Gekisou Sentai Carranger Explained

Genre:Tokusatsu
Self-parody
Superhero fiction
Action-Comedy
Slice of life
Creator:Toei
Developer:Yoshio Urasawa
Director:Yoshiaki Kobayashi
Starring:Yūji Kishi
Yoshihiro Masujima
Yoshihiro Fukuda
Yuka Motohashi
Atsuko Kurusu
Rika Nanase
Opentheme:"Gekisou Sentai Carranger" by Naritaka Takayama
Endtheme:"Paradise Samba" by Naritaka Takayama
Composer:Toshihiko Sahashi
Country:Japan
Language:Japanese
Num Episodes:48
Producer:Tarō Iwamoto
Atsushi Kaji
Kenji Ōta
Shigenori Takatera
Kōichi Yada
Location:Tokyo, Japan (Greater Tokyo Area)
Runtime:approx. 20 minutes'
Network:TV Asahi

is a Japanese tokusatsu television show. It was Toei's twentieth production of the Super Sentai metaseries. It is the second vehicle-themed Super Sentai, preceded by Kousoku Sentai Turboranger. It aired from March 1, 1996, to February 7, 1997, replacing Chouriki Sentai Ohranger, and was replaced by Denji Sentai Megaranger. The show was written as a parody of its own franchise. Its action footage was used in Power Rangers Turbo. Toei given the name for international distribution is Car Rangers.

On January 6, 2017, Amazon set to pre-order "Gekisou Sentai Carranger: The Complete Series" on Region 1 DVD by Shout! Factory and it was released in North America on April 25, 2017. This is the fifth Super Sentai series to be released in North America. In June 2018, Shout! streamed the series on their website.[1]

Plot

Five workers from the Pegasus Auto Garage discover Dappu, an alien from planet Hazard. He empowers the five with the "Carmagic" power of the five legendary car constellations, transforming them into Carrangers. As Carrangers, the five battle an alien reckless driver gang and prevent them from destroying Earth.

Characters

Carrangers

The titular Gekisou Sentai Carrangers consist of five employees at the auto garage and use to fight the Bowzock. Advertisements for the series show that the first kana in the Carrangers' names spell in Japanese.

Kyosuke Jinnai

is 23 years old. He is a test driver at the Pegasus Auto Garage, normally only assigned to do errands and aberrant jobs. Kyosuke was pristinely a selfish jerk, callous enough to abandon his team because he wanted to drive his boss's classic car. Soon, though, Kyosuke realized that he had a responsibility as the Carranger's leader and became very conscientious, albeit the role of leader sometimes gets to him and he is inundated by the stress of being responsible for the team. He fell in love with Zonnette, albeit at first she only loves his Red Racer alter ego, and is eventually able to confess his love to her. He is a very stouthearted, heroic man who was disposed to jeopardize his life to fight as Kyousuke and not Red Racer to prove his love for Zonnette.

As Red Racer, Kyosuke's special attacks are, and .

Kyosuke Jinnai is portrayed by Yūji Kishi.

Naoki Domon

is 17 years old (though he turns 18 during the series – he had his day of inception party early on in the series, but his partners unknowingly missed the date by a month) and very polite and shy. He works as a car designer at Pegasus Garage, and his aptitude had led him to be sought by car manufacturers before. Naoki is also an animal lover.

As Blue Racer, Naoki's special attacks are,, and .

Naoki Domon is portrayed by Yoshihiro Masujima.

Minoru Uesugi

is the oldest of the team, 24 years old, and a bungling salesman at Pegasus. He once lost the bracelet portion of the Accel Changer (and thus the Green Racer powers) while practicing victory poses after a fight in episode 8. Minoru verbalizes with Osaka-ben and is a fan of the Hanshin Tigers.

As Green Racer, Minoru's special attacks are and .

Minoru Uesugi is portrayed by Yoshihiro Fukuda.

Natsumi Shinohara

is 19 years old. A genius mechanic at Pegasus Garage, Natsumi is able to fine-tune any machine in minutes. She uses a legendary wrench given to her by the owner of a garage she visited as a child, but later learns she can still fine-tune anything without the wrench. Her initial opposition to Kyosuke's relationship with Zonnette makes her one of two female warriors to oppose the red warrior.

As Yellow Racer, Natsumi's special attacks are and .

Natsumi Shinohara is portrayed by Yuka Motohashi.

Youko Yagami

is 19 years old. She is the secretary at Pegasus Garage, calculating the expenses and payroll. Yoko is very self-conscious about her weight because she loves to eat sweets, and frequently consults magazine fortune-telling articles to prognosticate her future. She dreams of becoming an idol someday and espousing an affluent husband, and has a terrible sense of direction.

As Pink Racer, Youko's special attacks are,,,, and .

Youko Yagami is portrayed by Atsuko Kurusu.

Allies

Signalman

is a robotic being who was assigned to Earth, and something of a Sixth Ranger figure. He originates from the Police Planet where he left behind his wife Sigue and son Sigtarou. To Gynamo, Signalman is space's number one worst person. He can sometimes be more of an obstruction than a help to the Carrangers, because of his excruciating training in the rules of traffic. Signalman briefly left Earth and returned to his homeworld to spend time with his family only to find that it was polluted by five-colored exhaust engendered by Exhaus to warp Signalman's mind. Tricked into thinking that the Carrangers were behind it, he went back to Earth to perform police brutality on them, and remotely became the new leader of the Bowzock. Fortunately, the Carrangers managed to restore their friend to normal by tricking him into imbibing natural mineral dihydrogen monoxide. Signalman kenned off the Carrangers true identities until episode 46 through Ichitarou.

Signalman can conventionally be optically discerned operating from the, a diminutively minuscule Police booth, which can be proximately everywhere in Japan (except places where people might actually pass it...). Before entering battle, he verbalizes, "Upholding the traffic rules of justice! My name is...Signalman!" His special attacks are and . In the finale, Signalman returns to be with his family.

Signalman is voiced by Hōchū Ōtsuka.

Dapp

is one of the few survivors of planet Hazard, which was destroyed by the Bowzock after they ransacked it for its treasures, he took his mother's pendant as her final wish to find the Carrangers. Stalling away on the Barbariban, Dappu arrives to Earth to find the Carrangers-to-be. But when they refused to fight for frivolous reasons, Dappu fights Zelmonda himself and fakes being killed to give the gang incentive to fight. He is the keeper of the 'Kurumagic' (a pun on Kuruma (car) and Magic), thus the Carrangers' power is dependent on their friendship with him. Through about episode 18, he wore a cloak, until the events of that episode forced him into Earth-style clothes.

Dapp is voiced by Mari Maruta.

Tenma Family

The is the family involved in the Carrangers' lives. The father is the owner of the Pegasus Garage where the gang works, and his son befriended Signalman.

Souichirou Tenma

is the owner of the Pegasus Garage and the boss of the five members of the Gekisou Sentai Carranger team. He is an automobile aficionado and always drives his prized vehicles to work, much to the envy of other car lovers such as Kyousuke Jinnai. He and his family are fans of the Carranger (even though he does not know they are his workers) and finds himself at the mercy upon occasion both at the actions of the Bowzock as well as Dapp, who is using one of the garage's rooms as the team's headquarters in secret.

Souichirou Tenma is portrayed by Ed Yamaguchi.

Yoshie Tenma

is Souichirou's wife.

Yoshie Tenma is portrayed by .

Ichitarou Tenma

is Souichirou and Yoshie's son, who is close friends with Signalman. Though a young boy, he is a friend and ally with the Carrangers and has frequent encounters with the Sentai team as well as other factions running amok on Earth. Notably, he is the one who originally suggested to Inventor Grotch various food that was popular on Earth, in particular the imo-youkan that would lead to the Bowzock discovering a method of growing large to destroy Earth (though originally suggested by his father). He also once protected Signalman's police box while the alien officer was on duty.

Ichitarou Tenma is portrayed by Ryuji Teraoka.

Radietta Fanbelt

is the younger sister of Zonnette, and a huge Carranger fan. With magic, she dons an outfit modeled after the Carrangers (to the point of having the number six as an identifier) and calls herself "White Racer". Before entering battle, she says "Dreamy traffic safety! Racing Girl, White Racer!". She drives the Radiacar which can become a robot, but for only one minute. First aided Carrangers against the Zokurangers, able to shapeshift. Calls Red Racer "big brother" because of his love for Zonnette. Transforms by saying "Tiramisu, konjac, mille-feuille". She uses, volleyball-sized explosives that detonate if the enemy who catches it does not know the answer to White Racer's riddles.

Radietta Fanbelt is portrayed by Megumi Hamamatsu in episode 25 and Misaki Sudō in later episodes.

VRV Master

is known as the . He is a being in black armor who appeared suddenly while Dapp was in the hibernation that his race goes into. He gave the Carrangers the VRV Machines after the RV Robo had been stolen by Bowzock. It was later revealed that the VRV Master was Dapp's father. To save his son from Exhaus he apparently sacrificed himself so he could return to Earth. Later, however, through a Christmas gift from him, revealed he was alive. He returned to Earth once again to save the Carrangers and Dapp from being killed in a bombing of their work/base. He was addicted to coffee milk, which was the reason why he wasn't in hibernation himself. After the final battle, VRV Master is finally seen out of his suit and travels in Victrailer (out in space) with Dapp.

VRV Master is portrayed by Kiyoshi Kobayashi.

Universal Reckless Driving Tribe Bowzock

The is an intergalactic biker gang with no regard for the laws of traffic. Hired by Exhaus to pave the way for his highway by blowing up every planet in the way of construction. They have targeted Earth, the last of such planets, for destruction and frequently hang out at the BB Saloon, a bar in the Baribarian spacecraft. After he had absorbed the Carrangers' Carmagic Power, Exhaus set the Baribarian spacecraft on fire and sent it crashing to Earth, only to have it stopped by Sirender and the Carranger in human form take control of it and drove it straight into Exhaus to try and kill him. It didn't kill him, though it was destroyed.

The Bowzock members, as well as Signalman, mispronounce the Japanese word for "Earth", saying (吃球) instead of the correct form (地球). In Shout! Factory's release of the series, the name of "Earth" is changed to "Earsh".

Emperor Exhaus

The main antagonist of the series who hired the Bowzock to do his dirty work. His ultimate plan was to build a giant road for aliens across the Milky Way, and to destroy Earth because it was in the way of the road. Exhaus kidnapped Dapp and tried to drain his Carmagic Power to use for his own robots, turning it into Akumagic Power, but his plan backfired when Dappu overloaded the robots with power. He betrayed the Bowzock and took over the operation personally, only to fight the Carrangers personally when he absorbed the evil energies of the entire universe into his body to assume a fighting form, . In this form he seemed unbeatable, damaging both VRV Robo and RV Robo, but was fed stale imo-youkan by Gynamo, causing him to weaken, revert to his original form and shrink to human size so he could be finished off by the Carrangers.

Emperor Exhaus is voiced by Osamu Kobayashi.

Ritchhiker

An alien who Gynamo hired to help the Bowzock as their "Evil Director of Human Resources", devising the plans to deal with the Carrangers and Signalman, whom he had a grudge on from putting him in jail. However, during the Bowzock Matsuri festival, Ritchhicker is struck by a lightning bolt made of pure evil cosmic energy that turns him into . With his increased intellect, RitchRitchiker kicked out Gynamo and Zonette and takes over as leader of the Bowzock with the promises of riches to the space bikers. From there, RitchRitchiker uses Braking to steal RV Robo from the Carrangers before using his robot to take a building holding the Study Book Fair to educate his forces. But it leads to his robot's defeat by the VRV Machines with RitchRitchhiker upgrading Braking as he proceeds to capture VRV Master. However, it results in RitchRitchiker's death when is consumed in the blaze caused by Braking being finally destroyed by VRV Robo.

Ritchhicker is voiced by Nobuo Tanaka.

Gynamo

The leader of the Bowzock who is madly in love with Zonnette, targeting Earth on her whim. Though he makes an idiot of himself in front of his posse during his attempts to woo Zonnette, Gynamo maintained his intimidation of the other Bowzock to maintain his power. Arriving to Earth, Gynamo uses his power to have Earth's vehicles go on a riot until the Carrangers arrive. The next time Gynamo arrived on Earth was when RitchRitchiker used his secret savings for marrying Zonnette to buy off Zelmoda and Grotch, getting work at an arcade's Yakiniku stand. But upon learning of RitchRitchiker's death, Gynamo resumes his position as Bowzock leader. At the end of the series, he re-opened the yakiniku restaurant that he set up while Ritchiker took over the Bowzock.

Gynamo is voiced by Hiroshi Ōtake.

Zelmoda

Second-in-command of the Bowzock, and Gynamo's friend. Unlike comical other members, he is kind of cold-blooded as he only betrayed Gynamo after being offered a large sum of money by RitchRitchiker. His main weapon is a sword made up of playing cards and he carries an octopus jar, that usually holds Wumpers or cash. Zelmoda suffered astraphobia when he was screwing around during a thunderstorm as a kid and was hit by lightning. However, he mustered up enough will to overcome his fear so he can move out of Gynamo's shadow. Zelmoda summons Elekinta, who temporarily powered-up his ride. At the end of the series, he and Grotch help work at Gynamo's restaurant while going to elementary school for education.

Zelmoda is voiced by Kyōsei Tsukui.

Grotch

Bowzock's genius inventor, responsible for many of the weapons used by the Bowzock such as the Fattening Spray and Forgetfulness Water-Gun. Forced to flee to Earth for laughing at Gynamo's expense, a starved Grotch holds Ichirou hostage to force Yoshie to buy him lots of food. Among them was Imocho-brand imo-yōkan, causing him to enlarge as he unintentionally causes city-wide damage. He attempted to take advantage of his new size to kill the Carrangers, as their current arsenal has no effect. Fortunately, the imo-yōkan he ate had expired and wore off before either could do harm to the other. He is also saved by Zelmoda before the Carrangers could do him harm. After the incident with MM Mogu, Grotch would usually accompany a Gorotsuki to Earth and purchase Imocho-brand imo-yōkan. At the end of the series, he and Zelmoda helped work at Gynamo's restaurant while going to elementary school for education.

Grotch is voiced by Takashi Nagasako.

Zonnette

An obedient member of Bowzock who uses her feminine wiles, and Gynamo's crush on her, for her own selfish pleasures. Zonnette drives a pink convertible called the Zonnecar. Arriving with a bandaged up Wurin in the guise of "Zonko" (in episode 13), she tricks Signalman into thinking the Carrangers are lawbreakers. However, as her plan failed, Zonnette fell madly in love with Red Racer after seeing him in action. However, she loved only Red Racer and not Kyosuke, who unintentionally broke her heart during the GG Goki-chan incident. As time passed she also fell for the man behind the mask. She is Radietta's big sister and the princess of planet Fanbelt.

At the end of the series, she becomes "purified" and resumed her true form of by saying "Ravioli, Kishimen, Linguini!", returning to her home planet for an arranged marriage, though she turns them all down since Red Racer is still in her heart. She returned during the finale and talked Gynamo into teaming up with the Carrangers, which they did.

Zonnette is portrayed by Rika Nanase.

Wumpers

Combatant Wumpers (戦闘員ワンパー Sentōin Wanpā, 1–47) are the Bowzock's multi-colored henchmen, able to shoot ink from their octopus-like mouths. They are contained in Zelmoda's giant octopus jar, similar to that of aquatic pets. They come in many colors; green, blue, white, and pink. White tended to be rarer than others and were often the butt of a quick gag.

Zokurangers

A short-lived parody of the Carrangers, the Boso Sentai Zokuranger (暴走戦隊ゾクレンジャー Bōsō Sentai Zokurenjā, 25) was founded by SS Pamaan. While they originally used the Zokuranger Ball, the Zokurangers obtain the Zokuren Bazooka and Zonnette's Fanbelt Crystal necklace to power it. But SS Pamaan is killed.

Evil Mecha

Braking

Braking (ブレーキング Burakingu, 29-31): A giant robot dinosaur that RitchRichiker built after having a dream during his transition, using Gynamo's secret savings to construct the robot. After being defeated by the VRV Machines, Braking is upgraded into Modified Braking (改造ブレーキング Kaizo Burakingu, 31) with a new head equipped with the King Slugger crest. But Braking ends up being destroyed by the Carrangers after they form their new VRV Robo.

Norishiron 12

Norishiron 12 (ノリシロン－12 Norishiron Touerubu, 37 & 38): A giant blue robot with cattle horns, created from punch-out cardboard model by Grotch from a Space Land magazine brought by Exhaus. It was piloted by Zelmoda. Armed with chest cannons, Acceleration Device (for superspeed), and axe (Norishiron Reckless Dashing Slice). It nearly defeated Sirender and VRV Robo, but it lost an arm when Zelmoda departed without a crucial pin in place and it soon returned fully repaired. Later it was accidentally reverted into cardboard sheets from Chiipuri's youth cream. A second version Norishion Final (ノリシロンファイナル Norishiron Fainaru, 46) was given by Exhaus that was piloted by Gynamo, Zelmoda, and Grotch and equipped with weapons similar to Victrailer's cannon arms for its Final Twister attack. It was intended to be used as a distraction so Exhaus could steal the power of the Carmagic constellations. Easily overpowered VRV Robo, until the Carrangers briefly break it apart to overpower Norishiron Final with the VRV Fighters, before reassembling and using Victory Twister to overpower their Final Twister and defeat it. Another version called Norishiron Extra (ノリシロン増刊 Norishiron Zōkan) was used in the Gekisou Sentai Carranger vs Ohranger special against the Ohranger and Carranger teams, but was destroyed by Sirender after Signalman arrived.

Sky Gigyoon

Sky Gigyoon (スカイギギューン Sukai Gigyūn, 41-43): A red eagle-like robot issued by Exhaus. It was piloted by Zonnette in Radicar convertible in its fight battle, through Exhaus took control of it and used it to hold off VRV Robo so Grotch in Marine Zaboon could capture Dappu before having it retreat. It was remote controlled by Gynamo in its second run and was destroyed by RV Robo with the V Bazooka.

Marine Zaboon

Marine Zaboon (マリンザブーン Marin Zabūn, 41-43): A blue shark-like robot issued by Exhaus. It was piloted by Grotch. First used to capture Dappu while Sky Gigyoon was keeping the Carranger busy. In its first underwater battle, it overpowered the VRV Robo due to the Carranger's loss of Carmagic, forcing them to retreat after Sirender arrived. When the Carranger later return with RV Robo, though it overpowers both it and Sirender, Signalman uses Sirender to hold it in place so the Carrangers could use the last of RV Robo's power for Plagnade Spark to blast Grotch out of the cockpit. For its final battle it was remote controlled by Gynamo. It was destroyed by VRV Robo with the V Vulcan.

Land Zuzoon

Land Zuzoon (ランドズズーン Rando Zuzūn, 41-43): A golden lion-like robot issued by Exhaus, piloted by Gynamo, armed with Reckless Dash Claw. It used its tractor beam to capture Dappu, drained Dappu of his Carmagic Power, overpowering the VRV Fighters and Sirender. After Dappu causes an overload, it allows the Carranger mecha to regain their power. Destroyed by Carrangers using both RV Robo and VRV Robo for their RV Twister Cutter team attack, to attack the head and legs, avoiding where Dappu was held in the waist.

Gorotsuki

The Gorotsuki (ゴロツキ Gorotsuki, "Rogue/Thug") are citizens of the Baribarian, the planet-like satellite where the Bowzock reside, they are chosen to find and fight the Carrangers, as the "monster of the week". for the series. When defeated, most of them eat imo-youkan, a yellow cube-shaped food made from jellied sweet potatoes to grow. It has to be from one store, Imocho, for this to happen, otherwise they shrink. As Grotch found out, out-of-date Imo-youkan from Imocho only enlarges the consumer for a short while until he reverts to original size. Gorotsuki had a habit of saying their names a lot, usually having them at the end of sentences.

Others

Episodes

V-Cinema releases

Cast

Songs

Opening themes
Ending theme

International broadcast and home video

Video game

A platform game based on the series called Gekisō Sentai Carranger: Zenkai! Racer Senshi was produced for the Sufami Turbo, an add-on for the Super Famicom.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ShoutFactoryTV : Watch full episodes of Super Sentai Carranger. June 2018. June 6, 2018.

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