Well, sorry for the late reviews due to the late release in subtitles. I always rely on subtitles since I'm not really Japanese! So, I don't know if I'm going to change the way I review things but here's a bit of me merging two episode reviews into one. I did it a bit with Gokaiger. Right now, I just want to slow things down, give Kiramager a lower bar (since I'm afraid Naruhisa Arakawa may be burned out already, and maybe take a break from Super Sentai whenever something new (or old) catches my interest.
The first episode introduces Planet Crystalia. I'm just reminded of the Planet Denzi from Denziman due to the gem theme. It's a bright crystal castle. Just then Dark Empire Yodoheim leads an attack. I think this is a rehash of the Shadow Line from ToQGer last 2014. Once again, I'm already back to my desire that Arakawa was the one writing ToQGer last 2014 instead of Yasuko Kobayashi. Fast forward.
The Dark Empire Yodomheim begins its attack under Dark Mask Crantula. He leads the Bechat army to invade the castle. Princess Mabushina the sole heiress of the throne is told by her father Oradin (which is probably a pun on Aladdin) to escape to Earth. Another villain named Galza is the younger brother of Oradin. Galza sided with the Yodonheim out of jealousy.
Meanwhile, we see a high school student named Juru Atsuta see everything. He feels he's just imagining things. What he doesn't realize is that he probably has extra-sensory perceptions. This ability will be vital to the Kiramagers' quest to defeat the Dark Empire Yodonheim.
Princess Mabushina (and I almost typed Malshina, hehehehe) meets with Pikotaro's character known as Muryo Hakataminami. Oh boy, I'm reminded of times I have a hard time memorizing the long names of Japanese restaurants too aside from Thai and Indian. How Hakataminami knew of Oradin or Crystalia is still unknown. All we know is he heads CARAT which means Caring And Radical Ambitious Team.
The Kiramagers are chosen based on Kiramental abilities. I guess it's about the power of IMAGINATION. So where's the Conductor from ToQGer when you need him?! The heroes chosen are Sena Hayami a female athlete, Shiguru Oshikiri an action star, Tametomo Imizu an e-sports player (well, I suggest my readers watch
King's Avatar if they haven't), and Sayo Oharu a doctor. TBH though I'm not too impressed with Sayo yet. Maybe, I'm just too used to Matsuri (GoGoFive) and Dana (Lightspeed Rescue) being tougher at the start than Sayo is. But it's best to give Sayo a chance!
The heroes arrive at their secret hideout. This setting just reminds me of Gaoranger. I even felt why didn't Gaoranger's first episode have this one? Gaoranger started where the four heroes are already rangers before Kakeru arrived in their team. They also do virtual reality testing to give them a briefing of their powers. Out-of-suit and morph scenes are okay but nothing special. I really haven't been too glad about the toning down of Super Sentai presumably due to new Japanese censorship laws since 2001.
Meanwhile, the Yodonheim launches its first attack with a giant faucet-headed monster. That wraps up the zeroth episode!
The problem is still trying to find the fifth hero. At this point, I wonder why Gaoranger didn't decide to devote its first two episodes trying to find the red ranger? I think Timeranger could've benefited too if they spread the development a little bit with a three-parter introduction. Regardless, we're getting our unexpected hero.
A high school student to lead the group of adults? That's just weird, really. There were some Super Sentai seasons where a teenager/s gets mixed into a team of adults. Examples are Maskman, Jetman, and Shinkenger. But a high school student as a leader? Now, I guess that's trying something new and I hope the implementation will be well.
I just love how Juru himself is still unaware of the real problem. Typical high schooler, right? He starts to see everyone in action unaware that he's going to lead them. He has the imagination that would make him the fifth member. But how ready is he? He has his doubts. Later, he ends up realizing he's the red ranger they've been looking for. He later figures out his imagination power is all linked to saving the day!
Meanwhile, two students remind me of what happened during the Greenhills Hostage Incident. Really, you want to take pictures of a GIANT MONSTER during a rampage? I really facedesk at this one. Did Arakawa catch the wind of the incident that happened a few weeks ago?
The key to the mecha is IMAGINATION again. Unlike ToQGer where the mecha are already there - it takes Juru's imagination to build them all. He creates a sportscar which becomes a firetruck. That's quite some IMAGINATION there!
The rest of the mecha are also built by Juru's IMAGINATION power, right? They don't assemble into their giant mecha yet - that's reserved for the next episode.
Next episode will be a challenge. How can Juru manage to lead a team of adults when he's just a high schooler? Hmmm... I guess that's the same challenge Kai Ozu had in Magiranger, right?
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