(NOTE: To avoid as many spoilers as possible all of the specific details in this review, such as character names, are all from the first 7 episodes, with some mild allusions to later events. I don't believe there are any SPECIFIC story or character spoilers in this review that are from past the first 5 episodes)
To get some potential bias out of the way, Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger is the first entry in the Super Sentai series that I have ever watched in its entirety. However, this is not to say it was the first sentai I have tried to watch!
I have been a big fan of Sentai's sibling franchise Kamen Rider since 2013, and have given every Sentai series starting with Ressha Sentai ToQger a chance... But time and time again I would fall off of every Sentai I tried, typically the mech fights for me were the undoing of each series.
This may just be a personal issue, but at least in every Sentai from ToQger to Kirameiger the second a mech fight would start my eyes would glaze over, and I'd begin to dread watching every upcoming episode knowing I'd spend up to 5 minutes of every episode bored out of my mind
Zenkaiger, for me anyways, was entirely different.
Zenkaiger is written by Junko Komura, who's previous two sentai (Doubutsu Sentai Zyuouger and Lupinranger VS Patranger) had been some of the one's that had me the most interested, but the mech fights still ultimately killed my interest in them. But immediately Zenkaiger felt different from every other Sentai I had attempted to watch
Zenkaiger is the story of Goshikida Kaito, a young man who's main interest in life is not only to try new things but to be the first person ever to do as many new things as possible! This is in contrast to him living at home above his family's candy shop "Colourful", with his grandmother Yatsude (affectionately referred to as "Yacchan"), with Kaito never straying too far away.
Kaito's parents were inventors who mysteriously vanished while trying to prove the existence of alternate realities, and Kaito has no interest in leaving home (or leaving Yacchan alone) until his parents return.
But one day Kaito's world suddenly expands when it becomes connected to an alternate reality called Kikaitopia! A world full of machine citizens who are ruled over by a cruel dynasty called the "Tojitendo".
The Tojitendo have sealed away all the other worlds in the multiverse into small gear like items, and are now set on conquering our world!
When the world combines a high number of Kikanoids suddenly appear in the human world, and over the course of a few weeks begin new lives in the human world.
Kaito soon finds his parent's secret lab and finds that they were successful in finding other worlds, and finds that they have left behind devices they created that will allow him and 4 others to transform into heroes using the power of "Sentai Gears" items imbued with the power of heroes from other worlds called "Super Sentai".
Over the first 5 episodes Kaito meets and befriends four Kikanoids (Zyuran, Gaon. Magine, and Vroom) as they all become members of this worlds first ever Super Sentai: Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger! (With the assistance of a robot bird named Secchan of course!) Their goal is to liberate the trapped worlds, and to defeat the Tojitendo!
Despite the high stakes and talks of evil rulers, Zenkaiger is first and foremost a lighthearted, character driven comedy show, with jokes that are so consistently creative and over the top that it's difficult to go an episode without smiling or laughing along, all while the characters are so well written that it's character driven and dramatic moments still manage to deliver a lot of gut-punches and tearjerking moments throughout the show's run.
While I must concede the mech fights are still definitely Zenkaiger's weakest point for me, the creativity, charm, and humour that the entire show oozes are still 100% present during the mech fights! This, plus one wonderful twist that the mechs ARE the Kikanoid members of the party, makes the mech fights in Zenkaiger the most engaging I've seen in a Sentai. The fights are silly, full of jokes, and the mechs themselves are characters delivering commentary and one liners throughout it all!
While the mech fights conceptually are still repetitious and I'd say the show would likely be better with more standard, but varied in set-up, toku fights in their place (for me personally anyways), these are mech fights that don't make my eyes glaze over, that I usually actually enjoy, even if I still wish they were just sort of replaced with something else.
There's so many amazing things to talk about in Zenkaiger but I really don't want to spoil the show for people... I haven't even talked about the villains, the amazing personalities of most of the main cast, or even my favourite character in the entire show, Stacy! A character who wasn't even originally intended to be nearly as major a character in the show, but in hindsight without him the show wouldn't have been even half as good as it ended up being!
Overall, if you watch Zenkaiger you're in for a non-stop funny, charming, heartwarming, and occasionally heartbreaking (in a good way I suppose) ride.
I don't know if I've ever been so sad in my life to see a show end, it felt like losing a group of friends I got to see once a week, and it honestly still sort of stings that the show is gone...
I'm not sure if there will ever be another show quite like Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger. If you are a fan of toku, comedy, or character driven works I can not recommend this series enough, it's an incredibly unique show that I think many people will love just as much as I do
Zenkaiger is a show that'll have a special place in my heart full power non-stop for years to come!
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