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Series / Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger

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Go Go Pow-- whoops, wrong side of the Pacific.

More than 170 million years after the time of the dinosaurs, the five rangers have been resurrected!

Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Dinosaur Squadron Zyurangernote ) is the sixteenth entry in the Super Sentai franchise, which aired from 1992 to 1993. It saw the return and final narrating gig of Tōru Ōhira in the franchise. The Title Theme Tune was performed by Kenta Sato for the second time in the franchise.

170 million years ago, humans lived in peace with dinosaurs, until the evil witch Bandora appeared, killed the dinosaurs, and began to attack humanity. The Guardian Beasts, great gods in the form of prehistoric-animal-shaped Humongous Mecha, sealed her away on the stray planet Nemesis. In modern times, astronauts exploring Nemesis accidentally release Bandora and her followers from captivity, and she again starts to attempt to kill humanity, starting with the children. The ancient wizard Barza, in disguise as a building superintendent, releases five warriors from the five prehistoric human tribes from suspended animation to fight Bandora's forces alongside the Guardian Beasts. The series is free to stream at Shout! Factory TV.

This series is very important for five reasons:

  1. It was the first series that was adapted for American audiences as part of the Power Rangers franchise, serving as the basis for the first season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and having the costumes of its heroes and villains continued to be used for the next two.
  2. It started the Sixth Ranger tradition with the addition of Burai, the Dragon Ranger, whose story and fate was the focus of much of the show after his appearance.
  3. It is a turning point where Sentai becomes more fantasy and/or mystical-based. While Hikari Sentai Maskman and Kousoku Sentai Turboranger also played with mystical elements, Zyuranger was the first purely fantasy seasonnote  and, along with its two successors, would end the franchise being strictly science fiction.
  4. It was the first series to get an official North American release in its original, unadapted form, courtesy of Shout! Factory, who negotiated with Saban Brands and Toei Company for the rights.
  5. It was the first series to be featured in a Super Robot Wars game, being featured in Super Robot Wars X-Ω as a one-time event.

Recurring Super Sentai tropes:

  • All Your Powers Combined: The Howling Cannon and the Ranger Stick's Babel attack!
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: Dino Buckler! (While Burai's equivalent is called the Dragon Buckler, he still says "Dino Buckler" when he transforms.)
  • Color-Coded Characters: Subverted. The Zyurangers don't use color-based codenames like most other Sentai teams, instead being named after a respective totem beast. Dragon Ranger, being the sixth ranger, is named after a mythical creature instead of an actual prehistoric beast like the rest. The American version plays this straight.
  • Comedic Underwear Exposure: In the second episode, the wind from the passing space shuttle flips a teen girl's skirt up.
  • Cool Bike: The Zaurer Machines, much like the Goranger Machines, consisted of an individual bike for the red ranger (Geki's Road Zaurer 1) and a pair of sidecar-equipped bikes for the rest of the main team (Goushi's Side Zaurer 2 and Dan's Side Zaurer 3, which were shared with Boi and Mei repectively).
    • Since the Zyurangers never drove their bikes in their transformed states (other than in the opening intro and commercial bumpers), the only time the bikes were ever shown in Power Rangers was in the background of one fight scene. However, the bikes were still carried over by the merchandising and the toy versions were sold as the "Battle Bikes"
  • Custom Uniform: The Dragon Ranger outfit stands out from the rest of the team due to its golden Dragon Armor vest and the Ranger Armlets which Geki inherits after Burai's death. The outfit also has golden trims on its boots and gloves.
  • Eye Catch: The eyecatch before the break features the main 5 Zyurangers in their vehicles and stopping in front of the camera. The title card can be seen on the bottom right of the screen. After the break, the eyecatch features the main 5 mecha. Starting in episode 32, a new version was introduced with the team posing before the break and the mecha after.
  • Full-Potential Upgrade: A quest for legendary weapons is undertaken when the Rangers weapons are broken and all the available replacements are too old to be usable.
  • Gratuitous Princess: The only female in the Five-Man Band is Princess Mei. The rest of them are titled are Warriors... well, except Geki, who is a Prince.
  • Home Base: A temple to the gods underneath a humble apartment building. Who knew?
  • Humongous Mecha: The very first Super Sentai where the mechas were Mechanical Lifeforms. Each one had its own conscience and could communicate with the Zyurangers.
    • A Mech by Any Other Name: The individual mechas of the six Zyurangers were known as the Shugozyunote , while King Brachion gets the unique classification of Zyukishinnote .
    • Combining Mecha: Like the Five Machines and the Jet Machines, the five original Guardian Beasts could combine in one of two forms, although one of the first combination is just a transitional form of the other.
      • Tyrannosaurus + Pteranodon + Zyu Mammoth + Triceratops + Saber Tiger = Beast Tank Dino Tanker, which then transforms into Daizyuzinnote .
    • Transforming Mecha: Daizyuzin is technically a transformed version of Dino Tanker, although later episodes skip the Dino Tanker formation when the five main Guardian Beasts combine. The form King Brachion takes when it pulls out its twin tail cannons is also considered a transformed mode called Super Beast Tank King Tanker, although it is never referred by that name on the show.
    • Mecha Expansion Pack: Dragon Caesar functioned not only as a partner to Daizyuzin, it could also replace the Tyrannosaurus and Pteranodon in combining with the other Guardian Beasts, forming a completely different giant robot. Later Daizyuzin gets the ability to combine with Dragon Caesar itself, along with King Brachion, a brachiosaurus-based mecha that served as steed for the other giant robots.
      • Dragon Caesar + Zyu Mammoth + Triceratops + Saber Tiger = Gouryuzinnote 
      • Daizyuzin + Dragon Caesar = Zyutei Daizyuzinnote 
      • Zyutei Daizyuzin + King Brachion = Kyukyoku Daizyuzinnote 
  • In the Name of the Moon: "(Ranger name)! (Civilian name)!" followed by "Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger!"
  • Make My Monster Grow: Bandora uses her "Dora Scepter" to call upon evil spirits to make her minions grow. Of course, its bears mentioning that its US adaptation named this trope!
  • Merchandise-Driven: For one interesting example, later on in the series, there are several appearances of cute plushie versions of the Guardian Beasts, often given to kids as gifts from the Rangers or other kids. Of course, these plushes were really made. (They even had motorized walking functions and made various growls and roars.)
  • Mini Dress Of Power: Part of Ptera Ranger's costume.
  • Mooks: The Golem soldiers.
  • Monster of the Week: The Dora Monsters. Quite a few are based on Classical Mythology.
  • The Narrator: After a nine year absence, Tōru Ōhira returns to bring more exposition.
  • "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase
  • Psycho Rangers: Episode 46 has Dora Mirage, a monster who could alter the appearances of himself and four Golems to resemble that of the Zyurangers'.
  • The Smurfette Principle: Ptera Ranger, who even has the title of "Princess." The American remake ended up gender flipping the Tiger Ranger to provide its team with a second heroine.
  • Supervillain Lair: Bandra Palace, which was practically created from a few errant buildings.
  • Theme Music Power-Up
  • Transformation Name Announcement
  • Transformation Trinket: The Dino Buckler, the first belt-worn trinket. Burai wears a golden-colored version called the Dragon Buckler.
  • Villains Act, Heroes React: As is the norm for Super Sentai, we generally have Bandora sending out a MOTW with an Evil Plan Once an Episode, with our heroes then arriving on the scene to stop them.

Tropes specific to Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger:

  • Actor Allusion:
    • Boi learns ninjutsu in an episode titled "Ninja Warrior Boi". This is a reference to Hashimoto's previous role as Manabu Yamaji in Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya.
    • Later, Geki would fight a giant monster again, now alone as Kamen Rider J.
    • Bandora's name is similar to Pandora, another tokusatsu villainess portrayed by Machiko Soga
  • Advanced Ancient Humans: While not as advanced (or more than) the people of then-present day Japan, the humans during the Mesozoic Era live in tribes of royalty and knights, and can learn magic.
  • All Your Powers Combined: How they resurrect Daizyuzin and Dragon Caesar from Satan Franke's crippling bubbles. Seriously, it gets like Captain Planet...
    Mei: Love!
    Boi: Hope!
    Goushi: Wisdom!
    Burai: Power!
    Geki: Justice!
    Daizyuzin: By your powers combined, I have been resurrected!
  • Amphibian at Large: One of the monsters Bandora sends after the Zyurangers is Dora Boogaranan, a man-sized toad monster whose primary method of attack is to swallow the Zyurangers whole.
  • Anachronism Stew: With the exception of King Brachion, none of the creatures represented by the Guardian Beasts even existed in the Jurassic Period. Tyranosaurus, Triceratops and Pteranodon are all from the late Cretaceous. Then there's the Wooly Mammoth and Sabretooth Tiger, which are not only not actual dinosaurs, but became extinct so recently (on a geological timescale at least) compared to them that they would almost count as contemporary animals.
  • Anyone Can Die: A point emphasized in this series is that anyone, even heroes, can be Killed Off for Real. Which is why they don't bother to revive Burai.
  • Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: The final scene is a literal example, as the Zyurangers and Barza leave the Earth to return to the Heavens.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: Several Dora Monsters are almost invincible, save for a single weak point (or weakness) the Zyurangers must find and exploit in order to defeat them.
  • Babies Ever After: Grifforzer and Lamie have a son in the final episode.
  • Back for the Finale: The ending shows the Zyurangers waving good-bye to the schoolkids that were given the dinosaur eggs, as well as all the other kids the Zyurangers befriended throughout the series. Even Burai's spirit appears to help.
  • Bad Future: The Guardian Beasts showed Geki what would happen if he failed to unite the team. It's not a pretty picture.
  • Benevolent Genie: Djinn was found by a group of children who use his power for a number of innocent albeit selfish wishes, however Djinn genuinely seems to like his young Masters and enjoys playing with them.
  • Big Eater: Dora Circe. As well as Mamoru and his parents.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: The Golem soldiers sometimes use these as weapons.
  • Book Ends: In the first episode, Bandora's palace is seen on top of the highest building in the city before she teleports it to the safety of the moon. At the series' endgame, the palace returns to Earth for the Final Battle.
    • The opening credits start with a book being opened. The last episode ends with the back cover of that same book being closed.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: At the end, when Bandora and her crew are stuck in a pot flying through space, she tells the camera she plans on finding a way to get her magic back and attack Earth again.
  • Brought to You by the Letter "S": Some of the Zyuranger's gear, like the back of their Dyno Bucklers or the soles of Dragon Caesar's feet have a "Z" printed on them.
  • Bullying a Dragon:
    • Bandora's son, Kai, liked to break dinosaur eggs for fun. When a mother Tyrannosaurus caught him in the act, he had to run for his life, ultimately falling off a cliff and dying.
    • Burai attacks Daizyuzin. It goes about as well as one would expect. In fact, it's the first time an attack from Burai isn't successful.
  • Burger Fool: In Episode 28, Mei gets a job at a burger joint.
  • By the Eyes of the Blind: Dora Goblin can only be seen by children unless its shoes are on the wrong feet.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: According to Dora Sphinx, the only constant thing in the world is evil.
  • Changeling Fantasy: Played in reverse with Geki, who was raised as a prince but turns out to be adopted.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Gnome, the forest elf who helps the Zyurangers defeat Dora Circe and reveals the existence of Burai, is never seen again after Episode 18.
  • Continuity Nod: A billboard for Ako-chan brand noodles can be seen in #47 during the fight between Daizyuzin and Dora Talos.
  • "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Burai's awakening could've been entirely avoided if Gnome had the common decency to tell his grandson that, if he opened the door, something extremely terrible would happen afterwards. Or alternatively, if his grandson had realized that if the villains were encouraging him to open the door, he shouldn't.
  • The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Bandora forgot about Kai, until, ironically, Great Satan brought him back.
  • Dead All Along: Burai died during a cave-in after being sealed. He's only around because Daizyuzin temporarily resurrected him.
  • Deal with the Devil: Literally with Bandora and Great Satan.
  • Death's Hourglass: Burai's life is represented by a green candle.
  • Deus ex Machina: Every time the team can't solve a problem, either the Guardian Beasts or Daizyuzin come out to save them.
    • In episode 4, when the Rangers reached the Legendary Weapons, the time limit they were set with ran out and they began turning into stone, meaning they failed the quest. Geki then randomly began begging to the Weapon's themselves, as if they were sapient beings, stating that they worked hard through the quest and deserved to wield them. The weapons then teleported into their hands and freed them from their curse despite the fact they failed the quest into the first place! After this episode, the weapons don't show any sign of sapience.
    • In the first episode, the Zyuranger (Minus Geki) fall into Bandora's trap and were about to be killed. When all hope seemed lost, The Guardian Beast statues in the Ranger's base lights up and opens Geki's stasis door, which couldn't be opened due to the key for it breaking. This allows Geki to come in and save the gang from danger.
    • In episode 6, Geki was desperate to find the dino-crystals to form the team's mecha, all the sudden Geki's sword reveals the Dino Crystals, allowing the team to form their mecha.
    • In the same episode, when the Gang and their mecha were about to be defeated by Dora Sphinx because they failed its riddle game, the Godhorn sword comes out of nowhere and saves the gang from danger.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Ultimate Daizyuzin blows up Great Satan in the finale.
    • Then again, the show's mecha are actually avatars of gods, so it's one god blowing up another god as opposed to some random guy.
    • Burai tries this by firing an energy blast at Daizyuzin. It wasn't a smart move.
    • Played more straight with Burai firing an energy blast at a giant Guzzler, knocking him over. This is the same monster that vastly overpowered the Zyurangers, laid down a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Gouryujin, and later very nearly killed Mei (despite being injured) until her guardian beast's intervention. Still, Burai's intervention still wasn't enough to kill him, but props for trying. Then Mei killed it herself.
    • Mei singlehandedly killed Boogaranan making her the only Zyuranger to do such a thing when small. The closest anyone came was Goushi who temporarily defeated Dora Chimera in a rage with a superpowered attack with the Mothbreaker from a cliff. The same toad monster that Mei killed very easily handled the other Zyurangers.
    • A few regular kids were able to restrain Pixie, who turned out to be a very powerful Dora monster.
    • A little girl named Saori used her jewel to defeat Reiger, who was mopping the floor with the Zyurangers to that point.
  • Dimensional Cutter: Dora Cockatrice can cut holes through time and space with scissors.
  • Disney Death: Daizyuzin seems to be destroyed, but it turns out it was just revitalizing itself.
  • Dynamic Entry: Dragon Ranger appearing in Daizyuzin's cockpit.
  • Eaten Alive: Dora Boogaranan inflicted this upon four of the Zyurangers; First, it used its horn to turn Boi and Goushi into spheres of light and swallowed them. After its horn was cut off by Mei and Dan, it used its Overly-Long Tongue to ensnare Geki and Dan and pull them into its mouth, devouring them whole.
  • Egg McGuffin: Both sides spend a good portion of the show trying to claim the last pair of living dinosaur eggs in the world, although their full significance isn't revealed until near the end.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: While he had been emotionless up to that point, when Dora Talos blows up with Kai inside he screams for his mom.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: When Bandora gave Grifforzer the ability to talk, Lamie claims his first words to her were "The battlefield is no place for a woman. Go home and do some laundry or something." Not only was Lamie visibly pissed about this but even Bandora was not pleased about it.
  • Evil Laugh: All of Great Satan's words are this.
  • Expy: Hideki Fujiwara (Dan) had a role in Choujin Sentai Jetman... as a blue birdman named Dan.
    • Bandora is basically the Sentai version of Maleficent.
  • Family-Unfriendly Death: At the end of the series, Great Satan's head blows up rather graphically after he's been hit with the Grand Banisher. Also, Kai is blown up while still inside the Dora Talos and even visibly catches on fire.
  • First Church of Mecha: The six Guardian Beasts, as well as the Beast Knight God, were worshiped as avatars of one God.
  • Fish out of Temporal Water: Averted; the Zyurangers adjust incredibly well to modern civilization in-spite of being away for millions of years.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Goda sells its soul to Bandora when its eggs are destroyed, hinting at Bandora's own backstory.
    • Relatedly, Pleprechaun wondered if there's a specific reason why she hates kids.
  • Forgotten Phlebotinum: A Super Sentai guidebook reveals that the Zyurangers can pull off a combination attack with the three Saurer Machines, called the Saurer Buster (source). However, this combination is not even mentioned on the show itself, as they never rode the bike in costume.
    • Zyutei Daizyuzin at one point had Dragon Caesar's chest plate and drill tail on each Z-pad. They were removed from the suit used on the actual show since it was too uncomfortable for the suit wearer to bear, but the toy can still do it.
    • The back of the Dragon Ranger's Hikaru Chogokin action figure reveals that he can perform the Babel Attack with the other five Zyurangers by standing atop Boi's and Mei's shoulders, forming the "Super Babel Attack".
    • Dragon Caesar was meant to have a force field barrier called the "Pentagon Barrier", projected from the lights on its chest. While the move was never used in the series, it did end up being used by the Dragonzord in the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers video game for Sega Genesis.
  • Friend to All Children: The whole team. They're shown hanging out with the local kids on numerous occasions and many children treat the rangers as close friends even before they inevitably have to be personally saved from a monster or other evil plot. Makes sense, because Bandora is a Child Hater and her main target are children.
  • Furo Scene: There's one episode where Mei participates in this. With an old lady.
  • Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: Used by Daizyuzin to save a young girl in episode 9.
  • Gratuitous English: The honorary titles of each of the five main Zyurangers. Geki is referred as the purinsu (Prince) of the Yamato Tribe instead of ouji, Mei is the purinsesu (Princess) of the Lithia Tribe instead of the hime, and the other three are naito (knights) of their respective tribes instead of kishi.
  • Groin Attack: When Burai fights the other rangers, he strikes Goushi in the groin. Unsurprisingly, this was edited out of Power Rangers.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Burai starts off as a villain out of a desire for revenge against Geki. The two of them bury the hatchet at the end of Burai's intro arc, thus Burai's Heel–Face Turn.
  • Hollywood Evolution: The Zyurangers' tribes are said to be made up of humans evolved from dinosaurs who co-existed with regular dinosaurs.
  • Homage: According to a Japanese column written by Tsuyoshi Nonaka (chief director of Plex, the company that did the set and costume designs for Super Sentai), the design of the Daizyuzin is based on GoLion (better known to Westerners as Voltron), while the transformation sequence from Dyno Tanker to Daizyuzin was inspired by Daitetsujin 17.
    • Bit of irony in this, considering that when Power Rangers first came out, some people first thought Daizyuzin/Megazord was a Voltron ripoff!
  • Hope Spot:
    • When Burai reveals himself as Dragon Ranger, the heroes initially think they're gaining a new ally. Instead he starts kicking their butts... hard.
    • When Burai is close to dying, Barza tells the Zyurangers about the Water of Life, which would be able to restore him. But when Dan and Goushi finally get their hands on said water, they are told Burai's life is already forfeit.
  • Idiot Ball: Geki and Goushi read in a book that Dora Boogaranan's weakness is its "true face". They immediately take this as meaning they should attack its actual face, ignoring the use of the word "true" in the scripture.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gouryujin's finisher, the Cho Bakuretsu Ryujin Zuki (Super Concussive Dragon Strike).
  • Inconsistent Spelling: Bandōra's name is spelled "Bandra" on her palace, despite the fact that the "ō" in her name is a long vowel and definitely not silent. The title itself also qualifies, since the word for beast in Japan is normally transliterated as and the title is pronounced "Juranger". Oddly enough, most fans translate the main mecha's name as "Daizyujin" instead of the more consistent "Daizyūzin" (Kunrei style, which is also used in Shout! Factory's official translation) or "Daijūjin" (Hepburn style).
  • Informed Attribute: Dora Franke was said to be even more powerful following its transformation into Zombie Franke. But while it still dominated Daizyuzin in their rematch, it wasn't anywhere near the Curb-Stomp Battle its first form inflicted upon Daizyuzin.
  • Insult Backfire: Kid-of-the-week Mamoru gets called fat by the other kids in school. However he takes it as a compliment, as his mom says being fat is a sign of happiness, which makes sense as he and his parents are Big Eaters.
  • Jerkass Gods: Daizyuzin is a decent God, but he can be rather heartless about certain matters, especially concerning Burai. He is however open to debate on certain issues if the Zyuranger can make a decent case.
  • Kids Are Cruel: Bandora was actually a decent sorceress back in the days, but Kai was a little monster who broke dinosaur eggs for lulz. So obviously when the dinosaurs found out, they chase him off to a cliff, resulting in his death. Bandora, doting mother she is, decided to take vengeance on the dinosaurs as a result and kickstarted the storyline...
  • Kids Love Dinosaurs: Another reason the Zyuranger are friendly with children is because many of them love dinosaurs, partically Satoshi, the ill boy in the finale. Because of this, the Zyuranger leave the children to raise the baby dinosaurs at the end of the series.
  • Killed Off for Real: Burai dies. Or rather, as a resurrected deceased warrior, he finally accepts his death.
  • Lighter and Softer: Compared with the previous Sentai series Choujin Sentai Jetman. This is because the higher-ups for the season changed the tone to appeal to a very young audience. Notably, the Bandora gang are leagues sillier than the Vyram, the Big Bad Bandora is a child-hating witch who otherwise loves to sing songs about her evil and the Monsters of the Week are far less lethal towards civilians than the Dimensional beasts. Furthermore while Jetman ends on a bittersweet note with the Jetman saving the day but Gai dying of his wounds on Kaori and Ryu's wedding, Zyuranger ends well for everybody even the villains, as while Bandora and her gang are sealed away seemingly forever, Grifforzer and Lamie's child is able to bring out the good within the evil Witch and her gang seems eager to dote and care about the baby ending their story with them laughing in joy.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Mei (while she CAN count as the Tomboy, it was only on one occassion and she usually spends her time doing light feminine things) and Lamie (really sensual with her relationship with Grifforzer)
  • Living on Borrowed Time: Burai only has forty hours to live; he can only extend his time with his time-stopping magic chamber.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Justified in that they were ancient warriors in modern day, so they were not accustomed to how people in that age change clothes from day to day. The use here would evolve into Custom Uniforms in later seasons.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Burai is Geki's brother.
  • Love at First Sight: Dora Pixie induces this. It includes loving inanimate objects.
  • Meaningful Name: "Burai" means "villain". He starts off as one.
  • Mid-Season Upgrade: In Episode 28, to keep up with the Zyurangers having Burai and Dragon Caesar, the Bandora Gang dug out a new clay to make their Dora Monster.
  • Misplaced Wildlife: See above.
  • Monster Is a Mommy: Goda in episode 39.
  • Mood Whiplash: Kinda similar to Kamen Rider BLACK to Kamen Rider BLACK RX. After the Darker and Edgier Jetman, comes this very Lighter and Softer Sentai show.
    • This can also happen when an episode ends with the Zyurangers seemingly unable to defeat a monster, then transitions into the cheery end credits song accompanied by the Zyurangers engaging in such activities as practicing baseball and retrieving a girl's balloon.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Lamie.
  • Narm: Episode 48 ends on a rather dire note, with Dora Talos about to finish of Daizyujin, with Satan looking on in the background. This would be far more terrifying if Satan's goofy expression didn't mirror that of the famous Dolan meme.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If Bandora hadn't been so determined to make Burai use up his remaining life, he wouldn't have died, and his spirit wouldn't have been able to open the doorway to the demiplane where she was holding the Guardian Beasts captive during the finale.
  • Nonstandard Character Design: Dora Franke, one of the only Monster of the Week in all of Super Sentai to be a person in makeup instead a rubber monster. note 
  • Oddly Named Sequel: While the word "ranger" (and its shortened form "ger") is commonly associated with Sentai nowadays, Zyuranger was only the third season to use it in its title (following Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and Kousoku Sentai Turboranger). Following Zyuranger, "-ranger" would replace "-man" as the dominant title suffix.
  • Off-the-Shelf FX: Given the primary purpose of the show, it's no surprise at all.
  • Only One Name: Justified in the fact that the team are warriors from the past and therefore have no surnames (the closest thing they have to surnames are their honorary titles).
  • Our Demons Are Different: Satan is a big floating glam rocker head. Bukubach is named for Ukobach, a minor demon from the Dictionnaire Infernal.
  • Our Sphinxes Are Different: Dora Sphinx is a humanoid sphinx formed out of clay. He asks riddles of those he targets, trapping those who answer incorrectly within trees.
  • Out of Focus: For being the show's heroes, the core Zyurangers often got overshadowed by the kid(s) of the day, who often times were the ones to actually save the day THAN THE TITULAR HEROES. It also resulted in making the core Zyurangers feel like cardboard cutouts and, unlike their American counterparts, were so often robbed of spotlight that we don't see any form of development or depth at all.
  • Pet the Dog: Bandora loves her monsters and Grifforzer and Lamie's son.
  • Portmantitle: The title was meant to be a portmanteau of "Jurassic" and "ranger"[[note]]as in "Juranger", which is closer to the actual Japanese pronunciation of Jūrenjā, which also serves as a Pun-Based Title, since is Japanese for "beast". However, the producers ended up transliterating the portion of the title as "Zyu" on the show itself.
  • Product Placement: In episode 8, there's a McDonald's in the background.
  • Product-Promotion Parade: In the Grand Finale, they go through each mecha combination in order to save the day.
  • Protected by a Child: Bandora kidnaps a little boy and forces him to make an invincible swords for Dora Knight. Because he made the sword, it can't hurt him, as the villains find out when he tries to take a hit for the Rangers.
  • Readings Blew Up the Scale: In the Dino Video special, Dino-kun makes estimates of the powers of all the Megazords. But Ultimate Daizyuzin blows up the scale, as it's too powerful to understand.
  • Recap Episode: Episode 40 includes some recaps of previous episodes, with a focus on Burai's story.
  • Recycled Soundtrack: Some of the BGMs from Kousoku Sentai Turboranger and Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman were played in some episodes, since this even made this show Turboranger WITH DINOSAURS. This is owed up to the three shows sharing the same composer: Akihiko Yoshida.
    • Considering that Red Turbo himself is singing the main theme song of the series, this shouldn't be too much of a surprise.
  • Riddle of the Sphinx: A victim of Dora Sphinx is asked this question; as with everybody not named Oedipus, the victim fails to answer it right.
  • Rule of Symbolism: The Zyurangers are survivors of a tribe of dinosaur-evolved humans. When the Guardian Beast Tyrannosaurus combines with the other four Guardian Beasts to form the Dyno Tanker, which then transform into Daizyuzin, it is essentially a dinosaur evolving into a man.
  • Satanic Archetype: Witch Bandora's true master is named Dai (Great) Satan. He looks nothing like the usual depiction of the Christo-Islamic devil, being a floating blue head who yells a lot, and is mostly just an evil spirit that just happens to be named "Satan" (as opposed to being the "actual" Satan). When footage of Great Satan was used for Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, he was renamed "Lokar" and his role on the story was demoted to a monster who simply served Rita Repulsa.
  • Shoot the Dog: What the Zyurangers had to do with Goda when they failed at many attempts to reason with her.
  • The Speechless: Grifforzer. At first.
  • Spoiler Title: Zigzagged. The episode where Burai dies is called "Burai Dies." However, the following episode is called "Live Again! Zyusouken". The Zyusouken being Burai's flute/dagger thing. Knowing both titles would lead you to believe that Burai isn’t doomed after all. However, he is: the next episode is about Dragon Caesar overcoming his grief and getting back in the fight - the one summoned by the Zyusouken learning to live again. It's only then that you realize that "Burai Dies" was Exactly What It Says on the Tin and he's not coming back.
  • Stock Sound Effects: Guardian Beast Tyrannosaurus' roars are a modified version of Rodan's roar.
  • Suddenly Speaking: Grifforzer originally could only speak in grunts, growls and roars. When Lamie joins the cast, Bandora gives Griffozer a voice as part of her payment to Lamie.
  • Supporting Protagonist: The core Zyurangers are ultimately this: the kids would get the most focus for the majority of the series and the Zyurangers are just tagging along to make sure they're safe by fighting off the villains or Monsters of the Week.
  • Swiss-Army Tears: In episode 4, a child in the Continent of Despair who fears his mother to be dead begins to lose hope, and, due to the nature of this realm, turns into stone. His mother's tears, when they are reunited, return him to normal.
  • Tank-Tread Mecha: The five Guardian Beasts first combine into the "Dino Tanker", forming armour, cannons and tank treads around the Tyrannosaurus beast, before further transforming into the humanoid DaiZyuJin. Likewise for its Foreign Remake Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, with the Megazord's Tank Mode and Battle Mode.
  • Tears of Blood: Bandora suffers from this while harnessing the darkest of magic to summon Great Satan.
  • This Is a Drill: One of the signature weapons of Dragon Caesar is its drill tail. When it combines into Goryujin, the drill becomes the tip of a spear.
  • This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: While on the Island of Despair to retrieve the Legendary Weapons, Bandora sends down a giant monster. After the Rangers defeat it with help from their Guardian Beasts, they are ejected from the cockpits. The Guardian Beasts want them to retrieve the weapons without their help.
  • Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Averted. When Dai Satan first appears and beings to transform Zombie Franke into Satan Franke, the Zyurangers try to stop him by having Daizyuzin throw his sword at Dai Satan. However, Dai Satan simply destroys the sword before it can reach him and continues Zombie Franke’s transformation.
  • Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Grifforzer and Lamie.
  • Ungrateful Townsfolk: The citizens attack the Zyurangers for destroying the city, saying that their past actions were all an act, despite the Zyurangers saving the city over thirty times in the past. They also fall for the same "monsters-disguised-as-evil-rangers" trick again five episodes later.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Despite the strange prehistoric attire wore by the Zyurangers when unmorphed, very few civilians seems to realize who they are until they literally transform in front of them.
  • Villain Song: "Dolla! The Theme of Bandora the Witch".
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Or, what happened to Gnome and Ryota?
  • Would Hurt a Child: Bandora really hates kids, and isn't above kidnapping and using them in different ways in order to defeat the Rangers.
    • It gets worse. In episode 7 (the goblin episode), they take the hearts of children, and Bandora says "If we steal the souls of all the world's children, society will break down and the Earth will perish." Does This Remind You of Anything? Like maybe child indoctrination programs like Hitler Youth? Especially disturbing is that all of these children behave differently after the bus trip.
  • "YEAH!" Shot: Occurs at the end of the end credits.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: Burai couldn't be saved, despite having half the series to look for a way.

 
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Zyuranger

As the Zyurangers depart for the heavens after completing their mission, the show's theme plays one last time as a montage of the Zyurangers' best moments is shown.

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