Kagaku Sentai Dynaman

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
In case you haven't noticed, there's a lot of explosions in this one.

Bakuhatsu![1] 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:

The members of JaShinka are:

Tropes used in Kagaku Sentai Dynaman include:

Recurring Super Sentai tropes:

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, Zenobia debuts by discovering the Dynaman's headquarters and swiftly attacking it, but the attack didn't destroy the base. Unfortunately, the base's location still ends up leaked so the Dynaman had to abandon it.
  • Applied Phlebotinum: The Retro Gene, the genetic means to increase cells. Also a Deadly Upgrade.
  • 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. Until Zenobia and Aton falls and he reveals that he is actually Megiddo in disguise. Then he drops the 'Hero' part and once again becomes a thorough villain.
  • 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.
  • Enemy Civil War: Dark Knight wages war against Aton when he emerges.
  • 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, It's 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 80'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 gets the Retro Gene to get a tenth tail, only to fall victim to its side-effects.
  • 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 cut Gira and Geel's careers very short.
  • 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.
  • Name's 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: Zenobia
  • The Unfought: Aton is never fought by the Dynaman.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: A villainous example: Aton, slain by Megiddo, names his son as successor with his dying breath.
  • 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.
  1. ↑ Explode!
  2. ↑ always after the Super Dynamite.
  3. ↑ This codifies the Heroes Prefer Swords for Super Sentai reds.
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