"Mirai Sentai Timeranger" May Have Been Warning Us Of A Possible High Tech Future Stripped Of Basic Humanity (Spoilers)

 

I wanted to put a huge Mirai Sentai Timeranger tribute. It's already known that I've got blatant favoritism for the whole series. Timeranger is one series that's often considered as "overly serious" that Power Rangers fans tend to defend Power Rangers Time Force, and pick anything but Timeranger for Yasuko Kobayashi's masterpiece Super Sentai. Choices like Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (because of the fansubs, though it might get a Shout! Factory DVD soon) and Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters are often their top picks! I'd like to think about how Timeranger may have provided warnings about a future that's highly innovative but becomes a dull place to live in! 

Timeranger's first episode already highlights the dark, gloomy future. It's a future that's technologically advanced. However, one look at the place and it's easy to seethat the the Year 3,000 A.D. has become nothing more than a COLD ENVIRONMENT. Individualism is almost extinguished. There's almost a clear lack of individualism. It's a highly advanced place but there's almost no individuality. In fact, the Year 3,000 A.D. is a place where innovation happens. However, ALL the emotions that allowed innovative thinking to create wonderful technology is conveniently thrown out of the window! All of that becomes nothing more than a cold bureaucratic future -- one where everything is dictated! Is it a Utopia or a Dystopia?

The 30th century seems peaceful or is it? The early episodes reveal that ALL CRIMINALS are freeze-compressed. Sure, it's one thing when Don Dolnero is subjected to be freeze compressed. Dolnero is PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1. However, it turns out that some criminals weren't exactly MAJOR ONES either. Timeranger episode 14 reveals that while the Mad Racer Baron was a lawbreaker -- FREEZE COMPRESS! That means the 30th Century for all its "safety"has a miserable population. Keeping criminals whether small-time or big-time in FREEZE COMPRESS was a message about ABSOLUTE ORDER.

Captain Ryuuya as the true antagonist, the embodiment of the Asami "fix path" values

Timeranger tries to explore the complexity of life itself. IRL you can have great heroes who can have wicked descendants along the way. For example, you can have kingly lines started by a good king and having bad kings along the way. In the case of the Asamis, what's known is that Wataru Asami is a man who once tried to defy fate, but fell into fatalism, as revealed later on. The culmination of this "fixed path" is none other than Captain Ryuuya Asami from the 30th century! Ryuuya was also the captain of the Time Protection Agency -- a very DRACONIC and BUREAUCRATIC 

It's important to think of Ryuuya isn't a black and white villain. Sorry, but I disagree with Shougo B'Stard over his assessment of Timeranger. It's probably because I'm looking into this detail that Shougo writes on Ryuuya:

Asshole extraordinaire. People like to pretend like Ryuuya is this deep character, realistic in his flawed shades of grey, but I think he's just a sloppy, nonsensical mess of a bad writing complimentary of master of sloppy, nonsensical messes of bad writing Yasuko Kobayashi.

Ooh, Ryuuya, this shady guy who we're going to be cheap and just use the awful guy playing Time Red. He's in the shadows for most of the show while we think up what to do with him. Ooh, he's a descendant of the Red, and is coming to take back the powers! Ooh, he's pulling strings and is up to shady shit to ensure his safety. Ooh, one of our heroes kills him. Just...screw this guy. He made no sense. We're told he's so cold-hearted that he rewrites history in order to have people die in his place*, but he's just such a softy that he feels bad for the Timeranger and repeatedly saves them by sending their mecha, even though they need to die to further his agenda? What? Kobayashi Bullshit. Stupid.

In this case, Ryuuya might be a complex villain who's got some OCD with trying to fix time itself. Maybe, Ryuuya for being a villainous A**HOLE was actually not Pure Evil despite his actions. Ryuuya believes in a fixed path and HIS RETURN in Timeranger -- taking over the Time Red position from his ancestor Tatsuya. Ryuuya believes that the flow of time must go as is. However, one couldn't exactly be sure of what Ryuuya was. Ryuuya was a man OBSESSED with keeping the 30th Century the way it is -- an era of DULL AND UNINSPIRING ORDER. However, Ryuuya had ONE DARK SECRET. 

Ryuuya believed that fate is always set on the tracks. Ryuuya's a fatalist. However, Ryuuya saw in a vision that he wuld ONE DAY DIE. Timeranger is pretty much a complex battle against fate itself. One can say the true main antagonist in Timeranger isn't Ryuuya or the Londarz but FATALISM. The innovation of the future created a fatalistic future -- discarding all the traits that actually ALLOWED innovation to take place. The future's innovation could've been better IF it wasn't all that fit. Ryuuya soon did some crazy stuff such as neglect. Ryuuya allowed the Londerz family to escape -- all part of his complicated plan to make sure HE LIVES without otherwise changing the 30th Century. This excerpt by Jillun seems to highlight Ryuuya's complicated character arc:

Captain Ryuuya had a terrible secret. You see, as we knew in the year 2994 there was a disaster with the G-Zord. It went tumbling into a time vortex. What we didn't know was that Captain Ryuuya was caught in there with it. There he saw things to chill his soul. He made it back out with the knowledge of two possible pasts that led to his time. In one, the G-Zord appeared in the 20th Century, killed Gien and he as Time Fire died fighting it in the V-Rex. In the other, Gien did not die, and Captain Ryuuya as Time Fire was killed fighting Gien instead, and two thirds of the Earth was destroyed.

He made it back to his native time, terrified through and through. For the next six years he worked overtime to protect himself, without destroying the 30th Century in the process. Little things. He was the only person in a position to know what would happen. When the V-Rex had its little accident, Captain Ryuuya made certain the Time Fire suit was in there with it. He would not have the suit, he would not have to wear it and die in it. Hedging his bets, he decided to save the lives of the four young cadets trapped in the past. If they were there to fight the G-Zord, perhaps he would not have to be. But four lives take up a lot of space and they distorted history because Tatsuya stayed with them, rather than formed the City Guardians. Things were beginning to spiral out of control. Gien was neutralized and would remain so. The G-Zord's energy backwave was destroying the 30th Century and that was not acceptable. He had to go back and get Gien active again, and make certain the G-Zord was destroyed. And he kept as far away from Time Fire as he could. This being a kind of "have your cake and eat it, too" thing, he wasn't doing so well because Gien was intent on getting the G-Zord's power, and so kept getting into the line of fire. And Gien had to live to cause the disaster leading to the 30th Century. *whew*

And when at last the four arrived where they should be in the Time Ship, Captain Ryuuya breathed a sigh of relief. There were still a few problems, though. Things he had not foreseen but decided to live with. History had changed in subtle, but very important ways. All but Sion had returned to lives where the most teribble things that had happened to them had been/could be fixed. They would have a good life from now on. But their knowledge of the real past had to be erased before anyone found out that he had changed history. Perhaps trying to comfort them, he told them first how history had changed. He left them to think and dream upon their better lives, while he prepared to have their memories altered. And then he had to deal with the astonishing fact that these new and better lives were not enough to keep them from deciding to return, to try to stop the terrible disaster.

This, for a man who had spent six years struggling to save himself and his world, was impossible to grasp. He authorized use of deadly force to stop them. Unfortunately, his fate caught up with him from a most unexpected hand. For he had one problem he had not anticipated. If you know when and how you are going to die, and you manage to change the events that lead up to it (which he did), then you DON'T know how or when you're going to die. Then you don't have the sense to protect yourself from an unexpected danger.

Captain Ryuuya Asami didn't make it. He also did not understand, even at the moment of his death, how Ayase particularly could choose certain death in the 21st over an assured life in the 31st. It was "us VS them" to him, and that his people did not think of the people a thousand years in the past as "them" was beyond his comprehension. I went through a multitude of emotions about him, and ended with a mix of "He got what he deserved," and "Poor thing." I feel pity for him.

However, I believe that Ryuuya's plan to SURVIVE without otherwise changing the 30th Century -- makes him a compelling villain. The 30th Century was a definitely BORING ERA. The Timerangers from the 30th century -- had MORE fun in the "primitive" 20th century! Ryuuya's "by the book" approach when he regained his position as Time Red, along with his almost emotionless leadership was a real problem! It was only when Tatsuya took over again did the team win against the threat of the day. One can say that without Ryuuya pulling the strings then things could've been worse for the 30th Century. Ironically, Ryuuya's actions made things WORSE. Ayase may have found a cure for the Osiris syndrome or Yuuri may have had her family back. However, what's hte use of having all that if the future is a place of NEAR EMOTIONLESS STATE? After all, Domon was KICKED OUT INDEFINITELY FROM THE RING when suspension was the better way to do things!

One could say that perhaps the future in Timeranger was a place where, "You're better off dead than living in it." After all, with all the draconic rules in the 30th century (such as freeze compressing people for minor offenses), it may be the reason why crime became harder to combat. Dolnero's actions of chaotic fun may be born out of frustration of the overly bureaucratic regime. After all, the way it looked like, it removed what made 20th-21st century Japan a real fun placed despite all its imperfections. In trying to become perfect, the 30th-31st centuries in Timeranger were really PERFECT -- as in PERFECTY DULL -- since it removed all the creative spirit that allowed it to exist in the first place! 

Timeranger's 30th-31st century may highlight what's wrong with the education system

The 30th century has protocol living in the absolute order of society -- at the cost of basic humanity. One could say that Ryuuya is the SNOBBY CUM LAUDE. Ryuuya is the product of an education system that