Taking a break from his training across the universe, Daigoro "Prince" Kiryu pays a visit to Gira on his home planet alongside Utsusemimaru. As Gira explains that the rest of the King-Ohgers are spread across space, Prince challenges Gira to a duel to show off his new finishing move. Gira happily obliges, but as the pair battle a mysterious figure slips into the castle and steals the Ohger Crown.
On the planet Tyler, space mafia boss Don King hosts an illegal fighting tournament - with the Ohger Crown as its prize. Gira and Prince both enter the tournament, with the other King-Ohgers also present at the event with varying agendas. But to make it to the top spot, Prince will also have to defeat a powerful opponent from the Superpower Homeworld.
It really is a testament to King-Ohger (and to a lesser extent Kyoryuger) just how well the characters are able to adjust to the setting of King-Ohger IN SPACE. While the special may have a fairly simple plot, it's the kind that feels like it jumped straight out of Dekaranger or Kyuranger rather than one suited for a royal or dinosaur-themed Sentai. But instead the cast feel right at home with this plot, making it all the bigger shame that the Space Squad series never continued past its second film. The direction King-Ohger took in its second half made it the perfect fit for Toei's Super Sentai and Metal Heroes crossover films, and given some fleshing out (and a few more substantial cameos) this could have easily been the basis for something there instead. King-Ohger IN SPACE may be a perfectly serviceable special, but it cruelly (albeit unintentionally) feels like a tease for something that could have been so much bigger. It's even directed by Koichi Sakamoto, who did both Space Squad and its sequel Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger VS Space Squad.
The fact the plot is so straightforward isn't so much the problem either, but rather the limited runtime doesn't even allow it to progress in a way that flows particularly naturally. The special opens with Prince and Gira reuniting and then the Other Crown being stolen while they're distracted, but once that's been established it immediately jumps forward in time to them in the midst of their operation to get it back. While this might not necessarily affect one's enjoyment, the whole concept of them getting up to this point (finding out it's missing, liaising with their contacts across space etc.) is something that would have been nice to see. With Dekaranger's whole "crime of the week" routine (which in turn is pulled straight out of the Space Sheriff/Metal Heroes playbook), the investigation element is often part of the fun. Similarly it doesn't give a whole lot of time to expand upon our villains for the piece either, with Don King being a pretty one-note crime boss and his associate Ihab being completely forgettable outside of her affiliation and stealing the crown. That said the plot is built on solid foundations, with Planet Tyler's fighting ring having previously appeared in an episode of Dekaranger. So in some respects, perhaps King-Ohger IN SPACE is less about its own story and more about connecting the dots to the wider Super Sentai universe.
And that is something King-Ohger IN SPACE does exceptionally well, selling itself as one huge cameo fest despite that thin plot and limited run time. There are a number of different threads running throughout the special that connect it to different Super Sentai series, from both story references and character cameos. The links to Ohranger, Dekaranger and Kyuranger are a little more overt thanks to the returning characters, but little touches like having Ihab be part of Gingaman's Space Pirates Balban is a nice little touch. Thanks to the way all these series can integrate under the simple banner of "space" it all works pretty well for the most part, even if additional Gokaiger content is covered by a rather obvious Captain Marvelous stand-in shot from behind. But the character pairings they've given the King-Ohgers are all great and play to their strengths - such as pairing Rita off with the Doggie given their knack for judgement or Kaguragi getting intel from space pirates. Even if when most of these characters are only getting one or two lines, it's great to see them again and ties them all together well for potential future crossovers that hopefully will have a little more substance.
The likes of Doggie and Tsurugi are the kind of Super Sentai alumni you'd expect to see in a special like this though - a much bigger surprise is it revisiting Chouriki Sentai Ohranger and featuring Riki in a principle role. It's not clear whether Ohranger's imminent 30th anniversary had anything to do with this appearance, but either way it feels particularly timely. The (now older) Riki and Dorin are played by new actors, both of whom have their own ties to tokusatsu. While Ultraman fans will no doubt recognise Dorin as none other than Arisa Sonohara (Asahi Minato/Ultrawoman Grigio in Ultraman R/B), Riki is a much more unique case in that he is portrayed by Shinta Taikawa - son of legendary suit actor Seiji Taikawa (as well as Shinta/Kamen Rider Chimera in Kamen Rider Revice: Battle Familia as well as its TTFC prequel). Both actors fit the characters really well and it's great to see them in this capacity - again fitting with their established stories well even if it doesn't necessarily build upon them. The updated Kingranger transformation sequence is worth admission alone.
Shinta Taikawa's casting also plays a big part in another aspect of this special - the fight scenes. Rather than rely on the standard transformed fight scenes you'd expect from a Super Sentai production, King-Ohger IN SPACE instead centres itself around a number of impressive untransformed fight scenes - to the point where the fighting tournament plotline was specifically crafted to accommodate them. Taikawa and Rintaro Kawana (Prince) give off an especially masterful display of fight choreography, complete with some shirtless Prince action thrown in for good measure. Prince's fights with Gira also deserve praise, though the fight with Riki definitely feels like the centrepiece of the special. It's a reminder that despite all the flash and CGI effects tokusatsu productions have now, there's still a very physical element at their core and, when brought properly into the spotlight, remain just as remarkable now as they did when the franchise began.
But this is Super Sentai we're talking about, so of course that's a flashy costumed fight sequence to wrap everything thing up. Although again it's surprisingly restrained given the amount of guest appearances in this special, keeping things restricted to just the "core" trio of Kuwagata Ohger, King Kyoryu Red and Kingranger. The King-Ohger vs. Kyoryuger ties are further cemented with a second appearance of Kuwagata Ohger Carnival in all it's garish gold glory. The rest of the characters do get in on the action though with a little bit of untransformed fighting, which goes nicely with the reappearance of the Barlo Soldiers, Seamen Yartots and Anaroids from Ohranger, Gingaman and Dekaranger respectively. There's even a nice little Dekaranger judgement sequence to put a little bow on it all, which is naturally improved by the presence of Rita as well.
There's no denying that Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger IN SPACE could have and should have been a lot longer, but what we did get is a really fun little special that shows a lot of depth despite its short length. Not so much depth in terms of storyline, but instead a clever interconnectivity of multiple Super Sentai series that plays to each of their strengths in a setting that suits them all. Throw in some great fight choreography and you have something that deserves to be so much more than it actually is. If only Toei had a popular crossover film series they could revive to do so...
2 comments:
You ain't never gonna let go Space Squad, are you?
Still, the short length surprised me too given how much was announced for the special.
Nope, Toei were on to such a good thing with it. Especially if they keep making space-themed stuff like this.
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