Gekisou Sentai Carranger (1996) [Tokusatsu Review]

Gekisou Sentai Carranger; or Forever Traffic Safety!
     Why are you saying something so unheroic and selfish, Dappu?! If you say that… If you say that… I love you guys!
Gekisou Sentai Carranger [Racing Squadron Carranger] marks Toei’s 20th production within the Super Sentai franchise. In addition, this a bit peculiar entry from the 1990s is also connected with one of the biggest urban myths of the series. How does Carranger hold up 24 years after its release? Let’s find out together.

Release Info

Developed by: Yoshio Urasawa Starring: Yuji Kishi, Yoshihiro Masujima, Yoshihiro Fukuda, Yuka Motohashi, Atsuko Kurusu

Language: Japanese Original Title: 激走戦隊カーレンジャー No. of eps.: 48

Synopsis
Dappu (Mari Maruta) is the last survivor of the Hazardian War. A young alien infiltrates the Universal Reckless Driving Tribe Bowzock, a group of savage invaders who run rampant across the cosmos. When the Bowzock gang arrives to blow up Earth, Dappu discovers that Carmagic power (a special force emanating from star constellations) is within the five workers of a car repair shop: Kyosuke (Yuji Kishi), Naoki (Yoshihiro Masujima), Minoru (Yoshihiro Fukuda), Natsumi (Yuka Motohashi), and Youko (Atsuko Kurusu). With the help of Dappu, the five individuals use the mythical power and transform into Carrangers. Their aim is to stop the Bowzock gang from wrecking havoc. However, in the course of their struggle, they have to fight against such formidable villains as President Gynamo (Hiroshi Otake), Instructor Ritchihiker (Nobuo Tanaka), and Reckless Dash Emperor Exhaus (Osamu Kobayashi). Apart from Dappu, the Carrangers are supported by such powerful allies as an intergalactic police officer Signalman (Hochu Otsuka) and the mysterious VRV Master (Kiyoshi Kobayasho).

Safety First
Gekisou Sentai Carranger was developed in 1996 by Yoshio Urasawa. Interestingly, this was the only Super Sentai season helmed by this writer (he went on to contribute a few scripts to Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger). In addition, Carranger was preceded by Chouriki Sentai Ohranger which was plagued by production problems caused by the Kobe Earthquake and the Sarin Gas Attack in 1995.

Due to unsatisfactory ratings, Toei significantly reduced the budget of Carranger which is reflected on the screen. This was the first series not recorded on film but on D-2 cassettes which resulted in heavy quality loss (I mentioned this in my Timeranger review as well). Additionally, the monster-of-the-week designs and the special effects are either hit or miss. So, in view of the significant decline of Super Sentai’s popularity, does it mean that Carranger is a bad season? Not at all.

Carragner was written as a parody of the franchise. To be honest, I appreciate the light-hearted tone of this season as well as zany comedy elements which spur out in every episode. The team is freaking awesome! I like them all as well as their chemistry and insanely catchy transformation sequence. I also love how the special cars morph into two(!) mechas. While initially I was afraid that the presence of Signalman would ruin the show, he actually became a hilarious supporting character.

Speaking of the characters I like, well I have to say that Natsumi Shinohara [YellowRacer] is my favourite yellow ranger of all time. There are only two episodes centering on her, but they are so good! On top of that, there is a love relationship between RedRacer and Zonette (Rika Nanase) (let’s call her a chaotic neutral villainess). Their bantering is fun to watch, and it is still a better love story than Twilight (2008). Furthermore, there’s a (kind of) sixth ranger joining the team for a while who turns out to be a space princess/magician/idol called Radietta Fanbelt (Megumi Hamamatsu/Misaki Sudo)!

Carranger is full of classic Super Sentai tropes, including the shake up, plot twists, and dramatic reveals. What is more, the protagonists have to face not one, not two, but three villains. All of that culminates in an epic two-part finale.

That being said, Carranger unfortunately fell victim to a common urban myth. That is to say, some overzealous fans frequently describe Carranger as the saviour of Super Sentai due to improving the ratings after the low performance of Ohranger. Even I believed in that story, while writing my Super Sentai editorial. The truth is that Carranger’s ratings were better only by 3% in comparison to Ohranger’s. The franchise at that time lived off toy sales, and the ratings started picking up for real during the run of Denji Sentai Megaranger (1997).

It has to be mentioned that Carrangers returned in two crossover episodes, Carranger vs. Ohranger (1997) and Megaranger vs. Carranger (1998). This straight to video specials have much better picture quality than the show itself and they are a joy to watch. In the crossover with Ohranger, the rangers have to cooperate with Chief Miura (Hiroshi Miyauchi) in order to save OhRed, whereas in the Megaranger episode, the teams join forces to save an alien being who can grant wishes. The latter special is especially engaging and action-packed. I still have yet to check out the Megaranger season.

Recommendations
All things considered, Gekisou Sentai Carranger is a fun and amusing Super Sentai entry that (most of the time) does not treat itself seriously. If you are looking for a light Tokusatsu pleaser and you don’t mind cheap special effects, then I recommend it. The show was released by Shout! Factor on DVD in 2017. Carrangers are the only team who bravely fought for traffic safety. Gekisou Accel Changer!Overall score: 8/10

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