Original Run: March 3rd, 1995 – February 23rd, 1996 (Japan)
Created by: Toei Company
Directed by: various
Written by: various
Music by: Seiji Yokoyama
Cast: Masaru Shishido, Kunio Masaoka, Masashi Goda, Ayumi Asō, Tamao Satō, Shōji Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Miyauchi
Toei Company, 48 Episodes, 25 Minutes (per episode)
Review:
Chouriki Sentai Ohranger is the fourth Super Sentai series that I have watched. So, at the point of seeing it, I felt pretty well-versed in the franchise.
The series is the first I have seen where the Rangers are members of a government task force. The team felt more like a squad from an Ultraman series, which was a welcome change, as I have been a big fan of the Ultra franchise.
Also, the villains in Chouriki Sentai Ohranger are sentient machines, which seemed like another cool change from shows past.
My favorite thing however, was the suits. These are the coolest Ranger suits in the entire series. Granted, there are a lot of cool looking teams over the thirty-plus Sentai installments but these suits take the cake.
However, even with all of those positives, Chouriki Sentai Ohranger ended up being a disappointment.
I really wanted to love this series. It was just very boring, overall.
The characters weren’t very exciting and I didn’t come to care about them like the Rangers from other shows. They lacked charisma and interesting backstories. Also, their great Ranger outfits were offset by their really drab regular uniforms.
Furthermore, the villains seemed like a refreshing change, in the beginning. The problem was, they were way too cheesy and too cartoony. Yes, this is a Super Sentai series but after the great villains from the three previous shows, the big baddies just felt like bumbling morons and low-tier henchmen. In fact, I was waiting for some bigger villain to show up, similar to how Kakuranger and Dairanger had their evil forces evolve throughout their sagas.
The monsters were also pretty weak. Granted, I think they were better than most of the Youkai from Kakuranger but they were nowhere near as imaginative.
Most of the robots in the series were really cool though. Except for the one that was basically just a giant tire. Plus, the robots are shot out of a giant cannon and land wherever the battle zone is; that was a pretty neat concept.
Ultimately, Ohranger is the weakest of the four Sentai shows I have seen. I wonder if the feeling was the same in Japan, as the series that followed this one was a parody.
Rating: 6/10
Talking Pulp 