Serving as the 30th anniversary milestone for the Sentai series is the adventure-themed Boukenger. The story revolves around the treasures of Earth, know as Precious. These items contain great power that can be used for evil. For this reason the Boukenger's are tasked with finding and rettrieving them before they fall into the wrong hands.
The head of the Boukenger is Satoru Akashi, Bouken Red , a strong determined leader who has a good heart. Sakura Nishihori is Bouken pink, the second in command who is much more mission oriented than Red. She will put the mission goals above anything else, even the lives of her fellow Boukenger. Souta Mogami is Bouken Blue, is a woman-loving ex-spy, who seeks to right the wrongs he committed during his spy days by keeping the world safe. Masumi Inou , is Bouken Black , a treasure hunter who is caught in the shadow in the darkness of his heart, and that of Bouken Red who is recognized as the best treasure hunter.
Natsuki Mamiya, Bouken Yellow, is young girl who remebers nothing , except being saved by Masumi.During the series she is trying to figure out the meaning of a bracelet she wears, which is the only link she has to her past. Finally, Bouken Silver, is Takaoka Eiji . He is a part of a long line of hunters who keep the world safe from the demon known a Ashu.
As for the mecha, it is average at best. The Boukenger start off with the Daibouken, which is a gattai of the various vehicles. It uses the shovel and pick to attack and can combine them to form a sword. As the series progresses, more vehicles are added which become weapons and ultimately become the Ultimate Diabouken, which I am a fan of even less. It seems like they just try to tack on as many mecha on top of each other no matter how ugly the end result is .The secondary robot in the series is the Siren Builder piloted by Bouken Silver. The cool feature of this robot is that it has the ability to collapse down to avoid attacks and then spring back up in the air to couterattack. The Boukenger eventually obtain the Golden Sword of Lemuria , which becomes a robot/golem thing who can also grow to aid the Boukenger in their fight.
The series is unique as there are actually four enemy groups, know as Negative, that the Boukenger must battle to obtain the precious.
The first villain to appear is Gaja, the only survivor of the Goadam Civilization who seeks to take over the world utilizing the precious.I found him to be the most boring of the villains. Even when an attempt was made to make him funny or more powerful, he still comes across as this one dimensional cliche.
Ryuuon , the leader Jaryuu tribe is another of villains who seeks to take over the world. However, his character is a little more interesting since he serves as both the rival for Bouken Red and a reminder of what happens when an adventurer gives into his evil desires; Ryuuon is an adventurer who found a way to attain a reptile body and sheds his adventuring past in order seek his own evil ambitions.
The Dark Shadow Syndicate is a ninja group seeks the Precious so they can sell them to collectors for exhobitatly high prices( ninja's have bills to pay too). At the head of the syndicate is Gekkou, a talking bird who does contribute much to the story until the last part of series. Yami no Yaiba serves as Bouken Blacks antagonizing rival who killed Black's past comrades. He also has his own ambition besides money , which are revealed in the final episodes of the series. Kaze no Shikuka, is the blundering ninja who foils Dark Shadows attempts to obtain the Precious. She is what makes the DS Syndicate stand out above the other villains. The episodes where she is involved usually prove to be funny and entertaining.One of my favorite episodes is when Shizuak accidentally creates a garbage monster with who is a dumb as the garbage he is made from. The monster grabs hold of the fruit of life which makes him a genius and masters the Ninjitsu of the Dark Shadow quickly.
The last villains are the Questers, who are the Ashu Gai and Rei that were revived by Gaja with the use of a Godam Engine. I have to say these characters started out cool when they were just Ashu. Then when they got the cool Questers outfits, they became pretty lame characters trying to act cool all the time.
All in all the show was pretty decent. It had some good episodes , but on average it was pretty formulaic. A lot of the sotry elements that had the potential to bring more depth to the story- Bouken Yellow's past, Bouken Silver's half-demon blood, Bouken Black's darkness and Ryuuon's adventurer past- were not utilized to their full potential. I guess I can't complain too much since this is a kid's show and Toei probably opted for a simple story that kids can follow.
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