Right now, I'm somewhat skeptical about Boonboomger. I'll wait until the finale before I give my overall thoughts -- IF EVER! The press conference happened yesterday and failed to give an update immediately. Once again, this blog is nothing more than a hobby. As I look into the cast -- it's got the expected super young cast! Yes, I'm feeling old for the nth time! Entering a new phase of life is like blowing a cake with a stick of dynamite on top! The cast of No. 1 Sentai Gozyuger (yes, THAT is the title) has its main cast born in the 2000s. It's been some time since different eras. Super Sentai has had some "reboots" with a "finale series" or that the Heisei era ended with Super Sentai Strongest Battle. The cast is getting young and I'm getting old! Once again, Super Sentai is a kiddie show and it may not go on hiatus. It's amazing how Super Sentai might also be another reason why the Metal Hero franchise and the Super Robot franchise no longer get new entries!
I asked the question whether or not an anniversary should celebrate by the first entry's birthday or by entry/season number. Power Rangers celebrated Wild Force as the 10th season (since Mighty Morphin' had a total of three seasons). However, Megaforce was celebrated as an anniversary in 2013 -- 20 years since Mighty Morphin' aired. Super Sentai may have done similar when Magiranger celebrated not only Fiveman's 15th anniversary but also Goranger's 30th anniversary. Ninninger made some references to past series. Kiramager also introduced monsters similar to the Masked Monsters. Kiramanger also brought in a Gekiranger episode too. Ohranger took place in 1995 -- the year when Goranger and JAKQ were later added into the Super Sentai list.
Gozyuger's plot seems to invite different age groups together as revealed by UkiyaSeed:
The Gozyugers will fight against enemies sent by an evil army called "Number One Monsters" who are the best in all fields. They will engage in "Number One Showdowns" with the Number One Monsters and rescue people who have been mercilessly drawn into the conflict. At the same time, a battle over the Sentai Rings will also break out! The five heroes are driven to fight to "collect all the rings" and are also rivals competing for said rings. In addition to the core five, rivals with the powers of previous Reds will appear one after another! It's "Sentai vs. Sentai"! The enemies are the previous Reds and the Gozyugers! There can only be one No. 1!
Apparently, Super Sentai may have created this "Super Sentai Grid" -- a concept that was used in Power Rangers. However, this "Sentai Grid" is only used sparingly to presumably avoid overuse. The plot may be that the Number One Army may have stolen previous red ranger powers. Will there be guest stars every now and then? I doubt it given the time skip that happened between decades. I'm still skeptical over how would turn out to be!
The heroes
Is it me or the main heroes are usually meant to be neophytes? One could think of the ages that lead characters play. Many Super Sentai human-looking villains are either voiced or played in the flesh by seasoned actors. Joji Nakata has voiced some villains even if he hasn't shown up in the flesh. The late Masashi Ishibashi and the late Soga Machiko are way older than the ranger cast. There are times when a sixth ranger shows up and that guy is much older. Shiro Izumi and Keisuke Minami were in their 30s playing the extra rangers.
Now, for the cast that's so young!
Mio Fuyuno (born on December 3, 2023) as Hoeru Toono/ Gozyu Wolf
Hoeru is a foul-mouthed and unsociable man, but is a good person at heart. His violent and difficult behavior leads to him getting fired from every job he works at. Because of an incident from his past, Hoeru lives his life trying not to have any wishes of his own. When transforming, he has a tendency to get pumped up and howl.
Given that the writer will be Akiko INOUE (yes, Toshiki Inoue's daughter) -- I guess she's trying to pull off her father's influence into her works. I wonder how Akiko Inoue would've turned out if she were King-Ohger's writer? This character's first impression is almost like how Inoue (and in extension, Yasuko Kobayashi) would write their a**hole characters.
Hideharu Suzuki (born on November 7, 2003) as Rikuo Byakuya / Gozyu Leon
Strategic and charismatic, Rikuo is described as a people pleaser who excels at manipulating others. Due to an incident from his past, Rikuo’s career as an idol was brought to an end, and he became an outcast. He is described as overconfident at times, but makes an effort to back it up.
This looks like Akiko following her father's type of characters. Inoue belonged to the older generation where he had more freedom to make his jerks, jerkier. Apparently, this manipulative guy might end up more cartoony than irritating. I wonder how this people pleasure and manipulator be developed? Hopefully, he doesn't become as irritating as Masaku Kusaka!
Masakazu Kanda (born on January 4, 1994) as Ryugi Bakugami / Gozyu Tyranno
Ryugi is described as a follower of TegaSword, and his unorthodox beliefs caused him to run away from home as a child so he could pursue his wish for TegaSword to be happy. Despite being naive and laidback, Ryugi is extremely strong, and has little to worry about.
This is similar to how Ryouma Baba was the eldest in Go-Busters, Yamato Kinjo was the eldest in Kyoryuger and So Kaku was the eldest in King-Ohger. The dinosaur really fits him well. Many times, I make fun of my age and say, "I'm becoming Jurassic!" Sure, I accept a lot of new technology and I'm enjoying newer photo editing technology. The same can't be said with how I rank Super Sentai. I tend to prefer mostly older Super Sentai. Currently, I prefer mostly Kamen Rider from the 2000s over the 2010s and 2020s. I'm still watching Gavv but yeah -- I miss the darker and edgier days!
I wonder how Ryugi's status as a follower of TegaSword will be played. Apparently, he's a smart character given the glasses. Is this guy purposely placed here to at least give the 1990s babies some connection?
Jin Matsumoto as Kinjiro Takehara (born on February 14, 2005) / Gozyu Eagle
A party-loving high school student, Kinjiro is described as a very serious person who wants to spend his time becoming more of a party person. Although he is estranged from his family, he doesn’t really seem to care.
This guy was born while I was in college. So yeah, it was that time when I took that Toku break. Currently, this guy would be 20 years old. There were times when people played high school students but they're OLDER. For example, the main cast of Turboranger and Mighty Morphin' were Dawson Casting. My eyeballs rolled realizing Amy Jo Johnson was actually 23 when she played Kimberly! It rolled further when I discovered the Turboranger main cast were mostly older than their characters too.
Maya Imamori (born on March 26, 2006) as Sumino Ichikawa / Gozyu Unicorn
Sumino is cool, but can use her charm as a weapon when she wants to. A former police officer, an incident from her past caused her to become an outcast. Now working as a high-class detective, Sumino also works a part-time job.
This would be the youngest in the cast. 18 years old? Like WUT? Maya's cast as a HIGH-CLASS DETECTIVE instead of a working student? I'm really LMAOing at this casting decision. It was more accurate to cast Reiyo Matsumoto in Gotchard as a student. Reiyo was in her late teens when she got the job. This? I dunno Toei but what are you thinking? We're not running a high school musical here!
Interestingly, Maya's the first (?) half-Filipino cast member for Super Sentai. We had one half-Filipino cast member in Kiva with Yu Takahashi-Urabe. The actress kinda resembled Taiwanese actress Vivian Xu-Lee. I had an assumption that Rin Takanashi-Tomoaki was half-Filipino back in 2009. I also assumed that Kazusa Okuyama-Takeuma was also half-Pinay. Looks like I've been proven wrong. This reminds me that Operation Overdrive had Rhoda Montemayor -- a Filipino of British citizenship as a ranger. In this case, I've been more welcoming of half-breeds than ever before!
Some female cast members in Super Sentai were also half-something else. Margeret "Mitchi" Love who played Karen Mizuki in JAKQ was half-Caucasian. Erica Murakami (real surname not revealed yet) is a half-Caucasian with a Canadian father. What I still find laughable is that retired actress Natsumi Takahashi (whose family life is rather private) has Caucasian features too.
Noriko Nakoshi (born on December 31, 1979) as Saori Ijima
Time flies and you've got someone in her 40s. This would be a more or less fitting moment. She would be going 46 this year. She would be 23 years older than the red ranger. She would also be old enough to be the mother of most of the cast members. I wonder if she'll inspire me to still watch Super Sentai even as I enter middle age?
Meanwhile, I'm yet to know anything about Kuon. Below is a description of the assist characters:
Helping our heroes along the way is Saori Iijima, the caretaker where Hoeru lives and the owner of the café "Half Century", which is downstairs where Hoeru lives. This kind manager reluctantly lets Hoeru stay even though he's late with his rent payments! Later, she entrusts the café to Ryugi. She is played by Noriko Nakagoshi (Kokoro).
Another civilian character is a man named Kuon, a young president of an AI company. He holds the key to the story and has a connection with Hoeru. But the bigger question is, is he a friend or a foe? He is played by Kurama. Lastly, though we will not see him on screen, Wataru Komada (Ultra Galaxy Fight) will provide the battle voices from the heavens that liven up the story.
The villainous No One World Buraidan organization
The Buraidan are the current set of villains. It's refreshing to see more human-faced villains. I enjoyed King-Ohger but I wish that more villains had human faces. It was disappointing IMHO that only Grodie had a human (played by Kousei Amano). Toei probably received some requests for more human-looking villains huh?
None of the descriptions fit what a Big Bad would be. Some superhero shows tend to hide the true villain or the Man Behind the Man more often than not. Here's the initial villain revelation.
Daisuke Sambongi as Fire Candle
One of the executives of the No One World Buraidan organization, Fire Candle is on bad terms with Gozyu Wolf. He is the leader of the Buraidan attack forces. Although he is described as being well-liked and cares for his friends, he can also be impulsive at times.
Daisuke is apparently born on April 27, 1989. Apparently, the guy already has had experience. Most Super Sentai villains tend to be played by seasoned actors.
Marupi (born on November 5, 1999) as Bouquet
A compassionate executive of the Buraidan, Bouquet is described as cute, humble, polite, and understanding towards other people’s feelings. Bouquet also serves as the technical captain of the Buraidan.
Marupi would be 24 years old at this moment. There were also cases when Super Sentai villains were played by less seasoned cast members. That may have been the case of Kaya Hirasawa in GoGoFive and Mari Kono in Dynaman. Both actresses were in their early 20s.
Tomokazu Sugita and Reina Ueda as Mr. Shining Knife and Mrs. Sweet Cake
An executive and the chief of staff for the Buraidan respectively, their intense love cause them to fuse together. When their love reaches its peak, they grow to a giant size.
Mr. Shining Knife is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita. Mrs. Sweet Cake is voiced by Reina Ueda.
So far, this isn't going to be human-looking villain. This story almost reminds me of Baron Ashura from Mazinger Z. Baron Ashura was originally two lovers who were mummified alive. Dr. Hell merged the two of them into one being -- for some crazy reason!
Final details
Here are the rest of the details provided by UkiyaSeed:
As for the theme songs, the show's opening theme is titled "WINNER! Gozyuger" by Wienners, and the show's ending theme is titled "Be Be Be-lie-ving" by Miyu Kaneko.
TV-Asahi's Takehiro Okawa will return as the show's executive producer, with TV-Asahi's Keisuke Shibataka, Toei's Daigo Matsuura, and Toei Agency's Koichi Yada all serving as producers. The series will be written by Akiko Inoue (Kamen Rider Gotchard), making this her first time writing for the franchise. She is also the second Inoue to write for the franchise as her father, Toshiki Inoue previously wrote Choujin Sentai Jetman and Avataro Sentai Donbrothers.
Veteran tokusatsu director Ryuta Tazaki will direct the series, Hiroshi Butsuda returns to work as the show's special effects director, and Hirofumi Fukuzawa (Avataro Sentai Donbrothers) will serve as the show's action director. Lastly, Kan Sawada (Doraemon, Godzilla Singular Point) will compose the show's music.
No. 1 Sentai Gozyuger is set to premiere this February 16, 2025 at 9:30am JST, replacing Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger in TV-Asahi's Super Hero Time block.
The names of the producers are already unfamiliar to me. It may be good because overusing producers can have bad results. I could enjoy the works of Shinichiro Shirakura but he's probably overworked. I wonder how Akiko will work with these producers.
Speaking of which, I wonder why hasn't Beverly Caimen been chosen to sing either the opening song or ending song?! Beverly's a Filipino residing in Japan. Maya is half-Filipino. Hmmm...
Comments
Post a Comment