"A martial art which grants the power of beasts through sensing one's own feral spirit: Juken. Juken is split into two opposing styles. One, a Juken of Justice: Geki Juken Beast Arts! The other, a Juken of Evil: Rin Juken Akugata! Martial artists destined to fight. Every day they aim for the top. They learn. They change."
Jūken Sentai Gekiranger (Beast Fist Squadron Gekiranger) is the 31st program in the Super Sentai series, airing from 2007 to 2008.SCRTC (pronounced "Scratch") is a sportswear company that acts as a front for a secret martial arts academy teaching the ancient art of "Juken". The academy specialises in the "Geki Juken Beast Arts" school of Juken, teaching students to harness their inner spirit of justice to generate a powerful force called "Geki".One day, a talented student of Geki Juken Beast Arts decides to defect from the academy in his pursuit of more power. He revives the opposing school of Rin Juken Akugata, an evil style that reaps strength from the suffering of others, and resurrects an army of undead Rin Juken fighters.Opposing him are the top three students of Geki Juken: the wild child Jan Kandou, the straightforward and honest Ran Uzaki, and the stylish Retsu Fukami. With their training and Gekichangers, they harness their Geki to transform into the heroes of Geki Juken Beast Arts: the Gekiranger.While on the surface, Gekiranger focuses on Chinese martial arts, it more specifically takes its elements from the Wuxia genre: split sects, constant competition in martial arts, and Wire Fu techniques very prominent in Wuxia media, to name a few. And also, since a major standpoint of the series is how heroes and villains alike strive to improve and perfect their skill, it was a notable entry exhibiting Character Development to both sides.Note: The word "Ken" used throughout the page can mean either "Fist"/"Ken", alternatively "Kobushi", or "Martial arts"/"Kenpo", owing to the same Kanji.
): A former artist and the team second-in-command. He is smart but selfish. Focusing on technique, his weapons are a pair of tonfas and a set of war fans.
Bae (Geki Ju Fly-ken): A former Geki Juken user, now a small half-fly... in Mele's stomach. Never fails to drop in on any giant battle as Combat Commentator. Voiced by Akira Ishida.
There is actually one mecha fight he misses, because Mele is busy with an unconscious Rio. So Elehung did commentary that time.
The Seven Kensei: And yes, the names are puns on names of famous martial artists.
Eyecatch: Jan, Retsu, and Ran in Ranger form do a few katas, the title card appearing when Jan slashs at the screen. After the break, it is the same, only with the trio in civilian form.
Animal Mecha: The Geki Beasts of the main trio are based on felines, while the rest (including those of the extra heroes) are based on assorted animals.
Rio: "Pure fierceness, pure power, leaving the world, one without equal; I am Gen Ju King Rio!"
Mele: "For Rio-sama's love, an even more powerful-clad Love Warrior. Gen Ju Phoenix-Ken Mistress, Mele!"
The Kenma:
Kata: "Hatred is power givingly born. Sky Kenma, Rin Ju Hawk-Ken's Kata!"
Rageku: "Envy is power bestowed. Sea Kenma, Rin Ju Jelly-Ken's Rageku!"
Maku: "Rage is the power to dominate. Land Kenma, Rin Ju Bear-Ken's Maku!"
The Kensei:
Shafu: "There is training in one's livelihood. The Geki Juken well achieved on a daily basis. Felis-Ken, Shafu!"
Elehung: "There is training while having fun. The worldly-loving Elephant-Ken, Elehung Gambou!"
Bat Li: "There is training while in a trance. The performance mastering Bat-Ken, Bat Li!"
Sharkie: "There is "Sharkin!" while training. The doing your best Shark-Ken, Sharkie Chan!"
Gorie: "The Wild Wiseman. 'Raging Heart,' Gorie Yen!"
Michelle: "The Splendid Fighting Goddess. 'Supreme Technique,' Michelle Peng!"
Bion: "The Savanna Shortstop. 'Undying Body,' Bion Biao!"
Make My Monster Grow: "Ringi! Jashin Gouten Hen!" followed later by "Gengi! Genshin Gouten Hen!"
To put this in context, Rinrinshi, and, later, followers of Genjuuken, are able to make themselves grow using martial arts! Now THAT's Serial Escalation!
Another Shout Out to Wuxia media; martial arts can, depending on the tone of a series, vary between just practical self-defense to replacement for magic.
Monster of the Week: A variation this time around. The monsters are essentially Rinshi (this series' footsoldier mooks) that are stronger than the other Rinshi. Proven by passing through the Chamber of Trials, defeating all the other Rinshi inside single-handedly. Then they can remove their mask and the animal motif on their forehead appears. They also gain the ability to transform into the shows traditional monster form.
The Movie: Gekiranger the Movie: Nei-Nei! Hou-Hou! The Decisive Battle in Hong Kong
Sixth Ranger: Gou and Ken, who are actually the fourth and fifth members of Gekiranger respectively. Rio and Mele effectively become extra rangers when they switch sides.
The Smurfette Principle: The Gekirangers themselves only have one female member, even when the roster is extended from three to five. However, when Mele switches sides, she essentially serves the role of a second heroine, even though she's technically not a Gekiranger.
Super Mode: Literally and figuratively: "Super Gekiranger".
Actor Allusion: Shafu's VA also voiced Korin before, and he apparently isn't shy about having it known; the same tone, the same way of speech, and the same use of "-ja" after sentences. *
Although, do note that "ja" is also an actual particle in Japanese language.
Even the "Show respect to your elders" part is there in Training 2!
Brilliant, but Lazy: Ken. He spent much of his study period in JuKenGyo wooing girls in a nearby village instead of training. But even then, he's really powerful already.
All three of the pre-Super Gekiranger Kensei's voices are the official Japanese dub voices for Chinese Kung Fu actors: Yuu Mizushima is Sammo Hung (Gambou) and Shuichi Ikeda is Jet Li.
Character Development: Very, very heavy in the series. This is one of the main reasons Gekiranger is a fan-favourite.
For Jan, Rio, and Mele, sure. Ran, Retsu, Gou, and Ken, not so much.
Chekhov's Gun: The sealing technique the Kenma used on the Kensei. In the finale, Rio uses a special technique to download RinJyuKen into the Power Trio, Matrix-style, allowing them to get around Long's immortality by using it on him.
Chinese Vampire: The basis for the Rinshi. Also played straight in that they're undead.
Chosen One: Deconstructed with Jan and Rio. When Jan learns that his father declared that he would avenge his defeat at Rio's hands, he collapses under the pressure. Rio has a similar reaction upon learning that Long had been manipulating the entire course of his life, and ultimately both reject their fates.
Competitive Balance: The core trio line up pretty well with the universal types.
Mighty Glacier: Jan. He's not physically large like most examples, but his focus is strength and defense, and he's the team's official tank.
Lightning Bruiser: Ran. By far and above the fastest, but strong enough to use the Geki Hammer and dangerously accurate.
Fragile Speedster/Glass Cannon: Retsu. He can use his skill for offense or defense, but lacks physical constitution.
Drunken Boxing: Retsu, probably unintentionally and beautifully, pulls it off in Training 36. No less from the Kenshi embodying "Technique", eh?
Elephant in the Living Room: Sure, the Gekirangers and people asociated with SCRTC are around the Kensei long enough to get use to their unusual appearances(Jan's even fascinated by them), but even ordinary people don't bat an eye at the sight of talking animal people who aren't wearing costumes!
Enemy Mine: In several instances, the Gekirangers are getting beaten up by some third party villain, and Rio and Mele have to bail them out.
Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: Oh god, were they ever! You can count the total number of characters who can't fight, not counting Characters-of-the-Day, easily with one hand*
For the Evulz: See all the stuff in the Complete Monster entry above? Long's reasoning for doing so is that being immortal is so boring and he just wanted to make his life more interesting.
Funny Bruce Lee Noises: Nunchaku Banki in the teamup movie with Engine Sentai Go-onger just loved this trope. Regardless of whether he was attacking, jumping, getting hit, or painfully getting knocked across the battlefield by exceptionally powerful attacks, he still made these noises.
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Miki does this to all three of the Power Trio after Rio pounds them and takes Shafu hostage. Jan does it to Rio after they learn the truth about Long.
Gratuitous English: The fighting style of any character will be expressed with the English name of the animal; for example, Rio's style is "Rinju Lion-ken" instead of "Rinju Shishi-ken".
Heroic Sacrifice: In episode 48 after Rio and Mele become good, they sacrifice their lives to protect the Gekirangers.
Idiot Ball: The other team members carry it when an impostor from the Mirror World replaces Retsu whom they cannot tell from the original. They even invent handy excuses for the impostor, like for him being suddenly left-handed, which he didn't think of.
If It Swims, It Flies: Quite arguable with GekiShark: It never floats through air, and jumps out of a small "pool" of Geki when summoned. But then another question pops up on how it approaches the base Mecha.
GekiPenguin, however, completely averts this by floating around on a small jet surf-board.
The Jimmy Hart Version: A meta example from the same singer: the ending theme, sung by Ichiro Mizuki, is pretty much a rearranged, relaxing version of the Mazinger Z theme song. This is more noticeable within the first verses and the start of the chorus.
Ki Attacks: Spammed for all its worth: Geki Juken has "Gekiwaza", Rin Juken has "Ringi", Gen Juken has "Gengi". But they all boil down to "[School Name] Technique".
Lampshade Hanging: When Ran lets being team captain go to her head, Elehung and Michelle refer to her as Moe and Tsundere respectively, even remarking that those tropes are popular lately.
Love Redeems: Rio turns good when he realizes that he loves Mele.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Jan turns out to be the son of "White Tiger" Dan, whom Rio "defeated" in a duel years ago.
Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Five Deadly Venoms, and later the Kenma, which literally translates into "fist demon". Corny, but nothing with the word "demon" in its name is bad, especially here. Later we get the Four Mythical Generals*
Shigenshō
and the Mythical Beast King*
Genjūō
. It's also revealed that Long's true identity is something called the Infinity Dragon*
Mugen Ryū
.
Not Worth Killing: Rio defeats the Rangers more than once, only to let them go.
One-Winged Angel: Long. Interestingly, he gets his butt kicked after transforming, and fights in his usual armored form in the finale. Then again, it's a giant dragon...
Shout Out: To an earlier fellow Sentai series; SaiDain, a giant white animal mecha, also a standalone giant, piloted by the White Sixth Ranger on its back with a curved saber. WonTiger, a giant white animal mecha, also a standalone giant, piloted by the White Sixth Ranger on its back with a curved saber. Hmm...
Speaking of Dairanger, the Ranger suit designs are very similar to Dairanger's, only solid-coloured.
Ken shares some key character traits with Kinnikuman. In one episode he even yells "Kajiba no Kuso Jikara"!
At the end of Lesson 43, the Gekirangers pose like the Imagin from Kamen Rider Den-O, whose colors they parallel (Jan = Momotaros, Ran = Kintaros, Retsu = Urataros, Gou = Ryutaros, Ken = Sieg).
A Shout Out to previous Sentai: Rio being mainly black-colored, learning Gryphon-ken, and later gets counted as a ranger (unofficially) whereas in Dengeki Sentai Changeman, we have a Black Ranger called Change Griffon...
Also Dorou at one point shouts "We'll delete you!". He forgot that he's not an SPD officer.
Significant Anagram: The Monster of the Week will typically have as its name the katakana of the Japanese name for the animal it represents, with the first kana shifted to the end (for example, a frog (kaeru)-themed enemy is called Eruka).
Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Even the other two Kenma fear Maku and his Dorinki (as do the good guys—even when he was initially killed, his heart was removed to assure that he would never be resurrected. As is often the case, the impossible took a while.)
Spell My Name with an S: An alternative spelling to Master Shafu's name is "Xia Fu". Considering the series take heavily from Chinese Wuxia, it makes sense.
Not to mention "Jyan", "Retu", and "Mere" from The Movie's opening sequence.
And Brusa Ee. A possible alternative on his name is a combination of "Bruce Lee" and "Sai"/"Rhinoceros", his Kenpo style, thus "Brusa I".
Theme Naming: All five of the Gekirangers' names contain two Kanji for Family Name, and two Kana for First Name. And the first syllables of the core group's names when combined spell "Kung Fu".*
powerup, and later Rio and Mele as they learn "Dorinki"*
Full Confrontation Ki
.
Personality-wise, Jan took a level in badass over the course of the series. By the mid-30s, he's almost unrecognizable as the Idiot Hero he was in the early episodes.
Rio and Mele take another level in badass when they join up with Long and swap their Rinki for Genki.
Alternatively, the real level in badass might be when they give up their Genki instead.
Wax On, Wax Off: Shafu's all-time favourite, but other masters also employ this concept in their own ways.
Unwitting Pawn: Rio, whose whole life turns out to have been masterminded by Long.
Wham Episode: Training 40. After three relatively-lighthearted episodes spotlighting most of the characters' relationships with their families, all of which ended well, we get this episode. Jan finds out who his father is and what became of him. It's not pretty. At all. Jan has a Heroic BSOD. Gou flips out too, since Jan's father was a friend of his. Rio and crew hand the Gekirangers their asses in a Curbstomp Battle before issuing a challenge to Jan. Then the episode ends.
What Could Have Been: According to leaked production notes, the series was originally going to be a Spiritual Successor to Gosei Sentai Dairanger, with a much greater focus on Chinese mythology, including mecha based around the Eastern Zodiac. Interestingly, many of the rejected elements, such as a black ranger with a snake mecha, were later recycled to make Tensou Sentai Goseiger, accounting for its many Dairanger-esque elements despite their wildly different premises.
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