How Turboranger May Have Inspired Carranger And Megaranger

The fact that Kosoku Sentai Turboranger has been subbed brings two more series to mind. These series are Gekisou Sentai Carranger and Denji Sentai Megaranger. I heard Turboranger had its struggle, got unfairly maligned (and was underappreciated), and may have been vindicated by history after all to the point of overappreciation. Turboranger was the first Heisei era Super Sentai as well. Turboranger was also a show that was full of experimental concepts such as teenagers with attitude (hence the true trope codifier, not Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers), automobiles for mecha (though the secondary mecha was a turbojet), and enemies that were sealed for centuries until they were released into the modern-day setting. The series was the start of the Heisei era while it signaled the end of the Hirohosa Soda era. Soda's era finally came to an end with Chikyu Sentai Fiveman - the series that nearly ended Super Sentai! Yup, you'll probably still hear more people preferring Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive over Fiveman any day!

Turboranger in itself can be a weird show. Five Japanese teenagers with attitude get randomly picked to fight an evil menace that's just been released. These teens must struggle with school while saving Japan from the Hundred Violent Demon Tribes. There are also some good old Public Service Announcements or PSAs in several episodes. One of them had an environmental message episode. Another had the struggles of teenagers. Many episodes have the Turborangers taking responsibility for their actions. Though, the show seems to randomly throw a lot of stuff -- teens with attitude, car magic, enemies from thousands of years ago, and later the arrival of the Nagare Bouma for the second half. The show was also controversial for writing off the three main Bouma Generals (while Ragorn just ignored Zulten's failures) replacing them with the Nagare Bouma, and Zulten's rather bad character decay. I heard the midseason change was also due to a lack of ratings which may have contributed to payroll issues. The show then ended in early 1990 when Fiveman really became that lackluster series vindicated by history.

The concepts were somehow revisited during the 90s. 1993 was the year when Mighty Morphin' became that monster hit in the USA on the same year of Jurassic Park. Toei Ltd. decided to film the Zyu2 footage, footage that was NEVER used in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger (and strangely, Kenta Sato was its opening theme singer) to accommodate the demand. In the late 90s, Toei may have decided to visit Turboranger's concept for two more shows in the making - Carranger (which I heard was really Turboranger's original working title) and Megaranger (which I heard was supposed to be another space-themed Super Sentai after Dengeki Sentai Changeman and Choshinsei Flashman). So how did it go?

Shifting into Turbo with Carranger

Carranger has to be the MOST OBVIOUS one, right? Turboranger started the car theme with the ridiculous inclusion of magic. In Carranger's case, they have car magic coming from a more magical source namely DAPPU himself, and not some weird doctor who works with fairies. The vehicles in Carranger are produced by Car Magic. The Carrangers are all given Car Magic powers to fight off the Bowzock who are evil space aliens with less than half a brain. The Carrangers weren't teens with attitude but working professionals in the Pegasus Garage. The show in itself was a ridiculous parody that hardly boosted ratings from Choriki Sentai Ohranger's 4.4 to 4.8. Though, the show may have been vindicated by history eventually as Carranger DVD sales did succeed leading to Megaranger DVD sales. 

Turboranger and Carranger do have some things in common. Soda's era may be over but he did write a few episodes in Carranger too. Heck, Soda even rewrote a Fiveman episode to fit into Carranger! The Carrangers also had a few stuff common such as the red ranger driving a similar type of automobile. The pink rangers also drove a van. Eventually, Carranger's true villain, Exhaus, is actually the show's version of Ragorn. Exhaus comes out rather intimidating and won't tolerate failure. However, unlike Ragorn, Exhaus would be more involved in trying to bring down the Carrangers and only arrived midseason since Gynamo was actually TOO STUPID (and Zulten ends up looking smart as a result) to be the show's main villain. Both the Turborangers and Carrangers also experienced mecha issues (such as when Turbo Robo broke down and RV Robo was stolen) and having the source of their powers sealed away by the main villains of their shows. Both shows have some PSAs attached to them. Carranger was more blatant about it though with safety rules for children. However, I felt the show appealed more to the older fans than children leading to a struggle with ratings. 

What would be strange (or not) is that Carranger's American counterpart would be named Power Rangers Turbo. In Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger - one episode had it where the Gokaigers accidentally used the Turboranger powers in the Carranger tribute episode. 

Going once more for teens with attitude with Megaranger

The following year caused another part of Turboranger to be revived namely teenagers with attitude. However, Megaranger in itself was more of a tribute to Hirohisa Soda's science era. Soda's era was marked with the good science vs. evil science - something Dai Sentai Goggle V started while the idea got expanded in Chodenshi Bioman. Megaranger also blatantly ripped off Doctor Man's backstory and rivalry with Professor Shinichiro Gou into that of Dr. Hinelar and the Megarangers' mentor, Professor Kubota. What would be interesting was that it was Megaranger and not Carranger that saved Super Sentai again in the 1990s in terms of ratings. 

The Megarangers were all high school students except for the sixth ranger. Their recruitment was really unconventional. There was the Megaranger arcade game which recruited its first recruit, Kenta. Was Kenta named Kenta because of Kenta Satou? Strangely, my favorite reds for all three shows focused in this post are also their red rangers! The other four went to that same research center and were suddenly made Megarangers by a series of unfortunate circumstances. The heroes also struggle with school and the Nezire at the same time. For a late 90s show - the show actually is beyond its time. It made floppy disks look like they weren't going to pass away when they really did. However, floppy disks have become a symbol for the save icon even after they're no longer used compared to USB drives. 

I felt there was probably an intended throwback to Turboranger in their crossover with Carranger. The Carrangers tried to enter the Moroboshi High School disguised as teenagers - something that would really fail in real life. Was it really intended by the staff at that time to do so? 

What should be interesting is that Kamen Rider Fourze may have blatantly thrown back to Megaranger. Both Fourze and Megaranger have a high school club in SPACE. Both of them also had some scientific theme - though Fourze not that much. 

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What are your thoughts on this rather weird post?