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「俺たち正義さ！竜神戦隊ドラゴンキーパー！」 (Oretachi Masayoshi sa! Ryuujin Sentai Doragonkiipaa!)
We Are Justice! The Dragon Keepers!
Sentai Daishikkaku’s first episode is fresh out the gate with the fire, energy, and intensity you’d hope from a subversive story like this. Now that Footsoldier D is at its wits end over having to keep up with the facade of turning his existence into a side-show, he is more determined than ever to undermine the heroic Dragon Keepers from within.
THE NEVER ENDING GAME
After creating one of the messiest romcoms in recent years, Go-Toubun no Hanayome mangaka Negi Haruba quickly moved onto a different premise; a super sentai parody. One of the main facets of Go-Toubun no Hanayome that made it such an addicting story to follow is how Negi comes off as a mad puppeteer, steering his characters into the most cosmically brutal situations.
This habit of throwing an extra gut punch to already suffering characters proves to be a very useful quality for this kind of story that angles itself in the west as a super sentai version of The Boys, where its heroes come off as far scarier people than the foes they fight. In Sentai Daishikkaku’s case, we see a city that’s created a contemporary coliseum game where every Sunday, the chosen heroes are tasked with winning one-sided fights against eternally punished aliens.
When the general populace goes to this spectator sport, they see heroes that should remain victorious for the public morale and villains who are always destined to be humiliated and defeated by the power of justice. But for the sky fortress aliens known as Dusters, they are enslaved into re-enacting their defeat every Sunday, having to come up with new, fresh ways to lose as if they are 13 seasons into a show that’s long overstayed its welcome.
I’m reminded of how Tiger & Bunny’s universe took superhero crime-fighting and turned it into a show like COPS with NASCAR sponsorship. But amidst the celebrity worship and sponsorship deals, Sentai Daishikkaku also leans into the biting cynicism of turning the premise for a weekly super sentai show and turning it into a meditation on televised oppression.
The super sentai premise of Heroes vs. Villains is far stranger in this show as the Duster race is forced to take part in a weekly ritual where they are mocked, booed, and jeered as the crowd yearns to see their hopes of victory dashed by morally upright heroes. And because the Dusters are invincible, they are able to have this punishment doled out to them, week-by-week, as the Dragon Keepers and their audience deem their place in life as cockroaches who must constantly be squashed as a public spectacle.
It makes it important to see the story from Footsoldier D’s perspective because he’s infiltrating human spaces while having to collaborate with his fellow Dusters in the gladiator games. We get the side of him that comes off as a put-upon creative in a self-deprecating program, but through his human disguise, he experiences the shock of how indoctrinated people are by the Dragon Keepers. Whether it be facing recruiters who try to enlist audience members as aspiring cadets or brands that slap the rangers’ faces on products, the society of Sentai Daishikkaku treats a Keeper like a combination of a military hero and an athlete.
SHOUT OUT TO ALL THE GOONERS
That’s not to say the tone is overly serious since it still pokes fun at the monster-of-the-week shows that many have grown up with. It has nods to tokusatsu shows that still ground its comedy for those familiar with commonplace tropes like needing fresh villain ideas or relying on the cheers of children to gauge whose side the audience should be on. There is also plenty of fun to be had with the story centering around the daily struggles of a tokusatsu villain.
That is to say you’ll be guaranteed to have a great time with Sentai Daishikkaku if you’re looking for a meatier parody of super sentai programs. It strikes a balance between its heavier story beats and its funnier satire pretty well as it’s easy to laugh at Footsoldier D’s irritation with regularly having to come up with the latest monster-of-the-week and sympathize with the cruel game he’s been forced to take part in for over a decade. It’ll be neat to see where the story heads as he starts dabbling with his human form next week.