Denji Sentai Megaranger Review

Another of the 90's Sentai. I went in knowing this was gonna be really episodic and I'd heard a lot of praise for this show. It was well worth my time and I ended up having a lot of fun with it. Yeah I really don't have much to say for the introduction. So lets get down to business...Install Megaranger!

The show opens up with  high school student Kenta Date playing a video game in an arcade called Megaranger. After showing off his skill at the game, he is approached by INET to assist with their research project. Meanwhile 4 of his classmates show up to find out more about INET just as Nezirejia launches its first attack. Having no other choice, Dr. Kubota hands them their Digitizers so they can become the Megarangers.

Characters: I like this team a lot. The main five are one of the most believable groups of friends I've ever seen. Sure they all have their differences but they still mesh well together. It really helps that their personalities don't really conflict to the point where I can't buy them being friends.

• Kenta/MegaRed: Kenta is a love-able goofball while being a bit reckless. I quite like that he isn't as tech-savy or as smart as the other members of the team. He can be a bit lazy but he has a big heart and will fight tooth and nail for his friends. He is also pretty driven to make up for his failings when he screws up in battle. A great episode for him is the one where Gurail tricked him into injuring a kid mid-fight.
• Kouichiro/MegaBlack: Koichirou is the leader of the team and the one who takes being a Megaranger most seriously. He pretty much keeps his teammates on their toes and tries to make sure they're training. He can be a little uptight at times and there are one or two episodes where the main message is that he needs to chill out and relax. He also tends to overdo his role as leader a bit and in an early episode, he outright blames himself for the team falling into a trap. Episode 16 in particular shows a rather vulnerable side to him.
• Shun/MegaBlue: Shun is the smartest one on the team. He is usually pretty calm and collected while being quick to react and figure out some of the science behind Nezirejia's plans in a few instances. A prime example of his intelligence is the episode where he comes with a trap within a trap to throw off the Nezirangers. He is also kinda oblivious to Miku's feelings for him.
• Chisato/MegaYellow: Chisato is more serious and mature compared to Miku and she is probably the most resourceful team member next to Shun. She is smart and able to think on her feet, especially when she has to risk revealing her identity to stop the MOTW or save someone. Her dream is to be professional photographer and the show actually shows her dabbling into that hobby a few times. She and Miku feel like they're the closest out of the whole group of friends. She has some pretty cool focus episodes.
• Miku/MegaPink: Miku is adorably upbeat most of the time while being goofy like Kenta. She is without a doubt one of the kindest characters I've seen so far. I liked her so much that Shun being oblivious to her feelings kinda made me a bit sad. Its a tough call but Miku is probably my favorite character in the show. Her best episode is the Super Miku episode cuz Chisato helps talk her through her insecurities and short-comings so she feels like less of a burden on the team.
• Yusaku/MegaSilver: Yusaku is a goofball. When he first showed up, he felt a lot like an older more tech-savy Kenta. He tends to do stuff behind his boss' back in order to do projects that will help out the team. Despite being the oldest and a researcher for INET, he acts just like the Kenta and Miku. Its a pretty cool dynamic and he feels right at home on the team. The suit's time limit after his debut was a good way to use him effectively and I do like that you actually get to see him fix it.

Dr. Kubota is easily one of my favorite mentors, if not my overall favorite mentor. He is wound a little too tightly at times but he is constantly sticking up for the kids and believing in them. He even hopped into Galaxy Mega in an early episode when it was close to being destroyed just to show the higher ups how important it was that the kids be the ones allowed to pilot it. He showed that he really cared for them and understood that they had their own lives to live to the point of not wanting to disturb Kouichiro and Chisato's entrance exams unless he absolutely had to. Yusaku makes his job harder by doing projects behind his back but he does genuinely appreciate the guy's work in helping the team so long as he can stay on task. I think a lot of his concerns about Yusaku doing that comes from the seeming death of his friend Samejima who he failed to stop from transporting himself into the Nezire dimension (he finds out later what really happened to the guy).

Villains:

The Nezirejia villains have some nice presence and style to them. They have one of the best debuts I've seen in Sentai. In the first episode, they manage to absolutely decimate INET's earth base forcing them to flee into space. That introduction felt like something you'd see in a series finale. Their plans over the course of the series have this insane level of danger to them. The designs for the main three Nezirejia villains are pretty good. Dr Hinelar has this mad scientist vibe and an otherworldly look to him and the actor (Tetsuo Morishita) gives him quite a lot presence and that hairstyle is absolutely splendid. He also has a large ego and a lot of ambition and the actor portrays that rather well. He was originally one of Kubota's friends while working at INET and he defected to Nejirezia because he felt like he wasn't given his due. He also really despises Kubota because INET chose Kubota's project over his own. The final episode adds something that says quite a lot about his character and adds a whole new level to his relationship to Shiborena. I'm not going to spoil it in this review because man its a doozy. Its not mentioned in the show but given his righteous fury and malice toward Gurail for using Yugande like a tool, I wouldn't be surprised if he has the same sentimental attachment to him that he has with Shiborena. Yugande has this neat wire-frame look to him and he is a pretty good power-house villain. I think its pretty cool that he upgrades himself after being the times he takes the Megarangers on himself. Its a good way to keep him feeling like a threat. He is also extremely loyal to Dr Hinelar. Shiborena's armor looks great and has some nice detail to it. The shade of blue is pretty nice. Her plans always seemed to have this mind control component to them. Like Yugande, she is extremely loyal to Dr Hinelar.

Gurail is a powerhouse, really sadistic, and deliciously evil. I don't really have much to say about him other than him bringing a nice amount of threat to the show. He is basically brought in by King Javious because Hinelar and the others are taking too long to take the Megaranger's out of the picture conquer earth. He also carries out King Javious' will but mostly he is there for world building. His appearance also leads to a stronger breed of Nezire beasts being created.

The Nezirangers are nice and intimidating. They're pretty powerful villains while also being nicely dysfunctional as a group. They are sadistic and have tunnel vision when it comes to fighting their specific Megaranger. The best part about this is the second the Megaranger's realize this, they immediately start hammering on this weakpoint. Its a nice instance of them having to out-think an opponent as opposed to simply over-powering them. NeziPink and NeziYellow actively took pot-shots at each other in one episode and the rest of the team felt nothing when NeziPink and NeziBlue were destroyed. I love it so much and its a good example of Hinelar's ego and arrogance being carried over to his creations since they are made in his image. They see each other purely as a means to an end. Despite them being so monstrous, I legitimately felt bad for them when they found out they were gonna die. It takes a lot for a show to make me feel that way about monstrous characters like them.

Favorite Episode: My favorite episode is episode 16, the aptly named "Very Bad! Will We Die?". The basic plot of the episode is that Moth Nezire is sent out to spread powder that places a moth shaped mark on people when it touches them. Those with the mark will die within 24 hours and naturally all 5 of them get hit by it. While Kenta, Shun, and Miku decide to try to live out their dreams in the one day they have left, Kouichiro and Chisato desperately try to find the cure. Over the course of doing their things, those 3 run across people around town going on about their plans for the next day while noticing that every one of them have the mark. It dawns on them that if they don't do something, more people will die. The desperation on Kouichiro and Chisato's side hits when they're having no luck on finding a cure and Kouichiro breaks down looking at a picture of his family. The resulting fight against the monster is the most tense fight in the show imo because not only is it a race against time, the suits stop functioning because they're dying. They fight tooth and nail despite that. Its a great episode and its the first time that it really sunk in for me that at the end of the day, they're still kids while at the same time the episode proves that they have what it takes to be heroes. I was close to tears throughout this episode. This kind of thing is the reason I watch superhero stuff. Even though I knew they'd obviously survive and win the day, this episode was so effective that it actually made me think they might not survive. This episode is a prime example of why I like this team so much. It is easily one of my favorite episodes in all of Sentai.

Mecha: This review is already getting kind of long so I'll just talk about the mecha briefly. Galaxy Mega is pretty cool. Its a nice starting mecha for the show and there is an early episode thats a good example of how much the team needs it. Delta Mega is a nice solo robot that gets a surprising amount of use even after it becomes able to combine with Galaxy Mega. Its operated entirely by pumping Kenta's voice through the Battle Riser. Voice controls are just a cool control scheme imo. Now with that being said, my favorite mecha in the show is probably Mega Voyager since its episodes are extremely tense. Its a pretty cool 5-part mecha housed in a base on the moon. Its powerhouse and its debut really ramps up the steaks since its made pretty clear that the Megarangers might not stand a chance without from here on out. MegaSilver has his own mecha called the MegaWinger. Its an alright mecha but it shows up kind of late and its pretty much stated in its debut that it exists to combine with Mega Voyager. This is mainly just done by passing its glider wings to Mega Voyager. I would've like to see more of what it could do on its own.

Music: The music is pretty good. The opening is nice and energetic. It really helped build up the hype for every episode. I couldn't help but get up and dance while singing along with the song. The ending theme is a nice closer to each episode. Its pretty mellow while at the same time sounding uplifting. It pops up throughout the show a lot because a slowed down instrumental version is used for the slower more dramatic scenes and it sets the mood for scenes pretty well.

Final Thoughts: Without a doubt, my favorite part of this show is the high school setting. Seeing these kids try to balance their school lives with being Megarangers was fun and the high school angle had me pretty interested. It actually showed the consequences of them having to fight, especially the episode where Kouichiro and Chisato had to choose between their entrance exams and saving the civilians. Seeing them miss their exams because of Nezirejia made me tear up. The show kept making that dynamic clear and it helped reinforce that they still had their own lives to live after being Megarangers. All of that is in addition to them having to keep their identities a secret even from the villains of the show. Oh boy does it hard when that shoe drops in the final few episodes. Its one of the most crushing moments in Sentai for me because the villains do not hesitate to destroy their personal lives when they find out and I felt just as bad as the characters did. The episodic nature of the show made for some really great and memorable moments while also making it easy to binge. The final 2 episodes made me tear up and it hands down one of my benchmarks for how to do a mecha fight as well as probably being my favorite finale in all of Sentai. Overall, I had a lot of fun with this show and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it. Note: I didn't cover the suits here because I already gave my thoughts about them in the 90's Sentai suit post and the review was already rather long.