Kakuranger: Act Three - Middle-Aged Struggles -Review-
We start with our new Announcer, Hakuzan Kanda (Enjoh Sauteing sadly passed in ‘21) introducing a new form of wickedness inflicted upon society in the modern era: Social Media.
Ya know what, that’s actually pretty good. You immediately know where this is gonna go with young modern Yokai taking advantage of the human youth through the internet. This did however activate my fight or flight response thinking “Oh god, is this just going to be a bunch of jokes about the youth and getting old” Thankfully that’s not the case... for the most part. It’s more so the Kakurangers having to contend with a familiar threat in a new form that’s targeting the current generation, which, man, that’s a little too real, though I’m probably making that sound deeper than it really is. But I’m also getting ahead of myself. Let’s at least get through the opening.
On that note, the opening credits pushes all the Nostalgia buttons. I can’t imagine how this went over for those that grew up in ‘94 watching the original series. But even for someone like me who watched the series decades later, hearing the familiar theme with new visuals interspersed with old clips from the show does it’s job. We’re then given a series of brief goings on with each member and what they’re up. Sasuke is still dressing like it’s ‘94 and living as a nomad, traveling to help friendly yokai who have integrated into society. It’s a small but nice reminder that there are friendly yokai out in the world. It also serves as a segue into rumors of strange Yokai seen about, which along with a call from Tsuruhime indicates that maybe something is afoot that requires their attention. Speaking of, Tsuruhime now runs and orphanage along with Bun (still played by Yasuyuki Takamine no less) Seikai then arrives in what I can only describe as a Spirit Halloween Yakuza outfit.
Seikai now runs an art store which has lead to having quite the disposable income despite a lack of fashion sense. He also has a kid now. Yeah, Seikai has a child, Goro, adopted from Tsuruhime’s orphanage. We then cut over to Saizo, still making crepes out of (a now modern) Nekomarou. The Kakurangers (sans Jiraya, who is in L.A.) and Goro, gather by Nekomarou for the first time in a long while. We get some gags about aging; bad eyesight, being out of shape, etc. Also Saizo’s luck is still bad, seeing as his business isn’t too hot right now. Goro suggests he should try social media rather than flyers. In any case, the reason for their gathering appears slightly more innocuous. Goro’s birthday is coming up and Tsuruhime wanted to gather for a celebration-- although there’s another more prescient matter not stated publicly, which is that a birthmark on Goro is growing larger and more distinctly skull shaped, looking a lot like Junior.
The next day, Goro and Saizo are attacked by a Yokai, Sunou/Yuki-Onna, hoping to awaken Goro’s true nature. Saizo is partially frozen, but Goro attacks the yokai with supernaturally dark power, driving her away but also giving what she wanted. In the fall out of these attacks, Goro is enraged, questioning if Seikai and Tsuruhime knew of his heritage before storming off. Though this isolation gives Kamaitachi and Yuki-Onna an opportunity to stoke the fires. Elsewhere, Sasuke and his Yokai friends are set upon by another of the Next Generation Yokai, Weasel/Kamaitachi, only to be saved by Jiraiya who was tracking the Yokai all the way from LA. Jiraya, by the way, is the only Kakuranger who retains their basic ninpo abilities, probably because Kosugi himself clearly never stopped being a martial artist. Dude is JACKED. The Kakurangers convene at Tsuruhime’s home, along with Yoshiteru and two kinda new characters, Saburou and Shirou. I say kinda because it’s just Taro and Jiro’s actors, Suchiya Daisuke and Tsuchiya Keisuke. And yes, they’re said to be brothers to Taro and Jiro. I guess they had to incorporate them somehow. Yoshiteru gives an exposition dump explaining exactly what’s going on. When Noble Junior died he cast a spell you resurrect himself, but it was at the cost of his memories, even forgetting he was a Yokai. When they found out they began keeping tabs on him, but it was years later and by that point he already had a wife and a baby. For all intensive purposed, Junior was living a normal human life. Then one day there was a car accident. Junior survived, but fell into a Coma. His wife died, but Goro was perfectly safe, falling to the care or Tsuruhime and later Seikai. By all means Goro’s Yokai abilities should’ve never awakened unless faced with extreme forms of hate, and the internet being what it is plus the confrontation with the Yokai... What’s more, the birthmark on Goro has developed with each birthday, this year would complete the skull.
Given the situation the group doesn’t stand much of a chance against even these two Yokai, let alone the possibility of a new Yokai lord. Their only chance would be to re-acquire the Doron changers, but the would put the door of seals at risk of being opened. Not the mention that fact that transforming could be a danger given their age. Regardless, they don’t have any other option, so Sasuke goes to get the Doron Changers while the rest track down Goro. Which of course ends up at the abandoned warehouse.
This entire scene is pure fanservice. Into Danger Kakuranger starts up, the four confront the Yokai and group of Dorodoros. We even cut over to Sasuke who gets help from Ninjaman to keep the door of seals shut while the Doron Changers are out. Unfortunately, by the time Sasuke arrives with the Doron Changers, Goro has already mutated into his Yokai form Sanmotogorouzaemon.
Why does that sound like an early 90s Mad Magazine gag about complicated names in Japanimation? We then learn the mastermind behind all of this, the Flower Ninja Gabera. For years she’s planned this moment, orchestrating the car accident, watching Goro over the years and biding her time. But the time for chitchat is over, we finally come to the Kakurangers having a final Henge. I will not spoil this moment, but it got the biggest laugh out of me. The rest is just an all out brawl, the Kakurangers going through all their personal weapon-- which I forgot they even had, the Shinobi Knuckle, Saizo does the square cutter technique, and we even get onomatopoeias.
Although probably the funnest thing to happen in the fight is Seikai and Saizo teaming up against Yuki-Onna by using er, words of encouragement.
Also take note of how you can clearly see the stunt helmets with the latches switch to the hero versions in the very next scene. To cap things off, we have a Kakuranger ball finisher used on Gabera.
But the still leaves Goro to deal with. Seikai manages to get through to him, getting his consciousness back. But he’s stuck in his yokai form. And then Noble Junior shows up, having awakened thanks to Goro’s transformation.
In an oddly touching moment, he hugs Goro, absorbing his powers and saying it’s the last time he’ll get a chance to act like a father-- before promptly exploding. Later we see Saizo having great success from Goro’s social media campaign making Nekomaru a hit. Goro is bestowed with being the 25th leader of the Kakuranger by Tsuruhime as we wrap things up. But we still get an ending dance sequence from the entire cast, and even some cameos from the Hurricangers. They even made a new Hanako Yamabuki outfit for Hirose for like a three second appearance. That’s cute. We end with a final shot of the Door of Seals, Doron changers in place, but the seam of the door is glowing red. Time will tell if this is followed up on.
And that’s all of Act 3:Middle-Aged Struggle. Pretty brisk, huh?
I used the term Fanservice earlier and that really is the key word to describe Act 3, both as a positive and detriment. When you break it down, things just kinda happen in this special, and characters just exist. Like, what the hell is up with Gabera? Who made her? They call her a Yokai, and sure, Yokai are just kinda born into existence. But the Kunoichi were cats mutated by a yokai scientist. She’s here because Flowery Kunichi reference and that’s it. Same reason as Taro and Jiro having brothers. We need a story to happen and references. That’s not to say it’s all bad, I clearly had some fun with this and there is a giddiness one gets seeing the team together again, and hearing the old tracks play. The character interactions are fun and I even laughed a few times. Act 3 knows what it is and doesn’t pretend to be anything more. And at 32 minutes it doesn’t overstay its welcome with that Nostalgia blowout. But it is absolutely coasting hard on that aspect and has little else on offer than cute novelty.
Still, there is something to be gleaned from that.
Also, this isn’t a complaint mind you, but there are a lot of pyrotechnics in this special.An unusual amount, even.
They look good, but holy hell they’re prevalent as all get out.
Ah. I should also note that there is something hinky with the MKV file I got. It can play fine, but it really doesn’t like being paused or skipped through. The MP4 version is even worse. However, these issues only happen in VLC. CCCP/MPC had zero problems. So maybe that says more about VLC (which I’ve had a lot of issues with in the past few months with screen tears and hanging up across multiple machines) but it’s something to keep in mind.
This was a pretty short review, but hey it meant fast turn around. Next time though I’ll take at something more substantial, about 7x larger with a review of the third and final 90s Rider Movie Kamen Rider J, plus a review of the Media Blasters boxset. Oh boy, I have some things to say about that.
