There truly are one hundred Power Animals. They were there when the human/Orgu conflict began over 1000 years earlier and are assumed to have been used then as well. They have been with the GaoRanger ever since the series began- we just never ‘saw’ them all until the end...

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- the “highest paradise for animals”- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart. With the return of one of the original Gao warriors, Shirogane, and his own three Power Animals, together the six heroes fight against the new threat of the Orgu... as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today. They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries. This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well. They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each.

Sets from the [standard] Power Animals line required for these combinations:

DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King

PA-1 Gao Elephant

PA-2 Gao Giraffe

PA-3 Gao Polar and Gao Bear

PA-4 Gao Gorilla

DX Majuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil --and/or-- DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Justice

PA-5 Gao Rhino and Gao Armadillo

PA-6 Gao Dias

PA-7 Gao Falcon

These special alternative sets will fill the same requirements:

DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle (provides PA-3, PA-4, Gao Eagle and Gao Bison)

DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus (provides PA-2, PA-5, PA-6, and PA-7)

Since I don’t plan on getting PA-9 DX Gao Lion, I will not be covering Gao Kentaurous in this review. Nor will DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Knight be reviewed here since I also don’t have (but do want!) PA-SP Gao Kong.

[I should note that even though I show only one or the other below, the two versions of DX Gao Hunter listed are exactly the same; only the appearance of the head/allegiance changes the name.]

Gao Hunter Spear

Sets required for this combination:

• PA-2 Gao Giraffe
• DX Majuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil

After already stealing Gao Elephant’s Gao Jewel from Gao White earlier, and then revealing that he had three Majuu of his own, Duke Orgu Loki has proven that he is capable of corrupting Power Animals to his will to serve him. In Quest 17, after rapidly knocking Gao King Spear out of the fight with Gao Hunter’s powerful Beast Hurricane, Duke Orgu Loki jumps out of his mecha and confronts the five disabled GaoRanger lying unprotected on the ground. He walks up to Gao Blue at takes Gao Giraffe’s Gao Jewel out of his limp hand. When Gao Blue tries to pursue him, he’s knocked out of the way, and Loki disappears. Then in Quest 18, after using the corrupted Gao Elephant to trip up Gao King, Loki commands Gao Giraffe to combine with his Majuu gattai to create Gao Hunter Spear. With it, he can also perform the Neck Thrust finisher.

Gao Hunter Spear (back) is only one of two combinations used by Duke Orgu Loki during his [short] quest for revenge against the GaoRanger for imprisoning him 1000 years earlier. Unlike Gao King which has a wider variety of life to it in its color scheme, Gao Giraffe provides a change to Gao Hunter Evil’s somewhat moody green, dark blue, black, silver, and gold. Gao Hunter Spear only appeared that one time, in Quest 18.

Gao Hunter Double Knuckle

Sets required for this combination:

• PA-3 Gao Polar and Gao Bear
• DX Majuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil

Loki returns in Quest 20 with Bike Orgu- whom Gao Yellow fought when he was just chosen as a GaoRanger nearly a year earlier. Using the element of surprise, Loki kidnaps priestess Tetomu when he notices something vaguely familiar about her necklace, and leaves the enhanced Bike Orgu to deal with Gao Yellow. After a withdrawal, the five GaoRanger discover where Tetomu, Loki, and Bike Orgu are and then engage them. The battle eventually scales-up, and it becomes Gao Muscle VS. Gao Hunter Evil & Bike Orgu. Quickly defeating the Orgu minion, the GaoRanger turn their attention to Loki. Gao Muscle fires its Bear Strike at the same instant that Gao Hunter fires its Beast Hurricane. The collision of energy knocks apart both combinations and throws their respective pilots to the ground. After a short duel against Loki, Gao Yellow comes up short and loses the Gao Jewels to the two bear PAs. Then, in Quest 21, after quickly defeating Human Body Specimen Orgu, they must face Gao Hunter Evil again. But this time, instead of calling on Gao Giraffe and Gao Elephant, Loki summons the two brother bears- Gao Polar and Gao Bear- to form Gao Hunter Double Knuckle. After using the Bear Strike attack on Gao King, Loki’s mecha closes for the kill, but then is repulsed by the appearance of a giant, glamorous, god-like figure...

Gao Hunter Double Knuckle (back) fits in a little better with the color scheme for Gao Hunter, but requires that both Gao Hammerhead and Gao Wolf be removed to accomplish it. As with Gao King Double Knuckle, the bears provide Gao Hunter with both a more muscled appearance and access to the spring-loaded missile launchers in their mouths which represent their combined Bear Strike finisher.

Gao Hunter Double Knuckle only appeared that one time, in Quest 21. After Loki is returned to his original human form, Shirogane (Gao Silver), it is too late to prevent Highness Duke Orgu Ura from fusing the powers of Gao Elephant, Gao Giraffe, Gao Polar, & Gao Bear to make the Chimera Orgu. Only a combined effort from the renamed Gao Hunter Justice and the recently-formed Gao King Striker destroy the odd-yet-powerful Orgu creation. After that, a deeply-ashamed Gao Silver returns the stolen Gao Jewels to the GaoRanger, and promises his loyalty to their cause. Gao Hunter Justice never combines with any of the other PAs; and because it only had joints for limb-swapping in its shoulders, it couldn’t utilize either Gao Bison or the Gao Rhino/Gao Armadillo team. (Officially-released production drawings indicate that a lack of lower-body swapping was not too uncommon with other PA combinations not seen in the show even though only Gao Hunter was built/seen.)

Gao King Another Arm

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King
• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Justice

When Bowling Orgu disables the GaoRanger, Gao Blue remembers a bowling master who could perform a special technique called the Tornado Spin. He goes to the master, and after some desperate begging, he learns the technique. Then he is able to duel against Bowling Orgu and best him at his own game. When the Orgu grows, his bowling ball attacks disable Gao Alligator, Gao Tiger, and Gao Shark. So, the six GaoRanger make an exchange and create Gao King Another Arm. Using Gao Armadillo as an improvised bowling ball, Gao Blue initiates the Tornado GaoMajiro Spin attack, and the puck-like PA shatters Bowling Orgu’s ball and the Orgu himself.

Gao King Another Arm (back) is a straight-forward arm-swap between Gao King and Gao Hunter: Gao Hammerhead replaces Gao Shark, and Gao Wolf replaces Gao Tiger. So, due to their near-identical designs, Gao King Another Arm is simply a variation of its regular form. (The toy cannot create a Sword and Shield variation since Gao Elephant is only compatible with Gao Shark and Gao Tiger. And I have not hear of an official version of this either.) The addition of Gao Armadillo [“GaoMajiro” is how his name is pronounced in Japanese] is a one-time thing, but the toy can’t really handle [figuratively and literally] the purple Power Animal.

Gao King Another Arm immediately appears again in the next episode since Gao Tiger, Gao Shark, and Gao Alligator were still injured then.

Gao King Spear Another Arm

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King
• PA-2 Gao Giraffe
• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Justice

Using the stored energy from the earlier attempted resurrection of Duke Orgu Loki’s soul, Highness Duke Orgu Ura (also himself resurrected and powered-up) creates the very powerful Tombstone Orgu, which is resistant to all of the GaoRanger’ attacks. Even when grown to giant size, he is trouble. With Gao Alligator, Gao Tiger, and Gao Wolf still weakened from their previous battle with Bowling Orgu, both Gao Hunter and Gao King cannot be properly formed. So, Gao King Another Arm is reformed. But when that doesn’t work, Gao Giraffe is summoned and takes the place of an injured Gao Hammerhead to form Gao King Spear Another Arm. But even that is not enough...

Gao King Spear Another Arm (back) is a combination wildly-coupled together in the heat of battle, merely to keep Gao King functioning. Yet for all the effort, this Tombstone Orgu seems to have an unstoppable-thing going on with him that only the newly-arrived Gao Dias can compete against. So far as I can tell, no special attack- like the Neck Thrust- was used in this form. Like Gao King Another Arm immediately before it, Gao King Spear Another Arm is merely another variant on a previously-used form- Gao King Spear- where Gao Tiger was in her proper place as the left arm.

I believe that this is the only time that Gao King Spear Another Arm is seen.

Gao King Spear and Shield

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King
• PA-1 Gao Elephant
• PA-2 Gao Giraffe

(I have been unable to find any useful information regarding this combination seen in Quest 38, so I must leave this blank for now.)

Gao King Spear and Shield (back) is one of the combinations used in this episode, and [looks to be] randomly put together in order to keep Gao King functioning, similar to Gao King Spear Another Arm from earlier. I [suppose] that Gao King Spear and Shield allows it to use a defense against the same attack it too would employ (Neck Thrust). This is also one of the rare six-component combinations-

• Gao Lion
• Gao Eagle
• Gao Tiger
• Gao Bison
• Gao Elephant
• Gao Giraffe

-since Gao Elephant adds beyond what the shoulder and waist joints can use.

Gao King Spear and Knuckle

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King
• PA-2 Gao Giraffe
• PA-3 Gao Polar and Gao Bear

(I have been unable to find any useful information regarding this combination seen in Quest 38, so I must leave this blank for now.)

Gao King Spear and Knuckle (back) is one of the combinations used in this episode, and [looks to be] randomly put together in order to keep Gao King functioning, similar to Gao King Spear Another Arm from earlier. The one half of the Double Knuckle combination allows Gao King to push back or toss Orgu away so that the GaoRanger can then use the longer-ranged Neck Thrust attack.

Gao Muscle Striker Cross Horn

Sets required for this combination:

• PA-3 Gao Polar and Gao Bear
• PA-4 Gao Gorilla
• PA-5 Gao Rhino and Gao Armadillo
• PA-6 Gao Dias

(I have been unable to find any useful information regarding this combination seen in Quest 38, so I must leave this blank for now.)

Gao Muscle Striker Cross Horn (back) is one of the combinations used in this episode, and [looks to be] randomly put together in order to keep Gao Muscle functioning, similar to Gao King Spear Another Arm from earlier. It combines the kicking/running power from Gao Rhino/Gao Armadillo with the strong healing & grabbing capabilities of Gao Dias, but since this all involves Gao Muscle, the formation has added strength which none of the others could probably muster too. It is also interesting to note that this is one of the few times where both Gao Muscle and Gao King appear at the same time because they normally share both Gao Eagle and Gao Bison. (So far as I can tell, this does happen when they are taken over by Animal Tamer Orgu, and thus forced to fight against Gao Hunter.) The specific PAs used here provide Gao Muscle Striker Cross Horn with a blending color pallet- light green, green, light blue, and white.

Gao Muscle Striker Spear

Sets required for this combination:

• PA-2 Gao Giraffe
• PA-3 Gao Polar and Gao Bear
• PA-4 Gao Gorilla
• PA-5 Gao Rhino and Gao Armadillo

Steam Engine Orgu- the last of the regular Orgu- proves to be one of the most difficult to defeat. It quickly disables Gao Lion while Gao King is formed, and is able to resist Gao Hunter Justice’s attack too. While it is distracted, the GaoRanger form Gao Muscle Striker Spear. But it too, cannot beat Steam Engine Orgu armor and power...

Gao Muscle Striker Spear (back) is a polar opposite for Gao Muscle’s arms compared to Gao Muscle Striker Cross Horn previously. Rather than using Gao Dias on the left arm, Gao Giraffe attaches to the right arm, yet one of the two bear PAs remains in use.

[I should point out that ever since Gao Rhino & Gao Armadillo joined the team help to defeat Gao Hunter Evil and Duke Orgu Loki, we actually saw Gao Muscle more frequently in Striker formation than we did the regular version of lower torso/legs with Gao Bison and Gao Eagle! (What’s up with that!?)]

Gao Icarus Another Arm and Foot

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King
• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Justice
• PA-7 Gao Falcon

The unbelievable Steam Engine Orgu has knocked just about every single Power Animal out! Gao Icarus can’t be formed because Gao Giraffe, Gao Rhino, Gao Armadillo, & Gao Dias have already been damaged in some way. Both Gao King (knocked-out earlier) and Gao Muscle are out of it too. Then, Gao Bison makes a suggestion to Gao Black to link up the four remaining Power Animals left- himself, Gao Hammerhead, Gao Wolf, and Gao Falcon. With no remaining PAs to make up Gao Hunter, Gao Alligator contributes his tail so that Gao Icarus Another Arm and Foot can make use of the Ligator Blade. To dramatic effect, this combination is fast enough, and powerful enough, to finally break Steam Engine Orgu with the Icarus Breaker- freezing the Orgu with a strong Icarus Bind, and then throwing the Crescent Boomerang out and using it as an energized spear head with the Ligator Blade to blow away the monster.

Gao Icarus Another Arm and Foot (back) has a slightly-less-theatrical appearance than the normal Gao Icarus usually does. As opposed to the bright, almost-neon blue/orange/green of the regular version, the color scheme is muted with significantly more black, silver, and Gao Hammerhead’s purple. And because of the range of damage to the entire PA arsenal by Steam Engine Orgu, there were no more limbs to swap for Gao Hunter, so even though Gao Alligator is not used in this combo his tail (along with Gao Hammerhead’s) is used to make the Ligator Blade again. As sometimes was the case with Gao Hunter, Gao Wolf (as an arm component) could grip the Crescent Boomerang in its mouth when in this combo (though it didn’t occur to me to photograph it that way) and is seen that way in the series. It should also be noted that neither Gao King, Gao Hunter, nor Gao Muscle can be properly formed when Gao Icarus Another Arm and Foot since it uses components from all of those [and Gao King/Gao Muscle share Gao Bison & Gao Eagle].

Gao Icarus Another Arm and Foot is the last new variation used in "Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger", and is the only official variation of Gao Icarus seen on-screen. There was an appearance of a variation called Gao Icarus Cracker Another Foot- which swapped his regular arms and legs for Gao Shark, Gao Tiger & Gao Bison- but that was only seen in a production art book released early in 2002 after "GaoRanger" had already ended to make way for "Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger".

In that same book...

Gao Cracker

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King
• PA-4 Gao Gorilla

...is one of the “lost” combinations from “GaoRanger”. Gao Cracker (back)- also sometimes reffered to as 'Gao Muscle Cracker' or ‘Gao Muscle Shark and Tiger’- appeared in this book, and was presumably going to appear in the series at a time where Gao King could not be formed without Gao Lion at its center. Thus, Gao Gorilla would have taken his place at the center. (While this scenario did happen in the series shortly after Gao Gorilla first appeared, the GaoRanger opted to form Gao Muscle instead with Gao Polar & Gao Bear as the standard arms and excluding Gao Tiger & Gao Shark.)

Gao Cracker is basically a variation of the standard Gao Muscle configuration (Gao Gorilla, Gao Eagle, Gao Bison, Gao Polar, and Gao Bear), but with Gao Shark and Gao Tiger as stand-ins for the two bear PAs. The only two official photographs of Gao Cracker have him holding the Fin Blade short sword from Gao Shark [the same as Gao King would have ordinarily done]. For as physically strong as Gao Muscle appeared, Gao Cracker seemed a bit less impressive since Gao Tiger and Gao Shark were the basic, [semi-]under-powered arms of the lead Gao King and were significantly less impressive in this form. However, it was a way to toss-up Gao King a bit by using Gao Gorilla instead of Gao Lion all the time.

“Well, tell me [EVA], if they call it ‘Hyakujuu Sentai’, doesn’t that mean ‘Hundred-beast Taskforce’? We only saw 25 Power Animals. What does that mean?”

I don’t claim to know the entire story behind this as it’s more of a production issue rather than an on-camera/continuity issue. This is what I know:

There truly are one hundred Power Animals. They were there when the human/Orgu conflict began over 1000 years earlier and are assumed to have been used then as well. They have been with the GaoRanger ever since the series began- we just never ‘saw’ them all until the end...

They are seen- if not clearly- in the series finale when the greatest Orgu General, Senki was incapable of being destroyed while his mutant Orgu heart lived; no matter how many times he was ‘destroyed’, if the Orgu heart survived, he could rebuild himself. After ‘killing’ all of the Power Animals seen up to that point, the spirits of all one hundred Power Animals each appeared in a glowing orb of light. With the six GaoRanger below them helping, they all created the ultimate Hundred-Beast Animal Heart blast which stripped away Senki’s giant body and exposed his heart. Then, the Hyakujuuken was used to slice it in half- destroying the last remnants of the Orgu once and for all. (Yay!)

Quite a few versions of the mecha we have come to know from “GaoRanger” went through many variations. The six totem PAs (Gao Lion, Gao Eagle, Gao Shark, Gao Bison, Gao Tiger, & Gao Wolf) most-likely were not the first choices for the Rangers’ animal themes during pre-production. Many other Power Animals were considered first to be made into DX toys before the current set were decided on. A handful of the ones that were not made into toys were even highlighted for a second-or-two in the series finale- Gao Mouse, Gao Horse, Gao Peacock, and Gao Stingray! (I know that serious consideration was given to those later two to make them into DX toys, but prototypes were never built.) Gao Kong was seen exclusively in “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger The Movie: Fire Mountain Howls”, and Gao Panda was mentioned briefly in an audio drama CD. There was also a super-rare, limited-production Gao Ape that was released, but I do not know under what circumstances.

These generously-large and -detailed scans (taken from a Thai-speaking tokusatsu discussion board, Thai-Toku.com) come from that official Super Sentai production art book I mentioned. While I've only uploaded the cover of the book and the relevant Power Animals concept images, they give a glimps behind-the-scenes of "GaoRanger" and the creative process Bandai and PLEX go through each year.

According to both Toei and Bandai, this is the official list of the Hundred Power Animals (this list can be found in this Wikipedia entry:

Those highlighted are confirmed to have been made into DX toys regardless of repaint variations like the DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Blue Moon. Oddly, the frequently-utilized Soul Bird does not make it onto the list. (Probably too ugly for the others to consider it part of their ranks, hee hee hee...)

It should be noted that Power Animals 34-38 are a nod to the five primary bird mecha (not including Jet Garuda) from “Choujin Sentai Jetman” (1991), and 54-58 are a nod to the five primary animals (not including Tsubasamaru) from “Ninja Sentai KakuRanger” (1994).

(Question: if there is a Gao Horse, why did they need to use an enlarged Gao Lion to form Gao Kentaurous? It’s just a centaur with wings... right?)

Also found elsewhere on GrnRngr.com is a small list of all the official basic mecha combinations beyond the four seen in the series- which use PAs not seen or built:

• Gao King..............(Gao Lion, Gao Eagle, Gao Shark, Gao Tiger, Gao Bison)
• Gao Muscle..........(Gao Gorilla, Gao Polar, Gao Bear, Gao Eagle, Gao Bison)
• Gao Hunter...........(Gao Alligator, Gao Hammerhead, Gao Wolf)
• Gao Icarus............(Gao Falcon, Gao Dias, Gao Giraffe, Gao Rhino, Gao Armadillo)
• Gao Knight...........(Gao Kong, Gao Shark, Gao Tiger, Gao Eagle, Gao Bison, Gao Elephant)
• Gao Kentaurous...(Gao Falcon, Gao Lion (in giant form), Gao Tiger, Gao Shark, Gao Elephant)
• Gao Guardian.......(Gao Walrus, Gao Peacock, Gao Tortoise, Gao Wallaby)
• Gao Triple............(Gao Manta, Gao Boar, Gao Bat)
• Gao Devil.............(Gao Bat, Gao Crocodile, Gao Hammerhead, Gao Jaws)
• Gao Marquis.........(Gao Swallow, Gao Penguin, Gao Mole)
• Gao God...............(Gao Leon, Gao Condor, Gao Leopard, Gao Saw Shark, Gao Buffalo)

Highlighted PAs are required for the combination to exist. So, for example, Gao King could not function without Gao Lion and Gao Eagle. For the most part, these basic PA mecha are named according to which PA is in the middle of the gattai with the head and upper torso. In two cases, Gao Marquis and Gao God cannot swap at all. The reason for Gao God is that it is the original basic mecha that the ancient Gao warriors used before Gao King came to be. It was also [supposedly] destroyed at the end of the first war. And Gao Marquis would not have been able to swap with any of the others at all since the three PAs that composed it were already so small that the combined mecha only stood to the waist of all the others!

Gao Devil would have been another basic PA mecha being used for evil, just like Gao Hunter was. Gao Bat would have been the deciding factor in this case as there is both a Good and Evil version [which mirrors Gao Alligator's change]. (It also mirrors Gao Eagle's versatility in performing a different function in two different combos: head/chest for Gao Devil, and a right arm & winged backpack for both Gao Triple and Gao Hunter!) Originally called Gao Hunter in pre-production, it was one of the early considerations for the evil 6th ranger's basic combo mecha before the current design was finally chosen. As such, because it was never seen in the series, Gao Devil's evil purposes remain unexplained and open-ended.

While all of the concept images for Gao King and the other basic combos are shown in the first four scanned pages above, the last two below with the official PA list show other unseen combos like:

On the first page (left-to-right, top-to-bottom):

• Gao Muscle Magnum (w/ Gao Wallaby)
• Gao King Swordsmaster (w/ Gao Peacock)
• Gao King Varlituder (w/ Gao Polar, Gao Bear, Gao Peacock, Gao Rhino & Gao Cobra [but not Gao Armadillo!])
• Gao Guardian (not well-defined, in lower right corner below Gao Muscle Magnum)

On the second page (left-to-right, top-to-bottom):

Gao King Aquadiver (w/ Gao Manta & MiniManta) Gao Muscle Striker Longhorn (w/ Gao Boar, Gao Rhino, and Gao Armadillo)
• Gao Hunter Phantom (w/ Gao Bat [Good ver.])
• Gao Triple (big shoulder cannons, wings, blocky legs)
• Gao Devil (looks like Gao Hunter w/ shoulder armor, but uses Gao Bat [Evil ver.] and Gao Crocodile)
• Gao Marquis (not well-defined, in lower right corner next to Gao Mammoth)

...

Now, all of this shows how much potential this series could have had if we had been given the complete Power Animals line in DX form. As it was, a lot of people were disappointed that there were so many options available, and this proved to be something of a disadvantage to “GaoRanger” in general despite the excellent work put into designing the Power Animals. With sooooooo many hundreds of possible combinations with just these 25 released (not even counting repaints), it is near overwhelming to grasp what it would have taken for Bandai and PLEX to do all of this in just one year. Ultimately, it would have proven highly impractical. If “GaoRanger” had gone beyond the standard one-year term, then most likely we would have seen more of them.

And that is one of the reasons I wrote this- while you could randomly throw together any combination you like, I wanted to show only the official ones in case you were curious. Personally, I hope that they keep this list of the Hundred Power Animals, and make a new sequel series in the future so that we can get some more of these Power Animals. They would certainly have plenty of creatures to draw from! And a sequel is not entirely unheard of in Super Sentai either.

It almost makes you wonder if there were more than six GaoRanger to control all of those Power Animals over one thousand years ago...

[If I can get reliable translations from anyone who reads this on any of these scanned pages (particularly, the earlier pre-production stuff), you too will get a very generous thank you and shout-out in this review! Curse my lack of understanding written & spoken Japanese!!! It is one of my greatest torments in life...!]

A very impressive and successful end to the primary mecha line from the 25th-Anniversary Super Sentai series.

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- the “highest paradise for animals”- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart. With the return of one of the original Gao warriors, Shirogane, and his own three Power Animals, together the six heroes fight against the new threat of the Orgu... as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today. They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries. This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well. They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each.

Sets required for combination:

• PA-2 Gao Giraffe (sold separately)
• PA-5 Gao Rhino and Gao Armadillo (sold separately)
• PA-6 Gao Dias (sold separately)
• PA-7 Gao Falcon (sold separately)

After taking Highness Duke Orgu Ura by complete surprise with the arrival of the huge Gao Falcon, Gao Red falls to the ground uncontrollably when his four dead comrades are suddenly revived before his eyes. Transforming into their armor, the five reunited GaoRanger put their Jūōken together, and call for the newcomer Gao Falcon to merge with Gao Armadillo, Gao Dias, Gao Giraffe, & Gao Rhino to form a new combination- Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus! Using its large wings, it flips high into the air, and the GaoRanger board it with the Soul Bird.

“Hyakujuu Gattai!”

Gao Icarus (back) is an explosion of style, details, and features- it’s difficult to decide where to start reviewing it! (Here is another shot from behind, with the right wing removed to see things a bit better.) Well, perhaps I should start with its weight, which is agreeably heavy. While die-cast metal only exists in Gao Rhino and Gao Giraffe, the expanded wings on its back contribute a good deal. And though it is a tad back heavy, the weight and sufficiently-tight joints of Gao Rhino keep it upright; and just in case, the tail is also long enough to keep it upright on carpet. Gao Icarus also throws away some other human features, such as hands. Instead the spear-like Gao Giraffe forms the right arm, and Gao Dias forms a large pair claws on the left arm. Because Gao Falcon shares the same kind of joint transformation for the shoulders that Gao Lion does from the DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King, you can ‘cheat’ here as well, and rotate the shoulder back a little, increasing the range of motion a bit. The complex-transforming Gao Rhino takes his place (along with his friend Gao Armadillo) as the legs of Gao Icarus. The feet look a little big for the combination with the smaller upper legs, but… what are ya gonna do, huh? From his transformation process, Gao Falcon’s eight-talon feet have come up on either side of his head to form the chest/upper torso, insuring that his well-sculpted head remains in view. Now, Gao Icarus’ head reminds me much of anthropomorphized masks worn at big street parties like Marti Gras, or a headdress worn by a primitive medicine man who worshiped animals as icons of nature and power. While an animal’s head does not encompass the entire mecha head like it does Gao King’s, Gao Hunter Justice’s (Majuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil’s head is a wolf’s head), or Gao Muscle ’s, there is a small gold beak and eyes above the mecha’s face, as well as Gao Falcon’s single golden head feather. But there is a definite feathered-wing appearance to Gao Icarus’ face and simplified talons on either side of his silver mouth.

As expected, Gao Falcon’s large wings play an important part in the function(s) of the toy. First, when transforming it into Gao Icarus’ upper torso and head, the smaller structures beneath his wings rotate upwards and reveal a pair of holographic decals (which need to be added after Gao Falcon has first been removed from the box). As I raved about in Gao Falcon’s review earlier, the level of excellent detailing extends to cover the back of these ‘sub wings’ as well, though they are not highlighted with painted this time. The holographic eyes display two images when angled correctly:

• Large blue human eyes
• Large yellow animal eyes (slitted narrowly like a cat’s)

Now, simply looking at Gao Icarus from perpendicular to the standing body (90º) and level with the wings, the yellow animal eyes appear. (Very slight manufacturing errors may lead to the different images appearing on opposing wings at the same time, but this is unavoidable and I’ve learned that this is also rather rare.) To look at Gao Icarus head on with the wings fully extended is very cool [and even a bit intimidating the first time I saw them, I’ll admit]! And they should be- one of his attacks, known as the Icarus Bind, has the wings emit yellow energy which binds (scares perhaps?) giant Orgu in place and then allows Gao Icarus to use a finishing attack on them.

(Though it was easier to photograph- and see- with the wing covers closed, they were always open in the series when Gao Icarus was formed.)

This is an interesting footnote in Super Sentai- using a passive technique to freeze an opponent so that a different attack may be used on the helpless opponent; that doesn’t happen very much throughout the saga… The most recent regularly-used example of this would be the handheld, multi-functioning Bouken Weapon Dual Crusher cannon from the 30th-Anniversary series, “Gougou Sentai Boukenger” (2006): using the green-themed Mixer Head to completely encase various Negative Syndicate creatures with a small shot of Hyper Concrete, and then destroying them with the opposing orange-themed Drill Head finisher.

The other major function of the wings is a fairly-unique feature, and explains why Gao Falcon’s wings are fixed in one position. Gao Icarus’ Ultimate Defense form (back view) has the two large, detailed wings swinging over the shoulders (right side view) and near-completely covering the front of his body from head to foot preventing even strong Orgu attacks from hurting the hyakijuu gattai. (Moving the wings forwards also allows for a closer look at the detail on Gao Icarus/Gao Falcon’s back.) Only a small window in the winged shield allows Gao Icarus’ head to look through. Now, this significantly interferes with the left and right arms rotating forwards (basically you can’t), but if you ‘cheat’ with the shoulders like I explained earlier, you can get the arms to point outwards a bit from behind the half cloak.

(It’s actually easier to carry Gao Icarus around in this form, without having to worry about the outstretched wings bumping into everything.)

Click here to see a small QuickTime movie showing how Gao Icarus’ wings rotate downwards to form Ultimate Defense!

For those of you wondering what the differences are between the Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and it’s English-speaking counterpart, the Deluxe Isis Megazord from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, it’s a mixed bag of tricks:

• With the major exception of the Falcon Wild Zord, the other four Wild Zords received much less of the gold paint highlights, as well as loss of the special light brown coloring on the Giraffe. The Armadillo Wild Zord also traded-in some of its silver for plain purple plastic.
• All decals on the Rhino are absent from the sides of the feet and the upper legs. However, the identical holographic decals remained on the Falcon Zord’s wings.
• A brand new electronic sound feature with three effects was designed for the Falcon Zord’s tail- which was absent from the original Gao Falcon Power Animal.
• A special accessory attachment part used for the Gao Muscle Striker combination(s) was included with either PA-5 Gao Rhino and Gao Armadillo, or the special DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus set which featured those two PAs. However, this accessory never made it into the packaging of the Isis Megazord. Thus, “PR” fans were unable to properly form any of the Kongazord Striker Mode-combinations.

Surprisingly, all of the original die-cast parts (only in Gao Rhino and Gao Giraffe anyways) were left intact during the import process. (Finally-! Way to go, Bandai America!) And, all of the original molds are the same as well. The Falcon, Giraffe, Deer, Rhino, and Armadillo Wild Zords were never released individually, but grouped as five components in the Deluxe Isis Megazord set. I should mention that the Deluxe Isis Megazord never saw wide release across the United States, and was actually pretty limited in number of units sold there. However, it was sold in the UK with no problems. (Heh heh- no surprise there! Grr…) The Gao Falcon, Gao Giraffe, Gao Dias, Gao Armadillo, and Gao Rhino Power Animals, also, were released as part of a special release DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus set, but could alternately be obtained individually (which is how I got and displayed them), which they weren’t for the “PR” release. The torso adaptor for the Kongazord Striker Mode combos was, however, included in the very-rare Deluxe Ultimus Megazord set (which, itself, was loosely based on the limited-release DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Knight set from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger The Movie: Fire Mountain Howls”). The US adaptor lacked the red belt-buckle decal that the Japanese version did. (No surprise there either...)

A very impressive and successful end to the primary mecha line from the 25th-Anniversary Super Sentai series. The amazing thing was not just that each Power Animal had its own unique feature that could be used independently, but that each component of the combination had an attack or special feature of some kind, making for a very interactive toy! The fold-over wings with the holographic decals were very well executed. And it stayed consistent with both itself and all of the other Power Animals by including things like realistic movement & proportion in each creature, and details like the gold highlights and die-cast metal (which was a welcome comeback). It wasn’t a sacrifice of design style just to give us a big finish (as some later series would). It showed us creativity and ingenuity on the part of Bandai and PLEX, and would remain a high point in the Super Sentai saga for many years to come. And even though “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” is regarded as a less-favored series for its dependence on its strongest point (the highly-populated Power Animals line), less character development than before, and the focus on environmental themes, this one can standout as a successful equal among other Super Sentai mecha. My only regret? They didn’t make a special black-&-gold repaint. (Hee hee hee...) The Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus is a keeper!

(Hard to believe I used to hate it, huh...?)

Well, barring a stroke which would compel me to continue on-

"Hah...?"

-this is the last of my regular reviews from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”. It’s been a blast... considering I’ve never seen a single, complete episode of the series! Other special sets- like the PA-8 Soul Bird, PA-9 DX Gao Lion, and DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao God- I shall leave to others to complete reviews for on CollectionDX since I have no desire to go beyond what I have. (Well, except for maybe an electronic Falcon Summoner and Jūōken. And perhaps a DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Blue Moon if I come across one...)

But do not think I intend to leave it just at that--!

The Power Animals series introduced limb-swapping to the Super Sentai saga, which would continue to be used later in “Bakuryuu Sentai AbaRanger” (2003), and the 30th-Anniversary series “Gougou Sentai Boukenger” (2006). Plus, one of the mecha from “Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger” (2002), three from “Tokusou Sentai DekaRanger” (2004), and two from “Mahou Sentai MagiRanger” (2005) all had removable shoulders which could swap limbs (though only arms after “GaoRanger”) with each other, leading to even more interactiveness between the series, which had never been done before in Super Sentai. (I should point out that the shoulder joints on the mecha from “Boukenger” were not backward-compatible with the previous five lines since their joints were too big. Why? Well, the Gougou Vehicle line, in general, had quite a few flaws in it, so this might not come as any big surprise…)

With special thanks to a well-known member of the Power Rangers online fan-based communities- John “GrnRngr” Green, from GrnRngr.com- I will be providing a [near-]complete list of all the officially-known combinations from the series “Hyakujuu Sentai Gao Ranger”! These are all of the combinations seen only in the series, in order of appearance, and describe the more complex & exotic combinations where two-or-more toy sets were put together beyond initial release, such as Gao Hunter Spear, Gao King Another Arm, Gao Muscle Striker Cross Horn, Gao Icarus Another Arm and Foot, and the official-but-never-seen Gao Cracker.

Please proceed to my final Power Animals review: Hyakujuu Gattai- The Power Animals Assembled!

I tell ya- this may be my favorite individual Power Animal of them all! The level of detail put into this thing is awesome and successfully crowns the entire 2001 line of Power Animals.

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- the “highest paradise for animals”- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart. With the return of one of the original Gao warriors, Shirogane, and his own three Power Animals, together the six heroes fight against the new threat of the Orgu... as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today. They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries. This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well. They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each.

The GaoRanger are dead!

Gao Red and Gao Silver watch in horror as a powered-up Highness Duke Orgu Ura quickly defeats and kills first Gao Blue, then Gao Yellow & Gao Black, and finally Gao White. Preparing to sacrifice themselves as well to defeat the Highness Duke Orgu, the six humans are transported away by the God of the Power Animals to the safety of the Animalium. There, the giant black and gold God of the Power Animals- Gao God- tells Red and Silver that they must not give up even with their friends dead, and then he takes the four bodies and disappears once more with them. When Ura begins to terrorize the city below, Red and Silver overlook their grief by summoning weakened courage, and intercept him.

At the same time, the four dead GaoRanger awaken in a strange, empty place and are told by a mysterious boy-like figure that there is still hope for a new weapon. If they can solve a puzzle, they might be released. After walking a while they come to a cliff overlooking an ocean of magma, and four pieces of carved stone sit motionlessly beyond the edge for them to get. Knowing what must be done, and remembering their friends who are still fighting, the four GaoRanger jump together, each grabs a stone, and they solve the puzzle just before they hit the magma.

Meanwhile, Gao Red and Gao Silver are getting beaten badly as Ura plays with them and taunts them over the death of the others. But when Ura makes to kill Gao Red the same way he did the others, a bright red light throws the Highness Duke Orgu back. A new weapon appears in Gao Red’s hands- a stylized archer’s bow called the Falcon Summoner. Hearing the voices of his dead friends, Gao Red places his Jūōken into the new weapon and fires it at Ura, but this only causes the Highness Duke Orgu to grow. Then a red Gao Jewel appears and he places it into the Jūōken, and then fires the Falcon Summoner into the air. The peaceful snow-capped mountain at the heart of the flying Animalium suddenly becomes a volcano and erupts... and an enormous red bird flies out of it and down towards the giant Highness Duke Orgu- the awesome Gao Falcon!

Gao Falcon (back) is an additional Power Animal controlled by Gao Red. The most striking thing about this DX Power Animal is his size! His huge wings- 21” from wingtip to-wingtip- were lovingly designed and highly detailed. Each one has 13 white PVC feathers running along the backside of them, and an additional structure beneath which layers the larger primary feathers with an additional six. (The wingspan is so large that they come separately in the- might I add- huge box; this is the only assembly that is required. This I will take advantage of later in the review.) Gold-painted lines provide a highlight and an additional layer of detail across both the top and bottom of the wings. They are permanently curved upwards as if Gao Falcon is about to swoop down on an Orgu, which disguises their individual 11½” width! However, because of their size and weight, the wings are fixed in one position and only swing down when transforming (more on that later). Next on the list is his tail which is seven inches long, and makes up the majority of Gao Falcon’s length (12½”). Most of the gold highlights are painted on, and it can snap up and down 90° at its base. Between the wings on his back , there is equally-high detail with gold paint highlights. (Here, the wings are snapped out of position to see it better.) His legs are red, gold, and silver, and snap at the hips, knees, and swing side-to-side at the ankles! His claws are not really pointed, but they are powerful-looking talons nonetheless. Finally, his head is perhaps the best-sculpted section of the entire toy. Though his painted green eyes are relatively small, the head is adorned with different feathers at different angles, but he has an unusual single gold feather on the top of his head, much like a quail’s. His beak can open and close a bit, and with some tricky maneuvering, his head can be repositioned to either point forwards or downwards. The legs and head provide flexibility needed in lieu of the lack of movement in the wings when in its animal form.

For those of you wondering what the differences are between PA-7 Gao Falcon from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and its English-speaking counterpart, the Falcon Wild Zord from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, this one actually took a bit of an unexpected twist:

• Surprisingly compared to some of the other modified Wild Force Zords, very minor red and gold paint apps were removed on the belly and bottom of the wings of the Falcon Wild Zord. Gold paint is also missing from the larger single talons on its ‘heels’.
• A brand new feature was added to the Falcon Wild Zord that was not present on the Gao Falcon- a battery-powered sound function! The tail was completely redesigned, and incorporates three buttons which each make a different sound! The price for this incredible upgrade? The tail had its gold paint removed.

Ever since Bandai America began re-releasing Super Sentai toys in the US for the run of “Power Rangers”, even into 2007 [when I’m writing this] I have never, ever heard of them modifying a toy for the better! Typically, BA will change decal designs, change paint apps, change part colors, or remove electronic features such as movement and light & sound. But adding a feature!? Ya got me on that one! Since I never got the Deluxe Isis Megazord, I wasn’t even aware of this until CollectionDX creator/webmaster JoshB pointed it out to me while I was researching for this review! And so with the exception of the advanced tail design (!), all moldings & colors (there was no die-cast metal in Gao Falcon) were left intact. The Falcon Zord was not released individually, but as one of five components in the Deluxe Isis Megazord set. Gao Falcon, also, was released as part of a special release DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus set, but could alternately be obtained individually (as it is here), which it wasn’t for the “PR” release. For that matter, the Deluxe Isis Megazord never made it to American shores. It was, however, released in the UK.

I tell ya- this may be my favorite individual Power Animal of them all! The level of detail put into this thing is awesome and successfully crowns the entire 2001 line of Power Animals. My only gripe is the un-synchronized hip joints and that’s it. Its size is also very impressive, even compared against the DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil [or Justice] and DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King! What could they have done differently? I don’t see how they could improve it! Now, because the Falcon Wild Zord could only be obtained with the Deer, Giraffe, and Rhino & Armadillo Wild Zords in the Deluxe Isis Megazord set, you would have had to obtain it for cheaper, but the other four Wild Zords were heavily modified from their original Japanese counterparts, so there’s a trade-off there. All I can say is that the Gao Falcon rules!

As Gao Red watches on, Gao Falcon swoops down upon the city, and it fiercely attacks the grown Highness Duke Orgu Ura with its sharp claws & beak. Soaring clear, Gao Falcon also summons Gao Giraffe, Gao Rhino, Gao Armadillo, and Gao Dias to fight! Amazed that the Power Animals are able to operate even without their shattered Gao Jewels, light surrounds Gao Red and the four dead GaoRanger return to life around him! Sinking to the ground in relief, each reassures him in turn, and then they all henshin. Taking reformed Gao Jewels into their Jūōken, they put their daggers together and call out-

“Hyakujuu Gattai!”

PA-7 Gao Falcon is the last and pivotal component required to move on to the last regularly-seen humanoid combination mecha from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”. Go on to the next page to review the Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus!

[Author’s note: special thanks to CollectionDX webmaster Joshua Bernard for sharing images of his own Falcon Zord with me so I could compare them. Josh, I thank you once more!]

I [personally] consider Gao Dias to be one of the most versatile and powerful of all Power Animals, seeing as how he was able to heal five PAs all at the same time, and then restrain [an] Orgu by himself.

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- the “highest paradise for animals”- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart. With the return of one of the original Gao warriors, Shirogane, and his own three Power Animals, together the six heroes fight against the new threat of the Orgu... as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today. They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries. This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well. They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each. Highness Duke Orgu Ura creates a powerful new creature called Tombstone Orgu, which resists just about everything the six GaoRanger can throw at him. Already with more than half of their Power Animals injured from previous Orgu battles, Gao Muscle Striker is also no match for Tombstone Orgu. As the giant Orgu approaches the downed hyakujuu gattai, a new Power Animals steps cautiously onto the scene- Gao Dias! But after restraining and subduing the powerful new Orgu all by itself, why then does the Power Animal calmly turn his back on the GaoRanger?

For those of you wondering what the differences are between PA-6 Gao Dias from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and its English-speaking counterpart, the Deer Wild Zord from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, there is only one big difference:

• The areas and lines that were painted gold on Gao Dias- all four upper legs, his forehead, the antlers- were left uncovered in their normal colors on the Deer Wild Zord.

Otherwise all moldings & colors (there was no die-cast metal in Gao Dias) were left intact. The Deer Zord was not released individually, but as one of five components in the Deluxe Isis Megazord set. Gao Dias, also, was released as part of a special release DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus set, but could alternately be obtained individually (as it is here), which it wasn’t for the “PR” release. For that matter, the Deluxe Isis Megazord never made it to American shores. It was, however, released in the UK.

Gao Dias is a fair Power Animal. His special feature isn’t really useful until you combine him with one of the combo mecha. All I can really give him credit for is his appearance. That is both the upside and downside at the same time. Mildly recommended.

Sets required for combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King (sold separately)
• PA-6 Gao Dias

Shirogane knows exactly why Gao Dias turned away from them, and he feels very guilty about it. Before the end of the war a millennia ago, then-shrine priestess Murasaki and Shirogane used to sing regularly to Gao Dias to soothe the Power Animal. Then some Orguettes came and attacked them. Murasaki blocked a hit intended for Shirogane, but the blow hit her throat and she lost the ability to sing. Gao Dias blamed Shirogane for not protecting Murasaki, and did not return to listen to him play his flute alone anymore. But now, in order to appease Gao Dias, Murasaki’s granddaughter- Tetomu- and Shirogane play the song again to convince the Power Animal to help. Gao Dias approves, and gives Tetomu his Gao Jewel. She gives it to Shirogane, who hands it off to Gao White (Sae Taiga). Gao Dias has a power to rapidly heal other Power Animals (Dias Healing). His full potential becomes apparent when he takes Gao Tiger’s place, and the Power Animals form Gao King Cross Horn. Already weakened by Gao Dias’ earlier attacks, Tombstone Orgu is not able to withstand Gao King Cross Horn’s Bubble Capture technique- which wraps the giant Orgu in a clear force field, and then vaporizes him. Another time, another Orgu, Gao King Cross Horn used the Horn Crash finisher- where it grabbed the offending Orgu by the waist, lifted him over its head, twirled him about a bit, and then tossed him across the city (where he promptly exploded)

Gao King Cross Horn (back) is something of an interesting - I should note, final - upgrade: a large pair of silver claws with barbed edges. As the head rotates into position, the antlers slide completely together via an internal spring mechanism. I don’t know how well you can see it here, but there’s a tab on Gao Dias’ body which presses against an internal button, which causes the antlers to separate a little in its animal form, but then close when the neck rotates downwards. The special feature of Gao Dias is his spring-loaded antlers- which can open and close by pressing a long, narrow silver button on the back of his neck. The antlers swing open when the button is pressed, and snap shut when it’s released. Umm... a bubble wand for an attack feature??? Yeah- that’s a weird one. But that’s what Gao King Cross Horn brings to the table. (Although, I wouldn’t advise dipping PA-6 in real bubble formula...) I [personally] consider Gao Dias to be one of the most versatile and powerful of all Power Animals, seeing as how he was able to heal five PAs all at the same time, and then restrain Tombstone Orgu by himself. Plus, he gives Gao King Cross Horn more than one attack, which are each very strong.

Gao Rhino and Gao Armadillo make an interesting, possibly unique, pair in the Power Animals line.

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- "the highest paradise for animals"- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart- as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today. They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries. This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well. They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each. As Duke Orgu Loki in his Majuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil continued to dominate in his quest for revenge against the ancient Gao warriors who had ‘betrayed’ him, they injure Gao Bison significantly one time, preventing Gao King from being formed. Unnoticed by either side of the battle is a small silver & purple beach ball-sized wheel rolling around the area, trying to get the attention of the GaoRanger. When it finally does, it turns out to be the smallest Power Animal, Gao Armadillo. After jumping into Gao Black’s arms, Gao Armadillo (through Gao Red’s unique animal-reading ability) says that he- and his larger friend Gao Rhino- were summoned by Gao Bison to help the rangers out. Before bounding off, Gao Armadillo gives to Gao Black a pair of Gao Jewels.

Gao Rhino (back) - He is an additional Power Animal controlled by Gao Black, and it is understandable why. Like Gao Bison, he is very powerful for his size, and has a large body dressed in light blue, black, gold, and silver, with red eyes, two small ears, and two golden horns on the top of his head, and doesn’t like being bullied around. Gao Rhino, along with his good friend Gao Armadillo, is a lower torso/leg component PA, and forms the lower torso, legs, and feet of Gao Icarus. His formation attack is the Rhino Shoot.

Gao Armadillo (back) - He is an additional Power Animal controlled by Gao Black, and couldn’t be more the opposite of his good friend Gao Rhino. Whereas Gao Rhino demands respect, Gao Armadillo (appears as Gao Majiro when translated) gets his own attention with his bouncy attitude, and small, cuddly purple & silver body. (Imagine the girls crowding around him, saying “Kawai!”) But don’t be fooled- he is anxious to help out, and curls up into a ball to smash boldly through enemies like a bowling ball! Gao Armadillo, along with his good friend Gao Rhino, is a lower torso/leg component PA, and forms part of the right foot of Gao Icarus. His formation attack is Rhino Shoot. Gao Armadillo is also the only Power Animal (besides Gao Wolf) which can change size at will, and often becomes the size of a beach ball when not engaged in battle.

Gao Rhino and Gao Armadillo make an interesting, possibly unique, pair in the Power Animals line. Gao Rhino is big and heavy, much heavier than any Power Animal to this point- meaning, specifically Gao Bison (DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King), PA-4 Gao Gorilla, and Gao Alligator (DX Majuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil); and against those three, Gao Rhino also has the most die-cast metal in his body- feet, inside all four legs, the arch over his back, gold-colored armor sections for when it’s changed, and joints needed for transformation. This also makes Gao Rhino the most die-cast metal laden Power Animal ever made. Interestingly, only his mouth can move when he’s alone. Gao Armadillo, on the other hand, is the smallest Power Animal, and expectedly suffers for it. He has no die-cast metal, and no movable animal qualities. To compensate for this, Gao Armadillo can curl up, like a real armadillo, into an armored ball shape. Because of the limit in his size, the change to ball form isn’t quite complete, so an extra piece swings out from his belly (which covers his head) to make him completely round. This fits in with the set’s special feature. Gao Rhino has a trigger built into his smaller horn which, when depressed, springs out his larger horn forward about an inch, and if Gao Armadillo is curled-up nose-to-nose with him, then he can be shot forward by the spring-loaded action. In addition to this, a pair of notches was molded into the metal arch over Gao Rhino’s back legs. This way, Gao Armadillo can ride atop his larger friend (though just don’t turn them upside-down, ‘cause he’ll fall off!)

For those of you wondering what the differences are between PA-5 Gao Rhino & Gao Armadillo from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and its English-speaking counterpart, the Rhino & Armadillo Wild Zords from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, there are a few pretty noticeable points:

• Like the DX Gao King and DX Gao Hunter(s), Gao Rhino had a few decals on his shoulders, and on the internal parts (more on that later). In bringing it over here, the Rhino Wild Zord lost these decals. Unlike the Deluxe Wild Force Megazord & Deluxe Predazord, no paint was added in their place.
• All gold paint on the Rhino, except for a little on the head and horns, was removed. Gold paint was also removed from the lower torso when it is in its alternate form. With the exception of his visor-like eyes, there is almost no gold paint applied to the Armadillo Wild Zord.
• A few areas where purple lines appeared on Gao Armadillo (which were not painted to begin with) were covered with silver paint.
• The color type of the plastic used on the Armadillo is not as shiny as that on Gao Armadillo.

Otherwise all moldings and die-cat metal were left intact. The Rhino and Armadillo Wild Zords were not released individually, but as two of five components in the Deluxe Isis Megazord set. Gao Rhino & Gao Armadillo, also, were released as part of a special release DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus set, but could alternately be obtained individually (as they are here), which they weren’t for their “PR” release. For that matter, the Deluxe Isis Megazord never made it to American shores. It was, however, released in the UK.

Traditionally, Super Sentai mecha have had missiles that snap into place, and then you press the trigger and away they go. Not so here. Instead of a missile, you get the kawai Gao Armadillo with his big ears, short snout, little tail, and goggle-like eyes (which, strangely, do not match his light-blue eyes in the show). Gao Rhino, like several of the other Power Animals, is immobile except for his mouth, and lacks poseability in any form except to serve as transport for the even less-poseable Gao Armadillo. It is the spring-firing feature that makes this a fun set. That alone makes it worthwhile, since Gao Armadillo actually rolls pretty far when launched.

Sets required for combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King (sold separately)
• PA-5 Gao Rhino & Gao Armadillo

Realizing that Gao Hunter Evil was the source of Duke Orgu Loki’s power, the GaoRanger needed to find a way to break the Majuu gattai. When Gao Armadillo approached the GaoRanger, they figured out how to do that without the still-injured Gao Bison. Quickly, they joined four of their Power Animals with the newcomers Gao Rhino & Gao Armadillo into Gao King Striker. In addition to having additional power for speed and agility, Gao King Striker was exactly what was needed to finally break Gao Hunter Evil with its Rhino Shoot attack. This would lead to the Curse of Loki being lifted on the ancient Gao warrior Shirogane, and turn the tide of the conflict once more against the Orgu. Being quite satisfied with their new human companions, Gao Armadillo and Gao Rhino would remain on the Animalium until summoned again.

Gao King Striker (back) is an upgrade different from any we have ever seen before. For one thing, Gao King Striker is one of the very few “GaoRanger” combos which have six component PAs-

1. Gao Lion
2. Gao Eagle
3. Gao Shark
4. Gao Tiger
5. Gao Rhino
6. Gao Armadillo

-rather than five. Instead of swapping an arm, Gao Rhino and Gao Armadillo work together and swap with Gao Bison to form completely different lower torso, legs, and feet for Gao King. Like Gao Bison it its legged formation, the Striker component spreads its legs apart a little (though for the toy, this is necessary due to Gao Rhino’s size.) I’ll tell ya- changing Gao Rhino is far from intuitive; it took me several tries with the instructions just to figure out what is going on (which is very unusual for me), and several days after that to get it without peeking at them for hints. I’d even go as far as to say, aside from Gao Gorilla, this makes Gao Rhino the most complicated Power Animal to transform. So Gao Armadillo becomes something of a relief when all you have to do is just plug-&-snap him into the right foot alcove without moving a single joint on him. The spring-loaded horn on Gao Rhino can be used here to perform the soccer-like Rhino Shoot finisher. Just place the curled-up Gao Armadillo in front of the left foot, and... Gao King Striker shoots-- and scores!

(Who knew Gao King was ambidextrous?)

Sets required for combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle (sold separately)
• PA-5 Gao Rhino & Gao Armadillo

--OR--

• PA-3 Gao Polar & Gao Bear (sold separately)
• PA-4 Gao Gorilla (sold separately)
• PA-5 Gao Rhino & Gao Armadillo

(The Striker formation can only be used by either Gao King or Gao Muscle, but not at the same time. Interestingly enough, this is the only way to display both mecha at the same time because they usually share both Gao Eagle & Gao Bison.)

During a friendly sparring match between Gao King and Gao Hunter [Justice] early in Quest 27, Vase Orgu makes an appearance and quickly captures the two hyakujuu gattai inside his body, ejecting the six GaoRanger from the cockpits. Without the two and Soul Bird, the GaoRanger have nothing to fight giant Orgu with. In addition to this, Duke Orgu Yabaiba and Duchess Orgu Tsuetsue have been upgraded with the returned power of Loki, removing all traces of their humanity and turning them into true monsters. Tetomu asks the five rangers to show which Gao Jewels they still have. All that are left are Gao Elephant, Gao Polar, Gao Bear, Gao Gorilla, Gao Rhino, and Gao Armadillo. While the six GaoRanger confront Tsuetsue, Yabaiba, and Vase Orgu, Tetomu is having problems in Gao Rock with the alternate personality Soul Bird chick Yon, trying to get the grumpy little critter out of his egg shell. The GaoRanger beat Vase Orgu, but Tsuetsue grows him again to giant size. Finally coaxing Yon reluctantly out of his shell, Tetomu feeds him a special powder which changes him into another full-sized Soul Bird. With the new Soul Bird at their side, they combine their remaining Power Animals into Gao Muscle Striker. Performing both the Bear Strike and Rhino Shoot finishers, Vase Orgu goes down for good, which also frees Gao King and Gao Hunter. “Goaaaal!!!” cheers Gao Yellow.

"What? Two combos in one review!?"

Yeah, well- this one is the exception. Gao Muscle Striker (back) is obviously different from Gao King Striker for its upper body and torso, but shares Gao Rhino & Gao Armadillo as lower torso and legs. A special accessory adaptor was included in the PA-5 set along with the two Power Animals, which is needed for this specific combo. While Gao Rhino, like Gao Bison, attaches to the lower half of the Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle via Gao Gorilla’s die-cast metal frame, for whatever reason Gao Eagle is not a part of that equation. (Gao Eagle can fit in the toy version of Gao Muscle Striker, but it looks kinda weird because the Striker form’s upper legs are thinner that Gao Bison’s.) Besides, the adaptor gives Gao Muscle Striker a type of belt appearance and thins down the waist a bit from all angles. The Muscle Anchor, Bear Strike, and Rhino Shoot features are all accessible in this form.

To get a DX Gao Hunter was a highlight in my Super Sentai collection that has finally been fulfilled. The movement of the arms, the paint apps, how it changes - all of that makes it a highly favored piece in my collection.

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- "the highest paradise for animals"- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart- as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today. They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries. This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well. They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each. After the Orgu were defeated a thousand years ago, the Orgu general Ura opened a hidden tomb, hoping to steal a dark power from within for himself. Instead, he freed another creature- a strong and skilled Duke Orgu called Loki, who possessed a powerful hatred for the Gao warriors who had betrayed him, and sought to destroy them. When Loki first confronted the GaoRanger, he was unaware of how much time had passed, nor that these warriors were not the same as those who had defeated him generations ago. But neither were the GaoRanger aware of any of this; and Tetomu only knew the first part of the story told to her by the original Gao priestess who was her grandmother...

There are three Majuu [Demon-beasts] slaved to the will of Duke Orgu Loki:

• Gao Wolf (back)- The totem Majuu from which Loki draws his power, this giant gray wolf is dressed in silver, black, blue, & gold, with eyes glowing red. He is both fast and strong with small paws and sharp teeth, and knows well what is going on around him. Gao Wolf is a left arm component Majuu, and forms the left arm and part of the chest of Gao Hunter Evil.
  
• Gao Hammerhead (back)- Another Majuu which Loki controls, the hammerhead shark is dressed in purple, silver, and gold with glowing yellow eyes. This predator travels quietly through water until it can strike first without being noticed, the thin hammer-like separation of its eyes from its head giving it excellent depth perception for long-range stalking. Gao Hammerhead is a right arm component Majuu, and forms the right arm of Gao Hunter Evil, and a smaller section of the Ligator Blade.
  
• Gao Alligator (back)- Another Majuu which Loki controls, the huge alligator is dressed in sickly green, black, silver, blue, & gold, with glowing red eyes. While he is also a predator, he is too large to hide himself, and so he simply propels himself through anything that gets in his way with his strong legs, or tears it to pieces with his powerful jaws and long, sharp teeth. Gao Alligator is a central body/legs/head component Majuu, and he forms the head, body, and legs of Gao Hunter Evil, and the long thick blade of the Ligator Blade.
  

Gao Alligator (sometimes alternately referred to as ‘Gaoligator’, which is closer to the original Japanese pronunciation) is by far the largest, with a length of 15¾” from snout to tail- which makes the toy slightly longer than a real alligator’s offspring shortly after being hatched.. His two larger back legs are cropped up close to his long body, as are his much smaller forelegs; each toe has a claw which is carefully painted silver. His mouth is impressive, with two large lower teeth and 20 smaller teeth on the top and bottom. (Rest assured parents- they’re all softer, silver-painted PVC.) Detail is also impressive. In addition to the dozens of silver- & gold-highlighted scales along his tail and body, he also has detailed patterns along the bottom of his feet and side of his head. And to fit in better with the “GaoRanger” line of DX toys, Gao Alligator’s tail is jointed in three different areas which allow it to snap side-to-side a bit.

The purple Gao Hammerhead, as the next poseable, is nearly identical in many ways to the blue Gao Shark from the DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King set (aka Blue Shark Wild Zord in the Deluxe Wild Force Megazord, from “Power Rangers Wild Force”). They have nearly identical bodies except when it comes to, well - the heads. Gao Hammerhead can also twist side-to-side a little at mid-body like Gao Shark does too. Molds on the hammerhead shark Majuu are very well detailed.

Gao Wolf, like Gao Hammerhead, is a near-copy of the Gao Tiger from the DX Gao King. And I say ‘near-copy’ because, even though they have similar body shapes and go through identical transformations, Gao Wolf has different mold patterns to eliminate the tiger stripes, and has an alternate tail and head design. (Hey- we’re talkin’ cats and dogs here, ya know?) The lower legs and paws are pretty much the only parts that were not changed between the two giant animals.

Together, the three Majuu are hunters which make life for the Power Animals very difficult, and stunned the GaoRanger when they first appeared behind Loki- each with its own Gao Jewel! How could an Orgu- let alone a Duke Orgu!- obtain and use Power Animals? They did not have much time to dwell before Loki instructed the three Majuu to combine with one another into the powerful Gao Hunter. Armed with a broad double-edged Ligator Blade, Gao Hunter was easily a worthy opponent to the rangers’ own Gao King. Certainly, Gao Hunter’s Beast Hurricane blast rivaled Gao King’s own Super Animal Heart in intensity and scope.

Gao Hunter Evil (back) is a contrast to both Gao King and Gao Muscle. A more slimmed down figure, it has only three components to it instead of five, yet it is a real challenge to both. Gao Hammerhead and Gao Wolf, which are nearly identical to Gao Shark and Gao Tiger, operate exactly the same way on Gao Hunter Evil; they can bend just under 45° at the elbows, and the right arm can snap side-to-side a bit as well. However, unlike Gao King, the shoulder joints are not converted on Gao Alligator like they do on Gao Lion, so you cannot ‘cheat’ and pivot them backwards in any form. (The same goes with Gao Muscle.) The legs, like those of Gao King/Gao Muscle, are designed to spread apart a little when standing. Also of interest on its stance is how the feet tilt inwards a very tiny bit so that they are truly flat on the ground. The head is stylized in the shape of a wolf’s head, with one nasty addition- a single yellow PVC Orgu horn, which designates Gao Hunter as under the control of a Duke Orgu.

(grins) I should point out that all three Majuu must have their tails removed for the transformation process.

(For clarification, Highness Duke Orgu and Duke Orgu have one horn on their heads to indicate their status as leaders, and two horns indicate a regular Minor Orgu. Orguette foot soldiers also have a single horn, but they are much smaller, and they are at the lowest level of the chain of command.)

The Beast Hurricane attack- though not listed in the instructions- can be set up through a clever repositioning of Gao Alligator’s head and lower jaw, through you can’t reposition Gao Alligator’s head in any way without making Gao Hunter’s head point skywards a bit due to how it transforms. The Crescent Boomerang- which is Gao Wolf’s tail- is a soft PVC crescent which slips over two pegs on Gao Hunter’s chest. It can be removed, and the left hand can grip it. The Ligator Blade isn’t really a sword, but rather a long, thick, spiked club with Gao Hammerhead’s tail on one end and Gao Alligator’s on the other. There is a soft ABS handle which Gao Hammerhead’s tail snaps into. Over time, and if posed without care, the handle will begin to bow out of shape. With the Ligator Blade spinning is its hands like a drill bit, Gao Hunter can perform the Revolver Phantom finisher. (The toy cannot spin the Ligator Blade in its hands.)

A question raised about how DX Gao King grips its Fin Blade weapon is answered with Gao Hunter. Gao Hammerhead also has a clip located inside its mouth, but the clip is different from the one inside Gao Shark’s mouth. This is so that Gao Hunter can grip the Ligator Blade. “But what about gripping just Gao Hammerhead’s tail?” Well- it can grip the tail (which is the same as Gao Shark’s, but not used as a separate weapon), but only if it holds it backwards; the design of how the tail separates from the body prevents Gao Hammerhead (and Gao Shark, for that matter) from gripping it correctly.

Whatever was driving Gao Hunter Evil on was the source of Loki’s power as well. This was proven several nights later on a full moon, when Gao Hunter’s power became unstoppable. But suddenly, the spirit of the deceased God of the Power Animals came to the aid of the GaoRanger and created a lunar eclipse to weaken the three Majuu. In that moment, Loki unexpectedly lost control of himself, and began to transform into a human shape! As the artificial eclipse held for a few minutes, Loki was revealed to be an ancient Gao warrior, Shirogane!

After the destruction of the God of the Power Animals, Shirogane had desperately sacrificed his life in order to overcome the great Orgu general, Hyakukimaru. Unfortunately, this was accomplished by his donning a cursed wolf mask which would grant to him and his Power Animals incredible power. Very shortly after the Orgu were defeated, Shirogane was unable to control himself, and the mask quickly began to take over, merging with his soul and corrupting him; turning him against the others. This also corrupted and enhanced his three Power Animals- Gao Wolf, Gao Hammerhead, and Gao Alligator- uncontrollably to his new more violent persona. They became Majuu, foreign creatures to the Power Animals. Before he lost complete control over himself, he begged the five other Gao warriors to kill him. Not willing to sacrifice him just yet despite the curse’s growing power, the five warriors sealed him alive in a tomb. As a thousand years passed by, Shirogane forgot who he was, and became Loki. His long-lost colleagues became his enemies, and the curse corrupted friendship into hatred and revenge.

The lunar eclipse could not be extended any longer, and Shirogane changes back into Loki. Shortly afterwards, the GaoRanger and Tetomu realize that the strength of Loki’s power lies in Gao Hunter. Using a powerful attack from the newly-formed Gao King Striker combination, they disassemble Gao Hunter Evil, and break the curse on Shirogane. After accepting him and forgiving him for what has happened, Gao Wolf, Gao Hammerhead, & Gao Alligator- now also freed from the curse’s influence- return to freely support Shirogane (now as the new Gao Silver)! He thanks them deeply, and commands them to form Gao Hunter. But when the three revived Power Animals combine, Gao Silver renames it Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Justice.

Gao Hunter Evil

Gao Hunter Justice

Gao Hunter Justice is different from Gao Hunter Evil in only one way- the head. Like Gao King and Gao Muscle before it, Gao Hunter Justice’s face is surrounded by a wolf’s head. When it was Evil, the wolf head closed up around Justice’s face, concealing it from view. But when the curse was lifted, the single Orgu horn disappeared, and its original face appeared. All of Gao Hunter’s attacks and weapons are the same after it changed into Gao Hunter Justice. Oh, one other thing- when Shirogane became good again, Gao Wolf was able to shrink himself down and transform into the Wolf Roader motorcycle several times for Gao Silver. (No, the toy does not do this...)

For those of you wondering what the differences are between the DX Majuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and it’s English-speaking counterpart, the Deluxe Predazord from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, it actually isn’t that bad of a transition:

• Like the DX Gao King, Gao Hunter had a few decals on its shoulders. In bringing it over here, the Predazord lost these decals (this also happened to the equivalent Deluxe Wild Force Megazord). The decals on the die-cast metal on the shoulders were removed and blue paint applied instead. The decal on the Silver Wolf Wild Zord’s back was removed and left the plain silver plastic coloring.

Surprisingly, all of the [few] original die-cast parts were left intact during the import process. (Finally-! Way to go, Bandai America!) And, all of the original molds are the same as well. There were actually- get this- four releases of the DX Gao Hunter:

• DX Majuu Gattai Gao Hunter Evil
• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Justice
• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Hunter Blue Moon
• PA-12 Gao Alligator, PA-13 Gao Hammerhead, PA-14 Gao Wolf

DX Gao Hunter Evil and DX Gao Hunter Justice are the exact same toy; the only difference is the packaging, and there was no change in price either. This was done to reflect Gao Silver’s (and thus Gao Hunter’s) change in allegiance. DX Gao Hunter Blue Moon is also the same toy, but with one variation... During one of the later episodes, the GaoRanger were unable to access their Power Animals, leaving only Gao Silver and Gao Hunter Justice to fight a giant Orgu. So, the GaoRanger temporarily powered-up Gao Hunter into Blue Moon for a short time. When this happened, every area that was green on Gao Hunter’s body turned blue. So, for practical purposes of the DX toy, only Gao Alligator was affected by this- all of the green ABS and paint apps switched for blue equivalents. (Strangely enough, Gao Hammerhead was unaffected...) PA-12 through -14 is a special limited release found only in Korea. In this case, all three Power Animals (each sold separately) were changed to have no paint apps whatsoever. All ABS and PVC was also changed to either a mirror-bright silver or very light gray, respectively. They could still combine, but all of the color was the same- like looking at a silver trophy on your shelf. (Needless to say, this many repaints for one Super Sentai toy has not happened before or since.)

Did Bandai America do any of this....? (snorts) NO--!

“PRWF” fans just got one standard Gao Hunter set. And during the show, no distinction between Gao Hunter Evil and Justice were made; throughout the series, it was simply called the Predazord.

There are only three low points that I can find:

• The handle on the Ligator Blade is too bendable; you just can’t do anything with it lest it permanently warp.
• Gao Hunter has the ability to store the Ligator Blade on its back, but the odd thing is there’s no way to clip it on. It just sits on top of Gao Alligator's folded front legs, and is so heavy on one side that it almost falls over.
• Why doesn’t the head turn side-to-side? It easily could have.

To get a DX Gao Hunter was a highlight in my Super Sentai collection that has finally been fulfilled. The movement of the arms, the paint apps, how it changes- all of that makes it a highly favored piece in my collection. I didn’t really care whether it was a Gao Hunter Evil or Gao Hunter Justice since they were the same toy. If someday a DX Gao Hunter Blue Moon comes along my way, I might grab it, but I won’t mind if I don’t get one. This is a well designed toy. It looks like some kind of ninja- with the covered mouth and thin body compared to the others. Since Gao Hunter are hard to find [five years later], I would say that a Deluxe Predazord would be an appropriate, cheaper fill-in which is nearly indistinguishable from the original. (I waited to get a DX Gao Hunter, but that was just me.)

Gao Muscle is a near completely different creature from Gao King. Gao Bison remains as the lower torso and legs, but Gao Eagle has been demoted to waist joint/skirt; its wings now wrapped around Gao Bison's head instead.

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- "the highest paradise for animals"- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart- as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today.  They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries.  This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well.  They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each.

Sets required for combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King
• PA-3 Gao Polar and Gao Bear
• PA-4 Gao Gorilla

After Gao Gorilla blasted Bulldozer Orgu to the forest floor with his Banana Bombs, Gao Polar, Gao Bear, Gao Bison, and Gao Eagle join with him, wanting to finish this while they have the advantage.  The GaoRanger put their Jūōken together, and command the five Power Animals to combine into Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle!  Flexing its big powerful arms, and displaying its strong physique, Gao Muscle engages Bulldozer Orgu with more brute strength than the Orgu was expecting.

"Hyakujuu Gattai!"

Gao Muscle (back) is a near completely different creature from Gao King.  Gao Bison remains as the lower torso and legs, but Gao Eagle has been demoted to waist joint/skirt; its wings now wrapped around Gao Bison’s head instead.  And Gao King’s head now rests upside-down at Gao Muscle’s lower back.  Gao Eagle is surrounded by a silver die-cast metal framework which hung tightly on Gao Gorilla’s back.  This makes it impossible to form both Gao Muscle and Gao King at the same time since they must share Gao Bison and Gao Eagle.  Gao Polar and Gao Bear are no longer just accessories/add-ons (aka Double Knuckle), but give Gao Muscle a very strong appearance, and seem more natural looking.  This also makes the Bear Strike attack look more normal- Gao King is multi-purpose, while Gao Muscle focuses on brute strength on the battlefield.  Same goes for Gao Gorilla, who takes center stage as the upper torso and head of the combination, with Gao Eagle’s head positioned below like a belt buckle.  The head is similar to Gao King’s- in that a gorilla-like face subtly surrounds Gao Muscle’s face.  But it is also different.  Instead of an elegant, exotic-looking, flowing design, Gao Muscle uses the shape of a Roman gladiator’s helmet to continue the power and strength motif of the combination; using gold-plated plastic as a highlight.  Gao Gorilla’s feet and legs, oddly, swing backwards and act as a pair of fixed-position multi-barrel cannons sitting behind Gao Muscle’s shoulders.  Gao Muscle is also much broader at the shoulders since the two bears attach at Gao Gorilla’s own elbows.

Gao Muscle holds one more surprise- a secret compartment located in its chest.  Within the tiny two-part compartment is a golden mace and chain-like weapon called the Muscle Anchor.  Unlike most other Super Sentai weapons, this DX toy has a real metal chain to match the one seen on the show instead of a thick gold cord.  Both arms help in holding the Muscle Anchor.  The handle part can lock into the cannon barrel in Gao Bear’s mouth just like its fireball projectile can.  This frees Gao Polar up to hold the other end.

For those of you wondering what the differences are between the DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and its English-speaking counterpart, the Deluxe Kongazord from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, there is both good and bad:

• In order for kids to play with both the Deluxe Kongazord and Deluxe Wild Force Megazord at the same time, Bandai America substituted the regular Black Bison Wild Zord for a non-transforming motorized equivalent.  Using his motorized version- which had the same head and horns as Gao Bison- Kongazord could walk all by itself!  The Yellow Eagle was still provided.  The motorized Bison was not seen in Japanese toy stores, and could only be acquired from a Deluxe Kongazord set.
• The Muscle Anchor was not included in the Kongazord set- leading to many asking what the purpose of the swinging chest doors were for, other than when rotating the heads in and out.

Surprisingly, all of the original die-cast parts were left intact during the import process.  (Finally-!  Way to go, Bandai America!)  And, all of the original molds are the same as well.  The Green Gorilla, Polar Bear, Black Bear, Yellow Eagle, and Black Bison Wild Zords were not released individually, but grouped as five components in the Deluxe Kongazord set.  The Gao Gorilla, Gao Polar, Gao Bear, Gao Eagle, and Gao Bison Power Animals, also, were released as part of a special release DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle set, but could alternately be obtained individually (which is how I got and displayed them), which they weren’t for the “PR” release.  Gao Eagle and Gao Bison could not be obtained separately, and the purchase of the DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King was required as well [when going the route that I did].

Really, I can only find two small things wrong with the DX Gao Muscle (my reviews of the individual components notwithstanding)

• There is just enough room there for the Muscle Anchor in the chest compartment; you really have to get creative in order to be able to store it in there and still have the compartments close correctly without it falling out.  But it’s small enough that it can only fit in one side; which begs the question as to why the opposite side door has a slot in it as well.
• Why couldn’t the head rotate?  There was enough room for it to twist a little!

Wrapping Gao Eagle around Gao Muscle’s lower torso was an interesting idea, and it doesn’t look too bad either.  Gao Eagle & Gao Bison do not look out of place in the combo.  Gao Polar & Gao Bear really, really look good as the arms as opposed to using something else which might have been smaller.  The gladiator/Spartan helmet was an interesting way to go instead of using a completely original design.  And then to throw something crazy in, the feet of Gao Gorilla form the shoulder cannons!  I give high marks here, and recommend going for it.  All of the Power Animals are fun in their own ways individually, but put them together and you get a great Super Sentai combo!

Gao Gorilla has turned into one of my favorite Power Animals because of the glistening green coloring, and his wide range of poseability. But there is one more, important reason why I got him...

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- "the highest paradise for animals"- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart- as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today.  They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries.  This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well.  They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each.  Even a few days after the battle with Cell Phone Orgu, Gao Lion and the two bear Power Animals are still not getting along with each other.  On top of this, Gao Lion is slowly beginning to weaken.  Frantically, the GaoRanger go to find a sacred forest.  But a city now rests where the forest was, and a rare mushroom that is needed to help Gao Lion can only be found there.  A glow of light takes the five GaoRanger deep into a forest.  There, they find a small village is being threatened by a strange demon which is destroying the forest.  It turns out to be a Bulldozer Orgu.  Gao Red is hesitant to call the Power Animals since Gao Lion is still weak.  But Gao Lion chooses to fight anyways, and they form Gao King Double Knuckle.  Unfortunately, the same thing happens that did the last time, but now their attacks aren’t nearly as effective against Bulldozer Orgu’s strength, and now Gao Lion is more weakened than ever.  Seeing that these fantastic guardians (the GaoRanger) are losing, the people of the village call out to their gods to give the guardians help.  From out of a huge, deep cave comes a loud roar.  Then suddenly, another Power Animal appears- Gao Gorilla!!

Gao Gorilla (back) is a squat, but powerful looking green Power Animal.  Slightly hunchback due to large arms and small legs, it has a sparkly green body with black, dark gray, silver, and gold highlights.  There is also green metal-looking plastic on his back.  There is die-cast metal in the framework on his back, and in his feet- which rotate side-to-side a little.  His legs are jointed at the hips and ankles, so he’s limited there, and because he’s so top heavy he doesn’t balance very well.  His huge arms, on the other hand, are very poseable and have two joints at the shoulders, one at each elbow, and the fingers open-and-close together a little bit.  Gao Gorilla is a torso/head component PA, and forms the head and torso of Gao Muscle.

For those of you wondering what the differences are between PA-1 Gao Gorilla from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and its English-speaking counterpart, the Green Gorilla Wild Zord from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be:

• The green plastic in Gao Gorilla has a sparkle quality to it.  However, the Green Gorilla Wild Zord has this sparkle material removed, and it is just a plain aqua green coloring.
• The gold highlights across the Green Gorilla’s, um- crotch area, were not painted in, but the plastic pattern indents are left there.

Surprisingly, all of the original die-cast parts were left intact during the import process.  (Finally-!  Way to go, Bandai America!)  And, all of the original molds are the same as well.  The Gorilla Zord was not released individually, but as one of five components in the Deluxe Kongazord set.  Gao Gorilla, also, was released as part of a special release Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle set, but could alternately be obtained individually (as it is here), which it wasn’t for the “PR” release.

Gao Gorilla has turned into one of my favorite Power Animals because of the glistening green coloring, and his wide range of poseability.  But there is one more, important reason why I got him...

Bounding through the forest, Gao Gorilla threw some balls of light into the forest ahead of him.  When they hit the ground, a giant banana tree grew high into the air, which the Power Animal jumped into.  From his high perch, Gao Gorilla plucked and threw many Banana Bombs from the tree at Bulldozer Orgu, which sent it sprawling to the ground.  Seeing an opportunity, the GaoRanger call forward Gao Polar and Gao Bear to help; Gao Eagle and Gao Bison also came forward, not satisfied with the first round...

PA-4 Gao Gorilla is the last and pivotal component required to move on to the next humanoid combination mecha from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”.  Go on to the next page to review the Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle!

[Author’s note: special thanks to CollectionDX webmaster Joshua Bernard for sharing images of his own Green Gorilla with me so I could compare them.  Josh, I thank you once more!]

Amazon.com Widgets

The two brother bears are identical in every respect except for coloring and the element emblems along their back legs. Unlike most of the others in the Power Animals line, Gao Polar (based on an arctic polar bear) and Gao Bear (based on an American black bear) have no die-cast metal or any PVC anywhere in them.

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- "the highest paradise for animals"- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart- as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today. They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries. This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well. They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each. Gaku Washio (Gao Yellow) witnesses two strange young boys scamper out of a police station- one dressed in all white, the other in all black. Recognizing that they are in trouble, Gaku lets the boys go by, and delays the guard from chasing them. Meanwhile, Cell Phone Orgu is disrupting all cell phones in the area, and then stealing them from their injured owners for his collection. When the other four GaoRanger confront him, he tries to take their G-Phone henshin devices from them! Meanwhile, after being injured by some Orguette foot soldiers, Gaku has a strange vision about helping the two silent boys to get some flowers for them from the bottom of a tall cliff. When he risks his life and succeeds at getting the flowers to the boys, they each give him a single seed. The other defenseless GaoRanger have been beaten back by Cell Phone Orgu, who is still trying to steal their G-Phones, but they are able to injure him just enough to transform again. Then Gao Yellow arrives and helps destroy Cell Phone Orgu. But Duchess Orgu Tsuetsue uses her magic to grow Cell Phone Orgu into a giant. As Gao King battles the Orgu, the two boys appear on a rooftop of a tall office building near the battle. Joining their hands together, they grow and change shape into a pair of lost Power Animals- Gao Bear and Gao Polar; and the two seeds that they gave to Gao Yellow have changed into Gao Jewels!

Gao Bear (back) along with Gao Polar, are described as a family of two by Tetomu, and, well- the family resemblance is remarkable...! Gao Bear has a black body & paws with a dark gray highlight along the top of his head, and gold highlights in various areas. His eyes are red to match the red and gold fire emblem along his thighs, and there is a band of silver paint running across his midsection. Gao Bear becomes a left arm component PA, and together with his brother Gao Polar, he forms the left arm of any combination. His formation attack is a powerful fire blast from his mouth, and with Gao Polar they use the combined fire/ice Bear Strike finisher.

Gao Polar (back) along with Gao Bear, are described as a family of two by Tetomu, and, well- the family resemblance is remarkable...! Gao Polar has a pearl white body & paws with a silver highlight along the top of his head, and gold highlights in various areas. His eyes are blue to match the blue and gold mountain emblem along his thighs, and there is a band of silver paint running across his midsection. Gao Polar becomes a right arm component PA, and together with his brother Gao Bear, he forms the right arm of any combination. His formation attack is a powerful ice blast from his mouth, and with Gao Bear they use the combined fire/ice Bear Strike finisher.

The two brother bears (back) are identical in every respect except for coloring and the element emblems along their back legs. Unlike most of the others in the Power Animals line, Gao Polar (based on an arctic polar bear) and Gao Bear (based on an American black bear) have no die-cast metal or any PVC anywhere in them. They also have no independent movement anywhere except their limited mouths (more on those later). You can’t even stand them on just their hind legs like real bears do when threatening.

For those of you wondering what they differences are between PA-1 Gao Polar & Gao Bear from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and their English-speaking counterparts, the Polar Bear & Black Bear Wild Zords from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, as far as I can tell there is no difference; the transition was flawless. The two Wild Zords were not released individually, but as two of five components in the Deluxe Kongazord set. Gao Polar & Gao Bear, also, were released as part of a special release Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Muscle set, but could alternately be obtained individually (as they are here), which they weren’t for the “PR” release.

If it weren’t for combining abilities, they wouldn’t even be worth it. But, I will still recommend them based on looks and the combining ability.

Sets required for combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King (sold separately)
• PA-3 Gao Polar and Gao Bear

Gao Polar and Gao Bear repeatedly fire powerful elemental blasts (ice and fire, respectively) from their mouths at Cell Phone Orgu. Then, they hug each other tightly and toss their grouped bodies at the Orgu, smashing into him and dropping him. Gao Yellow gives Gao Polar’s jewel to Gao Blue and Gao Bear’s jewel to Gao White. They instruct Gao Shark and Gao Tiger to separate, and the two bears to combine in their place in order to form Gao King Double Knuckle. With increased strength, the Double Knuckle formation can block many attacks, and can use a series of heavy punches. The finisher, Bear Strike, happens when the two arms open their mouths and fire ice and fire blasts at the same time.

Gao King Double Knuckle (back) is a brute strength combo upgrade. His arms are huge muscled limbs with powerful boxing glove-like hands. Both arms can bend both forward and backwards to just under 45°. (They bend backwards because of the transformation process.) To fit with the elemental blasts that the Double Knuckle formation can shoot, PA-3 includes three fire- and ice-shaped projectiles for each. So, for Gao Polar, there is a large button on top of his head which opens his mouth vertically to expose a canon barrel inside. Then the projectile just snaps inside. Same with Gao Bear. The trigger buttons are located under their jaws. They actually have a good range on a flat surface of just over two-and-a-half feet! (Because it is slightly smaller, the ‘fire’ projectile always goes a few inches farther than it’s ‘ice’ counterpart.) PA-3 gives Gao King Double Knuckle a bit more bulk to it appearance wise than Gao Tiger and Gao Shark do, so it looks tougher when posed.

Unfortunately, the story does not end there...

Immediately after Cell Phone Orgu was destroyed, Gao King Double Knuckle suddenly and unexpectedly tore itself apart in a crackle of energy- throwing the GaoRanger from the cockpit and scattering the Power Animals across the city! Recovering from the fall, Gao Red then noticed that Gao Lion was feeling rather dejected and not looking so well. When he asked them what was wrong, Gao Polar and Gao Bear said that they would not allow Gao Lion to be above them, and disliked him for it. But- if the bears wouldn’t combine again with Gao King, what will they do next time they were needed...???

On a more personal note, I’d like to pass on my special thanks on to the owner of CollectionDX, Joshua Bernard. While in Japan at a toy fair in late Winter 06, he picked this set up for me as a gift, along with the lead DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken from the Super Sentai 30th Anniversary series “Gougou Sentai Boukenger”. Josh- you have my gratitude and many continuing thanks, man!

Gao Giraffe is an elegant, if somewhat arrogant, looking Power Animal. Standing just over 7 inches, he can easily overlook all of the others with his long silver legs and tall neck.

Gao--!

Over 1000 years ago, the demonic Orgu- soulless creatures created from the despair and hatred of humanity- fought a terrible war against humans. Side-by-side with the mighty Power Animals, the ancient Gao warriors were just able to defeat the Orgu generals, and drive them back into the deepest places on Earth. By 2001, the Orgu had slowly gathered their strength once more, thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the world. One by one, an Orgu left their domain known as the Matrix, and ascended to the surface to conquer and destroy, gaining power all the more in the name of their grand stone-encased Orgu Master. They usually took on the form of inanimate, non-living objects, such as streetlights, magnets, barbed wire, etc, and were recognizable by the long horn on their heads. On the mystical, turtle-shaped Sky-Island Animalium- "the highest paradise for animals"- the virginal Gao shrine priestess Tetomu and the surviving Power Animals have been searching for new modern warriors to counter the Orgu threat. Over the course of one year, five special people were plucked from their daily lives and chosen to secretly defend humanity from the darkness of its own heart- as the Hundred-Beast Taskforce GaoRanger!

“Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger” celebrated the 25th-series Anniversary of Super Sentai in 2001!

Power Animals are no different from those found in the wild today. They have only lived far longer, and can regenerate themselves much faster thanks to the power of the Earth which has been absorbed into them over the centuries. This has increased their defense, intelligence, and size as well. They are also capable of merging their bodies together to form incredible humanoid-shaped warriors which stand several stories tall, and have weapons & special powers granted to each. Kai Samezu (Gao Blue) is having a recurring nightmare in which the GaoRanger are fighting in Gao King against an unrecognized opponent. Gao King takes hit after hit, and cannot stay standing. As Gao King falls to the ground, the rangers are sent sprawling around the cockpit. Then he hears Tetomu’s voice, telling him to use the other one. “Other what?” he asks, as Kai wakes up in a cold sweat. The next day, the Boat Orgu begins to disrupt the peace at the nearby city docks. As the GaoRanger engage him, Gao Blue comes to realize how many of the images from his dream are becoming true. When the battle scales up and Gao King Sword and Shield is formed, Gao Blue becomes panicked, knowing what will happen next. Gao King does indeed fall, and Gao Blue’s Jūōken fall next to him without Gao Shark’s Gao Jewel in place. Suddenly, Gao Blue remembers something said in the dream- something about a ‘speckled spear’. Tetomu realizes that he is referring to another lost Power Animal! Gao Blue summons the PA, asking for its powers to help them. In the harbor where the Boat Orgu first appeared, an orange crane begins to move all by itself. Then suddenly it glows and changes into the lost Gao Giraffe!

Gao Giraffe (back) is an elegant, if somewhat arrogant, looking Power Animal. Standing just over 7.5 inches, he can easily overlook all of the others with his long silver legs and tall neck. He also has some angular brown spots all down his neck & back, and a thin silver row of fur. His neck is jointed at the base of his body, and snaps every few degrees. His head can free pivot side-to-side and up & down. His center of mass is just so so that he can lift one of his back legs and stand successfully on the other three, and when lowering his neck, this makes for a few limited poses. This stance certainly allows him to trip giant Orgu off their feet! Gao Giraffe is a right arm component PA, and forms the right arm of any combo.

For those of you wondering what the differences are between PA-2 Gao Giraffe from “Hyakujuu Sentai GaoRanger”, and its English-speaking counterpart, the Giraffe Wild Zord from “Power Rangers Wild Force”, there is only one big difference. The brown spots on the majority of the Giraffe Zord were not painted; only the black main body got any attention. Otherwise all moldings, colors, & die-cast metal were left intact. The Giraffe Zord was not released individually, but as one of five components in the Deluxe Isis Megazord set. Gao Giraffe, also, was released as part of a special release DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao Icarus set, but could alternately be obtained individually (as it is here), which it wasn’t for the “PR” release. For that matter, the Deluxe Isis Megazord never made it to American shores. It was, however, released in the UK.

As a stand alone, Gao Giraffe is just as nice as the other Power Animals so far. A little poseability in the neck helped make it interesting, and allowed it to emulate a real giraffe. I cannot find anything really wrong with it. The mouth not opening wasn’t an issue; Gao Giraffe is actually one of the very few DX Power Animals that didn’t have a poseable mouth. I still recommend it!

Sets required for combination:

• DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King (sold separately)
• PA-2 Gao Giraffe

Gao Giraffe- who had been communicating to Kai through his dreams- gifted Gao Blue with a new Gao Jewel to summon him. Placing Gao Giraffe’s jewel into his Jūōken, Gao Blue commanded Gao Shark to separate from Gao King and then pick-up Gao Giraffe. Gao Giraffe rode on Gao Shark’s back until they were near Gao King, and then Gao Giraffe transformed- attaching itself to Gao King to make it into Gao King Spear. The ‘speckled spear’ is able to penetrate an Orgu’s defenses with its flaming Neck Thrust finisher.

Gao King Spear (back) is a little more normal looking for an upgrade in weaponry. A long, straight orange arm with no joints of its own, there is actually an add-on needed to make the component, and that is the silver PVC spear head of the new right arm. The spear head fits snugly over Gao Giraffe’s head, anchored in place by the immobile mouth! In the show, the spear head is just silver, but when fired at an opponent, the spear head bursts into flames. Hence a smooth, transparent yellow crescent effect was added to the tip. Only Gao Giraffe’s ears and tiny antlers stick out. “Why PVC?” you ask. Well, there’s a small black button located at the base of Gao Giraffe’s neck. And when depressed, the spear head springs out along a 1½” die-cast metal shaft! This is the special action feature of Gao Giraffe. The extended shaft doesn’t move very fast, the spring isn’t too strong (it won’t hurt ya), and it doesn’t weigh that much, so Gao King Spear can be posed in any number of ways with it extended or closed.