Ohranger Episodes 23-25

 

EPISODE 23

These next three episodes are out-there, comedy-heavy episodes. I think, at this point in the production, Ohranger's floundering a bit, with the tone change and a visibly shrinking budget. Also: typical Terrible 20s. I think Soda probably saw these next few episodes and was like "Son of a bitch! Here I am trying to stay on topic and you bastards are going insane!"

This is Inoue's last episode for the series. He gave us two episodes about Yuuji and two about Juri, so I guess he thought they were the coolest characters. His episodes have brought us some weirdness, but this one might be the weirdest. I imagine him turning this script in and just laughing mischievously as he left the room. Because this is the episode that teases that the monster's defeat will be by the hands of a naked Juri. Exploitative? Sure. Appropriate for a family superhero show? Inoue doesn't care, and that's why he's awesome.

Here's the first of two vacation episodes, the unlucky Ohranger not being able to enjoy their vacation without Baranoia butting in. It's also unlucky in that it looks like a very dismal shooting day at the beach, making it a kind of pathetic vacation episode.

The strangest part of the episode to me is that the villain plot is inspired by Hysterrier catching Bulldont looking at a fashion mag. Bulldont tries to weasel his way out of this jam, creating the cover that he's admiring the clothing, not the women. Not the greatest excuse to use when you're caught looking at a girly magazine, guys. This is how rumors start and how Bulldont ends up getting called Elton John in junior high. 

So Hysterrier's plan is to turn clothing to metal, which will turn people evil since they'll be controlled by the monster. Which allows Inoue to haul out his favorite scenario of heroes fighting each other. Juri dodges the attack and it's up to her to save the day. Unfortunately for her, but fortunately for all us creepy pigs* in the audience, this all goes down when she's in her bikini, so she's running around and fighting the entire time in just her bikini. It's like Die Hard...on the beach! You could say it makes her victory even better, because she's so capable and kicking so much ass in such a vulnerable state, but...c'mon, we know why they're doing this episode. Ayumi Asou was a campaign girl, for cripes' sake! We gotta capitalize on that.

*I don't mean to indicate that you, anyone watching this episode, anyone who made this episode or myself am a creepy pig. That statement was meant purely to be humorous. I'm not no creepy pig...but wouldn't this episode have been better if it was Momo running around in a bikini the entire time instead?!

OMG, Shouhei is a pervert, I don't like this character anymore!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EPISODE 24

Takaku's last script for the show. His last toku script, period. And it's fucking strange...but I like it!

The second vacation episode, we focus on Momo going back to her old, small, frozen-in-the-past hometown. It's weird to me that the Baranoia would send a guy to piss on Momo's summer trip by using all types of retro summertime activities. Why single out Momo? Why program a robot with this M.O.? He doesn't even come across robotic; he doesn't seem very Baranoia at all. It doesn't matter to me, really, because guest-star Masahiro Sato as the monster is freakin' hilarious and plays it with gusto.

Momo, who cherishes tradition and the old ways, who is respectful of her elders, is targeted by this weirdo, dressed in an anachronistic style. A weirdo who, late in the episode, is accused of being a fraud who uses old ways for his own ends and without heart; he may look like someone from the good old days, he might talk about them, but he's just a shell. So I have to wonder if this is some criticism of Takaku's about where toku was at the time, where it was headed. Look at Ohranger alone -- it might have looked like an older toku, but it's all dressing. Where's the heart? Toku at that time was focusing on weird scenarios and more robots. Maybe this was Takaku's way of being like "I don't recognize this stuff anymore, it's time to move on, but I implore you to not forget the old ways."

Familiar Face of Sentai Past: Yoshinori Okamoto.
Familiar Eyes of Sentai Past: Toshimichi Takahashi.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EPISODE 25

And now we get Uehara contributing a goofy one. It's very reminiscent of one of his Metal Hero scripts, IMO -- the focus on the family, the monster comedically invading their home, the heroes being basically on pest control. So it feels like a throwback in that sense, and probably works more for you if you're an Uehara fan.

This episode comes out of nowhere but is itself OK. I know Uehara's going to bring this family and the obnoxious scientist back for stupider episodes, and that colors it negatively on a rewatch. But on its own, it's fine and has some fun moments, especially since Bara Hungry can be funny. (Although, once again, how'd this robot get past Baranoia when Bacchushund should have sent it to the scrap heap knowing it would take a liking to Japan -- namely its food and festivals.) Even Miyauchi gets in on some of the comedy, and he always seems to have a ball when that happens.

But it gets a strike for using Jouji Costanza. And I also always find Shouichirou Akaboshi irritating. Funny that Costanza, Akaboshi, and the dude who played Genius Kuroda are all Fushigi Comedy transplants.

A further sign that things are falling apart -- they debut the Ohranger Bazooka in this episode for no reason whatsoever. I know some people think it's funny and reminiscent the way the early shows would haul out new weapons or powers from nowhere, but with Ohranger you know it's because the production is just desperately trying to stay afloat. I like the Ole Bazooka, though. I'm Changeman Guy; I like my Sentais to have bazookas.

Ohranger Episodes 20-22

 

EPISODE 20

This is sneaky and clever of Soda. Of course there's going to be a smartass like me being like "Why is Red Puncher Oh Red's robot when Green is the boxer?" Soda tries to explain it to you by having an injured Shouhei train Goro to use the robot and make it make a little more sense. Not only that, but Goro gets trained by the tough old dude who trained Shouhei in the first place, which is basically saying he's as good, if not better than Shouhei. You won this round, Soda...just barely.

That kid from episode 16, Mikio, pops up again here. I guess he's intended to be a sort of throwback to a kid like Taro in Goranger or Masaru from Battle Fever J, but it highlights a problem of Ohranger -- at least Taro and Masaru were related to one of the regulars. Why is Ohranger so afraid to have our heroes have any sort of connection to the outside world? We hardly see any of their relatives, friends, love interests -- anything! Sugimura doesn't like to get too personally involved with his heroes, and doesn't give them much of a life outside of their heroic duties, so I'm thinking about this in terms of being a Soda fan. In a Soda show, Mikio WOULD be related to a regular; in episodes like the one with Genius Kuroda, one of our heroes would have idolized him as a scientist and be given that personal connection; that cop and his kid from episode 3 would have been a family friend, not recently-met randos. Those are just a few examples, you get the idea. The Ohranger don't make meaningful connections with anyone outside of the job -- they don't even really bond or get involved and help with a personal problem with the many kid guest stars, they just save them and move on.

So it is nice to have a guest like Iwajima, Shouhei's boxing trainer. We're given some info about what Shouhei was like pre-UAOH -- that he represents the old Rocky Balboa "it doesn't matter how hard you hit, it's how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward" school of thought.

You haven't even been able to count on Yamaoka to bail you out with some cool action these past couple of episodes, because it's clear that he doesn't like mecha shit. (I don't blame him; the ground fights are always going to be cooler and deserve the focus he gives them.) The coolest thing he's ever done with mecha fights is when he'll film parts of them outdoors, and he doesn't do that here with these episodes.

Familiar Face of Sentai Past: Yuuzo Hayakawa, aka Jetman's Jiiya. Maybe not an important get to YOU, but he was so damn likable in Jetman and awesome here as the hard-as-nails trainer who hates everyone.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EPISODE 21

Soda, Soda, Soda...*sigh* This one stinks. Sad thing? It's a funny idea. Yuuji, the young brash one of the team, wants a new mecha to call his own, so he jumps at the chance to use a mecha that ends up being a goofy and useless piece of junk. But...couldn't the show have come up with something better than Kendama Robo? Having a giant mecha that uses a kendama is not just silly, but dangerous! Those things are weapons! In fact, Yuuji nearly kills a group of people by not being able to do kendama moves, dropping the giant ball in their vicinity! (I like the idea of this city, known for their wood creations, inventing a wooden robot, though.)

This episode kicks off with the widely mocked bit of Momo and Juri leading an aerobics exercise for Ohranger Robo and Red Puncher. It's an...interesting way to convey getting the robots back in peak performance mode, but it's just goofy. It's something I could picture working and being funny or whimsical in something like Bioman, but it just doesn't work here, especially with how goofy Oh Red gets in the cockpit. (It's the way Yokoyama goes on to act as characters like Red Racer or Mega Red.)

It's surprising to me that Masashi Gouda went on to be popular for a while after the show. I think the show lets him down the most with the tone changing and not knowing how to handle Yuuji -- despite being 25, the show often likes to paint him as the young and irresponsible one, but then some episodes like to treat him like the cool member. And then it's weird to keep in mind that Sugimura wanted Hideki Fujiwara to play Yuuji, when Fujiwara has that real smart-ass attitude about him and always looks 15.

Familiar Face of Sentai Past: Takeshi Kuwabara, aka Liveman's narrator and Dairanger's Guhan.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EPISODE 22

The plot of this episode reminds me of something you'd see in a Goggle Five or Dynaman, so in a way it's a throwback -- but it also looks to be a saving-some-money episode. Goro goes on the run protecting a kid who's targeted for a piece of Red Puncher-related technology he has, and they mostly undergo stock footage attacks -- the same effort they put in the chases of the first and third episodes just isn't here. (But there are still some cool action scenes courtesy of Yamaoka -- that overhead shot on the bridge and Oh Red's battle on the hill, for example.)

I mostly remember this episode as the one where the computer gives Goro a Waterworld-style back tattoo and where Gaoranger VS Super Sentai gets their clip of Miyauchi going "GO!" Just a pretty plain episode, that introduces the Ohranger Robo/Red Puncher combo without much necessity or fanfare.

Familiar Face of Sentai Past: Shouhei Shibata, aka Dairanger's Akomaru.

Ohranger Episodes 17-19

EPISODES 17 & 18

Really good episodes that are marred by guest-star Isamu Ichikawa, who's never capable of just playing a role straight, he has to go to full ham, mugging, never taking anything seriously or making a connection with the character or material. They needed somebody MUCH better for the role of Kuroda...

Because Kuroda is one sick sonuva. Just a nasty piece of work who's in a dark place after the death of his wife and son, so he's lost faith in humanity, lost faith in God. He sees the Baranoia as the reckoning he thinks Earth deserves and wants to be a part of it. (He built an android in his son's likeness who he says he loves more than his actual son, who he deems weak since he died. Horrible.) In stories like these, it's only a matter of time before some human scientist scumbag starts admiring the machines and wants to become one and join them, and this is Ohranger's take. It's too good of an idea for just a two-parter, Kuroda's too good of a character to just slip through the fingers as a guest.

This could have easily gone a few episodes more. Or better yet? Have Kuroda be the Sixth Villain. He does come along at a time when a Sixth Villain usually does. So, I kinda wonder if that was the real intention of Sugimura's way back, but with the show's having to change its tone, he had to scrap this dark and disturbing plan and was only allowed to go with this condensed version. If Genius Kuroda was the Sixth Villain -- a renegade who begins his own group of cyborgs -- then that would certainly necessitate the glut of Bandai products the Ohranger are about to receive.

Makes more sense as a new villain than Bomber the Not-so-Great.

It's unfortunate these episodes coincide with the Let's-Show-Off-Rindo-Lake-Who's-Paying-Us-Nicely; this leads to some silly ass scenes of battles in pedal boats and go-carts, which mar the serious storyline. I love how the team is urgently trying to track down Yuuji's stolen Power Brace and Shouhei chooses to do so by riding in a kids' bus that goes about one inch per hour. (There's also this weird bit when Oh Red is escaping Barlow soldiers by go-cart and he leans his head back in laughter; a weird choice by Yokoyama.)

The part when Kuroda has been modified with robotic parts by the Baranoia is cool; his new form's well designed and it's filmed in an appropriately creepy way, with a lot of chaotic tentacles and lights flashing -- obviously a Yamaoka scene, since it's reminiscent of things he'd done in Jiban. The problem? Ichikawa, of course, whose performance suffers even more because he's obviously uncomfortable in the suit.

I'd rather it be someone like Yoshinori Okamoto playing Kuroda. That's not the perfect casting, but I think he would have nailed the angry side of the character, and we know he wouldn't have been awkward in-suit. Or you know who would have really been awesome? Shuuhei Saga.

Shuuhei Saga and Yoshinori Okamoto, my picks as Kuroda...especially if Kuroda became a regular!

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EPISODE 19

This one's kind of a glimpse of the dark days ahead of Ohranger: a new toy for no good or real purpose. Ohranger wants to be an anniversary celebration, evoking the past while delivering a modern product and here it glimpses to the future, to the modern era that's all about toys and toys and nothing but toys and fuck any storytelling to back it up. (And despite being an unpopular show, Ohranger's toys sold well, which is not only baffling, but teaches the higher-ups the wrong lesson.)

Soda writes this one and, as I've always said, it's a condensed version of his Galaxy Robo storyline from Maskman. The difference is that the scientist who died because he couldn't control Galaxy Robo's wild, emotional rampaging was just basically in over his head; here it's a panicky UAOH soldier who takes Red Puncher out before it's ready to go. The other difference is that in Maskman, we follow the scientist's traumatized teen daughter and here it's the soldier's kid sister, because of course it's a kid, because Ohranger is Sugimura's world and Soda's just playing in it.

This is, of course, the point in a '90s Sentai when they're getting a new hero and/or robot, so it's expected. But there's just no rhyme or reason for them to be getting Red Puncher here. Ohranger Robo suffers a generic defeat and while it's being repaired, Goro makes the pretty reckless decision to seek out Red Puncher. Sure, it works out for him -- and for Bandai -- but there's just no need for it, man. The monster wasn't that memorable, the struggle wasn't that bad, the urgency isn't there. They get it because Bandai demands it.

It again makes me wonder if Genius Kuroda was meant to hang around and cause some shit with his own robotic creations and this is where the need for Red Puncher would come in, so once that was scrapped, we're left with this barebones premise.

Familiar Face of Sentai Past: Kei Shindachiya, aka Ken/Five Blue.

 

Ohranger Episodes 15-16

 

EPISODE 15

An episode that's considered a classic even amongst non-Ohranger fans. It's Inoue, but this is probably a script that people expected from someone like Takaku. As with episode 5, Inoue writes Bacchushund as being much more vicious than he's ever depicted. It's a cool idea to have all of the disregarded Baranoia creations -- weak warriors, warriors who started to feel emotion -- come together to give birth to a robot who seeks revenge against Bacchushund. (Since Inoue wrote Episode 5, you can wonder if maybe the experience with the Cactus brothers developing feelings is something that led to Bacchushund's scrapping so many robots he deems unworthy.)

Inoue chooses again to focus on Yuuji, who's the first to take notice that the Machine Beast isn't against them as usual, in time getting the robot to trust and befriend him. And it's done in a way that sidesteps the predictable developments -- you expect the Baranoia to gain control over Bara Revenger and have him attack people and frame him, but their hold over him doesn't take. Yuuji decides to take him down before he CAN become a threat and preserve the robot's honor. (It's a good thing Miura's absent from this episode, because there's no way he'd allow Yuuji to use Choriki energy from his Storage Crystal in order to save Bara Revenger.)

This could have also easily been a scenario in which Bara Revenger gets a human form, and it's a gravure idol -- and it becomes a love story, which would have been too predictable. (Although, with the way Yuuji begins this episode jealously observing couples...maybe Inoue's saying it IS a love story?)

This episode marks the directorial debut of SFX director Hiroshi Butsuda. He's been with the franchise since Changeman, taking over as chief SFX director with Fiveman. He remains Toei's tokusatsu SFX director, but he did move over to regular directing. I think he can do good, stylish work, and here his best moments are the way Bacchushund's debut arrival on Earth is filmed, but -- most especially -- the episode's final scene. The wounded Bara Revenger completely crumbles down and becomes nothing but junk -- dying by the dog he took a liking to.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this next bit, but I don't care. While Bara Revenger avoids attacking people, his first real emotional connection comes with that dog that hangs around Yuuji. The dog plays a big role here, witnessing the robot's end. And I just got to thinking about how the main Baranoia are, for some strange reason, named after dogs: 

Bacchushund -- dachshund
Hysterrier -- terrier
Bulldont -- bulldog
Malteua -- maltese and chihuahua

This episode makes me think...dogs = man's best friend. Maybe the show is saying that modern man's best friend is technology/machines, and the Baranoia being named after dog breeds is meant to be ironic since, duh, they're NOT man's best friends. And here it's come back full circle with this robot, Bara Revenger, who is taking on human ideas and qualities, obtaining some humanity and...makes friends with man's best friend.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EPISODE 16

From a good episode to a turkey. Why, Soda? WHY?!?! I might have griped about some Ohranger episodes, but this is the first one that I think is just a real disposable, stinker, waste of time. The thin story barely hangs together and seems like it was written about two seconds prior to the cameras rolling. It has nothing to do with anything! It's like some forgotten idea for Bycrosser or something.

The Machine Beast of the week makes no sense. He's a clock/piano hybrid who plays music that causes illusions or some such shit. This, in turn, causes a kid to be plucked from the year 2200 and land in present day 1995 -- I mean 1999! -- because he has some kind of powerful jeweled necklace that he just happened to steal from his dad that day. That's about it. This relates to nothing. I mean, there's brief talk about the Baranoia getting this kid's doohickey so they can go in the past and kill Ohranger's ancestors, but even before you can paint an image of that TV-PG version of Terminator, it's quickly discarded in favor of focusing on this kid making friends with another kid. Pointless. There's not even any cool action to save this episode! That tells me they were just thinking about the next episode -- a big two-parter -- and cranked this one out without thought or care.

I believe this episode is the first time we see Shouhei's henshin sequence. We've seen Goro's full sequence several times and Yuuji's only a couple. (And it's not even the entire thing they do for Goro.) I don't think they ever do one for the heroines. It's just weird to me, because it's not like it's a complicated piece of film -- the actors' heads on a digital grid. But for some reason they just didn't want to do 'em.

Strangest of all? This episode inexplicably involves a kid -- Mikio -- who inexplicably goes on to appear in more episodes. *epic shrug*
 

Ohranger Episodes 11-14

 

EPISODE 11

Enter the Soda. It's surprising he came back to Sentai; gossip says that he was kinda hurt when Suzuki cut him out after Fiveman. He had been with the franchise since its beginning! He wasn't the only one left behind -- Suzuki recognized during Fiveman that they were getting in a rut, so he wanted fresh blood for Jetman and avoided getting back too-familiar staff members like Soda and director Takao Nagaishi. Soda eventually returned to the franchise, writing episodes of Kakuranger. I feel like with Soda's Kakuranger and Ohranger episodes, they want him to tap into what he first became known for, which was the more comedic and outlandish Goranger episodes. (If you worship Baseball Mask the way Japan does, you can thank Soda.) He eventually gets relegated on this show to being Mecha Guy.

So we get this weird episode. While not exactly the greatest intro for Soda to this series, it's not the weirdest this show will end up offering, and even has a kind of logic and balance to it. The Baranoia are depicted a little harsher here, behaving a little more like what you'd expect from machines who hate humanity -- disgusted by the way humans treat the machines in their lives. It can get goofy, but it's not as bad as I remembered it.

This is Shouhei's first solo outing and, while we don't get to find out anything about him, he's at least funny here, devising a plan to stop the monster that he doesn't bother to explain to his teammates that well. And we get some sweet, sweet Yamaoka action, some really cool stuff that was probably too dangerous to film since it looked like it had just rained.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EPISODE 12

This is the one that tends to kill my attempts at rewatching the show. I'm surprised it's a Sugimura script, although it does seem like something you'd find in Jiban. This episode to me is like a perfect representation of my problem with Ohranger -- an absurd scenario by the villains, depicted in a comical way while the heroes take it all 110% seriously. Ohranger's always straddling that line, and it just doesn't add up to a whole. So you'll be left with "Well, so-and-so's likable" or "It had some cool action." It's just a collision of tones and styles and everything's working against each other and...it just makes Ohranger not seem like a full experience. And it's not like I want the heroes yukking it up or breaking the fourth wall pointing out how stupid everything is, because that's obnoxious, but I feel like when you have a cast like this who are capable...maybe reward them with some decent plots, you know?

I feel like my brain just can't process the way this show is presented as having such stupid villains and plans, yet the hero half is taking everything so seriously. I think it's why I feel like I'm never all that familiar-seeming with the show. Part of my draw to Ohranger is that I feel like it's a show that I've not seen much or am not overly familiar, but I think that's something caused by the tonal flip-flopping not leading to a well-rounded experience. And for as seriously as the hero side is taken, from the actors to the way the action is depicted, it's strange to me that there are rarely any attempts at giving these characters...you know, character! They're hardly even just archetypes -- there's a broad idea, and the rest is left entirely up to the actors, whose feelings may depend on their mood that day of filming. (This is how Shouhei goes from the angry, second-in-command-of-a-few-words one episode to Masaoka's clowning around the next. Or the way Juri goes from tough-gal-with-tude to peppy pothead.)

So that's what simmers in the back of my mind as I watch this episode. The rest of it is just me being annoyed by crying babies for 20 minutes. Maybe the Baranoia had a point.

Familiar Face of Sentai Past: Hatsue Nishi, aka Fiveman's Doldola. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EPISODE 13

The first script from Susumu Takaku, a story that has the usual warmth and soulfulness found in his work. I imagine snotty youngsters snickering at this episode, but it works if you're an animal lover. Even if not, the episode offers a lot of cool action spectacle, taking place in a mountainous terrain, the Baranoia forces chasing Momo down in action set pieces that recall the long pursuit scenes from the first episode. (And Momo's facing it all on her own!) And the monster of the week's design is hilarious, with the little dude on the head controlling the bigger, normal suit.

The episode has a good sense of tension and pace, as Momo is on the run without her Power Brace. And the Baranoia threat is a classic scenario of attempting to get Mt. Fuji to erupt and flood Tokyo with lava. It's an often used scenario, but at least a little more deadly and believable than spraying people with gold glitter and getting them to eat cars.

People probably expected something different from the writer who brought you Metalder, now working on this robot-centric show, so it's funny that his two episodes don't really deal with the Baranoia or make any kind of statement about technology or machines or machine sentience. Here he chooses to just focus on a heroine in jeopardy. This would be the last toku Takaku wrote for, so I think he was mostly just ready to move on by the time he got this gig.

How about that dog, though? Yamaoka's known for pushing his actors as far as they can go, and he doesn't go easy on a dog, either, throwing him into the middle of explosions. The dog's practically a JAC member! 

Action, action! Go-go-go!

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EPISODE 14

An Uehara episode, one that I always remember as being worse than it actually is. I like the idea of Baranoia warping this new technology of man's for their own ends -- turning the Pinocchio prototype helper robot into a secret assassin. I think my problem is with the various Pinnochio robots' designs. They're a little dopey and already look pretty Baranoia-like, despite the fact that they're not supposed to be related to Baranoia at all. So you're already suspecting these things to be bad. In that case, perhaps this was the time to haul out a past prop and repaint it -- have them look like the Dark Q from Sunvulcan or something.

It's also just weird and sloppy to shoehorn in Shouhei and act like this is his episode, just because he's randomly obsessed with a ramen place that this robot happens to be working at. Why use a ramen shop as a place to test run your robots? That company was destined to fail with that kind of thinking, man.

I also don't feel like Juri would be so enamored with the Pinnochio infant robot and be so 1) unprofessional as to bring this glorified Cabbage Patch Kid to work and 2) oblivious as to bring it to the high security base. It seems more like a Momo maneuver to me. (Sorry, Momo.) I could even picture Shouhei bringing it in as a joke, not thinking of the risk. It leads to that cool scene of Goro rushing the robot out of the base, though, when it's discovered to be a bomb. Still, there's a weird dash of sexism here, as the two heroines go gaga for the infant robot doll, while Goro and Miura exchange knowing glances like "We've got the Choriki dongs, we know something's up here and them women there can't help but let their emotions cloud everything."

Ohranger Episodes 8-10

 

EPISODE 8

This episode is just basically pleasing Bandai for holding off so long on getting Ohranger Robo. Total nonstop mecha action. There are things that are cool on paper, but there's just no feasible way of conveying the scenario on a 1995 toku budget. (Baranoia chains Ohranger Robo and throws it into the sun, where quick thinking by Oh Red leads them to using the alternate headpieces to get them out of the jam.)

Here's a problem I have with this episode, and it's something that happened in the previous one, too. We see the Ohranger as being so skilled and confident, but the minute something's not going their way, they're ready to give up. I don't want overly confident heroes to the point of them being cocky, but when even Oh Red is like "The mecha won't move! Baranoia's won, they're going to take over Earth, we're fucked!" it's just a little too much. And they ALL freak out like that here. At least have Red be the calm voice of reason.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

EPISODE 9

Before some know-it-all wants to feel fancy and cry "stock plots" or "tropes," I'm here to say that some writers just have pet scenarios they'll often revisit. Toshiki Inoue's one of those writers. A lot of Changerion is Inoue cutting loose with a lot of his favorite scenarios...

The first scene of this episode is something that's done more believably in Changerion. In short, the gals of the show are shopping and wind up selecting the same dress and exchange some insults. Inoue likes this plot of having heroines who bicker but end up having to put aside their differences to work together. It works in Changerion, because Eri and Akemi always had a simmering competitive thing going between them, and their fallout drives the episode for when they team up. Akemi's actress is also noticeably younger than Eri's, so the "obasan" jab works there. Here it's just used as a humorous way to kick off the episode, and it just doesn't seem very Juri or Momo-like. Call me judgmental, because we don't exactly know much about these characters at the moment, but Juri never seemed like the type to shirk duty to go shopping and find a rad outfit to attract guys. Momo and Juri also seem in the same age range, so their brief beef seems more mean-spirited than it should. (Juri is supposed to be 22 and Momo 20; however, in real life, it was the reverse -- Tamao Sato was older than Ayumi Asou.)

Other than that, this episode sees Inoue also visit his Turboranger script in which Haruna feigns defection in order to get the antidote for the poisoned heroes. The disappointing thing here is how easily and quickly the three Ohranger guys are taken down. But it's meant to be comedic, and this is a comedic episode. People target this episode as the first of Ohranger's being "retooled," but I think a comedic episode was required and probably going to land at this point anyway. 

And it deviates from the Turboranger scenario in that the focus is on both heroines -- with things meant to be somewhat bleak because the tough Juri has "defected," leaving things up to seemingly timid Momo -- and that the monster is aware of the deception. (Momo calls the monster's bluff by outdecepting HIM and tricking him with...a holographic projection of the seemingly-healed Ohranger guys? When did she get that made?!) Toku heroes pretending to be bad is always hard to buy, but maybe Juri would...I didn't peg her for the type to want to play dress up for guys, so maybe she *would* join Baranoia, eh?

There's some bizarre shit in this episode, like the already-mentioned holographic projection, and Miura misleading the heroines into thinking they have less time than they do in order to motivate them. Inoue crammed all the silliness he could into this one, but it's a fun showcase for our heroines. I'm an Inoue apologist and Tamao Sato fanboy, so...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EPISODE 10

Uehara's first script for the show! And it's kind of plain. Don't get me wrong, he gets nuttier than I care for later on. It's just surprising that the episode feels kind of like...an extra episode was ordered, so they scrambled to throw this thing together. You know, like how a lot of the Sentai movies feel.

I think Bara Hacker's cool, though, and I like his memorizing all Ohranger attacks and trying to get into the secrets of their mecha. Yamaoka's back, so there's some great looking action shots.

Oh, and they force in a new toy for no real reason! Ohranger ends up getting really bad about trying to somehow save their sinking ship by piling toys onto it. I think this thing is the earliest and most pointless introduction to a Sentai. (At the time, anyway. Nowadays, they get new pointless shit in every single episode of a Sentai. Every. Single. Episode.) The Giant Roller...is a bit goofy looking, I'm sorry. Especially when they cut to Red inside it, and he just looks like he's in the Human Hamster Wheel from Super Sloppy Double Dare. The sentiment is nice, with the wheel being one of mankind's oldest and most important technological creations, tying back into Ohranger's theme of ancient technology. It also just debuts here without any fanfare. "Bara Hacker knows all of our moves! Well, let's haul out the Giant Wheeler we've been working on!" Older shows would have had a reference to it previously, or show it being built, even if just at the start of this very episode. Very rushed and seeming like an afterthought. 

Ohranger Episodes 6-7 + MOVIE

 

EPISODES 6 and 7

Damn, it's been nice to not have mecha battles! And we've had to see the Ohranger find different ways to finish off threats, which has been cool, you know? They brought down one giant on their own; they had to stop the host parasite to save the day in another episode. Bacchushund cruelly executes another. But now we're headed into mecha snoozeville. And Ohranger eventually drowns itself in boring mecha stuff, so...ugh.

Actually, this two-parter is all around solid. Its focus is on Miyauchi, which is never a bad thing. Learning of the Choriki Mobiles, the Baranoia dread the Ohranger getting mecha as much as I do, so they devise a plan to target an exhausted Miura, drawing him out into the field where they can capture him and learn of the mecha, preventing its completion.

Niibori's the action director of these episodes, and he delivers some cool scenes (like Oh Red and Miura being attacked in a jeep). I liked the team split in two on separate missions -- Red, Green and Yellow out to save Miura while Blue and Pink take it upon themselves to debut their mecha. (I still wonder what kind of craziness Yamaoka would have given us for this big two-parter, knowing how far he likes to push things.) Episode Six is also the first to have a scene with the untransformed Ohranger fighting off Barlow soldiers -- maybe they're supposed to have developed a bit of Choriki ability out of suit, but I missed how unstoppable the Barlows seemed, that they COULDN'T be fought off hand-to-hand, untransformed. Grunt fights always contained the potential for cool choreography, though, so I won't begrudge Ohranger the opportunity to have more fights with the actors involved.

Sugimura always liked relying on dei ex machina; they're throughout all of his shows. Here Ohranger is bailed out by a praying girl that ends up helping the Choriki shine through and pull Ohranger out of a jam and successfully use Ohranger Robo. It's later said by Miura that nature is what responded, helping fuel the Choriki. This further establishes Ohranger's theme -- we have technology vs technology, but it's the human and living component on the side of the heroes that makes them persevere, a technology without heart is a dangerous sort of thing...

...too bad the Baranoia aren't cooler. I know I said I wouldn't harp on that too much, but it's hard when they're always just having hissy fits in their scenes. For cold machines without feeling, they sure like their hissy fits. It's really Bacchushund I have the biggest problem with -- I know it's supposed to be special that they got Toru Ohira, narrator of nearly every Sentai up until '83, to voice him, but he makes him far too buffoonish. I tend to really dislike the voice acting in Power Rangers, but I remember thinking David Stenstrom had the right idea when voicing Bacchushund's counterpart, King Mondo -- he put on this snooty royal voice. I think Seizo Kato would have been a better fit as Bacchushund.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

MOVIE

What is this shit? Who thought this was acceptable to put on the big screen? 

I guess the meeting went something like this...

Producer: Hey, Uehara. You know how you stunk up last year's Superhero Fair with Kamen Rider J? You got anything worse than that?

Uehara: Do I!

Keep in mind, I actually like those crazy Metal Hero episodes Uehara does where there's no real plot and it's just the hero thrown into wall-to-wall weirdness for the episode. But I don't think that sort of thing makes for a good movie, even though that scenario with a movie budget has the potential to be really nuts and memorable. But the Ohranger movie spares all expenses.

It just doesn't work here. It's not done well; it doesn't feel at all like Ohranger or a Baranoia plan. The filming location is mainly a sparse ranch that's so creepy it wouldn't be a surprise to find out the Japanese branch of the Manson Family lived there. The movie has a group of new monsters that are so cheap and poorly designed they look like Zyu2 rejects. And I find Miura to be kind of a dick in this.

And this sucker is 40 minutes! Why in the hell did they make every bad decision they could? "It's the movie for the anniversary series! Let's get back Uehara and have it be the first thing he does for this series! And you know his famous 20-minute-acid-trip-in-lieu-of-plot schtick from the Metal Heroes? Let's get him to do that for 40 minutes! And besides, if nobody likes it, we're sure to win some people over with the B-Fighter movie! Yeah! And we're already printing money knowing what a success Hakaider will be!"

Geez, and I wonder why Sentai theatrical works died for six years after this. It's really one of the top worst Sentai movies -- maybe THE worst, even by toku movie standards. Not even Yamaoka action helps much. This was only my second time watching this stinkfest; it's so bad, that's how strong its stench stained the memory.

Who would think that a movie with the premise of Bulldont making snuff films -- one which will hopefully star Ohranger -- could be so stupid? Who expects a movie like that to start with our villains being shat out of a metal horse? (The same place the script came from.)

 

They had to drag poor Yoshinori Okamoto into this mess?!