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Denji Sentai Megaranger


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Denji Sentai Megaranger (電磁戦隊メガレンジャー)

TV Asahi/Toei Co. Ltd., 1997-1998

Previously exploited by Saban in 1998 as Power Rangers in Space.

Running Time: 25 minutes per episode

Not Rated (Suggested TV-Y7). Contains martial arts violence and mature situations.

Cast

Kunihiko Oshiba as Kenta Date/Mega Red

Atsushi Ebara as Koichiro Endo/Mega Black

Masaya Matsukaze (Ryo in Shenmue) as Shun Namiki/Mega Blue

Eri Tanaka :wub: as Chisato Jogasaki/Mega Yellow

Mami Higashiyama :wub: (Earth Girl Arjuna) as Miku Imamura/Mega Pink

Satoru Saito as Dr. Eikichi Kubota

Tetsuo Morishita as De. Hinalar

Asami Jo (former AV Idol) :wub: as Shibolena

Ryuzaburo Otomo (Abdul Hakim in Cowboy Bebop) as Javious (voice)

Hirotaka Suzuoki (1950-2006) (Bright Noah in Mobile Suit Gundam, Kaifun in Macross) as Yugande (voice)

Tomokazu Seki (Sousuke in Full Metal Panic!, Domon in Mobile Fighter G-Gundam) as Bibidebi (voice)

"Install! MEGARANGER!!!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdrK951pHsM

Synopsis

After defeating a skilled opponent on a 3D fighting game, Kenta Date is recruited by members of INET to come with them at the NASADA space research facility - in exchange for a yakiniku (Korean barbecue) dinner. Meanwhile, four high school students - Koichiro Endo, Shun Namiki, Chisato Jogasaki and Miku Imamura - trespass within NASADA to work on their research project. All of a sudden, the evil Nejirejia forces appear out of nowhere and wreak havoc on the facility. With the fate of the world at stake, Dr. Kubota gives the five teenagers Digitizers which transform them into the Electromagnetic Task Force Megaranger.

Lowdown

Ever since I got hooked on Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, I decided to dive into the Sentai archives and give the previous titles a look. The first two were Kyoryuu Sentai Zyuranger (1992) and Gosei Sentai Dairanger (1993), which I'll review later this year. The third Sentai title being this one: Denji Sentai Megaranger.

While Dekaranger borrows elements from Men in Black, Megaranger's use of the arcade machine as a testing system is reminiscent of the 1984 sci-fi classic The Last Starfighter. The series' VR subplot also seems to borrow from the 1995 TV series Sliders.

The characters themselves are a very interesting bunch. Instead of Dekaranger's hotheaded Ban/Deka Red, Megaranger's Kenta/Mega Red is an arcade gamer who likes to eat a lot. The other rangers are computer geniuses, managing to use all types of electronics to get out of any situation.

In terms of design, the Megaranger outfits look very much like updated versions of the suits in Choudenshi Bioman (1984). Because of this, they're already among my favorites. Megaranger weapons are pretty nifty as well. The Megasniper shows that Deka Red wasn't the first to dual-wield in a Sentai series. Making things more interesting is the ability of each Ranger to combine their Megasniper with their own weapon to form a more powerful weapon. No doubt that these toys sold out in record time when this series came out in Japan.

For its time, Megaranger has some great special effects (except maybe for the cheesy "computer simulations") and excellent use of scale models. Even though I've only seen the first episode, I'm already hooked on it. It's what Power Rangers should've been in the first place.

Rating: B+

Links

Super Sentai's official Denji Sentai Megaranger Homepage (Japanese)

References

Wikipedia

The Internet Movie Database

Edited by areaseven
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Mega Ranger is my fav Sentai team IMHO. I love the Jpn commercial for the Delta Mega and Galaxy Mega Toys combining (Toys don't actually move in real life :p )!

"Go Go Delta Mega. . .Change Delta Mega!"

Edited by gerwalk25
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Just D/L it. who's the evil chick with the Mad Doctor?

Havent you been paying attention? they all have evil Chick in the shows :lol::blink::ph34r:

But seriously I just watched a Ninja Storm ep for the first time and I like how the US is trying to be faithful to its sentai roots the Bad Guys in Storm are not japanese obviously BUT they do employ the same costumes used in Herccianranger so thats kinda cool

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