Kagaku Sentai Dynaman



"Bakuhatsu! Kagaku Sentai! Dynaman!"

Kagaku Sentai Dynaman (Science Squadron Dynaman) is the seventh Super Sentai, which aired from 1983 to 1984. It was the first to utilize spandex suits.

It begins when Hokuto Dan, a kendo master and an inventor, received an invitation from the famous Dr. Yumeno. On the way, he witnesses a strange creature attacking innocent people. He attempts to help; along the way, he encounters other inventors that also received similar invitations: fencer Rei Tachibana, swimmer Yousuke Shima, cowboy Kousaku Nangou and later ninja Ryuu Hoshikawa. While they are able to fend off the strange creatures, the creatures overwhelm them and throw them out to sea. However, they survive and make it to the place where Dr. Yumeno resided... a Kindergarten.

The Kindergarten soon turns out to be the Yumeno Invention Center in disguise. Yumeno called them because he had sensed the rise of the Jashinka Empire, the forces that attacked the five on the way to the invention center. The only force that can stop them is the Science Squadron Dynaman, and these five are the chosen warriors! Like their predecessors, they don't have second thoughts to the prospect of becoming allies of justice and immediately agree to Dr. Yumeno's offer. Thus, the Dynamen's battle against the Jashinka Empire begins!

Before there was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, this show actually received a Gag Dub by the Americans on the USA Network. It was very silly, but fun in its own way.

Toru Ohira, who has been narrating the series up until this time, would leave from narrating the series after this installment, until he came back narrating Zyuranger.

The Dynamen are:

 * Hokuto Dan (D): The Hero and Master Swordsman. An engineer who seeks to invent a clean-engine.
 * Ryū Hoshikawa (Dyna Black): The Lancer; a descendant from ninjas and astronomer who wishes to make First Contact.
 * Yōsuke Shima (D): The Kid Appeal Character; a water sportsman and ocean engineer who wishes to make artificial gills. Excels at water combat, but is a sore loser.
 * Kōsaku Nangō (D): The Big Guy; a cowboy and botanist who wishes to discover new breeds of plants.
 * Rei Tachibana (D): The Chick and animal scientist who aspires to communicate with animals (but is scared of cats). Her weapons have a flowery motif.

The members of JaShinka are:

 * Emperor Aton- He's the ruler of JaShinka who wishes to secure a tenth tail.
 * General Kar- The Evil Genius
 * Prince Megiddo- He is Aton's son who wishes to cut down DynaRed for the loss of one of his five tails in the first episode.
 * Gira and Geel - Megiddo's bodyguards,
 * Princess Chimera - Megiddo's cousin; the Dark Chick and Hot Witch.
 * General Zenobia - She's the Dark Action Girl Sixth Ranger and the only one Aton really fears.

Recurring Super Sentai tropes:

 * All Your Colors Combined: The Super Dynamite, and New Super Dynamite, where the Dynamen merge into a ball of energy to zap monsters.
 * By the Power of Greyskull: "Dynaman!"; or, their individual names.
 * Calling Your Attacks
 * Cool Airship: The Dai Jupiter.
 * Cool Bike: Dyna Red's Dyna Falcon bike
 * Cool Car: The Dyna Machine for the rest of the team.
 * Custom Uniform: Dyna Red, Blue, and Pink have yellow trim on their suits. Respectively, Dyna Black's suit has red trim instead while Dyna Yellow's suit has black trim. There are other three Yellow Rangers that have black trim, in place of yellow, on their suits,
 * Finishing Move: Super Dynamite!
 * Five Man Band: A whole team of technical Smart Guys.
 * The Hero: Hokuto
 * The Lancer: Ryū
 * Kid Appeal Character: Yōsuke
 * The Big Guy: Kōsaku
 * The Chick: Rei
 * Home Base: This was the Yumeno Invention Center, which also doubled as a Kindergarten. This made Zenobia's debut a Kick the Dog moment for her.
 * Humongous Mecha: Three mecha components again, only this time Red was the only who got an individual mecha, while the rest were shared between two members each.
 * Combining Mecha: Dyna Mach (Red) + Dyna Mobile (Black and Blue) + Dyna Garry (Yellow and Pink) = Dyna Robo
 * In the Name of The Moon: Ala the trope namer, one of the heroes (usually DynaRed) tells off the Monster of the Week for its evil actions before calling out their names and "Explode! Science Squadron Dynaman!".
 * Law of Chromatic Superiority:
 * Monsters of the Week: The Shinkajū (Evo-Beasts). Later replaced with Mecha-Shinka robots from Episode 34 and onward.
 * Make My Monster Grow: The Evo-Beasts grow whenever the Dynamen had them on the ropes ; the MechaShinka monsters are enlarged by General Kar's Grand Gizmo device.
 * Mooks: Tail Soldiers
 * The Movie: The Dynaman film was later shown during the course of the actual series as Episode 32, although chronologically it takes place before Chimera joins Jashinka in Episode 8.
 * On the Next Episode of Catchphrase:
 * Regular Caller:
 * Robot Buddy: The Kendo Robot.
 * The Smurfette Principle: Dyna Pink, who strangely doesn't wear a skirt or leotard on her costume like other Sentai heroines.
 * Supervillain Lair: Grand Gizmo
 * Theme Music Power Up: The Opening Theme was always present from posing to Finishing Move.
 * Transformation Trinket: Dyna Brace.
 * Weapon of Choice:
 * Handguns: The Dyna Rods.
 * Hokuto: Dyna Swords
 * Ryuu: Cross Cutter and Battle Tector.
 * Yosuke: Blue Frisbees
 * Kousaku: Chain Crushers
 * Rei: Rose Saber and Flower Shield.

Tropes specific to Kagaku Sentai Dynaman:

 * Action Girl: While most Sentai heroines previous to Dynaman can hold her own, Rei is the first to be more focused in fighting and more capable on holding on her own.
 * All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Subverted,
 * Applied Phlebotinum: The Retro Gene, the genetic means to increase cells.
 * Anti Hero: The Dark Knight is heavily Type V, while he has no obligation with the Dynaman, he still occasionally attacks the Jashinka Empire on his own accord.
 * Cat Fight: Unlike the previous show, Chimera doesn't just share Rei's abilities and such... they come to direct blows at times. Hell, during the final battle, they specifically fight one-on-one while the male Dynamen fought Megiddo.
 * Dark Action Girl: Princess Chimera.
 * Elemental Powers: The Dynamen's side arms fire a blast of a certain element.
 * Playing With Fire: Hokuto's Red Fire.
 * Holy Hand Grenade: Ryuu's Black Star Flash.
 * Making a Splash: Yosuke's Blue Water Whirlpool.
 * Shock and Awe: Kousaku's Yellow Lightning Fall.
 * Brown Note: Rei's Pink Shocking Melody.
 * Enemy Civil War:
 * Evilutionary Biologist: The Jashinka. Their name literally translates to ?Evilution.?
 * Fan Service: At one point, Rei and Chimera had a fight which end up slowly stripping them to nothing but bikinis. (they transform to stop).
 * Fantastic Caste System: The Jashinka are ranked by the number of tails they have; for reference, the Mooks have one, while Aton has nine and desires ten.
 * Gag Dub: Aired as Dynaman in the U.S. in 1988; this was the first exposure to Super Sentai in the U.S. (outside Hawaii and parts of California.)
 * Hey Its That Guy: Junichi Haruta AKA Goggle Black is Dyna Black. He also used to be Inazuma Ginga, as well as the stuntman of both Spade Ace and Big One, and would go on to play Madgalant.
 * Sayoko Hagiwara/Dyna Pink was formerly Yulian (Ultraman Eighty's girlfriend) and would later return as Ley Nefel.
 * Also, Masashi Ishibashi as General Kar.
 * Strong Kongō (aka Shōzō Kobayashi), who would go on to play Monster in Choudenshi Bioman, guest stars in Episode 35 as Gon the Android.
 * Highly Visible Ninja: Ryuu. He's comical and sometimes very loud and hammy (like when he introduced himself). And his element is LIGHT.
 * Irony: Rei wants to develop a device to communicate with animals... yet she's terrified of CATS.
 * The Juggernaut: Mammoth Shinka, so much of a Juggernaut that the Jashinka Empire sealed him, and when released, even Megiddo cannot control him.
 * Jumped At the Call: In a way. Like the previous team, Hokuto, Hoshikawa, Shima, Nangou and Rei has no qualms of becoming allies of justice after exposition, but since being a Dynaman doubles as resuming their duties as scientists... it's not exactly 'old-life abandoning'.
 * Karmic Death: Zenobia
 * Lady of War: Rei is a pretty handy with a rapier and... well did we mention her flowery motif?
 * Last Name Basis: Same like the last season, although there were slips. The boys are usually called on their surnames, "Dan, Hoshikawa, Shima and Nango". The sole girl is sometimes referred as "Rei", or like the rest, her surname "Tachibana".
 * Magical Security Cam: Dr. Yumeno's computer can capture footage from unlikely places.
 * Man Eating Plant: A Butterfly Monster of the Week created one which
 * Mid Season Upgrade: The JaShinka upgrade to the MechaShinka cyborg monsters, resulting in the Dynamen upgrading to the New Super Dynamite.
 * Motive Decay: The Jashinka quickly go from wanting to evolve humanity into their own kind to wanting to Kill All Humans.
 * Names the Same: Ryū is unrelated to the Hoshikawa siblings from Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman. Another guy named Ryū (Tendō) was also the leader in Choujin Sentai Jetman.
 * Also applies to Yōsuke, with only a very subtle difference in surnames between himself and Hurricane Red from Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger (Dyna Blue = Yōsuke Shima; Hurricane Red = Yōsuke Shīna).
 * Nice Job Breaking It Hero: One episode had Ryuu accidentally steal Chimera's clothes. In retaliation, Chimera had a Monster of the Week put a voodoo curse on anyone wearing RED (same color as her clothes). And it expands to other colors too...
 * The Starscream:
 * The Unfought:.
 * Well Done Son Guy: A villainous example:
 * What Could Have Been: Early production material indicates that this was supposed to have been a baseball-themed Sentai. There are still some remnants of this -- note the baseball-uniform-esque designs of the suits, the sound of the crack of a bat in the theme song, and the use of "Grand Slam" as the Invocation for the Combining Mecha.
 * Still makes a bit of sense, considering the main cast are supposed to be intellectuals.