Trivia / Mashin Sentai Kiramager

• Acting in the Dark: Kohei Shoji, who plays Sixth Ranger Takamichi Crystalia had to record all of his initial scenes by himself due to COVID-19 Pandemic guidelines. This is evident in the teasers for KiramaiSilver, where he is standing in a quarry by himself, and his debut transformation scenes, where (in the same quarry) he is the only out-of-suit character.
• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • Juru was supposed to be a much darker character according to head writer Naruhisa Arakawa. Because of Rio Komiya's positivity during his audition, Arakawa adjusted Juru to be closer to the actor's personality. Komiya also contributed design elements to Yodonna’s eventual look, through suggestions to the character designer.
  • Sena's skill in karuta in Episode 9 was inspired by Yume Shinjo's skill in the game.
  • Sayo playing the drums in Episode 24 was based on Mio Kudo's skill in the instrument.
  • The team finding out they could just smush together the split aspects of Sena's personality comes from Muryo horsing around treating them like the pen and the pineapple.
• The Cast Showoff:
  • Atom Mizuishi, Shiguru's actor, states that he's skilled in kendo, which is shown off a few times in the series. He also gets to show off some incredible vocals in Episode 28 when Shiguru has to serenade Hakobu.
  • Sena's actress, Yume Shinjo, states that one of her special skills is Hyakunin Isshu - a type of karuta that uses the 100 Verses of Japanese anthology. This gets shown off in #9, which shows off the game extensively.
  • Inori Minase gets to show off her pipes in Episode 23 through Mabushina's character song when she has to distract Mabayuine from finding out the truth about Crystalia and Oradin.
  • Episode 24 has a threefer:
    • Mio Kudo gets to show off her drumming skills as her character is both a part of Ishidan (the hospital band Sayo is in) and the Kiramai Band.
    • Yume Shinjo shows off her experience in piano when Sena is playing both piano and keyboard.
    • Rui Kihara gets to show his incredible vocals when Tametomo takes on lead vocals on Yuki o Kanae de te.
• Content Leak:
  • Yodonna's debut in #25 was never advertised in magazines such as Televi-Kun or press releases before the episode premiered, making her appearance a gigantic shock to both the Kiramagers and audience alike. The shock reveal was praised by domestic and international fans due to the sheer shock and execution, which even managed to get Kiramager trending at #7, a spot ABOVE Super Hero Time contemporary Kamen Rider Saber.
  • After almost 15-20 years of toy catalogs getting leaked, Toei managed to keep the first picture of the series being THEIR announcement for the show on Christmas for once.
• The Danza: Mizuki Saiba portrays Juru's classmate Mizuki Kakihara.
• Dawson Casting: 21-year-old Mizuki Saiba portrays 18-year-old Mizuki Kakihara.
• Delayed Release Tie-In: As noted below, the COVID-19 Pandemic affected the production of the show, resulting in a month-long hiatus. As a result, several bits of merchandise relating to the Sixth Ranger Kiramai Silver were released before he even appeared in the show, including his changer and weapon, as well as a soundtrack with him on the cover.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: As part of the "Kiramai Music Festival" from #23 to #31, the usual ED was replaced by the Kiramagers' character songs (including Mabushina and Muryo!), with clips featuring the character. As it follows:
  • Episode 23: Crystal Signal by Inori Minase (Mabushina's VA).
  • Episode 24: Yuki wo Kanae e te by the Kiramai Band (a makeshift band formed by the Kiramagers sans Takamichi to help cheer up Sayo's patient).
  • Episode 25: Hiramei-king! Kagayaking! by Rio Komiya (Juru).
  • Episode 26: Dangan Shooting Star by Rui Kihara (Tametomo).
  • Episode 27: Winding Road by Yume Shinjo (Sena).
  • Episode 28: Perfect Blue by Atom Mizuishi (Shiguru).
  • Episode 29: Kiseki o Yumemiru? by Mio Kudo (Sayo).
  • Episode 30: Hakase janai yo, Hakata dayo! Shikamo Minami da yo! by Daimaou Kosaka (Muryo).
  • Episode 31: Wonder Guardian God by Kohei Shoji (Takamichi).
• Hostility on the Set: Mio Kudo revealed in an 2023 interview with TVLIFE that the main cast would often argue with each other on set. While she did not specify the nature of these arguments, she mentions that the sheer severity of them led to her believing that the cast would disband without finishing the series. They would eventually get on good terms with each other after having a long conversation about their issues.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Recurring Sentai voice actor Mitsuo Iwata returns only to voice the Yellow Ranger's mech.
  • Yūichi Nakamura, who had been recurring his roles as Beet J. Stag/Stag Buster and Ultraman X for the past few years, now returns to Sentai voicing as the villain General Galza.
  • Sentai voice actors Yuki Anai and Kazuki Komine voiced Sentai foot soldiers in previous seasons. Here, they voice Sentai mechs on the side of the heroes.
  • Atom Mizuishi's most well-known Tokusatsu roles are Crow, who was portrayed as serious, if not a little bit haughty and Ryuichi Sakuma, a Tragic Villain Serial Killer who went mad because his girlfriend's death. Shiguru's stoicism is mostly Played for Laughs and the series as a whole seems to appeal to the actor's comedic chops as a Large Ham.
  • Hiroyuki Yoshino usually voices villainous roles in Sentai; here, he voices Mashin Zabyun, who is very much a good guy.
• Production Posse: Inori Minase, Houko Kuwashima, Yūichi Nakamura and Yasuhiro Takato are Pretty Cure alumni.
• Promoted Fanboy:
  • Mio Kudo (Sayo Oharu) is a fan of Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, adding to the fact that her favorite Sentai ranger is GaoYellow.
  • Rui Kihara (Tametomo Imizu) happens to admire Kamen Rider Kuuga. ^note  Fun fact, Naruhisa Arakawa, the head writer of Kiramager, was also the head writer of Kuuga and Dekaranger.
  • Kohei Shoji (Takamichi Crystallia) is a fan of Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger. ^note  Fun fact, Naruhisa Arakawa, the head writer of Kiramager, was also the head writer of Kuuga and Dekaranger.
  • Yume Shinjo (Sena Hayami) likes Pretty Cure and particularly loves Cure White. She also mentioned that she was a fan of Gaoranger as well.
  • Daimaou Kosaka (Muryo Hakataminami) is a fan of older series such as Kamen Rider Stronger, Kamen Rider: Skyrider, and Space Sheriff Gavan. He hilariously mentioned that his age makes his picks standout the most during the press conference for the show.
  • Rio Komiya (Juru Atsuta) commented at the "Super Sentai Party" talk show at the 33rd Tokyo International Film Festival that he liked Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, particularly admiring Tori Matsuzaka (Takeru Shiba/Shinken Red).
• Prop Recycling:
  • Oradin's sword is Sargain/Zurgane's sword recolored.
  • The Jamenshis' bodies are all recolors of the same simple design, which are modified Bechat suits with a belt and cape. Justified as they originate from Mook Promotion through just wearing a mask.
    • Superglue Jamen is a recolored Glue Jamen, justified as being the latter's younger brother. His partnered Jamen Beast Superglue Shellga is likewise a recolored Glue Shellga.
  • Likewise, the Jamen Beasts cycle through at least five types of bodies, with only differing masks to match their partnered Jamenshi.
    • Hassha Ligany from episode 16 is a complete recycle of Hassha Button Ligany, minus the button. Justified in-universe as Carantula's second and improved attempt at using missle launchers, as the first was defeated before it could even press its launch button.
  • Mashin Drijan's transformation process into the main body of Gigant Driller is similar to Mashin Fire's into the main body of Kiramaizin, particularly in how the entire front of their vehicle forms are actually the right arm resting on the feet/legs.
  • Mabayuine's scepter is basically TsueTsue/Toxica's staff recolored.
  • One of Speaker Jamen's sound blasts uses the activation sound effect from an Engine Soul.
  • Dark Kiramai Silver's original Yodon Changer was reused as another Yodon Changer made and used by Yodonna.
  • Takamichi's Imagine Spot of Kiramai Gold is basically a gold Kiramai Silver wearing the Go Kiramager armor with extra drapes.
  • Episode 38 deliberately reuses two Jamenshi bodysuits to make color-coded Bechats.
  • Yodon's new mask upon absorbing Galza is basically a black version of his Shadon mask.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • No new episodes were aired in the 5 weeks from the 17th of May to the 14th of June, due to the show's production being halted because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, which directly affected it via Juru's actor testing positive. Instead they first aired a cut-down version of Episode ZERO, followed by four clip shows.
  • As a result of the new guidelines for filming, the suit actors are utilized more frequently than the physical actors, starting from Episode 13 on. If the physical actors are used, there is a noticeable space in between them, although this is mitigated with some clever camera tricks. Along with that, a number of extras and guest actors are seen wearing masks, which becomes doubly apparent when the main cast interacts with some of the extras. From Episode 15 onwards, this has slowly been fazed out due to improving cases, but precautions behind the scenes are still being taken.
• Recast as a Regular: Kenichi Suzumura voiced Go-Busters' Monster of the Week in episode 20. Here, he is the Red Ranger's mech. Then again, his first major role was already a regular, as a similar supporting character in a toku that also has long vehicles.
• Role Reprise: Both Kazue Itoh (Miki Masaki) and Sakina Kuwae (Natsume Masaki) reprised their original roles from Gekiranger in Episode 27.
• Throw It In!: Many of Takamichi's "wonders" are often adlibbed by his actor.
• Trolling Creator: During production midway through the show, a production statement claims that plans for a VS Ryusoulger teamup movie were scrapped due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 Pandemic. After The End of Kiramager however, it was revealed that said movie was already produced, slated for release in cinemas on April 2021.
• Troubled Production:
  • Rio Komiya (Juru Atsuta) tested positive for COVID-19 in late March, and was subsequently hospitalized, which meant filming was reportedly stopped. After various Sentai alumni expressed support for him on Twitter, Komiya was discharged on April 9th and self-quarantined for two weeks. In an interview, Kohei Shoji (Takamichi Crystalia) noted he had to film his scenes by himself because of the pandemic.
  • Despite Toei's initial denial that the studio had shut down, filming was eventually stopped, which led to Kiramager - along with Kamen Rider Zero-One - entering a hiatus in early May^note  For Kiramager, this was after Episode 10. In its place, several specials were aired, including a cut for broadcast Episode ZERO, a "Directors Cut" of the first two episodes, and couple of talk show-esque specials in which the Kiramai Stones talk about the team. The show later returned in late June, although the release of the summer movie on July 23 was postponed to 2021.
    • It is also very easy to tell that Episode 13 was the first to be fully shot post-hiatus, with Tametomo's hair looking brighter and a bit of noticeable social distancing in the CARAT base and elsewhere.
    • If you look in the background some of the scenes that take place outside, there are a number of extras that are wearing masks as a result of the new guidelines in place.
    • The annual team-up movie with the previous team (in this case, Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger) was delayed to air two months after the series was finished.
    • Because of the filming time lost due to the hiatus and having to remain on schedule for Zenkaiger the next year the episode count was shortened to 45 episodes, making it the shortest Sentai since JAKQ (which was outright cancelled).
• Underage Casting:
  • The 20-year-old Kohei Shoji portrays a roughly 47-year-old Takamichi Crystalia. Justified in the case of the character being Older Than He Looks.
  • The 20-year-old Mio Kudo plays the 23-year-old Sayo Oharu.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In an interview with main writer Naruhisa Arakawa, he notes that Juru was supposed to be a darker character. However, Rio Komiya's natural positivity during his audition influenced Arakawa to change Juru's characterization to the energetic leader we know him as.
  • In and out of universe, an entire suit and transformation sequence was made for Muryo as Kiramai Gold in a One-Scene Wonder Imagine Spot, however it did not come to be because Muryo never wanted to be a warrior.
  • The show ultimately lost out on a grand total of five episodes owing to the hiatus between Episode 10 and 11.
  • Masashi Taniguchi (Go Blue, Kamen Rider Amazon Alpha) mentioned that he wanted to do another sentai role, his major pick being Kiramager.

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