Review
Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (2004-05) (in English literally Special Investigation Squadron Detective Ranger) had a unique, Space-Police motif that was similar to Timeranger in some ways. This was also the first season to be fully subbed in English, thanks to TV-Nihon. Most Sentai fans view Dekaranger as a more serious oriented series. I personally think its a mixture or a middle ground between a serious and a comical series. Among the Super Sentai fandom, this series is generally hit or miss. Many fans, especially newer fans, have called it the best Sentai series of the 2000's, while some older fans dislike the series. Ban (DekaRed), in particular is a hit or miss character. A lot of fans like Ban's reckless, crazy, yet heroic and badass attitude. Many older fans criticize Ban for differentiating widely from the traditional red ranger. A lot of these critics say that Ban is too much of a fiery guy to be a red ranger, with some fans even calling Ban "annoying." The series gets a lot of praise for its diverse and very likable cast, clever story writing, the police drama, and its humor. Others criticize the series for having a rash, fiery, and hyper active red ranger, for being untraditional compared to other Sentai's, the space-police motif (some saying it would be better off if it were a police-themed series and not a Sentai series), the amount of English catchphrases used, and for not having a "leading villain" or a villain group that works together like other Sentai series, whereas in Dekaranger each Alienizer that comes to earth is an independent contractor.
The Good
This series has probably the best cast out of any 2000's Sentai series, with 8 lovable characters. It has clever and diverse story writing that ranges from Jasmine's touching past, Hoji's tough decision making and ultimately having to delete his former best friend and his girlfriend's brother, and rather silly, humorous moments such as Tetsu having a secret, bug-like admirer and many classic, funny Umeko moments. I personally think the Space-Police motif was awesome, and this series has some of the best music in the entire series. It's also one of the few Sentai series that has both a good intro and a good outro, most usually have one or the other. The movie and the two team-ups are fun to watch. And last but certainly not least, the girls in this series (Jasmine, Umeko, Swan, even Marigold) are all likable, beautiful, and adorable.
The Bad
When we first meet Hoji and Tetsu, they both have rather arrogant, somewhat cocky, I'm better than everyone else attitudes. Fortunately, these two mature as the series goes on and become likable characters. Also, the narrorator is somewhat annoying and doesn't know when to shut up. For example, we don't need to know by Episode 50 that Jasmine is an ESPER, we already know that.
The Ugly
There's nothing I would really consider ugly about this show.
My Rating
9.7/10 A. Overall, awesome series. Nearly flawless, and my favorite series so far.
My Favorite Episodes
Episode 7/8- Jasmine's past is revealed and it's very heartwarming.
Episode 12- A funny and heart warming episode involving Umeko trying to be a mother to a giant alien baby.
Episode 13- Doggie's first episode as DekaMaster, and it's awesome
Episode 17- A funny episode with Umeko imitating Jasmine and Umeko doing some drunken boxing. This episode developed the two girls friendship and gave some strong character development to Umeko.
Episode 26- Hoji's crowning moment of awesome.
Episode 36- Gives good character development to Swan, and shows her transforming into DekaSwan for the first and only time in the series.
Episode 37- A strong character development episode for Hoji, in which he has to delete his girlfriend's brother.
Episode 39- Developed Jasmine and Umeko's friendship further, and has an awesome moment when Jasmine beats the MOTW at her own game.
Episode 43- Another heartwarming episode, establishing that deep down inside underneath the hardcore professionalism, Hoji does really care about Ban.
Episode 45- Tetsu cross-dresses for the second time and a bisexual alienizer falls for him. It's flat out hilarious.
I actually like a lot more episodes, but I decided to try to minimize it to a few.
Speaking of the narrator's being annoying, that happened in the Metal Hero series too. Not to mention, I kind of get reminded of that Mayor from Harvest Moon: Back to Nature with that kind of attitude.
ReplyDeleteOf Hoji and Tetsu, well I guess that's why the two can easily get along... because they start off arrogant and they mature together. Doesn't Ban count too?
I didn't think Ban had the same kind of arrogance that Hoji and Tetsu had. He was a bit of a jerk, undisciplined, and rather hyper active, but he accepted his teammates immediately while it took Tetsu a while to accept the others and Hoji to accept Ban.
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