Doubutsu Sentai Jyuuouger first impressions

    I will admit I am going into this sentai similar to how I approached ToQger and Kyouryuuger. I’m not in love with the design choices but there are some that I don’t necessarily hate. It doesn’t help that I just marathoned the last 10 or so episodes of Ninninger and my feelings for that season can be summed up as such; At firt I laughed, then I was slightly intrigued but then…. meh. I will post a full review later but needless to say I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece from Jyuuouger, though I was admittedly hoping for writing on par with ToQger or Go-busters. Fortunately, I see a lot of good potential from the first episode.
    Right off the bat I must say I like the theme song. While not among my favorites it is catchy and has a slight triumphant feel to it. Right after the intro the series takes its first steps correctly. No time is wasted to establish our main characters and paint the rough picture of the world they are in. Our main protagonist is Yamato Kazakiri, a zoologist who is working as a field guide for some tourists. Right away we see that above all else, Yamato loves animals and nature, and unlike most other characters built with this personality, he loves humans just as much because, as he puts it, humans are animals too.
   

   Upon losing an important charm, a crystalline, cube, down a hill he chases after it and stumbles upon another, larger cube with a convenient slot to fit his own cube. Yamato’s curiosity gets the best of him as he inserts his charm into the key slot and is suddenly transported to another world where there are animals that walk on two legs and talk like humans. Imagine a furry convention in ancient ruins just with a lot more cubes. The citizens there, who refer to themselves as jyumans, are confused and stunned by the sudden human appearance. 4 jyumans reveal themselves as guardians of their land and the jyuman treasures; a lion man named Leo, an elephant man named Tusk, a tiger woman named Amu and a shark woman named Sela. The jyumans track down the cube he used to enter this world and accuse Yamato of being a theif for steeling one of 6 jyuman treasures, showing that they each have their own.
    Upon cutting to space we see an oddly shaped space ship carrying really odd looking villains has its eyes on earth. These “Deathgaliens” see earth as their 100th “battle ground” for some sick game they play. I will admit it seems they simply wish to destroy the earth but the intentions are far from clear. I suppose I like that the villain’s intent is somewhat vague in the beginning but they did it in a way that’s kind of confusing. They send a monster down to start this “game” and wreak havoc. Back in the jyuman world, the cube that brought Yamato here starts going crazy, being understandably freaked out and concerned for his home, he takes back the cube and heads back home, taking the four jyuman guardians with him.
    Upon seeing a clear threat of the deathgaliens, the jyuman guardians stand up to fight and the treasure cubes in each of their possession turns into their morpher, a rubix cube phone. The quicker you accept that is a thing, the better. Yamato sees this and wants the power to fight as well so he can protect his home and the forest around him. The guardians tell him it’s impossible for a human to use jyuman powers but are quickly surprised when he is able to morph into the red eagle. The 5 of them fight, defeat the foot soldiers and eventually the monster
    The method in which the monsters grow is odd. The head villain Genis (heh, genes – species, get it? It’s a bad joke) takes a part of him and offers it to the fallen monster as an “extra life” which he inserts into the monster via coin slot. Fortunately, the cubes that allow the jyuuougers to morph also is able to summon their zords; giant blocks that form into animals. I’m not going to go into great detail about them since I wish to save that for the full review but so far I don’t hate them. Cube lion is best cube. Anyway, the jyuuougers defeat the monster but are unable to go home since the cube that brought them there was damaged and they are missing one of the 6 treasures. Yamato offers to take them in but we end the episode as Tusk tries to refuse his offer

    It is clear that there is going to be an environmentally heavy message in this sentai but I pray that they don’t focus on pollution like Go-onger did or focus on human ignorance and evil like gaoranger. I believe sticking to a “humans are animals too” niche while not instilling any awkward guilt trips is the way to go. Oddly another prevailing theme that may cover the more serious stuff is racism of all things. I was honestly surprised but there is a lot of talk about “what only jyumans” can do. I can’t say for certain yet until the next episode is aired but it seems like prejudice between humans and non-humans may be just as prevalent as the environment-based stuff.
    The designs are all around weird. I haven’t seen anything bad but I haven’t seen anything really good either. I just see many weird design choices in this sentai that leave me curious about what other monsters, and the 6th jyuuouger is going to look like. I am going to call it now. Red eagle gets an upgraded form that is armor that folds out from a cube. I will be legitimately shocked if a cube isn’t incorporated into the powered up modes for these guys, even more so if they don’t have any upgraded form at all. All in all I am looking forward to watching this sentai.

Ressha Sentai ToQger Review

OPENING THOUGHTS / SERIES OVERVIEW

     Before watching this Sentai I was a little underwhelmed with the costume and megazord designs. There was something especially silly yet bland about both to me. I decided to give it a try since I had a similar feeling about the costumes of Gekiranger, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good that series was. To date, I am very happy I decided to watch Toqger all the way as it has easily worked its way to being one of my favorite seasons.
     Right away the series establishes it’s light-hearted and comedic tone. The first 2 episodes of Toqger, to me, combine to make the proper introduction. Episode 1 establishes the heroes and, to a lesser extent, the villains. It shows the audience that the heroes have been enlisted in the Rainbow line and roughly explains what that is. Episode 2 fleshes out the villains slightly more while giving the team and the audience a clear goal / plot device for the series, that being saving the towns taken over by the shadow line while seeking their own hometown.
     Imagination is the key theme in this series. It serves as both what makes the heroes unique, and what allows them to have their powers and see the enemy. Every one of them, especially Right, has a very strong and profound imagination in some sense. The way Tokacchi’s and Mio’s, in particular, has to do with how they imagine themselves and their team growing and achieving what they want. In that regard, imagination ties to something else very important; The ability to see and fulfill your dreams. The mere fact that Only those with strong imagination can see the source of the darkness is testament to this. “Only those with the mind to see their dreams can see the obstacles in their way” to quote someone I know. Fortunately the series is usually pretty good at delivering this message
     Most of the series is Straightforward with its objectives. One can appreciate the simplicity as most of the show is catering to their aforementioned goal of saving the towns and finding their own respectively. Only a few times are they derailed from this objective. The most notable instances being, when Akira joins the team and the climax of the show. These derailments do not last more than a few episodes, save for the climax, but it ultimately serves towards the show’s benefit.

HEROES

ToQ 1gou (ichigou) – Right Suzuki (played by Jun Shison)
ToQ 2gou (Nigou) – Haru Tokashiki (played by Jin Hiramaki)
ToQ 3gou (Sangou) – Mio Natsume (played by Riria)
ToQ 4gou (Yongou) – Hikari Nonomura (played by Ryusei Yokohama)
ToQ 5gou (Gogou) – Kagura Izumi (played by Ai Moritaka)
ToQ 6gou (Rokugou) – Akira Nijino (played by Shin  Nagahama)
ToQ 7gou (NanaGou) – Conductor (played by Tsutomu Sekine)

    The heroes of this series were faced with a challenge that few kids have to even think about. The ToQgers had to grow up and fight. These kids, who are in elementary school, must come to terms with the fact that they are in adult bodies, their loved ones may be dead and they might be stuck like that forever. The emotional impact is heavily implied and in some cases shown wonderfully.
    Being the Leader, Right gets the most development in the series. His initial reaction to the whole thing leaves him in shock and disbelief. Right is able to overcome these at first with the hope that they will find their families. As the series progresses Right does indeed grow up. Once dangers become more severe right is able to make very quick discerning judgements on certain things, despite being a simpleton, but not before one rash decision almost plunges him into darkness forever.
    Akira has arguably as much if not more development than Right and is easily among my favorite characters in the show. Once a dangerous warrior for the Shadow Line with powers over rain, Akira began a long Journey for redemption upon seeing a rainbow. Admittedly that’s a tad silly but in context it actually makes sense. A rainbow is considered to be something beautiful that comes out of something normally perceived to be bleak and dark, that being the rain he produces.
    Akira’s story is that of redemption. The Story begins when we see him for the first time as a worker repairing the rainbow line. Eventually, Akira is persuaded to become ToQ 6gou and fight for the rainbow line but with many worries and concerns of his own. The warrior is even temporarily swayed to join up with an old ally to briefly fight against the Toqgers. In the end, he is able to join with his friends in the light as he swears to protect their happiness. To compound this storyline, his personality is its own level of strange and extreme. Akira is always looking for “a good place to die”. This is coupled with his generally staunch and serious demeaner and lack of knowledge about anything other than the shadow line and repairing the rainbow line, make Akira a great comedic foil for the team.
    The remaining ToQgers have very minor development and backstories and I feel as if that is one of the series primary weaknesses. ToQ 2gou is the smart but clumsy one who looks up to his brother and likes ToQ 3gou, who is the motherly one of the group who has the advantage of already being one of the most mature in the group. ToQ 4gou isn’t as smart as Tokacchi but is easily calm and calculated and is usually the one to think of an effective plan. ToQ 5gou is the quirky and imaginiative one of the bunch who, next to Right, has the strongest imagination.

WEAPONS AND MECHS

    First let’s get this out of the way, Every Zord but one is a Train. The Drill is a train the space lion is a train, even the giant fire extinguisher is a train. The only exception to this is the Train station. Though I like the series, it’s easy for me to see people frustrated with how crazy the writers went with some of the trains. I am honestly still trying to comprehend in that one kamen rider special when Gabutyra even turned into a train.
 
   Opinions aside the trains do offer a lot of variety in, though kind of stupid looking, very simple and effective combinations and transformations. Some of the Ressha specializing in transporting citizens, putting out fires or moving debris makes sense when you remember that part of the role of the rainbow line is to help citizens and free the towns. As goofy and simple as some of the Ressha are, they do each have a distinct design despite being basically the same thing.

    The individual weapons are where the series also unfortunately fumbles. The most we see out of these weapons actually comes in the first episodes. The whole series I was waiting for Kagura to use her Tekkyou Claw to shrink something other than Kuros. Aside from the rail Slasher’s ability to make a “railroad rope”, which was used way too often, other weapon special abilities were given the eternal bench. The weapons, were seen, just not used near effectiveness as I felt they could have been used.
    The Golden Ressha was just…weird. Most seasons have a “powered up mode” for at least one person on the team. For instance: Kyouryuuger had the Kyouryu Carnival and Go-Busters had the Powered Custom. The mode in this series is, literally, a Golden Train on the person’s shoulders. I am honestly torn between how much I appreciate the consistent silly humor and how stupid the thing looks on anybody.


VILLAINS

Emperor of Darkness: Z (played by Kengo Ohkuchi)
Baron Nero (voiced by Jun Fukuyama, played by Riichi Seike)
Madame Noir (voiced by Aya Hisakawa, played by Yuichi Hachisuka)
Lady Gritta (voiced by Noriko Hidaka, played by Hideaki Kusaka)
General Schwarz (voiced by Haruhiko Jō, played by Jiro Okamoto)
Marchioness Morc (voiced by Reiko Suzuki)

    Right out of the gate you love the design for the villains. They are all very classical and Gothic with elements of steampunk and the Macabre. The Foot soldiers even have this eerie yet classy look to them, very fitting of the series. The “Monsters of the week” have the same theme as the primary villains and footsoldiers but not necessarily to the extent that other characters, like Baron Nero or General Schwarz, have. Though, I don’t consider it a fault as most of the standard villains still look somewhat decent in the long run.
    Z is absolutely the Primary villain and he Steals the show. His story is that of Tragedy, as he was born in darkness and seeks to claim and eventually destroy the one thing he cannot have, the light. When we first see him, Z is more like an awestruck child than anything else. Once his nature shines through, though, Z becomes a much more fleshed out character. It really is easy to sympathize with or at least pity Z as he is one of the most unique characters seen recently in sentai. Among all the darkness and monsters, he is shockingly human in ways beyond his looks. Z manages to invoke fear, discomfort, somberness, joy, relief and even awe from both the audience and the heroes.
    Finding a quick way to describe General Schwarz is quite difficult. He tends to the kurainers, the main trains of the shadow line, as well as acts as a high ranking officer for the Kurous. Later, we find out Schwarz has his own goal of completely militarizing the shadow line for conquest as oppose to the town by town take over that the shadow line is used to doing. Eventually he comes at odds with Z, leading to one of the most bittersweet moments in the show.
    Primarily the Reason that Schwarz is so difficult to describe is because most of his character is developed through his interactions with Lady Gritta. Gritta serves as both the voice of reason for some of the villains as well as the driving force for some of the Villains motivations, primarily Madame Noir. Unfortunately, Gritta is set to Marry Z but instead likes Schwarz. Over time Gritta both respects and pities Z as they develop a relationship based around mutual pity and contempt. As strange as the sounds, the relationship between Gritta and Z reminds of Emiko and Dr. Serizawa from the classic Gojira. I’m not saying they are identical but I can see a few similarities, intentional or no.
    Sadly, like some of the rangers, the rest of the main Villains don’t really stand out. Baron Nero is an awkward grump who has undying loyalty to Z and the Shadow Line. Madame Noir is Gritta’s mom and is obsessed with making her daughter the prettiest thing around. The best way to think of her is to think of a pageant mom running around Victorian England. The Marchioness is staunch, serious and takes no guff from anyone but the emperor out of respect and love since she is the one who raised Z in the darkness.  There are at least good foundations for interesting villains, and though I can’t recall one that is necessarily bad, not all of them were great

THE BAD STUFF

-Some characters weren’t developed to their full potential
-Too many characters and designs on the Heroes were silly to the point of being bland
-many powers and abilities were drastically underused while some were overused
-despite its best efforts, chunks in the middle of the series felt very formula and contrived

THE GOOD STUFF

-The overall writing, in regards to the main story, is wonderfully detailed and smart
-The show is aware of how silly it is and utilizes it to great effect
-when a character is done right, they are done awesome (Z and Akira in particular)
-Villain designs were amazingly detailed
-the theme and message of the show is delivered splendidly

CLOSING THOUGHTS

    I am very glad I watched ToQger. I don’t know if it is a good gateway sentai, but to anybody familiar with the show it is a welcome addition. The show, despite its faults, provides the right amount of funny and serious and really hits home. ToQger will always stay in my heart as one the better Sentai experiences I have ever watched

7.5/10