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a-bucket-full-of-feels · 4 years

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Thoughts on after rewatching Dekaranger

So there was one day I decided to listen to some of my old-ish song collections, and I stumbled upon some Dekaranger OSTs and was hit by nostalgia. Fuelled by stay-at-home boredom, I then decided to rewatch Dekaranger, the first Sentai series I got into, and also one of the first fandoms I entered and even participated in to some extent. It has been about 10 years since I first watched Dekaranger, and about 5 years since I’ve watched any Sentai series (my last was ToQger), so opinions are basically that of a former SS fan looking back at fond memories, albeit without the rose tinted lens I used to have while watching my first few shows in the series.

The hits:

The pacing for many episodes was just right - I didn’t feel bored during the episode, and I actually looked forward to watching the series till the end

The theme is timeless - cop dramas never get old, and it was basically something I could still enjoy without cringing at the “weirdness” of the whole premise

Some standalone episodes were brilliant by itself in terms of story writing, direction, and acting

Well-fleshed out characters - there was character development throughout the entire series not only for individuals (e.g. Ban from being pure chaotic to being more responsible without losing his fiery spirit), but their relationships as well (e.g. Ban and Hoji’s friendship, Tetsu being an outsider at first to eventually part of them)

Their team dynamic as a whole is very likeable. Their camaraderie during the off-duty moments were quite cute and I also liked how Boss (and Swan) also was like a father figure to them and had his fun/heartwarming moments with them

There was a nice balance of light-hearted and dark/grim episodes, which was good considering some Sentai which are too “fun” become kinda hard to watch after a while due to the lack of substance, whereas the overly dark ones also become too depressing to follow.

The OSTs are damn good.

The misses:

Considering this was a show made in 2004 and aimed at kids, some jokes and scenes did not age well with me. I always remembered Deka having some scenes that were hilarious, but rewatching it, I felt that the jokes were kinda predictable and more on the slapstick side. Not to hate on that style of humour, but over time my sense of humour has changed and that kind of humour is more suited for a younger audience that they’re targeting.

Oh god, some of the Sentai episode staples were hard to follow through. I actually skipped the roll calls just to save time, and to me the giant mecha fights were extremely formulaic and predictable. Then again, even back in the day, I never really watched Sentai for the fight scenes but more for the plot and characters, but I always just tolerated the fight scenes, occasionally finding some of the weapons or the theatrics cool (I think Shinkenger’s fight scenes were one of the best). Unfortunately Deka’s weapons and episodic fight scenes were kinda mediocre though.

There were a lot of logic defying plot lines (e.g. Ban blasting a meteorite core with a D-revolver, Dekarangers somehow managing to travel at light speed from one planet to another just to complete a task and somehow make it back in time to thwart the enemies), but then again, this is a universe where ESPers exist and aliens can somehow speak Japanese so I’d just look past it.

There’s a lot of screaming. Especially Ban. And during the “critical battle moments”.

Thoughts on individual characters:

Ban: He was really irritating during the first few episodes but he mellowed and was a lot more fleshed out as the series progressed. Although he was the least experienced in the team and never claimed to be the leader, he played the typical role as red “leading” the team with his fearlessness and resolve. He’s still not one of my favourite characters but I can definitely appreciate his role in the team and the series as the whole.

Hoji: I was kinda ambivalent about Hoji when I first watched Deka, but upon rewatching I really grew to like his character a lot. He’s not just a “cool blue”, but equally passionate and stubborn as Ban, just that he’s a lot more professional and calculated in his actions (which I suppose is why on one hand he clashes with Ban’s more reckless and spontaneous approach, and on the other hand is seen as a partner to Ban). His character episodes were excellent, and he was probably put in the toughest moral dilemmas in the series.

Sen-chan: Next to Hoji, Sen also had a lot of excellent character episodes, focusing mostly either on his nice guy side, or his intellectual side when solving mysteries. I also really liked Sen as a whole, coming off as the calm one in the beginning and generally a calming character throughout the series, but also can get really fired up when he’s angry about injustice. I kinda did like Sen-chan during my first watch through, and after the rewatch he’s also one of my favourite characters in Dekaranger.

Jasmine: I’ve got to say, during my rewatch, I couldn’t get much out of Jasmine’s character other than her being an ESPer, saying random phrases and the less chaotic female in the squad. But as the series progressed, her personality started to be more apparent to me, as someone who comes across as cool and professional but is also passionate and has empathy for those that deserve it. I liked Jasmine a lot more in my initial watch, but in the rewatch I felt that her development of her character was more lacklustre as compared to the other excellent ones.

Umeko: The main comic relief of the series. Umeko-focused episodes tended to be more light-hearted or rather less serious than some of the others, but they were the more memorable ones. Her later character episodes got a lot more darker though, and we got to see the more vulnerable and sensitive side of her, which added a lot more depth to her character. Aside from Ban, Umeko’s also one of those characters that seem to be able to get away with “unprofessionalism” (mostly for the comedy), but to me she’s still likeable because there’s never a dull moment when she’s in the spotlight.

Tetsu: Tetsu actually comes in relatively late in the series as the sixth member - after his initial introductory episodes were cleared, we were almost halfway into the series. As such, I felt that there wasn’t a lot of room for his personality to shine. I guess the main development of his character is how he went from someone individualistic and focused on fighting without bring in passion and emotions into the mix, to being fully integrated into the team and promising to be the “fireball” in place of Ban after his departure - easily the most passionate and emotional member of the team during battle.

Boss: It only hit me during the rewatch at how much of a badass Doggie Kruger is as the “chief/commander” character of the series. His swordfighting scenes and the fact that his nickname is “Hell’s Guarddog” aside, his actions as a high ranking space police officer are pretty unconventional. He handpicks Ban, a rookie that was seemingly too reckless to join his team as he saw his potential; he himself takes incredible risks; and he shows genuine love and care for his team, almost like a father figure.

Swan: For a supporting character in Sentai, Swan's got personality, almost like a mother figure to the team, and simultaneously keeping Doggie in check, all while being the excellent engineer she is. Her character episode really allowed her to shine and it was nice for female scientist representation back in the mid-2000s.

Final thoughts:

I definitely viewed and remembered Dekaranger with rose-tinted lens during my first watch through - it’s good but it’s not all as amazing as I remembered it to be. Nonetheless, even during the rewatch it was enjoyable and had aspects and moments that still blew my mind. Personally, Dekaranger was an extremely special TV show to me as it was my very first step into Japanese entertainment, and eventually the world of J-dramas, anime and J-pop, much of which I still enjoy up till this day.

#deka rewatch #show reviews

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