Experimentation is a double edged sword, while it can offer something fresh and new to a series that has been going on for years, it can alienate long time fans who find the new path to be scary and too different that has come before hand. Though ironically while some turn it away initally, it often ends up finding renewed life after it finishes airing for those who find the new stuff to be stale and want something different from the norm. Gekirangers was one of those sentai experiments, featuring a new writer to Toku (Michiko Yokote was more known for anime including writing episodes for the likes of Cowboy Bebop, Ranma 1/2, .hack//sign, with her writing a few episodes for Dekaranger and Magiranger.) Was a season heavily inspired by classic manga's including Fist of the North Star, DragonBall, Ranma 1/2 and Slam Dunk. Despite such rich inspiration and the talents of it's writer, Gekiranger was not the biggest success, the ratings were middling and sales that were less than stellar (Unless you lived in Korea where this series did very well for itself) maybe another thing was that the season may have been overshadowed by this very obscure tokusatsu known as Kamen rider Den-o, yeah that was a show that still stands as one of the most popular seasons for Rider. But it is now 2022, years past the shows airing and no longer having to air before the taros, is the show really good or is it just the show that you watched through for den-o.
SYNOPSIS
4000 years ago, a new form of martial arts was developed by a master and his 10 disciples, Juken (Translated as beast fist) mimics an animal's abilities in order to reach spiritual peace. Unfortunately, 3 of the students wanted instead to harness human suffering and anger to become stronger, so they killed their master Bruce Ee and formed a new school of Juken known Rin Juken (Or Confrontation Beast Fist). The remaining seven still following the teachings of their Master Bruce proceed to fight their former friends, in the end, the three deserters are defeated but at the cost of the seven other's human forms. While those who followed the three continue the traditions of Rin Juken, the other seven lead by Grand Master Shafu create Geki Juken ( Fierce beast fist) that continues the teaching of their late master. In modern time, one Geki Juken's students, Rio desire power far greater than what is seemingly offered by his current beast fist so instead he leaves his former school for Rin Juken, reviving many of its followers and the Rin Juken Hall in hopes of ruling the world. With the threat of Rin Juken greater than ever, Shafu begins teaching three youth's to combat the rival school. They are Ran Uzaki, the heiress of a high class family that owns a gym who becomes Geki Yellow, Retsu Fukami, a former painting prodigy who follows in his 'dead' brothers footsteps in Geki Juken and becomes Geki Blue. and the last student is Jan Kandou, a wild child raised by tiger's who is found by SCRTC Executive Miki Masaki as she was delivering an artifact from evils hands who is brought back when he shows a strong spirit. These three now stand as the represenative against the Rin Juken lead by Rio, Mele and the revived fallen sages.
For those who have a desire for a more serialized take on sentai, then Gekiranger does have that on offer here, while their is the standard episodic adventures, each episode feels like our heroes are growing stronger than they were in the last episode, also of note is that our main villain duo of Rio and Mele are just as important to the main story as well with their growth given equal importance to the main heroes as they also seek out growth to become stronger. Though unfortunately if their is a area that Gekiranger kind of fumbles its in how it distributes focus, really the characters with the most focus is Jan, Rio and Mele in terms of growth, that's not to say that the other character's don't get growth, but the show once it nears the climax is primarily the rivalry between Jan and Rio.
CHARACTER'S
Body, Heart, and Technique, never has their been a perfect trio
Of the inital trio Ran get's the least amount of focus. That's not to say that she is bad, she's the team's den mother and heart and actually the group's leader. Even if her growth is not as grand as other characters in the show, we see growth in her training with master Elehung in becoming more cheerful in loose in order to master her new weapon, and I do like some of the focus episodes, like when she became an actual mother to a deaged Retsu and Jan, or when her mother tries to get her to accept an arranged marriage, she puts her foot down in order to stay as a ranger to fulfill her duty, showing that she is dedicated to the job.
Retsu gets a bit more in that he has some history with Rio since his brother's 'death' was at his hand and being the reason he joined SCRTCH, he is the calmer more serious contrast to Jan's hyper active idiot hero, Despite his more stoic nature it doesn't mean he is entirely serious. Which includes arguably the best episode when he becomes drunk. Also when his brother does come back gives a good dynamic that helps his character, especially when he ends up swapped with an evil double.
Of course as a sentai post 1992 their are a few additional rangers before we get to the main focus of this show, so we start with Gou, Retsu's brother who's 'death' being that he was wondering around after using an imperfect form of the skill the fist sages used against the fallen sages, While I like Gou's lone wolf with a big heart for his brother to protect him with how he is against him still being in Geki Juken, after his initial arc his focus is rather limited, and he also ends up with the situation in that he gets beaten quite often, though I will admit that the relationship between him and Bae may be one of the underrated dynamics this show ended having going for it.
That sort of also goes for Ken, who while being a really enjoyable character in his own right, likewise has somehow even less to do after they get the rhino zord, yeah he helps fight but he sort of is their. Don't get me wrong, as stated, I like his more lackadaisical attitude I think offers a unique difference from the team as they were rather serious by this point which makes him refreshing, though I think his introduction is a bit too soon after we get Gou in the mix, it feels like we barely get enough time with him before we get this new face, I know if he was introduced a bit later it would've meant he would have even less but I feel that maybe Gou get's introduced a bit earlier so they both have breathing room.
Which brings us to the most important member of the team in Jan. Initally he's loud, kind of an idiot, and also speaks in his own kind of language like referring to the monsters as Zowa-Zowa or reffering to being excited as Waki-Waki. Now I know just from this description alone he sounds like quite the annoyance, espcially for those who don't like loud reds. We see a growth from the feral child of the beginning of the series to a master in his own right. While yes, some may find the speech patterns annoying, it feels in line with how he grew up, rather than being raised normally, he was raised amongst lion's so much more complex speech may be more difficult for him and make sense when his only companions didn't speak it, and really its dropped a lot as the series goes on as he does also cool down considerbly from his inital idiotic beginnings.
Also unlike some of the Red's of the 2010's, Jan is shown to be fallable, when the group is training to master Kaigeki, he is the only one too fail his task from his own impatience, when the truth about one of his family member he actually leaves the group inable to handle the stress, and that is something really works with him, he feels like he actually growing, Jan of the beginning of the season feels very different from the end Jan. Though that inital Jan does have his aggravating moments with that speech quirk can make the inital Jan not fun for those who can't stand this kind of character.
For the people assisting our hero, they are really fun. I liked the Masaki family overall, even Natsume was enjoyable in her appearences and this is from someone not fond of child actors, it probably help she does have her moments. While Miki serve's well as a technical advisor and the episode revealing her sukeban origins was really funny.
The Beast sages are a mixed bag to say the least, the main one Shafu is probably at this moment my favorite mentor in sentai, just this Miyagi style character teaching lessons to his pupils in the mundane ways, he is so relaxed but you can tell he knows a lot from his time as a mentor, the others we get are a more mixed bag, mentor's like Sharkie Chan (Sharkin'), Bat Li and Gorrie Yen are enjoyable with distinct personalities that are a lot of fun, but I can barely remember either Michelle or Pyon and Elehung, Elehung is master roshi without the charisma and anytime he is on screen I just get aggravated by the perverted old master.
Fursuit squadon Fury Ranger
On the opposite side of the geki juken, the masters of Rin Juken, While Kata and Rageku are fine in their way, teaching both Rio and Mele respectively, Though I feel that not much is done in regards to their relationship, outside of Rageku talking about her past love for Shafu, nothing is really done about their past, though I did find Maku to be a much more interesting as a villain, in that he feels like the antithesis to not only to the fist sage, but even his comrades, in that he really has no desire to teach a new generation, he seeks only power for himself and just treats Rio with disdain and treats him more as a punching bag, that is an interesting change up in the dynamic seeing as how all the teachers up to this point react.
There's not much to Bae, he serves as the main commentator for all of the mecha fight scenes, he serves as comic relief for the villain side with how he is often absused by Mele, that of course ends up becoming tragic when we learn why he always returns to her, and as stated, I did like his interactions with Gou, what little we got in this series.
And now Ladies and Gentlemen, the real stars of the show.
Which brings us to the other two main characters alongside Jan starting with Mele, Mele is best personified by her devotion to Rio, every thing she does is for her personal crush, whether it is in helping him or training to grow stronger to stand by him. She also serves to show that not only is this show's villain's are not just the standard kind in that she gets an episode that is dedicated to her strengthening herself to face off against a student intending to kill Rio and take his place and shows even with the potential to regain her humanity, it doesn't matter as long as she can stay by Rio's side.
That is arguably her most definitive, when her love is not played up to ridiculous levels, it what drives her character throughout the story, to stand alongside Rio through thick and thin as the plot's behind the scene's threaten to tear them apart when he nearly becomes what Long wants, becoming the emotional lynchpin for him, and arguably, she has some of the best focus epsiodes in the series, from that climax of the inital arc, her training with Rageku, how she works to find stronger power for Rio when Maku takes over as big bad for a spell. She is probably the stand out. If her boss wasn't just as good if not better in many ways.
If Jan was meant to be the Goku of the season then Rio is that Vegeta rival for him, One of the ways that Rio stands out is his connection to the heroes, not just in the way of he is a former student in that he has ties with many of them, specifically the Fukami brothers and Miki, it gives a more personal feeling to the villain rather than a random student who just decided to leave. And his lust for power and to be the best fighter arguably pushes the story more than anything else, as the Gekirangers are more reacting to each growth in strength he acquires and answering that, it also help that the actor steals every scene he is in, while the character is stoic, Hirofumi Araki's mere presence and intimidating feel make him something to fear throughout.
What also makes Rio a standout villain for the franchise is in that he transforms the show, while yes the heroes are still trying to defeat Rin Juken from taking over the world, it's more focused on seeing its cast grow as fighters to tackle each other, even when he has the heroes at the brink of defeat and surpassed them in every manner, when Jan shows possible power that could make him stronger and a better opponent, he let's them live and simply takes Shafu hostage (on his own terms.) For the chance to completely crush his foes, and when he gains his final form, he still leaves the group alive so Jan can grow stronger for the final confrontation. While he wants to rule the world, he wants o ensure that he is the strongest fighter in the world, not just having beaten strong people when they weren't ready, giving him a more fair play role and when he does learn about how he was used, he turns that aggression towards the person who ruins his life.
Which nicely leads into to the true villain in the form of Long, while his introduction is a kind of Hi, I am now here sort of situation. Long sets himself up as one of the best manipulator's and just downright hatable villains the franchise has. His introduction is just oozing in smugness and arrogance at what was going on like he knew everything, and Naoki Kawano owns the slippery Dragon, even if he doesn't take to actual combat often, he proves a threat in getting people to do what he wants like when forcing Mele to do a more dirty deed than she is willing, or of course fooling, Also taking into account the people he had destroyed just to not be bored, no desire of world domination, no petty vengeances, he just did all of this out of boredom and sadism, and you know, when those kinds of villains are done well, they are the most enjoyable to hate and see go down.
Hair of gold, heart of pure, dark black
His minion's are more on the fine portion, Sanyo is his goofier muscle who doesn't know when to shut up and Suugu serves more an enforcer role who's tie to story gives the character more tragedy for what he is.
AESTHETICS
Presented by SCRTCH
The main trio's suits are really good, I like the simplicty of the main color with black accenting with representing each rangers respective animal, really the only negative and this is more a nitpick is the decision of the white necks, it feels out of place just like with how I was annoyed with ninninger's white boots. And that semi goes for the super forms they get in that the issue is now reverse in that the collar is now black, but I really do like them, the reversal of the predominant color, the claw, and the ridiculousness of the boosters that are now coming out of the claw marks.
I think Geki violet looks really good to, the boxing motif fitting well and looking distinct from the standard outfits due to the different changer while Geki chopper is the standout, the black and orange standing out against the white, the gi look it has, the horn, it is the best suit on the hero side because trust me the villains also have some good suits with Rio and Mele's Rin juken outfits being feast for the eyes, with Rio's suit adding to intimidation with it's black and gold and Mele's chameleon look has a balance between green and purple, the monster's for the Rin juken and later Gen juken look good... with two exception and they give off a lesser cuddly version of the animals compared to the geki juken fist masters.
I am sort of more mixed on the equipment used by the gekirangers, I think the changers are really good across the board, the gekichanger gauntlets look solid and mix well into the suits, the gongchanger really works well for me and the sai blade. Also worth noting is the weaponry on display here, focusing on martial arts weaponry ranging from the bo staff, nunchaku, tonfa, and later fans and the like, the only one weapon thing I am not fond of is the sai blades gun form just doesn't fit well with everything else for me.
The mecha design for the season is actually really sold, the individual ones are mostly for forming the megazord of and have no really use out of it but of note they are note physical beings rather each rangers spirit brought forth. And the main mech, Gekitouja is really good, it's slim design makes it a standout compared to a lot of other mecha and keeping up with the unique weapons the 3 prong staff is a standout, what really holds this one back for me is that it is too much red, Geki tiger is the entire body with Cheetah and jaguar being just the legs and being a bit of an clash of colors, while this problem does continue into Geki Fire, the additon of black across the mecha helps it feel less of an issue, though its more bulkier design feels like a return to previous affair. lastly the two mecha can combine with auxillaries zords of an elephant, a bat, and a shark to make use of the new skills they learn. They are perfectly fine though the design of the shark clearly is intended for one thing which is underwater fights.
Peta probably shouldn't see this mecha
Though notably even after the main trio get this new mecha combination, GekiTouja still gets used as Gou's primary main mecha, which swaps out the cheetah for a wolf leg as he summons phantom versions of the tiger and jaguar, which while it does give us more of a solid mech, I kind of wish that he got his mecha combination rather than having to ape from the others. We have Saidain which I thought looked fine, I think it is sort of an issue with Gekifire in that the design is more akin to the standard of sentai fare rather than what gekitouja does, but it did grow on me honestly. Finally both Rio and Mele have their own spirits to zords that mostly exist to combine with the trio whenever they have an enemy mine situation and is honestly really good looking.
Wild charge
Musically the soundtrack slaps, the main theme sets the standard for what to expect throughout the run, the powerup theme, the one offs are the kinds of song that just feel they fit with Gekirangers hot blooded nature.
EPISODES
Least Favorite: Episode 22: Gekiranger does take some time to get going, but once the inital arc involving the five venom fist is done and we focus on the training, I would say things look up... mostly, episode 22 is odd man out, so a bratty rich girl has something both sides want since its needed to awaken the final Kenma, she is willing to give it back if they give her something back in return and Jan ends being the one to offer it since he stands out against the rest since he is a wild child. It's a standard rich meets poor story not helped by easily the worst MOTW in Tabu, the design sucks, it has some rather childish moments when it uses flatulence against the rangersand... it's main weapon is a link of sausage, yes we have had Jan using towels before hand but this just sad, like they were trying to do some kind of breather episode after the Kaigeki arc but this feels so below much of the rest of the season. Speaking of that.
Favorite: 19-21: Each episode of the Kaigeki arc hits in all the right places across its three episodes, the opening episodes is the best show of Rio's combat capabilities in the entire show with his brutal beatdown of the team, the middle episode feels like a great growing point for the entire team, and then the final portion feels like a culmination of the two episodes building up to Super gekirangers debut and the beatdown Rio gets.
Favorite: 36: Drunk boxing... that's all I am going to say
Favorite: 9, This was the episode that I feel shows what Gekirangers is truly capable of, while the first 8 episodes are not bad, this was where things got good. The focus on Mele gives us a different perspective on the conflict while also showing that this was not going to be the standard sentai affair, these villains were going to grow alongside our heroes.
CONCLUSION
Of the sentai I have watched up to this point, Gekiranger feels like the odd one out and in a very good way, while not everyone gets equal time to shine, the ones who do are arguably some of the most developed and fleshed out the franchise has done, the action has many unique and different set pieces that make them stand outs and it such well done action at that to, making use of the numerous martial arts it shines upon throughout. Gekirangers is a show that I would reccomend if you want something different out of the franchise outside of the standard affair.
FINAL GRADE: A
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