Why I Think Boukenger Deserves Its Nomination as Best Sentai by Fans

The thing is I think Boukenger deserves its nomination although I've seen better Sentai than this. Okay I like it better than Shinkenger but I like Dekaranger better or it's hard to beat Jetman. So here's why I think it is really deserving- Boukenger seems to deviate from the traditional formula more often times than not. Like how?

The rangers were a pretty likable cast. I even found some Jetman elements in their characters, maybe not intended. For example, Satoru Akashi is your typical red ranger, Inou Masumi is a black ranger rivaling the red ranger, Natsuki Mamiya like Ako Hayasaka acts like a little girl but more so, Sakura Nishihori is from a rich family who has a crush on the red ranger but the black ranger (who she dislikes) has a crush on her too and Souta Megumi, well he's the nicer side of Guy Yuuki. I even find Eiji Takaoka a live adaptation of Jeff Kansaki in the Jetman manga.

For example unlike the typical Sentai where the rangers are gathered prior to the enemy attack, they have been given their suits to explore ruins and discover the existence of the Negative Syndicate especially the first one was the telekinetic tyrant Gaja. Of course, they discover they have more than one type of enemy to battle throughout and each one fits almost perfectly like the emergence of the extremely callous Ryuon, the Dark Shadow Trio with distinct personalities (Yaiba was cold and evil, Shizuka was a childish master of disguise and Gekko was the lesser evil) eventually leading to the really bad-ass Questers which in it is inserted the sixth ranger Eiji Takaoka. The most interesting members of the group were Inou Masumi a former thug, Souta Megumi a former spy, Natsuki Mamiya who turns out to be Lemurian and Eiji Takaoka who turns out to be a half-human, half-Ashu hybrid- each one with a dark past they must overcome.

And also I like how the adventure theme goes. Rather than just always focus on monster of the week (which the Jaryuu and the Dark Shadow make, in the case of Questers they were giant robots for times of desperation for the sake of finishing an episode) they would be finding relics that hold such great power. Along with the adventure theme are various mecha which fits in to the theme rather well like how the Bouken Drill was used to save the team or the most amazing part was the Gou Gou Voyager which saved the day from the team-up of Ryuon and the Questers.

The villains were a pretty mean bunch- all competing for power against each other in different factions. The Gordom was only Gaja who used his karths who had a sarcastic attitude. He was frequently rivaled by Ryuon who was a cold, evil villain who created monsters out of a sick ritual that required his creations to fight to the finish. The two of course, Gaja and Ryuon had shaky alliances which made the story rather interesting. Dark Shadow's Yaiba has to be quite scary as he and Inou Masumi developed a rather strong rivalry. Shizuka well I think she was sort of Yaiba's lover even if he was a mechanical being, only to be betrayed by the one she was dear to. Gekkou well he's an interesting character seeing how a little owl possesses much great power. The Questers were of course the meanest being supernatural creatures infused with the Gordom engine, they build one giant robot after the other to make the world shake away. In fact, the enemies were homages to Sentai mecha downright to previous enemies.

I think the most interesting villains' backstory have to be Ryuon as a human being driven mad by power and instinctive rivalry with Satoru Akashi, Yaiba and his rivalry with Inou Masumi, and the Questers' long feud with Eiji Takaoka. I thought of it that Ryuon was marked too many times like Radiguet was in Jetman as well. Each one of them ended rather well like how even a deceased Yaiba could leave a mark on Inou Masumi or how Ryuon still insisted on becoming a dragon once more prior to his supposed death. Also, the Questers were in their way deceiving and sadistic as well including how Eiji Takaoka's mother was once loved by Ouga but she chose to marry a human instead and how Ouga hates Eiji Takaoka as a reminder of that rejected feeling.

I thought of it that how the story went on was just deviant yet amazing, rather than getting Sentai down as usual. In fact, how each and every relic becomes essential to the theme of light and darkness, water and fire. Oh yeah, I even had to think about how the Boukengers found the real treasure was within themselves in their final battle against Gaja who may be rendered into a state of insanity for a long, long time.