[Fish Sandwich]

I kind of don't want it to be over (and I suppose I still have two VS movies), but I'm now finished with Megaranger. Man what a great show.

First things first, the final episodes were all great. Dr. Hinelar's whole plan toward the end was awesome, because mass abductions and brainwashing, combined with a little bit of undermining the heroes reputation to make it easier to abduct and brainwash people, is a proper finale to the grand legacy of truly messed up (you might even say twisted) plans from the Nezirezia.

Which of course brings me to the show's very proper finale. The last 3 episodes were amazing. Some of the best of the series and I'm happy about that, because having a spectacular ending was pretty much the last requirement Megaranger had to meet to cement a high spot on my favorites list. It was great. Remember how I said the Neziranger arc brought out the best in all the characters? Take everything I said about that, multiply it a million fold, and you have my thoughts on the endgame. Even random side characters from throughout the show get to show up and be awesome.

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This show was a total blast from start to finish. Every element of it just clicked with me perfectly.

The heroes, and I don't just mean the Megarangers themselves, are fantastic, and I love the underdog element to them. Sentai is always at its best when it's leaning into the underlying concept of people coming together to be something greater that's always been at the heart of the franchise, and Megaranger does that in a particularly excellent way. There's a distinct sense that these guys are just "normal" people. The heroes were never inherently destined for greatness, their gear comes from the tireless efforts of countless engineers, programmers, and other such geeks, rather than some mystical MacGuffin or the like, and their mentor, instead of some cool military guy who projects authority or some otherwise dignified person, is just some shlubby old guy constantly stressing out over the fact that he left the safety of the Earth in the hands of five random teenagers. And yet they all end up becoming exactly those kinds of larger than life superheroes anyway, through their own hard work and determination.

The main team is essentially a group of high school stereotypes in the wrong place at the right time, who aren't in any way qualified for the role they find themselves in, but they prove themselves so much more than that. They're fairly simple characters, but they're portrayed extremely well, have just enough layers to each be interesting, and most importantly, there's a really genuine sense of friendship to the group that's among the strongest I've seen in the near dozen Sentai I've watched. I really felt like these guys had each other's backs and seeing them go from a bunch of stupid kids to a bunch of stupid kids who can kick the crap out of whatever the bad guys have to throw at them was a fun time.

But of course they couldn't do squat without the backing of everyone at INET, who as I've said were one of the show's best elements. Yuusaku is a rather endearing fellow whose repeated claims of "always being serious" turn out to have a surprising amount of merit. He always knows when he needs to drop the act and when he does, he's absolutely invaluable to the team, whether he's fighting as Mega Silver or not. Then, of course, there's Kubota. Kubota is the man. He may as well be the honorary seventh Megaranger, he does so much. One of the best mentors you could ask for, despite appearances. Throughout the series it's clear he's pretty angsty about his decision to let high schoolers be the Megarangers. Not because he doubts their ability to get the job done, mind you. He has the utmost faith in them, despite his frequent frustrations with their laidback attitude. No, what he's actually concerned about is their well-being. Kubota is always extremely mindful of the burden he's placed on them, always puts their safety above the mission, and always does everything in his power to make their job easier. Just a wonderful dude all around, and easily one of the best characters in the show.

The villains aren't exactly slouches either though. Initially I thought they were going to be the show's weak link, but they quickly endeared themselves to me through their sheer unrelenting brutality. These are some very BAD bad guys. You're not going to find an episode where the MotW's plan is steal people's pants. They feel super dangerous and that allows Megaranger to create drama and tension very easily. What I was even more surprised by is that the main villains themselves actually ending up becoming decently interesting characters. Dr. Hinelar ends up rather fleshed out by the end, and there's this nice sense of genuine affection between him and his chief goons, Yugande and Shiborena, throughout the show. Getting to actually feel kind of sad when the baddies inevitably bite it is another one of those joys of Sentai and Megaranger ended up providing that for me. They're no Rio and Mele (who is though?), but they're way better than I thought they'd be going in.

Another great element of Megaranger that I haven't really touched on in any of my posts is the nice sense it has of the world being bigger than just the main cast. Aside from all the nameless people with INET, there's a whole high school full of a bunch of side characters, a lot of whom show up several times throughout the show. Not to mention the show plays up the secret identity angle for the team, which at first seemed mostly like an excuse for why the bad guys don't just go blow up their houses (and trust me, they're just itching for the chance), but as the show goes along the public at large frequently acknowledges the presence of the Megarangers and the weekly monster attacks, something a lot of Sentai seem to kind of gloss over, and it all builds up to a great payoff towards the end.

I could go on talking about every little thing in the show for a while, but suffice it to say, Megaranger is basically everything I could ever want out of a Sentai. It's extraordinarily frustrating because it's one of those shows I don't feel I can do justice talking about. It could be mistaken for a fairly run-of-the-mill Sentai, but there's this pure spark to it I have trouble describing. It's a show that has a lot of heart and this very optimistic spirit that I just can't properly put into words. I don't even know how I'd do my now usual one sentence summary. "Legacy Astro Megazord when?" doesn't really get everything across, you know?

I really like this show a whole lot. It lived up to all the expectations I've had for years now and then some. Time will tell, but I have a feeling this one's gonna stick with me. I'm more than likely doing Gingaman next, and to be frank I do not envy its position here.