Manga Review: Super Sentai: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger

by: Shotaro Ishinomori 

3 Stars

Tsuyoshi Kaijo’s father has been killed; the only thing left to him is a red suit that gives him abilities far greater than a normal man and a note that tells him to visit a curry restaurant. The perpetrators were the Black Cross Army, illegal arms dealers that sell both weapons and secrets, and they killed Kaijo’s father because he worked for Earth Guard League, or EGL (pronounced eagle). Tsuyoshi visits the restaurant only to meet four other teenagers who’ve been called there: Akira Shinmei, Daita Oiwa, Peggy Matsuyama, Kenji Asuka, and a Chef who is really the man who created the suits for EGL. Together, they form Himitsu Sentai Gorenger (Secret Squadron Five ranger) and work to thwart the Black Cross army’s plans. This is an interesting book; it was a tie-in for the show of the same name, the first in the “Super Sentai” series, which is known as the show that is re-edited into Power Rangers for a Western audience.

While the book is a tie-in to the show, the author (Shotaro Ishinomori) created the show as well, so it’s not just a comic made by another guy to promote the show. One thing that surprised me was that the art, while simple on characters, was strangely extremely detailed on objects and backgrounds, which made a weirdly cool look on panels, and while for kids, it has dark moments like explicit deaths, but that would then be followed by a joke. While it did have these moments, the book was still just a tie-in book, so it didn’t have much going for it; what I can say is that the translation team was surprisingly dedicated, with a detailed foreword and translator’s notes at the end, which made the experience fun.   

Reviewed by Gavin 

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