Turboranger Nightmare Fuel

One thing I tend to like about classic 80s to 90s Super Sentai is the nightmare fuel! Did I mention to you I actually had nightmares about that scary house in Kamen Rider Black as a kid? Turboranger itself is a controversial season and I find it unfairly maligned. But I do think history has vindicated it. Right now, there's no Shout! Factory release yet. I just wonder do some fans end up thinking this is better than Caaaarrrrrannnger ahem Carranger? Then I think about Mighty Morphin' - a show that I just watched for the sake of watching it while thinking of Turboranger. Turboranger isn't really solid gold, it's got its flaws (such as when real-life writes plot), or that Hirohisa Soda would end up writing Fiveman as a disaster that nearly ended the franchise. Yet, I can't deny that I'm a fan of Turboranger.

The show seemed like it was trying to be a teenybopper. I think the nightmare fuel was possibly trying to convince Super Sentai fans who were either entering middle school or high school not to give up. The heroes are flawed but not really in the sense like the Power Rangers (2017) movie. Riki was hinted to have been doing well (but not outstanding) before his calling to become a Turboranger. Youhei is well really at the bottom of the class. The group shows themselves as teenagers with an attitude trying to cope up with life. Then they are forced to fight an ancient menace that's been, "After 10,000 years we're finally free - it's time to conquer Earth!"


The nightmare fuel of Turboranger is with the villains! I really have to admit that these guys are scary to some point. What nightmares did I have watching Turboranger?

Ragorn is made with a set of people controlling it. The design itself is very scary making it seemingly look like it was made with other living creatures. He's got extra arms on his throne to punish his subordinates whenever he's displeaed. He's voiced by the late Takeshi Watabe and the Tagalog dubber didn't do much justice to it! One could consider Watabe's excellent performance as the Creation King in Kamen Rider Black (which only appeared later but was always mentioned) and God Neros in Metalder. Turboranger isn't exactly the best performance he has. But when Ragorn speaks - he really means it. I've criticized Ragorn to be a really childish villain. He easily throw tantrums when things don't go his way. Real-life starts to write the plot, especially in the midseason change. Ragorn starts to get really angry and beats up Zimba, Jarmin, and his adviser Rehda saying, "When will you defeat the Turborangers?" I could laugh at how childish he is until he smacks me with one of his extra arms on his throne. He's not too happy that "mere infants" have defeated his plans over and over again. The scene where he eventually gets fed up and sentences Jarmin next is really scary. Worse, you can see Rehda is determined to finish the job because he's given the ultimatum, "Either you destroy the Turborangers or never return!" Him returning as Neo-Ragorn has a really classic, scary design too though I only saw it as an adult. There's also a lot of nightmare fuel in the episode Ragorn and Red Turbo duel it to the death. He's a Vicious Idiot of a villain that you can't get away with making fun of!

The villain plots and episodes can be very scary. The earlier episode featuring the Dango Bouma was really scary. Ragorn wants to eat dumplings made of humans and the imagined scenario is just scary. The episode of the Licking Bouma and the trash zombies was also nightmare fuel. Those slime zombies were nearly realistic for an 80s show. Who can remember the episode where only Riki was left and the other Turborangers were locked in orbs? Riki does something you can't see in Mighty Morphin' (due to TV-Y7-FV) or even in most newer Super Sentai series - douse the monster in gasoline and shoot it with a laser gun! The midseason change also had some real nightmare fuel aside from Ragorn's anger. Jarmin summoning the Kuroko Bouma is really scary! Rehda's desperate attack also involves trapping Riki in a ghost dimension. The Chomajin Bouma is also pretty scary once you know it's the strongest monster of the Bouma Tribes. The episode of Kirika's revenge is just scary. The episode of a painting devouring people is scary. There's also that episode Seelon nearly gets digested after Yamimaru and Kirika temporarily overthrew Ragorn? Even Ragorn's return is nightmare fuel. I wonder was Zulten kept around to try and balance the show since he was the Bouma scapegoat? Would have Zulten died in Jarmin's final episode - I think the Bouma would have no court jester though as said, he's insignificant.

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What are your thoughts on Turboranger's nightmare fuel?