Cho Denshi Bioman (51 episodes, 1984-1985)
By Philip Niņo Tan-Gatue

For many Filipinos my age (mid twenties), the prototypical sentai series can be summarized in one word: Bioman. This 51 episode wonder from 1984-85 was run on Philippine television dubbed into English several times since 1986. When Power Rangers broke into the scene here in the mid 1990s, the first reaction for many people was something like, "hey, an American Bioman?" Other sentai shows were shown here, Goranger and JAKQ before it, Maskman, Turboranger, Fiveman and Jetman after it, but none has left its mark more indelibly than Bioman. .

Overview

Anyway, Cho denshi (Super Electron) Bioman tells the story of the war against the Shin Teikoku (New Empire) Gear (known simply as the Neo Empire in the Philippine dub). This machine empire was founded by Doctor Man, formerly robotics scientist Dr. Kageyama. Five hundred years ago, the Bio Robot came with the android Pibo from the Bio Star to shower five people with Bio Particles. These particles were passed on from generation to generation, until in 1984, the Bio Robot awakes to find their descendants, and recruit them under Pibo's leadership to battle Doctor Man as the Bioman team. I've always thought that it would have been easier just to shower the particles on humans NOW then recruit them, but maybe the bio particles need time to mature or something.

Anyway, so Pibo (imagine a less comical Alpha Five, C-3PO with Kamen Rider Bug Eyes and the robot from Lost in Space rolled into one) gathers pilot Gou Shirou (Kenny in the local dub), car racer Takasugi Shingo (Sammy), Nanbara Ryuuta (Frankie), Koizumi Mika (Casey) and Katsuragi Hikari (Kimberly), gives them cool funky bracelets and orders them to transform into Red One, Green Two, Blue Three, Yellow Four and Pink Five, respectively. In episode 10, Mika is replaced by Yabuki Jun (June), after Mika is killed off in the previous episode. Using the computer mechanisms (cool sfx!) in their helmets, the Biomen immediately are able to learn their powers and beat some Mechaclone butt. The mechaclone faceless goons of the baddies are really cool, sleek and simple in design yet believable as evil robot goons. I really love it when a Bio Shortsword (Bio dagger in the dub) slashes across a mechaclone's face, tearing the plates off to reveal the mechanisms inside. The team is augmented by their giant ship Bio Dragon, which houses Bio Jets one and two, which combine (with great background music!) into the Bio Robot. Red and Yellow have Bio Mach 1 and 2 as motorbikes, and the rest ride in Green Two's Bio Turbo. Unlike other sentais with only one final attack, Bioman has the "Bio Electron", which is actually several possible attacks such as the Bio Big Arrow, Prism Laser, Bio Electron Beam, Bio Flash and others. A fresh change from the "bring out the balls days" of Goranger, "bring out the big gun" days of the late 80s and the "lack of teamwork in beating the monster just bring out the darn robot" days of the 90s.

Good Guys

The five good guys are excellently played and show genuine camaraderie. Shiro makes for a great leader, often showing concern for his teammates and risking his life for them. He is also able to talk to animals. Shingo is the muscle guy for the team, and plays the tough guy well. His actor also appears in the early episodes of Jan Person, by the way. Ryuuta is very agile and very quick on his feet, and has a great sense of humor. This is complemented by his wide array of facial expressions and funny poses. He can be dead serious if need be, though. Hikari is a carnival flutist. Strong willed and determined, she nevertheless does not come out as tomboyish. Good.

Now for the Mika vs Jun debate. In her limited (9 episodes) time as Yellow Four, the Mika character has nonetheless created a big impact. Even MORE strong willed than Hikari, she in fact resists joining the Bioman at first, more interested in her role as a gutsy photographer. Many feel she had more charm than her replacement Jun, but I feel that Jun complemented her teammates more. Jun was an Olympic archer who was forced to choose between saving the world and winning medals for Japan. Nice part about these two lovely ladies is that they could be seen doing their own stunts. A far cry from the "chop-edit" of the late eighties and early nineties. I vote for Jun as the better yellow four.

Bad Guys

As for Gear, they have three generals, the "Big Three", composed of Mason, the female Fara, and the humongous Monster (Vargo in the dub). Fara is assisted by Faracat (played by Oshima Yukari). An interesting thing about Gear is that they do not have new human sized monsters of the week. Rather, there are five Beastnoids which are recurring "monsters" (known in the dub as the Cybernoid Five Fighters") They aren't destroyed at the end of the battle, just rendered heavily damaged so they retreat. These are: the winged Messerbeast (Falconoid),Psygorn, with psychokinetic powers; the marine warrior Aquaiger (Aquanoid), the cycloptic spy Metzler (Plasmanoid), the kinda funny Beastking (Zeroid) who is often Monster's partner. So who does the Bio Robot fight? Well, the Gear have Mechagigans, kinda like robeasts from voltron. Sometimes the Mechagigan of the week is integral to that episode's plot. Sometimes they just appear to fulfill the giant-robot-fight-of-the-week obligation.

Spoiler Alert

The plot thickens as several things are revealed through the series, such as the fact that Doctorman seeks his human son to carry on after him. First he creates mechaclone in his son's likeness as the Black Prince, who dies in battle. Second, he actually finds his son Shuiichi (Sonny in the dub. I don't know this guy's real name, but he's also the head of Goggle Five's Computer Boys and Girls and also appears as a regular in Solbrain) and reveals his origins in trying to recruit him to Gear (shades of "Luke, it is your destiny.") Beastnoids Aquaiger and Messerbeast die in midseries while the others receive power ups. The Biomen then have to develop the Super Dynamite-like (but with much cooler sfx) Super Bio Electron final attack. Later, the Bio Hunter Silver (who looks one heckuva like Hakaider) reveals that the Biomen have half of the Bio Particles in existence, while he has the other half and that he, and his robot Balzion (Bio Destroyer) want it all. Doctorman wants Silver dead and control of Balzion. Red One discovers that his father is scientist Dr. Shibata, a contemporary of Dr. Kageyama, and that Shibata, with Shuiichi's help, is working on a mechaclone conscience circuit to give them human feelings. So anyway, the series works up to a frenzy, with bad guys dropping like flies. A final showdown with Silver results in Silver's death and Balzion's destruction. Finally, in the last episode, the ultimate confrontation with Doctorman and one final Mechagigan...

Comments

Bioman was a big jump from Dynaman in special effects, costumes, background music and overall realism. Unfortunately for me, Changeman and Flashman sort of regressed in these areas. It is also the first sentai show to have two female members. The Bioman costumes are awesome and the Bio Robot doesn't suffer from the "hey I can distinguish the robot components just by looking at it" syndrome. The music has a cosmic, outer spacey feel. I say Bioman is "realistic" because we have none of the comic relief robots of Dynaman or the talking mascots of Sun Vulcan (at least IC of Denziman was a robot dog in the story). The heroes truly possess individual personalities, unlike later shows.

From the onset, Bioman tries to be serious, although some episodes' plots are downright ridiculous. Exploding balloons? Corrupting youth by making it rain money? Hey, this IS a kiddie show after all. Still, the general tone of the show is much grittier than, let's say, Goggle Five before it or Kakuranger and Carranger after it. Perhaps on the grit level, it's just on par with Timeranger.

Overall, Bioman created a fan base unrivalled in the Philippines since. For many years, not even the newer sentai could displace Bioman from the top of my favorite sentai list until Timeranger came along. Excellent cast, excellent show, excellent dubbing. Just plain excellent.

Philip Niņo Tan-Gatue