091: SoraRabbit Watches: J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai

It’s finally time to continue my coverage of the various series in the Super Sentai franchise! If you recall last time, we covered the very first series. If you missed that post, you’ll find it here:

072: SoraRabbit Watches: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger

You don’t have to read it to understand this post, of course, but it’s still really good and I had a lot of fun watching that series and breaking it down.

New heroes! (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

This time we’re covering the second series, but there is no real continuity. Each season is more or less self-contained. There are occasionally crossovers that do not seem to exactly fit in canon. The first of those crossovers occurs after this series concluded. This series has no references to the Black Cross Army, the Gorangers, or EAGLE. These rangers do not seem to exist in the same universe as the Gorangers, although the movie throws a bit of a wrench into that supposition. But we’ll get there.

Since there is no continuity, I chose to not include a “Continuity Corner” section like I have planned for my Ultraman and Kamen Rider posts. That said, I do compare and contrast the two series quite a bit. They’re their own shows but being a part of the same franchise invites comparisons and talk of how the franchise is evolving.

Title card. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai aired on network television in Japan in 1977 and ran for 35 episodes. Yes, the previous series made it to 84 episodes, so clearly this one didn’t do as well. This was mostly due to its darker themes and continual retoolings, but we’ll also get into that later. As mentioned, there was also a movie, which we’ll cover in this post.

The J.A.K.Q. in the title stand for the cards Jack, Ace, King, and Queen, which are also the code names given to the core team members. The acronym is pronounced “Jacker”. The Dengekitai portion can be directly translated as Electric Strike Corps, but could also mean “Shock Troop”.

As mentioned in the Goranger post, this series also was not considered a part of the Super Sentai franchise for many years. The third series, Battle Fever J, was the first series to use the term "Super Sentai". J.A.K.Q. and Goranger were retroactively added to the franchise in 1995. So, while these two series were not originally intended to be part of Super Sentai and were made by a different production company, they were eventually adopted officially into the metaseries. This is why I’ve started this series of posts with them.

The red ranger. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Goro Sakurai is Spade Ace, the red ranger. He is an Olympic athlete, skilled in karate, judo, archery, and horseback riding. He can manipulate atomic energy. He has the ability to detect radioactivity. He fights with a bow called Spade Arts which can also be used as a whip. He is the field leader of the team and good at finding the enemy's weak points. His Neutron Scope lets him see through walls. He drives a race car called the Spade Machine. Unlike the other characters, we don't learn too much about him aside from the fact that he's fond of children and responsible.

The pink ranger. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Karen Mizuki is Heart Queen, the pink ranger. She is a police detective and a skilled martial artist. She was compelled to join after a Crime-caused car accident took both her father and the use of her arms. She has magnetic powers. The Q-shaped Heart Cute chakram is her weapon. The Magnetic Counter is a scope in her finger that can analyze things. She can catch bullets in midair. She drives a modified dune buggy called the Heart Buggy. She is considered a master of disguise but that usually just consists of putting on a wig, sunglasses, and sometimes a nurse uniform.

The blue ranger. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Ryu Higashi is Diamond Jack, the blue ranger. He was a former welterweight boxing champion. His cyborg power is to control electrical currents. His weapon is the Dia Sword. He is impulsive and doesn't think things through. The Electric Cutter is a saw in his finger that can cut through concrete. Diamond Laser is a laser that shoots from his hand. He can inject electricity into people and use it to track them. He can use the electricity in his body to power things, such as his car battery. He drives a race car called the Mach Dia. He loves jazz and fast cars and also coaches a little league baseball team in his spare time.

The green ranger. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Bunta Daichi is Clover King, the green ranger. He is an oceanographer who suffocated in a submarine accident. They revived him as a cyborg. His cyborg power is gravity. His weapon is the Club Megaton, a ball and chain which is actually his left hand. He drives a motorcycle called the Auto Clover. He's good with kids. He lost his parents and little sister in a plane crash. He also has a passion for flower arranging. He's more carefree and lighthearted than the others and sometimes plays with toys when he should be concentrating. Although a scientist, he rarely sciences.

The… yellow… ranger? (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Commander Daisuke Kujirai is Joker. He runs the Japanese branch of an international organization based out of New York called ISSIS— International Science Special Investigation Squad. While not actually a ranger (or a cyborg), he does wear yellow, making all the original Sentai colors represented. He acts as the squad's guy in the chair, planning the missions, providing intel and support. He leaves the team after being promoted as Director of Science in the New York headquarters. We learn in the final episode that he has a wife and daughter.

The furry ranger. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Joker has a hamster named Hamster-kun. As the show goes on, we learn Hamster-kun is a cyborg and can talk. (As well as do incredible feats of agility, jumping, and urination.) Hamster-kun is left behind when Joker is transferred, continuing to live in his office and randomly comment on the missions.

ISSIS also had female agents that assist on some episodes. We saw Agent 7, 8, 9, 10 and a couple that were not given numbers. 9 and 10 were the most common ones. None of them were given names, only numbers.

The white ranger. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Sokichi Banba is the Big One, the white ranger. In keeping with the card theme, I would think “Full House” would be a better name for him, but I was not consulted. He comes in after Joker leaves and serves as acting commander. (That is also how he introduces himself in every episode— JAKQ’s acting commander.) He originally helped organize the J.A.K.Q. Project. He also seemingly adopts Hamster-kun, since he still lives in the office and didn't leave with Joker. He is considered a super cyborg, as he can harness all four powers instead of being limited to one. He also doesn't need the strengthening capsules. He transforms by smelling a magic rose and vanishing, reappearing as Big One. His weapon is the Big Baton. He is the only one of them who can fly. Personality-wise, he makes for a very laid-back leader, doing stuff like eating ramen during a briefing and going out to play pachinko while an operation is going on. While he seems weird and quirky, he can also be serious and focused when the situation calls for it. He really enjoys disguises and surprising the enemy. He doesn’t go into battle with the others, instead showing up in the nick of time in disguise.

Side note: This actor previously played Akira Shinmei, the blue ranger in Goranger. (The guy who always wore a hat.) He also played the third Kamen Rider in Kamen Rider v3 and Officer Tachibana in Supaidaman.

Group shot. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

While they each have their own specialties and enhancements, they're all super strong and durable. Other powers that were shown include a Remote Hearing Device to hear long distances. (They may all have this, but Ace is the only one shown using it.) Super vision that can see through things like playing cards. (Jack was shown using this.) Acceleration Switch: Allows them to move at super speed. Usually Ace uses this, but Jack did also. Later in the series Queen is shown racing around a lot to confuse enemies and I assume this is her Acceleration Switch. They can leap high with their Cyborg Jump. They have an ability called Double Power that they can use to remove poison from their bodies by using excess energy. (This was only shown once.)

Before they attack the robot boss of the episode, they shower playing cards down on them to announce their arrival. This doesn’t seem to hurt them, so I think it’s just for show. Another move they have is Shock Kick, where they all kick the enemy at the same time. JAKQ Hurricane: They all link arms and spin around, knocking out their enemies.

Vroom. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

As mentioned in the individual team member sections, they each have their own car to tool around in. The cars are typical tokusatsu cars— they can go super fast, are armored, equipped with weapons, and can even fly. Big One did not get a vehicle, since he can fly independently.

Of course they have a jet. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

The Sky Ace is their flying fortress. It has smaller missiles and a big one called the Sky Rocket. It's equipped with sensors and houses their Strengthening Capsules and their cars. It has a drill. The Sky Container is a pod they can lower to use to evacuate people or to drop the Strengthening Capsules for mobile transformations.

Is it time for a nap? (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Strengthening Capsules are pods that shower the JAKQ members with their respective energies to power them up. They cannot transform into their suits without using the Capsules.

This thing is handy. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Jack Tank: Has turret guns. It has extendable gripping hands that allow them to climb and dig. It can also transport the Strengthening Capsules.

And, obviously, Jack Tank is the best possible name for a vehicle. I will hear no arguments on this point.

Finishing move! (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

As typical for ranger teams, they have finishing moves to polish off the bad guy of the week. The first of these is the JAKQ Covack. They surround their enemy and make them fly into the air, then inject them with their respective energies, making them explode.

Now they have a cannon. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Their later finishing move is the Big Bomber. Each ranger provides a piece and they assemble a cannon. This cannon fires a missile at the enemy that blows a hole straight through them. Later the missile starts transforming into various things like an ear of corn or an elephant, which is reminiscent of the finishing move from Goranger that would turn into the enemy's weakness.

Well he looks sinister. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

What are heroes without bad guys to fight? This time around, the villains are a vast organization named Crime. Crime is based out of the secret Crime Fortress Island, which is a mountain on an island that can open up to allow their planes to fly out. Their air fighters are called Devil Sharks.

Their leader is a mysterious man named Iron Claw. His goal is to make Tokyo a city of crime. He has a tiny metal hand that he can fire at people to kill them. He is a master of disguises, can teleport, and also has telekinetic powers. His real form is that of a silvery cyborg, but typically he’s seen wearing a giant furry hat and fake beard. (For most of the series I assumed it was his hair, but it was stated in a later episode to be a hat.)

Iron Claw is supported by a series of Crime Bosses. The first of these, Tokyo Boss, is executed in Episode 2 for failing in his plans. Yokohama Boss died when his base was hit by Sky Ace's missile. One was called 008 and several were not given names. Most were just referred to as "Crime Boss", if referred to at all. They weren't all male, either. One was a woman. Most of them were killed by Iron Claw for failing. He really has a zero tolerance policy for failure.

Badass villains. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Machine Monsters are the main threats of each episode. They mainly all have Devil in their names, but some are not given names in the dialog. Devil Gun. Devil Wrestler. Devil Amazon. Devil Wolf. That sort of thing. A lot of work was put into their designs, but most of them were pretty forgettable. One amusing creation was a robotic vampire named Devil Mummy. One was actually called "Devil Devil", which made me laugh. Later in the series they shake things up with villains who have more variety to their names like Atomic Witch and Hell's Angel.

The grunts are called Crimers. They make nonsensical noises like the Shocker troops from Kamen Rider or the Black Cross Army grunts from Goranger. They're never shown without their black masks. (One time they actually wore human masks over their black masks to disguise themselves as normal citizens. It was pretty weird but hilarious.)

The faces under the helmets. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

The obvious place to start with my recap would be with Episode 1, since it sets everything up fairly succinctly. Crime makes itself known and sends out a robot called Devil Killer to start taking out members of the Investigation Squad. Commander Kujirai goes around recruiting the four members for his Cyborg Program and we get to meet the characters. Higashi was falsely accused of murder after refusing to fix his fights. To clear up his troubles with the law, he joins the squad. At first Sakurai refuses, wanting to keep focusing on his athletic career, but he comes in at the last minute, changing his mind after saving Karen's life after her car crash. She joins up to avenge her father and to get her damaged arms rebuilt. Daichi was actually dead when they found him, having died in a submarine accident, but they managed to revive him as a cyborg.

A typical Machine Monster. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

The new team sets out, battles the Devil Sharks in the Sky Ace, and use their new cyborg powers to locate their enemy. They then battle Devil Killer and his Crimer minions, defeating him and beginning their long battle against Crime.

Crime is bad y’all. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

After this the show falls into a predictable pattern, with a Crime plot and monster every episode. Each character gets their own focus episodes to develop their characters more. A typical episode begins with the group investigating Crime’s latest plot, culminating in a battle against the grunts and the Robot Monster of the week. While they’re not all named, we get a host of colorful enemy robots along the way. Here are a few of my favorites.

Robot Monsters. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Hooray for the robots! Doesn’t that last one look like Cad Bane from Star Wars? While I liked the designs, I thought the villains from Goranger were more creative for the most part.

No, you have to use my STRONG hand. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Of course the robots aren’t all of Crime’s forces. Along with the Crimers, there was a revolving cast of Crime Bosses. I didn’t bother getting any screenshots of them, because they’re all very generic and look like mobsters. And almost all of them were killed by Iron Claw after a single episode.

Some of Crime’s schemes include: testing an experimental sniper rifle, mind-controlling martial artists to become criminals, shooting down passenger planes with a high-powered laser, stealing secret plans to turn salt water into atomic bombs, kidnapping women off the street to harvest their blood. Convincing a girl that her house is haunted by her dead sister so they could sell it for a tidy profit. (Hey, they can't all be winners.)

Huh. Oooookay… (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

In one clever plan, a Crime boss puts an atomic bomb in Devil Wrestler so that when they use their Covack, it will explode, killing them all. Luckily they were warned beforehand by the scientist that had been blackmailed into implanting the bomb. They shoot the Wrestler all the way into space so the bomb can explode harmlessly.

At one point they go to a place called Rabbit Island, and I was excited. But it turned out to be disappointing. No rabbits. Just a bunch of karate guys and a robot. In one episode they had to literally rescue a princess.

One episode is basically just car porn. There was a rudimentary plot about chasing down a Crime agent who stole an experimental bomb, but it was really just an excuse to show six fancy cars like a Lamborghini, a Porsche, etc. A child kept rattling off their specs and gushing about how fast they were. It was silly. Episode 14 did the same thing with a car race, so I guess cars must have been really big with kids at the time. There were also two baseball-themed episodes.

Always ask the hamster. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

The hamster was in the series since Episode 1 but wasn't revealed to be a cyborg with the ability to talk until Episode 15. He was shown to have super speed, which was used to comedic effect when he peed on Daichi's head. Daichi and Hamster-kun have an ongoing rivalry. The hamster likes to mock him and pee on him. The little guy cannot let an insult go.

This is why you don’t let a hamster sit on your head. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

The hamster is great and adds a lot to the show. (Mostly cuteness and urine.)

They take turns. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Note that around Episode 14 was the show’s first attempts at retooling. The show was initially much darker in tone than Goranger. At this point, they included more comedic scenes and a lighter tone, mostly focused around Daichi. He seemed to be the joker in the team where before he was serious. He showed an aptitude for flower arranging, a tendency to flirt with girls, and was constantly playing with a cup and ball. In one scene he was shown trying to cheer up a boy who missed his father by pulling random toys out of his pockets. He would also, as mentioned, get into fights with Hamster-kun.

This guy seems to like baseball. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Episode 21 is the first time a monster turns good. This becomes a running thing in later Super Sentai series where the villain of the week is actually just misunderstood and doesn't want to be evil. In this case, Devil Batter was banished from Crime for being useless. He just wanted to play baseball and teach kids how to hit homeruns. Joker and Hamster-kun think he's a spy. Once the rest of the team believed him, he betrayed them, leading Crime to their main base and swapping out his normal bat for a bat full of bombs. This was done to make himself into a suicide bomber to destroy their nuclear reactor. JAQK has to defeat him before he can carry out his plan.

The story was told well enough that there was doubt on whether the robot would turn out to be evil or good. It was disappointing that the robot turned out to be a spy… I was rooting for him to just be a silly robot that wanted to teach baseball. But this plot definitely paved the way for similar scenarios in future Super Sentai series.

The new guy shows up. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Joker actually plays an active role in Episode 22. To get the strengthening capsule to the team, he disguises himself as a drunk Crimer to infiltrate the base. This is his last episode as their boss, as he gets transferred and in Episode 23 we meet their new team member. This is a turning point for another reason. In this one we learn that Iron Claw has a boss who has ordered Crime to stop screwing around, destroy JAKQ, and take over the world.

They fight a new villain called Atomic Witch, who is immune to their JAKQ Covack. She captures them but hey, at least there isn't any crucifixion in this one... Haha. Yeah, they're all crucified and about to be executed by firing squad. A white blur races by, defeating the Crimers and setting them all free. The "white shadow" vanishes and Atomic Witch gets away.

He seems like a cool boss. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Returning to base, they find Joker's desk taken up by a stranger in a white suit. He’s made himself at home and is very aloof.

Is this a Zoom meeting? (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

They're mistrustful at first but Joker contacts them by video screen to explain this weird stranger is Sokichi Banba, their new boss. Joker was promoted to director at the New York headquarters. Banba is the Big One, the first white ranger in the franchise. He's also a cyborg, and the one who saved them from the firing squad. Atomic witch infiltrates their base and learns the locations of all their weapon depots, destroying them one by one. Big One figures out who she is and the main four go into battle.

Why are they making the “loser” sign? (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Again the Covack doesn't work, so they use their new finishing move, Big Bomber. Each of them adds a piece to assemble a cannon and Big One flies in with the missile. It blows up Atomic Witch and the day is saved again.

Ugh, this guy. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

This episode is also notable for introducing Tamasaburou Hime, the team's new cook and (questionable) comic relief. He's super annoying but Hamster-kun is amused by him. Daichi, the previous comic relief, is pushed to the side for this guy and is irritated by him. As am I. Every scene he's in he tries to do comedic bits, cooks at inappropriate times, climbs on desks and tells anecdotes, and generally hams it up. He's horrible and I'm grateful that he came in so late in the series. The weird thing is that JAKQ also considers him irritating and spend most scenes with him mocking or shunning him.

Loving the eyepatch. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Episode 24 is pretty standard, but at the end, Iron Claw's boss gets mad that he's failed yet again. He's depicted as a glowing light and is identified as Shine. He gives Iron Claw one last chance. The weirdly-hatted supervillain summons an ant-robot named General Allingham who battles JAKQ in episode 25. He starts out underestimating them and is defeated in the opening minutes. Claw convinces Shine to not execute the General and sends him out again. After studying up on JAKQ, he hatches a big plan to separate them.

Owww. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Amusingly, in the previous battle, Ace shot him in the eye with an arrow and for the rest of the episode he wears an eyepatch over his helmet. He complains endlessly about that missing eye. Using trickery, he kidnaps all but Ace and disables the Sky Ace. Before he can kill Ace, Big One shows up and beats everyone up. The others are freed and defeat Allingham with the Big Bomber.

(And oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the Big Bomber blows a hole entirely through the monsters. Metal.)

He’s a Nazi. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

In Episode 26, space pirate ghost aliens attack. But it's actually Crime. Also they do a reverse Scooby Doo... they knock off the school janitor's face and underneath he's Captain Ghost.

Episode 27 includes a Nazi Crocodile. No, I'm not joking. They call him "Führer", do the Nazi salute, have swastikas posted around, and even have their own concentration camp. It's... a choice. The only thing I can say about this one is that Tamasaburou tries to serve ramen at the wrong moment and Hamster-kun flies across the room, pees on him in midair, and lands on the couch. It was incredible. I watched that scene three times.

Yeah… I can’t believe they did this either. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

And just when I thought the episode couldn't get more questionable, Banba comes in dressed as Hitler to trick Führer Crocodile. Tamasaburou and one of the Agents are dressed as SS officers. The team was crucified in this episode too.

A badder bad guy? (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

After defeating the crocodile, JAKQ is contacted by Shine, the leader of Crime. They learn Crime is run by an alien.

Now he’s all gold. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

After being absent for two episodes, Iron Claw returns in Episode 29 to face off against the master of diguises, Banba. He raises a minion named Chieftain Mantis from the dead, making him immortal with his telekinetic waves. Mantis can't even be hurt by the Big Bomber. In order to kill him, they have to first take out Iron Claw. We also get confirmation on this episode that it's a gigantic hat he's been wearing, not gigantic hair. Mantis finds a tracking device in his hat and plucks it out. Also, he's able to take it off to wear disguises. Throughout the course of the episode, Banba disguises himself as a bellhop, a cab driver, a begging monk, a warrior, a children's performer, and a janitor. And Iron Claw? He pretends to be a villager, a female hotel guest, a Buddhist monk, a grieving woman, a female teacher, and a bronze statue. (Not saying anything, but all Banba's disguises were male and half of Iron Claw's were female.)

Pikachu, nooooo! (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

The next few episodes return to form, with hardly a mention of Shine and with Iron Claw in charge of the robots. (Even though he was threatened with execution if he kept failing.) Although they aren't really alien themed, Commander Chameleon mentions going back to space as he's being destroyed, so I think every boss monster after Shine was introduced are aliens.

A few other high points of the episodes that I wanted to briefly mention: Episode 28 has a literal Pocket Monster— the alien cephalopod can shrink down into a crystal ball and hide in a kid's pocket. I mentioned some possible ties between Pokémon and tokusatsu in my Ultraseven post... here's another one. In that series the monsters were in capsules. In this one it was a ball.

The absolute silliest scene in the entire series was in Episode 33. They were out hunting for a dog that had delivered drugged wine to their HQ. It leapt at them and Sakurai kicks it. The dog sails in a graceful arc through the air, hits the ground and explodes. It was fantastic and I watched it over and over. (Don't worry, it was a robot dog.)

Sounds like a solid plan. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

In Episode 34, JAKQ decides to take the battle to Crime's island fortress. Shine is taking a more active role, ordering rockets to be installed on the island and replacing Iron Claw with Great King Icarus. As expected, Iron Claw is pissed. Operation Stardust is a plan to move Earth closer to Planet Shine for colonization. Sakurai and Karen are on patrol in the Sky Ace and dreaming about taking a romantic vacation together, so we have confirmation that the two have at some point become a couple. (They had been pairing up a lot on missions in the last part of the series.) They're alerted to Crime's base by Icarus firing on them. They get away but the Sky Ace is damaged. While it’s being repaired, Sakurai and Karen infiltrate the island by boat. Karen is shot in the leg and Sakurai is captured, but the Big One comes to back them up.

First he was gold. Now he’s silver? (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Wanting revenge on Big One, Iron Claw sheds his human disguise and shows his battle form, which is all silvery and with much less hair. Icarus interrupts their battle and Big One escapes. He returns to HQ and Karen limps across the island, trying to find Ace.

Poor Karen. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

She rescues him just before he's dismantled but they're still stuck on the island. They're almost blown up, they fall from a bridge, and Karen is shot in the shoulder. Ace refuses to leave her behind despite her insistence. He tries to heal her with a paste made from herbs, but Karen loses consciousness and he’s afraid she's died. King Icarus finds them and the episode ends on a cliffhanger. This is the only episode that doesn't end with a battle in their suits.

The bad guys are shocked. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Banba masquerades as Shine to prevent his teammate's execution. The real Shine warns Icarus that it's a trick. He turns into Big One and they battle. The others arrive and Agents 9 and 10 get Karen and Sakurai into a boat.

Boss fight… literally. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Icarus escapes and Iron Claw, considering him a coward, executes him with his little hand. Shine is impressed and says that Iron Claw will be Emperor of the solar system as long as he can defeat JAKQ.

Back at HQ, Karen has to undergo emergency surgery because the bullet damaged her magnetic circuits, which she needs to live. Joker arrives from New York. We get to see that he has a wife and daughter before Joker leaves to see Karen. As the Agents drive his family home, Iron Claw arrives and takes them prisoner. He doesn't want to be sidetracked by a trick, but Higashi turns the car around and takes them to the pier Iron Claw indicated. They're taken hostage as well and forced to contact Banba to let him know that the hostages are being held with a bomb.

Karen has taken a turn for the worse, as her energy circuits are overheating and she will soon explode. Only the Director can save her now. Sakurai says that since Daichi used to be a scientist, he can do the surgery. He tries but is too stressed out, worrying that he'll screw up and Karen will die. In a shocking twist, Tamasaburou appears with some soup for Karen and he isn't annoying for the very first time in the entire series. He just wanted to make her feel better.

Joker is sealed for freshness. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Banba gets an idea and freezes everyone in the truck, including the hostages. This prevents the bomb from going off and they can get Higashi and Joker out. In a very clever use of practical effects, they wrapped everyone in saran wrap to make it look like they were frozen.

The bad guy is a ball. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

They thaw out all the good guys. The Director does the surgery and Karen recovers. Banba had ordered Iron Claw put into a lead box and buried, but he recovers before they can dispose of him. He kills the ISSIS members who were handling him and escapes. The team flies to Crime Fortress Island in the newly repaired Sky Ace for the final battle. As they're attacking the base and evading Shine, Iron Claw invades their HQ and Banba has to face him. During this battle we actually see Banba transform. He spins around to change. (Previously he'd always change off camera, teleporting away after throwing a rose at the enemy.) JAKQ confronts Shine, who turns out to be a metal ball. Spade hits him with his bow and they blow up the base, flying away.

The final battle begins. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Meanwhile, Big One and Iron Claw are fighting. They seem to be evenly matched, but then the rest of JAKQ show up.

I’d be mad too if my boss was a ball. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

They show Iron Claw that Shine was just a ball and that he's been played as a puppet by the aliens. He’s annoyed but undeterred. He tosses Shine aside and they all fight.

Slash. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

They try all their weapons and techniques, but Iron Claw is resistent to them all, so they have to finish him with the Big Bomber.

The downfall of Iron Claw. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

This time the missile turns into a poison rat, which kills Iron Claw. I’m not sure why they chose a rat, but whatever. Crime is defeated and JAKQ walks down the street into the setting sun in triumph.

Victorious! (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Thoughts: The final two parter was really good. The episodes were genuinely exciting and the stakes were high. They really made it seem like Karen wasn't going to make it. I liked the silvery true form of Iron Claw and how Icarus was a red herring final boss. Seeing Joker again was cool, too. I like the angle of Shine not actually being a threat at all, just a little computer that is defeated with one little bop of the Spade Arts. The final battle against Iron Claw was suitably long but ultimately anticlimactic since one hit from the Big Bomber took him out. Plus, just because they defeated Shine doesn’t mean all the aliens have been stopped, but the ending was kind of a rush job.

Movie title card. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

JAKQ Dengekitai vs Goranger was released after the end of the series. As you might expect, this is a crossover between JAKQ and the previous series, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger.

Two notes before I get into it, movies in tokusatsu are not always feature-length. Goranger and Supaidaman both had movies just like this one. They're around the length of an episode and typically play out like a normal episode except that they may be filmed in widescreen. This movie is no exception. Secondly, this does not appear to be canon, it's purely for the fan's benefits. There is no mention of Eagle or Goranger in the main series of JAKQ. I can't imagine that a world that survived the Black Cross Army and contained a huge organization like Eagle could also accommodate Crime and ISSIS. Also other heroes such as Kamen Rider are mentioned, but never referenced elsewhere in the body of either series. Also Iron Claw, who just exploded, is somehow alive and well with no explanation. (Aside from an offhand comment that they thought he was dead.) The wiki appears to consider it canon and with a little mental acrobatics, it could be treated as not canon. It’s hard to say, but personally I think it’s more an alternate reality story than part of the main series.

Theatrical. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

The movie starts with an awesome remix of the two series' theme songs. The members of JAKQ are on a shopping trip when a UFO appears. Joker directs them to investigate. The UFO evades their attacks but it was a diversion. ISSIS is attacked by armies led by the Crime Big Four— Baron Iron Mask, General Sahara, Hell's Fistfighter, and Captain UFO. Joker explains that even though they defeated Iron Claw, Crime still has factions all over the world. Goranger is in the Sahara Desert fighting them. Kamen Rider v3 is fighting them in Europe. Kikaider is in Mongolia. And Kamen Rider Amazon is fighting, as you would expect, in the Amazon. (The other heroes mentioned here only show up in still photos on the monitor. All of them were also produced by Toei, so I think this was a type of plug for their other popular series.)

New villains. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

At Cape Mystery, Crime gathers, presided over by Iron Claw, who's somehow still alive. He talks about the hydrogen bombs they've been making for Operation UFO. A spy is killed escaping and wrote a secret code on his clothes. JAKQ chases down another spy who turns out to be Peggy from Goranger. She came to Japan chasing Crime. Joker decodes the message and it warns of the bombs that will be dropped with the UFO. JAKQ goes to Cape Mystery and battle the Crimer grunts. They overhear Iron Claw tell the Big Four the plan. They will drop their bombs on the seven biggest countries and then escape into space. Once the chaos dies down, they will return to rule the world. Peggy snuck in and transforms into Momoranger. They're surrounded by all four armies. The Sky Ace arrives and JAKQ transforms.

Ah, the memories. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Before the battle starts, the Varidreen flies in with the other members of Goranger.

Our old friends! (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Goranger is here! I know I only watched that show a little under two years ago, but I did get some nostalgia seeing the group posing in costume again.

So many rangers! (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

There is a massive battle with all nine rangers where they team up, use their weapons and abilities, and generally kick ass together. It’s super indulgent but a lot of fun.

They Voltran-ed. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

After a bit, the Big Four combine and transform into the Big Four Robo. The teams try their basic finishers— the Goranger Storm and the JAKQ Covack, but they don't make a dent.

Everyone gathers around the cannon. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

They're having trouble battling it until Big One arrives and the two teams use their finishing moves in combination— the Goranger Storm Ball is placed into the Big Bomber, making a missile that destroys the Big Robo and the Crime base. Iron Claw attempts to escape in the UFO to carry out his plan, but Big One stole his hand, having grabbed it and swapped it with a fake while posing as a fisherman earlier. He makes the UFO explode, killing Iron Claw again.

Group pose! (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Thoughts: This movie was a lot of fun. I loved the cinematography. It was great seeing all the rangers together. The nod to Kamen Rider was interesting too! If this movie was canon, that would mean Kamen Rider exists alongside Super Sentai. (At least the first two teams.) I'm not familiar with Kikader, but I may have to check that show out too. I liked seeing Joker and Big One leading together. Even Hamsterkun and Tamasaburou showed up.

My favorite part was seeing Goranger again. I miss that show. I only wish the movie was longer. It was a lot to squeeze into a normal episode-length movie. Can you imagine if they'd expanded this to a full movie and included the other Toei heroes they mentioned in passing? I wonder if this was the original plan but they didn't have enough funding or availability of the suit actors. Sadly, only Peggy appears out of the suit, and not everyone was available to reprise their roles as the voices of the Gorangers. I would have liked the movie even more if everyone had been available and willing to reprise their roles. Seeing everyone in their civilian forms hanging out would have been cool. Regardless, it was a fun movie and it was nice seeing the two teams fighting side by side. (Even if it doesn’t fit neatly within continuity.)

Iconic. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Anyway, that was J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai! It was much shorter than the series that preceded it, but still packed full of action, shlock, and tokusatsu goodness.

One significant way it differs from its predecessor is in the characterization. The human identities of the Gorangers were pretty flat and unexplored. (Aside from Daichi, of course. The riddle baffled curry lover.) In this series, each character gets their own personality and episodes focusing on them. They also get detailed backstories. The backstory in Gorangers was just "all our friends were killed so we fight evil". Which, yes, happens here. But they give plenty of insight into just who these characters are aside from being crusaders for justice. (Well, except for Sakurai. He was pretty much a cypher.) Most episodes puts one of the team into the spotlight role, having them drive the plot. I found this to be a great advancement over Goranger.

This is the first time there is a romantic subplot between rangers. By the end of the series, Sakurai and Karen are in a relationship. As the show goes on, they're shown together more often and doing missions as a pair and then it was confirmed in the final episodes. Another way it differs is that JAKQ doesn't seem to be a secret. In Goranger, they seemed to have secret identities and were attempting to cover up the existence of the Black Cross Army so as not to cause disruption to the public. Here, the members of the team are seen using their powers in front of bystanders and their friends (their poor, doomed friends) are aware that they are cyborgs. The brother of a cop who died that Karen was friends with directly asked to be made into a cyborg. A downside of this is that everyone in Crime knows them on sight. Karen couldn't even go undercover in a wig and sunglasses without being identified immediately. (Of course that was partly because her body is full of metal components and Crime X-Rayed her.)

You know they practice these poses. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Just like with Gorenger, this show is full of fantastic 70s-style music. Some of it is even disco. Loved it. A little ways into the series they get super flowery with their language and announcing their moves and weapons. "The flashing jump of the red wind!", "The roaring dance of my nuclear whip!", "The unbeatable speed of the blue star!" Things like that. Later in the series they started getting a little goofier with the fights, doing a lot of sped up, reversing the film, cartoony violence.

An interesting thing I noticed was all the English sprinkled throughout. "Good bye", "Thank you" and "fresh pot" referring to coffee. Karen especially tends to toss in English words. (The female ranger in Goranger also had an Americanized name. It was odd to see if repeated here.) Crime may sound like a silly name for the bad guys, but keep in mind they use the American word “crime”, which would sound more exotic to Japanese viewers.

Red threatens you. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

It's not lost on me that the girl character's power is attraction. I chuckled at that when I started watching the series. Aside from that, just like with Goranger, the female member of the team is treated as an equal, just as capable and strong as the male characters. Hell, Karen survived two gun shots and still managed to save her boyfriend before collapsing from her injuries. They did really like dressing her as a nurse, though. It happened in two episodes. (And of course they found an excuse to put her into a swimsuit at one point.)

One cool thing I wanted to mention is that the cards used in the show were made by Nintendo. (For those unaware, before they got big into video games, Nintendo made playing cards.) I felt pretty dumb when researching for this post because although I thought Banba looked familiar, I just couldn't place him. I can't believe I missed that he was Aoranger from Gorenger. (Guess I didn’t recognize him without the cowboy hat.)

I liked the addition of the white ranger... shaking things up and adding a new member did add more life to the show for a bit, although it was executed strangely, with him only coming in for the finishing move. And his introduction was really heavy-handed with them hitting the viewers over the head with how cool and strong he is and what a powerful new ally they have. I guess they really wanted to drive that home to the kids watching who would need to accept a new ranger so far into the series. The other problem is that after Big One's introduction, the other members get captured a whole lot easier, so that he has an excuse to rescue them. Plus I can’t help but feel like he was a bit of overkill. Like kids playing on a playground. “I have all the cyborg powers at once. And I can fly! And I’m a master of disguise and you can’t use your cannon without me!“

He does, too. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

This series feels a lot like Goranger, but is a bit darker. This is at odds with the brightly colored costumes and tools the squad uses. For a kid’s show there is a lot of death and tragedy.

Ryu's friends are gunned down in a bar. A woman sees her brother explode a few feet from her. A little girl Daichi befriends immediately dies in a plane crash along with her parents. The team's friends are constantly being murdered in front of them. Heck, for Daichi's first appearance on the show, he was technically dead. Karen was introduced after a fatal car crash that took the life of her father and her arms. One of Karen's friends tries on a dress that had been booby trapped to kill the pink ranger and she ended up exploding, dying instantly. A kid's dog is murdered for barking at an alien and the kid found out about it. The alien went on to threaten his mother if he didn’t keep helping him. There were all sorts of dark plot points throughout the series.

Lots of exploding people in this. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Add to all this that there was no continual comic relief as there was in Goranger with Daita and the riddles. They clearly made an effort to lighten the tone later in the series, first with making Daichi more comical, later by adding the silly cook and the quirky acting commander. But even after this they still they put children in peril and fought Nazi crocodiles and things like that.

Still, nothing will beat Supaidaman for the sheer amount of darkness in a kid’s superhero show. I really can’t wait to cover that one. That will be next in my Super Sentai coverage, even though it’s technically not part of the metaseries.

Exploding buildings too. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Ultimately the darker, more adult tone from the start led to low ratings, and the retooling that eliminated Joker and introduced Big One wasn't enough to save the show. It ended with only 35 episodes, but was meant to run longer. I couldn't find exactly how many episodes, but I'm assuming around 45-50. The later series had around 50 episodes, this one being the shorter of them. Actually, it’s the shortest Super Sentai series of the entire franchise! (Goranger was the longest, so we’ve covered both extremes!)

From what I was able to find in my research, there was meant to be a time travel slant to either Crime or Shine, but they couldn’t figure out how to implement it in a way that would make sense. The ending did seem rather abrupt and the reveal of Shine was not fully fleshed out. Honestly, I don’t think more episodes would have fixed the problems with the show. They were pretty much inherent from the beginning and just compounded with each retooling attempt. As much as I enjoyed the show, it was much more flawed than Goranger, and I can understand why it never caught on in the same way. It had its own feel and its own charm, but it fell short in several ways.

Before we finish up, let’s check in with some of the fantastic dummy work on this series.

Dummies are the best. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Let’s hear it for the unsung heroes of tokusatsu… the dummies! (And yes, the last one is the robotic dog I mentioned earlier that was kicked into the air.)

Oh yeah, and remember all the weird crucifixions that happened in Goranger and Kamen Rider and even that one in Ultraseven? Its an odd quirk of tokusatsu and we didn’t get a pass this time around.

What would be a tokusatsu without a crucifixion or three? (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

We didn’t get any crucifixions until near the end, but even then there were only three instances. I really wish I knew why they keep crucifying people in these series.

Ready for action. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Final Thoughts: As entertaining as it was, I found this series a lot more aimless than the previous one. They seemed like they were casting about, looking for something to set it apart. Desperately trying to make it catch on. Throwing darts at the idea wall. Making the hamster a cyborg, adding in pretty girl agents like Kamen Rider, adding in Big One and the comic relief chef, making the fights more comical, gimmic episodes featuring race cars and baseball, giving Iron Claw an alien boss... it seemed like they were changing the show rapidly as it went on, incorporating ideas from other more successful tokusatsu.

But they didn't really follow through. They switched to aliens briefly and then went back to robots. (Banba even points this out in one episode, wondering why they stopped using space monsters.) The fact that some of the robot enemies of the week and most of the Crime Bosses didn't have names at all and the unexplained link between the Crime organization and the alien Shine, the whole thing felt less cohesive than Goranger.

For positives, while I thought the ranger suits looked a bit silly on first impression, they grew on me and I really like them now. I like that they spent more time trying to establish the personalities of the main cast, although this went out the window during the final retooling. Hamster-kun always made me laugh. I feel like it was a stronger show in the beginning, when they focused more on investigation and dark themes. I think it was smart to try and distinguish the show from Goranger, but its later attempts to mime the success of its predecessor made JAKQ fall into disarray and it became a bit of a mess by the end. (Although the final two episodes brought it back around to being really good.)

I did enjoy JAKQ quite a bit and I don't regret watching it, but I think it could have been a stronger show. It had its good qualities, it just needed better execution.

JAKQ! (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)

Thank you for reading my coverage of the next Super Sentai series! While I do intend on getting to the third series soon, as mentioned earlier, I will likely take a break to finally rewatch and do a post on Supaidaman, which was the first of Toei’s collaborations with Marvel Comics. (Trust me, it’s a wild ride and I’m really looking forward to watching it again.) Plus, I still have to balance this series out with those of Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and Doctor Who. (And finish Clone Wars…) I guess what I’m saying is, we’re going to keep following my whims. They haven’t steered us wrong yet! (More than likely the next tokusatsu post will be Kamen Rider v3.) Anyway, thanks again. I appreciate you all. And whatever you do, watch out for Crime! Crime is bad. Crime will stop at nothing. (And maybe also aliens?)

Goodbye from the members of JAKQ. (Credit: Ishimori Productions, Toei Company)