Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger!
Five warriors from the time of the dinosaurs have revived in the modern day!
The Super Sentai for 1992, The evil Witch Bandora and her cronies are accidentally set free after being sealed away for 170 million years. Bandora wastes no time in setting about on getting her revenge upon the Earth in general and on children in particular. Fortunately, the ancient tribes that had sealed her away in the first place took precautions, and thus five of their greatest warriors revive to defend the Earth from Bandora's attack.
Zyuranger represented a significant change in how Sentai was done; before Zyuranger, every Super Sentai was a soft sci-fi show with a heavy military emphasis, even in those shows where our heroes do not work for the military or other government agency. There were mystical aspects here and there, but Zyuranger was the first show to fully embrace the factastic and mystical, drawing heavily upon folklore, mythology, and fairy tales to inspire and inform its episodes. This direction even extends to the giant robot of the series, DaiZyuJin, which is no mere robot but is in fact the Patron God of the Zyurangers and the source of all their powers.
Oh, and Zyuranger was also used as the source footage for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Just wanted to get that out of the way.
Heroes: Unfortunately, Zyuranger does not prioritize characterization or development in its main team; there is some, but by and large they are there to save the day and thus at times come off as bland or outsiders to their own show. Never the less, Geki the Tyranno Ranger is a fine leader whose mettle is frequently tested and whose drive is palpable (3 points). Goushi the Mammoth Ranger is an excellent second-in-command with a strong camaraderie with Geki (3 points). Dan the Tricera Ranger and Boi the Tiger Ranger are kind of interchangeable; Boi is a bit more mature than Dan but otherwise they're both the young plucky guys and don't get much particular focus (2 points). Mei the Ptera Ranger gets some excellent focus episodes and ends up being a really strong character (3 points). Then there's Burai, the DragonRanger, AKA the first Sixth Ranger in Super Sentai, and what a guy to kick that tradition off; all the hype is met and more, he really does breathe new life into the show and the franchise as a whole when it needed it most (5 points).
Total: 16 points.
Villains: MACHIKO SOGA AS BANDORA IS THE GREATEST! Seriously, calming down. Bandora is glorious, rarely do you ever get a Sentai big bad who comes across as so human instead of just "Blargh, I am evil, look at how evil I am". Which is not to say that Bandora doesn't do a lot of evil, she just has a ton of range and variety to her character and Machiko Soga sells it so very well (10 points). Griffozer is her main muscle to the point that he doesn't even get a voice until 20 episodes into the show; even before that though his body language was quite expressive and he ends up being surprisingly fun (3 points). BukBak and Tottopat are the bumbling comic relief duo; occasionally they do things, but they're mostly just there (2 points). Pleplechuan is the monster maker, a self-styled artist who honestly doesn't even come off that evil, he's just very loyal to Bandora (2 points). Then there's Lamie, Griffozer's wife. She doesn't show up until episode 19, but she is the best (4 points). There's also Great Satan, the source of Bandora's power, but he's basically a big screaming blue head, not much to work with outside of being a necessary plot device (1 point).
Total: 20 points.
Supporting Characters: The team's primary source of support is the Wizard Barza who'd lost almost all his magic in the original battle against Bandora 170 million years ago. He's okay, but like the rest of the cast they don't do enough with him (2 points). DaiZyuJin, the main mecha and Patron God of the Zyurangers, has a very powerful presence and is cast in the mold of the kind of god that is cold and unforgiving, and can even be wrong about things and can be challenged by our heroes on his judgement (4 points). By and large though, the show spends a lot of its time on the child-of-the-week, some kid who's managed to draw Bandora's attention and has thus become the target of the Monster-of-the-week and thus our heroes have to help to resolve their problems. And while I'm not a fan of focusing on on guest and one-shot characters over the main cast, the kids used in Zyuranger weren't all that bad; there were a couple clunkers of course but that would have been the case even if they'd been using adult actors (2 points).
Total: 8 points.
Story: The story of Zyuranger is incredibly creative and acts according to the sort of dream logic that you only find in the best fairy tales (4 points). The biggest story arc of the show centers around Burai and it is executed near flawlessly (5 points). Another significant running plotline involves the finding and protecting of the last two Dinosaur eggs, the importance of which does not get revealed until endgame (3 points). Above all else, though, are the themes of the show; Zyuranger has a message, and that message is that all that lives will one day die, but will in turn create new life, and that this succession of the generations is sacred, and this theme ties into every story in Zyuranger's run, every episode in one way or another resonates with this message (5 points).
Total: 17 points.
World Building: Zyuranger is very interesting in that it will stop to explain the mythological or folklore inspiration for the plot of the episode, showing off that the writers are drawing on something bigger and older than themselves (4 points). Overall, the world of Zyuranger is a distinct one, surreal and whimsical with that hidden or not-so-hidden edge of danger out of a child's nightmares (3 points)
Total: 7 points
Cinematography: Oh my god, the mecha sequences in Zyuranger are just. So. GOOD! (6 points). Regular fight scenes are also well done (3 points).
Total: 9 points
Costumes: Everything about the look of the show seems almost lifted straight out of Dragon Quest or Dungeons and Dragons or other stuff like that (3 points), and the mecha designs are a huge leap forward from what had come before (5 points).
Total: 8 points
Music: Zyuranger has a really, really good sound track (4 points), and one can't neglect the music used for the ZyuSoKen or Bandora's song (2 points).
Total: 6 points.
Final Count: 91 points
The Super Sentai for 1992, The evil Witch Bandora and her cronies are accidentally set free after being sealed away for 170 million years. Bandora wastes no time in setting about on getting her revenge upon the Earth in general and on children in particular. Fortunately, the ancient tribes that had sealed her away in the first place took precautions, and thus five of their greatest warriors revive to defend the Earth from Bandora's attack.
Zyuranger represented a significant change in how Sentai was done; before Zyuranger, every Super Sentai was a soft sci-fi show with a heavy military emphasis, even in those shows where our heroes do not work for the military or other government agency. There were mystical aspects here and there, but Zyuranger was the first show to fully embrace the factastic and mystical, drawing heavily upon folklore, mythology, and fairy tales to inspire and inform its episodes. This direction even extends to the giant robot of the series, DaiZyuJin, which is no mere robot but is in fact the Patron God of the Zyurangers and the source of all their powers.
Oh, and Zyuranger was also used as the source footage for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Just wanted to get that out of the way.
Heroes: Unfortunately, Zyuranger does not prioritize characterization or development in its main team; there is some, but by and large they are there to save the day and thus at times come off as bland or outsiders to their own show. Never the less, Geki the Tyranno Ranger is a fine leader whose mettle is frequently tested and whose drive is palpable (3 points). Goushi the Mammoth Ranger is an excellent second-in-command with a strong camaraderie with Geki (3 points). Dan the Tricera Ranger and Boi the Tiger Ranger are kind of interchangeable; Boi is a bit more mature than Dan but otherwise they're both the young plucky guys and don't get much particular focus (2 points). Mei the Ptera Ranger gets some excellent focus episodes and ends up being a really strong character (3 points). Then there's Burai, the DragonRanger, AKA the first Sixth Ranger in Super Sentai, and what a guy to kick that tradition off; all the hype is met and more, he really does breathe new life into the show and the franchise as a whole when it needed it most (5 points).
Total: 16 points.
Villains: MACHIKO SOGA AS BANDORA IS THE GREATEST! Seriously, calming down. Bandora is glorious, rarely do you ever get a Sentai big bad who comes across as so human instead of just "Blargh, I am evil, look at how evil I am". Which is not to say that Bandora doesn't do a lot of evil, she just has a ton of range and variety to her character and Machiko Soga sells it so very well (10 points). Griffozer is her main muscle to the point that he doesn't even get a voice until 20 episodes into the show; even before that though his body language was quite expressive and he ends up being surprisingly fun (3 points). BukBak and Tottopat are the bumbling comic relief duo; occasionally they do things, but they're mostly just there (2 points). Pleplechuan is the monster maker, a self-styled artist who honestly doesn't even come off that evil, he's just very loyal to Bandora (2 points). Then there's Lamie, Griffozer's wife. She doesn't show up until episode 19, but she is the best (4 points). There's also Great Satan, the source of Bandora's power, but he's basically a big screaming blue head, not much to work with outside of being a necessary plot device (1 point).
Total: 20 points.
Supporting Characters: The team's primary source of support is the Wizard Barza who'd lost almost all his magic in the original battle against Bandora 170 million years ago. He's okay, but like the rest of the cast they don't do enough with him (2 points). DaiZyuJin, the main mecha and Patron God of the Zyurangers, has a very powerful presence and is cast in the mold of the kind of god that is cold and unforgiving, and can even be wrong about things and can be challenged by our heroes on his judgement (4 points). By and large though, the show spends a lot of its time on the child-of-the-week, some kid who's managed to draw Bandora's attention and has thus become the target of the Monster-of-the-week and thus our heroes have to help to resolve their problems. And while I'm not a fan of focusing on on guest and one-shot characters over the main cast, the kids used in Zyuranger weren't all that bad; there were a couple clunkers of course but that would have been the case even if they'd been using adult actors (2 points).
Total: 8 points.
Story: The story of Zyuranger is incredibly creative and acts according to the sort of dream logic that you only find in the best fairy tales (4 points). The biggest story arc of the show centers around Burai and it is executed near flawlessly (5 points). Another significant running plotline involves the finding and protecting of the last two Dinosaur eggs, the importance of which does not get revealed until endgame (3 points). Above all else, though, are the themes of the show; Zyuranger has a message, and that message is that all that lives will one day die, but will in turn create new life, and that this succession of the generations is sacred, and this theme ties into every story in Zyuranger's run, every episode in one way or another resonates with this message (5 points).
Total: 17 points.
World Building: Zyuranger is very interesting in that it will stop to explain the mythological or folklore inspiration for the plot of the episode, showing off that the writers are drawing on something bigger and older than themselves (4 points). Overall, the world of Zyuranger is a distinct one, surreal and whimsical with that hidden or not-so-hidden edge of danger out of a child's nightmares (3 points)
Total: 7 points
Cinematography: Oh my god, the mecha sequences in Zyuranger are just. So. GOOD! (6 points). Regular fight scenes are also well done (3 points).
Total: 9 points
Costumes: Everything about the look of the show seems almost lifted straight out of Dragon Quest or Dungeons and Dragons or other stuff like that (3 points), and the mecha designs are a huge leap forward from what had come before (5 points).
Total: 8 points
Music: Zyuranger has a really, really good sound track (4 points), and one can't neglect the music used for the ZyuSoKen or Bandora's song (2 points).
Total: 6 points.
Final Count: 91 points