Denji Sentai Megaranger - Review

Hello everyone! Joeker here again after over a year of absence. Unfortunately TheDokta and myself had gotten somewhat worn out from life issues. (School, work, etc) and had gotten to the point where all that was being posted were update posts and hardly any actual content, so we decided it may be better to take a break.

It's 2014. JoekerStraightFlush turns 3 this year and I have decided to come back and try to update it a often as possible. The most frequent early reviews posted here was of Super Sentai, Kamen Rider and Precure, so to celebrate turning 3 I am going to go ahead and do a review of one of each now that we're back. Starting with a Super Sentai series I watched recently, Denji Sentai Megaranger.

Airing back in 1997, Denji Sentai Megaranger was the 21st Super Sentai series. The series starts out as any Super Sentai would; There's an evil group and a group of people gain the ability to transform to fight them and protect earth. This time with a slight twist, although not the first Denji Sentai Megaranger has a High School setting, with the core 5 being High School students. This dynamic is really well done and the characters feel like real high school students should, there is nothing superficial or fake about their characters, they all feel as they should; teenagers who suddenly have to save the world.

Core 5 Megaranger

Who do they have to protect the world from you ask? A group called Nezirezia, coming from a dimension called.. Nezirezia. Their plans are of course to take over earth, it runs a little deeper then that but I'd rather not spoil much if possible. The show sets up it's MoTW format from the first episode, this isn't unusual, it's a Sentai series afterall so you may be wondering why I am bothering to mention it, but the series really does do a good job with it. I hardly felt there were any moments where the series bored with me it's MoTW episodes which is something I find happening to me a lot in Sentai.

The core villains of the series

Megaranger did something I very much appreciate in Tokusatsu series, the core 3 villains felt very close to each other, more like a family then anything. Each of them cared about each other and that made the series feel that bit more solid. The villains designs themselves are interesting and the extra villains that are added as the series continues will not deter the experience these three bring, instead adding to it by bringing in a unique dynamic that wasn't apparent before.

The MoTW designs are also interesting, some of them felt a bit boring but that happens; they weren't particularly bad but not always exciting to look at. The designs of the villains overall range from downright spooky to badass.

Girel's design legit spooks me.

Continuing with the design aspect, another thing this series shines with are it's mecha. Megaranger excelled with it's robot design, with Galaxy Mega and Delta Winger being perhaps some of the most fine looking robots in the franchise. The mecha fights are as they should be, sweet and short for the most part. There are instances where they can be longer but normally aren't too long, just long enough to for you to appreciate them but not so long you'll get bored. The Megaranger suit design themselves are very simple but have enough detail to make you think a good amount of thought was put into it, they look pretty nice.

 

Another thing that stood out is the soundtrack, it's very 90's. Not that that's a bad thing, just that it can be a bit weird for people not used to it. The soundtrack is good though, with really good Opening and Ending themes along with great Mecha themes. The series effects are also the best of the 90's Sentai if you ask me, and have aged very well compared to others. Of course this can still feel jarring for those not used to it, but it is certainly bearable.

There are just a few more things I want to mention, as this review is getting a bit lengthy. Spoilers will follow from this point.

The story of the series is simple like I have said but very fun to watch, watching a group of regular High School students become full fledged defenders of the earth is a very interesting journey and it all feels real. The group argue, some fall in love, they get depressed, but most of all they remain friends throughout, which is one of the most important messages Megaranger brings.

Another thing to note is the Sixth Ranger, MegaSilver and a group of villains later in the series, Neziranger. MegaSilver is a fun character they don't really go in depth with him as they do with the rest of the team but this was a different era and Sixth Rangers were treated differently back then, either way he becomes an invaluable group members and just watching the team begin to accept him and think of him as a trusted comrade is great to watch. The Neziranger are a group of 5 villains that appear late in the series and are so far the only "real" Sentai team that are villains. There have been other villains that call themselves similar but the Neziranger really stand out, both design and personality wise. I won't spoil too much, but watching their dilemma was very satisfying.


Denji Sentai Megaranger was a very solid experience overall. It handled everything it tried to do well and because of that was one of the most pleasant experiences I've had watching Super Sentai. I couldn't recommend the series more, check it out if you're a fan of Super Sentai.

*Please note: My reviews are actually pretty bad and not really like a review at all, more like my thoughts on a series..well I guess that's still like a review? I don't like sectioning things off into "Story" "Music" "Characters" and giving them separate ratings or even a rating for the series overall. Sorry if that's what you were expecting!