Mahou Sentai Magiranger

Mahou Sentai Magiranger (Magic Task Force) was the first Super Sentai I saw from beginning to end. I watched the Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger movie back in 2002, but nothing beyond that until one day I punched into Youtube "Japanese Power Rangers" and got a video of the opening of Magiranger.



It was ridiculous, it was over-the-top, it was downright silly, and holy shit it made me want to see more. The video I saw actually had subtitles and I was able to locate the name of a website that specialized in doing fansubs for tokusatsu shows like Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. After watching Magiranger, I was hooked on Sentai and could never again watch Power Rangers the same way. I quickly discovered the past Sentai shows and how things had been changed for the American versions as well as researching how successful some shows were compared to others. For example, Choriki Sentai Ohranger, adapted in America as Power Rangers Zeo, actually almost got Super Sentai cancelled because of how atrocious it was. It was Gekisou Sentai Carranger, adapted here as Power Rangers Turbo, that actually saved Super Sentai because of how utterly ridiculous it was and totally self-referential without getting overtly serious or incredibly stupid like Ohranger did.

By the time Magiranger rolled around, Super Sentai was pretty much cemented as something that would not easily go away, since it was only one season away from the 30th Anniversary show, expected to be gigantic. At the time, I greatly enjoyed Magiranger and I hoped that Boukenger would be just as good.

It's been 5 years since I originally watched Magiranger, and hoo boy, that show had tons of pacing issues. Believe it or not, but Power Rangers Mystic Force ended up being a better show. Magiranger featured incredibly dull characters to the point that the most interesting character on the show was Wolzard, the main bad guy's right hand man. The only Magiranger who was even remotely interesting was MagiGreen, Makito, but he only got one episode dedicated to him and a scene of an episode dedicated to showing off the actor's English fluency.

This isn't saying that Magiranger was bad per se, only slightly above average. It wasn't really that special and featured probably my least favorite ensemble of any Sentai show I've seen. Next up, I'll review the show that got my interest in Super Sentai locked in forever, GoGo Sentai Boukenger.