KyuuRanger first impressions

     Before going into watching KyuuRanger, I didn't know what to expect. I had no idea how the creators were going to balance out 9 heroes in total. I certainly did not expect, and was pleasantly surprised with the route they chose to take for this series. While there are still things I am weary about, This was a very good start to what may be a very good series.

     First thing to mention is that I love the suits for Kyuuranger. The common design in the suits is the star on their chest along with lines down the legs and breaks in the sleeves that make all of the suits reminiscent of space suits and light astronaut wear. Each suit is personalized in a sense to match the constellation of which the respective KyuuRanger draws power. This includes the visor and some of the helmets work and some look fairly silly. The horns on Oushi Black seem kind of impractical on distracting, yet somehow fitting of his overall design. Much like the horns on Black, Chameleon Green is sporting two "hair buns" made to look like chameleon eyes. These hair buns can also seem to stick out but somehow fit with the overall design of her costume. To me the strangest one is the visor on Kaijiki Yellow. The thing sticks out like a horn to represent a marlin, but it looks like a cartoonish nose if one looks at it from the wrong angle. The rest of the suits are honestly very cool and the problems with the others, much like past sentai, I think I can get used to over time.
     The second thing to mention is how they chose to introduce the characters, as I feel is one of the strengths of the first episode. By the end of episode one, The audience is only introduced to five of the Kyuurangers. It would seem that the Kyuutama, the orbs they use to henshin, must choose the wielder and the wielder in turn must wish to use the power. Lucky, the main character wishes to become a Kyuuranger. At first because it looks cool, but later to liberate the galaxy after discovering a group known as Jark Matter is ruling over the galaxy with an Iron fist. Garu (Ookami Blue) wishes to fight to avenge his people. Champ (Oushi Black), Hame (Chameleon Green) and Spada (Kaijiki Yellow) all seem to have a strong desire to beat Jark Matter, though the means of which they attained the Kyuutama are still unknown. Revealing only these five, and leaving it open for what motivates them creates many possibilities for the future. I can actually almost see this series being told like a grand space opera with little to no filler....that would actually be awesome....fingers crossed.
     The final thing that makes this first episode work is the amount of action that is in it. The viewer is thrown in between this fight between the rebels of the group Rebellion (clever...) and the organization Jark Matter (because dark matter). The episode starts with Champ, Hame and Spada doing a Henshin to stop an insurgence of Jark Matter troops and escorting civilians to safety. After crashing his ship into the Jark Matter troops, Lucky is taken to the Rebellion base where they repair his craft as a thank you and he learns about the Kyuutama. Lucky flies off, followed by the kyuurangers, to the nearest planet of Jagujagu to search for his Kyuutama where he encounters Garu who has a Kyuutama but is unable to activate it since he has some fear of fighting Jark Matter, despite wanting to avenge his people. Jark Matter then attacks the planet in an attempt to wipe out the Rebellion once and for all. Despite not having a Kyuutama, Lucky fights with the other Kyuurangers only to be cruelly thrown into space for interfering the business of Jark Matter.  Before Lucky can draw his last breath, his will to fight attracts the Shishi Kyuutama to him allowing him to henshin and drop back to safety. Lucky, Hame and Spada take their respective voyagers, Lucky summoning the rather large Shishi Voyager for the first time, to take out the forces attacking their ship. Garu musters up the courage to fight and henshins to help Champ take out the ground troops. After the ground troops are dealt with, Lucky manages to activate the docking mechanism of Shishi Voyager to form the megazord Kyuu-Ren-Oh. The team defeat a minion made giant and then convene on their flying base ready to find the remaining Kyuurangers and finally stop Jark Matter.

     As one can tell most of the first episode is action, action and more action. That is not to say there is no story. There is just enough exposition in between to tell a story for this episode. The episode also manages to keep enough withheld to make the audience want more. Aside from some odd aesthetics, if I were to give any negatives to this, it would seem the series may be trying to open too many doors and not explain everything. This is unfair, as the series is just starting and I believe more episodes should be watched before a conclusion like that is drawn. Either way I will be looking forward to watching this action packed space adventure!