Obviously this is the era where Hirohisa Soda had no idea what to do anymore but to try and create a portfolio of his previous works. Burned out, Soda had some rather silly episode to serious ones, but whatever, Soda really needed to step down after writing so many series! Other than that, Fiveman for me is still more watchable than Magiranger in the long run!
Hirohisa Soda (main writer) : 1-5, 7, 9, 12-15, 19-21, 23-26, 28-31, 33-34, 37-38, 42-48 (33 eps)
Episodes 1-2 introduces us to the Fiveman and the Zone. I thought that the series was interesting considering it was an all-sibling team, compared to the standard non-sibling team. It did leave some things to our imagination like how time ran between Zone and Earth considering the Fivemen grew up while Zone didn't age a day. It was a nice premiere but the series was going to a messed up direction but not to the point it's ultimately not unwatchable.
Episode 3 introduces the rivalry of Five Red and Billion. As if Five Red's rivalry with Garoa wasn't enough, he faces Billion. Billion features a decent plan to use Tiger-Gin to possess a boy's body and later Gaku's body to get rid of Gaku. I love how Billion was introduced as a manipulative bastard.
Episode 4 is a very WTF episode. The plan was to get the Earth drunk which actually is a good idea but, come on why not just poison everyone instead?! I laughed at the time when Remi fell into the dam, got drunk and mastered drunken kung fu. The drunken kung fu scene was amazing! Other than that, I really laughed too hard!
Episode 5 is an episode of sheer stupidity proving how moronic Dongoros is. Okay I did get a bit scared when the babies were kidnapped but turning them into eggs sounded stupid. Well he could have just mutated the babies directly but Dongoros lacks common sense. Sheesh, I wonder how much losses he has as a galactic merchant? It did feature some development for the twins though as they never saw their parents as children, they were still infants that time. A galactic egg goes around looking for its parent which I did feel sorry for it. Other than that, Dongoros deserves to be berated for his stupidity.
Episode 7 features its first development for Kasumi and at least, for Dongoros something useful when he uses a land mine against the Fivemen. A huge alien drops out for failing in Math, Kasumi tutors the giant alien in Math. I just love how Dongoros for once, showed he can be a manipulative bastard in spite of his being a moron.
Episode 9 is when the unofficial Gingaman appear. For one, the name was later re-used for an actual series, Seijuu Sentai Gingaman but here, the were known as the Galaxy Men in Tagalog. Dordora uses them as so-called heroes to manipulate the public. Dordora shows her Farrah-like tactics in using deception which for me was better than her turn water into liquor episode.
Episode 12 has Soda recycling some ideas from Bioman. Arthur G-6 like Peebo gets amnesiac and taken by a kid. Unlike Peebo who wants to go home, Arthur G-6 was reprogrammed by a kid to act as his "brother". Billion had nearly spelled the end of the Fivemen if it wasn't for the Earth Cannon, Arthur G-6's transformation. Like Bioman, the episode the assistant robot temporarily loses amnesia is also the episode that a new technique is born.
Episode 13 features Dongoros' yet another half-brained scheme to freeze the Earth. Garoa is shown to be the one to care about his subordinates when he begs Meadow to punish him instead. This episode has Remi develop as a music teacher. One weakness the monster has is music in general, which I think is just pretty stupid.
Episode 14 has a lesson in lying which was repeated in Megaranger. Dordora gets the liar child to try and find the Fivemen with Bat-Gin. The Fivemen in the end appear to play with the children.
Episode 15 develops some serious rivalry for Garoa and Five Red. The episode throws back with the Sidon Flower which Meadow mutates into a monster. It had some nightmare fuel as the Sidon Flower actually pierced the leg of one of its victims probably to devour it. Five Red engages Garoa in battle in this episode, which shows Garoa was no pushover. Sadly Garoa would face villain decay.
Episodees 19-20 introduces Star Five, which hints that the parents of the Fivemen could still be alive. A bounty hunter known as Gunther appears, challenging the Fivemen to a duel. The Fivemen battle the Star Five but realizes its a new robot for them. Garoa shows he can still be a dangerous opponent nonetheless. The Super Five Robo is formed in this episode.
Episode 21 has the moment when Ken defeats a monster out of suit. Three children learn a value in perseverance when they see Ken defeat the monster out of suit. A very important lesson in perseverance.
Episode 23 was for me again one of Dongoros' brilliant plans gone wrong. It introduces us to the Five Puppets that while I found them cute as a child, I tend to think it was a gimmick gone wrong. Ugh. Dongoros launches a voodoo monster which Five Black gets attacked. Five Black learns a lesson in humility in this episode.
Episode 24 has a crazy ninja-related episode with Remi as the focus. One of the Battlzer soldiers is an outcast and sadly dies. Remi somewhat could be throwing back to Haruka in Maskman as a ninja.
Episode 25 has another non-evil monster. Billion uses Liogin who has an old friend trying to bring him back to his senses. The plan was to let Mt. Fuji erupt as part of Zone's invasion plan. Meadow later attempts to let Mt. Fuji erupt, only for Liogin to counter it. Unlike most of Billion's episodes, Liogin survives.
Episode 26 is one silly episode where Zone's hierarchy goes topsy turvy. So the Galactic Monster is in charge over Zone, the Battlzer soldiers are to be followed, Garoa is demoted, this episode is one huge mess. And the monster needs to eat gold? WTF!
Episode 28 introduces us to Chevalier, the Vulgyre's first captain who has returned. For some reason, Garoa ended up taking over Chevalier's position. The Galaxy Men return in this episode to cause trouble yet again. I thought Chevalier had one stupid introduction in doing a musical number yet is also shown to have dangerous influence.
Episode 29 features Garoa's new monster making process. Not wanting to be overshadowed, Garoa introduces combining two monsters into one. The Crab-Gin and Ant-Gin are fused into one half and half monster which is utterly gross. Super Five Robo is nearly defeated, the Zone nearly takes over the Magmabase but one thing saves the day. Gaku reveals that the Magmabase can go into robot mode and combines with Super Five Robo to form Max Magma. Sadly the combination was hardly used.
Episode 30 shows Chevalier having his Black Gorlin and introduces his new monster Itakimagin. Chevalier's new monster shows that its resistant to the Earth Canoon but the Fivemen develop the soccer ball attack. I found this episode mixed. Chevalier has his Black Gorlin but the fact it goes into a dodge ball game, I'm feeling Chevalier won't be much of a game changer.
Episode 31 has another hint the Fivemen's parents could still be alive somewhere. Dordora creates a deadly film with Tanuki-Fox Gin which illusions are used to lure the Fivemen out. At least this plan was more decent than the last episode!
Episode 33 features Garoa's dismissal as captain. For one, Garoa shows signs of character decay and I mean a lot. So much for the Garoa who was once a threat, he becomes a moronic captain. He introduced the combination system which started to change the game. Garoa's stupid technique of merging both Eagle-Gin and Gorilla-Gin back to back has to be the stupidest way to combine monsters! So it did release a devastating wind but the monster's disagreement was further outsmarted by flip cards. Garoa was effectively dismissed in this episode.
Episode 34 has Chevalier's new term as captain but my, this episode shows how most of his plans aren't any different except for a few. Okay Chevalier is more aggressive than Garoa but the plans most of them are no better. It's hard to take him seriously in this episode when he plans to can the Fivemen and rest of humanity. Why can't he just throw in a better plan than that? It's TOO GENERIC!
Episode 37 has the team power up introduced in the form of the Five Tector. Dordora releases Turban-Armadillo Shell which is one extremely powerful monster. The Fivemen develop the new weapon realizing that Zone is getting more aggressive. Here Soda actually restores some brilliance when he actually puts them in a real dangerous situation before introducing the new gear. I think producers just wanted to sell more toys.
Episode 38 has one dumb episode. Come on, I really had a lot of facepalms watching it. Chevalier, Garoa, Dordora, Zaza and Billion pretend to be the Fivemen? I found this episode really lousy. Provided Chevalier double-crosses a kid and plans to pollute, but that teacher plan was unnecessary.
Episode 42 has Chevalier's plan to steal the Fivemen's powers. This is the first episode to actually hint something about Vulgyre. Vulgyre releases some mysterious energy and Meadow projects herself to the sky, reddish and very angry. It also hints the series close end. This episode features Remi being quite badass as she managed to expose the Galaxy Men's ruse as the Fivemen to the public. Too bad Zyuranger's version wasn't all as great!
Episode 43 goes back to Dongoros' stupid plans. Turning TV into living beings was stupid yet it also teaches a lesson on TV addiction. The living TVs were metaphors for too much TV makes it looks like TV will follow you everywhere. I thought this was a pretty silly episode. Too bad Soda didn't inject much nightmare fuel into it.
Episode 44 has Garoa returning to becoming a threat. Garoa uses a Gorlin, powers it up inside Vulgyre. He creates the Big Garoan which effectively defeats Super Five Robo, leaving the Fivemen crippled. Although he does not destroy the Fivemen, he still gets his captaincy back. Sadly for him, it would just be a short time.
Episode 45 has Chevalier attempting to make trophies of the Fivemen. I thought he had it well-planned. Gaku was turned int one but some gastric juice inside Vulgyre
Episode 46 features Vulgyre's revelation which was just too sudden. Meadow is just revealed to be an illusion. While Dordora goes crazy, it bothers me how the rest can still easily work with their true master even after the revelation comes out. Dordora is forcibly merged with Zaza into something that's a better way to merge monsters. Billion meets his end at the hands of Five Red after he kills Gunther.
Episode 47 has Chevalier and Garoa in clash with each other. It's so hurriedly written with how the Galaxy Men were written off so easily. Vulgyre undergoes his shedding which he requires the "greatest death in the Universe" fooling them the Fivemen are needed. In reality, it turns out to be Chevalier which was predictable. Since the heroes usually don't die before the finale, the Fivemen's deaths would not be needed. I love the nightmare fuel in here though but other than that, Chevalier's death being the "greatest death" was somewhat WTF.
Episode 48 is an action intense episode but the real Meadow is just forcibly written in. So we learn that only the Sidon flowers can destroy Vulgyre, adding sense to why the events happened as they were. I thought the finale was intense with the Sidon flowers' true purpose being revealed. Dongoros dies a karmic death while Garoa was trapped in the real Meadow's coffin leading to their deaths. The Fivemen then go on to recover their parents.
Mami Watanabe: 6, 16, 22, 36, 40 (5 eps)
Episode 6 was a lesson on laziness. It was a focus on Remi. Sometimes I think a female writer can write female character development better. I love this moment of Remi when she teaches a lesson on laziness when Zone uses a mushroom that makes people lazy.
Episode 16 was a lesson on gluttony and again, focuses on Remi. This plot was later copied into Zyuranger's Dora Circe. I thought this episode was also pretty funny. Dongoros' plan to use just one monster to consume the world's supply is retarded, considering he could have produced more of them. Stupid Dongoros.
Episode 22 was Kasumi's focus. A mysterious alien named Queen Killer seeks a life crystal which was created by a scientist (acted by Kazunori Inaba). Here Kasumi gets some focus where she nearly gets killed but proves she's no ordinary pink ranger. I just love the interaction between Kasumi and the mysterious scientist. Hehe, I sort of started to fan pair Takeru and Kasumi for this!
Episode 36 focuses on the twins Fumiya and Kasumi yet again. Chevalier shows despite his aggressiveness, he is also just as half-brained as Garoa when it comes to schemes for Zone to take over the Earth. Zone starts switching everyone's minds to other people's bodies causing chaos everywhere.
Episode 40 for me is another of my favorite episodes. Billion manipulates a kid under Gaku's class into using the Demon Majin Sword. Sheesh, as if Billion can't get any worse can he? Billion shows he is a manipulative bastard which I felt sorry for Gaku. I just love how this episode how Gaku conquers the powre of the Demon Majin Sword. Billion enlarges but he isn't killed by Five Robo. He simply loses when the Demon Majin Sword is destroyed.
Kunio Fujii : 8, 11, 17, 35, 41 (5 eps)
Episode 8 is one of the Fuji episodes I love. Wolf-Gin is assigned by Billion to track down Sayla (who is just kid), who is another victim of Zone's evil activities of destroying planets for its ruler Meadow. It was one of the sadder episodes which makes me think Billion has a better brain than most of his comrades. This is one episode where the kid of the week dies.
Episode 11 has Fumiya's focus with a kid of the week in a treasure hunt. I love how the kid learns there is more to life than treasures. Meanwhile Dongoros proves to be really stupid yet again.
Episode 17 has Fumiya in focus when Dordora manipulates him. Dordora disguises herself as a cute girl which Fumiya is placed under mind control. Fortunately he was able to outsmart Dordora.
Episode 41 is where Dordora actually uses a monster to seduce Kasumi. A mysterious handsome young man (who is the monster of the week) appears trying to find the weaknesses of the Fivemen.
Toshiki Inoue : 10, 18, 27, 32, 39 (5 eps)
Episode 10 is a focus on Dordora and a Romano prince who wants revenge. A very heavy lesson on revenge. Fumiya meets the Romano prince who came from one of the planets that Zone deprived of life, wants revenge on Dordora for killing his family. I thought it's scary how the prince sucks blood to gain revenge. He was going to blow himself up with Dordora, only here he blows himself up to defeat the monster's armor realizing revenge isn't the answer.
Episode 18 is a huge lesson on greed. A child becomes money hungry while Dongoros releases an extremely stupid monster that won't work if it doesn't get unreasonable amounts of money. The child turns into a pig because of greed. Although it's pretty stupid, but there's a lesson on greed.
Episode 27 is nightmare fuel with the Mantis Gin. Unlike other monsters, it attacks people in their sleep and the Fivemen can't morph in the process. The monster may be weak but it was a pretty terrifying episode. I love how sneaky Dordora was in here.
Episode 32 at least gets Chevalier to do something useful as he KILLS GAKU! Although this episode shows how stupid he can be to immediately believe Kasumi's "defection". I laughed at how the monster ended up reviving Gaku in the process. Too bad Chevalier shifts from game changer to just another villain too much.
Episode 39 is a redo of Kunio Fuji's Maskman episode of Kiros and Eri. Here Billion is mistaken by a girl named Solar as her savior, when he isn't. Compared to Kiros, Billion sets up the deception. What I hated to think was that Billion manipulated the girl for his own convenience. Man, I wanted to kill Billion for what he did.
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