Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger (2001-2002)
Production: Toei Corporation
Episodes: 51
Images: Toei's official Gao Ranger website
By Kamui Shiro

Introduction

The Super Sentai genre has been a mainstay in Japanese entertainment for over a quarter of a century now with several entries in the series receiving accolades from fans over the years, unfortunately the series that celebrated its 25th anniversary was met with some mixed emotions and skepticism. Despite this reaction from fans, no one can deny the influence it’s had since the short time since it debuted. This program was Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger.

The Story

A thousand years ago, six warriors with connections to the power of nature fought the evil Orgs, beings of pure rage and sadness that took form in inanimate objects. Nearly defeated by their leader, one of the warriors took it upon himself to don a cursed mask that would amplify his power, and defeated the Org leader before his friends sealed him and the evil that was taking him over away. In the present, the Orgs return, and it's up to a new generation of Gao warriors to defeat them.

The series opens with scenes shifting between a local street fair and a rooftop battle between four of the already assembled Gaorangers--Gao White (Miu Takeuchi), Gao Black (Kazuyoshi Sakai), GaoBlue (Takeru Shibaki), and Gao Yellow (Kei Horie) and two of the Orgs, Turbine and Plugma. The resulting chaos causes a disruption below in the form of a frightened elephant going on a moderate rampage at a local carnival. The disturbance is quickly squelched by the arrival of a young veterinarian named Kakeru Shishi (Naboru Kaneko), who calms the elephant with his unique mental empathy towards animals. Observing the scene from elsewhere is the shaman, Tetomu, (Takemi), who instructs the other Gaorangers to find him. The next day, Kakeru, while helping a stray cat is confronted by four young people who ask him completely out of left field to accompany them somewhere. Actually, they sort of kidnap him, but that’s a minor wrinkle.

After being punched out by one of them, Kakeru wakes up in the middle of a tropical paradise where he encounters a group of metallic animals--a tiger, a bison, a shark, and finally, an eagle, respectively. But the gigantic red lion is what attracts Kakeru’s attention. He climbs up to get a closer look at the lion, perched on a tall rock, but falls, the lion barely managing to save him. After speaking to the giant metal animal,--now identified as Gao Lion by Tetomu--and using his empathic gift to communicate with him on a deeper level, a symbol, like a lion's head, appears in his hand, and turns into a small red o, bearing a gold image of the Gao Lion himself inside it. He is then transported back to the city below and into a strange mountain, where the people who knocked him out, the other Gaorangers, and Tetomu, greet him. She explains what exactly is going on here: Gao Lion has selected him to be Gao Red, the leader and final member of the Gaorangers, so that he may help them fight the recently-revived Orgs.

As the show goes on, the back stories of the other characters are explored, albeit briefly, as are the other Power Animals. Instead of having one principal villain throughout the show, there are three: the Org Generals. The first being Shuten, then followed by Ura, and finally Rasetsu, along with their subordinates, Yaba-Iba (voice of Koichi Sakaguchi) and Tsuetsue (Rei Saito). With the coming of Ura, however also brings the arrival of the Wolf Demon, Loki, who is later revealed to be Shirogane (Tetsuji Tamayama), one of the ancient Gao Warriors who came under Loki‘s curse, and later becomes the team’s 6th Ranger, Gao Silver; the appearance of a mysterious child named Futaro (Daiki Arioka); and the enigmatic appearance of Gao God, the patron god of the Power Animals.

Review

To say Gaoranger has been met with mixed feelings would be a bit of an understatement. The show’s major flaw is ironically one of its biggest strengths: the Power Animals. Introducing them into the story, building on their presence, and the near-relentless promotion of the Power Animal toys took up more than its fair share of the series atmosphere, and as a result, the storylines didn’t get much in the way of real attention. The episodes and respective story arcs are good in and of themselves, but there’s no real sense of cohesion.

Gaoranger’s potential was never truly tapped in the ways it could’ve been. The principal villains were a mixed bag, although Duke Hell Highness Senki was a excellent example for the little amount of screen time he actually saw. The supporting villains, Yaba-Iba and Tsuetsue had excellent sinister potential, but they quickly degenerated into the show’s comedy relief. Which, weirdly enough, they were actually pretty good at.

Loki stood out as a fantastic villain with his ties to Gao Silver, but it was resolved too quickly. He would’ve been much better served by remaining a strong presence up to the series finale. The cast is a strong and likeable group, especially in the case of Naboru Kaneko, who has already appeared in a major motion picture with sentai alumni, Kane Kosugi, as well as an upcoming role in the latest Godzilla movie. The chemistry among the actors playing the Rangers and their mentor, Tetomu, both in light-hearted and serious situations is obvious, and helps make up for the occasional lack of substance in the plot.

Mecha played a big part in the show and no sentai I’ve seen yet has a more diverse arsenal than those seen in Gaoranger. As previously mentioned, this was done to sell toys, but some of the formations themselves are truly inspired, Gao Icarus, in particular. The Org costume designs were pretty outlandish, but the designs were well-done, if not entirely original (clearly some of these were taken from previous monster themes: bus, traffic light, and especially camera).

Conclusion

While Gaoranger was to many an exercise in unrealized potential, it was far from a bad series at all, given it was the series that celebrated the entire franchise’s history; especially in light of the success of the crossover movie Gaoranger VS Super Sentai. Once you get past the endless promotional pushes and the minor flaws, there’s plenty of solid enjoyment to be found in this series.

Kamui Shiro