[Androzani84]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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 ?€œJasmine?€? 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 ?€œmind 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 ?€œanother 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.

Well, the good news is, I’ve managed to find a subbed version of this short film. So I thought I’d do that here.

We open on a faraway planet, with Demost in the midst of creating a new Ninpo, while a narrator explains who he is and mentions that he?s part of Genmakuu (for more on them, see here. And here)





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.



(The narrator states that their husbands won?t be revealed this time. Then when will they be, Narrator? When?)

And as the three see off their children, with Nanami and Jasmine using their skills as an actress and a cop respectively to calm their children, while the situation is reversed for Houka and Fuuka, the daycare manager Hiroto comes up and tells the three they look tired (dude has no tact)



The Hero Mamas retreat to a cafe (which isn’t very busy, since there are only three other customers). While wondering how they can get the daycare teacher to compliment them, Nanami mentions how she had to have an expandable shinobi suit made to breastfeed her baby (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 so she could use it as a diaper changing station. (And she adds that she?s required by S.P.D guidelines to take an infant with her on missions, rather than giving her maternity leave. Evidently, 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 discuss ways they use to cheat at doing chores to make battles shorter. Namely, gathering all the dirt in one place can be applied to the bad guys, cutting out the hanging out part of laundry can be applied to cutting out the roll call (which Nanami breaks the 4th wall to point out that it would get some outcry. Rovang can attest to that), and Houka suggests using her strategy of buttering up her husband (played by Nao Nagasawa’s real life husband. Clearly InuBrother and KijiBrother aren’t the first Sentai heroes embroiled in an infidelity plot)to do jobs she doesn’t like to calling in powerful allies to defeat enemies you don’t want to fight.



As if on cue, Jasmine gets called in as DekaYellow, vowing to use the advice given to make the fight three minutes long, with Nanami giving her the on-the-spot advice to change into DekaYellow there and then (and none of the cafe patrons care about this). 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 (or lack thereof), are rendered as barely animated 2D drawings, which after gathering them like “a reality show audience”, he then directs to Earth.



More than 3 minutes later, Jasmine returns to the cafe, exhausted. She explains that she couldn?t gather the Anaroids in one place, because they’re difficult to control, her attempt to skip her part of the roll call annoyed Umeko (whose roll call makes no sense without Jasmine’s) to the point they did it again, and calling in Boss to help in the fight was out of the question, since he was on vacation in Miami. They then decide to go with a different course of action: do household chores IN battle. As if on cue, Houka’s brother Tsubasa calls her into battle with an Infershia remnant.



As Houka returns (and the customers and staff still seem unusually nonplussed by the women on the nearby table transforming into superheroes, running off and then coming back) and describes what happened. Her attempt to use the explosion behind them to cook ended up burning the food (as Jasmine points out, they use napalm, it’s to be expected) while her using MagiKing to iron her husband?s shirt ended up getting it covered in monster guts (Don?t the monsters explode upon defeat?). As Nanami feels depressed that they’re even more tired than before, they sense the arrival of the Machine Ninsects. Deciding to simply do what they’ve always done, because it’s worked for them before, the three transform and run into battle.



But since there’s no budget or time, we cut to the Hero Mamas having already defeated the Machine Ninsect invasion and Demost preparing his next plan (with the narrator reminding us to watch Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger vs Space Squad to see what that?s all about). The three Hero Mamas return to the daycare, where Hiroto points out that not only do they look even MORE tired, but they’re late as well (it’s almost sundown). But their three kids tell them that they sparkle to them, and that’s what really matters.



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. Though I have to say, I’m not sure this is better or worse with the subs.