Dairanger- it just deserves it nomination during the 90s. Why? For one, it has a rather interesting theme, being the first Asian-based theme Sentai while most Sentai series were not restricted to culture in terms of themes.The rangers:
The rangers were pretty interesting, in fact some thought they were more interesting than Jetman's cast. Why? They simply had a series of serious stories that connects with one another as it progresses. Ryou's past for example causes the other rangers to sympathize with him especially with his father Zhang Liao. Daigo's love story with Kujaku was one of the most tragic moments IMO I felt more tears for it than Ryu and Rie's from Jetman. Lin well, she has had her own one shot relationship with Takamura which she had truly loved him and him, her. Shouji was more of the truly enlightened hero and as for Kazu, I feel he's kind of underdeveloped. Then again, no Sentai is perfect. :-P
So there's some kind of controversy about adding the kid ranger Kou who PR-Sentai fans dare to equate with Justin, even call him as "Justin disgracing Tommy." For an add-on character, probably intended to be a gimmick, he had an interesting backstory as he was the result of a dysfunctional relationship between the Gorma general Shaddam and his mother from the Dai. He also has an evil fraternal twin brother named Akomaru, a burden carried by the union of Gorma and Dai. For what would be a funny character (especially how he is in love with Lin despite their age gap), he has some serious moments like his estrangement with his mother and twin brother.
Concerning the villains:
It may be back to the usual organization compared to Jetman's struggle for power with each other Vyram, but I find the Gorma pretty interesting. Why? It's always overcome by civil war like the Vyram, the emperor is the one who surpasses the others and that Gorma XV played by Munemaru Kouda who was also the main villain Dr. Man in Bioman. Gorma XV displays a sadistic attitude, playful yet evil which makes him pretty scary. We also have the issues between the emperor's adviser Tenpou and his rivalry with Shaddam who is the the head of the triumvirate is a more menacing version of the Big Three. How? Shaddam like Mason uses deceit and brute force, Gara relies more on deceit and Zydos is a big dummy. Weird to say also that Gara here is nothing more than a clone of the real Gara.
With Shaddam, I consider him to be the show's most evil villain, more evil than Gorma XV and probably close to Radiguet to being dark and cruel. Why? In the first place, he was the one who created clay bodies for the deceased Gorma and later, a copy of Gara to serve him. He in order to avoid death, created a clay body for himself so he could cheat all the way to become the next emperor. He allowed the emperor's spirit to dwell in a clay body, only to later betray his highness to get the Earth-shaking Jewel. He betrayed everybody around him, he enjoyed their misery and he could even afford to attempt to kill his own son Kou. In the end, he lost all that power during the final battle which he ironically fell in a knife duel with Ryou, a fight which was awesome because Ryu was out of suit after he lost his powers.
Overall:
The ending was kind of crazy though, showing 50 years later that the Gorma is under new leadership and a new group of rangers has appeared, with the green ranger being the leader instead for some reason. Hmmm... I wonder why did Noboru Sugimura write down such an ending? Fortunately, the series ended afterward and left a legacy of real intense martial arts that beat Maskman off.
Dairanger is my second favorite 90s Sentai, behind Gingaman. :D
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, as much as I love Jetman, I always felt like Dairanger had a bit more charm to it. Especially with the cast.
About Kou, I know most people tend to describe him as funny, perverted, and hyper... but if you notice, this kind of changes as the series progresses. Like, after ep 19, Kou stops doing anything perverted. And by ep 30, he becomes much more quiet and cheerful, and tends to blend in with the rest of the cast more. Like the scene in ep 28 where he's walking out of the movie theaters with the team, and having a good time. Poor kid gets abused and beat up a lot in the show. Like having to dig up stuff for the Gorma, and losing his mother.
I don't care what anyone says, Kou is NOTHING like Justin. Them having a similar age doesn't mean they're similar. That would be like saying Sae (from Gaoranger) is similar to Kaoru (from Shinkenger) due to them both being around 14 years old, when they both have radically different personalities.
I bet the Dairanger ending the written the way it was, due to Dairanger's main theme was the inheritance of generation to generation. Dai is Japanese for "generation." So the epilogue ending was to prove that there's always plenty more to come, for future generations, just like the past generations. :)
Well, so far, Dairanger is pretty good. Just too bad it isn't fully subbed, but looks like a fun ride.
ReplyDeleteThough, once again, the Red Ranger is named RYO, not RYU... Even though his ranger name is Ryuuranger... I think you mispelled him everytime you make a Dairanger post...