I was pretty nervous before Zyuohger's premiere. I thought that after Gokaiger, there was really this "fatigue season". I do like Go-Busters but the series wasn't really popular with the rest so it might as well be considered as a fatigue point for Super Sentai. Then came Kyoryuger or what I want to dub as KYOOOOOORRRRYUUUGER which I thought didn't appeal to me. ToQGer was another season which I felt was a real fatigue point due to the writer Yasuko Kobayashi was burning out beyond belief. It was Kamen Rider Gaim that filled my Tokusatsu void during the airing of ToQGer, Kyoryuger, Samurai and Megaforce. It's time for Zyuohger and I really can't believe I'm getting a real huge breathe of fresh air from this series. With Junko Komura (main writer of Satria Bima Garuda) doing the job, I wonder how will she fill the void left by other writers?
The story starts with the entrance of Yamato Kazakiri (who's revealed to have gotten that cube from a Zyuman years earlier) into the world of Zyuland. I guess they were repeating some concepts from Go-onger (parallel worlds to human world) and Zyuland happens to be a place filled with anthropomorphic animals. So really, did producer Takaaki Utsunomiya watch too much either Kung Fu Panda or classic Disney cartoons during the planning process? Granted, Power Rangers was with Disney and Saban that time so I guess they copied a few ideas from the west like Go-onger feels inspired by Cars, Dekaranger followed some elements from Western movies (ex. Armageddon, Rocky), some 80s Super Sentai were inspired by Western sci-fi shows and I guess Zyuohger is no exception.
The premiere episode was pretty fun with how the Deathgaliens introduce themselves as some kind of space mafia. I guess we wouldn't be seeing any Big Bad stuck in the wall as Ginis the Big Bad is seen sitting on a throne instead. They belong to another group of those planet destroying villain groups like Gozma Empire (Changeman), Silver Imperial Army Zone (Fiveman), Bowzock Gang (Carranger) and Balban Army (Gingaman). Earth is the 100th planet in the list of Deathgalien which they will play in what might be a killer gambling game.
Sidenote, with another red ranger with an eagle motif, the Sun Vulcan song "Yume No Tsubasa" played in my head when Yamato changed into Zyuoh Eagle. Speaking of eagles, Ryu Tendo's Gatchaman counterpart is known as Ken the Eagle. It's been some time since I've seen a red ranger with a bird motif. The last ones we've seen were Vul Eagle, Yuusuke Amemiya/Red Falcon, Ryu Tendo/Red Hawk, Goro Hoshino/Oh Red, Hurricane Red, Kai Ozu/Magi Red and Sosuke Esumi/Go-on Red. It's nice to see the theme repeated after some time. I do find his Eagle Riser to be pretty funny to how it can double as a rail and a sword then again Tokusatsu is supposed to have a lot of impossible stuff or it's not a superhero show. Plus, it was nice to see some out-of-suit fighting for Yamato, something that both ToQGer and Ninninger BADLY needed. I hope the other cast do the same because we badly need those do your own stunts scene!
With how the series was, I felt like it was an abridged version of Gaoranger's premiere episode. Unlike Gaoranger where the gattai happened in the second episode, the giant robot immediately made its debut in the first episode. At the end of the episode, you have Tusk trying to leave the team a la Gai Yuki style. So how will Tusk be convinced to join the team in the second episode? I can't wait to see the next episode.
Animals have all been used in suit and mecha designs even if it wasn't a pure animal themed.
ReplyDeleteThe first is Sun Vulcan but that was a espionage themed. Then Liveman but it was a sci-fi oriented.
With out the mythological creatures or prehistoric, Gingaman was out there but it was too mystical.
Then came Gaorangers which this series would be a reflection of.
Of course Gekiranger which is in the same level as Maskman and Dairangers but still would predate ZyuOhgers. And must we forget Go Busters as it is just another Sun Vulcan inspired series but yet again Liveman is a straight up copy cat of Sun Vulcan. The Saburo Yatsude team is really recycling the same product!!!
Overall for me there was three animal themed and they are...
Sun Vulcan
Liveman
Gaoranger
So very much it stands with the three series as the "official" animal Sentais!!!
Wasn't the animal people motif started with Gekirangers???
Though he was Mostly a Star and his mecha was a Phoenix. The bird of prey motif did not really stop with Oh Red!!!
Hurricane Red was a Hawk and though he is mythical. Magi Red was a Pheonix based! And finally Go-On Red wasn't he too a falcon as well???
P.S. Joji Naka returns voicing a villain but he to returned to a animal theme Sentai as well too after Liveman.
The Zyuohger premiere felt like a return to themes from Gaoranger. Red Ranger loves working with animals and the team is connected to an animal fantasy world. I really liked the premiere episode, and I'm especially glad that Red isn't a total idiot like Takaharu, Right, or Daigo. Looking forward to watching more Zyuohger.
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