Madan Senki Ryukendo - takusatsu action comedy done right

Madan Senki Ryūkendō, is Takara and We've Inc first ever attempt at a tokusatsu series. The series was sponsored by Capcom and was first aired back in 2006 with a local tagalog dub hitting the Philippines soon after. Folks in the Philippines would probably remember this being aired in Hero TV and at Cartoon Network Philippines.

The title translates as Magic Bullet Chronicles Ryukendo. The term tokusatsu was still alien to me and I often call this series as simply Ryukendo. It's one of the series that started me on my search on takusatsu like shows that doesn't have a Power Ranger attached to the title.

The Akebono City is a mysterious hot spot for a magical power the demon army Jamanga (<--- not to be confused with Jumanji) wants to gather its energy for evil purposes. To combat this demon threat is the secret organization SHOT. Arriving at Akebono City, Kenji Narukami finds himself caught in al of this as he is suddenly chosen to become its latest defender Ryukendo.

As story plot goes Ryukendo is pretty much what you would expect in a takusatsu series. The optimistic pure hearted main character, the rival/friend partner, the over the top villains and the comedic relief characters. The usual takusatsu series that pretty much every power upgrade and new armor set just to sell more toys. Yet despite all the liche things it's doing its doing it surprisingly well.

The show is comedy action done right. The comedy for the most part works for this series. The jokes aren't force and executed well and part of that is cause a lot of the characters are self aware of what they are  and what they are doing. The action part is flashy enough to make each power up and new upgrade be as exciting and flashy as it can get.

The character designs specially the armor is well done. It looks and feels like power armors yet is maneuverable enough that each sword fight and laser attack feels smooth and well done. This is surprising specially since how their power armor and weapons look so big and bulky when they wield them.

This series has one of my favorite villain design in a takusatsu series that of Jack Moon which in all honesty looks like a super crazy mix of super sentai and Aliens. Sadly this doesn't apply to all the villain as some of them looked lame and underutilized enough like Lady Gold who would have been a better villainess. Also I like to point that Ryukendo sword reminds me of Sora's keyblade but a lot more flashy.

The special effects are done nicely as well, specially during the really intense fight scenes making the action easy to follow. The cgi giant creature effects has shown its age by now and there's a drop in quality here and there but nothing much that takes away the enjoyment of the show. This shows break the logic of science more often than not and if you're not ok with that you will find certain scenes not to your liking.

Just check the Ryukendo henshin youtube video below.

The show is clearly far from perfect though as 50+ episode seems a bit too much for most folks even for tokusatsu shows. A lot of the side characters seem to take the back seat a lot, and this applies to both the hero and the villain side like I mention. Certain story arc seems to be left unresolved like Kenji love interest just to name one since he has been linked to at least two female characters in the show in an episode or another.

Madan Senki Ryūkendō is a really entertaining and fun action comedy takusatsu series that deserved a sequel and more recognition than it got. Certainly a must watch if you are a fan of takusatsu or like to get into the genre since you don't need any knowledge of other existing takusatsu to fully enjoy it. I'd easily recommend this to anyone who wants to see something that isn't Bandai or Power Ranger for a change.