Belated Flashman's 30th Anniversary Tribute: How The Series Makes Me Think Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Is Overrated (Some Spoilers)

 

Last year, I made a post where I mentioned how Dengeki Sentai Changeman made me see Power Rangers in Space as an overrated gamble. Super Sentai being off-air made me think that my IBC-13 post should've been the "swan song" of this blog. However, Super Sentai's hiatus is the standard of "never forgotten" even if the franchise had its closure with No. 1 Sentai Gozyuger. However, Shogo B'Stard's current Chikyu Sentai Fiveman marathon made me want to do some random rants. I wanted to do a Flashman marathon with my own crazy twists. Instead, I decided to do a crazy rambling to talk about what can be an unpopular opinion. Power Rangers Lost Galaxy is widely praised by the Power Rangers community. However, I'd like to share my own post (with some spoilers) how I felt Flashman, a show from 1986, made me feel like Lost Galaxy was overrated clutter.

I. The Lost Galaxy theme was played into Flashman's storyline better IMHO

Lost Galaxy was hyped into the Power Rangers franchise. I didn't mind the comparison during the time I saw Seijuu Sentai Gingaman -- the source material. I talked to someone who said Lost Galaxy is overrated and felt like a weird blend of Star Trek and Gingaman. I was watching Flashman and the narration where five children disappeared into the edge of the Universe before the events of the series. It really makes me think of the Lost Galaxy. Planet Flash? I wanted to call it Planet Mirinoi! The Flashmen decided to go to Earth to fight the Reconstructive Empire Mess. Planet Flash and its four moons had basic special effects. CGI was rather expensive. However, the storytelling was what got me thinking Lost Galaxy had a budget, but may not have won storywise.

The difference between Super Sentai storytelling and Power Rangers storytelling can be cultural. Those who have tried watching Power Rangers since Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers may notice how the series tend to interconnect. Lost Galaxy carried some elements from Power Rangers in Space, such as Alpha Six and the space station. Heck, even Karone (Astronema) returned. However, Flashman did none of that with Changeman. We don't have Shiima from Changeman returning. Instead, Flashman acted more or less independently of Changeman. Flashman didn't carry the baggage with the Shuttlebase converted into a museum, like the Astro Megaship was turned into a museum for Lost Galaxy. 

We were introduced to Mag in Flashman. However, Mag doesn't exist in the line of a series of robots. Sure, Peebo from Chodenshi Bioman was practically a precursor to Alpha Five. Mag started off as a security droid without a personality. However, the Flashmen realized that the robot didn't have its proper data. The difference was that Mag wasn't part of an assembly line of similar robots. Peebo was the childlike robot from Bioman. Mag was the more serious, mature robot mentor for Flashman. The Flashemn had Mag as an entirely separate robot -- not from an assembly line of Alpha robots that were named Peebo and Mag. Making Mag and Peebo exist as two separate robots in two separate shows gave us two different robots. That's what I felt went wrong with Alpha 6 during its implementation -- cool concept, but almost too visually alike from Alpha 5. 

One of the most chilling concepts was the Anti-Flash Phenomenon. Flashman carried the plot that being raised in their Lost Galaxy would alter their biology. The show proceeded to introduce the plot midseason, and it developed towards the finale. My favorite part of the show was how Baraki brought in the Titanboy to become the secondary Zord when Flash King, the Megazord, was temporarily defeated. The show even had to create a bittersweet finale. The Flashmen defeated the last of Mess, the final villain Lee Keflen offered a chance to be cured (but I believe he just wanted to enslave them), and the Flashmen refused the cure from such a wicked machine. The Flashmen leave once again for the Lost Galaxy, where they were raised. It's a bittersweet ending if you ask me. It makes the idea of Lost Galaxy go full circle.

The mad scientist that actually gave us a PLOT to deal with, not a leftover mad scientist from a previous season

This is even a bigger Walking Spoiler. Yes, Professor Tokimura is the father of Sara, the yellow ranger. That revelation was withheld until towards the finale. We are introduced to the mad scientist who didn't have a narrative baggage with the Changeman as an eccentric scientist who was obsessed with aliens. However, he wasn't like Professor Phenomenus (and now both their actors, Jack Banning and Akira Ishihama, died of natural causes), who was just there to be comic relief. Instead, every eccentric act he has is because he wants to find the child he lost in Mess's alien abduction.

Episodes 8-9 gave us the introduction. It seemed like Tokimura would be forgotten. However, episodes 29-31 have the mad scientist returning. What becomes amazing is that he goes from just an alien-obsessed professor to actually even helping FIX MAG -- a robot whose technology he's not supposed to understand. Yeah, it's kind of a plothole, really, but such logic exists in Super Sentai as a superhero show. Tokimura embodies almost everything about how to do a mad scientist ally. Tokimura's progression is because he becomes more and more vital.

In fact, Tokimura played an important role in the finale. Tokimura was kidnapped by Sir Kaura to build a Gene Synthesizer. The slow-burning revelation that one of the Flashmen was his child was another. The revelation that Sara was his child was indeed a hurt revelation. True, Professor Phenomenus had that last-minute heroism, but writers seem to enjoy torturing him 90% of the time. It's sad, really, that Phenomenus was frequently battered up as comic relief yet again. The show ends with the bittersweet note before proceeding to the next season.

It's imperfect but it gave some closure. I felt that keeping Tokimura in Flashman alone was for the best. Tokimura didn't need to show up in future seasons just to say, "Remember the 1980s?" Instead, Tokimura was left as a footnote. Fans can now imagine if the Flashmen do return someday. It was best left that way to avoid bad writing. However, I still want to call Tokimura as "Phenomenus" because I felt he's what Phenomonus should've been. 

II. Examining the Reconstructive Empire Mess 

As said earlier, Lost Galaxy's biggest weakness for me was the narrative baggage. For example, Trakeena herself exposed that the Astronema she was seeing was actually the redeemed Karone. However, Flashman had no narrative baggage from all previous seasons. Changeman ended with the destruction of Great Star League Gozma's leader, Star King Bazoo -- the ONE TRUE DARK SPECTER. The next thing to happen was that Mess came to well, mess up the Universe with its evil experiments.The series would have a few devastating revelations.

Ra Deus as a genetic mess vs. Scorpius, a possibly messy prop

Ra Deus is the recurring villain. Ra Deus is a genetic mess that came to life. Ra Deus is aided by the evil right-hand scientist Great Doctor Li Keflen. Scorpius was written off too soon. It's not explained why but it seems handling Scorpius was too much. Trakeena seemed to be the easier villain to handle. However, I ended up feeling that Ra Deus' development was better than Scorpius. In fact, Ra Deus becomes the plot device that somehow, slowly but surely, he made it to the finale while Scorpius didn't. I just wonder what the rationale was to get Scorpius out of the way? Lack of popularity? Trakeena just getting more popular because she was a manipulative spoiled brat?

Ra Deus had a slight running gag where his mask cracks. There's an eyeball under that crack. Ra Deus exists as a messy blob. Ra Deus' true origins are that he was born from a mass of genetic fluid and became a messy blob-like monster. Ra Deus' origins as  a lifeform that came out of the mess is a common cliche that would influence characters like Dr. Giba from Kidou Keiji Jiban and Ransik from Power Rangers Time Force -- to name a few. Ra Deus' case was that he was born out of a genetic mess of several life forms across the galaxy. Talk about a children's show where the villains are actually born from horror movies. Well, just think that Toei made a few references to adult movies and somehow toned them down. In the case of Ra Deus, I wonder if he was inspired from The Blob or any cosmic horror show not for children? I felt the same was true for Scorpius -- who was unfortunately victimized by the writer's pen to be written off too soon.

Ra Deus, like Scorpius, doesn't become the final villain. However, Keflen managed to turn Ra Deus into a bioweapon during the finale. Keflen became the second-to-the-last opponent. Keflen even used Ra Deus' genetics to create The Demoss as the final enemy. 

Keflen as the series' most most evil character

Keflen exists as the secondary antagonist who slowly climbs up the ladder in the finale. The Flashmen don't get to meet him until the finale becasue he as a dirty coward. The show presents Keflen as a mad scientist who was obsessed with playing with life. Spoilers, Keflen was recruited by Ra Deus as a baby three centuries ago and he became a 300+ year old something mad scientist. 

It becomes more and more apparent that Keflen has arrogance that slowly but surely brewed over the series. The show reveals that Keflen may have been from Earth but he's probably the evilest character in Mess. Sure, Ra Deus can be viewed as Pure Evil for having no conscience. However, Ra Deus was a cosmic mutation and an unnatural being. Keflen was a human with agency. Keflen had the free will to search on his past. Instead, Keflen rejected even his own past to become more and more monstrous. 

Keflen was established, early on, as the creator of Ley Wanda, Ley Nefel. Ley Garus (who died midseason after his upgrade experiment), and the duo Wolk and Kit. What I truly enjoyed about Keflen was how, slowly but surely,he was even cold towards his own experiments. It should be disgusting to think how this guy would risk and sacrifice his own comrades. This really leads him at odds with Sir Kaura of the Alien Hunters. What makes him even more evil was that he even started using the Alien Hunters to create more and more monsters. Keflen has almost no morals as the series goes on. 

One of the best things I like about how Keflen died was this. It was a karmic circle when Ra Deus used several Great Doctors to become the ultimate being. Just that Keflen happened to be the most competent one. In fact, Keflen managed to betray Ra Deus and become the true final villain. In the finale, Ra Deus even offered the Flashmen that he would fix the Anti-Flash Phenomenon. However, knowing Keflen, accepting such a deal is a major no-no. The Flashmen had known too much to accept Keflen's death. Yellow Flashs shot the Gene Synthesizer and it triggered an alarm. Apparently, Keflen used the final moments to blow up the whole base hoping to kamikazee the Flashmen with him. I felt those moments made me think, "Trakeena was dangerous but somehow, I prefer  Keflen's late 1980s personalized kamikazee than Lost Galaxy's reckless assault finale."

Never mess with the Alien Hunters

Sure, Flashman also had the villain bloat. The Alien Hunters enters as another faction. However, unlike Captain Mutiny from Lost Galaxy (who was a third wheel too late), Sir Kaura and his crew show up as early as episode 15 to cause trouble. Kaura has his quirky mini-boss squad with Kerao the gunner, Baura the scythe wielder, Hag the the sole female member with a bow and arrow, and Hou the boomerang wielder. Captain Mutiny only showed up late in Lost Galaxy for some reason. Here? The Alien Hunters showed up showing THEY MEAN BUSINESS. Their first order? Well, cause the Flashmen's Megazord, Flash Titan, to be defeated. 

Keflen brought interesting things on the table. Sure,there's this crazy out-of-place effect that should happen ONLY in cartoons. However, what interested me is that Kaura himself had a sense of honor as a villain. Kaura was getting disgusted at Keflen's growing lack of morality. Perhaps, one can say we can "excuse" Ra Deus for being a villain born otu of accident. However, Kaura sooner or later used the Alien Hunters to create monsters towards the finale. This felt more personal than bringing Captain Mutiny into Lost Galaxy's equation. IMHO, Lost Galaxy could've just forgotten about the Captain Zahab footage entirely because Trakeena was already doing her job. I felt Keflen's development was that he brought in more conflict than Captain Mutiny's late arrival could. This guy wasn't afraid to clash with Keflen. 

I felt that Keflen was also better written than Villamax -- the Sanbash counterpart in Lost Galaxy. Sanbash was written too soon. Lost Galaxy made Sanbash an ascended extra and an honorable villain. Villamax took part in Trakeena's character development from a spoiled brat who becomes more and more dangerous as the series happens. However, I felt that Keflen's character was better written as an honorable bounty hunter. It's because a lot of actions Keflen did like his final attempts actually revealed Sara's true parents. Keflen was disgusted when he saw his own comrades tunred into monsters by Keflen. I'm afraid but Villamax was just a "random tutor" compared to Keflen's vicious connections to people within the show. Kaura even kidnapped Tokimura because the latter could create a Gene Synthesizer for him to use towards the finale. 

The Alien Hunters in Mess played a tight role too. Later on, Keflen's longtime ally Bo Gardan arrived late in episode 43. However, there were stakes that somehow justified this mistake. Gardan showed up in episodes 43-48 to play an important role. Kaura was a villain but he had a sense of honor. Kaura was disgusted with his men turned into genetic experiments. Heck, Garden was later forcibly turned into The Gardess by Keflen. Keflen got too disgusted that he decided to do a good deed to spite Mess. Keflen revealed Sara's true parentage. I felt that the Alien Hunters, as villainous as they were, were in fact, terrifying yet mor honorable. 

Final words

For me, I felt what made Super Sentai better for my taste was that it couldn't pass through TV-Y7-FV standards. I always felt Flashman was one of those shows that would scare the American censors. Sure, I understand that Power Rangers was needed because the American market. This is just me expressing my personal opinions how watching more Super Sentai affected by views of the American adaptation overall.