Exploring the The Rebel Ranger Concept

In Super Sentai, there was the concept of a rebel ranger put into action.  What do you mean by that?  According to Fantasy Leader as I'm a fan of his blog, it's about the ranger who typically opposes the team and not necessarily they are hesitant to join.  So how was it done?


First in Bioman there was Mika Koizumi.  She was not only hesitant to join the team at first, but also she typically opposed Shiro Gou.  Reasons?  Well she's too attached to her photojournalist hobby.  There was much plans for her but she had to be quickly killed off.  Way to screw up Yuki Yajima, you killed your character that should have had the potential to grow because of pay issues.  Fortunately the concept wasn't abandoned and Toei eventually got better cast members who don't easily depart.


The concept was explored later with the male gender in Gai Yuki.  Gai Yuki was pretty much Joe the Condor in some way in Gatchaman, if not the closest Jetman to his Gatchaman counterpart aside from Raita to Ryu the Owl and to Ryu, Ken the Eagle.  He frequently clashed with Ryu not only with the love triangle but almost everything that comes along the way.  Sadly he had to be killed off at the end in a very sudden way.  Ryu and Kaori named their son after him in the Jetman Encyclopedia which didn't directly state he died from that stab wound.


For Natsumi Kinohara, fortunately her actress didn't leave so we got a female rebel ranger to materialize for an entire season!  For an entire season, it focused on her development.  She opposed Kyousuke's relationship to Zonette.  Unlike Mika, she didn't attempt to leave the team and was more than ready to kick butt.


In the case of Hoji Tomasu, he was a rebel but too much of a pro type of rebel.  He sometimes went against protocol if necessary to stop any evil like when he decided not to rest so he could finish Jeanio's match underground.  He didn't like Ban as his leader since he felt the latter wasn't a pro like he was or the would have been red ranger, that was Gyoku Rou.


Masumi Inou was basically an attempt to remake Gai Yuki but lacking the womanizing and smoking elements.  He doesn't smoke. However he has his rebel streak to always oppose Satoru since he wants to be a better adventurer.  He frequently opposes Satoru's ideals for most of the series though they got better.  I just thought thankfully, he didn't join Gai Yuki in the afterlife so soon.


In the case of Chiaki Tani, he was portrayed to be a slacker who wanted to be better than Takeru Shiba and didn't take his training seriously.  So I pretty thought this was how it was done- you take Akira from Maskman, make him wear green instead of blue and add some rebelliousness, you get this guy!

Comments

  1. You forgot Tatsuya Yano/Black Bison of Liveman. Out of the 2 outsider rookies, he was rebellious butted heads with Ryusuke and the rest of the team and pushed Junichi Aikawa/Green Sai around alot.

    Then there is The Gouraigers from Hurricanegers, those two are complete outcasts as they are rival clans and have no choice but to cooperate.

    Yukito Sanjyo/Abareblue, he is a overrated, petty and over priced massuer who is only in it for the money. His intention of being a hero is not as strong as red, black and yellow.

    Gou Fakumi/Geki Violet- a geki jyuken practitioner who went ahead to develop the Shigeki in a attempt to defeat Rio. After reawakening and joining the team, Gou has a arrogant and alienating personality and looks down on the his teammates as he views them as novices. Also copying his Morocco he is a lone wolf as well.

    Joe Gibken- a former Zangyak soldier who lost his best friend during a treacherous turnabout by his superiors. A troubled warrior and also full of regret. He is very rebellious against his more high energy comrades positive outlook in life. He joins the team as he has nowhere to go.

    Most rebels are pesimist, outsiders, antihero and lone wolfs. They work well in the series and pose conflict and drama. By right, thuse colors are usually dark colors like blue and black!

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  2. Yellow 4 works better and muches.with Jun Yabuki as she wears yellow and she has a better mellow personality. I guess it was sarendipity that Yuki left the series as most fan prefer Jun.

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