[Androzani84]

Hero Mama League Episode 1: Solved in No Time! The Path to Hero Mama is a Glittering One

Here we are, at the last entry in this thread (for now). A special episode showing three former Sentai heroines as mothers. But as opposed to being some random bit of fluff, it serves as a prequel to the then-upcoming VS movie “Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger vs Space Squad (which I will not be covering here). Now then, let’s meet the other two Hero Mamas.

Marika “Jasmine” Hiwatari (nee Reimon): Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger’s DekaYellow. A psychic (ESPer), as she can pick up sensory impressions of others through handling an object or visiting a location her target has touched or been to, although she can get exhausted if she overuses them. Jasmine wears gloves to help control her powers when she doesn't need to use them.

Houka Ozu: Mahou Sentai Magiranger’s MagiPink. Utilises the wind element and is the second oldest child (and oldest daughter) of the Ozu family. Specialises in transformation magic. She is cheerful and flighty, stringing along several boyfriends (as many as 15 at the same time), and her catchphrase is "Yahoo!", but also has a tendency to refer herself in third-person. She has a narrow focus, though, and can be a troublemaker. However, she also sees everything in a positive light (except for the Infershia. Hades God Titan was the only exception), which can sometimes steer her into arguments with her older brother. She works as a fashion model when she feels like it.

And our bad guy for this special.

UchuuNin (Space Ninja) Demost: An apostle of the Genmakuu cult, taking on the identity of the legendary Sekai Ninja who was defeated by Sekai SenNin Jiraiya during the quest for the Pako. His origins and motives, like the rest of the Genmakuu, are shrouded in mystery.

Our writer for this special is Ayumi Shimo, who has no prior Sentai credits, but did go on to be a staff writer for Ryusoulger and Kiramager (like every other writer at Toei, she’s sitting Zenkaiger out). With all that said, on to this, the final review.

(Disclaimer: there are no subs for the video I am watching. Any translations choices or interpretations of the scene are entirely my own, based on the context I have)

We open on a faraway planet, with Demost in the midst of a ritual, while a narrator explains who he is and mentions that he’s part of Genmakuu.





As Demost perfects his new Ninpo, and the planet he’s on begins to glow, we cutaway to Earth to meet the members of the eponymous Hero Mama League. Nanami…



Jasmine…



And Houka.



As the narrator explains who they are with a montage, we see that they’re taking their kids to daycare.





They drop them off and then we get a look at the daycare manager Hiroto (played by Hideya Tawada, better known as Kinji from Ninninger)… who doesn’t recognise the kids’ mothers (the hell kind of daycare is he running where he doesn’t know the parents? What if something happens on his watch?)



The Hero Mamas retreat to a cafe (which isn’t very busy, since there are only three other customers). While wondering how they can impress the daycare teacher, Nanami mentions how she had to have an expandable shinobi suit made to fit her pregnancy (they didn’t just… give her time off? The Space Union Ninja Style must have a horrible union)



Then Jasmine mentions she had to have “mind the baby” stickers made for PatArmor (which means that the Space Police are either letting her bring a baby on police missions, or they’re not giving her maternity leave. Either way, their union is just as horrible).



And Houka mentions that she had to give her baby Fuuka her MagiStick as a toy (which is arguably, the least severe of the three things they’re talking about. Until you factor in that it’s a magic wand, that is based around transforming things, being giving to a baby), leaving her unable to fight (there’s also that)



They then begin thinking of ways to appear more notable to Hiroto… but they’re on a budget (both in and out of a universe). Back on his planet, Demost performs his Uchuu Ankoku Ninpo: Kikai Ninchuu Bakutan, giving birth to an army of Machine Ninsects (my own translation)… which, due to budget, are rendered as barely animated 2D drawings (the narrator explains that no image is available), which he then directs to Earth



Back with the Hero Mamas, as they discuss their home lives, we get a glimpse of Nanami’s husband… shot from the back, so we don’t see who it is (the narration assured us that we’ll find out who she and Houka married “another time”).



This conversation is interrupted at one point by Jasmine getting a call from work, wanting her on a case. She returns after a time cut, complaining about how hard it was, since there were some unusually tough Androids Boss (the nickname for Doggie Cruger/DekaMaster) was on vacation in the tropics (sadly, I don’t have an image for that). In the midst of this, Demost increases the size of his army with Uchuu Ankoku Ninpo: Mushi Seiretsu. After another few minutes of conversation, Houka receives a call from her brother Tsubasa (because by this point, Toei has Hiroya Matsumoto locked in their basement), telling her of the appearance of Infershia (the bad guys from Magiranger) remnants.



As Houka returns (and the customers and staff seem unusually unpaused by the women on the nearby table transforming into superheroes, running off and then coming back) and describes what happened (apparently, it was something to do with fish and green gunk). As Nanami feels depressed and recovers from it, the Machine Ninsects descend upon Earth, with all three running into battle together to face them, doing a group transformation…



But since there’s no budget or time, we cut to the Hero Mamas having already defeated the Machine Ninsect invasion and Demost swearing vengeance (with the narrator reminding us to watch Kyuranger vs Space Squad to see what happens next). The three then pick up their kids, with the daycare teacher at first confused about their being out of breath, but then apologising for his crass remarks earlier (glad that was solved in some way, even if it wasn’t entirely satisfactory). Nanami, Jasmine and Houka then take their kids home, as the short ends.



Final thoughts: This is just a short comedy fluff piece, with not much going on (literally, when it’s not the three characters talking in a cafe, or weird jump cuts to them doing flashy poses, it’s Demost standing there and making hand gestures). But I do like that the main gag is a threat that they don’t have the time or budget to adequately depict.