom Ranger Keys to resonate and turn into BuddyRoid keys, holding the Go-Busters? Greater Power.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGCjXX...jpg&name=small

Using these creates giant sized Ranger Keys, that allow each of the mecha to turn into a Legendary Megazord.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGNY9X...jpg&name=small

They do so, with GoZyuJin turning into DaiZyuJin, GokaiOh turning into DaiBouken, Buster Hercules turning into MagiKing (because Jin?s actor was Tsubasa in Magiranger), Go-Buster Lioh turning into GaoKing and Go-Buster Ace turning into GekiTohja.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGNakX...jpg&name=small

But Enter isn?t perturbed, summoning Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta Megazords to join the battle.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGNbwW...jpg&name=small

While everyone else chooses to show off what their one form can do, Hiromu just decides to try more, changing into Flash King.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=f40YfSxuO10

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGX4yX...jpg&name=small

He then turns into RyuseiOh (since, per word of the guy playing TenmaRanger, he doesn?t have sufficient willpower to summon DairenOh).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=kil7VRba54A

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGX11X...jpg&name=small

And then he returns to normal to fly into Hyper Space to close the portal, while DaiZyuJin and MagiKing send Enter packing by destroying the Omega Megazord, while DaiBouken and GaoKing (which has now shifted to GaoKentaurus), finish Bacchus.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=SeRoxDqylKg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDOGX3cW...jpg&name=small

Bacchus: In the end, I ended up like the others after all.

Then we get one final scene in which the Gokaigers approve of the new team, before departing in Gokai Galleon (I have no idea if they kept the time-displaced one, or if they had the EMC rebuild it). Cue the credits song.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=HgPQsqdjgdk

(Super Sentai)

Go on, Go-Busters! Soar high, Gokaiger!
It?s time to travel as we affirm our bonds
Across sea and sky, and even dimensions, we?ll move out
And nothing will stop us doing a good job!

It?s not like we?re weak individually
But together, I know our power is endless!

And the hotter our hearts burn
With the desire to protect the Earth
The more we may disagree,
But all the more we?ll fight as allies!

I feel it in my heart, all limits will be torn apart
It?s Time for Buster in the grandest style! (Ready, go!)
We?re always here for each other, though we may bicker
That?s our Go-Buster bond!

Go, let?s go!

Final thoughts: Aside from the subplot with the BuddyRoids, this was a pretty good piece. Both groups got equal focus, none of their worst aspects were on display, and the action was actually pretty decent. Plus you can?t argue with the concept of Megazord Keys.

This is another Sentai crossover movie I really liked with it being my third favorite among them.

It's about to get wild, just try and stop this latest instalment of:

Androzani's Tsukai Detour

And this week, we're covering:

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger vs Go-Busters: Dinosaur Great Battle! Farewell, Eternal Friends.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0egb3X...jpg&name=small

"Dinosaurs plus humans. Crossing over billions of years to protect the world, History's strongest brave team has now appeared! You'll be surprised when you hear!"

Kyoryugers:
Daigo "King" Kiryu/KyoryuRed: The leader of the Kyoryugers, who has been following the path of the great lizards since he was a child. In the present, he fought the Zyudenryu Gabutyra for a month without stopping to win its approval, which he did not receive until he saved Gabutyra's life. An easy going, strong, excitable, and very optimistic person, Daigo is surprisingly insightful, knowing how strong people are (like when he sees Amy and warns Ian that she is stronger than she looks) or can be (such as Nobuharu hindering himself with guilt), as well as figuring out why Gabutyra didn't accept him as a Kyoryuger initially. This insightfulness often serves him well, as he manages to get by without using a considerable amount of intellectuality. Whenever he is touted as harbouring a particular trait by others, he tends to repeat it back with a "super" (i.e., Torin saying Gabutyra is serious, Hyogakki calling him insane) added to it. Daigo never tries to solve difficult problems with his head, instead, he just relies on gut instinct to win. He has a tendency to announce "It's about to get wild, just try and stop me/us!" (荒れるぜ、止めてみな！ Areruze, tometemina!) before going into battle. He is very reckless and tends to act first and think later in fights, and it was this very same recklessness that prevented Daigo from getting stronger, as evidenced in Tessai's harsh lessons. Despite all this, Daigo is the one that brings the core team together and even the others showed hostility at first, they come to accept Daigo as the leader of Kyoryugers.
Ian Yorkland/KyoryuBlack: An archaeologist from Europe who is partnered with Zyudenryu Parasagun. While studying ancient civilisations, his friend Shiro Mofune was murdered by Aigaron, leaving him with a fear of opening up to others. Ian is a cheerful and talkative charmer who loves to flirt with girls, especially Amy Yuuzuki earlier on in Kyoryuger. He is the gag-maker of the group who is never one to miss a joke, often at the expense of people's feelings (often Nobuharu). However, despite his personality, he has a checkered past. Regardless, Ian is very loyal and will fulfill any promise he has made. He is also intelligent and quick-witted, allowing him to come up with plans to take down opponents quickly with maximum efficiency, as well as making back-up plans in case something should pop up. Ian also has the habit of saying the phrase "Oh, my!" to express shock, surprise, and disappointment.
Nobuharu "Nossan" Udo: An older member of the Kyoryugers, who is partnered with Zyudenryu Stegotchi. He helps his sister Yuko take care of her daughter Rika, following the death of their husband/father. Very clumsy, shy, and hilarious, Nobuharu is a hardworking Jack-of-All-Trades. Actually, he loves to try and act cool, but can never pull it off (like how he failed to spin his Gaburivolver). Despite his looks, he is a person with incredible strength, even in his civilian form. Nobuharu always displays a bad habit of cracking old man jokes in every situation, even at an unsuitable time. However, while his jokes sound lame to most everyone, certain people however like his jokes. Nobuharu also grows envious of Utsusemimaru sometimes, because of him being three years younger than Nobuharu even after being time-displaced, And also because Utsusemimaru is able to create funnier old man jokes than him.
Souji Rippukan/KyoryuGreen: The heir to a long line of swordsmen, partnered with Zyudenryu Zakutor. However, he refuses to follow his family?s ancestral style, the Musou-Ken, due to believing that his father's adherence to it led to his parents getting divorced, instead creating his own Zangeki Musou-Ken. Souji is a cold, cool, and calm high-school student and a member of Rippukan House. Souji wishes that he was the swordsman of the team, a status that is most jeopardized by Utsusemimaru and Torin. Souji also practices with his father to improve his swordsmanship.
Amy Suuzuki/KyoryuPink: An 18-year-old college student. She defeated the Zyudenryu Dricera while in America, and became a warrior, gaining its power. A cheerful, "High Kick Girl", she specializes in Hand-to-Hand combat. She is from America, studying abroad, and is the daughter of a wealthy family. A butler known as "Gentle" is taking care of her in her current accommodations. Amy has a free-spirited personality and is the exact opposite of the expectations of her family. While they expect her to act like a princess, she is an all-out tomboy that loves to bend the rules. She appeals to Daigo, as he also loves to bend the rules. Amy also has an array of special talents, from working a remote with her feet to defeating a group of zorima with a unicycle. Having studying abroad in America, she also knows a good amount of the English language.
Utsusemimaru, nicknamed Utchy/KyoryuGold: A samurai from the Sengoku era, who was sworn in to serve Torin during the Deboss's third reappearance and becoming partners with Zyudenryu Pteragordon. During his battle, all of his fellows and his master were killed by Deboss, while he was trapped within Dogold, kept from aging for 400 years while his rage sustained the sentient armour. He was freed in the present through the quick thinking of Amy, Torin and Ramirez, rejoining the Kyoryugers and getting his GaburiChanger upgraded to match the others. While initially appearing to be cold and calm, Utchy is actually a very caring and comforting person. Utchy is also rather humble, using the pronoun ?sessha? (拙者 sessha, lit "one who is clumsy") as a personal pronoun. While he is very out of place at times in the modern world, he does possess an understanding of how things work and is able to embrace new concepts.
Yayoi Kise/KyoryuViolet II: The granddaughter of Dr. Ulshade, the previous KyoryuViolet and the inventor of the modern Kyoryuger equipment, who took over his position following his retirement and her proving herself a worthy replacement to his partner, Zyudenryu Plezuon. Growing up admiring her grandfather, both as a scientist and a Kyoryuger, Yayoi was surprisingly reserved and was easy to get disheartened. After the 5 main Kyoryugers were assembled and her grandfather journeyed to space, she kept a close eye on them, admiring Daigo Kiryu as a result. After succeeding her grandfather as the next Kyoryu Violet, and with some help from Daigo and Amy, she became more confident. She considers Amy to be her rival, since both of them have a crush on Daigo.
Wise God Torin/KyoryuSilver: A former Maken Priest of the Deboss Army, who defected upon realising the moral wrongness of their actions, creating the 23 Zyudenryu to counter them and partnering with the strongest of them, Zyudenryu Bragigas. But during the final battle with Deboss?s creation Gadoma, Bragigas was drained of life unleashing its full power, sinking to the bottom of Debo Hell and stripping Torin of his powers. Torin then spent the next 65 million years recruiting 9 individuals with strong ?Brave? (Tessai in 6th Century China, Ramirez in Dark Ages Europe and all of the above-mentioned people) to carry on the fight. Torin was finally able to regain his power following Bragigas's revival through the power of the 13 Greater Zyudenryu and he disavowed his past as a Debo Monster while fighting his evil clone Mad Torin.

Allies:
Dantetsu Kiryu, Daigo's father, who left him many years ago when the latter chose to walk the path of the Greater Lizards, gifting him the fossilised remains of the Greater Zyudenryu Allomerus. He has some familiarity with Torin, knowing of his status as a former Debo Monster, while also dropping in to watch over his son as he has found his own path.
Gabutyra: A Zyudenryu, Gabutyra was a Tyrannosaurus that agreed to be modified to battle the Deboss Army in ancient times. In modern times, he was awoken by Torin once more when the Deboss Army returned on Gabutyra's island, where Daigo Kiryu had just battled several Zorima. After the Zorima were dealt with, Gabutyra expressed interest in Daigo. One long month later, Daigo finally defeats Gabutyra by blasting him from within his jaws, but Gabutyra strangely didn't offer him his partnership, getting a concerned Torin to take Gabutyra's drained Zyudenchi to recharge it. Later on, however, Gabutyra went after Debo Hyogakki in Japan, who was the one that destroyed the dinosaurs by causing an ice age, but without a Zyudenchi, he was overwhelmed by the Giant Zorima, and was frozen by Hyogakki. Daigo soon arrived and once again bravely fighting off Zorima and came to help, putting himself at personal risk, and was nearly frozen by Hyogakki had not Gabutyra took the shot for him. Daigo said that he knew the reason why Gabutyra didn't make him a Kyoryuger in the beginning: because Gabutyra was a survivor of the Deboss Army's first attack, and didn't want Daigo to get hurt because of them. However, the human reminded the Zyudenryu that he is the man that had bested him, so he pledged that the both of them destroy Hyogakki, reinvigorating Gabutyra, and allowed Daigo to become a Kyoryuger, and later avenged the dinosaurs by killing Debo Hyogakki. Gabutyra forms the base of Kyoryuzin, including the head, torso/shoulders, and the lower body, thus Gabutyra is the only Zyudenryu to be in all of Kyoryuzin's combinations. He can also attain an Overcharge mode, dubbed "Minityra", who can allow Daigo to access his Carnival Form, granting him the ability to be a ?human Kyoryuzin?. https://youtube.com/watch?v=5-fTJe-eu0k

Deboss Army: A group of monsters created by a wandering destructive entity known as Deboss initially to help him destroy the planets he discovered. But since his heart was damaged and his body frozen in battle with the Zyudenryu, they are now working to gather the necessary emotional energy to revive him.
100-Faced High Priest Chaos: Calling himself the voice of Deboss, Chaos was among the first beings created by the entity alongside his younger brother Wise God Torin in the past. However, when Torin betrayed them, a wounded Chaos vowed a vendetta that continued for many centuries up to the present day. Chaos is wise, evil, and completely loyal to Deboss. He also holds a deep grudge against Torin for betraying him, going so far as to not heal the wound to his shoulder so as to never forget the betrayal. Despite that, he shows respect towards his loyal followers at the start of the series, such as ensuring a frustrated Dogold that he could keep him an endless supply of Cambrima to use as hosts.
Sorrowful Knight Aigaron: The general in charge of collecting human sadness and the murderer of Ian's friend Shiro. Aigaron is a Debo Knight General who cries all the time but has fierce tactics and fights with a battle axe. He was the first of Deboss?s generals to be revived. After he was the last known alive Knights, Aigaron went on a full assault on the Kyoryugers without Daigo at the the time, and due to Hyogakki's plot, he couldn't cry lest he gets frozen, and so decided to use a new emotion: anger. He was so angry, that he glowed red at one point and he literally exploded in a plot to get rid of the Kyoryugers, though it was thanks to Ian's quick thinking that spared the Kyoryugers. It was then revealed that Deboss had saved his life when he exploded, much to Ian's frustration at Aigaron's inability to stay dead. It turned out the Aigaron is suffering from a mental side effect resulting from his self destruction as he becomes extremely frightening and psychotic, with the telltale signs of having black eyes and tar-like tears, whenever he gets mad. It is only his feelings for Candelilla that Aigaron attempts self restraint when he is about to be consumed in rage.
Fun filled Spy Luckyuro: Candelillia's assistant, who would rather slack off and read Shojo manga than commit villainy. She made the fewest monsters compared to her fellow knights but is responsible for causing them to grow in size after their defeat using Restoration Water containing Deboss's cells.
Raging Knight Dogold: A sentient suit of armour in charge of gathering human anger. His primary mission was to possess Utsusemimaru and take control of the powerful Zyudenryu, Pteragordon. Chaos formulated a plan to increase Utsusemimaru's anger by killing his fellow samurai and holding his best friend Torin hostage to be executed in front of him. Enraged, Utsusemimaru charged at Chaos but Dogold grabbed onto him and pulled him into a portal, where he formed around Utsusemimaru. Dogold's consciousness would become dormant, and Utsusemimaru's anger, increasing at the loss of his friends (and being forced to serve the Deboss Army) was allowed to be dominant. However, this resulted in a possessed and amnesiac Utsusemimaru with no memories of his past, except for the name 'Dogold'. The last of Chaos's followers to be revived, Chaos asked him his name upon thawing him. The raging "Dogold" fumes when Chaos apparently forgot his name. Eventually, the two were separated, with Dogold prevailing at first using the bodies of Cambrima. Because the Cambrima aren't powerful enough to withstand Dogold's power, they disintegrate on a monthly basis. Dogold gains a fur collar around his neck when he first took over a Cabrima. After almost gaining a new vessel in the robot G-BO, Dogold possesses fellow Debo Knight Endolf, whom had been cruel towards him and manipulative with his comrades.
Joyful Knight Candelilia: An airheaded, jovial, happy-go-lucky knight, who encourages others like Aigaron to "Keep smiling!" (キープスマイリングよ! Kīpu Sumairingu yo!). She was the second Knight to be thawed out after the Deboss Army's big freeze. She seems to abhor senseless violence, such as when her fellow Knight forced her lieutenant to grow his fallen Debo Monster. During the Debo Honenukky incident, she met Nobuharu Udo, KyoryuBlue, and found a kindred spirit in the pun-spouting Kyoryuger. She said then that she could even come to love him, if they weren't enemies. She is also the only character that finds Nobuharu's jokes funny.

What do I think of Kyoryuger? Compared to the last two, I love it. It's definitely the Cybertron to their Armada and Energon. It?s especially nice that they were able to work with more than the usual 6 and still give them all distinctive personalities and sufficient screen time to make them likeable and carry out their arcs. And after how much of a slog Gokai and Busters were plot-wise, it's nice to get back to having an ongoing storyline throughout most of the episodes.

As for the staff, Kyoryuger is the first and only full series by Takahito Ohmori, who later moved over to Kamen Rider to produce Drive, Ex-Aid, Build and 01. The writer is Riku Sanjo, who had previously been the head writer for Kamen Rider W and the secondary writer for Kamen Rider Fourze (not the primary writer, that was the Gurren Lagann guy) while our director is Koichi Sakamoto (and if you don't know who he is, what?s wrong with you?). With all of that said, let's go back to action and get on with the review.

We open with a mysterious meteor drifting through space, as an ominous voice makes clear why it has decided it's time to conquer Earth.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0eEiIX...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0eEh9W...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0eEiRW...jpg&name=large

We then cut down to Earth, where after Torin senses a new evil arising, Hiromu and Nick are in pursuit of a truck carrying a hostage in a familiar jacket.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0eEiWW...jpg&name=small

Nick identifies the truck drivers as Deboss's Zorimas, who promptly try to fight him off, along with Ryuuji and Yoko when they arrive (with three of them getting a familiar looking overhead leap).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0h894X...jpg&name=small

In the middle of the battle, a snide looking fellow appears to heckle them with the aid of Invasion Life Garden Evolian's Boemia troops (the ones who look like they came out of a video game), allowing the truck to make tracks.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0h892W...jpg&name=small

As they wonder who the bodyguard they'd never heard about is, we cutaway to Dantetsu meeting with Yamato Prince Geki, or if you're not familiar with who he is?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0h893X...jpg&name=small

(Yes, the title "Great Dinosaur War" isn't just there to be fancy. The previous Dinosaur Sentai's Red heroes are here)

As they discuss the impending threat to the Earth, another newcomer in gold-armour appears, accompanied by the putty-like Golems used by Witch Bandora.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0h891W...jpg&name=small

Geki: Grifforzer?

?: I'm not the Grifforzer you know. (For one thing, his voice is deeper and more gravelly) I am the ultimate warrior created by a space war god.

After a quick fight, the Golems capture and subdue Geki, with Not-Grifforzer stating that the villains intend to steal the powers of the dinosaur Sentai (did they recycle an unused Gokaiger script for this?) which Dantetsu sees as worrying.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0egbmX...jpg&name=small

Elsewhere, the main Kyoryugers see a dark aura gathering in the sky, before a mysterious T-Rex appears a few seconds after Minityra runs off (and somehow, it's more scientifically accurate than Jurassic World, despite being on a much lower budget).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0egbwX...jpg&name=small

The T-Rex then passes on a warning to Daigo about Dino Hope being taken, before vanishing.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FD0egbsW...jpg&name=small

As Daigo ponders these words, all three henchmen groups seen so far show up, with Souji vividly seeing that there's more than just Deboss grunts, cuing the opening sequence where they beat up said grunts set to this song (which I kind of prefer to Kyoryuger's regular opening, not gonna lie).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MEyPhsdQTkc

Burning, raging, howling fire
It?s so cool! This surprising power
Look and see how it's used
Surpassing the apex with hot energy

A rising dance that's getting wilder
They become the eternal warriors
Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger

Brave in! Soul at full power
The ultimate partners form an unbeatable team
Fearing nothing
Unshakable, absolutely unbeatable
Never losing courage
Giving their all in every ordeal
History's strongest braves

But after they've beaten up all of the grunts, the guy who attacked the Go-Busters earlier appears with his hostage, Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger's Ryouga Hakua/AbaRed, who promptly powers up. But there's something wrong.

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Ryouga then proceeds to beat up the Kyoryugers with his Tyranno Rod, only for the Go-Busters to appear to knock him back. But that's no consolation, as Neo-Grifforzer shows up with an equally brainwashed Geki, who has already transformed into TyrannoRanger.

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Making things worse, it turns out that his Ryugekiken is charged with the power of all 5 Kyoryu Medals used by the Zyurangers to transform (yeah, it's kind of a rule for any 90s tokusatsu show with a mecha who is an explicit god for the heroes empowered by said god to use medals to transform. See Kakuranger and B-Fighter Kabuto for more examples), which causes Hiromu to realise that they've already stolen the powers of all the Zyurangers.

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As the heroes withdraw, we cut to Deboss?s fortress for some exposition. The newcomers are Neo-Grifforzer and Neo-Gayrton, embodiment clones of the regret and rage of Bandora and Evil Life God Dezumozorlya for failing to defeat the Zyurangers and Abarangers. Those same qualities also caused the creation of their progenitor, Space War God Voldos. Chaos is having Deboss collaborate due to Voldos being equal in power to Deboss (surely that means you'd want to get rid of him? Then there'd be less competition to destroy Earth). Voldos will soon appear on Earth to destroy all the Dinosaur Sentai (well considering that his minions haven?t captured any Ryusoulgers, even by accident, shows what a bang up job they're doing). It's at that point that Enter and Escape appear (hey, the Busters need a narrative reason to be here. I'm gonna let this slide).

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Enter then explains that Vaglass created the device to drain the power from the Dinosaur Sentai, as we cut to Ian and Souji running into J in the woods, who tries to force them to live as beetles like him (I think being made of steel might make that harder for you).

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As they dismiss him and leave after fighting off some Zorimas, with something happening to J, we cut to Nossan, Utchy and Ryuuji in conversation while hiding from Boemias, with the two blues bonding over old man jokes (with Ryuuji making a crack about Utchy's age by saying ?Gold will go-old soon?). The next pairing are Amy and Yoko, who despite coming from two different social classes, get on well, even taking on Escape and her electronic minions, the Buglars while wearing schoolgirl uniforms (that's Sakamoto for you), with Yoko advising to kick the Buglars in the chest to break them.

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Finally, we cut to Daigo and Hiromu, the latter of whom takes the opportunity to call back to the last movie.

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As the two discuss what Dino Hope could be and the message the tyrannosaurus imparted, Enter appears to fight them. He explains that Voldos found a Vaglass backup and reactivated the two avatars to serve him. As Hiromu stays behind to fight Enter, Daigo moves on to join up with the other Kyoryugers, who were similarly sent on their way. At an abandoned warehouse where the villains have set up shop, Ryouga and Geki, along with the other 4 Dino Bucklers, have their power drained, converted to dark energy, and beamed to Voldos.

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The Kyoryugers show up to help, but are stopped by Neo-Gayrton (who Ryouga mistakes for the Armour of Darkness. Nice touch, since Gayrton was only around for 2 episodes. It would make more sense to have called the character Neo-Jeanne, but it probably would've confused people unfamiliar with Abaranger), who gets into a fight with them. During the fight, Daigo summons Minityra to go Carnival.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mVGyMcule28

After a short pounding, they knock Neo-Gayrton down by using the Victory Zyudenchi for the 5 Zyuden Victory Finish.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VN3ZFAKE3uQ

But Voldos has attained enough power to make his other monster grow, using a magic wand.

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Neo-Grifforzer then erects a Evil Energy barrier to prevent the Zyudenchi from working. As he reaches down to attack the Kyoryugers, Minityra enlarges into Gabutyra, speaking for the first time. And it's not what he says, but the fact he has the same voice as the tyrannosaurus (provided by Koichi Yamadera, one of three VAs to be in every Pok?mon movie).

Gabutyra: Daigo, watch out!

But the ensuing battle is all for naught, as Neo-Grifforzer poisons Gabutyra with Evil Energy, making him look like the black repaint toy, before Neo-Gayrton takes the Kyoryugers' Dino Hope.

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By the time, the Busters find them, the Kyoryugers have become Voldos' dinosaur hunters.

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As the 6 disappear into a time portal, Kuroki calls everyone to Spirit Base, where Torin and Yayoi are waiting (and Hiromu mishears Torin as "torii" (chicken). Yes really), having gathered the other Zyudenryu into Bragigas?s dimension (the same one Spirit Base is in).

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Back in the past, the dinosaur hunters get to work, killing their partners.

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Back in the present, Abaranger's Yukito Sanjo/AbareBlue enters Spirit Base, offering to help (and getting weirded out by the Pink triceratops).

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He then reveals that he and the EMC, in co-operation with Dr. Ulshade, have created a set of Super Sentai Zyudenchi, into which he infuses his Dino Guts so they can't be taken by Voldos.

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As Torin and the Busters go to stop the energy flow, Daigo realises the T-Rex he is about to kill is a) Gabutyra and b) the best friend he had to protect (which is kind of sad, when you think about it), breaking the spell over the 6 as they realise who the dinosaurs they were trying to kill were. As they return to the present via a program created using the Abaranger Zyudenchi, where the Gabutyra there collapses, the party there enter Voldos' warehouse lair.

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But they're stopped from destroying the machinery by Aigaron and co showing up to throw a wrench into their plans.

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As Enter, Escape and the two embodiment clones leave, the Busters take on the 3 Knights, while Torin deals with the grunts. But Dogold calls upon his full fury (with everyone else calling upon their respective emotions), to knock them back with the Deboss Finish. Outside, the embodiment clones prepare to revive Voldos with the gathered Dino Hope, when the Kyoryugers appeared, now powerless. But that won't stop them because once a hero, always a hero, which causes Geki and Ryouga to get up and join the fight. While it appears hopeless, Daigo takes encouragement from everyone and generates his own Dino Hope to revive Gabutyra. Meanwhile the Busters get saved from certain doom by the arrival of J.

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And he brought a friend.

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Jin explains that he managed to cheat his death (in Go-Busters' final episode) by creating a backup program to be activated in the event that Vaglass returned. But it will shut down permanently once Vaglass is defeated, so it's one use. But that doesn?t stop them from doing the standard sequence.

Morphin' Brace/Morphin' Blaster: It's Morphin' Time!

All: Let's Morphin!

Hiromu: Red Buster!

Ryuuji: Blue Buster!

Yoko: Yellow Buster!

Jin: Beet Buster!

J: Stag Buster!

Hiromu: Tokumei Sentai...

All: Go-Busters!

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Hiromu: Busters! Ready?

All: Go!

A new fight breaks out, which is more in the heroes' favour and ends with them using their respective finishing moves to destroy the transmitter, restoring the gathered Dino Hope to everyone.

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Soon, 4 hands appear to retrieve the Dino Bucklers.

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And with the Dino Hope returned, Gabutyra's back baby!

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And then the Kyoryugers' fight gets joined by 4 figures with a power and a force that they've never seen before.

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Well, all except Nossan.

Nossan: It's the Zyurangers.

And then they see a light in the distance coming closer.

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Amy: Wow! It's the Abarangers.

The two Legend Reds have a reunion with their allies (who are voiced by their original actors, Eka Darville-ing it up), before Enter and Escape assume their Unite and Evolve forms.

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And then Neo-Grifforzer calls upon the full strength of this united alliance of evil.

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But Yukito gives Geki and Ryouga their own Zyudenchi, which they use to summon embodiment clones of Shugojuu Tyrannosaurus and Bakuryuu Tyranno.

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With the giant army taken care of, it's time to get back to action with the little guys.

Geki: Dino Buckler!

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Ryouga: Bakuryuu Change!

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Kyoryugers: Brave In!

Gaburevolver/GaburiChanger: Gaburincho: Gabutyra/Parasagun/Stegotchi/Zakutor/Dricera/Pteragordon!

Kyoryugers: Kyoryu Change! Fire!

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Daigo: You'll be surprised when you hear! The Fanged Brave! KyoryuRed!

Ian: The Bullet Brave! KyoryuBlack!

Nossan: The Armoured Brave! KyoryuBlue!

Souji: The Slashing Brave! KyoryuGreen!

Amy: The Horned Brave! KyoryuPink!

Utchy: The Thudering Brave! KyoryuGold!

All: The strongest braves in history!

Daigo: Zyuden Sentai...

All: Kyoryuger!

Ryouga: Explosive Energy: AbaRed!

Yukito: Seriously Exploding: AbareBlue!

Ranru: The Explosive Dash of Courage: AbareYellow!

Ryouga: The wild Dino Guts...

All: Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger!

Geki: TyrannoRanger: Geki!

Goushi: MammothRanger: Goushi!

Dan: TriceraRanger: Dan!

Boi: TigerRanger: Boi!

Mei: PteraRanger: Mei!

Geki: Kyoryu Sentai...

All: Zyuranger!

Just the Reds: The hope that crosses over time...

Everyone: We are the Dinosaur Super Sentai!

Daigo: It's about to get wild! Just try and stop us!

Cue a specially written song, featuring Kyoryuger's instrumentals, Abaranger's singer and composer and Zyuranger's lyrics.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=utxl9F0kv5M

After a series of combo attacks to take out the grunts (such as the three pteranodons, the three triceratops, the sword fighters and the strong ones), we get down to the main battles. First off, as the others go Armed On to take on Enter, Utchy defeats Escape by doing a Brave Finish using Allomerus and Beyonsmo. This causes Enter to evolve into Dark Buster.

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Though Dark Buster proves powerful, he ends up being eventually stopped by Ian and destroyed by Daigo using Kentrospiker.

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The Abarangers take on Neo-Gayrton and give him a taste of their Super Dino power using their Abare Modes.

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They then destroy him with the Dino Bomber.

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Finally, the Zyurangers take on Neo-Grifforzer in a slightly altered order, after entering their usual tower formation to do the Babel Attack.

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Mei: Ptera Arrow!

Boi: Tiger Daggers!

Dan: Tricelance!

Goushi: Moth Breaker!

Geki: Ryugekiken!

All 3 Sentai then combine their weapons into one.

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But this doesn't kill Neo-Grifforzer. If anything, it helps him.

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He then converts this to Evil Life Energy and sacrifices himself to give Voldos a body (and if you thought Dai Satan was freaky enough, this guy has seven heads).

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The Kyoryugers then summon Stegotchi and Dricera to combine into Kyoryuzin, while the two embodiment clones transform into DaiZyuJin and AbarenOh.

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But when regular Kyoryuzin isn't enough (to be fair, neither are the other 2), Pteragordon appears to combine into Raiden Kyoryuzin.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9FQG40AvV2M

On the ground, Jin uses his last few minutes to entrust Hiromu with a Go-Busters Zyudenchi Kuroki had him create (when did he have time to do that?), before dying again.

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Using it, they enter Raiden Kyoryuzin and summon Tategami Lioh to donate its head to create Tategami Raiden Kyoryuzin.

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Using their new weapon, the three mecha combine their powers to finish off Voldos for good.

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After the battle, past Gabutyra thanks them before fading away, while Hiromu sends mixed signals in his attempts to cheer Daigo up and Yoko turns down Ian's advances, as Geki, Ryouga and Dantetsu watch on.

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Cue the credits (and honestly, I'm not as keen on this song. It's probably the weakest of the three offerings on this soundtrack)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=umCRVar_Exk

Alright! Gabu, Zaku, Gochi, Gun, Pte, Dri, Zuo, Dogo
Gigan, and Pachy, let's all carnival

That's right! Destiny brings us together across time
It's like we're connected by the baton of hope
I'll walk with you if it can make our dreams come true
I'll always be friends with you and the dinosaurs too

Vamola! Oh Matsurincho!
Our bravery is as high as the sky!

Alright! Gabu, Zaku, Gochi, Gun, Pte, Dri, Zuo, Dogo
Gigan, and Pachy break out dancing
Now! Gabu, Zaku, Gochi, Gun, Pte, Dri, Zuo, Dogo
Gigan, and Pachy
Let's all carnival

But, that?s not the end. As Neo-Gayrton survived, and uses a Messiah Card to become Neo-Messiah (who is basically the Messiah Cell suit with the black parts turned purple).

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As he's about to take his revenge, a voice rings out.

"The train is now arriving. Please wait behind the white line."

And then 5 new figures appear from a train, who the same voice announces.

"ToQIchigou, ToQIchigou! ToQNigou, ToQNigou! ToQSangou, ToQSangou! ToQYongou, ToQYongou! ToQGogou, ToQGogou!"

After Ichigou says they're not a Sentai, briefly confusing the others before they get annoyed, they take over the rest of the speech.

All: The victorious imagination! Ressha Sentai ToQger!

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Neo-Messiah isn't impressed by their lack of seriousness and sends in the Buglars to fight, only for them to be defeated easily. Ichigou then takes something out of Nigou's Morpher and swaps it with the equivalent in his own.

"Those in a hurry, please transfer now. (Swaps the two) ToQIchigou! Red transfer to Blue! ToQNigou! Blue transfer to Red!"

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After using his new power set to wail on Neo-Messiah, he does the same with the other three (who are only semi-okay with it), before going back to his own.

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With everyone back to normal, they then finish off Neo-Messiah with their guns.

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With that done, the movie actually ends on this announcement.

"Next is the ToQgers. After Kyoryuger is ToQger. Be careful not to forget anything."

Final thoughts: A fairly decent action flick with a lot of heartfelt moments and a good shake up for the usual formula.

The challenge: Given that this movie features Go-Busters, Zyuranger, and Koichi Sakamoto's direction, I've hidden a few subtle but appropriate jokes in here. Can you spot them all?

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Episode 35 – Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger

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Okay, I've teased the whole story of my proper introduction to Super Sentai quite a few times leading up to this moment, and here we finally are – 2011, the year tokusatsu peaked, apparently. I mean, it's a decade later, and with an almost alarming level of consistency, I still regularly see people talking about how Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger and Kamen Rider OOO stand head and shoulders above most of the other entries in their respective franchises. Both of these shows are getting V-Cinemas to celebrate their 10th anniversaries, both of them sold loads of merchandise, both of them *still* reliably move merchandise... both of them are downright beloved series, any way you slice it.

And you know what else OOO and Gokaiger have in common? They were the first shows I watched from either franchise, and in both cases, I really don't appreciate them anywhere near as much as I ought to. In OOO's case, a huge part of that is how I watched so many Rider shows right away that I consider more than one of them my "first", which gives me some excuse, but with Gokaiger? You're going to see over the next couple weeks that it took me a bit to start engaging with Sentai with the same level of enthusiasm I immediately approached Kamen Rider with. I watched OOO because I was excited about it; I watched Gokaiger more because everyone was excited about it.

Gokaiger was certainly a series that immediately commanded everyone's attention back when it started airing. Toei basically set out to make the definitive anniversary celebration for all of Sentai, and when the premiere comes out swinging with an epic battle featuring close to two hundred suit actors portraying all the teams up to this point on the screen at once, fighting in a legendary battle against the forces of evil, it's easy to see how serious they were about this. That cold open alone is iconic enough that I'm pretty sure back in the day, it even managed to go a tiny bit viral among people who knew nothing about the context beyond "look at all them Power Rangers!" It was a big moment.

But you can't have the entire show be made on that scale, of course, so what was the actual meat of the series like, for people to praise it the way they do? Well, they got Naruhisa Arakawa to write it, for one thing. You couldn't have found a better pair of hands to put this show into, really. Not only is he a veteran Sentai writer and long-time fan who knows how to respectfully and effectively leverage past material, but, as I mentioned earlier in the tour, when I was talking about the first two Sentai he was in charge of, the dude's writing has swagger, and as further proof of that, it was his idea to make the actual premise of this tribute to a longstanding tradition of allies of justice be about a bunch of roguish space pirates who only came to Earth to look for treasure. Heck of a curveball there! And the result is maybe the only group of protagonists that could hope to match the swagger of the man himself.

Actually, this is maybe throwing the format out of whack with so much general stuff left to go over, but since I'm already kinda talking about the premiere anyway, let me cut to the chase – Arakawa was the best choice for this job. It's almost kind of aggravating how tight Gokaiger's first episode is, when I think about how little I would've noticed that at the time.

So obviously the cold open is brilliant just for the sheer scale of it, right? Crazy cool action to kick things off with a bang, and it quickly establishes the backstory heading into the show that all 34 of those awesome teams of heroes unfortunately lost their powers valiantly defending the Earth from an evil space empire that day... which brings us to these guys, later on. Why I'm specifically singling out Arakawa's talents for praise is because I'm deeply impressed how fully formed the dynamic of the Gokaigers is from the word go. Arakawa already knows exactly what he wants this team to be like, as though he's already been writing them for a while, and that means he knows how to make all that personality come across constantly.

There's a great trick the episode pulls in how so much of it is informing you about the world and characters by way of demonstration, rather than dry exposition. Combined with the way the individual personalities of the team members get moments to shine throughout each scene, I think you come out of this one learning a ton about the series without it actively feeling like you're being taught, the way a lot of opening chapters to stories often (understandably) can't get around. A really great example of this is in how the Gokaigers are shown selling off jewelry for some Earth cash to pay for lunch. Seems innocuous enough, but that's exactly the point: you explicitly know from seeing this that despite being anti-hero pirates in search of the greatest treasure in the universe, the team aren't looking to pillage and plunder for every random thing they want. Plus, the conversation that leads to this itself ends with a nice comedic beat when the deeply materialistic Luka reacts with shock and horror upon realizing why Captain Marvelous is asking for one of her rings, which is demonstrating a key aspect of her particular personality on top of everything. I know when I break it down like this, it probably doesn't sound all that impressive, but— wait, hang on a second!

Did I mention Gokai Red's name is "Captain Marvelous"? I'm sorry if I dropped that in so casually, but when you've had Gokaiger in your life for a decade, it becomes easy to take for granted that it has one of the best names for a main protagonist ever. So let's all take a moment to stop and appreciate that for a second. Just say it out loud: Captain Marvelous. Sounds pretty great, doesn't it? Dude lives up to that moniker, too. First thing he does in the series is fearlessly charge past an enemy fleet in his crew's spaceship/giant robot, and when the restaurant he's having curry at gets exploded by yet more enemy ships with him in it, his immediate concern is just whether or not he can get a plate to replace the one he lost in the blast. And again, it's like this with everyone, in every scene, all throughout the episode.

The crew of the Gokai Galleon are such an eclectic bunch of strong personalities, and it's no trouble at all getting a handle on them even with all the room that needs to be made for everything else here. I already mentioned two of them, but Don's wimpy demeanor is also on full display as he makes loads of pessimistic comments about basically everything, Ahim is constantly acting like the noblewoman she is and indirectly pushes the group to act heroically by being the first to stop and take notice of the frightened commoners in need of saving once everything starts blowing up (this is why Ahim is my favorite, by the way), and even Joe, the enigmatic cool blue whose personality can't be fully displayed so easily, still has the layers behind his stoicism hinted at in some fashion when Luka teases him early in the episode about how he's totally forcing himself to pretend he isn't excited about exploring a whole new planet the same way all of them are. I guess it's easy for me to say this having seen the whole show, but I truly think the premiere gives everyone great material to work with. As an overall unit, too, you get a nice feel for the whole unique selling point of the Gokaigers being space pirates, which is how this is the exceptionally rare team to have no initial connection to Earth whatsoever, making the way their resolve to protect the planet grows with time a big anchor for the drama. They're initially presented as these weird outsiders yelling through a megaphone to ask where the treasure is so they can be on their way, and even at the end of this episode, it's much more their beef with the villains that motivates them than it is any specific value in this particular planet and its people. Marvelous even insists this was entirely about the curry, if you believe him. To be fair, he does seem like the kind of guy who would believably go to war over someone ruining his lunch.

Indeed, Gokai Red in general comes off like a dude you don't want to mess with, and a big part of that is Hirofumi Fukuzawa's suit acting. This is the final Red he would play before becoming the action director for Sentai as a whole starting with the next series (and continuing at least all the way up to Zenkaiger!), and I think he made it count. It's another instantly distinctive role, with this fantastic balance of nonchalance and aggression befitting a captain who is at once supremely charismatic and more than a little dangerous. But the thing is, Gokaiger is a Sentai where I can instantly tell you how distinct everyone is in-suit, something I find often takes a bit more reading into the subtle touches to figure out. Here though? Blue conveys Joe's master swordsmanship and confident stoicism through his habit (that you admittedly don't see in the premiere) of taking opponents on with one hand literally behind his back; Green gets across how weird Don is by doing whatever throughout battles; Yellow reflects Luka's self-assured spunkiness with a lot of snappy, high-energy gestures; and then you've got Pink going in the exact opposite direction with graceful and composed mannerisms appropriate for Ahim, the most classy person in the group.

Oh man, and I'm only now realizing I've gotten this far without even mentioning the biggest gimmick of the Gokaigers! ...And I'm still not going to for a little bit, because I want to touch on all the great action leading up to that in the premiere! The Gokaigers storming past an enemy blockade to make it to Earth was a great way to set a swashbuckling tone for the group right away, and it's certainly displaying some more Arakawa swagger to put the giant robot fight at the start of the episode, like a total rebel. And while the frantic pace and large scale of the action requires Gokai-Oh to be portrayed using CG for most of the sequence, they made sure to get in a nice shot or two of the proper suit standing there looking cool, which I appreciate. I mean, it probably goes without saying how tight this thing is on a production level when it has the cold opening it does. Honestly, I sort of found the debut battle for the Gokaigers themselves more impressive in a way. They made an unusually large amount of mook suits this year, and all throughout the climax, there's this striking sense of what an overwhelming force these five heroes are somehow effortlessly taking on by themselves, backed by exciting choreography and elevated by the aforementioned distinctive performances of the suit actors. It's impressive stuff; a great way to cap off the episode's action.

Except that isn't what caps it off, now is it? I'd like to note that I wasn't even intentionally trying to avoid getting to this point, because I think that in of itself speaks volumes about how much Gokaiger stands solely on its own merits. And it's because you can get invested in them as their own team that it becomes that much more interesting when they start turning into all the other ones on top of that. Yes, a huge part of the show's appeal is that all those powers that got lost at the start have wound up in the hands of this unusual new Sentai, which, among other things, gives the fights an unprecedented ability to pull in a massive variety of different motifs, styles, and abilities, all owing to how varied the franchise itself has been over the years. It's deeply nostalgic for fans, but also exciting for those less familiar with what other teams are even out there, simply because that makes it so much more random and fun, a balance between audiences that Gokaiger is always striving for.

Naturally, there's a lot of narrative significance to all this, as well. Being anti-heroes who have also monopolized the entirety of Super Sentai, another running theme throughout the show is how the Gokaigers have to prove themselves as true heroes in their own right, rather than mere pirated copies of previous legends, which involves many, many returning faces from older shows in guest-starring roles interacting with the crew over the course of the series. A topic that would be fun to talk about in its own right, but I believe the point I was actually trying to get back around to was my personal experience with this show.

Gokaiger is undeniably great. I would not argue otherwise for a second, even back then. And as you can plainly see, I'm certainly getting pumped enough writing about it right now. But when I was watching the show at the time, it never quite became something I was eagerly awaiting each new episode of. It'll be hard to believe, I'm sure, but I guess I wasn't always this passionate about tokusatsu, and I certainly didn't start out overthinking things the way I do nowadays. I enjoyed Gokaiger just fine, but I was incapable of stopping to really appreciate how much of a quality series it really is, and it's one of those shows I think deserves another look from me one of these days. Something that's striking me thinking back on it to write this is that, despite how I haven't seen most of these episodes since they aired, I actually still remember loads of amazing moments, even if a lot of the full context is vague at this point. I don't consider Gokaiger one of my absolute favorite Sentai at all, despite the nostalgic status you'd imagine it would have as my first series, and when I say that, there's always this sort of voice in the back of my head, again much like with OOO, that goes "but why not though?" Because on an almost objective level, it just *should* be, the same way it is for so many other people. This is a Sentai that pulls off the impossible feat of being an epic fanservice celebration that's still totally accessible to newcomers (I would know!), full of memorable original characters and tons of strong storytelling of its own, that captures the overall spirit of the franchise, and all with that irresistibly cool pirate motif carrying it along. And then there are the simple pleasures, like how Ranger Keys were basically the best idea Bandai has ever had, and I mean, I adore those things too!

Make no mistake though, I definitely love Gokaiger. It's a show I only grow more fond of with retrospect, as I've gradually come to understand how good I had it getting into Rider and Sentai when I did, and just like most fans probably will, I'd recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat, for so many more reasons than I've even covered here.

Ah yes, the show that spawned a billion fanfics. Good times.

Compared to Rider, I haven't seen -as- much Sentai as I'd like to have. There's a lot of great stuff out there lauded by fans, particularly from the 90s and 2000s that many hold up as their favourites or some of the best the franchise has to offer. Hurricanger, Gekiranger, Dairanger, Jetman, Boukenger. And one day I dearly hope to get to those - there's certainly no lack of them that have me excited! - and perhaps they'll supercede my current favourite Sentai as my number 1. I've certainly found a love for that era of Toku in general.

So maybe it just comes off as not having seen the better stuff... but MAN Gokaiger refuses to stop being my favourite Sentai to this day, even with Zenkaiger putting together such a strong case. It was my first Sentai, and first Toku altogether; I had only had any real familiarity at that point with Power Rangers, and was generally interested in that for the aesthetics and type of fighting it had... so eventually I decided to have a shot at a Sentai that a friend recommended, and Gokaiger instantly blew me away! It was, like... everything I wanted, man. Everything I had seen as cool in PR was here tenfold, topped off by perfectly written characters with top tier drama, and just a sheer clear love shining through for what they were doing and the franchise they were paying homage to. Everything Fish says here is, to me, bang-on! It's EXACTLY why I love the show so much and why it remains as something dear and close to my heart years later.

Gokaiger led me into, like... everything I wanted from a superhero story, and it really started me off with what I'd still call one of the best. Maybe Zenkaiger will beat it, maybe next year I'll be an unabashed Gekiranger and Zyuranger officiando; but Gokaiger will always remain a huge favourite of mine for everything it does well and how excited it got me to get into this genre. I love this show!

I'm more inclined to think of 2006 as the great tokusatsu year if anything in terms of the amount of shows I really liked, at least other than PRMF but I do think 2011 was at least one of those years that was pretty good for choice, yes, being as you did have Armor Hero XT, The Hero Yoshihiko and GARO Makaisenki spring up late in the year!

Gokaiger... the best thing to come out of the Sentai/Ranger fandom since Forever Red. It was great to see alumnis in both big and small capacities. Personal favorite episodes were the Liveman, Jetman, Megaranger, Timeranger, Dairanger, and Gokai Silver debut two-parters. I love love love Gai for being the geek that got his wish. :lolol

Finishing Bouken when not watching Doctor Who on DVD. (Netflix)

Are you telling me there are shows out there that don't spawn loads of fanfics? ...Wait is Goseiger one of them!? :p

I'm really glad you contributed such a passionate spiel about how Gokaiger remains an untouchable favorite of yours with loads of sentimental significance, because really, somebody needs to be properly grateful to this show. And with Zenkaiger competing for your affection, no less!

Which is totally fine, of course! That remark I made at the start of that post was entirely tongue-in-cheek. Part of the joke there is that I like tons of other shows from other years way more.

Gai is fantastic for sure. I didn't make the space to mention him in that post, which is strange, because I've also always thought of Gokaiger as one of those Sentai that's "completed" by its sixth Ranger? It's just so hard to imagine the show without the earnest adoration for heroism that Gokai Silver brings to the group.

He's the otaku who made it into the business. :lolol

Most of them are Power Rangers fics made by people who didn?t like Megaforce. And despite everyone?s biggest issue with Samurai being that it?s (supposedly) a direct copy of Shinkenger, most of these fics tend to be direct copies of Gokaiger.

And, there’s that mobile issue the forum’s been having again.

I don't think people had issues with the PR version being a straight copy of Shinkenger (as I recall many popular seasons are just like that), but more that it's a very rushed copy; practically a google translated script

It depends entirely on what circle you're in. "Rushed copy" is alot more of a modern negative take on the fanbase's' view on Samurai. Back when the show was airing though, and alot of people had just finished watching Shinkenger, season 1 got panned alot just for being a copypaste, whereas season 2 got alot of flak for the changes it made. This despite how Samurai in general has the same amount of changes as say, Time Force did for Timeranger, one of the most popular PR seasons.

Either way, Androzani's' point does stand. There's a very clear divide in the fanbase over whether PR seasons should be copypastes of their Sentai counterparts or not.

I had seen Shinken ahead of Samurai myself having streamed it on Kiss Asian. I do agree with the copy paste argument. Saban Era II had tried to bring some original stuff in for Samurai. It was a nice attempt. However when I kept seeing Japanese episode by that sort of lost a bit of credibility for me.

There Go The Brides was a gender swap for Em for the Samurai adaption but all plots were the same. Except for He Ain't Heavy Metal He's My Brother. Not sure if Strange Case Of The Munchies was original.

Beast Morphers had kept the bit about Massiah being trapped in cyber space so that plot was pulled from Go Busters. The rest of Beast Morphers was original with the the Morph X plot.

Another case was the main plot from Operation Overdrive with the hunt for the jewels of the Carona Arora. The relic hunt was carried over from Bouken.

Jungle Fury played off Rio and Mele start to finish including Rio's temple.

Mega Force part 1 changed out the Angel theme.

Ninja Steel had the TV game show tweek.

Dino Fury had swapped out the Minisaur created from people aspect of Ryu.

So some of it was copy paste.

It depends on the show for me. IMO even though Samurai wasn't as good as Shinkenger, it being close to the original was one of the few positives whereas Mystic Force IMO didn't need to copy Magiranger as much as it did!

It?s full speed ahead with his instalment of?

Androzani?s Tsukai Detour

And this week, we?re covering?

Ressha Sentai ToQger vs Kyoryuger: The Movie.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxT8UW...jpg&name=small

But to start off, we?re doing something a little different. Spoilers, obviously.

Previously on Kyoryuger: After learning joy and sorrow, Deboss revived himself in a new form suited to destroying humanity (and the Kyoryugers had easily beaten copies of the form he assumed to destroy the Dinosaurs). Dantetsu then seemed to betray them by stripping Torin of his brave, before killing him and stealing his GigaGaburevolver for himself. But it later turned out that this was all a ruse to allow Torin, along with Ramirez and Tessai (who had passed on their powers to new holders), to destroy all the monsters in Debo Hell so they couldn?t be revived again. Deboss still launched his attack, aided by his new warriors Endolf, Killborero and Icerondo, who all fell to an impromptu alliance between the Kyoryugers and the original Knights (though at the cost of the lives of Dogold and Aigaron). At the same time, Daigo faced down Deboss, who was destroyed after revealing that he was an artificial life form, created to study the lifeforms of the universe. Daigo and the others also learned of a greater evil, that would soon come to Earth, and begun preparations for its arrival. An arrival that is now.

?There?s more to this world than what you can see. The power to dream. The power to imagine. There is a world only those with imagination can see. Imagination! It can make the impossible possible. It?s an infinite power that can light up the world. However, where there is light, there is darkness that hates it. A world without imagination will sink into darkness. ?

ToQgers:
Right Suzuki/ToQIchigou: Right Suzuki is like any other boy, except that he has high levels of imagination. Everyday, he would play with Tokatti, Hikari Nonomura, Mio Natsume, and Kagura Izumi at their secret base, which is a giant tree located in Subarugahama. However one day during a star festival, the Castle Terminal rose upon their city, prompting the Rainbow Line to relocate them onto the Ressha, turning them into adults. Right however, landed in a Kurainer, and was rescued by the other 4, finding that all of them had lost memories of everything but their friendship with each other. He is always facing forward and is trying to seize joy out of life. He is a young man who's spirit is like energy. He is the one usually giving it his all, the type to easily be fired up and go against the odds. Out of the 5 ToQgers, Right's Imagination is the highest, and therefore, so is his fighting power. He often acts before he thinks and hates cramped places. He is also a voracious eater, which sometimes leads to his decisions becoming dominated by his appetite.
Haru ?Tokacchi? Tokashiki: Haru Tokashiki was a transfer student who moved to Subarugahama and befriended Right Suzuki, Hikari Nonomura, Mio Natsume and Kagura Izumi. He was soon introduced to their base and made a member of their team. Tokatti also made a superhero of his imagination, Ryo Knight, who was based on his brother, Ryo Tokashiki as he always looked up to him. When Emperor of Darkness Z's darkness as well as the Shadow Line invaded Subarugahama, their home, Tokatti and his friends were spirited by the Rainbow Line light. Nonetheless, he and three other friends were turned into adults by Rainbow Line President's Imagination and hired as ToQgers, rescuing cities that were invaded by the Shadow Line. He is a highly cautious, punctual character. When something happens, Tokatti is the type that wants to investigate and research first but becomes very incessant when regarding the results. He is a specialist at analyzing enemies and making plans, but he's really bad at being on time.
Mio Natsume/ToQSangou: Mio was one of the friends, as well as classmates of Right Suzuki, Haru Tokashiki, Kagura Izumi and Hikari Nonomura. She also had an imaginary friend, Mikey, which only Hikari is aware of. When Emperor of Darkness Z's darkness as well as the Shadow Line invaded Subarugahama, their home, Mio and her friends were spirited by the Rainbow Line light. One day, Mio and her friends managed to reunite with Right, their old friend when he was mistakenly kidnapped in one of Bag Shadow's Kurainer. After Right was appointed as ToQIchigou, he accidentally unlocked one of their functions, the Transfer Changes and managed to defeat Bag Shadow. Ever since then, she and her teammates resorted to free towns that were invaded by the Shadow Line while searching for their old hometown. She is a sports-minded woman with a confusing character. Though she is "manly", she is good at housework. Because of this, she is quite popular with the boys; although, she hates the idea of romance. Mio acts as the team's big sister, not having a tolerance for underhanded attacks.
Hikari Nonomura/ToQYongou: Hikari was one of the friends, as well as classmates of Right Suzuki, Haru Tokashiki, Kagura Izumi and Mio Natsume. Out of them, Hikari always spied Mio playing with her doll/imagination friend Mikey. He is an unhurried man. Aside from his Imagination, Hikari's natural fighting power is very strong which puts him on even footing with Right. With that being said, he and Right often have opposing views on how to do things. Though quite obedient to Mio, he often teases Kagura. He likes playing on his Kendama, and his favorite genre of literature is detective stories. This at one point led him taking on a persona called "Kendama Deka".
Kagura Izumi/ToQGogou: Kagura was one of the friends, as well as classmates of Right Suzuki, Haru Tokashiki, Mio Natsume and Hikari Nonomura. She is a girl whose Imagination is second only to Right but often takes a negative direction. In essence, she tells tall tales and unforeseen events usually take place. Because of this, Kagura's body can't handle fighting too well unless she uses her imagination to will herself into an unbeatable warrior. However, she must be careful, for Kagura's Imagination is so strong, she can lose sight of reality and forget about her body's limitations.
Akira Nijino/ToQRokugou: A while back, he was known as Zalam, a shadow monster working for the Shadow Line. General Schwarz thinks highly of him as a valuable ally, as Zalam is the only one who shared his ambition of domination through the trains. Schwarz also knew of Zalam's Drill Liner. His ability was to create rain powerful enough to ruin good days. But one day, after one of his attacks, he saw a rainbow; a rainbow so beautiful he vowed to protect them. So he left the Shadow Line, took on a human form, and surrendered to the Rainbow Line. Although forsaking his name, the other members of the Shadow Line still referred to him as Zalam. He went to work for the Rainbow Line, hoping that it'll make up for the atrocities he committed as a Shadow Kaijin. His past haunts him in the form of his own power, only raining at a certain area around him. His new name, Akira Nijino would be given to him by Hikari, with the help of Tokatti, Mio, and Kagura. Akira is a very no-nonsense, carefree individual and an animal lover. All he cares for are working and his goal to protect the beautiful rainbow. Due to his past as a Shadow, Akira believes he deserves to die and, accepting of his self-imposed "fate," goes into every battle believing it will be his last, much to the slight annoyance of his teammates. He does try to be serious, but in many cases, his stoicism just only goes to generate humor, mainly from him trying to be serious at times that is unneeded, like playing his signature tune on a recorder with complete sincerity when he lost his harmonica one time.

The Brave Kyoryugers:
Yuko Fukui/KyoryuCyan II: Nobuharu?s sister who is a widowed mother with her daughter Rika. Yuko believed the Kyoryugers and the Deboss Army to be equally dangerous after a previous Deboss attack on the populace left Rika injured. Nobuharu was especially stung by Yuko's assertion, especially since he was at that event as Kyoryu Blue to protect his family. Though she warmed up slightly to Kyoryu Blue after she discovers that he had helped to rescue her from the influence of the Debo Monster Debo Kokodoko, Yuko still thought poorly of him. Yuko finally figured out that Nobuharu is KyoryuBlue when she noticed that KyoryuBlue's mannerisms and motivation are the same as Nobuharu's during the fight against Debo Vacance. Yuko did not initially reveal to Nobuharu that she had figured out his heroic identity, but she has apparently accepted the fact. Ramirez later chose her to be the new living KyoryuCyan, on account of her incredible strength.
Shinya Tsukouchi/KyoryuGray II: A direct descendant of Tessai, the original KyoryuGray, who writes the shojo rugby manga Love Touch under the pseudonym Yu Aoyagi, due to being too shy to let his fans know he wasn?t a woman. However, he will not abandon a woman in danger, which caused Tessai to not only regain his Spirit Powers, but to name Shinya as his successor after he passed on.

The Rainbow Line: An organisation that is powered by and protects imagination from vanishing.

Conductor: An eccentric and enigmatic man who has the knowledge of the ToQgers' past, he refuses to tell them anything about it. He carries around a puppet named Ticket. Despite the fact that he appears to be a simple puppet manipulated by the Conductor, there have been indications that Ticket is something more, such as the fact that Ticket and the Conductor can speak at the same time as well as Ticket once popping out of the funnel on Right 's cockpit controls regardless of the fact that the Conductor, nor anyone, couldn?t possibly fit down there. Although he has a cute appearance, Ticket is actually quite strict with the ToQgers, and acts as a negative contrast to the Conductor's optimism. He disapproved of them using Transfer Changes, until the Conductor pointed out that it was an extension of their imagination which had been encouraged in them. He also makes all the train announcements such as where the Rainbow Line is stopping and if there is a Shadow Line presence nearby. Despite the indications to the contrary, Right is determined to prove that Ticket is merely a puppet and has made attempts to pull him off the Conductor's hand to no avail, as well as trying to catch the Conductor using Ticket's voice to make the announcements which also failed. Though Hikari did see Conductor remove Ticket once, he decided to pretend that never happened.
Wagon: A robotic assistant who sells drinks and meals to the team. Though mysterious, she has a way of putting a smile on everyone's faces. Wagon is commonly heard exclaiming Oh, no! (いや Iya) in the face of bad news, she often punctuates her speech by describing things and situations with the adverb intensely (激しく Hageshiku) or by saying the words syllable by syllable. She likes to take selfies a lot.
Rainbow Line President: A mystery rabbit-head-hat wearing man that has incredible imagination powers and is the Conductor, Ticket, and Wagon's superior. His true face, as well as the nature of Ticket, are open for the viewer's imagination. The President?s imagination is so strong that he created the ToQgers. Our heroes were never adults, they are still children and the President just imagined them as teenagers/young adults so they can fight as ToQgers. They didn?t lose their teenage memories, they never were teens in the first place. However, the shock of their growth did indeed cause them to lose their childhood memories.
Lady: Conductor of the Safari Ressha which rides on the solar system-spanning Galaxy Line. She once crashed to Earth and was menaced by Count Nair and his personal Shadow Kaijin Hound Shadow, but was saved by the ToQgers.

Shadow Line: The Rainbow Line?s counterpart, who aim to remove light from the world.
Dark Emperor Zed: The master of the Shadow Line. The Shadow Line works to gather the darkness in human hearts to complete the railway so they can grant the Emperor entry into the world and to make the Earth habitable for Zed. Unlike his subordinates, Zed hates living in darkness and wants to live in the light, but unfortunately light is toxic to Zed and he can only survive a few hours before it starts to make him sick. Due to his desire to live in the light, Zed is obsessed with everything that shines, be it literally or figuratively.
Baron Nero: Zed?s second in command. Baron Nero disagrees with his fellow commanders? way of doing things, caring the most about resurrecting his lord and infesting the land. He also does not understand his master's fascination with light, considering their weakness to it.
Madame Noir: A noblewoman who intended for Zed to marry her daughter Miss Glitter, as part of a ploy to have her daughter absorb her husband-to-be and rule the Shadow Line as a puppet. But this backfired when Zed turned out to be still alive and absorbed Miss. Glitter from within, becoming able to reassume his original form. Since then, Noir has remained an indentured servant.
Marchioness Morc: The eldest of the Shadow Line leadership and the one who brought up Zed, who's in charge of overseeing Shadow Towns, a task she delegates to her elite monsters called Keepers. Like Nero, she is completely loyal to Emperor Zed who she raised. Because of her history with the Emperor, she is comfortable with hugging and getting close to him, though she usually ends up knocking him over. She also doesn't hesitate to question Zed about his obsession with light.

What do I think of ToQger? To be honest, the series, despite being the last I saw in full (by which I mean, I had seen every episode of every other past series), did nothing for me. The characters come off as incredibly bizarre, even considering they are kids, the plot gets drowned with filler (it should not take eight episodes to introduce everything related to the super mode) and the show?s main gimmick of colour changing is woefully under-utilised (with Akira never using it at all). The villains are pretty much the best thing, but even then I have my issues with them, mostly the overdesigned nature of them and the monsters (how is a creature in a shroud with the faces of comedy and tragedy meant to represent a bag?) and Zed?s lack of acting, which does nothing to endear me to him. Plus their general plot line has been done better in several other series.

As for the film, the producer is the same guy as Shinken and Gokai, the writer is Kobayashi, in her final credit for Sentai and the director is Watanabe. So with all of that said, on with the review.

We open in space, where Lady reports on something hitting a Galaxy Line station, causing it to crash towards Earth.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxT8UX...jpg&name=small

The ToQgers soon respond, finding the station embedded in a cliff face.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxT8TX...jpg&name=small

But before they can investigate what hit it, they get attacked by a horde of Zorimas (and a few Cambrimas).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxT8dX...jpg&name=small

In the ensuing fight, all of them find their weapons ineffective, until the grunts take damage from a pair of shots launched from behind? by Daigo and Amy (this is definitely the same plot as Shinkenger vs Go-Onger).

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The other Kyoryugers then show up and begin beating down the enemy army with ease.

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxWd-X...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxWeoX...jpg&name=small

They then do their (shortened) roll call.

Daigo: You?ll be surprised when you hear!

All: The strongest braves in history?

Daigo: Zyuden Sentai?

All: Kyoryuger!

Cue the explosion behind them? exactly where the ToQgers are standing.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxWfIX...jpg&name=small

After defeating the enemy grunts, the Kyoryugers then try to enter the crashed station? only to discover that there?s a force field surrounding it. Daigo then decides to introduce himself to the others.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxh0HX...jpg&name=small

(God, he looks so weird with short hair)

The ToQgers take Daigo to the Rainbow Liner, and get surprised at how big an imagination a guy like him has (only people with strong imaginations can see and board the train). Once aboard, he explains to everyone why the station crashed to Earth.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxh0kX...jpg&name=small

This causes Conductor to become terrified, as he heard that Devius created a creature of destruction known as Deboss (which, if you can?t tell from the recap I gave, is a retcon). Meanwhile, at Castle Terminal, Zed receives a visit from a newcomer.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxh1XX...jpg&name=small

Back on the Rainbow Liner, Daigo then insists that the Kyoryugers will handle Devius and the ToQger?s should stay out of it, before disembarking the train mid transit. (Now that?s why they call him ?King?), though not before outlining the threat.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxh19W...jpg&name=small

Back at Castle Terminal, Zed receives a proposition from Salamas.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxxHBX...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxxHKW...jpg&name=small

Zed agrees to the proposition, lending Salamas use of his monster Clock Shadow (a name so dull, I hope you won?t mind me referring to him as ?Klokverk?). Elsewhere, Right decides he and the others can?t just wait around while the fate of the world is at stake, wrestling Ticket (and people wonder why he?s not more popular) to force him into compliance (our hero, ladies and gentlemen). Meanwhile, at a station, Utchy is waiting for a train to join the others?

Morc: A Shadow Line train is now arriving. Those who value their lives will stand behind the black line.

Utchy: I will keep that in mind. Valuing life is an important virtue.

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Utchy then transforms to fight Klokverk and his Kuros, only to meet with the same results as the ToQgers did against the Deboss grunts.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZxxIYX...jpg&name=small

But it?s at this point that Akira shows up, transforming into ToQRokugou and running into the battle? dropping his Guide Breaker for some reason (maybe he really wants to die this time). Utchy takes it up and uses it to actually damage the Kuros.

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The other ToQgers soon join the battle, but Akira has everyone withdraw after Klokverk starts singing.

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Klokverk tries to give pursuit, but gets sidetracked by a strange sound, that leads him to a newcomer in the tress.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZx_G9X...jpg&name=small

?: Found you, Yokai.

But then his allies, coloured blue, pink, white and yellow, show up and point out that it?s obviously not a Yokai. Klokverk is simply confused by this, so they introduce themselves as ninjas. As Kolokverk doubts this due to them being too gaudy, a fight breaks out.

Red: A splendid rampage! AkaNinger!

Blue: The Roaring Cloud! AoNinger!

Yellow: The Shimmering Calm! KiNinger!

White: A Petal Blowing in the Wind! ShiroNinger!

Pink: The Wavering Mist! MomoNinger!

AkaNinger: We are shinobi, but we do not hide!

All: Shuriken Sentai Ninninger!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEZybFFW...jpg&name=small

(Aside from the presentation and delivery being different from their main series, the movie broke its rule about how each Sentai?s gear can only affect their intended enemies, since the Ninningers cut through those Kuros like a knife through butter)

Klokverk then withdraws, summoning a Kurainer Robo to fight. But AkaNinger isn?t worried.

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AkaNinger: Shuriken Ninpo: Shukushaku Shukusou no Jutsu!

The Kurainer Robo is reduced to human size, allowing the Ninningers to destroy it with Shuriken Ninpo: Yagura Nin Senpuu (they have neither this finisher not this NinShuriken in the show proper. Though that latter fact should be obvious, as it would negate the need for giant battles).

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Back with the actual protagonists aboard the Build Ressha, the ToQgers find that they?ve been turned into children (or rather, back into children) after listening to Klokverk?s song.

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And then Akira shows what happens if you listen to it for too long.

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Back with the Kyoryugers, Nossan tries to break the barrier with Pukuputor, but fails. Daigo?s attempt to use Gabutyra proves fruitless, once the Shadow Line reinforces the barrier using a Kurainer. The two groups then regroup, with the Kyoryugers learning that the ToQgers are actually kids and Nossan coming to the obvious realisation.

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Then Klokverk arrives, flanked by Kuros and Zorimas. But despite being kids, the ToQgers refuse to sit this out, transforming via the help of the shorter suit actors and good old camera trickery.

ToQ Brace: No transforming, please stand behind the white line.

ToQgers: ToQ Change!

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ToQ Brace: ToQIchigou, ToQIchigou! ToQNigou, ToQNigou!

Tokacchi: I?m actually a child.

ToQ Brace (cont.): ToQSangou, ToQSangou! ToQYongou, ToQYongou! ToQGogou, ToQGogou!

Kagura: Alright!

All: The imagination of victory!

Right: Ressha Sentai?

All: ToQger!

As everyone has a cuteness overload, Right presents the Diesel Ressha to Daigo.

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Daigo in turn presents a Zyudenchi to Right, with the others doing likewise.

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Inserting their new toys into their weapons allows both sides to handle both grunts with ease in the ensuing fight. And Mio calls upon her imaginary friend Mikey (from episode 15) to wreck the grunts.

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As the grunts are disposed of, Zed starts to get annoyed and decides that Salamas has outlived his usefulness, at which point Salamas has this to say.

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He then sets fire to Castle Terminal and absconds with a few Kurainers. Back with the heroes, they load the Victory Zyudenchi into the Linkup Bazooka to defeat Klokverk.

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As he tries to use his gathered darkness to grow (in the only time this gets explained), Salamas shows up to absorb it from him at the moment of death to evolve into his (ridiculous looking) ultimate form.

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Both Sentai then call upon their mecha, Kyoryuzin and ToQOh.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7AOT9Im-ElY

Both robots then go straight into the combo attack, which fails.

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Akira then shows up with the support mecha for both Sentai, allowing them to form Gigant Kyoryuzin and ToQ RainbOh.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2sD9iq_RmRU

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xgvlEl06fxI

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Both Robots then defeat Salamas for good by swapping out their gimmick items (which you can?t do with the toys. They?re different sizes)

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With the last of Klokverk?s darkness vanquished, the ToQgers and Utchy return to normal (glad to see that they wasted that idea).

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It?s at that point Devius awakens (and he has the voice of Shadow Moon, so you know he?s bad news) and trashes the Ressha, while forcing the Zyudenryu to withdraw. He then states his goal (which again, contradicts the whole ?Deboss was created to study life? thing).

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As the Kyoryugers recuperate in a hospital, Rainbow Line begins modifying the Ressha to use the power of the Zyudenchi, though neither Wagon nor Ticket want the ToQgers involved.

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After a lengthy scene where Right and his friends discuss what?s at stake this time (as if that?s not been made clear) and their end goal (as if that isn?t hammered into our heads enough in the show), we cut to the crashed station, where Candelillia and Luckyuro sense that, like a stripper in her routine, something is off.

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As Candelillia resolves to do something about this, we cut to the next morning, where the Rainbow Line have developed an imagination-powered Zyudenchi to break the barrier.

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We then reveal that Torin?s ghost has been in touch with the Rainbow Line President, explaining how hey did this so quickly.

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But as the ToQgers set off to defeat Devius, they get sidetracked (no pun intended) by the Dining Set Brothers (from episodes 32-33), who have been revived by Devius, causing Akira to break off.

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Then the thing from episode 2 and Hammer Shadow (from episode 15-16) show up in Kurainers, with everyone but Right breaking off to deal with them.

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As Devius fully revives (and for the guy who created Kyoryuger?s villains, he looks kinda dull), Right penetrates his barrier and confronts him (and apparently, the Galaxy Line station was designed to look like an evil lair long before Devius showed up. Who knew?)

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And then Daigo shows up to help Right, since he needs a chaperone for his field trip.

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Akira makes short work of the Dining Set Brothers, but soon falls foul of Coin Shadow (from episode 26).

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The girls then find themselves surrounded by Hammer Shadow and Chain Shadow (from episode 3. And the reason I?m not nicknaming all of them is because it?s too much work).

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Hikari then faces a guy I will nickname ?Appliancer Vacuulephant? (I forget his episode).

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As Daigo and Right begin to lose, the other Kyoryugers appear to help out (with Akira loaning his Drill Ressha to Utchy). (This time, the team up is by colour equivalents, with Ian being matched with Mio. Not romantically, of course, but you?d be forgiven for thinking it was), eventually defeating all of them in a quarry.

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In the battle with Devius, Daigo loans Right another Gabutyra Zyudenchi, which turns into a Kyoryuger Ressha (like the one from Kamen Rider Taisen, only hand sized).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sWHD5zntdsg

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He then loads it into the Daikaiten Cannon and uses it to destroy Devius (when Kamen Rider Taisen used it better, you?re doing something wrong).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wDzhXNOgaPg

As the two reds meet up with the others, Devius revives as a giant (good god, this movie won?t end, will it?)

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And instead of another Mecha battle (preferably one that actually uses that Kyoryuger Ressha for something), we get this.

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Yuko: The Steel Brave, KyoryuCyan!

Shinya: The Crashing Brave, KyoryuGray!

Yayoi: The Oceanic Brave, KyoryuViolet!

Dantetsu: The Shining Brave, KyoryuSilver!

And then the Shadow Line show up.

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Nero: The pitch black baron, Nero!

?

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And then Zed sums up my thoughts on this film.

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Morc explains that they survived by having her spin around to disperse the flames. (Did you really think they were dead?)

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It?s then revealed that Candelillia called them in.

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And then the main twelve transform.

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ToQgers: ToQChange!

ToQBrace: ToQIchigou! ToQNigou!

Tokacchi: This is a dream team-up.

ToQBrace: ToQSangou! ToQYongou! ToQGogou!

Kagura: Alright!

AppliChanger: ToQRokugou!

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Daigo: The Fanged Brave, KyoryuRed!

Ian: The Bullet Brave, KyoryuBlack!

Nossan: The Armoured Brave, KyoryuBlue!

Mio: The Slashing Brave, KyoryuGreen!

Amy: The Horned Brave, KyoryuPink!

Utchy: The Lightning Brave, KyoryuGold? Revealed!

Kyoryugers: The strongest braves in history, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger!

ToQgers: The Victorious Imagination, Ressha Sentai ToQger!

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Devius is unimpressed, simply taking to the sky.

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But then he gets one-shotted by a combination attack from everyone.

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As he dies, everyone?s allies smile down on them.

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The movie then ends with everyone taking a photo together before going their separate ways.

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Final thoughts: Good god, this was terrible. An overly long, soulless retread of a much better offering by the same writer. Barely any of the Kyoryugers got any major focus and the few good ideas it had were executed poorly. Not to mention this has two perfectly good endings that Kobayashi just decides she has to one up somehow. It?s like she learned nothing from Go-Busters.