As I mentioned in the sibling post to this, I intended to review two song collections this month that had nothing to do with each other. I failed big time while doing the mental gymnastics as I realized that both Seiun Kamen Machineman and Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger share a writer AND major actor. Whoops.
(Seriously, though, check that post out...I won't spoil it, but it got an extreme reaction out of me)
So...Zyuranger, huh? Easily the most memorable suits in Super Sentai history from a show that's almost as memorable. How much futher have the returns diminished by the time you get down to the song collection? Let's find out!
For this post I'll be listening to my copy of the Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger Complete Song Collection from 1997. I briefly talked about that disc here in the past.
------------------------
01. Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger / Kenta Sato
It may be completely random...and completely a ripoff of the theme to Total Recall, but damn is the intro to this theme song cool.
Really, for as lousy as the Jetman theme song is (fight me), this makes up for it tenfold. Kenta Sato, (Riki, Red Turbo from Kosoku Sentai Turboranger) is back for NO reason. He isn't in Zyuranger at all...just dropped in to sing this great theme song.
The music is majestic, modern, random, and really just kinda weird. The full size version of the song makes so little sense, yet they were able to chop it down into a perfectly cohesive TV Size theme for airing. Kenji Yamamoto, the man behind the music, has since been exposed as something of a rampant plagiarist (to the point where he was abruptly fired from Dragonball Kai when that was a thing). That isn't to say he didn't manage to create these great bizarre mashups that take sudden directional changes. The Zyuranger theme is one of his more mild ones, but is definitely another example.
Overall, I love this theme song. It's gooood.
02. Dolla! ~Majo Bandora no theme~ / Machiko Soga
I hate this song. I hate how it was used in the series. I hate the cheesy beat.
You know what I hate the most about it? It is THE most irritating earworm of all time. Try to forget it. Try to think of anything else for that matter.
Jokes aside, yeah...I can't say I care much for this one. It's definitely the best singing effort by Machiko Soga. Credit where credit's due, she actually sings this song. She has a handful of other songs recorded during her career, but they're largely her character talking to a beat. She's legit singing here and doing a really good job.
03. Kibo no Tsurugi / Toyomi Hiraishi
A really good, fast-paced action song. You'd think this song would have been a fight scene staple in the series, but nope! One appearance in episode 40. What gives? We got the Bandora theme more than that... *sigh*
04. Daizyujin no uta / Ju-Project
So... I'm going to try to defend this song.
Super Sentai Mecha theme songs are these action-packed songs to close out the big fight of each episode. They're the songs that you're humming to yourself as you march down the toy aisle to pick up that DX Bandai mecha.
So what the hell is with this one? It's the most the unmemorable snooze-fest. Worse...it's a *march* song. Those lame motivational songs that used to creep into song collections. I talked about this style of song in a previous song collection post, but this song has me so bored that I can't be bothered to remember which...
As plain-oatmeal-served-in-a-styrofoam-bowl bland as this song is, I don't mind it. The build-up to the "Gattai! Dino Mission!" is pretty cool.
05. Tyrannoranger • [Akaki yuushi] / Toyomi Hiraishi
Another really good action song that never got it's due in the series...and I mean never. This song literally never made it into the series. The over-the-top synths are really cool. It kinda feels like a eaaaarly proto-version of the Shushutorian theme in that respect. Except the Shushutorian song is untouchably good.
I don't know if this suits our boy The Gekster too well, but as an action song it's really cool.
06. Yumemiru otome no chikara kobu / Sayuri Saito
This is the Pteraranger theme song. I like it quite a bit. It's a bit janky and, again, it doesn't really fit a 170,000,000 year old woman too well, but I digress. It's bubbly and catchy...in a fun way...not in a cruel way like the Bandora theme.
07. Shippo Piki Piki / Kenta Sato
Oof. If they had to give Kenta Sato another song...why did it have to be this one?
This song has a weird honkytonk vibe to it, which doesn't jive all that well with Sato's voice. He does a great job singing it, but he was built to be an action singer. The Turboranger song collection has a number of great songs by Sato...a number of great *sensible* songs. This one is just weird...and kinda boring.
08. Boken shite Rappapiya! / Pythagoras
The series ending song, and a divisive one. Between this post and my Machineman post, this is my third major dissenting opinion. I...really like this song.
Before you close click off my site forever, just hear me out. I will acknowledge that my previous assessment of the Jetman theme song is ONLY limited to the opening theme and that the ending theme song, Kokoro wa tamago, is god-tier.
With that out of the way, I really dig this fun little jam. Is it a weird song to have close out every episodes of a series that frequently ended shows on incredibly desperate cliffhangers? Absolutely, but maybe it's a nice comedown. If you're marathoning the series it's probably annoying, I imagine. I just think it's a fun song with a nice groove. Who's to say we can't have nice things?
Daizyujin lays in a spreading fire with a blade against his neck as Dai Satan joyously observes the situation from the sky....... *Boken shite Rappapiya starts playing*
09. Pop Up Night / Takeshi Ike
Another action song not sung by Kenta Sato. This one is a little weird since it has these funky little character breakdowns. I appreciate how Geki only says "Totsugeki!" at one point.
Definitely an oddball song, but it's a fun little jam with a really slick synth beat scattered in.
10. Dragon Caesar no uta / Funky Y.K.
The other mecha theme song from the series, and the vastly superior one. Now I never pinned Burai or Dragon Caesar as funky character...the opposite, in fact...they are both quite tragic. Who cares! Since we're in the land of mismatched character songs, why not go a little nutty for our final song?
If Burai could spend a little bit more time outside of his mood room, I'm sure he would be a fan of this kind of music. There. I made the song fit the character.
Love the song, though. It may have gone the polar opposite of the Daizyujin theme to the point of absurd levity, but it's certainly more enjoyable.
11. Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger [No Chorus Karaoke]
12. Dolla! ~Majo Bandora no theme~ [No Chorus Karaoke]
13. Kibo no Tsurugi [Original Karaoke]
14. Daizyujin no uta [Original Karaoke]
15. Tyrannoranger • [Akaki yuushi] [Original Karaoke]
16. Yumemiru otome no chikara kobu [Original Karaoke]
17. Shippo Piki Piki [Original Karaoke]
18. Boken shite Rappapiya! [No Chorus Karaoke]
19. Dragon Caesar no uta [Original Karaoke]
------------------------
I'll give this Song Collection a solid B-. It's memorability has definitely diminished further than any other aspect of the show, but it isn't bad.
Honestly, I somewhat selected this series as my random other review for the month because I remember really disliking this song collection. It really isn't too bad out of context...the songs just have less than nothing to do with the show. The theme song absolutely works, and the Daizyujin theme in all of it's bland glory is a match, but the rest just miss the target big time...even if they are still enjoyable.
If you want a similar series that has songs that match up better, may I recommend the Gingaman Song Collection? Sure, I haven't written about...yet.......
------------------------
I'm out. Be sure to check out my Machineman post and the CD Collection for more.
Bye!
-CC
Seiun Kamen Machineman Song Collection
Dai Sentai Goggle V Song Collection
