[Fish Sandwich]

~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~

エピソード 44 – Mashin Sentai Kiramager



Please go watch Kiramager.

I knew as soon as I decided to do this whole project that those were going to be the words I'd lead off with for this show, and here I finally am. It's rather direct, I know, but I don't think there's a sentence out there that could possibly condense my feelings toward Kiramager any better. I've talked plenty on this tour about the shows I consider my personal favorites, but Kiramager is something truly unique and special, because there's no other Sentai that makes me just want to share it with everyone the way this one does.

So why is that, then? I suppose it boils down to two key reasons. It's partly because of how much Kiramager excels at being a definitive traditional Sentai series, making it an easy blanket recommendation for anyone looking for a season to watch for any reason whatsoever. More than that, though, it's a series with a beautiful message at its core that really speaks to me, and I can't help but want it to speak to others the same way.

Starting with that first reason, Kiramager was yet another attempt to do a back-to-basics, tried-and-true Super Sentai in response to how wild the concepts had gotten, but what distinguishes Kiramager is the depth of its commitment to that approach. They didn't just stop at the superficial level of a mostly straightforward vehicle motif and a team of five rocking the Goranger color lineup. As much as all that stuff is important, it's the constant, careful consideration you can see absolutely brimming from the construction of its stories that lets you know how serious they were. Kiramager's chief producer, Hideaki Tsukada, was a veteran of several mid 2000's Sentai who tends to prefer straightforward toku heroes to begin with, and for the main writer, we've got none other than Naruhisa Arakawa, back again to further prove his masterful grasp on what this franchise is all about. The result is an extraordinarily well-rounded Sentai. The pacing of the episodic plots is tight and energetic, the tone is hilarious and light-hearted without ever detracting from legitimate drama and character development, and it handles things like the balance of focus for each member of the team with no trouble at all. Appropriately enough for a series that makes gemstones a key part of its iconography, polished is a word that immediately comes to mind to describe Kiramager.

Again, it's all about the thought that clearly went into everything, and Kiramager is an exceptionally clever series. When I say it's committed to being traditional, you might think I'm saying it's a show that went out of its way to avoid changing things, but that's Kiramager's greatest trick. Instead of trying to freshen things up by bolting more concepts onto a longstanding formula, adding things around the core without altering it, Kiramager uses its surface-level simplicity as an opportunity to give the fundamentals themselves a proper tune-up, and create a refined and updated version of that, consciously reflecting more modern values without losing focus on what makes the franchise so appealing to begin with. In some ways, Kiramager is arguably more of a reinvention of Super Sentai than many of the shows from the decade prior, and it's to the credit of the staff's immense talent that you probably wouldn't even notice at first, because the work they did is often quite subtle.

The main thrust of these updates, the way I see it at least, was all about upping the emotional sensitivity of the franchise. The show is Kiramager, and just like that name implies, it's all about people who sparkle. About people living their lives to the fullest, and the encouragement helping them to do that. This is a series that kind of redefines the entire purpose of a Sentai team. Their mission is still to fight evil and save the day, of course, but also, of equal importance to them, the purpose of the Kiramagers is simply to help one another shine. The show flips the script, and actively emphasizes how a group contributes to the individuals within it as much as it does the other way around.

Like I said, they were aiming to reflect more modern ways of thinking, and we're decades beyond stoic heroes dedicated exclusively to serving great justice and cool organizations. The first of many, many things I could note to highlight Kiramager's different outlook is that there's a notable focus on the team all having careers outside of being superheroes, and never are any of them asked to put their personal lives on hold for the sake of their duties as Kiramagers. Indeed, the show's second episode hinges on subverting that stalwart, longstanding trope, and the explanation for why. The show takes the stance that asking someone to sacrifice something deeply important to them on a personal level for the greater good is only going to ensure they won't be emotionally capable of giving their best anyway.

And like, that's it! That's the Kiramager attitude, in a nutshell. It's taking all these things that would be considered selfish and/or unproductive in a less nuanced series, and showing how they can be a crucial part of leading a fulfilling and healthy lifestyle. It's why the leader of the Kiramagers isn't the guy who makes up the battle plans, but instead the one who simply believes the most earnestly that his teammates are amazing people who deserve to be happy and follow their passions. You can really see how this line of thinking permeates so much of the series' writing, and there are loads and loads of extremely memorable, smart, and engaging episode plots I could bring up to help illustrate this point, whether they're about encouraging someone to change for the better by telling them they're fine the way they are, or about how it's important to acknowledge your limits and not recklessly force yourself past them – which was the episode where the team got their big power-up form – or about any of the other brilliantly executed and thoughtful points Kiramager made throughout its run.

Or, hey, maybe I could even talk about Kiramager's debut!

The only problem there is that I have to specify which debut I'm talking about, because Kiramager was preceded by an "Episode ZERO", released theatrically, and also available to subscribers of the Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club streaming service. This meant that like, we, the established Sentai nerds, got to see it first, but casual viewers didn't, and really, before I even bother arguing this point anymore, it literally isn't episode 1, so I'm going to be ignoring Episode ZERO in favor of focusing on how the premiere proper stands on its own, and how it reflects those series-wide themes.

Fortunately, Kiramager's first episode was designed to do both of those things, and with Arakawa handling the script, you can rest assured it does an exemplary job of it. There's more than enough exposition to get you familiar with the basics. You've got the main two bad guys sending out a giant monster to terrorize the town, themed after a faucet of all things, because one of those bad guys was smart enough to appreciate the delicious irony of destroying humanity with twisted representations of our own civilization, but not smart enough to check how much symbolic weight we generally assign to random inanimate objects. The series doesn't constantly dwell on that explanation after this point, but I always thought this was an utterly genius reason to give for the parade of quirky monster motifs in this show, and it really endeared me to these Yodonheim guys immediately.

Not that I didn't still want to see the Kiramagers taking them down a peg, of course, which is what they get right to doing. All four of them! I can't speak from experience here as someone who saw Episode ZERO first and now knows these characters like the back of my hand anyway now that the whole show is done, but looking back, Arakawa did a fantastic job making sure everyone's personalities were diverse enough that you only need a little bit to get a handle on everyone. And that's with eight characters, too, because this is also a show where the heroes have a partner dynamic with their sentient mecha, the Mashin... er, the Machines! (I went with the official romanization up top in deference to how consistently it's used, but this is probably more natural to read.) A big key to this is just how wildly different everyone is from each other. When every member of the team has such a particular fighting style, a unique occupation, and a partner with such a distinct speech pattern, there just isn't much to be confused about. You've got e-sports superstar Tametomo applying those gamer reflexes to his master marksmanship as Kiramai Yellow, backed up by the well-meaning if occasionally ornery old guy Shovellow. Lightning fast runner Sena speeds through the battlefield as Kiramai Green, cheered on very enthusiastically by Mach, who fancies himself her classy servant. Sayo is a medical prodigy who fights with surgical grace and precision as Kiramai Pink, her mature and composed demeanor contrasting against Helico's bubbly enthusiasm. It's a somewhat similar story for renowned action film star Shiguru, who's great at acting cool, especially when cutting down opponents as Kiramai Blue, all of which has won him the affection of Jetter, who looks up to his surrogate big bro as a model of awesomeness.

They're a pretty cool bunch, alright, and nobody seems more enamored with the team than ordinary high school student Juuru, who darts around the episode's initial fight scene, basking in the dazzling greatness of each of them, one by one, providing an absolutely brilliant extra layer to everything that's happening. I honestly think this has got to be one of the strongest introductory fights for any Sentai. Contextualizing how amazing we're supposed to think these guys are directly through one of the characters, and also making that part of his own arc in the episode? This is some masterpiece stuff right here. Juuru's presence lends so much more flow to the scene; the way he becomes utterly absorbed in his desire to sketch a picture of these incredible heroes adds a whimsical twist as he weaves in and out of the action, culminating in him proudly holding his completed masterpiece up high as an explosion goes off behind him, as though he just defeated a monster of the week or something. It's not only great fun, either, because that grand portrayal of one weird kid's enthusiasm for his hobby speaks so, so much to what Kiramager is about thematically.

The thing is, Juuru is there because he's supposed to be the fifth Kiramager. His eventual partner Fire sees something special in him, even though he's not sure what yet. The problem is, Juuru himself absolutely doesn't see that same potential. He may be full of energy when artistic inspiration strikes, but otherwise, he's a fundamentally timid, downright shy person who can't conceive of himself ever being as amazing as the Kiramagers all are. Doesn't even matter if a princess from another world tells him he's needed. That is, it doesn't matter... until Mabushina and Fire get a look at Juuru's sketchbook and actually see what he's been coming up with this whole time, which is when it finally clicks for them what his special talent is. Juuru is creative. When a giant monster started attacking the town, he imagined a giant robot coming in to save the day. When he saw the Kiramagers in action with their swords and guns, he stopped to rough out a concept for a cool combination weapon using both at once. And, when someone tells him how amazing what he's done is, he's able to take that imagination and finally put it to use as Kiramai Red. I've talked before on the tour about how Reds are often the most direct symbol of that particular Sentai's themes, and that is *immensely* true of Juuru. Being affectionately supported and encouraged by someone who believes in him allows Juuru's latent potential to blossom – allows him to believe in himself – and he becomes a much more confident and capable person because of that.

Now Juuru is using that imagination to turn magic stones into awesome super vehicles to save the day, and rescuing his classmates while opening fire on giant monsters with that exact combo weapon he thought of earlier. I mean, before I even say anything else about it, it's just a plain awesome action climax for the episode. It's all put together with impressive care, with loads and loads of great effects work both practical and digital. It makes Kiramai Red look like he was born for this kind of thing, and there's a suitably huge focus on the mecha action, allowing the Machines to finish off the monster without even needing to become a huge robot yet, all set to the series' fantastic theme song.

It's an absolutely stellar finish to an episode that is franky nothing but absolutely stellar from start to finish. I can't stress enough how tight Arakawa's script is. It's no small feat to make time for such a genuinely heartwarming and emotionally affecting arc with Juuru while still establishing everything around him so effectively. If Episode ZERO never got made, I don't think we'd notice the difference. It's a debut as flawless and brilliant as a fine diamond.

And man, if you thought the premiere was good...

Really, Kiramager is probably another one of those shows that's sort of, uh, dangerous, for me to start rambling about? If I'm trying to stay concise, I mean. There's so many other cool things about this show I'd love to mention! One of the ones I most want to bring up is simply how much this show gels with me aesthetically. The whole shining thing just works absolutely brilliantly (brilliantly!) for me. The team's suits are the sort that didn't immediately impress me, but the more and more I saw them on-screen, the more I fell in love. And the mecha! I've gotta mention in particular how much I love Kiramaizin. They just loaded up every part of the main robot's suit this year with lights and clear parts, and the result quickly became one of my absolute favorite robot suits in Sentai history. It's not even a suit that can do anything fancy in terms of movement, but it's a perfect reminder that a Sentai robot doesn't have to do that to be amazing. (And the head design with the five crystals forming a crown! You can tell it's a combination of five things just from the head!) Plus, since Kiramager eschewed the usual super combinations entirely, Kiramaizin is a constant presence, standing strong from start to finish, exactly as it should be.

Still, as much as I'd like to go on about every little thing I find cool about Kiramager, it's definitely that thematic core that I want to highlight more than anything. Besides, I kinda have gone on about every little thing I find cool about Kiramager, back when it was airing, and I did a write-up in most of the episode discussion threads for it here. Which brings me to the much more specific, personal reason I value this show's message so much. I know firsthand how much a little positive reinforcement can mean to someone. Juuru spends his days doodling; I spend mine writing about toku shows. It just sorta happened, you know? I've always found it fun, but at the same time, I can tell you about so, so many times there have been where I've felt genuinely anxious about putting my thoughts out there, especially when they constantly get so long-winded. (Remember at the start of the tour when I said I'd try and keep these posts short?) But while I can't always keep the length under control, I'd like to think the writing itself has improved over the years I've been doing this, and I don't doubt for a second that it's only because I've met people on this site who are kind enough to encourage me in what I'm doing.

That's what Kiramager wants to push, at the end of the day. How much of a difference it makes just to let someone know you care. What I think of a lot when I think of Kiramager is just what a great bunch of role models the protagonists are. It's difficult to describe the distinction when this sounds like something you could say about any Sentai team, but there's a very very particular warmth to this group's dynamic. The relationships the Kiramagers have with their Machines are ones of mutual support and admiration. In scenes of the heroes hanging out, it's always really apparent how much they simply enjoy being in each other's presence. Everyone is always genuinely interested in how the others are doing. They all feel like friends before they feel like a team, and that's an ideal I see and want to live up to. Kiramager is an inspirational series, and I think that, more than anything else, demonstrates how successful it was in distilling Super Sentai down to its raw essence.

So again – please go watch Kiramager. Even if you haven't before. Even if you have. It's never a bad time to make your day shine a little brighter.