Fish, I have to mention that this Zenkai Tour has been a really interesting platform for you to demonstrate your growth as a writer. Your critical voice has really come into focus with these pieces, and it's cool to witness.

Critical vo... critical... Oh you mean the cheerleading! :p

(In all seriousness, this is very flattering; thank you!)

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Mission36 – Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters

https://i.imgur.com/2qTfBQn.png

(Red Buster is inside that sweet giant robot, so rest assured this picture isn't actually missing anybody.)

This is the cruelest one of these I'm making myself write. These posts have gotten as bloated in length as they have, and it still won't be anywhere near long enough to convey anything close to the full amount of affection I feel for this series. If you've been reading all of these, you've seen how passionately I've talked about so many of these shows, and I want you to keep that in mind as I say that none of those were my favorite tokusatsu series ever, and Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters is. It's almost laughable to consider this a mere stop on a tour when I know in my heart that it is literally always time for Buster. This won't be an overview, or a review, and the whole first episode thing is even more of a pretense than usual; this post is a love letter, because from the bottom of my very soul, I am in love with Go-Busters.

It wasn't love at first sight though, even if you won't believe that by the end of this. (Or, heck, if you even believe it after that intro.) See, my first Sentai was Gokaiger, and as that was wrapping up, I distinctly recall feeling ~just~ unenthralled enough by it, despite having a good time, that I sort of felt like hey, maybe Super Sentai just isn't my bag the same way Kamen Rider is. So, even though Go-Busters seemed cool to me, I didn't end up checking out more than the first couple episodes as they aired, and for a while, I was totally content to leave it at that, at least for the time being.

And it really did seem cool, is the thing! After Gokaiger functioned almost as a sort of climax to the entire franchise by gloriously smashing everything to that point together, Go-Busters very consciously flipped the script, simultaneously taking things back to the absolute roots of cool organizations with a slick spy motif in the spirit of Goranger, while also going out of its way to eschew tradition all over the place in an effort to blaze trails forward where its immediate predecessor was looking back. Considering I just said I wasn't totally sold on Super Sentai at the time, it shouldn't be too surprising that last thing held appeal to me. So I didn't watch the entire show right away despite liking what I saw, sure, but eventually, right as the series was about to finish airing, I finally got that push to catch up, and when I starting really digging into Go-Busters, I liked it. Yes, I liked it, for a while, and then partway through, I realized I *really* liked it. By the end, I *definitely* really really really liked it, and then later on, when I realized I was still constantly thinking about the show even though I finished watching it a while ago, it became apparent that, well, like I said – I'm in love with Go-Busters.

Now, very close to a full decade later, I love Go-Busters so much, even, that I'd struggle to sum up anything about the show or why I like it succinctly. So I guess I just have to start somewhere then. Well, I do know someone who *is* really good at summing up tokusatsu shows succinctly!

Really, I don't even know what the point of this tour would be if I didn't find time somewhere in here to gush about Shouko Fujibayashi, the lyricist/prophet responsible for putting words to a staggering amount of songs for both Sentai and Rider, be they openings, endings, insert themes, character themes... you name it, she can do it, and do it extremely well at that. Part of getting way into tokusatsu for me was getting way into tokusatsu music, something I think played a massive role in getting me interested in learning Japanese, and to that end, I honestly consider Fujibayashi an honorary teacher. Her lyrics have a direct clarity that makes them easy to understand (important for a kids' show!), a beauty in their phrasing that always fits the vibe of the song, and – most importantly to me as someone who loves stories – they have an uncanny ability to capture the deepest essence of whatever series they're attached to, even when she's writing them before the show has started airing. (Hence the "prophet" joke, which isn't even something I came up with.) I don't deign to imagine any translation I can provide will do it justice, but here's merely a small portion from the second verse of Go-Busters' ED:

All the things that make us happy, and all that makes us sad too
We'll share each and every moment together
Even the tears we shed are precious lessons
Helping us find the strength in our hearts

So just in those couple of lines, despite how simple they are, you've got quite a bit to unpack, and it really fits the show better and better the more you think about it. Exactly the kind of eloquence that makes Fujibayashi's work so endlessly fascinating to me.

I'm bringing this all up because I truly do think those lines get to the core of what I most want to get at about Go-Busters. Or should I say the heart? That's what this is all about, at the end of the day. It's not even close to the only thing that makes me enjoy the show, but Go-Busters' sentimentality is absolutely what ensured it would stick with me the way it has. Go-Busters is the next Sentai written by Yasuko Kobayashi, and while I always praise the humanity of her characters, this show is something special in my eyes.

Conceptually, the backstory of the Go-Busters is deeply rooted in tragedy. The premise of the plot hinges around an event thirteen years prior to the show's present, in which a laboratory researching how to transport things through hyperspace had its systems suddenly infected by a sentient and extremely malicious computer virus bent on world domination. With little time to contain the situation, the researchers make the fateful decision to transport the entire facility itself into hyperspace, themselves included, in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading any further. When all is said and done, all that's left behind are three children – two of whom lost their parents that day – and their robot guardians, imbued with the special powers of a "vaccine program" in the hopes that they might one day be the key to standing against this menace when it finds its way back to our world. So with a description like that, the series has to be one that's a lot more grim than the usual Sentai fare, right? But it really isn't. Not at all.

A huge aspect of what makes Go-Busters so endearing to me is the specific way it treats the weight of its heroes and their mission. These are characters who have been dealing with profound loss from a young age, but part of what makes them heroes is their refusal to be crushed by that. For as much sorrow as they feel, the backstory binding the main trio together is also an endless source of strength. A drive that pushes them forward, and the root of a bond deeper than any other. The actual tone of the show is very warm, as a result. I would argue in a heartbeat that the Go-Busters and their allies feel more like a family than Sentai teams that are literally related by blood, and that's a testament to how strong Kobayashi's characterization here is. The dynamics between everyone are so much more fleshed out than I have to time to get into right now, but the relationship everyone shares is palpable, with an underlying unconditional love that comes across even in how they can all bicker with one another so often. There's a mundanity to it all, and that's central to what the show is about thematically. These are imperfect people living imperfect lives, but that's exactly the beauty the team would give anything to defend. The Go-Busters aren't just heroes who protect the world; they're protecting normality, because they know firsthand what it's like to lose that. It's escapist fiction that praises the value of the ordinary. A Sentai that doesn't merely extol the power of teamwork, but celebrates the very concept of human connection. I think Go-Busters is often considered to be a relatively darker, more serious Sentai show, and while that isn't necessarily untrue, boiling it down that way neglects that it's also more gentle.

I'm making this sound extremely pretentious because I can't help myself, but my point here is simply that I find this cast of characters very lovable. Hiromu, Ryuuji, Youko... Nick, Gorisaki, Usada... Jin and J, once they show up... Kuroki, Nakamura and Morishita too... even (especially?) Enter and Escape, who are the villains. It's seriously everybody. Getting to spend time with them all makes watching Go-Busters so, so delightful. The whole vibe of the show is just really pleasant, and it makes all those more serious emotional moments hit that much harder.

That was one thing I like about Go-Busters. Or it was supposed to be just one, anyway. You can maybe see why this is tricky for me to get into.

Like, am I even done talking about the characters? I guess not, because I should probably at least explain what exactly I like about some of them. Sticking to the Go-Busters themselves, I suppose:

You've got Hiromu, one of my favorite Reds out there, who is basically everything I want in a protagonist all at once. I mean, he's got sweet super speed powers; he rides a motorcycle; he has a robot sidekick who transforms into his motorcycle; and he's even got the highly skilled and intelligent yet socially inept personality of your average Gundam lead, to the point Hiromu is outright noted in-universe to be the best giant robot pilot in the series. (He's a literal Ace pilot!) He's cool, he's an abrasive jerk without even realizing it, he's kind in spite of that, and he learns to work on his flaws over the course of the series with the help of the people he cares about, and I love him for that, along with everything else.

Then you've got Ryuuji, one of my favorite Blues out there, the de facto dad of the trio, even though he's occasionally a little self-conscious about being the oldest. But he certainly acts the part, being by far the most mature and even-tempered, making him a reliable peacekeeper who everyone gets along with. If anything, his big flaw is that he's a little *too* comfortable being a supporting character in everyone else's lives, at the expense of his own dreams. Sure enough, though, this is something he learns to work on, and I love him for that, along with everything else.

Then you've got Youko, one of my favorite Yellows out there, the youngest of the team, and as such the exact opposite of mature and even-tempered. She can be rather abrasive in her own right, but in her case it's more about feeling that insecure need to avoid being seen as a child... when it isn't just about her plain not having the patience to deal with something, anyway. Granted, a lot of people have trouble focusing on schoolwork when they don't also have to worry about fighting evil on top of that, so make no mistake, she's already way stronger than anyone her age should have to be. Plus, of course, she grows up quite a bit by the end, and I love her for that, along with everything else.

Ah man even that barely feels like I'm scratching the surface. I seriously have to just forcibly pry myself away from the topic of the characters for a bit, or I'll never stop.

The action in this show is amazing too! Aesthetically, I adore all the designs, from all the mechanical monsters, to every last extremely slick bit of gear the heroes use. Those unique leather suits are downright iconic, if you ask me. And while Sentai by this point had settled into a groove of generally picking vehicles or animals as a concept for the mecha, Go-Busters perfectly splits the difference, with a small set of complex machines that all transform into both, on top of combining with one another. The designs only seem even cooler the way they're portrayed on-screen, too. Having Hirofumi Fukuzawa as the new action director meshed really well with the show's overall desire to keep things fresh, and especially early on, Go-Busters is full of very slick fight scenes that have a distinct feel from your average Sentai. The robot fights this year also were also given an absurdly high amount of consideration. From a scripting level, the conscious decision was made to tie them more strongly into the overall drama of every episode than usual, completely freeing Go-Busters' plot structure up to have them happening simultaneously with the normal-sized monster action if that's more exciting for a particular story. This definitely succeeds in keeping things interesting, and the fights themselves tend to be cooler than usual too. I'm the type that loves Sentai for the giant robots to begin with, so for Go-Busters to have that be exceptionally good on top of everything else... well, it's no wonder I won't shut up about this show, is it?

I was supposed to talk about the first episode somewhere in here.

I'm honestly not sure what I could even say that you can't guess by now. I love it to bits, because I love Go-Busters to bits. It demonstrates right away the cool action, right down to splitting the team between normal and giant villains. It makes a point of that whole grounded nature to the style with a lot of effort put into the world-building. It also really smartly puts a huge emphasis on Hiromu's decision to join the team being treated like him going off to war or something, having to leave behind the comfort of his everyday life with his sister to ensure that world is still around to come back to. (Also, I'll just note here that I could easily go on a whole rave about Rika too.) Again, there's a weight to the emotions of the characters. The responsibility and resolve of the heroes is always at the forefront.

Though there's only so much the premiere can cover, with how much there is to unpack. The actual backstory of the show is saved for the following episode, for example, and if I might give the illusion of objectivity for a moment, the way Nakamura is used here as a target for exposition is more than a little blatant... but like I've said before, that kind of thing is understandable. At the very least, writing this post gives me a ton of empathy for any pains Kobayashi went through trying to figure out how to communicate the appeal of the show in a limited amount of space. It ain't easy!

But you know, it's not like any quirks it has stop Go-Busters from having a solid debut all the same. You get some good moments from a lot of the characters, for sure. Enter is already there being the suave French-speaking schemer only he can be, for one thing, so the priorities are in order here. There's some pathos out of the gate like I mentioned, and the special effects bringing the show's world to life are all great. The music is fantastic too, which is yet another thing I wish I was devoting an entire paragraph to right now.

So yeah, Go-Busters might not have a premiere that's absolutely perfect, but then, what's so wrong about that?

Really, even though my bias here would seemingly make me more inclined to dismiss any faults the first episode has, I think it might also be having the opposite effect? Of course I'm going to think it's those episodes that come after where things get really interesting, because the episodes after the start of Go-Busters are the rest of Go-Busters. I'm probably just upset I don't have an easy excuse to talk about all the other great stuff that immediately follows those first 24 minutes.

...Forgive me for making another one of these nothing more than self-indulgence on my part? I just, man, do I ever love Go-Busters. I don't know if I needed to spend this long making that one point, but I'm not kidding when I say it's my favorite tokusatsu show out there. In all the time since I first watched it, other shows I've loved a ton have come along too, but no matter how close they get, not one of them has managed to top this. I love love love so much about Go-Busters, and the sentimental value it holds for me is enormous. It feels like an understatement to call myself a fan – Go-Busters is just like, a part of me, at this point. I feel guilty throwing this massive wall of text at people and expecting them to read it, but I feel so happy to be writing it that I can't help myself. I've known this week would end up being a huge mess before I even starting writing about Goranger, and I've been looking forward to it anyway for just as long. The Zenkai Tour might be moving on, just like always, but deep down, just like always, I'll never be too far away from Go-Busters.

My first impression of Go-busters: Oh, they must be one of those survival enthusiasts, look at all that hiking gear. :lolol

Yeah, I’m. Someone who’s upfront about how Go-Busters spent a few weeks as a show I didn’t like at all. None of the characters appealed to me, the action scenes felt really forgettable, the opening was too melodramatic and the plot was way too complex. So I ended up preferring the second half of the show, because it improved on these aspects. The word of the characters got killed off or demoted t extra, the actions improved dramatically, they got a new theme song and they abandoned the plot in favour of a much more intriguing one. But like my opinions of Hibiki, the second half ended up dropping the ball in the last few episodes, mostly by indulging in some unnecessary resurrection plots and the show fully becoming the ‘Hiromu and his Amazing Friends’ show (though as someone elsewhere pointed out, it was always veering close to that, by giving him focus in plots, even when another character would be a better fit for that plot)

Two things I liked was Hiroya Matsumoto as Jin/Beet Buster and Yuichi Nakamura voicing my favorite drunk ranger Beet J Stag/Stag Buster. Off topic I wonder if any Lovelive fans saw this show be it out of curiosity or as the one show their favorite character was part of, since Arisa Komiya who became super popular ever since she was part of the Lovelive cast was Yoko/Yellow Buster in this show.

The only things I know about Go-Busters are

1. Everyone calling it a Power Rangers season in disguise when it was first airing.

and

2. Japan apparently really loves Beast Morphers. Some claim they like it more than Go-Busters, but I have zero idea how true that is. But, looking at the massive amount of fanart the show has on Japanese fanart sites, and I can believe it.

It's posts from you like this that really motivate me to rewatch Go-Busters some day.

I mean, it was my second Toku after all! I decided to rewatch OOO and Ghost the past year because it had been so long since I'd watched them that surely my opinions would have changed (they did), and Go-Busters was way before them. After I watched Gokaiger as my first Toku and completely fell in love I made the kind of insane, probably ill-advised, definitely fun as hell choice to watch literally every episode of Sentai after that point? And so in order I marathoned Go-Busters up to the most recent episode of Sentai (one of the last Kyuranger episodes) in a matter of months. Which is all to say that if not individually, Go-Busters along with Kyoryuger and ToQger and Ninninger and Zyuohger AND Kyuranger are pretty formative to my whole experience with the genre!

And... hm, how do I put this. I definitely liked it, and with the hindsight of general Power Rangers knowledge I was in love with everything different it was doing and especially right after the big celebration of Gokaiger; but I really think that back then I was just not as appreciative of the characters as I could have been? The action was intense and amazing and I'll always go back to it as by far the smartest way Sentai robo action has ever been done; the designs and whole super slick spy vibe was really doing a lot for me; J was the funniest guy in the world and Enter was one of the best villains ever and I dug the whole connection-with-the-robots thing. But the further away I get from it the more I realise I don't think I was giving it the best chance I could have because I don't have much of an opinion on the characters, and I really really wanna revisit it someday because I get the feeling I'd have a much stronger reaction to them now. It's always the Sentai I've liked a lot but also don't have much of a reason to, so I'd love to revisit it one day

Yeah, Jin and J are easily the best characters of the show at least among the rangers of this series. The latter in particular, like Gosei Knight from Goseiger, is pretty much the reason why I watched the series in its entirety in the first place especially since I wasn’t sure I would like the series since at the time, I only liked Timeranger among the Kobayashi-helmed Sentai seasons and even feared that it is a total fluke and thus I kept my expectations pretty low for this series and later ToQger. Thankfully, it all worked out since Go-Busters has since been among my Top Ten Favorite Seasons of Super Sentai with ToQger being one of my honorable mentions. I also ended up really liking Ryuji and if I must pick a favorite among the show’s main three, it’s him and even the other two did ultimately grew on me especially Yoko who arguably got the most character development out of everyone outside of Jin. The mecha battles are definitely among the show’s major highlights and Enter is the best among the villains, bar none.

That's a week earlier than I was expecting to start seeing someone criticizing a Sentai from the 2010's for putting too much focus on Red! ...But now that's it's begun, I don't expect it to stop for the next couple months. :p

I mean you probably wouldn't regret that decision~

But yeah, for what it's worth, the characterization in Go-Busters does seem to be a sticking point for a lot of people? Fans of the show like me will swear up and down that it's got an exceptionally developed and likable cast, but I've always seen, even from people who don't outright despise the series, that the main trio especially are bland and/or devoid of charisma.

Those gaudy space pirates set the bar pretty high in a lot of people's eyes, too, so if you're telling me you watched Gokaiger, loved it, and then went straight into the next show in line, none of this is too surprising. The story of this whole decade of Sentai is the story of people saying "I liked Gokaiger way more than this", after all. :lol

I remember when I then started getting into Kamen Rider after Kyuranger, and after my first season was Fourze; I decided to watch everything of the current season, Build. And a lot of my friends rushed to try and stop me, saying "that's literally some of the best Kamen Rider has ever been; that's setting WAY too high a bar".

And that response always sticks in my mind, and it's kinda true with Gokaiger here! Paradoxically it's a series that shows you how awesome Sentai is and makes you want to check out a bunch of other shows; while simultaneously setting so high a bar for characterisation and just Cool Shit happening every episode that it might make doing that difficult! ... I mean, personally, not completely true for me because that marathon ended up immediately including in order a season I love, a season with one of my favourite Toku characters ever, and my second favourite Sentai (Zenkaiger notwithstanding). But even so it did set my expectations pretty high! So while I didn't find the Go-Busters terribly bland it is a bit difficult finding them as endearing after a bunch of colourful pirates blew my mind; and it might be nice to go back to them with a clearer mind with the Gokaigers not too fresh on it

Just watched Ten Gokaiger. It was about what I expected, borderline recycling the Gokaigers' plot from Super Sentai vs Kamen Rider, but eh.
I did like that one of the main baddies was straight up human, though. Makes the "Is Earth worth saving" question have some solid ground by having a villain like that.

It was okay, the new powers didn't really impress me, but all the novelty is getting the reunion 5 years later.
I spent most of the special wondering if the rando was the Shinken Red kid, so it was nice to get proper confirmation (And a name). That's the kind of call back I was wanting.

Character interaction was fun, with Don tending to be the one who shines due to his more interesting personality (Like, seriously. I love Gokaiger, but literally half the casts' personality is "The stoic one" of varying degrees). Gai getting spotlight is also fun, too!

...How can Zyuohger be canon considering how Zyuohger ended? Zenkaiger solved this by having alternate worlds...Seriously, as one of the few Zyuohger stans, I still haven't forgotten it's finale.

All in all, Ten Gokaiger is a fun reunion, but it also kinda reminded me of how, well, played out, the Gokaigers are, in some regards?
A plot that hinges on Gai (And by extension, the audience) not knowing what's going on, most characters fighting to be "The cool one" while on screen, Don being a doofus, then 'Let's make a show of it!'
Joe was a nice update, though. Doing more than shrugging, smirking, then going "Hmph". So there was some genuine character change, I'm glad.

7/10 where's my Gekiranger X years later special Toei?

A little later than usual, but here we are with another instalment of…

Androzani’s Tsukai Detour

And this week, we’re covering…

Shuriken Sentai Ninninger vs ToQger the Movie: Ninjas in Wonderland.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FE6PDwcW...jpg&name=small

"To earn the title of 'Last Ninja', his five grandchildren carry on his will. Their enemy: the strongest Sengoku general, Kibaoni Gengetsu. Now with a new member, these young ninja are Shinobi that don't hide!"

Ninninger:
Takaharu Igasaki/AkaNinger: One of Yoshitaka Igasaki's successors, Takaharu was one of his grandchildren chosen to become the Ninninger, even the first one to use its powers. While on his way to his family's dojo, an army of Hitokarage destroyed it, with Takaharu transformed for the first time as AkaNinger and eliminate them. After reuniting with the other Ninninger candidates, Tsumuji Igasaki, his father leads them to Gengetsu Kibaoni's resting place, which was sealed by Yoshitaka until the Sealing Shuriken were released by the revived Gengetsu and wandered off to various part of the city. After the Ninningers destroy Youkai Kamaitachi, it grew large and they received five OtominNin Shuriken, which they used to form Shurikenjin and finished the Youkai. Yoshitaka revealed himself to be much alive, but lectured them for their inexperience and lead them to the new dojo that they will use as their new base. Over time, Takaharu becomes his team's leader, as they face many more Youkai and tried to reclaim their grandfather's 48 Sealing Shuriken while trying to inherit the Last Ninja title. Takaharu is the type that acts before thinking. He acts like a big brother, trying to pull everyone together, sometimes unsuccessfully. His caring nature makes him draw the shortest straw most of the time, but even then, he is an optimist who believes everything will be alright.
Yakumo Kato/AoNinger: Takaharu?s cousin who spent his time in England, learning magic from a special school. He?s spent so much time there he now considers himself an Englishman and has picked up a habit of saying “Easy, isn’t it?” as a catchphrase. Yakumo has lived most of his life abroad and was learning European magic in England when he was called back. He is the rich boy type with a cool demeanor and somewhat presumptuous. In contrast, however, he has a quick temper and can be a bit of a bonehead at times. Out of his cousins/Ninningers, Yakumo is a quick-learner and can master ninjutsu more quickly than the others, claiming it easier than magic. Yakumo at first had no interest in Ninjutsu, claiming it easier than magic training. This was however until when he was lectured by Takaharu/AkaNinger and had developed a rivalry with him, he decided to compete with the others to inherit his grandfather's title as the Last Ninja.
Nagi Matsuo/KiNinger: Another cousin who is a high school student. His main character trait is helping others in need. Nagi is a very friendly young man. He may seem to not be thinking of anything but is actually very observant and street smart. He is obsessed with getting licences and certifications for different things to make good use of. Knowing of his grandfather's title as the Last Ninja, he decided to compete against his teammates to inherit it, thinking the title would help him in looking for jobs.
Fuuka Igasaki/ShiroNinger: Takaharu’s younger sister, who is still in high school. Unlike the rest of her family, she would very much like to pretend she is not a ninja, probably because of all the abuse she takes on the job (though she still gets some off the job). A pure, optimistic and hard working young girl. Fuuka is Takaharu’s younger sister and her reliability may be the product of growing up with a fireball like Takaharu. She is jolly most of the time but when something saddens her, it is very deeply.
Kasumi Momochi/MomoNinger: The last of the 5 cousins competing for the Last Ninja title. Kasumi’s field is science and experimentation, often coming up with plans that could hurt someone if they go wrong, which is why all of them are tested on Fuuka. Kasumi is a very reserved girl with something of a genius in her. She loves science and is very astute with mechanics, but she is unable to read between lines or take a hint. Hence there are times in which, in spite of her looks, she can be really sharp-tongued. At the same time, deep within her there are some very girly aspects she seldom shows. Inspired by her grandfather's ability to communicate with aliens, she dreams of becoming an astronaut.
Kinji Takigawa/StarNinger: An American from a long line of Yokai-hunting cowboys (no, really), whose family was murdered by the Western Yokai Ookami Otoko (wolf man). He idolises the Last Ninja and purchased the gear needed to become a student of Igasaki-Ryu Shuriken Ninpo, which he became after many arduous tests. Kinji bears a likeness to Takaharu, since both are fans of Yoshitaka Igasaki and wish to follow his path as the Last Ninja. Due to this, he labels himself with the title of Youkai Hunter, hunting Youkai to become stronger. Ever since he learned of Yoshitaka being a Ninja, Kinji displays fanaticism over things related to ninjas and Youkai, even likes to take pictures and footprints of any Youkai he comes across with. Kinji himself is naive, having following others' orders and quickly apologizes should he had made a mistake, even tends to leave his opponents alone if they were busy with their situations. After bonding with Yakumo Katou/AoNinger, Kinji's partnership with the magic ninja, who learned the art of magic at a school in England, is jokingly referred to by the other Ninningers as the Western Combo (欧米コンビ Ōbei Konbi, Western Combi), coined by Kasumi, referring to the special relationship between the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Allies:

Yoshitaka Igasaki: The legendary Last Ninja, who was active 444 years ago. Among his feats are making first contact with extraterrestrial life and defeating the Kibaoni Yokai Army all those years ago. With Kibaoni’s revival immanent, he created the NinShurikens and OtomoNin for his grandchildren to use both to defeat the Yokai threat and to compete to succeed him as the Last Ninja.
Tsumuji Igasaki: Takaharu and Fuukas’ father, who never learned ninjutsu. So of course, Yoshitaka put him in charge of teaching the next generation the ways of Shuriken Ninpo. Is basically an older and wiser version of Takaharu in personality. Turns out that in his teenage years, he was actually a prodigy ninja known as “Chou Ninja Tsumuji”, who specialised in wind based techniques (Tsumuji = cyclone), before his powers were taken by his fellow student, along with his memory of ever having powers.

Kibaoni Yokai Army: The followers of Gengetsu Kibaoni, who were defeated and sealed by the Last Ninja 444 years ago. They have now revived to herald in the master’s return.

Kyuemon Izayoi: The retainer of Kibaoni, who now seeks to revive him by turning the 48 Sealing Shuriken that imprisoned him into Yokai to collect grief. He also has mastery of Izayoi style Yojutsu, a similar style to Igasaki style Ninpo, which he uses to enlarge defeated Yokai and to create a gigantic, barely sentient Yokai known as a Gashadokuro, though he uses a hammer rather than a sword to perform these techniques. He has an (currently) unknown history with Yoshitaka, who he believes to be carrying the “Owari no Shuriken”(Shuriken of the End, often rendered as End Shuriken in English), which he needs for an unknown purpose. Turns out he was once a student of Yoshitaka during his teenage years, alongside Tsumuji. But he left when he realised the Last Ninja didn’t trust him and stole his fellow student’s Nintality (the energy that makes you a Ninja), converting it into the source of his Izayoi-Ryu Yojutsu, which he shared among 5 of Kibaoni’s ninjas, allowing them to use a variant of Shuriken Ninpo. It also turns out that he?s the first born son of Gengetsu Kibaoni, which explains a lot about his dedication.

Shadow Line
General Schwartz: Military commander for the Shadow Line. He chose to betray the Emperor and side with Noir and Glitter, due to his love for the latter. When the rebellion failed, Schwartz was banished from the Shadow Line. He later rejoined with Noir in a plan to extract Miss Glitter from Zed, which succeeded at the cost of the two of them being absorbed in her place.

What do I think of Ninninger? I think it’s probably my personal best out of the New 10s Sentai shows. It?s got some very good life lessons behind its plots and it moves it?s own main plot along very constantly, compared to the two shows it’s sandwiched between. And the quirky cast help keep the show memorable compared to most.

Now then, as for the creators, this is Naomi Takebe’s second and final stint as main producer for a Sentai show (her next contribution would be as a co-producer for Zenkaiger), our writer is Shimoyama (who this time around, is the head writer) and our director is Nakazawa. So with all of that said, on with the review.

Takaharu wakes up on an old fashioned train, surrounded by his 5 allies.

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As Kasumi points out that he ate all of their lunches before he went to sleep (while Fuuka is eating a banana), while Kinji explains that they?re en route to spend a vacation at a ninja theme park.

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The train then announces a stop, as a light enters the room.

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Kinji then finds himself performing Ninninger’s ED (more on that later) in front of a crowd (with Ninninger?s regular singers Yohei Onishi and Daiki Ise playing the band), before he gets lured off strange by a pretty girl.

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Takaharu wakes up on an old fashioned train, surrounded by his 4 allies.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FE6ONIOW...jpg&name=small

As Kasumi points out that he ate all of their lunches before he went to sleep (while Fuuka is eating a banana)… Takaharu realises that there are two things fishy: 1) they’ve already acted out these events and 2) there are 6 lunchboxes, but only 5 of them. But before they can realise what it is, the voice announces another stop.

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Yakumo, Nagi and Kasumi soon find themselves in a spy AU, as agents “Cloud”, “No Wave?” and “Mist” respectively (Fuuka’s counterpart is “Flower”).

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No sooner have the initial trio been dispatched on their mission do they run into a man calling himself the Kendama Tantei Hikari.

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He then figures out that the three are not spies, but ninjas. Takaharu wakes up on an old-fashioned train, facing Fuuka… and he’s as sick of this loop as I am.

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This time, the voice doesn’t even give them time to get their bearings before trapping them in another illusion.

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In this fantasy, Fuuka is getting married (and given that they’re in a church, I guess this confirms the Igasaki family are Catholic), with Takaharu as the only guest on the bride?s side (could be worse. The groom’s side has no-one).

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Fuuka then looks over to her husband? and realises that she doesn’t even know him (arranged marriage, amirite?).

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And for added wedding cliche bingo points, Mio bursts in at the “speak now or forever hold your peace” part. She then chews out Tokacchi for going through with the fantasy.

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With the ruse broken, a group of Jukkarage appear (including one disguised as the priest).

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Takaharu: It’s one thing after another! What the heck!

Everyone then transforms to fight off the grunts.

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But they then get faced with the true perpetrator of the illusions, Yokai Wanyuudo (who the Ninningers were warned about in their meeting with Shurikenger.), a Yokai created from a Kurainer Robo. He forces them back to reality and locks them in his cart.

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Takaharu and Fuuka then remember Wanyuudo defeating them earlier and kidnapping them.

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Elsewhere, the other 4 are receiving the same explanation from Kagura and Hikari, who explain that they were able to free them by using Wanyuudo’s illusions against him, having been made adults again by Conductor. Not that that makes it clearer to Yakumo (or me, for that matter).

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So, Tokkachi decides to fill them in on ToQger’s plot.

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And Mio cuts him off there, since he?s rambling. As she explains that the ToQgers defeated the Shadow Line (like that wasn’t obvious). But then Mio explains why there’s a conflict now.

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She explains that he’s a bit of a ninja fanatic and he created the Yami Ninja Land to capture the Ninningers. When Takaharu gets excited at having to defeat the Dark Doctor rather than angry, Tokacchi compares him to Right… who shows up as if on cue.

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He then breaks a hole for everyone to escape through before they enter the tunnel to Yami Ninja Land… but Takaharu ends up missing the jump due to slipping on the peel from the banana Fuuka was eating earlier (That?s another great thing about Ninninger. Seemingly small details come back in big ways later on)

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As Kyuemon prevents Fuuka’s party from giving chase, the Yokai Ressha pulls up to Yami Ninja Land.

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Once inside, Takaharu meets the park?s creator, Dark Doctor Mavro (No, not that Mavro), who is a big ninja fanboy. So much so, that he created dark clones of legendary ninja.

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Mavro: The famous leader of the Iga Clan.

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Mavro: The wild leader of the Houjou’s Fuma Clan.

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Mavro: The Kouga-style ninja who served Sanada Yukimura. (Also the inspiration behind Ninja Red and Kamen Rider Kenzan)

In the ensuing fight, the dark clones gain the upper hand with Chou Ninpo: Yami Kaen no Jutsu. Then, at the press of a button, they begin to merge with Takaharu, as Mavro explains his evil plan. Which is not, as it turns out, to create the most outrageously expensive theme park there is (Walt Disney already did that).

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The resulting fusion gives birth to Yami AkaNinger (who the writer admitted in an interview that he only added to the plot due to these vs movies having become contractually obligated to include a fight between the two Sentai, yet he thought it would by out of character for the Ninningers to start a fight with the ToQgers and vice versa. Remember that).

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And in case you thought this would simply be a possession job, Takaharu separates out of Yami AkaNinger.

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Mavro explains that Takaharu is now simply the leftovers, and that he will eventually fade away, while the Yami AkaNinger becomes the real one. Takaharu tries to fight back, which just gets Mavro to discard his disguise and assume his true form. (Which looks even more Wonka-esque). Takaharu is only saved from an instant death by Right appearing to save him.

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Elsewhere, Kyuemon reveals this to Fuuka, before disappearing.

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After a staff meeting at the Igasaki dojo, Yakumo uses his magic to turn the ToQgers into ninja so they can help stage a rescue, despite Tsumuji’s worrying about them. In the middle of this, Takaharu and Right formally meet, with the latter regretting not saving the former sooner and agreeing to help him stop the Yami AkaNinger. Back at Yami Ninja Land, Yami AkaNinger performs the Shuriken Ninpo: Yami Hadou no Jutsu, to fill the world with darkness.

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Mavro and Kyuemon then discuss what their plan is: to fill the world with darkness to create the necessary fear to revive Kibaoni. Though Kyuemon can’t help Mavro any further, he does have hybrid clones of the Shadow Line executives mixed with famous ninja to guard the entrances.

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While Takaharu and Right engage Yami AkaNinger, Yakumo, Tokacchi and Mio come across Noir, using Yakumo’s magic to create a large army of clones to overwhelm her. But Tokacchi almost gets caught due to tripping on a nail, requiring them to attack her to get through.

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Elsewhere, Fuuka, Kagura and Kinji dress as maiko to have Nero let his guard down… but the one he’s attracted to is not the one you’d expect.

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Enraged, Fuuka and Kagura drop their disguises, doing a combo attack to knock Nero down.

Fuuka: Shuriken Ninpo: Senpuuki no Jutsu!

Kagura: I’m a fan! I’m a fan! I’m a fan! SENPUUKI GIRL!

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Finally, Kasumi, Nagi and Hikari come across Schwartz, deciding to recreate Ishikawa Goemon’s real world death to overcome him.

Nagi and Kasumi: Joukyuu Shuriken Ninpo! Goemon Ofuro no Jutsu! Mizu no Jutsu/Kaen no Jutsu: Mix!

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In the middle of the fight with Yami AkaNinger, Akira shows up, with a welcome new spin on a tired old line, to hold off Mavro.

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Back in the city, Kyuemon and Wanyuudo won’t wait for Mavro to finish his plan, instead deciding to gather fear right there and then.

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As the Jukkarage appear, they are blocked from getting far by a group of newcomers.

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Just like Takaharu did last time, the new Red mistakes Wanyuudo for their villain group, Deathgalien (that is how it’s officially romanised. Trust me). When the new Green points out that they’re clearly not Deathgalien, the new White decides to clarify if they’re bad guys.

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Wanyuudo responds by declaring bloody vengeance.

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And so, they decide to introduce themselves to the kids at home.

Red: Monarch of the Open Skies, ZyuohEagle!

Blue: Monarch of the Wild Seas, ZyuohShark!

Yellow: Monarch of the Savannah, ZyuohLion!

Green: Monarch of the Deep Forest, ZyuohElephant!

White: Monarch of the Snow Fields, ZyuohTiger!

ZyuohEagle: Doubutsu Sentai…

All: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FE6RZY-X...jpg&name=small

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(That?s not his regular line)

Everyone but Eagle then gains animal attributes (he just gets a sword. Don’t worry, he gets something thematically appropriate in-show).

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After beating the snot out of the Jukkarage, the 5 then pull out their guns and aim at Wanyuudo, destroying him (what happens to his Sealing Shuriken, I don?t know). It’s then that Elephant thinks to ask a question.

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Back with the battle, the other Ninningers and ToQgers arrive, with the latter lending the former their weapons.

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After combining into the Linkup Bazooka, Kagura then instructs Fuuka in its use.

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And so, Yami AkaNinger is weakened with the Rainbow Rush: Red Peppers (a fear established in episode 23 of Ninninger proper).

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Allowing Takaharu to deliver a punch that finishes off his evil doppelganger.

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But this changes nothing, as Takaharu runs out of time and disappears.

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In purgatory, Takaharu meets with Yoshitaka, who reminds him of their family”s motto: “Don’t kill me off”, using visions to show that everyone will miss him if he dies with his dream of winning the Last Ninja Race unresolved.

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And so, with the power of imagination on both sides, Takaharu returns to the land of the living.

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Mavro is disappointed with this outcome.

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So he decides to unleash his army to turn everyone into Yami Ninjas. Which means that it’s time to transform.

NinShurikens: AkaNinger/AoNinger/KiNinger/ShiroNinger/MomoNinger/StarNinger Shuriken!

ToQ Braces/AppliChanger: Now transforming! Please wait behind the white line!

Ninja Ichibantous: The Henge! Nin Nin Nin! Nin Ni Nin Nin!

Ninja Star Burger: The Change!

Ninningers: Shuriken Henge!

Kinji: Shuriken Change!

ToQgers: ToQ Change!

Ninja Ichibantous: Aka-ja! Ao-ja! Ki-ja! Shiro-ja! Momo-ja! Ninjas!

Ninja Star Burger: StarNinger! Wow!

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ToQ Brace: ToQIchigou, ToQIchigou! ToQNigou, ToQNigou!

Tokacchi: The Shining Glasses!

ToQBrace: ToQSangou, ToQSangou! ToQYongou, ToQYongou! ToQGogou, ToQGogou!

Kagura: Alright!

AppliChanger: ToQRokugou, ToQRokugou!

Takaharu: A Splendid Rampage! AkaNinger!

Yakumo: The Roaring Cloud! AoNinger!

Nagi: The Shimmering Calm! KiNinger!

Fuuka: A petal blowing in the wind! ShiroNinger!

Kasumi: The Wavering Mist! MomoNinger!

Kinji: The Colorful Star! StarNinger!

ToQgers: The Victorious Imagination! Ressha Sentai ToQger!

Takaharu: We may shinobi, but we do not hide…

Kinji: We may be shinobi, but we party all night…

Ninningers! Shuriken Sentai Ninninger!

Takaharu: Instead of hiding…

Right: Full speed ahead!

The fight then begins, with all of the groups having a rematch with their previous opponents, except for Akira and Kinji, who take on the Kuros and Jukkarage. Kasumi and Hikari employ combo moves so the latter can defeat Schwartz with Kaen no Jutsu, Nagi, Fuuka and Kasumi use caltrops to defeat Nero’s use of Shadow Ninpo: Kiri no Jutsu…

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And Yakumo and Tokacchi get put to sleep by Noir’s Shadow Ninpo: Oyasuminesai, which gets beaten back by Mio using her ToQBlaster to fight back. Finally, Takaharu and Right defeat Mavro by combining their attacks into the ToQ Nin-Retsu-Zan!

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However, Mavro survives and retreats to his Kurainer, deciding to cover the world in darkness himself.

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While the ToQ Ressha head him off…

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The Ninningers use Shurikenjin and Bison King to fight a pair of Kurainer Robos.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=49isSDdG_i8

After a short fight, the two OtomoNin combinations knock their enemies into the water.

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But Mavro recovers both, combining them with his own Kurainer to form the Cho Cho Kurainer Robo.

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Takaharu thus decides to Chozetsu Henge so he can summon Lion Ha-Oh to form Ha-Oh Shurikenjin.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nHz2EW7aDPg

But this doesn’t help, causing Ticket to appear to announce an emergency combination.

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ToQ-Oh and the Build Ressha take the places of Shurikenjin and Rodeomaru in the combination, creating Ha-Oh ToQ-Oh.

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A name that Akira takes umbrage to (like he did with Cho Cho ToQ-Oh back in episode 23 of ToQger).

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The OtomoNin and Ressha then do a combo attack, with Takaharu summoning Paonmaru, UFOmaru, Surfermaru and Dinomaru: OtomNin Linkup Apare Crash, which destroys Mavro and his dark designs.

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As the ToQgers depart, and Akira actually introduces himself, Mio realises that she forgot to do her homework… as Conductor’s magic wears off, turning them back into children.

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Cue the credits, with a modified version of Ninninger’s ED.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hT5gf1xMW-k

Go!
One two three four five de ja ja ja jaaan!

Nin nin nin alright! Full speed ahead, Ninningers!

Fire up a big, big firework!
Just once, it is our dreams
It's okay to fly, because you...

...always are surrounded by many friends
Shuriken fight! Shu shu shu!

Use your form changing Ninjutsu...
...to dance! Nin ni ni nin!
Tomorrow looks splendid! It's a clear day in Japan!

Go! Go! Sore! Sore! Sore! Sore!

What is a ninja?! (Departing!) Oe oe oh! (Alright!)
We have no intention of hiding! (Go for it!)
What is a ninja?! (Wasshoi!) Oe oe oh! (Wasshoi!)
It's a festival! A festival! Ja ja ja jaaan!

Shuriken Sentai Ninninger! (Wasshoi!)

We then end on a final scene with Tsumuji welcoming Takaharu home after the ordeal.

Final thoughts: A movie with a lot of heart that gives everyone their chance to shine. Combine that with some actual research on these historical figures and well-timed jokes, and I?d definitely recommend this to you.

Out of curiosity, would you recommend it to me as well? Other than Gingaman VS Megaranger which I fully intend to watch next year, Ninninjer VS ToQGer is the only VS I haven't watched, due to my lack of investment in the premise. The Dark Akaninjer subplot sounds like it was copied from Gedou Shinken Red and I didn't like it then either, although it's good to know there's a throwback to Takaharu's fear of peppers. Does Wagon even get any important focus in this? I guess I like Ninninjer a lot more than the average person, so there's that. How would you sell this movie to me based on these factors? Is it worth watching? I watched the clip of Zyuohger's cameo on YouTube a long time ago and I thought it did a great job at introducing those characters.

Last Sunday I watched Ten Gokaiger after hearing about a new Super Hero Getter and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to get started on the Dekaranger subs I've had on my PC for over a year at this point and holy shit Dekaranger is a top tier Sentai, Ban's a hotheaded Red and allbut he's very charming in his kiddy nature, Houji is probably my favourite of thw group as his episodes are tge most fun I've had with this amazing show, Sen's neat but I'm a tad disappointed with how his first focus episode is really good with anice way to tell the mystery before the actual reveal but other episodes not doing that. Jasmine is a delight and I adore seeing her, she's similae to Luka, my favourite Yellow when it comes to spunk and Umeko is up there with Kagura as my favourite Pink, she's great fun and Tetsu? I knew nothing about Tetsu other than that he crossdresses a lot but aa genuinely nice person as a 6th who's friendly from the start without needing to undo some brainwashing or anything or needing to become a Ranger is a very nice change of pace from what I'm used to. Currently at episode 33 and cannot wait to finish it

Wagon doesn?t get any screen time in his (likely because of the cost involved in rebuilding the Rainbow Liner set) and I do think the Dark AkaNinger plot is sufficiently different from Gedou Shinken Red (the latter was more of a possession, while this is essentially an evil twin plot). If you like Ninninger, I would probably recommend it strongly.

Maybe it seems hypocritical of me to pick on a possessed Red Ranger plot, but I think my problem with Gedou Shinken Red is that it feels like a cheap device to keep Takeru from solving all the problems, like what happened in Terminator Genesys, for example. Dark Akaninjer being an evil doppelganger sounds like it actually highlights Takaharu's strength of will, so that's definitely more appealing to me. But yeah, if this is primarily a Ninninjer focused movie, I should probably watch it. Not like it can be any worse than ToQGer VS Kyoryuger.

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Brave 37 – Juuden Sentai Kyoryuger

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I was weirdly unenthusiastic about getting into Super Sentai, even as I was already dipping my toes into it starting with Gokaiger, as it was airing. So much so that I slept on Go-Busters for most of its run, only to end up becoming a huge Go-Busters fan when I actually remembered to give it a chance right as it was wrapping up. I was in the perfect position to jump onboard for the next show in line... but I was only a huge fan of Go-Busters, in that moment, so I slept on yet another show for most of its run. Somewhere in that gap I believe watched Go-Onger on a whim, and loved that too, as you might've read about. That show did a ton to warm me up to the franchise as a whole, which I don't want to understate, but there still wasn't quite a series that was for me what Gokaiger was for so many others. I didn't yet have this like, exemplar Sentai, that wowed me with its constantly epic over the top awesomeness to such a degree that I'd really start paying attention to the franchise the same way I was now paying attention to Kamen Rider. As Kyoryuger was nearing the end of its run, I decided on a whim, as ever, that I at least owed it the ol' guilt-free first episode. After all, if I didn't enjoy it that much, I could always go right back to ignoring it, right?

Dozens of episodes later, Kyoryuger quickly became some of the absolute most fun I have ever had pounding out a toku show.

I forget exactly how fast I was binging my way through all those episodes that had piled up, but what I remember for sure is the sheer immediacy of the connection I felt to Kyoryuger. The entire wavelength the show was operating on fit my tastes so well. It might need stressing exactly what I'm saying when I tell you I had fun watching Kyoryuger. Obviously I'm rarely watching a toku show that doesn't entertain me on some level, but I will tell you without hesitation that the experience of watching Kyoryuger for me was more fun than shows I like better than it. I don't know if it just hit me at the right moment or what, but for as important as Go-Onger was to this process, it feels in my memory like the pilot light Kyoryuger used to start a huge fire in my heart. Like, this series reawakened something in me.

And I suppose the thing it did reawaken was maybe just that childhood sense of wonder, if you'll forgive the cliche. But like, I've spent all this time stressing how I didn't "get" Super Sentai right away, and the whole reason I find that initial lack of enthusiasm strange in retrospect is because I've literally been fascinated by this stuff as long as I can remember, which you might've also read about earlier on the tour. (Lots of things coming together this week!) The appeal really isn't complicated. It's five or more rad as heck dino heroes fighting evil while catchy rock music plays. Swap the rock out for a dash of samba, and you've already got the basics on Kyoryuger.

That's maybe the crux of this one. My love of Kyoryuger isn't about any complex thematic reading, or the depth of its plotting, or anything like that. I mean, I'm sure I could make that case if I wanted to just fine, but the actual uniqueness of Kyoryuger to me is always going to be that visceral thrill of seeing these larger than life characters on the screen and thinking "these guys are so cool and strong!!!"

This in of itself is evidence of Kyoryuger's rock solid construction, though. Emphasizing the strength of the heroes was an active goal for the series, and that's apparent all over the place. (The "Kyo" in Kyoryuger even literally means strength.) I think they did a fantastic job of this, because the things that came out of this direction were what immediately drew me into the show's world once I starting watching it.

...That's a very natural segue into talking about the first episode, actually, so allow me to try and convey the overwhelming awesomeness of Kyoryuger's premiere from square one.

Right away, it's bad guys doing bad things. The first thing in the whole show is Shigeru Chiba narrating about how the dinosaurs were totally awesome until they went extinct, and then informing the viewer that the very same fate now threatens humanity. Bummer! So now all these freshly revived monsters are popping up in locations all over the world and messing stuff up, and we're barely a minute in. Even on a random small island out in the ocean, these dudes are harassing the locals. Then this one super brave guy who is apparently called "King" comes in to save the day and starts fearlessly throwing down with some goons. Sweet! Just when it seems like he's in over his head, this rad bird dude descends from the sky, tosses him a handgun shaped liked a dinosaur, and tells him to go to town, and then this "King" promptly starts wiping the floor with the bad guys. Sick! Then the bird dude summons a giant battery-powered robot Tyrannosaurus rex, who also starts wiping the floor with the bad guys! Then bird dude introduces himself as Torin, and tells King that him and that T-Rex, Gabutyra, are looking to put together a group of awesome heroes called the Kyoryugers, four of whom are shown already fighting in different spots around the globe, who will combat the oncoming crisis by doing basically this, but ALL THE TIME. King is understandably pumped as heck about this, as am I. It's been a little under four minutes; the theme song plays. This was just the cold open.

I mean, how am I not gonna be hooked already, right? Look at how cool this King guy, Daigo, is, before he even becomes Kyoryu Red. And you're telling me there's at least four more people this awesome? Which brings me right to one of the things I love so much about Kyoryuger. Because of that whole "strength" thing, It makes a point that this isn't a team about five people who become strong when brought together, like usual. Any single Kyoryuger alone is already as tough as can be, and together, they're downright unstoppable. This leads to all these cool touches to the characterization that are so deeply appealing to me for reasons I can barely describe. It's the whole point of the loose multinational thing going on here, for one, with the different locations each member comes from being one of many things meant to stress that these are very fundamentally different people. This is a group consisting of a hot-blooded adventurer, a ladies' man with a troubled past, a goofy handyman who just loves his family, a stoic high school kid trained in the way of the sword, and an upper class college girl with a pronounced tough side.

It's an odd bunch for sure, and the thrust of the initial stretch of episodes is how Daigo is the only one eager to bring the team together as friends once they all wind up in Japan. Notably, they were making it a point not to even tell each other their civilian identities before he comes along, and that kinda says it all. Again, this gripped me right away for whatever reason. I love the awkward chemistry everyone has in their brief scenes together in the premiere, playing with this whole idea by having them meet as regular people ("regular" people), with the only thing truly uniting them being the other four's mutual refusal to call Daigo "King". Which of course gets a great callback at the end, when Daigo makes the mistake of telling the other Kyoryugers they should totally call him King because everybody does, which works about as well the second time. Despite the matching uniforms, the Kyoryugers initially feel more akin to a bunch of headstrong individual superheroes who form a team, rather than simply a team of superheroes, if that makes sense. Watching them grow to feel more like the latter than the former is part of the show's appeal, for sure.

One thing the team does have in common right away though, is that they all had to fight their own giant robot dinosaur partners to prove themselves worthy of their powers. Which is like, maybe one of the coolest backstories for a Sentai ever? We get to directly witness this in the premiere with Daigo, right on the other side of that opening theme (the episode is seriously this awesome constantly), and it's such an absolutely perfect way to set the exaggerated tone the show is going for. It goes back to the idea of making the heroes seem strong, of course, but more than even that, there's just an intensity to that as a concept, and it's the kind of standard you can expect from this show. In the premiere alone, before the rest of the Kyoryugers show up to help, the first real team we see fighting is actually Kyoryu Red alongside Gabutyra, stressing the dinosaurs plus humans cool factor of the premise in the most literal way possible. The two of them are tearing through even more mooks than at the start together, and it's a glorious sequence. Not to mention the proper monster of the week here is an ice-themed one explicitly credited with wiping out the dinosaurs. So in the very first episode of Kyoryuger, the real world history of the dinosaurs going extinct is made into a physical villain for the heroes to blow up in a fun action sequence. It could not possibly be wearing its status as a fantasy series on its sleeve any harder if it tried.

Kyoryuger is just one of those shows that knows exactly what it wants to be, you know? It's always struck me as a show with a lot of vision behind it, and I could go on and on about so many more touches that contribute to creating that energetic atmosphere it aims for. Two particular ones that deserve a mention are the way the Kyoryugers dance as part of their transformation, and the concept for the robot cockpit this year.

In the case of the cockpits, the idea was to have the team all standing on podiums, physically mimicking the moves they want the robot to make, which is of course way more active and thematically relevant than chairs and buttons would be. It's another thing where I can only sort of describe why, but I always found this brilliant. It looks very kinetic and appealing on the screen, and I feel like it sorts of connects the heroes with the audience as much as it does the robot, as if the Kyoryugers are the kids at home acting out these epic battles.

The transformations, on the other hand, I can get at easily. I always saw the dancing as a way to trick kids into a tiny bit of exercise whenever they're playing with their Gaburevolvers, for one, mostly because it's endearing to think of it that way. No standing in place if you wanna be a Kyoryuger! These guys are all about movement! ...Which is the other thing, naturally – it's yet another bit of cohesion in the show's style. Really, the whole emphasis on music probably deserves a section to itself, but with everything I've said about Kyoryuger being heightened and full of energy, the choice of samba as a motif shouldn't be too surprising. Music of that sort, it's all about people coming together and getting pumped up, and that's practically the mission statement for Kyoryuger.

I might've been lying when I said my love of Kyoryuger wasn't about the depth or themes earlier? Because on second thought, all this stuff qualifies, doesn't it? There's a thorough consideration that went into all these individual elements of the series, and how they speak to each other and interact to create a whole that conveys something specific to the viewer. Sounds like thematic complexity to me!

It's just that what the thematic complexity is conveying is mostly that Kyoryuger is simply fun, which I credit in large part to a writer I'm convinced was having the time of his life writing this show. Of the forty-five Sentai series that exist as I'm writing this, Kyoryuger is the only one handled entirely by a single writer, and I think that's just because Riku Sanjou can't bring himself to share it with anyone else. There's a vibe I consistently get from Sanjou's tokusatsu work that his main goal with any script is for you to have as much fun watching it as he had writing it, and nowhere is this more apparent than Kyoryuger. This is a series he's so attached to, that he'll even the write the script for a full-length extra episode of the series produced four years after it ends under the tenuous pretense of it being a cross-promotion with a mobile game that happened to have "Brave" in the title – which is a real thing that actually happened!

But man, at that point, it's no longer just Sanjou's attachment that's impressive, is it? Needless to say, Kyoryuger went over well for just about everyone involved. It stands to this day as one of the most financially successful Sentai ever thanks to the truckloads of merch it shipped, Korea liked it so much they made their own small sequel series that got dubbed back into Japanese, the original cast and crew just made an extra episode out of the blue one day... heck, even during the original broadcast, the ending theme for most of the show's run was filled with clips tons of viewers sent in of themselves happily dancing along. And you what? Good for Kyoryuger! I think it deserves every bit of that success! I know I certainly love it too, at least.

It feels like this is happening more and more lately, but I could easily keep gushing for so much longer. Just as an example, I kind of totally forgot to mention earlier that this was also the Sentai with Kouichi Sakamoto as a main director, and how perfect a fit he was for this job. (Some great explosions in that premiere!) There's a mountain of further specifics I'd love to talk about too, but I think the broad picture is pretty clear at this point. Kyoryuger is a beautifully bombastic good time in my book. It's got loads of exciting action, endearingly quirky characters, and surprisingly engaging drama, all delivered with genuine heart. In other words, Kyoryuger is arguably everything you could want out of a Super Sentai show. But then, with the impact it had on me, I would think that, wouldn't I?

And yet I believe you once claimed you couldn't do a Power Rangers thread any sort of justice. You've certainly got all the makings right here, dude!

I hate to be the sole anti-Kyoryuger voice, but I was never taken in by the hype around Kyoryuger and I wasn't the biggest fan of Go-Busters either, I just knew what they were trying to do and, perhaps for similar reasons to Go-Onger although Kyoryuger tried less of a comedic slant, I just didn't warm to the blatant attempt at making it ''more light-hearted'' given it struck me as still not having much substance.

While I do genuinely prefer both Power Rangers Dino Charge and Dino Force Brave to it(:lol), of course there are still some positives, obviously due to the sheer number of warriors in it there are still a couple that I like and that one closing bad joke ''Nossan'' did about scouring pads did actually stay with me!

If there is one thing about Dekaranger that I always remember is the gunkata choreo of Deka Red in episode 1. It's just the best. :rock:

Just a couple extra things about Kyoryuger real quick:

- I also went ahead and rewatched Gaburincho of Music because I will take any excuse to see that film. Calling it the best Sentai summer movie I've seen would be a huge understatement. It's a legit masterpiece in my eyes, capturing a ton of what makes Kyoryuger so good, especially in how expertly it tempers all the Sakamoto insanity with more quiet moments in just the right spots. Appropriately enough, the rhythm of it is commendable, and it tells a very tight little story while still putting the focus squarely on the action. Whether you've seen Kyoryuger or not, it comes highly recommended.

- I'll also always remember Gaburincho of Music simply for being the one where Ucchi says "SHATTO GOHGURU de gozaru!", which I've always found to be utterly hilarious for some reason. I guess it's probably a Flashman reference in retrospect, but the awkward mix of English and old-timey Japanese is so definitively Ucchi that it's, well, perfect! (de gozaru.)

- Oh my! Did I really spend so much time talking about other things in that post that I didn't get to mention how awesome Kyoryu Black is? Well, to make up for that mistake, I can at least share Ian's actor singing the best character song ever. (I still get goosebumps just thinking about the last time the show used this.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imq_ZyRsohQ

If I'm thinking of the right conversation, what I actually said was...

...and I'm not sure I was exactly wrong about that! This whole project I'm doing with Super Sentai is arguably just a copy of something you did with Power Rangers first!

You?d better not mess with animals in this, the latest instalment of?

Androzani?s Tsukai Detour

This week, we?re covering?

Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger vs Ninninger the Movie: Message from the Future of Super Sentai

(Picture not available)

?Earth, a planet full of many life forms. One human meets four Zyumans, forming a pack. To protect the Earth!'"

Zyuohgers:
Yamato Kazakiri/ZyuohEagle/ZyuohGorilla/ZyuohWhale: Yamato is a novice zoologist, who as a child, helped Bud, a mysterious bird-man, in the forest. As token of gratitude, Bud gave Yamato a mysterious Cube. A caring person, he's the type that struggles with taking on too much. He is very strong willed and once he sets his mind on something, he'll never change it. His respect for life and love of animals enables him to use the power of the Zyuoh Changers, something which only a Zyuman should be able to do. This love of animals is what enabled him to help Larry overcome his fear of humans. He also bears a great deal of gratitude towards Bud for saving him in the past. However, Yamato is not without his weaknesses. He treasures the ones that are close to him, trying his best to look out for and protect them as much as he can. As such, he cannot bear to lose the friends that he has made. This led him to fight the original GIFT alone so the other Zyuohgers could recover the sixth Mark of the King and return home, despite knowing that he was outmatched and nearly losing his life. This trait is also exploited by Bangray, who targets Yamato's old friend Daichi and then later the other Zyuohgers. Yamato also bears somewhat of a grudge towards his father, Kageyuki Kazakiri, as he felt that his father spent too much time on work to focus on their family. This grudge is worsened when Yamato's mother passes away, as Yamato blames his father for not being there to save her in time.
Sela/ZyuohShark: Sela is a shark Zyuman and a type who doesn't want to show others her weakness. She doesn't like to lose and has very sharp hearing. Back in Zyuland, Sela lived with her parents and a younger brother. As their family grew busy, they saw less of each other. However, Sela and her brother would help their parents celebrate their wedding anniversary every year. Sela took care of her younger brother in her parents' absence. Sela trained as a martial artist alongside Leo. At one point, the two of them faced-off in a tournament which ended with Sela defeating Leo as a result of him purposely not giving his all against her, thus throwing the fight, due to his chivalrous belief that the duty of a man is to protect girls and not fight them. Sela would resent Leo for doing this as it rendered her win an empty victory.
Leo/ZyuohLion: Leo is a lion Zyuman who is usually calm, but has a really bad temper. He is sensitive to his surroundings and cares for those weaker than himself, which is his strength. In addition, his voice gets strangely loud when he gets excited. To Sela's resentment, he has a stereotypical chivalrous behavior towards women, and is seen as a womanizer in a few episodes. He is also slightly immature and careless, worsened by being easily bored. Unlike his fellow Zyumans, Leo never went into detail about his family. However, he implied that he possessed a great number of siblings.
Tusk/ZyuohElephant: Tusk is an elephant Zyuman and the most intelligent of the four Zyumans that traveled to the Human World. Though he seems like the insensitive, unapproachable-type, he's actually extremely kind. In addition, he has a sharp sense of smell. When something interests him, Tusk*would openly show his interest in them. He also likes to learn*anything he didn't know or see before. Tusk's father was a guardian of the Link Cube before him, and the young Tusk would stand alongside him in keeping watch over the Link Cube. As a child, Tusk grew a love for reading books thanks to his father, who would read stories to the young Tusk.
Amu/ZyuohTiger: Amu is a white tiger Zyuman who is more than just a pretty face. She has the ability to read situations well and is shrewd. If she sees someone in trouble, she will certainly help them. In addition, she has a strong sense of taste and enjoys the human activity of shopping. Having no Earth currency or any means to obtain it, she usually makes Yamato pay for the things she gets while shopping, much to Yamato's dismay. Out of her fellow Zyumans, Amu proved to have the coolest head, easing the situation when the others' frustrations with the yet fruitless search for the Mark of the King as well as the shutdown switch boiled over with Yamato before empathizing their feelings with him. She also held a hidden optimism, quickly deciding that she may as well get used to the human world after they were stranded. Amu used to not tell her mother what was worrying her because she was afraid to worry her mother but then she learned that overdoing something would hurt her mother even more as well as hurt herself in the process. After that, they got along just fine. Amu and her mother almost have a habit of relying on other people to help them out before they overdo something.
Misao ?Micchan? Mondou/Zyuoh The World: A human fisherman who was captured by Ginis and infused with the DNA of three Zyumans that had been tortured to death, a rhino, a wolf and a crocodile, to create a Zyuohger under his control. When he was kidnapped and brainwashed by Ginis, Misao became a ruthless warrior. Once he was freed with the help of the Zyuohgers, Misao was revealed to be an introvert who has had problems with befriending others since his childhood, thus making him guilt-ridden for being weak himself. With the help of his new Zyuohger friends and the moral support from the three Zyumans inside his mind, Misao develops more self-confidence by letting go of his regret over everything the Dethgaliens subjugated him into doing, especially the deaths of the three Zyumans. Misao often takes peoples? words and actions too literally, constantly making Misao emotional about them, as he gets very excited and motivated when getting moral support and other interests, and he is prone to getting depressed easily when conflicted about the notion of either criticism or failure.

Allies:
Mario Mouri: Yamato?s uncle who has looked after him since the latter ran away from his father when his mother died. He owns a workshop named Atelier Mori, where he and Yamato live together, in the woods where he makes sculptures of animals, and sometimes can be seen cosplaying as different animals to seek inspiration for his works, much to the embarrassment of his nephew. Mario is the person Yamato admired the most and his vast knowledge of animals is what inspired his nephew to become a zoologist.
Bud/ZyuohBird: A Zyuman who gave Yamato the Mark of the King as a child. He stole the Marks of the King years ago due to his hatred of Zyuoand?s mistreatment of humans and out of revenge for the death of his first human friend. Infusing his power into Yamato caused his hair to turn white and left him unable to use the one he kept for himself, until his wish to save Yamato?s life resonated with the Mark of the King, turning it into the Zyuoh Changer Final. He spends much of his tiem away from the others, searching for scattered Zyuoh Cubes around Earth. While Bud is caring and helpful, the mistrust of humans his people held has soured his mood and made him hold them in his contempt.

Space Outlaws Deathgalien: A group of alien rogues who hunt across space under their ?owner? Ginis. Their goal is to destroy planets for fun and cause mass chaos for their own amusement. Having already destroyed 99 planets, the group decides to have Earth as their 100th planet for their Blood Game.

Naria: Ginis?s right hand woman, who he entrusts with the Continue Medals infused with his own cells. While the Team Leaders act independently in their plans to send Players and create entertainment for Ginis in the Blood Game, Naria takes direct orders from him for critical assignments. Naria is completely loyal to Master Ginis, functioning more along the lines of a secretary than a general, and holds him in such high regard that she will not allow anyone to so much as insult him. However, Ginis entrusts Naria with vital assignments. Her style of speech is very formal, even when she is fighting. She also shows a great deal of concern for Ginis's well being.
Quval: One of the Team Leaders, who loves inflicting mental pain on others. He resents serving Ginis, as the latter destroyed his home planet, and secretly dreams of one day destroying Ginis. A cunning and crafty individual, Quval prefers to use slightly complicated plans to mentally traumatize his prey as opposed to his fellow team leader. Though he appeared loyal to Ginis, he actually despised him for destroying his home planet and has been plotting his downfall ever since. In truth, he has no loyalty to anyone but himself, working with others only when they are useful to his plans. When ever things go bad he'll turn on his partner, like using Azald as a shield or cutting off Bangray's hand and leaving him to the mercy of the Zyuohgers. He possesses a Half Mechanical Body that allows him to survive on any planet.
Azald: A Team Leader who specialises in physical pain. He has a crystallised body that causes his cells to take the form of cubes and has no memories of who he really is, swearing loyalty to Ginis so he can carry out his love of violence. Unlike his fellow deceptive and calculative Team Leader Quval, Azald is hot-tempered and likes to play his Blood Games with brute power instead of intelligence which often leads to the two of them butting heads. He is a warrior with honor, openly praising the enemy who defeated him in battle even though that enemy was an inferior being in his eyes. As shown when he refuses to battle the Zyuohgers, and only engages them when constantly provoked, he seems to prefer playing the Blood Game fair and even offered to let them just walk away twice. Similar to Ginis, he loves to drink wine when aboard the spaceship. While not in a Blood Game, he doesn?t mind playing trivial games like chess or drinking games with Quval and Jagged. If Azald is destroyed, he can reconstruct his own body, given time.
Jagged: A Team Leader who chose to attack Earth himself, rather than send down his Players. He subsequently became the first victim of the newly formed Zyuohgers.
Megabeast Hunter Bangray: A Hunter who came to Earth to hunt his 100th hunt, Cube Whale, the Zyuoh Cube used by the original Zyuohger Cetus. He initially joined with Deathgalien to find it, only to be betrayed when Zyuoh Whale was near them and abandoned by all but Quval. And even Quval turned on him during his final assault on the Zyuohgers, resulting in him becoming the first victim of Cube Whale?s Combination with the other Zyuoh Cubes, Wild Tousai Dodekai King. He can read any being's memories by touching their head and manifest the character (even the dead and the touched being) inside their memories into reality. However, these duplicates lack their original personality and are mute. On the other hand, it has been proven that Bangray can also give his duplicates their original personality and voice which is the case of Wakako Kazakiri, as well make them know that they are not the real ones as in the case of the Fake Sela and the Fake Tusk.

Kibaoni Yokai Army:
Gengetsu Kibaoni: The true leader of the Kibaoni Army Corps. In 1571, Gengetsu Kibaoni was formerly an evil feudal warlord during the Sengoku Era who believed that fear was the best method of uniting the war-torn Japan. Though Kibaoni was killed by the ninjas of the Igasaki Clan, he vowed he would return in 444 years to unite the world in terror. Hundreds of years later during an unspecific year, Kibaoni and his three generals resurrected as demons but were all single handily defeated by by Yoshitaka Igasaki and sealed away the using 48 Sealing Shuriken. Due to a now realized miscalculation of dating, it is revealed by Tsumuji Igasaki that Kibaoni's true revival will actually happen in the year 2015. It begins when Kyuemon Izayoi manages to free the warlord and his forces. Lacking physical form upon his release, Kibaoni tasks his retainers to gather fear so he can reconstitute himself, creating Yokai by sending out the now-corrupted Sealing Shuriken and combining them with inanimate objects. Eventually reborn through the fear of his wife, Ariake no Kata, upon losing her son, Kibaoni had Kyuemon kill Yoshitaka and claim the Owari no Shuriken to attain the power to create a Yokai world. In the final battle, Gengetsu absorbed his own son, Kyuemon Izayoi, and grew giant. Though he overpowered Gekiatsu Dai-Oh, once the Ninninger made it clear they are only fighting strictly by personal choice, rather than fate as a result of their linage, it allows Kyuemon to turn against his father and break free. The Ninninger then finish off Gengetsu with Gekiatsu Dai Fever.
Raizo Gabi: The Spearhead of the Kibaoni Army Corps with an intense hatred for the Igasaki Ninja and a lust for power.*Raizo is a crude Spearman who desires conflict so much, he does not wish to be anywhere other than the battlefield. He's also dismissive of anyone he deems lower than his station, such as Kyuemon Izayoi. But even if that's the case, he can sometimes shown to be a great supporter of Kyuemon, giving him a corrupted Sealing Shuriken and a troop of Jukkarage to assist him in obtaining the End Shuriken. Raizo originally refused to receive orders from Kyuemon until he showed the Ninningers' main objective to collect purified Sealing Shurikens. Knowing this, he decided to act on his orders, if only so he can fight AkaNinger, the only one he had fought that actually put up a decent fight. Despite his rudeness, he is an evil warrior with the code of honor in battle. Such as not interrupting AkaNinger when he had another important fight to be finished and accepting his loss to AkaNinger when he was able to defeat him without any regret. Following the full revival of Gengetsu, Raizo is resurrected from his defeat at the hands of King Shurikenjin in an enhanced form by infusing his missing horn fragment with a corrupted Sealing Shuriken. He was later killed again by AoNinger.
Masakage Tsugomori: The Chief retainer of the Kibaoni Army Corps. Masakage is loyal to his master's wish and would comply to his command to gather the fear energy. While he seems to be playful (such as teasing Kyuemon with nicknames like Hachiemon, Jyuemon, or Kyubei), this is just a cover for his inner darkness and he is wise enough to discover that Kyuemon is just a new member of the team since in the past, only three generals were present and threatens to kill him if he tries to plot something that is against his master's will. Like Gabi, he disregards Kyuemon's suggestion to gather fear, instead focusing on destroying the Ninningers. Unlike Gabi, he does not confront them directly, choosing to use deception and trickery. Most of his schemes involve weakening the team in some capacity before delivering a fatal blow, such as destroying their weapons or disabling or manipulating their OtomoNins. However, despite his cunning and calculative methods, he fails in his schemes due to either the incompetence of his subordinates or underestimating the Ninningers' growing level of skill, strategy and power. He is actually a small creature piloting a giant sized body.

What do I think of Zyuohger? To be honest, while it is pretty to look at, the characters are rather dull and lacking in any meaningful growth and the plot is virtually non-existent for much of the series. While it does have some highlights, I?ve seen said highlights done way better in previous shows.

As for this movie, the producer is the Shinkenger guy (who if you?ve been following these, you?ll know I can?t be bothered to remember his name anymore), our writer is Junko Komura (whose one previous vs movie credit is Go-Onger vs Gekiranger) and our director is Noboru Takemoto (whose Twitter account does for Magiranger and Dekaranger what Nobuhiro Suzumura?s does for Kamen Rider Kuuga). With all of that said, on with the review.

Our movie opens on a rather bleak note, with everyone on both the titular Sentai lying dead in an inferno.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmR7ciW...jpg&name=small

We then cut to a kid, who says the same thing the fandom have been saying about literally anything that Sentai tries since Zyuohger. (No really. I see on Twitter that people are saying Super Sentai is ending because they?re trying something different or because they?re playing it safe every year)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmR7cpX...jpg&name=small

We then cut to 24 hours earlier, where the 5 main Zyuohgers are relaxing by the lake, having a picnic.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmR7cyX...jpg&name=small

Yamato tries to check up on Micchan, but he can?t get a signal (and he?s using his Mark of the King, so service areas shouldn?t be an issue). It turns out that he?s bringing part of the picnic along? which gets wrecked when he crashes into the boy from tomorrow and gets depressed (This happens a lot. He really needs help, but the show treats his condition more as a joke than anything. Even this show?s biggest stans find that in bad taste).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmR7dIX...jpg&name=small

But the main 5?s enjoyment is cut short when the Zyuman members sense something off. Cue the Ninningers appearing out of nowhere.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmR-gdW...jpg&name=small

After Takaharu calls them evil Yokai, while the Zyumans are confused, Yamato thinks it?s just a misunderstanding.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmR-hJX...jpg&name=small

But when they assume their human forms easily (ie. the one thing that turned a few long time fans against this show), but Yakumo tells them in no uncertain terms that it?s about as effective as a robber taking his mask off, throwing his loot away and saying ?it weren?t me, coppers.?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmR-iDX...jpg&name=small

When the Ninningers accuse them of being impostor Super Sentai, it officially becomes ?on?, with both sides transforming to do battle.

NinShurikens: AlaNinger/AoNinger/KiNinger/ShiroNinger/MomoNinger Shuriken!

Ninja Ichibantous: The Henge! Nin Nin Nin. Nin Ninnin Nin!

Ninningers: Shuriken Henge!

Takaharu: We are Shinobi, but we do not hide!

Ninningers: Shuriken Sentai Ninninger!

Takaharu: Instead of hiding, we rampage!

The Zyuohgers them transform second to defend themselves.

Zyuohgers: Honno Kakusei! (Wild Instinct, Awaken!)

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

And after the fight proves too evenly matched, they escalate to the mecha, with the Zyuohgers using Zyuoh King and Zyuoh Wild, while the Ninningers use Shurikenjin alone (which probably says something about how powerful they are that the Zyuohgers feel the need to use two mecha to face them).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=II3oDuor6SY

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

When they?re still pretty evenly matched, the Zyuohgers combine their robots into the oh-so creatively named Wild Zyuoh King, while the Ninningers summon UFOmaru to change into Shurikenjin UFO. The resulting firefight is so powerful it blows both sides far away? except for Yamato and Takaharu, who merely resume their game of cat and mouse, while Micchan finally makes it to the picnic site, where he gets the wrong idea from everything being on fire.

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

The Ninningers, now lacking Takaharu and unable to reach him over the phone, return to their dojo where we find that they?ve met a disgustingly cute cute creature known as Runrun (voiced by professional idol/VA Haruka Fukuhara, who Sentai fans may recognise as Lady from ToQger?s spin-off movies).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmSL0SX...jpg&name=small

As Fuuka laments the Zyuohgers getting away, Kasumi notices the plot holes in Runrun?s story about the Zyuohgers being abominable Yokai.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmSL1nX...jpg&name=small

So Runrun decides to explain that that?s part of their act.

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

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

Back with the four Zyumans, Tusk is unable to reach Yamato over the phone (and again, it?s a mystical artefact. They shouldn?t have signal problems normally), while the others note that they don?t actually know about human culture that much, and some additional knowledge might help them.

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

Luckily, their waiter at the ramen cart is Kinji, who?s all too happy to educate them.

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At the park, Takaharu?s fight with Yamato comes to an abrupt end when that same kid reappears, calling Takaharu his dad.

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At Atelier Mori, the Ninningers sneak in, in search of the sixth Zyuohger, only to almost get caught by Uncle Mario (who seems to be impersonating the Ninningers? GamaGama Guns).

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Then Micchan shows up, falling right into the hands of the Ninningers. And when they call him an impostor, he actually agrees with them.

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Then Runrun appears and decides to gag Micchan so he can?t speak. (Well that?s not suspicious at all)

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

Back at the park, the kid explains that he?s Takaharu?s son Yoshiharu, who travelled back in time from 12 years in the future. Yamato?s reaction probably sums up that of the audience at this point.

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But when Takaharu asks what happens to him in the future, Yoshiharu escalates things quickly.

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He then adds on that all of the Zyuohgers and the Ninningers will die tomorrow. Back at the ramen stand, as Kinji finishes his lecture on how cool ninjas are, Cube Rhinos shows up carrying something.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmoY8iX...jpg&name=small

It turns out to be from the Ninningers, who announce that they?re holding Micchan hostage at an old gym. The mention of the Ninningers gets Kinji to reveal he?s also one? which promptly gets him kidnapped. Elsewhere, Yoshiharu explains that Runrun (quelle suprise) tricked the Ninningers and the Zyuohgers into fighting each other.

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This one event ended the history of Super Sentai (why? Did the government ban them after that event?), so Yoshiharu travelled back to change this so he could become AkaNinger, like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather (which seem pretty selfish, given that there are greater reasons to want superheroes back). Yamato and Takaharu then make their peace and apologise, with Takaharu wondering who Runrun is. A question which quickly gets answered: he?s a professional hero killer who Naria hired to eliminate the Zyuohgers for messing up the Blood Game one too many times (where?s this aggression in the show proper? Seriously, this is the most character Naria?s ever displayed. Even Quval seems surprised).

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

Runrun reveals that he also released a pollen into the air which disrupts communications, so that both sides would become confused and angry. And for good measure, it turns out that the muzzle he put on Micchan forces him to spout the same story Runrun made up.

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And inside Micchan?s mind, he gets terrified.

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But luckily, the three Zyumans who live in his head (they don?t get names) help him realise that only his mouth has a muzzle on it.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmr0CyW...jpg&name=small

The next day, both sides meet at the gym and show off their hostages, before transforming to go into battle with each other? just before Takaharu and Yamato show up (where?ve they been in the time jump? Chilling by the pool?)

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When their attempts to stop the fight through words fails, the two Reds see their sixths tied up and run to help them? only for those two to be all too willing to get revenge.

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Seeing no other options, both Reds run into the battle to try and stop it by fighting? which doesn?t work much better and eventually, both sides destroy each other, as Yoshiharu predicted and Runrun anticipated.

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But before Runrun can hand out invites to his victory party and get a deal for his book ?How I Ended the History of Super Sentai?, everyone?s corpses fade away, before they emerge from their camouflage.

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The two Sentai explain that Yakumo and Kasumi suspected Runrun was a creep from the get go (with that design, how could you not), so when Micchan started moving about, seemingly struggling, they realised instantly that he was actually using his posterior to write a message on the ground.

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

So after that, they went to the Zyuohgers and explained the whole plot, so they decided to fool him into thinking this was a success (that, and the Zyuohgers wanted to get even with the Ninningers). They didn?t tell Takaharu or Yamato to sell their performance. An enraged Runrun transforms into his true form, Gilmarda (and his voice changes, appropriately enough, to Nozomu Sasaki, star of Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmpWN4X...jpg&name=small

Gilmarda knocks everyone outside, before creating clones of Kibaoni, Rabi, Masakage, Jagged and Bangray (don?t ask how, he just can).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmr7xRX...jpg&name=small

Which means it?s time to transform.

NinShurikens: AkaNinger/AoNinger/KiNinger/ShiroNinger/MomoNinger/StarNinger Shuriken!

Zyuoh Changers: Eagle!/Shark!/Lion!/Elephant!/Tiger!

Triple The Light: The World!

Ninja Ichibantous: The Henge! Nin Nin Nin! Nin Ninnin Nin!

Star Burger: The Change!

Ninningers: Shuriken Henge!

Kinji: Shuriken Change!

Zyuohgers: Honno Kakusei!

Ninja Ichibantous: Aka Ja! Ao Ja! Ki Ja! Shiro Ja! Momo Ja! Ninjas!

Star Burger: StarNinger Wow!

Tripe The Light: Whoah Oh Rhinos!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmr7xcX...jpg&name=small

Yamato: (Eagle) Monarch of the Open Skies, ZyuohEagle!

Sela: (Shark) Monarch of the Wild Seas, ZyuohShark!

Leo: (Lion) Monarch of the Savannah, ZyuohLion!

Tusk: (Elephant) Monarch of the Deep Forest, ZyuohElephant!

Amu: (Tiger) Monarch of the Snow Fields, ZyuohTiger!

Micchan: (The World) Monarch of the World, ZyuohTheWorld!

Yamato: Doubutsu Sentai?

All: Zyuohger!

Takaharu: A Splendid Rampage, AkaNinger!

Yakumo: The Roaring Cloud, AoNinger!

Nagi: The Shimmering Calm, KiNinger!

Fuuka: A petal blowing in the wind, ShiroNinger!

Kasumi: The Wavering Mist, MomoNinger!

Kinji: The Colorful Star, StarNinger!

Takaharu: We may be Shinobi, but we do not hide!

Kinji: We may be Shinobi, but we party all night!

All: Shuriken Sentai Ninninger!

Takaharu and Yamato: Instead of hiding?

All: We awaken out wild instinct!

A fight then breaks out (there is a song playing, but I can?t find a video for it) between both sides.

Takaharu: Ninjas and?

Yamato: Monarchs!

All: Better not underestimate them!

Yakumo and Tusk take on Jagged, eventually defeating him when Yakumo uses his magic to distract Jagged, before turning Tusk into Paonmaru to ram him.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmr7xjX...jpg&name=small

Nagi and Leo take on Gabi, with Nagi using the Kakuranger Shuriken to overwhelm the opponent, before Leo jumps forward to headbutt him. The 4 girls take on Bangray, with Kasumi and Fuuka deciding to join in on the animal fun by using Shuriken Ninpo: Doubutsu Henge no Jutsu to turn into Pandamaru and Byakkomaru to knock the Hunter back. (Being left wearing thematic onesies for some reason) The 4 then finish him with Yasei Kaihou Nin Retsu Zan

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Kinji then raises Micchan?s spirits enough to help him take down Masakage and take a selfie together. Back with Yamato and Takaharu, who are facing Kibaoni, Yamato transforms again to hold him off.

Zyuoh Changer: Gorilla!

Yamato: Yasei Kaihou! (Unleash the Beast!)

While this fight happens, Yoshiharu gets a Sealing Shuriken, which turns into an AkaNinger Shuriken with his name literally written on it.

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It?s then that Tsumuji shows up, having been chasing the stray Sealing Shuriken from the Igasaki dojo.

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Being provided with a spare Ninja Ichibantou, Yoshiharu joins his father and grandfather in transforming.

Tsumuji: The Slashing Whirlwind?

Takaharu: A Splendid Rampage?

Yoshiharu: Fair Weather Today?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmr-alX...jpg&name=small

As the three take on and defeat Kibaoni while Yamato charges Gilmarda, Naria, Quval and Azald make plans to attack both parties, only for Bud (as for who plays him, his nickname is ?Bird Kusaka?. I?m sure knowledgeable fans are Standing By to Complete the gap in people?s knowledge within 913 minutes) to show up to stop them.

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But before he can do more than pull out his Zyuoh Changer Final, someone new crashes to Earth? literally.

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When the Deathgaliens ask who he is, he introduces himself as Lucky, the luckiest man in the galaxy. But he?s also the Super Star, Shishi Red! And he?s not the only one with his type of powers.

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And it?s not just 5 this time, it?s nine.

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As the Deathgaliens get confused, Azald summons the amoebas to fight the new group, who take down the grunts with their varied abilities (such as paralysis, flight and camouflage), before taking down the major villains. Lucky then introduces themselves as the Ultimate saviours. Uchuu Sentai?

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The three commanders then depart, as do Lucky and his party. Bud takes them as proof that the future of Super Sentai has been changed (okay 1. How does Bud know what?s been happening? Did he read the script? And 2. No, I?m sure they?ve been around for quite a while, given that they already have their powers). Back to the main battle, Yamato shifts into ZyuohWhale, while the rest finish off the remaining clones.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gwIz2sTAozk

After Yamato defeats Gilmarda, he has the others join in as he kills him (I love people disparage shows like Ninninger and Kyuranger for being Red seemingly doing everything, when shows like Shinkenger and Zyuohger where the Red actually does everything exist and receive nowhere near the same flack).

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Rather than have Naria teleport in, explain what a Continue medal is and insert it, while the monster says some variant of ?Thank you, Naria?, he already took a few and inserts them himself, with no comment.

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All of these turn him into a plant Kaiju.

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The heroes take him on in Wild Tousai Dodekai King and King Shurikenjin (why are they going with what?s basically the first upgrade mecha? That?d be like Kamen Rider Zero-One winning his final battle with Shining Assault Hopper. Why not Ha-Oh Shurikenjin? Or Gekiatsu Dai-Oh? Or Ha-Oh Gekiatsu Dai-Oh?)

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But in the ensuing fight, both prove unable to do a thing, and Gilmarda easily trashes them. But before he can crush them, the twelve are whisked away to a void, where every previous Red warrior is waiting. And standing between HurricaneRed and Gokai Red, the two who had prominent guest spots in Ninninger and Zyuohger proper respectively, is Choujuu Sentai Liveman?s Red Falcon (reprised by his original actor for the first time since he came out of retirement), who passes on the spirits of every Sentai to them (this is some pretty generic legend dialogue, but then I felt the same with a lot of Komura?s Gokaiger episodes, so I?m not too bothered).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFmsB2bX...jpg&name=small

Returning to reality, Takaharu gets a new Gattai NinShuriken, allowing for a new combination as a theme tune kicks in for the first time since Gokaiger vs Gavan.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q_EEi0rH0nw

Free-flying wings in the distant skies.
?watched by a boy with longing eyes.

Eagle! Shark! Lion! Elephant! Tiger!
Wild instinct, awaken!

The kings of kings, Zyuohger!
Using wild power?
They protect their friends on Earth.

The undisputed victors, Zyuohger!
Hearts hotter than the sun?
Are unbeatable, Zyuohger!

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

Wild Tousai Shuriken King is more of a match for Gilmarda, before they summon the powers of every Sentai ultimate mecha (Variblune, Sky Ace, Battle Fever Robo, DaiDenzin, Sun Vulcan Robo, Goggle Robo, Dyna Robo, Bio Robo, Change Robo, Great Titan, Galaxy Robo, Super Live Robo, Super TurboBuilder, Max Magma, Great Icarus, Kyukyuku Daizyujin, Kiba Dai-Oh, Super Kakure Dai Shogun, Buster Ohranger Robo, VRV Robo, Super Galaxy Mega and Wing Mega Voyager, JuuSouKou GingaiOh, Max Victory Robo, Shadow Alpha, GaoIcarus, Revolver TenraiSenpuujin, MaxRyuuOh, Super Dekaranger Robo, MagiLegend, Ultimate DaiBouken, SaiDaiGekiFire, EngineOh G12, Samurai Ha-Oh, Hyper Gosei Great, Kanzen GokaiOh, Great Go-Buster, Gigant Kyoryuzin, ToQ RainbOh and Ha-Oh Shurikenjin) to finish him off (eh, pretty much every other anniversary did this better. Even Gokaiger).

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With the battle won, Yoshiharu formally introduces his elf?s to his other relatives before returning to the future. Takaharu then causally explains how he came to be: he got married recently and didn?t tell anyone (and given that this wife and child aren?t in the picture by the time of Ninninger?s ?Returns? movie, it?s safe to say he had an equally abrupt divorce that ended with him receiving no custody rights). Cue the credits.

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

Final thoughts: Like Zyuohger itself, this was a relatively dull piece that doesn?t break much in the way of new ground other than looking slightly pretty. But, since I?m not too pleased with how the Ninningers were handled here, I?m ranking it lower and calling it the third worst VS movie (behind ToW vs Kyoryu and Ginga vs Mega). I liked Gilmarda though, he?s cool.

And here?s a note. For the next two weeks, I won?t be posting reviews in this thread, to give Fish time to catch up with his own thing.

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Station 38 – Ressha Sentai ToQger

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

Despite watching Super Sentai for years by that point, ToQger was actually the first series I made a conscious effort to properly follow from start to finish, right from the initial rumors and trademarks and catalogues and all that. I had learned my lesson about ignoring this franchise, and Toei was even kind enough to make ToQger a gift-wrapped present for me in celebration of that fact. I mean, it's being written by Yasuko Kobayashi! I'm instantly in love with the captivatingly simple and fun designs! A huge number of fans violently despise these designs and are already decrying the show they haven't seen as a failure! When I get to enjoy something by Kobayashi and be a huge contrarian at the same time, you know it's gonna be a good year.

I wasn't actually in love with the show for a little while, to tell the truth. The initial stretch of episodes didn't totally connect with me for whatever reasons, and that's why I'm very, very lucky this also happened to be the first year I was determined to stick it out anyway. As ToQger moved along, it started really picking up steam, and I can still vividly remember a couple particular episodes that cemented massive shifts in my attitude towards the series. By the introduction of the team's obligatory sixth member in episode 17, I was seriously enjoying each and every week. After a particularly major turning point for the plot in episode 32, I was outright head over heels, eagerly anticipating whatever adventures awaited the heroes at their next stop. And given that the premise does revolve around the protagonists traveling on a train from place to place each week in search of their ultimate destination, it really was the perfect series to finally commit myself to for a whole year. I was onboard for this crazy journey with everyone else, and along the way, as the characters grew and evolved, so too did my understanding and appreciation for everything ToQger was doing as a series.

The thing is, ToQger is childish. Aggressively so. It's arguably more childish than maybe any other Sentai, and considering the franchise is aimed at children by nature, that's really saying something. But I think it's fair to say ToQger can lay special claim to that word, not merely because it's unabashedly silly (which was my mistaken first impression), but because childhood is legitimately baked into the thematic core of the narrative. It's a show about five childhood friends who don't remember anything except their childhood friendship, and the quest they go on together to find their way home, all the while using the power of their Imagination to shine a light on the darkness that seeks to crush all the world's joy. The ToQgers ride the Rainbow Line, relying on their youthful exuberance and flexible thinking to carry them to victory, while the villains of the Shadow Line are a bunch of aristocrats stuck in their stubborn squabbles and chained by their designated roles in society. In other words, they're largely adults, and particularly stuffy ones at that.

It's honestly sort of brilliant? The trick ToQger pulls is that both groups get quite a bit of focus, meaning there's twice as much here to get hooked on. You can watch the show for the appealing simplicity of the heroes, both in their bright, colorful aesthetics and their amiable personalities, and follow them along as the strength of their friendship overcomes any obstacle. Or! If that's just not doing it for you, you *could* find yourself absorbed in the fascinating complexity of the main villains, both in their elaborate gothic designs and their surprisingly layered personalities, and witness the constantly unfolding soap opera of their often uneasy alliances punctuated by shocking betrayals and gambits. The writing of the show is capable of getting way more sophisticated than you might expect at first glance, and the contrast between heroes and villains ends up highlighting the strengths of both sides' respective style of drama. It's two great flavors that go great together, and ToQger's plotting is full of some fantastic twists and turns thanks to both the mystery surrounding the protagonists, and the intrigue that defines the antagonists.

Although I'm not sure how those simple colorful designs could ever not do it for someone. Well, okay, of course I get it, but like, I don't want to? The ToQger aesthetic is so nicely considered, you know? The suits have the absolute minimum of detail because the scarcity of complex patterns and accent colors brings out the vibrant rainbow that is a Sentai team standing together as much as possible, and it's the same story for ToQ-Oh, a robot made entirely from five vertical lines of color, because it's literally just five trains side-by-side that stand up. Which is awesome! It's not cool, yeah, but it's awesome, so who cares? I guess I'd describe the visuals of ToQger as pleasant, to narrow it down to a word? It all ends up looking very nice on the screen, and the minimalistic approach matches the themes and tone of the series just about perfectly. I seriously wouldn't have it any other way. It's like the ultimate visual distillation of Super Sentai as a concept. I'm sure this has become a way less controversial opinion over the years, so I probably don't even need to give this whole spiel, but darn it, I'm just that passionate about this! ToQger's designs are really bold and smart and I love them to bits!

Do I love ToQger's first episode that much, though? Well, I certainly love it a lot more than I did back when it aired.

I mean, I've rewatched other early episodes of ToQger before this, so I kinda already knew the problem back then was more with me than the show. It took me a while to get a handle on why the show told its stories the way it did, but now I do understand that, so revisiting the place it all started after all these years is only going to be a good time for me. To be fair to my past self, however, it's not like this one episode actually has every single thing that makes ToQger what it is packed in there somewhere. In a lot of ways, the plot here is extremely thin, even, but again, it's all in context now. Gradual reveals are a fundamental part of ToQger's narrative structure, so it makes sense to give only the absolute basics right away, and hey, they even end this one on a pretty legendarily sudden cliffhanger reveal, as if to prove how intentional this all is.

That might make it sound like sort of a poor debut showing, if I'm saying it only comes together in retrospect, but that's not what I'm trying to get at. At the time, I was in some rush to immediately see that nuanced characterization and storytelling I expect from Kobayashi, and in doing so, I missed a lot of the other qualities ToQger is bringing to the table. First of all, quite a few seemingly incidental details end up holding much greater significance in light of later developments, starting with the very first scene, so the nuance IS there – it's just hiding, which arguably makes it even more clever. Second, that's maybe not the point of any of this.

This show is fun before it's anything else, and that means the show's first episode is almost all fun, all the time. Like, again, the plot isn't much. Our usual excitable Re... er, #1 for the series, Right, wakes up on one of the bad guys' trains while the monster of the week is in the middle of kidnapping a bunch of crying children, so you instantly know they're bad guys, meaning the other four ToQgers show up to save the day, so Right gets involved, remembers they're all friends, becomes ToQ #1, and the five of them blow up the monster together. Weaved throughout the process is some discussion on the nature of imagination. But boiling a summary down to the mere events ignores how rich the flavor is.

That opening scene, for example. You have a monster gleefully going around stealing kids, which is pretty messed up, but then the first thing Right does in the entire series is immediately undercut that menace – entirely unintentionally – by obnoxiously snoring, completely oblivious to the situation he's in, right up until he tries to take a bite out of the monster's arm in his sleep. What an introduction for our big hero! And then once the ToQgers make their heroic entrance, that gets immediately botched by ToQ #2 tripping on his way out the door, and the awkward energy only continues throughout the initial fight scene. Later, when Right rushes off ahead of everyone to stop the monster after becoming a ToQger, he looks straight into the camera to sheepishly ask how you actually become a ToQger, because nobody had the chance to give him his ToQ Changer before he ran out of the room to go play hero. When I originally watched this episode back in 2014, I think there was a huge part of me that felt the comedy was too broad or something, but now? It all just feels like a natural – even essential – part of establishing an overall vibe for this team. They are emphatically *not* traditional heroes. They're only kind of qualified for this job at the moment, and that's very directly reflected in how weird everyone is about it.

The one thing the team does have going for them, and what Right in particular has going for himself, despite all the flubs, is that aforementioned Imagination. It lets Right get his big legit hero moment for the episode when, before even transforming for the first time, he actually does manage to land a good hit on the monster by mapping out his approach in his head. Like with most things, I think it's the way the series expands on that core concept of Imagination after this which really makes it special, but looking back, the premiere does establish a solid foundation. Right's actual plan to dodge a punch before punching back isn't especially impressive, but what matters is showing how his ability to face problems by proactively thinking of solutions gives him the self-confidence to make those ideas into reality. And that all completely tracks with what that central theme is about.

All of what I've been talking about those past few paragraphs all comes crashing together when the ToQgers start swapping colors around during the climax, one of the show's trademark gimmicks. (It's also why they're distinguished by numbers instead.) Much like the designs themselves, you'll never convince me this is anything besides completely genius. The thing is, there's almost no point to them having this ability whatsoever. They switch around their personal weapons, yeah, but it's like, you could just hand the other person your weapon. So why bother with this concept at all then? Because it so perfectly reflects everything this team is about! Of course Right would be the guy who would just suggest this bonkers idea out of nowhere, because he's way too creative to be bound by the rigid traditions of the genre. He's not an adult who understands or cares about the reasons those rules exist, he's the kid roleplaying with his friends, getting bored of being Red and deciding Blue or Pink would be more fun. And it is fun! It's a chaotic energy you just can't get from any other Sentai! Which is normally for the best, but for ToQger, this is the best. Even the idea that the colors are fluid ends up speaking to the flexibility of the team's dynamic, something the show makes a point of later by having it be explicitly stated that everyone on this team is the leader. And if you can tell who the leader in a Sentai is because they're wearing Red...

So yeah, this is a good premiere, for sure. I always kind of thought of it as overstuffed due to how much time is devoted to establishing just about everything the ToQgers can do in a fight, from the color changing to their bazooka to the giant robot, all given plenty of time to shine while the story takes a backseat, but once again, it just sorta feels right now.

Not a very objective analysis, I know! What can you do, though? I love Kobayashi, and I love ToQger. She apparently wrote this show feeling it might be her final Sentai (which it currently is), and it was a strong note to leave on if you ask me. ToQger has a wacky comedic slant that distinguishes it from the other Sentai she was in charge of, keeping things fresh, while still retaining all the usual humanity and warmth that makes her work so excellent. No matter how insane the antics get, it's that bond between the heroes, written the way only she can write it, that keeps things grounded. ToQger is always amusing, and quite often sincerely touching. It was great getting to make a quick stop on the tour to see it again.

(Kobayashi could totally still write yet another amazing Sentai if she wanted to, by the way.)

ridiculous. who would ever watch something just for fun.

Finished both Go Busters and Ryu Soul (Hasbro Era)

Finishing Bouken and have 11 episodes left.

Resuming Kyo forward.

The latter part of ToQger was amazing don't let the first batch of eps fool you, I'll say that much. That aside, this was the show that featured both Jun Shison and Ryusei Yokohama, now big names in their own rights and Yokohama was a surprise to see having seen him in Fourze prior to this as Ryusei/Meteor's jeet kune do buddy. Another surprise was Yui Horie as Ticket since she was the last person I expected to see be credited in a toku show. :lolol
Oh, and the theme song is nice as well. And let's not forget the team-up with Gaim. :lolol

^Yeah, as I said before, ToQger is a far better Sentai series than it had any right to being and its theme song has pretty much grown on me to the point I ended up head-banging to the first few beats of it when the song itself was brought back during the Super Sentai Strongest Battle mini-series. I also really enjoyed their crossover with Gaim and it’s probably my favorite among the crossovers that we got between Sentai and Kamen Rider.

Apologies once again for yet another double post. Just for fun, I decided to re-watch episode 43 of Gekiranger and episode 44 of Gokaiger as part of my Christmas marathon for this year.

I've started Timeranger a few days ago and have seen 11 episodes now. I'm really enjoying it so far, which surprises me since I don't think I've heard people talk about it much, and when I occasionally did it was in a somewhat negative sounding tone. The cast has really fun interactions, interesting character arcs, and generally the story has a more dramatic tone than most other Sentai. Admittedly the show looks kind of terrible in thr visual department and has utterly boring mech fights full of overly long stock footage, but I'm willing to overlook it since a lot of the rest of it clicks.

I'm curious now though, do people like this show? I barely ever see it dicussed and I'm a little afraid you all are going to tell me "Oh, yeah, that show. I was great until it got Hibikied half way through".

I have to admit I'm surprised to hear that, because I've often had the impression of it being a cult classic and a beloved entry in the franchise! It's got a lot of the same draws as Shinkenger imo and there's never a point where it feels like the original plans were gone against

Good! I was getting really nervous the show would collapse under it's own weight, which I really didn't want to be the case! I must have gotten the wrong impression from the scattered reactions I had seen. Here's hoping this one ends up as a favorite for me!

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Shinobi 39 – Shuriken Sentai Ninninger

https://i.imgur.com/UlUO6s0.png

This may or may not be the second-most cruel one of these I'm making myself write? It's... I'm pretty awful when it comes to picking favorites, in general. I always see people who can easily make lists of their top 10 favorite whatevers, and it always feels so foreign to my entire way of thinking. If you've been reading these posts from the start, or seen me around this forum in general, you'll know – I just kind of *like* things, and putting that into any manner of rigid hierarchy comes so unnaturally to me I barely bother trying. That's why it's such a big deal when I can without hesitation that, yeah, Go-Busters is my #1 Sentai. But like, what's my #2?

I seriously don't know, and I actually have considered this question multiple times over. There are a couple of strong contenders, for such varied reasons it quickly becomes an apples and oranges comparison. Hence why a firm decision becomes difficult. That being said, in this race that's too close to call, part of me always feels Ninninger is *this* close to pulling ahead of the pack.

Ninninger captured my attention pretty much right away, as I recall it. I was super excited for it every week as it was airing... for a while, anyway. I remember this so faintly now I can barely tell you why, but for some period of time around the middle of the show, my level of interest dropped for a while, and I'm pretty sure I fell behind on it, despite my renewed interest in keeping up with currently airing Sentai after making the mistake of ignoring two shows I turned out to love. So naturally, as soon as I stopped ignoring Ninninger and got caught up, I adored the final stretch of the show so much that, well... I think it's part of the reason I have a hard time recalling that there was a period where I wasn't that enthusiastic about watching it. Most of this paragraph sounds like fiction to me, even though I'm the one writing it. What happened right after that certainly didn't help this.

It turns out Ninninger was also the newest Worst Sentai Ever. The current Worst Sentai Ever, as far as I know. I was only faintly aware of this for a while, paying even less close attention to fandom discourse at the time than usual, but I started becoming more active on this forum again while everyone seemed to be rejoicing that the show after this was so much better, and more entertaining, and, you know, not The Worst Ever. I wasn't buying that for a second! I knew Ninninger was great, and finding out it's also selflessly bearing the burden of that ignoble title so people will finally leave Goseiger alone was only going to make Ninninger sound that much cooler to me.

And since few things apparently get me as passionate as toku shows only I seem to love, this all lead to my Ninnin Rewatch! of the entire series five years back, which I will be extremely flattered if you remember me mentioning about forty weeks ago when I started this project. I went through all of Ninninger again and talked about each episode a tiny bit, day after day, in this very thread, which was the first time I had ever really done something like that. That project, as quaint as it seems now, created a kinda profound connection between me and Ninninger, to the point my first viewing of the show is rarely the viewing I'm thinking of. I mean, man, it's crazy to think how much actually came out of that. I watched way more Sentai I ended up loving, for one. It also helped me realize I had fun talking on this forum about a show I'm watching, which I used to not do all the time, believe it or not. Plus, a lot of the motivation for that was simply to throw some affection towards a show I felt was underrated, so it's pretty much the archetypal example of the kind of cheerleading that lead to me doing stuff like what you're currently reading. More specifically to Ninninger itself, the beauty of stopping to digest each individual episode of a series by writing about it – even if you don't end up writing that much – is that you'll find yourself appreciating it on a much deeper level.

Before the Ninnin Rewatch!, I liked Ninninger a whole lot. After it, I was thoroughly convinced the series was honestly a bit of a masterpiece, regardless of how contrary that runs to the general consensus.

There are some Sentai I love because they're better than usual at developing an endearing cast of characters. Some, I love for how utterly unrestrained they are in creating an energetic and wacky tone. For others, what I love most is the genuine depth of the themes and messages conveyed by their stories. I love Ninninger because it excels at all of those things, all at once.

The cast of heroes in Ninninger is flat-out one of the best written I've seen in the franchise. Every last member of the team has very concrete personality traits, and unique motivations and goals that further distinguish them. It's made very clear how each individual's presence contributes to the group as a whole, and many specific pairs of characters also have defined relationships that stand out from the rest. You get a great sense throughout Ninninger of how everyone views each other, and that clarity benefits all the other great things going on with the characters in this series. You've got supporting characters given the same amount of love and care. A main antagonist who ends up having quite a few layers. Meaningful growth and arcs for all of them, all paced out in a way that makes room for everyone to bounce off one another without ever focusing the spotlight too much on a single individual.

Those heroes are also delightful. This is a show with character concepts as incredible as Yakumo, a ninja who would ideally prefer to get back to studying abroad in England, so as to finish up his studies at magic school, as in, an actual school for actual wizards in this universe, which is treated as casually as any other discipline, making it all the more hilarious. And then if that wasn't enough, you have my absolute favorite sixth Ranger ever in Starninger. Let me tell you about Starninger! My main man Kinji is a rock and roll cowboy from America, who is also a self-made ninja, who fights with a guitar that's also a gun, and who transforms using a cheeseburger. I'd say the only way he could be any more more American is if his giant robot turned into a pickup truck, but considering it's based on bull riding, that might be just as good? He might be as American as anything has ever been? I'm focusing on these two characters here because I adore them both so much I can't help it, but I feel their specific wild concepts demonstrate a ton about the show's style simply by being described. I can tell you that these are two of the principal characters, and you'll immediately get how unafraid this show is to have fun.

What you might not get right away is how purposeful and considered that fun can be. For as much emphasis as Ninninger puts on keeping the tone bouncy and light, it's also telling a story with drama that really resonates with me emotionally, not in spite of, or merely in addition to, but because it so readily embraces its own absurdity. If I weren't failing to properly organize this post due to how excited I am, I probably would've mentioned the tagline of the show/team catchphrase way earlier – they're the shinobi who don't hide. This phrase is a textbook example of a paradox, and also the core of the entire series. There's a shot in the roll call stock footage I love, as Akaninger is delivering this line, where he punctuates it with this firm gesture of his arm, sweeping away the darkness he's standing in, and as the light quickly floods in, confetti also flies in the background. The series sells itself with that phrase to demonstrate its upbeat nature; the team uses it to demonstrate their pride.

Hiding, you know, it's a thing people do when they feel ashamed of themselves, and that's the significance of Ninninger going so far in the opposite direction that festivals are an outright secondary motif. This is a show all about the importance of being able to find your own unique path in life, and to find the joy in striving towards the goals you set for yourself, even if they go against what's expected of you. This line of thinking is reflected everywhere you look in Ninninger. The team's giant robot, Shurikenjin, for example. It's made up of five completely unrelated concepts (a ninja, a western-style dragon, a dump truck, a cute dog, and a bullet train), and that lack of cohesion is the whole point, because the components serve to express the individuals controlling them, and not to subdue what makes them unique for the sake of the group. If none of this makes any sense, it's like, so what? This is all who the Ninningers are, and they're not going to apologize simply for being themselves.

That unyielding emphasis on self-determination is all the more strange when you consider Ninninger is also the next family Sentai. That is, it might seem strange, at first. While the main five Ninningers are all related by blood, the series goes out of its way to leave distance between everyone right away. Instead of five inseparable siblings, we've got a bunch of cousins, and even the brother and sister pair the show does have, who *are* close, are still explicitly established in the premiere not to have seen each other for years when we meet them. The willingness to reject tradition extends to how the show treats the concept of family as well. The show ends up examining the difference being merely being related, and actually being family, and the ways in which it does this are surprisingly poignant.

It's seriously like, everything in Ninninger just comes together beautifully. The style supports the themes which support the characters who support the story which in turn supports the style again, and it all keeps going in a cycle like that. I know for a fact Ninninger's main writer, Kento Shimoyama, deliberately avoided making any thorough plans for the narrative, so as to leave room for ideas he'd come up with later, and while there's an obvious risk to that choice, it's amazing how cohesive a story Ninninger ends up telling by the end, putting its consistently great attention to detail to work and managing to unite loads of seemingly disparate elements into a tale that's as rich in its overall humanity as any given episode is in its silly sense of adventure.

But uh, I was supposed to be talking about a very particular given episode, wasn't I? (Probably worth noting that both of this show's writers are the sub-writers from Go-Busters, with how this post is turning out! Might explain a few things!)

I've yet to get to the topic of how cool this show's action is, so thankfully Ninninger's premiere gets right to that in the very first scene, where Takaharu very quickly transforms into Akaninger, and starts slicing up mooks left and right as the theme song plays to highlight the sense of energy. It's so much fun. I love the emphasis fight scenes in Ninninger put on the heroes flipping around like crazy, and it's just as much fun when everyone else joins the party for the climax of the episode. Things get even better for me when the mecha are introduced, too, as each of Shurikenjin's components are physical props that get to do way more by themselves than usual for modern Sentai. Akaninger's Shinobimaru is even a dude in a suit, and at that, a slim suit that brings an active feel to the giant action you don't see too often. It's glorious stuff, and a huge contributing factor to why I was won over by this show so quickly when it started airing.

If there's anything I'd even come close to admitting there is to complain about in the episode, it'd probably be some of the acting. In particular, Takaharu is a frequent point of contention for this, along with many, many other reasons. A lot of people aren't going to like a Red whose catchphrase is "I'm getting fired up!" anyway, but when his delivery of the line makes him sound distinctly unfired up, he's fighting even more of an uphill battle than usual. The thing is, I love this show so much I mostly find that charming, and that's because I know how much both the character and the actor grow over the course of the show.

Takaharu is a brilliant character. The writing surrounding him is often immensely clever, and it's apparent even at the start. One of the most clever things about Takaharu as a Red is that even when the show is about him, it's almost never about him. I don't even have to pull examples from later in the series, because right here in the first episode, while his lack of fear in the face of danger and eagerness to become a great ninja are what inspires his family to come together as a team, it's actually his little sister Fuuka who gets the arc in this one. Right away, you see how exasperated she is by her dumb big bro. Then the expository scenes place particular focus on how little she cares about some dumb prophecy foretelling the return of a great evil, and when that evil shows up, she's notably the last one who works up the courage to fight. When all is said and done, she admits that Takaharu helped the four of them figure out something important, before going right back to teasing him, but much more affectionately.

And like, dude! That's a whole proper interpersonal dynamic established in a premiere that also has to make time to establish all the other characters, explain a bunch of backstory, and fill a huge amount of the runtime with elaborate action set-pieces! This thing is packed with stuff going on, and yet it feels so effortless in its execution. All the elements are worked in so smoothly that nothing feels like it's competing for attention. The pace is solid, the visuals are strong, the action is lively, the characters are great, and it's all playing nicely off each other... what more could you ask for?

If you're like most people, apparently you can ask for a *lot* more, actually, but me? I adore every second of this debut, and every time I've watched it, it seems I adore it that much more. Ninninger is my jam, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I... I keep going back to Go-Busters in this post, and just like with that show, I don't think I'm getting very close to expressing how much I truly love Ninninger here, even with all I've said. This is an almost ideal Sentai series in my eyes. It's given me so much raw entertainment, so much to think about, and even an opportunity for a little personal growth of my own. Ninninger means a lot to me, and while I started this post off with the question of whether or not it's my second-favorite Sentai, at the end of the day... what does the label matter at all, right? No arbitrary rank is ever going to reflect the actual feelings behind it. What's important isn't how high the show sits on some ladder; the thing that matters most about my opinion of Ninninger is as simple as the following – it gets me fired up! And that's really hot!

As someone who finds Ninja Steel to be legit good, I can totally jive with your love of Ninninger in this post.

Kinji/Starninger is a great addition to the show’s main cast and a great sixth ranger overall. I’ll definitely give Ninninger that. Kasumi/Momoninger and Kyuuemon are great as well. Not a fan of the series but it has its moments.

Oh, and for the hell of it and it’s the holidays, I decided to re-watch episode 45 of Kakuranger.

I have the worst reason for not watching Nininger, Takaharu's laugh just annoyed me. I really should give it another chance.

As another guy who really likes Ninninger, this is a way better explanation of its strengths than both of my attempts. And that’s my post in this thread for the week, since my reviews are over in the “Other Toku Series” thread this fortnight

Nice to see you returning the favor! :p

Aw, thanks! I was actually pretty surprised when I saw that post about Ninnin VS ToQ, because it seems like our opinions on these shows go in pretty radically different directions a lot of the time. :lol

Re-watching episode 45 of LuPat and it reminded me why I love Over-Time subs for Super Sentai so much.

I do like Ninninger but actually like Zyuohger roughly about the same funnily enough, I was not a fan of Takaharu though, although at least he's not Ban I suppose!

About Timeranger, yes, I do really like that! Apparently it was just overshadowed by Kamen Rider Kuuga and in a way Power Rangers Time Force is arguably more memorable for having things which you might want in PR more often than we do get, but both are perfectly awesome shows and manage to tell different stories despite being similar!