One Good Scare: GoGoFive's Nightmare Fuel Is Better Than Winspector's And Fiveman's

GoGoFive is one show that I'd say is pretty much ahead of its time. It was 1999 and the year 2000 was approaching. It looks like Toei was throwing almost everything to end the 90s and GoGoFive had it. While it's been easy to ignore most of Lightspeed Rescue while watching GoGoFive but definitely not Winspector and Fiveman. Okay, I could be lying because I still tend to compare Lightspeed Rescue's Carter (a fireman) to Exceedraft's captain Hayato (a policeman) in terms of skill and leadership! Now, moving on to Fiveman and how I thought that it's really full of nightmare fuel. Heck, I'd call it an improved version of the nightmare fuel you may have had with Hirohisa Soda in the late 80s with Changeman, Flashman, Maskman, and Turboranger. Fiveman did have a few nightmare fuel episodes but GoGoFive beats it. What do you expect? GoGoFive deals with ghouls and ghosts and tries to be mature as possible (but as said, Rescue Police Trilogy still beats it at that).

Where does the nightmare fuel even start? Do you remember the scary rumors of the world ending in the year 2000? I think Toei had a lot of guts pushing through that idea such as the Grand Cross event which would allow Grand Witch Grandienne to descend? I wish they did push through that during 2012 with Go-Busters becoming a doomsday Super Sentai. The siblings have emerged hoping to put an end of the world for their mother Grandienne. Grandienne doesn't show up yet but her children alone are more than enough to set a threat. The introductory episodes already have enough nightmare fuel. Later episodes would really tell you that the Saima siblings aren't joking even while they execute the typical absurd plans for world domination. Think about how the Gorgom high priests in Kamen Rider Black come up with ridiculously complicated plans yet these plans can scare you off. Then you have some episodes where they focus on Grandienne's demands when everyone is failing miserably!

I think one of the best episodes has to be GoGoFive episode six. Do you remember Winspector episode 17 where blobs were surrounding the village? It was kind of scary but you can think of how technology evolved over time in 1999. GoGoFive has a lot of budgets and I mean a LOT. That very deadly killer mold coming to life in GoGoFive has to be one of the scariest moments ever. Running away from a village infested with blobs is scary. GoGoFive has one of the heroes trapped and a killer mold can destroy humanity. I really find that episode to be one of the best Super Sentai nightmare fuel episodes to be written. But that's just a preview of a lot of scary stuff GoGoFive has to share. I still find this episode scarier than the ones where the Winspector team had rather limited resources to contain an alien threat.


I could remember how Empress Meadow in Fiveman was sort of scary with her booming, majestic voice. What disappointed me years later (or in my teenage years) was to find out that Meadow was just an illusion created by Vulgyre. Like WTF was Soda thinking when he decided to write Meadow off as an illusion? I felt like the people with GoGoFive actually ended up finding what to do with Meadow. It looks like they weren't done with Meadow. Not satisfied with Zyuranger's Dai Satan (who in himself is loads of nightmare fuel even if he hasn't spoken outside growls) - they probably decided that Grand Bitch Grandienne was going to become Meadow done right. Fiveman did give the plot that Meadow thrived on negative energy.

Although Grandienne didn't appear until episode eight - she shows she's not to be messed with. She speaks directly to her children and wanting them to please her or else. I also think the whole rivalry between Zylpheeza and Salamandes is more intense than what Garoa and Chevalier had to offer. Who can remember Zylpheeza deciding to finally decide to take things into his own hands from Missions 19 up to 22? The deadly game of exploding feathers to getting his elite is more intimidating than Garoa's measures. Salamandes would later accelerate from infancy to acquiring the necessary knowledge to operate as the new Draconic Prince. She goes from spirit form to her incomplete form. The whole tidal wave scene with her face on it makes me wish it also happened in Fiveman.

What makes her truly a terrifying foe is when you realize that she's accumulated several millions of worth of negative energy. The GoGoFive finally destroy her but they realize that what they did nearly spelled the end of the world. Do you remember when the Kakurangers were warned to never destroy Daimaou or his evil will spread? I guess GoGoFive took a very daring direction by destroying Grandienne's body. Then Grandienne ends up in her spirit form which is almost a scarier version of the illusion called Meadow. The writers didn't write off Grandienne as some mere projection and insert a last-minute villain. Instead, she's literally fulfilling what Meadow's concept could've been! She's the negative energy of the Universe personified. She literally envelops the planet that it takes an extremely life-threatening stunt to destroy both her hosts (and sons) Zylpheeza and Salamandes once and for all. Seeing her dissipate away was pretty much satisfying considering the amount of cruelty she really shows way too much.

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If anything, I tend to miss the days when Super Sentai was scarier and more violent!