[Fish Sandwich]

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

Episode 8 – Choudenshi Bioman



Bioman actually has the honor of being the very first premiere I'm rewatching here instead of just watching, if we're not counting the Dynaman dub. (I'm not counting the Dynaman dub.) Not that I've seen the whole show, mind you. I have this concept I like to call the "guilt-free first episode" – basically this weird bit of logic in my head where watching only the premiere of a show on a whim is like a free trial that may or may not go further, while any more than that starts to create a sense of obligation to keep going until the end. It's not some hard rule or anything, as there are definitely shows out there I've watched several episodes of and stopped for whatever reason, but it's enough of a trend for me that I gave it a dumb name, so there's that. I have no idea how much sense this paragraph will make to anyone but me, but the point is, occasionally I find giving random shows that "free trial" fun – which may well be the genesis of this entire project – and Bioman kinda happens to be one I gave a go well beforehand.

So well beforehand I don't remember too much about why? This was once again super early after getting into Rider and Sentai and all that, and since it was just something I did on a whim, there's probably no deep story there anyway. I think I've just always found Bioman cool? I know I really like their watches, for example. Oddly specific thing, yeah, but I know for a fact the Techno Brace captured my attention when I was first learning about all these shows, and that honestly might have been all the reason I needed to get a taste of Bioman, being an aficionado of wrist-based transformation devices in toku. All I could recall about the episode before seeing it again was that it had some kind of cliffhanger I found a little shocking, and that it made some real fun use of the giant robot. Going back to it one more time, I can really see why those things would leave an impression.

Bioman's premiere doesn't have the instant explosive charismatic appeal that Dynaman did, but it does have some notable elements that, with all the added context I now possess, I can say do a fair bit to shake up the formula.

One thing I've been waiting for since JAKQ, for example, is to hit the point where they finally realize it's not actually that exciting for the team's first transformation to happen standing around a lab every year, and it makes me pretty happy to find out Bioman is the first show since Goranger to show the team assembling in suit outside, where there are bad guys to fight. I honestly think this is a huge difference, and Bioman's version of it is the one we still get to this day, with the team turning the tables after getting cornered by evildoers, and figuring out their cool new abilities as they go along. Similar to most of what Denziman did, it's a formula that's hard to beat. I don't think I need to make much of an argument for why the catharsis of the heroes receiving their powers in a moment of great peril is inherently interesting, so I won't. There's a unique appeal to the way those previous shows handled things, too, don't get me wrong, but I think Bioman's approach carries with it tons of benefits to the storytelling.

Even the way the team is gathered is super dynamic and creative, which is where the first of those things I still remembered comes in. Bio Robo moves of its will, existing to protect the planet, and once it realizes the villains are smashing the place up, it moves to put the crew together, walking from location to location literally scooping them up in its hands one by one, saving them each from danger in the process. It's ridiculously cool. I mean it; I freakin' love Bio Robo! This montage sequence is crazy memorable, and one thing that jumped out at me this time was the very grand, symphony style background music playing over it, which felt very distinct. Sure enough, looking it up, Bioman is the first Sentai to be scored by Tatsumi Yano, who is apparently legitimately considered to have pushed Sentai BGM in a new direction through his work on the franchise.

It's a pretty dang solid first outing for Bioman, all things considered. One I think I'm a lot more appreciative of now than I would've been years ago. Like, that other thing I remembered, right? The cliffhanger in question is Yellow Four deciding she wants no part of this and walking off, and I now understand it's legitimately kind of a big deal that Bioman made an effort to incorporate some elements of serialization where it could, and this was a rather bold statement of that intent. The team just got together and they're already breaking up! And as if that weren't crazy enough, I said "she" because Bioman is also the first Sentai to have two women on the team! (Maybe they stole one from Sun Vulcan?)

I said I just find Bioman cool, and I'm realizing at this point how true that is, because I've been going for this long, and it's only now occurring to me how many more things I'd like to touch on that I haven't even mentioned. I mean, the high tech motif of the suits is cool. The sidearms that transform from guns to swords are cool. Red One's sword being on fire is hot, but also very cool. I guess this is where this post ends, because I've hit the point where my brain refuses to even try and structure these thoughts anymore. Seems I still have more of a connection to this show than I figured. This premiere was cool, and I bet the series as a whole will be cool when I get around to it as well.