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"Adventure for Treasure, Boukenger!"

"Even today, there are those who risk their lives to adventure.
They overcome all troubles to secretly protect dangerous treasures.
Adventurers!
"

GoGo Sentai Boukenger (Rumbling Squadron Boukengernote ) is the thirtieth program in the Super Sentai franchise, airing from 2006 to 2007. The Title Theme Tune was performed by Nobuo "NoB" Yamada.

SGS ("Search Guard Successor") is a private philanthropic organisation dedicated to the preservation of historical artifacts and treasures. The most dangerous of these relics, possessing powers beyond that of modern human technology, are designated as "Precious".

To stop these artifacts from falling into the wrong hands, SGS have created the GoGo Sentai Boukenger: an elite team of Adventurer Archaeologists who channel the spirit of adventure as they search the four corners of the globe for the mythical Precious. Opposing them are the "Negative Syndicates", a designation that SGS gives to any hostile organisation that seeks to misuse the Precious for their own ends.

Boukenger is based mostly on treasure hunting and the tales based on it as well as bringing some unique ideas to forefront such as different villain factions. There is also a bit of a personality change between the Pink and Yellow members as explained below.

Partnered with the Kamen Rider series Kamen Rider Kabuto before concluding its airing alongside the first episodes of Kamen Rider Den-O in the Super Hero Time block.

It should be noted that every mecha and villain, from the lowest mook to the biggest bad, is a Shout-Out to various Humongous Mecha from prior Super Sentai shows.

Adapted for US audiences as Power Rangers Operation Overdrive.


Recurring Super Sentai tropes:

  • All Your Powers Combined: The Acceltector might be a realistic example, requiring the whole team to back up the main attacker already wearing the armor himself/herself from recoil.
  • Artifact Collection Agency: The Negative Syndicate and the Search Guard Successor Foundation both qualify.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: "Boukenger, Start Up!".
    • Eiji has "GoGoChanger, Start Up!", but he just sticks to the others' later anyway.
  • Calling Your Attacks
  • Casting Gag: Nobuo Tanaka, the voice heard in every episode of the original Super Sentai series, is now playing a character who is seemingly just a voice that gets heard every episode.
  • Color Character: Another "[team prefix] [English color]" Sentai.
  • Combination Attack: pulled off by Ryuuwon and the Questers to almost hilarious effect. What kept it from being funny was that it worked. The Boukengers did NOT see that coming...
  • Crossover: Boukenger vs. Super Sentai. Since this is another anniversary series, the crossover involved a team of assorted rangers, particularly from the previous four shows: Nanami Nono/Hurricane Blue, Asuka/Abare Black, Tetsu/Deka Break, Tsubasa Ozu/Magi Yellow and Hikaru/Magi Shine. The movie also introduces AkaRed, who can summons the spirit of every previous red warrior. He would go on to becoming a key supporting character five years later.
  • Custom Uniform: The Boukengers all wear color-coded uniforms. Eiji in particular has a shiny uniform.
  • The Dragon:
    • Yaiba of Darkness and Shizuka of the Wind are Co-Dragons for Dark Shadow, although Yaiba is this moreso as Dark Shadow's deputy leader and toughest member. Although after Yaiba defects, Shizuka becomes this to Gekkou by default.
    • Grand Beast Rei is Furious Demon God Gai's right-hand, though the two have a very informal relationship
  • Evil Plan: The Negative Syndicates each have their plans for the Precious. Gajah wants to use them to Take Over the World, Ryuuwon wants to use them to Kill All Humans and then Take Over the World, Dark Shadow want to sell them and the Questers want to terrorize humans with them.
  • Eyecatch: The camera pulls out to the Boukengers spinning around, stopping to show Satoru in Ranger form shooting the SurviBuster once. After the break, the camera passes the Boukengers in civilian form while they look at the camera, stopping with Satoru looking at the camera.
  • Finishing Move: First the Boukengers use the mixer end of the Dual Crusher to encase the Monster of the Week in concrete. Then they use the drill end to fire a "Combination Crush at it and destroy it.
  • Home Base: The SGS Museum secret room.
  • Humongous Mecha: Boukenger, for awhile, held the Sentai record for "Most Mecha Combined" at 10note  (both Ultimate Daibouken and Voyager Daibouken), with a 12-combination (Ultimate Daibouken with Police and Aider added on the back) seen in a bonus video.
    • A Mech by Any Other Name: The GoGo Vehicles.
    • Combining Mecha
      • Gogo Dump + Gogo Formula + Gogo Gyro + Gogo Dozer + Gogo Marine = Daibouken
      • Gogo Drill + Gogo Shovel + Gogo Mixer + Gogo Crane + Gogo Jet = Daitanken
      • Gogo Fire + Gogo Aider + Gogo Police = Siren Builder
      • Gogo Commander + Gogo Carrier + Gogo Fighter + Gogo Attacker + Gogo Roader = Gogo Voyager, which transforms into the DaiVoyager.
    • Mecha Expansion Pack: The variations of the Daibouken due to the Gogo Buso system.
      • Daibouken + Gogo Drill = Daibouken Drill
      • Daibouken + Gogo Shovel = Daibouken Shovel
      • Daibouken + Gogo Drill + Gogo Shovel = Daibouken Drill & Shovel
      • Daibouken + Gogo Mixer = Daibouken Mixer
      • Daibouken + Gogo Drill + Gogo Mixer = Daibouken Drill & Mixer
      • Daibouken + Gogo Drill + Gogo Crane = Daibouken Drill & Crane
      • Daibouken + Gogo Drill + Gogo Shovel + Gogo Mixer + Gogo Crane = Super Daibouken
      • Super Daibouken + Gogo Jet = Ultimate Daibouken
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Episodes are called "Tasks", and the titles are noun phrases, often the treasure of the week.
  • Idiot Ball: Gaja decides to revive the Ashu as the Questers, and he didn't even come up with a plan to keep them from turning on him.
  • In the Name of the Moon: Involves invoking their "title" and then crying out what color they are. Often enough, a speech will be involved with this somehow.
    Satoru: The fiery adventurer! BoukenRed!
    Masumi: The fast adventurer! BoukenBlack!
    Souta: The high-up adventurer! BoukenBlue!
    Natsuki: The strong adventurer! BoukenYellow!
    Sakura: The deep adventurer! BoukenPink!
    Eiji: The dazzling adventurer! BoukenSilver!
    Satoru: The endless adventure spirits!
    All: GoGo Sentai Boukenger!
  • Law of Chromatic Superiority: Averted with this season: The Acceltector, which is usually the type of equipment exclusive to this trope, is usable and used by all team members. Also in the mecha department, everyone has 3 mecha exactly after everything is revealed.
  • Make My Monster Grow: Most often used by Dark Shadow, who can invoke this trope directly with their Shikigami when Gekkou uses his "Shadow Ninpou" to enlarge. Ryuuwon can also do it by shooting his monsters with a gun, but when he's the villain most of the time it's on account of that episode's Precious. The Ashu can do this to themselves by ripping their skins open, but loose the ability once they are turned into Questers. Gajah is basically the only one who doesn't use this trope (the giant monsters he sends after the Boukenger are either naturally giant or grow on their own), untill the Grand Finale (in which he makes both his last monster and himself grow).
  • Mini Dress Of Power: Part of the Boukenger girls' suits.
  • Monsters Of The Week: Dark Shadow's Tsukumogami and Jaryu Tribe's Jakuryu. The Questers would have their new Humongous Mecha in each episode rather than a proper monster, and when Gajah showed up the Precious of that episode itself was usually some kind of monster.
  • Mooks: Gaja's Karths and Ryuon's Jaryu soldiers. The former are also occasionally borrowed by Dark Shadow.
  • The Movie: Boukenger the Movie: The Mightiest Precious
  • "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase: No set phrase. The final lines show up as rather powerful ones in the following episodes.
  • Regular Caller: Usually Mr. Voice.
  • Robot Buddy: Zuban; not a robot per definition, but his role is pretty much a perfect fit.
  • Serial Escalation: This is where Bandai's philosophy of "How many mecha can we cram into a single formation" starts to peak.
  • Super Mode: The Acceltector is arguably one, but it's used more as a Finishing Move.
  • Supervillain Lair: The Gordom island ruins for Gajah, though he makes use of several other temporary lairs throughout the series.
  • Theme Music Power-Up: Plays whenever the Boukengers are going to destroy a monster. In the final episode, the Boukenger theme starts up just as the Boukengers are fighting a giant-sized Gajadom.
  • Transformation Name Announcement: "DaiBouken: Formation Complete!"note 
  • Transformation Trinket: The Accellulars and Eiji's GoGoChanger.
  • Two Girls to a Team: The ninth Pink and Yellow duo.

Tropes specific to GoGo Sentai Boukenger:

  • Accidental Misnaming: The mini-skirt Santa in episode 43 keeps calling Satoru, "Satorin".
  • Action Bomb: One filler episode (Task 39) is notorious for having the Rangers try to defuse one of these by literally pacifying it. The girls dress up as Meido while the guys perform Manzai.
  • All Myths Are True: Although some reveal a previously unknown side to the legend. Case in point, the episode with Cinderella's glass slipper...
  • All Your Powers Combined: During Boukenger vs. Super Sentai, when the main five Boukengers are having trouble defeating Chronos, AkaRed asks Eiji and the five guest heroes to transfer a part of their spirits into him so that he could help power-up DaiVoyager.
    BoukenSilver: Hope!
    MagiYellow: Courage!
  • Alphabetical Theme Naming: Satoru, Souta and Sakura are the three senior members; Masumi and Natsuki (and then Eiji) are the rookies.
  • And the Adventure Continues: Approriate given the adventure theme, the last episode of the series ends with the beginning of new adventures for everyone. Satoru departs for space to hunt for Precious out there, Sakura tags along in the hopes of spending time with him, Masumi stays on and becomes the new chief of the remaining Boukengers, Dark Shadow and remnants of the Jaryuu Clan are still around and hunting down Precious. And with there being so many bad guy groups in one show in general, it's implied it won't be too long before another Negative Syndicate shows up, and the Boukengers will be ready for them.
  • Anti-Human Alliance: #33 and #34 see the Jaryuu Clan and the Questers forming an "Another Species" alliance for the purpose of eradicating humanity.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: At the beginning of the Christmas episode, nobody believes Satoru when he says a miniskirt Santa fell from the sky and smashed the cake he bought. Keep in mind that these are the same people who had dabbled with people like (and related to) The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Princess Kaguya, Issunboshi, Cinderella, Momotaro etc. And yet they say that the idea of Santa Claus existing, let alone not being like everyone thinks, is too much for them to grasp?!
  • BFS: Zubaan, even by GIANT MECHA standards.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: The first Super Sentai installment that have several main antagonists and evil organizations in the same row. The so-called Negative Syndicates are composed by four evil organizations each with their own malicious plans for the Precious. They fuction simultaneously throughout the story.
    • The Gordom Civilization, led by Arch Priest Gajah, who seeks to use the Precious to restore his lost civilization and Take Over the World.
    • The Jaryuu Clan, led by Creator King Ryuuwon, who seeks to supplant humanity with his own race of genetically-engineered dragons.
    • Dark Shadow, led by Gekkou of Illusions, who seeks to steal Precious and sell them for money on the black market.
    • The Questers, led by Furious Demon God Gai and comprised solely of him and his cohort Grand Beast Rei. Both are Ashu given Powered Armor by Gajah, although they're very quick to betray him, and seek Precious solely for the purpose of terrorizing humans.
    • Towards the end, a fifth Big Bad player emerges when Yaiba of Darkness, previously The Dragon for Gekkou, betrays Dark Shadow and goes rogue, hoping to engulf the planet in darkness.
  • Big Red Button: SirenBuilder's self-destruct mechanism is triggered with one, appropriately labeled "SUICIDE".
  • Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: Female members of the Ashu tribe tend towards Cute Monster Girls, while males are a lot more monsterish.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Quester Gai is a villainous example. He takes things like evil with hearty fun and has a tendency to laugh while taunting the Boukengers whenever things go his way.
  • Bling of War: BoukenSilver's suit. Wonder if anyone has used his helmet as a mirror...
  • Book Ends: Episode 1 is about finding the Heart of Gordom and Gaja wakes up out of a coffin. In the last episode, Gaja was using the Gordom heart to fight the rangers. Having lost, he goes back to sleep in the coffin he was in at the start of the series.
  • Can't Catch Up: One thing that Masumi detests is his inability to surpass Akashi's level of skill. This resentment adds to the inner darkness within him, which Yaiba takes advantage of.
  • Catchphrase: Satoru has his utterly-spammed "Attack!", and occasionally, "Mission Start!".
    • Souta's "Sou sou Souta!"note  also counts.
    • Sakura usually responds with "Use code names whenever in a mission" whenever she's called by name, not 'Pink', in missions.
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • Natsuki's bracelet. If the camera shows it close-up in the first two episodes, we better remember that.
    • Also, in Task 7, Natsuki's comment about Ryuuwon being the author of the notebook is shrugged of... until later, when it actually turned out to be true.
  • Chew Toy: When Satoru is cursed with bad luck, he gets hit by a bus, a crane falls on him, chunks of building fall him, he catches on fire from the explosion that follows the roll call, a appears from nowhere rolls over him, and gets struck by lighting.
  • Christmas Episode: #43, which sees Boukengers meeting Santa (who in the Super Sentai universe is implied to be a Legacy Character. Here "he's" shown to be a pretty looking Genki Girl).
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Whenever Negative Syndicates work together... again and again and again and again... and again.
  • Completely Different Title: The Korean dub refers to the series as Power Ranger Treasure Force.
    • Further, the Super Hero Time block that Kamen Rider and Super Sentai share featured a Massive Multiplayer Crossover between Kamen Rider Kabuto and this series to signify that the other show was starting. These can be found on fansubs of Kabuto's episodes... and must be seen to be believed.
  • Cross-Popping Veins: Mr. Voice has this for a second the first time he tried to have a conversation with Eiji.
  • Dark Side: Yaiba is a representative of it, and keeps on telling Masumi to fall into it.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen:
    • Sakura, spends most of the series very prim and stern, but there are moments where she lets her emotions shine through (particularly towards Satoru) and she gradually opens up more as the series goes on.
    • Eiji, who acts as a catalyst to this, goes through some defrosting of his own as he starts out the brooding loner, but warms up to his new family enough to address Sakura as ''Nee-san'' habitually.
  • Determinator: The remaining five Boukengers fighting to free Natsuki from Ryuuwon and the Questers' clutches in Task 34. Masumi, during his henshin sequence, brushes his Accellular against a bullet fired by Ryuuwon, and the bullet is deflected.
  • Dub Name Change: In the Korean version the Boukengers become Keine (Satoru), Ray (Masumi), Ryuu (Souta), Hannah (Natsuki), Yumi (Sakura) and Jackie (Eiji).
  • Early-Bird Cameo: As well as appearing in the opening since episode 1, episode 2 gives us a view of the hangar for the Go Go Vehicles, including Drill, Shovel, Mixer and Crane, which would debut gradually from episodes 4-9.
  • Elemental Powers: The Boukenger's weapons are each powered by a different element.
  • Empathic Weapon: Zubaan can turn into a weapon and reacts empathically to those around him...
  • Enemy Mine: Discussed and ultimately averted in #42. The other Negative Syndicates don't want the Questers to win because of how big of Jerkasses they are, but at the same time can't bring themselves to root for the Boukengers either given how long they've been enemies.
  • Evil Counterpart: Each of the Negative Syndicates mirrors a different Boukenger.
    • Creator King Ryuuwon is this for Satoru. Both are adventurers, but while Satoru cares for his comrades Ryuuwon shows what happens when an adventurer puts their ambition above all else.
    • Yaiba of Darkness is this for Masumi, showing what would happen if Masumi ever gave into his inner darkness.
    • Shizuka of the Wind is this for Natsuki. Both are childish Genki Girls, but while Natsuki is sweet and cares for her friends, Shizuka is petulant and self-centered.
    • Gai is this for Eiji, continually trying to tempt the silver Boukenger into being just as untamed as he is.
  • "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: Happens in episode 25 when a monster who is simple minded ate a fruit of wisdom that he become super smart but cause more trouble.
  • Genki Girl: Natsuki, who's very sweet and hyperactive. In spades.
  • Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: When raising Taro in Episode 36, Akashi is the Gentle Touch to Eiji's Firm Hand.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Natsuki again, complimenting her cheery and childish personality.
  • Golem: A Jewish style golem is the Monster of the Week for the Christmas episode. It's even defeated in the traditional way when DaiBouken drills away the first letter on its forehead.
  • Gratuitous English: It's not the first time the Rangers call each other by color in English in the field, but their pronunciation of 'Chief' stood out to the point of Memetic Mutation.
    • Also Akashi's "Attack!" and "Good job!"
    • One of Ryuuwon's monsters also added 'baby' in his sentences.
    • Although Shinichiro Ohta outdoes them all by far, with his Gratuitous English voice coming out of nearly every piece of equipment they have.
    • But we have to conclude that it can't get any more gratuitous than this.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: There's two separate ones to compliment the series' Big Bad Ensemble, each linked to a different Negative Syndicate.
    • Gordom is a "Destruction God" who fell to Earth from space and was worshipped by the Gordom Civilization, who formed their society around him. Both his Heart and Brain are powerful Precious, and in the finale Gajah seeks to absorb both in order to recreate the God within him and conquer the world.
    • The Demon Bird is this for Dark Shadow, and is a living calamity said to be capable of destroying the world. Gekkou of Illusions sealed it in the past by taking possession of its body and trapping its remaining power in a shrine, only for Yaiba to unleash it in #44.
  • Half-Human Hybrid:
    • Eiji is half-human and half-Ashu.
    • Ryuuwon turned out to be one very close to the end. The hints come somewhat earlier though.
  • Handsome Lech: A mild version; Souta. He's got lots of girlfriends. The behavior also surfaces a tad when he's facing off against Shizuka.
  • Heroic BSoD: Played for laughs. Satoru gets one after failing an adventure school's entrance exam and sat moping at a corner throughout the first half of the episode, as Eiji and Masumi tease him for 3/4 of the episode. Actually he did pass, but the proctors made a mistake.
  • If It Swims, It Flies: GoGoMarine uses GoGoGyro to cleverly avert this. GogoVoyager resembles a battleship but classifies as an amphibious vehicle by way of having wheels.
  • Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Shizuka, obviously, but Gajah too. Maybe it's because his actor is an old man, or because he puts more effort into his schemes than the other groups, but it's hard not to feel bad for him when they fail.
  • Karma Houdini Gekkou went free.
  • Kawaiiko: Kaze no Shizuka, who acts like a cheery kid most of the time and throws temper tantrums whenever things don't go her way. The Fanservice is just a secondary trait.
  • Lampshade Hanging: When Satoru is cursed with bad luck in one episode, the explosion that follows the Sentai roll call causes him to catch on FIRE.
  • Large Ham:
    • Gajah, whose expressiveness compliments his showy hand movements.
    • ZUBAAAAN!!
    • Gai chomps on the scenery with as much vigor as he would if it were a human.
  • Last Plan Standing: The main reason the Final Boss ends up being Gajah is because the Questers, Yaiba, and Ryuuwon all put their plans in motion before him. Because Gajah outlasts them all, he's the Final Battle for the Boukengers as far as the series is concerned.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Zubaan. This does NOT change when he shifts to Humongous Mecha size.
  • Lightning Gun: One of the Precious is actually called a Lightning Cannon. The Questers equip it to a giant mecha to go on a rampage.
  • The Man Behind the Man: #9 sees Dark Shadow employed to steal the Nami Uemono dolls by a mysterious businessman, who turns out to be an envoy of another Negative Syndicate, the Gordom Civilization.
  • Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Pulled off with the movie Boukenger vs Super Sentai. This crosses the series over with Magiranger (from which Tsubasa, Hikaru - along with his ainde Smoky - and Meemy were drawn), Dekaranger (from which Tetsu was drafted), Abaranger (from where came Asuka), Hurricaneger (from which Nanami and Furabijou returned) and even Gaoranger (from which no heroes came, but villainess Tsuetsue made her appearance) for one massively insane storyline.
  • Mook Depletion: Ryuuwon's Mook Promotion process has the side effect of diminishing his forces. This really shows up when he has his entire army (about 3,000 soldiers) fight each other to create his most powerful monster note , then later on, is unable to make more.
  • Mook Maker: Gajah, a (re-)living example. He, and anyone else who has his white stones, can toss them on the ground to summon Karths.
  • Mook Promotion: Ryuuwon's method of creating his Monsters Of The Week is to have his footsoldiers participate in a ritualistic fight to the death, then rewarded the Sole Survivor with a transformation.
  • The Movie: While no attempt is made to link it to series continuity, it does provide an origin for the aux-mecha-only DaiTanken.
    • Introducing a mech in the movie that appears in the show with little to no explanation has been the norm ever since Abaranger.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Shizuka, hoo boy, Shizuka with her frequent sexy disguises. The Rainbow Cloth just cranks this up to eleven (well, unless she decides to turn into a truck and then a harpy-like monster...).
  • Mysterious Waif: Natsuki.
  • Mythology Gag: Has its own page.
  • Not Quite Dead: After seemingly exploding with the Precious Bank, Satoru appears safe on the DaiVoyager in time for the final battle due to Zuuban.
    • Also, the circumstances surrounding Gai and Rei's evolution into Questers.
  • Oblivious to Love: Satoru, much to Sakura's dismay.
  • One-Winged Angel: Most of the main villians have it happen at some point, though Yaiba's is just his faceplate moving aside to reveal a different faceplate. A bit of a letdown after the big dramatic "nobody has seen my true face and lived" thing.
  • Outside-Context Problem: Every now and then you get something that doesn't originate from the Negatives, although Gajya will attempt to control some of them.
  • Panthera Awesome: The Ashu's entire schtick, which seeps into their Quester forms.
  • Photographic Memory: Gajah's previously hidden ability.
  • Pokémon Speak: BAN BAN ZUBAAAAAAAAAAAN!
  • Power Levels: Each Precious has a Hazard Level measuring how dangerous its power is. It goes Over Nine Thousand in The Movie.
  • Princess Protagonist: Natsuki. Or rather, she would be if her kingdom still existed...
  • Punny Name: Each Boukenger has a name that has to do with his/her respective color:
    • Akashi Satoru (the Kanji for Satoru can be read as akatsuki or "red moon"/dawn)
    • Masumi (sumi = black ink)
    • Souta ("Sou" can be read as ao or blue)
    • Natsuki (Na can mean "cole blossom" and tsuki can mean "moon"; both of these are often seen as being yellow)
    • Sakura (cherry blossoms, which are pink)
    • Eiji (pronounced A-G, like Ag, the chemical symbol for silver)
  • Riches to Rags: A subversion of the Snow White type; Natsuki is the princess and last living member of the Lemurian kingdom. Since said kingdom is long gone, she has nothing left to rule, which is good since her parents just wanted her to live a normal life anyway.
  • Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Masumi is the brooding guy and Natsuki is the energetic Genki Girl.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Souta is an effeminite ladies man and Masumi is... Masumi.
  • Ship Sinking: Despite the Ship Tease between Masumi and Natsuki, nothing comes out of it. The ship sunk when Masumi's actor, Yasuka Saitou, explained that Masumi sees Natsuki as a little sister or a daughter he needs to protect.
  • Shout-Out: The powerful artifacts referred to as "Precious" and all kinds of evil characters are after them. Sound familiar?
  • Stealth Pun: Kaze no Shizuka as a truck going nuts when BoukenSilver's hand lands on one of her headlights.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: Compared to the American adaptation, it's a bit more under control here- though silly explosions, such as the whole "bad luck" thing above and Natsuki's disastrous solo piloting of Ultimate DaiBouken have it in spades.
  • Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Sakura, who acts stern and professional most of the time, but gets much warmer around Satoru.
  • Super Prototype: Daivoyager was the first mecha created, but deemed too powerful to use, but eventually the villains got powerful enough that it was needed. Even then it's still used as a weapon of last resort with the Boukengers usually going for their other mecha first.
  • Taking You with Me: Well he ALMOST did.
  • Thememobile: the first five GoGoVehicles (Dump [truck], Formula [1 racing car], Gyro [kind of a helicopter], Dozer and [Sub]Marine) apparently have nothing in common apart from their windshields looking like the ones on our heroes' helmets, but vehicles appearing later start to take on themed motifs:
    • Drill, Shovel, Mixer, Crane - construction vehicles
    • Jet's ability to airlift smaller vehicles place it somewhere between construction and rescue
    • Fire [fire truck], Police, Aider [ambulance] - rescue service vehicles. Notable as the first time the designated pilot BoukenSilver shares none of their motif (or even base colors) in his design.
    • Commander, Carrier, Figher, Attacker, Roller (and their combined GoGoVoyager form) - armed combat vehicles. Notable as the first time Super Sentai has used such vehicles since Maskman, in light of Japan's non-militant politics (see Kaiju Defense Force.)
  • Theme Music Power-Up: When Start Up! ~Bonds~ kicks in, you just know someone's gonna get their ass handed to them.
  • Theme Naming: On two levels:
    • Each Boukenger's family name is taken from that of a historical adventurer from Japan:
      • Satoru Akashi is named after Motojiro Akashi, who served as a spy during the Russo-Japanese War.
      • Masumi Inou is named after Tadataka Inou, the first cartographer to create a map of Japan using modern surveying techniques.
      • Souta Mogami is named after Tokunai Mogami, an 18th-century explorer who explored the islands north of Japan.
      • Natsuki Mamiya is named after Rinzo Mamiya, who discovered that Sakhalin was actually an island. As a bonus, Rinzo Mamiya was mentored by Tadataka Inou just as Natsuki was mentored by Masumi.
      • Sakura Nishihori is named after Eizaburo Nishihori, the captain of the Japanese Antarctica wintering party and the chairman of the Japanese Mountaineering Association.
      • Eiji Takaoka is named after Shin'ō Takaoka, a former crown prince of Japan who disappeared while sailing to India.
    • Each Boukenger's given name is a reference to their color:
      • Satoru Akashi's given name is written with the kanji for sunrise, and can be read akatsuki, literally meaning "red dawn".
      • The second kanji of Masumi Inou's given name means "ink", specifically the black ink used in calligraphy.
      • The first kanji of Souta Mogami's given name means "blue".
      • The two kanji of Natsuki Mamiya's given name mean "cole blossoms" and "moon", which are typically yellow.
      • Sakura Nishihori's given name is written with the kanji for cherry blossoms, which are pink.
      • Eiji Takaoka's given name is pronounced like "Ag", the chemical symbol for silver.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Though Ultimate DaiBouken would later be overshadowed in terms of component parts, using it on normal-sized mooks (and friends) is overkill. All by Natsuki.
  • Third-Person Person: Natsuki always refers to herself as "Natsuki".
  • This Is a Drill: Go Go Drill and Dual Crusher's Drill Head Mode.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: Sakura, the stern proper tomboy, and Natsuki, the cutesy and childish girly girl.
  • Villain Team-Up: The Negative Syndicates will very often form alliances with one another to retrieve a Precious or battle the Boukengers. Although they're just as likely to break up and betray each other when convenient.
  • Was Once a Man: Gekko. A very subtle hint about Ryuon being one came very early in the series.
  • Where It All Began: The Final Battle with Gajah takes place on his island from the first episode, whre the Boukenger woke him up.
  • Whole-Plot Reference:
    • Task 8, which involves the team recovering a Precious that can morph into anything, is one for The Thing (1982).
    • Task 26 is basically Revolutionary Girl Utena, minus over-abundent rose symbolism, plus giant robot battle. And it is awesome.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: According to The Movie, it's bugs for Sakura. To her defense though, they were huge.
  • The Worf Barrage: Ultimate Daibouken's Ultimate Blaster. At least DaiVoyager's finisher tended to kill the monster once they finally got it off.
  • The Worf Effect: Despite it being Boukenger's most powerful mecha, DaiVoyager tends to see action only when they're fighting something even it can't beat.

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Negative Syndicates

The Gordom Civilization, Jaryuu Clan and Dark Shadow are classified as "Negative Syndicates" by SGS. While each has a differing modus operandi, all have malicious goals regarding the Precious.

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5 (7 votes)

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Main / BigBadEnsemble

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