Denji Sentai Megaranger (Electromagnetic Squadron Megaranger) is the twenty-first installment in the Super Sentai series, running from 1997 to 1998. Adapted in the US as Power Rangers In Space.Kenta Date is a high-school underachiever who enjoys two things: eating yakiniku and playing the "Megaranger" arcade video game. One day, a couple of recruiters show up. It turns out that the Megaranger game is just a simulation intended to recruit people to become actual Megarangers. Kenta is the first person to be good enough at the game to be recruited. While The Mentor Dr. Kubota tries to talk Kenta into accepting, the Earth is invaded by Nejiregia, invaders from the Twisted Dimension. Due to the emergency, the Megaranger gear is given to Kenta and four of his classmates who happened to be in the area. And the battle begins...The heroes and their gear are themed after different pieces of digital technology. Manages to avoid being tooTotally Radical given the show was made when computers were first becoming mainstream, but technology still marches on.
Koichirou Endoh / Mega Black: The Lancer and Big Guy. The complete opposite of Kenta, as he is an overachiever who treats everything as Serious Business. He's the official leader, but most people forget this since he's not Red.
Shun Namiki / Mega Blue: The Smart Guy and computer graphics artist. Aloof at first, but he gets better.
Chisato Jogasaki / Mega Yellow: The Heart and aspiring (digital) photographer. She's basically a milder version of Kouichirou.
Guirail: Evil Sixth Ranger and The Starscream. Introduced as a second Dragon, but has no loyalty to anyone or anything, which results in him getting into an Enemy Civil War with the honorable Yugande.
Humongous Mecha: After six straight shows that started with five-piece combinations, the Galaxy Mega was the first main robot since the Five Robo that was combined from less than five mechas. In fact, the Galaxy Mega is the first main robot since the Bio Robo that is formed from only two mechas. This was later remedied with the introduction of the Mega Voyager, in addition to support robots for both.
Mega Winger doesn't actually combine with anything, but it can lent its Mega Wing attachment to the Mega Voyager, allowing it to become the Wing Mega Voyager.
King Mook: The Monster of the Week in one episode was Boss Kunekune, identical to the other Mooks except for a black head and Psychic Powers. His idea of Make My Monster Grow was having his flunkies pile on top of him, forming a giant mass of Kunekune the Rangers had to call in their mecha to deal with.
Transformation Trinket: A trope applying to all Super Sentai, but notable here in that Yusaku's Transformation Trinket is the very first use of a cell phone as such in Super Sentai, which has since become ubiquitous to the point of absurdity. Justified here given that the show's entire theme is digital technology; later shows completely lack any justification.
No justification except that cell phones are rapidly approaching ubiquity in real life, thus making a cell phone-shaped morpher extremely easy to hide or carry.
They are ubiquitous now (one of several things the show got right), but as a Transformation Trinket they would be somewhat more difficult to use mid-battle than a bracelet, with maybe only Boukenger showing otherwise.
Two Girls to a Team: The seventh Yellow and Pink duo and the third one in a row. This was the last Sentai team with two female rangers at the same time for the next six years.
Acting for Two: Actually three. Asami Jo portrayed three character. Shizuka, Shibolena and Hizumina. All of whom are Replacement Goldfishes to each other.
Arm Cannon: Delta Mega has gatling guns on each arm.
Enemy Civil War: Guirail and Yugande clash over Guirail's more underhanded tactics vs. Yugande's more honorable methods. It hits the fan when Guirail severely injures Yugande by using him as a Human Shield against the Megarangers. Hinelar then decides to end it by offering Guirail a power-up that's really Psycho Serum that turns Guirail into a mindless One-Winged Angel. Guirail is soon the first to be killed by the Megarangers' Mid-Season Upgrade mecha.
Giant Mook: King Kunekune, which is Boss Kunekune surrounded by a "body" of Kunekunes.
Girlish Pigtails: Miku. Surprisingly, she lost it when she reappears in Gaorangers vs Super Sentai
Gratuitous English: The opening (and the transformation sequence) gives us this garbled mess.
Tighten up reality gangster / Stigma through idiot hearing / Keep frustration clear / Patience open ahead / Getting away with it lead / Some distant memory drove / Get the message / Indiscipline all remains / Wish double editorials cover / Under stress new canoe / Primal tribal / [a final line which is obscured by the main text of "MEGA[insert color here] OK"].
High School: All the Megarangers except Yuusaku are high-school students.
Home Base: Subverted hard - Nejirejia destroys INET's Earth base very early on, so for most of the show Megaranger's 120-man strong support team is based aboard the Mega Ship. They're in there during battles as well.
Shun: Kenta, you shouldn't bemean a woman's heart with words like that!
Miku: Shun, did I get fatter?
Shun: Yep - I mean, just a little!
Idiot Hero: Megaranger began this trope in Sentai. It's now used at least every other series, but Megaranger is one of the only ones to actually justify it with Obfuscating Stupidity.
Parental Abandonment: Dr. Hinelar is Shibolena's father, but her mother never appears.
Pac Man Fever: Inverted; the Megaranger game at the beginning of the show had photo-realistic graphics (at least for the characters; there's not much in the way of backgrounds) due to it being actors in suits.
Product Placement: In the first episode, if you look hard enough when Kenta is playing the Megaranger arcade, you'll see there's an X-Men vs. Street Fighter machine behind him.
Secret Identity: As they're just highschoolers, the Megarangers keep their identities as secret as possible - a point hammered home by the Nejirangers attacking users of a popular wireless 'net access device, just because it made the same sound as their Transformation Trinket.
Yuusaku, on the other hand, has no such reservations, and frequently doesn't bother.
Sky Surfing: The Megarangers ride around on hoverboards called the Cyber Sliders. Mega Silver has a modified version, the Auto Slider, that also transforms into a Cool Bike.
Spiritual Successor: To Denshi Sentai Denziman. The series' share, among other things, the light-up foreheads of the ranger's helms and the hideous, twisted, asymmetrical look of the monsters.
Super Prototype: The Mega Silver suit, customized and fitted for actual battle, and noticeably more powerful than the Mega Ranger suits. Naturally, it has a 2.5 minute time limit. Becomes more of an Ace Custom later on, after Yuusaku removes the time limit, accompanied by a drop in power.
Taking the Bullet: After Yugande's power is reduced and he is almost killed by MegaRed's Drill Saber, Shibolena runs in to take the damage instead.
Tank Goodness: The Digitank, the first Sentai tank (that isn't just a form or component of a mecha) since the Jack Tank in J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai.
Tech Marches On: Surprisingly averted; the writers predicted the rise of digital technology. For example, Chisato was a photographer who specialized in using digital cameras. In 1997.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The Nejirangers do not get along, even though it's in their best interest to do so.
Tempting Fate: After Miku screwed up for the umpteenth time...
Chisato: Oh great. Now we just need a Nejirejia attack to complete the day!
The surnames of the five main Megarangers (Date, Endoh, Namiki, Jogasaki and Imamura) form the word "DENJI".
Keeping with their "twisted" theme, everyone in Nejiregia (including Nejiregia itself) is named after either the Japanese word for "to twist" or a synonym.
Theme Tune Cameo: Kenta hums the shows theme song while riding his bike in episode 24.
Villain Song: Shibolena has "The Blue Devil's Smile", and Bibidebi has "Bibi! Bibidebi da Debi".
Villainous Breakdown: Neji Blue is particularly fixated on attacking his counterpart. When five Mega Blues and one Neji Silver show up, he attacks his own teammates to get at them.
Weaksauce Weakness: Yuusaku can only stay as Mega Silver for 2.5 minutes at a time at first, but he later fixes it, at the cost of reducing Mega Silver's overall strength.
The Worf Barrage: When fighting Mad Guirail the Super Galaxy Mega is given a new uber attack. If anything it only pisses him off more.
Xanatos Gambit: Dr. Hinelar pulls off one of these late in the series, when he decides that he wants to be the actual leader of Nejiregia, not just the de facto one. Thus, he creates the Nejirangers, secretly using Javious' life force as their power source. He knows full well the Megarangers will eventually kill the Nejirangers, so he made sure that when the Nejirangers die, the backlash kills Javious too. Hinelar succeeds, becoming the new Big Bad.
You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Hinelar(Silver and Purple), Shibolena(Blue) and(if you count) Bibidebi(Green)
You Fail The IQ Test: In one episode Miku evolves into a genius with an IQ of 800.
Which would make her a pretty good contender to join Volt, wouldn't it?
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