Tokusou sentai Dekarenjâ

I'll admit, having watched Power Rangers for a long time and not realizing its' Japanese origins, I was slightly curious to find out exactly why the two were compared and the fans split into the infamous "PR Snobs" and "Sentai Snobs". I chose Dekaranger as my first Sentai show to watch since I was very familiar with the americanized version and I thought I would be able to look at it better that way...

I was simple blown away.

Dekaranger has EVERYTHING! It's funny, sweet, has lots of action, drama. No two episodes were exactly alike and it was nowhere as cheesy as it's Americanized counterpart. While Power Rangers used a lot of the same story lines I found myself enjoying the Dekarangers characters more. While I couldn't bring myself to like Jack of PR, I LOVED Ban...and all of the team.

While I still like Power Rangers, Dekaranger is MUCH MUCH better and more fun to watch and I strongly recommend it, especially if you are not a normal fan of Sentai. After this show, you will fall in love with it.

Words can't describe how bad this show is. It has absolutely no plot (as of this writing the series is about to end and all they seem to be doing is introducing new toys...I mean characters). The cast is supposed to be made up of elite cops who tend to goof off and be pretty instead of trying to act.

It's convoluted junk. The acting is bad. The characters are lame. The designs are horrid. The action is weak. And since a show about the planet's most elite and finest cops happens to be a comedy in this case, the comedy is unfunny. To enjoy this heap of waste would most likely require a lobotomy.

"Dekaranger" is the 2004 entry in Japan's long-running series of "sentai" action-adventure programs highlighting the exploits of various teams of "Rangers" in color-coded costumes. I watched four episodes of "Dekaranger" after watching the season opener for "Power Rangers S. P. D.," the American counterpart of "Dekaranger." Interestingly, the characters in "S. P. D." are considerably older than their Japanese equivalents, who all seem quite young. Dekaranger's Pink Ranger is quite short (under five feet) and looks and behaves as if she was 14 or 15, while the others all have a late-teen vibe about them. (The ages given for their characters on one website are considerably older than they look and behave.) They squabble amongst themselves, much more than usual for a sentai team, which makes them a little different and, in fact, a little refreshing. It helps that Pink Ranger, Umeko (played by Mika Kikuchi), is so darned cute and perky, and that Yellow Ranger, Jasmine (played by Ayumi Kinoshita), is so pretty. Green Ranger is the quiet, serious no-nonsense one, Red Ranger is the wild, irresponsible, individualistic one and Blue Ranger is the one who fights with Red Ranger the most. (This relationship is echoed in "S. P. D.")

There's a lot of good action in the episodes I watched, including lots of battles with aliens and robot henchmen. There's a rousing Zord battle reminiscent of the Zord action in "Go Go Five" (also reviewed on this site) and its U. S. counterpart, "Lightspeed Rescue," and several good martial arts battles and stunts. There's a clever bit in ep. 4 where an alien opponent sends the combatants teleporting all over Tokyo, so Red and Blue Rangers find themselves fighting the alien in an empty speeding commuter train one minute and then on the back of a truck immediately thereafter. What I've always liked about sentai series is the frequency of on-location battles as characters in outlandish costumes go at each other in dramatic locales and sprawling public spaces. It gives a sense of believability and immediacy to the otherwise preposterous (but highly enjoyable) goings-on.

I'm not much of a fan of Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, although, I can see why other people would feel more invested in watching this show.

But, I will say this. At least the ranger suits and the SPD uniforms look nice. The music is actually pretty good, loved the movies, "Full-Blast Action" and "Dekaranger: 10 Years After!" and I'm hoping to see what the team-up movie, "Space Sheriff Gavan vs. Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger" has in store for us.

Now for the characters.... The only characters that I do like the most are Senichi "Sen-chan" Enari, Tekkan "Tetsu" Aira and Doggie Kruger. But, unfortunately, I can't really say any nice things to say about the character of Swan Shiratori (Deka Swan) and here's why....she's a freakin' stereotypical damsel-in-distress. Aka, the "Nell Fenwick from Dudley Do-Right" of this show, and I honestly do not give a damn about this character at all. Everyone else....they're okay. Just not that spectacular, in my opinion.

Favorite episodes: -Episode 31: Princess Training -Episode 32: Discipline March -Episode 33: SWAT Mode On -Episode 37: Hard Boiled License -Episode 38: Cycling Bomb -Episode 40: Gold Badge Education -Episode 41: Trick Room

Overall, I thought was an enjoyable show, but not something that I would want to add to my personal collection of sentai shows. But, the movie, "Full-Blast Action" and "Dekaranger: 10 Years After!" are the best ones.

8 out of 10.

Yes! I watched then since I was 7! Now I'm 20!. Once upon a time Dekarangers suddenly popped on my facebook page and I just simply watched it, and WOW! After rewatching the deka fighting scene my childhood memories starts to flooded into my head and made me wants to watch dekarangers again!