In addition to the dozens of possible arm-swapping combinations, there is still untapped potential that was never used. And this left many people scratching their heads when the series ended in early 2007...

The Super Sentai saga- created and produced by Toei Company, Ltd. since 1975- celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2006! Every year for the past 31 years, a completely new Super Sentai [“special taskforce”] series had aired, with new characters, new villains, new storylines, and new mecha- creating a genre that has become generational in its appeal to of the island nation of Japan. In fact, some of the actors today who perform in a Super Sentai series were fans themselves when they were younger. Rarely does a franchise last for so long and succeed at being able to reinvent itself from year-to-year and continue to please fans of young and old; very few have been able to keep pace with it. It is filled with both drama and humor- with some hero characters actually dying or being replaced. And the villains- ranging from mad human scientists, buried demons, to invading space ninja aliens- are no less varied in personality, motives, and methods; aggressively attacking with carefully planned operations. Super Sentai was so popular that in 1983, “Kagaku Sentai Dynaman” was brought over to the USA Network as a dubbed comedic parody. Unfortunately, American audiences failed to stick with it. Saban Entertainment attempted to reintroduce Super Sentai to America as a children’s series in 1992 with “Choujin Sentai Jetman”, but failed with the younger test audience. Saban tried one more time the following year with a new version of “Kyoryu Sentai ZyuRanger”, and succeeded when the less-intense first season of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” became an instant hit with children 6-to-10yrs. While “Power Rangers” is based on the previous year’s Super Sentai show, it is a separate entity that will be celebrating its own 15th anniversary in 2007. Here are the Super Sentai that have come before:

The 2006 series- “Gougou Sentai Boukenger” [“Thundering Taskforce Adventure-Rangers”] - is a tribute to all that have come before, with old and new styles mixed together. For a more expanded explanation of Super Sentai, be sure to view this Wikipedia entry.

The Search Guard Successor museum organization (also known as SGS, or Sargess) has created a secret team to begin tracking down ancient artifacts that have been disappearing. With skills in treasure hunting/recovery, and their adventurous hearts, the Boukenger use their Accellular henshin devices to scan relics (called Precious) to discover their hazard levels and value. However, the many Negative Syndicates- the ancient stone Gordom Civilization, bio-engineered reptilian Jaryuu Clan, covert ninja Dark Shadow, and the converted biotech Questors- are also separately on the lookout for Precious to rule the world... or destroy it. The Precious are many, and they hold unknown power. Who will gain the most from them?

"Launch all Gougou Vehicles!"

Hasshin Shift On:
Dump, Formula, Gyro, Dozer, Marine, Drill, Shovel, Mixer, Crane, Jet, Fire, Aider, Police
Go! Go!

Hasshin Shift On:
Voyager- Unlock!
Go! Go!

Sets from the [standard] Gougou Vehicles line required for these combinations:

DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken

Gougou Gattai Vehicle #1- Gougou Drill

Gougou Gattai Vehicle #2- Gougou Shovel

Gougou Gattai Vehicle #3- Gougou Mixer

Gougou Gattai Vehicle #4- Gougou Crane

Gougou Gattai Vehicle #5- Gougou Jet

DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder

DX Chouzetsu Gougou Gattai DaiVoyager

These special alternative sets will fill some of the same requirements:

DX Chou Gougou Gattai Super DaiBouken (provides DX DaiBouken, Gougou Gattai Vehicle #1, ...#2, ...#3, and ...#4)

Gougou Gattai Vehicle #6- Gougou Fire

Gougou Gattai Vehicle #7- Gougou Aider and Gougou Police

...

[DX Daikenjin Zubaan is not a part of the Gougou Vehicle line despite the "DX" labeling of the toy. He is a +100,000year-old Precious from the long-lost Lemurian Civilization that was collected in Task 29 by the Boukenger. Therefor, he is not a part of any of these combinations.

--"Bon..."--

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... whatever.]

DaiBouken Drill and Shovel

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #1- Gougou Drill
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #2- Gougou Shovel

Gattai Shift On:
Drill, Shovel
Drill, Shovel- Power On!

In Task 6- “The Cursed Fog”, High Priest Gajah of the Gordom Civilization released a samurai-like Precious stone monster on the Boukenger. Its armor was very resistant to all but the strongest attacks. Through a small chip in his shoulder armor, they were able to defeat it once. However, Gajah revived the Precious as a giant. In this scaled up form, DaiBouken’s Gougou Sword could create little damage. Taking a chance with a possible power overload, Gougou Drill and Gougou Shovel were summoned to help. Taking the monster unexpectedly, the Boukenger quickly combined their seven Gougou Vehicles into DaiBouken Drill and Shovel. With the Shovel arm able to resist the monster’s sword, and the Drill arm able to penetrate its armor, they were able to successfully perform the combined Rising Penetration finisher- tossing the monster high into the air with the left arm, and then shattering it with the right.

DaiBouken Drill and Shovel (back) sounds a little strange, and it makes for an even stranger combo. The right arm features Gougou Drill as a big spear-like arm. On the other hand (or arm) is Gougou Shovel, which has that thin, skeleton-like appearance. Gougou Dozer and Gougou Marine Diver are repositioned behind the legs of DaiBouken Drill and Shovel to add balance and stability since two of the claws from Gougou Dump’s utility arms need to extend to make room for them. But since it’s a little more top heavy, this helps for the new variety of poses that the combo can make, and eliminates extra pieces from lying around all over the place.

DaiBouken Drill and Mixer

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #1- Gougou Drill
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #3- Gougou Mixer

Gattai Shift On:
Drill, Mixer
Drill, Mixer- Power On!

In Task 8- “The Treasure of Atlantis”, the multiple copies of Bouken Blue made by the shape-shifting Atlantean Precious have been disabled by Gougou Mixer’s Hyper Concrete. But the Precious quickly recovered, and rebuilt itself as an imperfect & pixel-like copy of the DaiBouken itself! Even though the real DaiBouken was formed, the Precious robot could take itself apart into tiny pieces and recombine at will to avoid damage. The Boukenger then formed DaiBouken Drill and Mixer to first immobilize it with the Wall Shoot attack, and then shatter it with the Final Break attack.

DaiBouken Drill and Mixer (back) is not all that bad except for that contorted left arm. Except this time, both arms have a spinning function. Gougou Mixer’s spinning petals can also be activated here just as it could be with the earlier DaiBouken Mixer. Gougou Dozer and Gougou Marine Diver are again repositioned behind the legs of DaiBouken Drill and Mixer to add balance and stability.

It should be noted that DaiBouken Drill and Mixer is a match to the handheld Bouken Weapon Dual Crusher cannon, of which the green Mixer Head and orange Drill Head match Gougou Drill and Gougou Mixer in appearance and function. (Not too surprisingly- but disappointing nonetheless- Gougou Shovel and Gougou Crane were not similarly represented in a scaled-down weapon; most likely because of their similar functions at grabbing/lifting things.)

DaiBouken Drill and Crane

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #1- Gougou Drill
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #4- Gougou Crane

Gattai Shift On:
Drill, Crane
Drill, Crane- Power On!

In Task 9- “The Paper Crane Ninja”, after the Dark Shadow monster had released the house (and the old woman within), it was time to finish him off. Quickly forming DaiBouken Drill and Crane, they fired the Wire Hook Punch at the monster, which circled around him on rockets and grabbed him from behind. Then, lifting him into the air, the right arm drill shattered him, completing the Lift-Up Strike finisher.

DaiBouken Drill and Crane (back) seems a little redundant compared to DaiBouken Drill and Shovel. As mentioned above, the hook-like arm can be extended and lowered like it does in the show [though not quite as long as it does in the show]. Also, like DaiBouken Drill and Mixer, the left arm seems incomplete or distorted, and the crane boom doesn’t look like an arm, but rather a mounted grappling hook. Gougou Dozer and Gougou Marine Diver are once more placed inside the legs of DaiBouken Drill and Crane to add balance and stability.

[This wired rocket/fist weapon is similar to those found on countless mecha from the various Gundam anime movies & series- such as the giant green AMX-002 Neue Ziel mobile armor from the OVA “Mobile Suit Gundam: 0083- Stardust Memory”]

DaiBouken Drill and Shovel, DaiBouken Drill and Mixer, and DaiBouken Drill and Crane are the only times where Gougou Dozer and Gougou Marine Diver are placed inside the legs when they swap arms. For other times and other combinations seen later, they seem to be absent; there is certainly no mention of them in the instructions after this. (Carefully watching footage from the show, the stunt suit used for DaiBouken in these instances seems to confirm that the two smaller Gougou Vehicles don’t appear in the legs.)

Siren Builder Drill and Shovel

Sets required for this combination:

• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #1- Gougou Drill
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #2- Gougou Shovel
• DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder

Gattai Shift On:
Drill, Shovel
Drill, Shovel- Power On!

In Task 22- “The Ring of Solomon”, after three of the Boukenger had been changed into animals by a Dark Shadow monster’s magic, they scale up the fight, and both Ultimate DaiBouken and Siren Builder are activated. When Ultimate DaiBouken tries to attack from the air, the monster creates a giant snake to drag it back down; which then turns into chains to hold it fast! He even deflects Siren Builder’s Triple Liquid Bomber with a simple paper umbrella! With a moment of clarity, Bouken Pink instructs Bouken Silver to take control of Ultimate DaiBouken’s arms in order to form Siren Builder Drill and Shovel. With the arms changed, Bouken Silver finishes the monster off with the Double Arms Liquid Bomber- an energized swipe from the Shovel arm, an energized crash from the Drill arm, and then blowing him away with the heavy water cannon bullets.

Siren Builder Drill and Shovel (back), unlike DaiBouken Drill and Shovel, seems a little more in proportion with Gougou Drill and Gougou Shovel in place of the dainty Gougou Aider and Gougou Police. It also adds a bit to the rescue theme of Siren Builder- being able to drill and dig towards something. (This combo’d be great for creating a big swimming pool or a small lake, folks.) But because Siren Builder is more limited in the articulation department than DaiBouken, posing it is restricted to just the shoulder joints, and Gougou Shovel’s extra vehicle mode joints.

So, what happens to Gougou Aider and Gougou Police when Siren Builder isn’t using them...?

Ultimate DaiBouken Aider and Police

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #3- Gougou Mixer
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #4- Gougou Crane
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #5- Gougou Jet
• DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder

Gattai Shift On:
Dump, Formula, Gyro, Dozer, Marine, Drill, Shovel, Mixer, Crane Jet
Ultimate Formation!
Aider, Police- Power On!

When Siren Builder Drill and Shovel was created to deal with the Dark Shadow monster in Task 22, Ultimate DaiBouken was still chained in place. So, not wanting to be left armless, Gougou Aider and Gougou Police were attached to it to form Ultimate DaiBouken Aider and Police. Alas, this combo saw no action with the monster...

Ultimate DaiBouken Aider and Police (back) does not look good in this DX format. (Ya just have to guess that someone complained about this when it was brought up in pre-production stages, but were ignored...) If Gougou Aider and Gougou Police normally look weak on the DX Siren Builder, this is worse. It looks much better on-screen; I’ll just leave it at that...

Siren Builder Drill and Mixer

Sets required for this combination:

• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #1- Gougou Drill
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #3- Gougou Mixer
• DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder

Gattai Shift On:
Drill, Mixer
Drill, Mixer- Power On!

In Task 28- ”The Legendary Armor”, the Questors test-run their new Questor Robo Elite on the Gougou Vehicles. Though it receives only minor damage and then retreat, it proves successful offensively against the Boukenger mecha. Discovering that the Questors plan to steal the Legendary Armor- a suit of samurai armor that is supposedly indestructible- Bouken Black goes out alone (and without his malfunctioning Accellular) and steals a map from them to find the armor. Unfortunately, the Questors have made repairs to the Questor Robo Elite, and they take the Legendary Armor and transfer it to their mecha to make it unstoppable. With Bouken Black’s Accellular now repaired, all of the Gougou Vehicles are launched (except for Gougou Jet, which was damaged earlier). From the start, Super DaiBouken and Siren Builder have no effect on the Questor Robo Elite’s invincible armor. Figuring out earlier that the Questor mecha had not been damaged, but rather had overheated, Bouken Black proposes a battle of attrition to wear the mecha down. Breaking down into DaiBouken and the individual Gougou Gattai Vehicles, the Boukenger swarm and attack en mass. A flurry of combinations are used throughout this battle. When DaiBouken Shovel is knocked back, Siren Builder Drill and Mixer- the first new combo seen here- attacks from behind.

Siren Builder Drill and Mixer (back), in this episode, gets plenty of action, but it is reduced to more-or-less clubbing and punching attacks, so no special attack is seen. Nothing special here; just swapping the Shovel arm for the Mixer arm. Posing is, again, limited, but the Mixer arm’s [‘flower-power’] Wall Shoot feature is still accessible.

[It should be noted that DaiBouken Crane actually makes its first appearance here in Task 28 rather than before DaiBouken Drill and Crane earlier on like the others did! For more information on this, please see the review of Gougou Gattai Vehicle #4- Gougou Crane.]

Siren Builder Dozer and Marine

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken
• DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder

Gattai Shift On:
Dozer, Marine
Dozer, Marine- Power On!

Towards the end of the battle in Task 28, after DaiBouken has removed the Legendary Armor from the Questor Robo Elite and put it into storage, Bouken Silver rearms Siren Builder (literally!) with the unused Gougou Dozer and Gougou Marine Diver to form Siren Builder Dozer and Marine. This gives it access to the Gougou Sword and its associated Adventure Drive finisher, which it uses on the motionless, overheated, and under-armored Questor Robo Elite.

Siren Builder Dozer and Marine (back), is, again, a very poor and weak combination for the DX toy version of the SGS Rescue mecha. The only advantage here is that Siren Builder now has access to the only hands in the Gougou Vehicle line that can actually grip anything- specifically the Gougou Sword, or the separated Gou Picker and Gou Scooper accessories.

DaiBouken Aider and Police

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken
• DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder

Gattai Shift On:
Aider, Police
Aider, Police- Power On!

Finally in Task 28, DaiBouken Crane is changed into DaiBouken Aider and Police to give it an offensive punch to finish off the severely-weakened Questor Robo Elite with its inherited Knuckle Vulcans attack.

DaiBouken Aider and Police (back), unlike previous double-arm swapping, does not carry Gougou Dozer and Gougou Marine Diver in the legs. Since this is the last new DaiBouken-oriented combo seen in the series, they aren’t really needed for balance like they were previously with the Gougou Gattai Vehicles. But it’s easy to understand this- Gougou Aider and Gougou Police are only slightly larger than DaiBouken’s regular arms! While they only slightly bulk up DaiBouken’s arms, the lack of function in both Gougou Aider and Gougou Police makes for a simplified appearance, even more-so when using the Knuckle Vulcans attack! The wide spacing of DaiBouken’s upper torso, also plays a factor here, making the shoulder joints appear really thin and weak.

Voyager DaiBouken

Sets required for this combination:

• DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken
• DX Chouzetsu Gougou Gattai DaiVoyager

"Riding Formation"

"Boarding Complete!"

In Task 37- “The Highly-Sought Entertainment World”, the Boukenger track an ancient Indian Precious called the Stone of Prosperity to a famous Japanese actor who ignorantly-but-proudly wears it on a giant ring. The problem is, every one hundred years, the Stone reacts to the air around it, and violently explodes- taking out everything within kilometers of the blast! Bouken Pink (former JSDF special-forces officer Sakura Nishihori) poses as the actor’s manager in order to get close enough to it to swap it for a fake ring and then neutralize the explosion of the real one. After three days of near-unbearable stress in the baffling and confusing, yet-highly-sought entertainment world, Sakura (now posing as the young “idol” host of a talk show) manages to get the ring- only to find that it, too, is a fake! The real ring is kept in a safe for only special occasions! Meanwhile, the other Boukenger discover than a Jaryuu disguised as the film company’s adorable pink dinosaur-like mascot Denbe-kun (remind you of any silly purple & green dinosaurs ‘round here, kids?), is nearby, also looking for the Stone. Sakura finds the real ring in the hands of the fake Denbe, swaps it for the fake, and neutralizes the Stone... with only one second to spare! After the six assembled Boukenger drive back Denbe (and Bouken Pink single-handedly destroys him with the Dual Crusher!), King Ryuuon arrives to make him a giant. Even with his cute fuzzy scimitar, Denbe is quickly disarmed by DaiBouken. Preparing the Adventure Drive finisher, Ryuuon unexpectedly grows dozens of regular Jaryuu grunts to giant size to punish the Boukenger for stopping him from obtaining the Stone. Surrounded and outnumbered, Gougou Voyager (piloted by Bouken Silver alone) appears and destroys many of the Jaryuu grunts. Then, DaiBouken jumps onto it to create Voyager DaiBouken! The multiple cannons of Gougou Voyager destroy the Jaryuu, while DaiBouken performs the Riding Adventure Drive on the deceptively-cute Denbe.

Voyager DaiBouken (back) explains a bit- why the DX Chouzetsu Gougou Gattai DaiVoyager is so big! It’s big so that DaiBouken can stand on it! The feet of DaiBouken snap into the latches located on Gougou Voyager’s amidships section (aka DaiVoyager’s upper legs). So now, DaiVoyager enters into the category of carrier mecha for the “Boukenger” series. Though this adds a level of interactiveness to the otherwise boring-yet-expensive DX DaiVoyager, it still seems a bit disappointing. While the standard posing is possible, I played around a bit and found a way to make DaiBouken a little more flexible in this form. Why couldn’t some of the other Gougou Vehicles and mecha (like Siren Builder) combine with it? Oh, and don’t turn Voyager DaiBouken upside down- the latches don’t hold that well...

I should mention that Zubaan was later utilized with Voyager DaiBouken in the series to perform the Super Riding Adventure Drive finisher... though the DX toys cannot possibly do this! (Would’ve been nice if Bandai had made a to-scale, non-transforming version of Zubaan’s Golden Sword mode for DX DaiBouken to hang on to...)

If you wanna get really cute about it, you could say that Voyager DaiBouken is the second ten-part combination ever seen in Super Sentai history, behind the true record-breaking Kyuukyoku Gougou Gattai Ultimate DaiBouken ultra-combo... (If you’re wondering why I’m skeptical about that, just read further down towards the end of my review for the DX DaiVoyager.)

[I was hesitant to mention the second Bouken Formation seen in both Task 40 and 42 here because it is a primary mecha even though it is only seen twice. (Well, three times if you count its first “official” appearance in “Gougou Sentai Boukenger: The Movie- Saikyo no Precious”...) So, for more information on this, please see the review of the Boukenger combination- Gougou Gattai DaiTanken!]

DaiVoyager Drill and Shovel

Sets required for this combination:

• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #1- Gougou Drill
• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #2- Gougou Shovel
• DX Chouzetsu Gougou Gattai DaiVoyager

Gattai Shift On:
Drill, Shovel
Drill, Shovel- Power On!

In Task 43- “The Dangerous Christmas Present”, Santa-chanyoung woman with a red miniskirt!) When High Priest Gaja learns about this, he manages to steal a special emblem from the sensitive, absent-minded and forgetful Santa and Satorin (Santa-chan’s pet name for Satoru/Bouken Red as he helps to find the Precious) and release the power of the stone Golem. Legend has it that Santa Claus (the same one as miniskirt Santa?) gave the Golem to the people of Bohemia in the 16th Century as a guardian, but then it went out of control and destroyed the country! After the Golem is awakened, it proves how strong it is, even against the Dual Crusher, and grows to giant size and begins demolishing the city around it! While Siren Builder distracts and restrains the Golem, the Boukenger need to etch away a written character on the head of it in order to make it dormant again. However, DaiVoyager’s big fists aren’t designed for such accurate hits. And so the excavating abilities of Gougou Drill and Gougou Shovel are harnessed to form DaiVoyager Drill and Shovel. It uses its Drill Attack to first disable the Golem and then scrape away the symbol on its head, which destroys the Precious at sunset.

DaiVoyager Drill and Shovel (back), was, like, a really bad idea for the toy to recreate. Looks good on-screen, not on-tabletop. With DaiVoyager so big compared to all the others DX mecha, it’s just impossible to accept these [relatively] tiny arms on such a monstrous mecha! I’m glad they only did it once on the show, but DaiVoyager was enough of a mess to not need this! DaiVoyager Drill and Shovel also loses the spinning Adventure Double Screw feature that Gougou Fighter and Gougou Roader gave it. This is the only official limb-swapping combination involving DaiVoyager.

(Honestly, I thought Gougou Crane would have worked better on the toy with Gougou Drill. But that’s just me...) Well, at least the Boukenger got a snow-filled Christmas for their efforts... And Satorin- uh, I mean Satoru- got a date with the miniskirt Santa for next year!

[Trivia point: Santa-chan/Eve was played by Rina Akiyama, who would go on in 2007 to play the waitress/custodian Naomi aboard the time-traveling high-speed train DenLiner in “Kamen Rider Den-O”! And she also previously appeared in “Kamen Rider AGITO” (2001) as Mana Kazaya. (The Kamen Rider™ franchise, like the Super Sentai saga, is also made/produced by the three-company cooperative of Toei Co. Ltd., Bandai, & PLEX.) Throughout “Boukenger”, there were many such cameos, including many Super Sentai alumni!]

Siren Builder Crane

Sets required for this combination:

• Gougou Gattai Vehicle #4- Gougou Crane
• DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder

Gattai Shift On:
Crane
Crane- Power On!

In Task 45- “The Most Evil Jaakuryuu”, Zubaan and Siren Builder take on a dangerous, arrogant, powered-up Jaryuu Clan Jaakuryuu Dagaogin while the five Boukenger engage King Ryuuon to prevent him from stealing a powerful dark Precious. When Zubaan falls back initially, Siren Builder blocks him from taking more damage from Dagaogin. A few minutes later, we see Siren Builder with Gougou Crane already attached as its left arm, which forms Siren Builder Crane. In this form, not only does Bouken Silver have access to the Wire Hook Punch attack from the Crane arm, but he also used the Knuckle Vulcan in the Police arm’s fist to punch & blast Dagaogin at point-blank range. Zubaan then finished off the Jaryuu Clan monster with a series of fast, energized kicks.

Siren Builder Crane (back) was used to surprisingly-good effect in the episode even if it only appeared for a minute. The Wire Hook Punch flew out, wrapped around Dagaogin, and then drew him in closer to Siren Builder Crane so that it could shoot him with the Knuckle Vulcan. Creepy...

It should be noted that this is the only limb-swap to have a single arm changed-out while involving a mecha other than DaiBouken. It is also the only time that Siren Builder Crane is seen.

...

This marks the end of the official combos seen in “Gougou Sentai Boukenger”. But there are a few others that need to be mentioned....

During the run of “Boukenger”, Bandai listed several combos on their website that did not appear in the show:

• DaiBouken Shovel and Crane- If you haven’t noticed by now, whenever DaiBouken and Siren Builder have two arms swapped involving just the Gougou Gattai Vehicles, Gougou Drill is always involved, and always acts as the right arm of the combo. (Why? I don’t know. There are a lot of things I’d like to ask the designers of the Gougou Vehicle line...) Now, obviously, the DX toys can be rearranged however you like. DaiBouken Shovel and Crane is one of these double-arm combos not involving Gougou Drill. (Some wondered why we didn’t see a ------------ Mixer and Crane swap to counter the “---------- Drill and Shovel” combos seen so many times on the show, but it never happened for whatever odd reason.) In this case, Gougou Shovel finally serves as a right arm component opposite Gougou Crane in place of its pointed orange competitor...
• Ultimate DaiBouken Fighter and Roader- Basically, the arms of DaiVoyager swapped with Ultimate DaiBouken’s. The motorized function of the Adventure Double Screw wouldn’t have been available, but Ultimate DaiBouken would have gotten a huge pair of arms in return with a pair of Voyager Cannon turrets to boot! (This I would like to have seen on-screen! I would certainly have liked it more that the stubby-armed Ultimate DaiBouken Aider and Police!)
• Siren Builder Roader- This would have been different because it would have only involved two Gougou Vehicles in the combination- Gougou Fire and Gougou Roader. Still, the rescue motif would have been kinda torn apart by this look. Kinda looked like a weird gorilla or somethin’... (Not so sure I would have liked this one.)

These next two show yet more cracks in the designs of the Gougou Vehicle line. They are official combinations since they are specifically mentioned in the instructions of the associated toys, but they were just never seen on-screen.

• DaiBouken Buster Mode- Notice that all of the Gougou Gattai Vehicles except for Gougou Jet are featured singly with DaiBouken (and Siren Builder, when counting its “...Crane” formation), so you get DaiBouken Drill, DaiBouken Shovel, DaiBouken Mixer, and DaiBouken Crane, right? So, what happened to Gougou Jet’s single combo? You couldn’t have a flying combo because Gougou Jet’s attachment points are on DaiBouken’s chest. DaiBouken Buster Mode (back) is the answer. Gougou Jet forms a pair of large cannons attached to the chest of DaiBouken! However, Ultimate DaiBouken’s head/Gougou Jet’s nose section is used because Gougou Gyro is needed again to keep the two plastic straps around DaiBouken’s waist secured in back. (Same thing is done for Ultimate DaiBouken.) The chest of Ultimate DaiBouken then mounts onto the back of the upper torso. This is also the only occasion where DaiBouken’s legs are required to be adjusted to compensate for the forward shift in weight. The arms could still swing around, but twisting them forwards gives it the appearance of holding on to the barrels of the Buster Mode when firing. (‘Cheating’ with the elbows by bending them inwards helps a bit, too.) That would have been a heck of a finisher to see!
• Siren Builder Jet- This was actually one of my complaints in my DX Siren Builder review. The small platform on the back of Siren Builder (some jokingly referred to in online fan communities as its “butt guard”) folds upwards, and then Gougou Jet attaches just like it does on DaiBouken Buster Mode/Ultimate DaiBouken. The paired straps wrap around Siren Builder’s waist, and then a light gray panel under the chest flips down and locks over the belt buckle area in the same way that Gougou Gyro would. Now the problem with Siren Builder Jet (back) is that the wings hang so low on it! Though it is certainly understandable that it’s done in this way in order for that chest panel to be useful. The ‘butt guard’ could also have been about ¼” shorter to bring the wings closer to the body and not leave such a gap there. Or, perhaps Gougou Jet could have attached directly to the battery compartment on Siren Builder’s upper torso with a little redesigning. (This combo would certainly have shortened Siren Builder Jet’s response time in an emergency!)

This last one is debated as to whether-or-not it fits the canon of the series. Throughout the run of “Gougou Sentai Boukenger”, the principle cast would point out highlights in Super Sentai history at the end of each episode - at first providing abbreviated summaries of each series starting with “GoRanger” in 1975 and then ending with themselves thirty episodes later. (They also did a brief intro for the upcoming series, “Juuken Sentai GekiRanger”, in the series finale!) After this line of series’ summaries, they went on to point-out highlights such as anti-/evil Sentai forces, first combining mecha, weapons, and others.

Well, at the end of Task 37, the topic is the Seven Piece Gattai- mentioning only the Kyuukyoku Daizyujin from “ZyuRanger” (the first Ultrazord, “MMPR”-1) and Juukou Kiden from “DaiRanger” (Thunder Ultrazord, “MMPR”-2) as the largest combinations in Super Sentai history. When the gathered Boukenger notice that Ultimate DaiBouken has ten components, Akashi (Bouken Red) immediately comes over the comm and proudly says he’s found a twelve-part combination! While it isn’t named in the short segment, the combination (back) is Ultimate DaiBouken with Gougou Aider and Gougou Police attached to Gougou Jet’s shoulder joints. Now, you couldn’t call this Ultimate DaiBouken Aider and Police because, well... that name’s already been taken! And according to the system of names given, I can’t find an alternative name for it that would fit! But, you can do it with the DX version! (I will say that those two Gougou Vehicles look very sturdy on that Ultimate DaiBouken stunt-suit; makes me wonder if this wasn’t another lost potential combo that just wasn’t used...)

Finally, in addition to the dozens of possible arm-swapping combinations, there is still untapped potential that was never used. But this left many people scratching their heads when the series ended in early 2007. Questions that were never answered:

• What function did the holes on the heels of DaiTanken (located under Gougou Mixer and Gougou Crane’s cockpits) serve? They were of similar size to the ones on the bottom of Patrol Gyro and Patrol Trailer from the DX Tokusou Gattai DekaRanger Robo from “DekaRanger” (Deluxe Delta Squad Megazord from “PR S.P.D.”, 2005), but in that case they served as mounting points for the hands of the Super DekaRanger Robo (Delta-Max Megazord) combo.
• What function did this little pitching light on Gougou Shovel serve? There is nothing extraneous on these toys, yet it exists as a moving part. Why? There are two larger light fixtures on either side of the arm, but they don’t move.
• As with the pitching light on Gougou Shovel, Gougou Drill’s back tractor assemblies can snap-rotate around 180°, but in the show, they are only seen turning downwards 90° so that Gougou Drill can begin, well- drilling into the ground. Were they supposed to move out of the way for something else to lock onto it? And if they were there only to turn the drill bit downwards, why then can they rotate all the way back?
• Molded onto the outside of DaiBouken’s lower legs, just below the knee joints, are a pair of red tabs which remain unused throughout the entire series. There is nothing in the Gougou Vehicle line which is designed to snap in that fashion, and the Gou Picker and Gou Scooper don’t use them when it’s in Gougou Trailer mode.
• Oh, yeah- that reminds me: we only saw DaiBouken’s third mode- Gougou Trailer- once: in the very beginning of the series, just before the opening credits ran! Only other time it’s seen is in the opening credits, and that’s just the same footage from the series debut! Why even bother to bring it up or show it if it’s not going to be used in the series!? The same thing happened to the third mode of the DX Hyakujuu Gattai Gao King from “GaoRanger” (Deluxe Wild Force Megazord from “PR Wild Force”), but in that case, they didn’t show it at all!
• Perhaps the biggest mystery was all the extra joints of those black ABS plastic straps on Gougou Jet. While they only accommodate either DaiBouken’s waist in the series (and Siren Builder’s, as mentioned above), the DX version can twist and even bend in ways that cannot be explained. Even when accommodating the accessory platform for the Gougou Vehicles included in Gougou Jet’s box, they are even simpler to operate then than they have explanations for! Unless [like the limb-swapping concept originated with the Power Animals line in 2001] PLEX was planning way in advance for the future and wanted the Gougou Vehicle line to be compatible with other non-Super Sentai toys, I can’t see why they did it.

[Special thanks to my little Mini-con repaint friend here- “Transformers: Cybertron™” Autobot Tankor- for helping me point the small things out... ^_^ ]

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the Gougou Vehicle line from the 2006 series “Gougou Sentai Boukenger” was fun, but not the greatest. Certainly, I do not believe it was worthy of being the representative line for the 30th-Anniversary Super Sentai series. There was more confusion about it than necessarily retro/old-school Super Sentai about it as it was intended to be. They also broke the adventure/treasure hunting theme of the series when they gave us the bulky DX DaiVoyager. The line was too gimmicky for its own good- much as how people felt about the Power Animals line in “GaoRanger” for the 25th-Anniversary series in 2001. It started out okay, but never recovered or excelled in any way that hadn’t been done already in some way or other. The show itself was good- it’s just that the mecha designs is where it falters the most.

I’ll hang on to what I have, but I’m not entirely confident that I got back what I paid for.

...

Heh- in a way, DX Zubaan was, in my opinion, probably the best of them all... and he wasn't even a Gougou Vehicle!

--"Zun-zun! Zubaan!"--

For a name which means "Transcendental Thundering Combination Great-Voyager" in Japanese, I would have expected something a bit more, oh I don't know- transcending from Bandai and PLEX.

Two (2) C-size batteries are required to operate electronic motorized feature, and should be replaced by a responsible adult.

Some of the moving parts could lightly pinch or trap clothing or skin, so adult supervision is suggested but may not be required.

The Super Sentai saga- created and produced by Toei Company, Ltd. since 1975- celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2006! Every year for the past 31 years, a completely new Super Sentai [“special taskforce”] series had aired, with new characters, new villains, new storylines, and new mecha- creating a genre that has become generational in its appeal to of the island nation of Japan. In fact, some of the actors today who perform in a Super Sentai series were fans themselves when they were younger Rarely does a franchise last for so long and succeed at being able to reinvent itself from year-to-year and continue to please fans of young and old; very few have been able to keep pace with it. It is filled with both drama and humor- with some hero characters actually dying or being replaced. And the villains- ranging from mad human scientists, buried demons, to invading space ninja aliens- are no less varied in personality, motives, and methods; aggressively attacking with carefully planned operations. Super Sentai was so popular that in 1983, “Kagaku Sentai Dynaman” was brought over to the USA Network as a dubbed comedic parody. Unfortunately, American audiences failed to stick with it. Saban Entertainment attempted to reintroduce Super Sentai to America as a children’s series in 1992 with “Choujin Sentai Jetman”, but failed with the younger test audience. Saban tried one more time the following year with a new version of “Kyoryu Sentai ZyuRanger”, and succeeded when the less-intense first season of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” became an instant hit with children 6-to-10yrs. While “Power Rangers” is based on the previous year’s Super Sentai show, it is a separate entity that will be celebrating its own 15th anniversary in 2007. Here are the Super Sentai that have come before:

The 2006 series- “Gougou Sentai Boukenger” [“Thundering Taskforce Adventure-Rangers”] - is a tribute to all that have come before, with old and new styles mixed together. For a more expanded explanation of Super Sentai, be sure to view this Wikipedia entry.

The Search Guard Successor museum organization (also known as SGS, or Sargess) has created a secret team to begin tracking down ancient artifacts that have been disappearing. With skills in treasure hunting/recovery, and their adventurous hearts, the Boukenger use their Accellular henshin devices to scan relics (called Precious) to discover their hazard levels and value. However, the many Negative Syndicates- the ancient stone Gordom Civilization, bio-engineered reptilian Jaryuu Clan, covert ninja Dark Shadow, and the converted biotech Questors- are also separately on the lookout for Precious to rule the world... or destroy it. The Precious are many, and they hold unknown power. Who will gain the most from them?

In Task 33- “The Sun of Lemuria”, Natsuki (Bouken Yellow) finally learns the secret of her life before becoming a Boukenger, her only clues having been the small silver bracelet around her wrist, and where her friend Masumi (Bouken Black) found her deep inside a cave while he was searching alone for Precious before they became Boukenger. The two Questors, Gai and Rei, have teamed-up with King Ryuuon of the Jaryuu Clan to find a powerful Precious that once belong to the long-lost Lemuria Civilization over 100,000 years ago in the southeastern Pacific. The two Questors kidnap Natsuki and Masumi, and reveal her true existence to her- her legacy as the last Lemurian princess, Irina! Natsuki, assisted by the Questors, undergoes a radical change, and resumes her previous identity, allowing the two Negative Syndicates to gain control of the Sun of Lemuria. This Precious, with amazing, near-unlimited energies within it, would allow the lost Lemurian Civilization to rise up once more, and conquer the world through the revitalized Lemurian princess! But when Masumi tries to break the Questors’ brainwashing on Irina, Daikenjin Zubaan (himself a Precious from Lemuria) defects from the Boukenger and guards the Lemurian princess as was his duty thousands of years earlier. Now equipped with the Sun of Lemuria, which surpasses even the Gordom/Anti-Parallel Engine, Ryuuon installs the Precious into his new giant DaiJaryuu Grand built by both himself and the Questors. In addition to the dozens of guns all over its body, its immense bays store hundreds of flying DaiJaryuu. With an enlarged Zubaan now defending the Sun of Lemuria within Grand, they swiftly disable both Siren Builder and Ultimate DaiBouken. Bouken Red, Bouken Pink, and Bouken Blue are thrown from their cockpits and fall into the sea. “I win”, boasts Ryuuon. But suddenly, a great vessel rises out of the sea, lifting the three Boukenger high into the air...

“This is?”
“A new enemy?”
“No. This is...”

“What?”

“Everyone. Inside hurry!”
“Makino-sensei.”

“Damn Boukenger! They still have mecha like that? But it’s no match for me!”

Hasshin Shift On:
Voyager- Unlock!

Go! Go!

Time to haul out the big guns-!

Gougou Voyager is a massive battleship dressed in dark navy blue, light gray, silver, and a little white. It is equipped with a full array of four triple-barrel cannon turrets on the bow, and eighteen smaller two-barrel anti-aircraft turrets on the stern (nine per side). According to Makino-sensei in Task 34, Gougou Voyager was developed and built by a different team than the ones who designed Gougou Vehicles 01-13. But because it was so powerful, it was thought that it was a little too over-the-top at the time. And so Gougou Vehicles 01-13 were developed as a scaled-down alternative, and then Gougou Voyager was put into storage for future use even though SGS had no intention of launching it. SGS did not assign a Gougou Vehicle number to it either, but it can be considered the prototype design for the others. However, when both Ultimate Daibouken and Siren Builder were disabled at the same time, the massive battleship was launched. Because of the unexpected rush to get Gougou Voyager into the field, there was not enough time to complete the installation of the Neo-Parallel Engines into it to make it immune to the effects of Gordom Engines and the Questors’ own Anti-Parallel Engines. Later in the next episode, the modifications were completed.

(I’m gonna cover this one a little different than I usually do, and I’ll explain why later on.)

Gougou Voyager (back) is a bit confusing. In the show, it debuts as a sea-going battleship, and half of it looks like one. The bridge superstructure is located aft of the center, and has several tiers of wide brown-painted windscreens. On either side of the bridge is a set of large wide light gray PVC sensor arrays, paired with some smaller ones lower down on the structure. On the main body bellow the bridge are eighteen (18) anti-aircraft defensive turrets, nine on each side. However, the turrets are fixed in one position perpendicular to the vessel. Forward are four three-barrel cannon turrets which can rotate more than 90°, but snap lightly at every 45°. The prow of Gougou Voyager is pointed, with a wide sweeping edge traveling backwards which is painted silver, and just ahead of amidships is a roll bar-style structure with a gold-painted line and two silver winglets. From half way above where it rests, Gougou Voyager resembles a typical sea-based battleship. However, below the waterline, it more resembles a land-based battleship... Directly below the bow are two light gray cylindrical wheels which resemble oil drums. Buried beneath the roll-bar amidships is a huge, thick wheel with a thin black ABS tire; this thing is just over 1 ½” wide, and about 3 ½” in diameter! There are two more identical wheels located just behind and below the bridge superstructure, between the AA turrets. And then, to make things interesting, there are 20 smaller black ABS, ten on each side, and six of each of those flanking the larger wheels in back. (The funny thing about the 20 wheels is that, on a hard, flat surface, they don’t touch the ground; only the three big 3 ½” wheels do.)

To see a small QuickTime movie of Gougou Voyager’s sensor arrays turning, click here!

To see a small QuickTime movie of Gougou Voyager rolling along under motorized power, click here!

(A little trivia- the arrays on the toy twist in the opposite direction than they do on the show. J)

In Task 34- “Distant Memories”, the ancient Lemuria princess Irina is successfully changed back into Natsuki when the Questors’ mind-altering effect is interrupted. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen soon enough, and King Ryuuon was able to convince Princess Irina to give a good share of her own life-force over to the Sun of Lemuria to raise it to full power; and then he reinstalled it into the DaiJaryuu Grand. While Bouken Silver and Zubaan (still protecting the Lemuria princess, who is aligned with the Boukenger once more) distract the Questors, the five Boukenger get into Gougou Voyager and launch against Ryuuon in Grand. Even though Grand is able to create fortified walls and defensive turrets out of thin air, Gougou Voyager just bashes right though them. Then, Makino-sensei comes over the comm...

“Everyone. Gougou Voyager still has many features.”
“Alright. Here’s the main performance!”
“Let’s go on a little adventure!”
“Chouzetsu Gougou Gattai”

Gattai Shift On:
Voyager Formation!

DaiVoyager (back), honestly, is big; standing 13 ¾” tall and weighing over four pounds. (For a DX Super Sentai set, let alone a combining one, that is heavy!) Like the DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder before it, DaiVoyager’s legs are fused together, except that these don’t move one little bit except for the variously-sized wheels on it, and those play no part of its humanoid form. The four tail-like structures on the back of Gougou Voyager are made of PVC, and do not move either when it is converted to DaiVoyager. The face is actually hidden beneath a transparent plastic shield, and during the conversion rotates into view. The arms are thick, fat limbs with the bow of Gougou Voyager separating to fit on either side of them. The oil drum-like wheels on the front of Gougou Voyager become two large boxing glove-like hands for DaiVoyager, and can spin easily 360° at the wrists. (More on that later.) The four main cannon turrets of Gougou Voyager become useless here as they all orient downwards by default and can only roll side-to-side. All four can pop-off if too much stress is applied. On the back side, the battery compartment- located on the back of the upper legs- can be reached, as well as the transmission toggle switch behind the [now] now shoulder; the ON/Off switch is still accessible on the [now] left thigh. Also visible from directly behind DaiVoyager’s head is the small tab that fits into the small rotating slot (between DaiVoyager’s knees) that allows for the two sensor arrays to rotate when in Gougou Voyager mode. But because of how the top of the upper torso is designed, the arrays cannot turn all the way around in this mode.

To see a small QuickTime movie of DaiVoyager’s Adventure Double Screw attack, click here!

“Commander!”
“Carrier!”
“Fighter!”
“Attacker!”
“Roader!”

Gougou Voyager is composed of five individual Gougou Vehicle components:

Gougou Vehicle #14- Gougou Commander (back)- a small flying Gougou Vehicle, commanded by Bouken Red. Depending on its four small wings and better agility to avoid ground fire, it can stay suspended over the battlefield for extended amounts of time, coordinating other Gougou Vehicles to defeat Negative Syndicates. Gougou Commander forms the bridge superstructure of Gougou Voyager, and the head of DaiVoyager.

Gougou Vehicle #15- Gougou Carrier (back)- the largest Gougou Vehicle ever made, commanded by Bouken Black. While nowhere near as fast or agile as Bouken Black’s regular ride, Gougou Formula, it can act as a moving blockade, backed-up by the 18 anti-aircraft turrets along the back sides of it. Gougou Carrier forms the main structure of Gougou Voyager, and the body and legs of DaiVoyager.

Gougou Vehicle #16- Gougou Fighter (back)- a medium-sized flying Gougou Vehicle, commanded by Bouken Blue. This Gougou Vehicle is faster, more agile, more heavily armed, and has far thicker armor than Gougou Gyro; matched, perhaps, only by the larger Gougou Jet. Gougou Fighter forms the prow of Gougou Voyager, and part of the arms of DaiVoyager.

Gougou Vehicle #17- Gougou Attacker (back)- another medium-sized flying Gougou Vehicle, commanded by Bouken Yellow. Designed to act more as a high altitude bomber rather than an air-superiority fighter, it makes slower runs, but can cause more widespread damage to the target area. Gougou Attacker forms part of the bow & forward structure of Gougou Voyager, and the chest & forward lower torso of DaiVoyager.

Gougou Vehicle #18- Gougou Roader (back)- the other heavy ground-based (and last-numbered) Gougou Vehicle, commanded by Bouken Pink. Lacking significant weapons of its own, it can act as a faster, heavily armored land decoy, and assist in penetrating fortified gates and barriers with its brute strength. Gougou Roader forms the bow of Gougou Voyager, and the arms & fists of DaiVoyager.

Gougou Vehicles 14-18 have a very different feel to them from all of the other sets. Instead of being practical machines based on real construction vehicles (or in the case of Siren Builder, emergency vehicles) they are designed only to conform to the needs of either Gougou Voyager or DaiVoyager. They seem almost like afterthoughts of PLEX and Bandai- ‘Instead of one big robot that can transform into a battleship, let’s divide the whole into five parts.’ In fact, Gougou Roader is perhaps the only one of the five that could really fit in with the construction/emergency vehicle theme in 2006, as a steamroller- featuring the large, thick single wheel in front (divided into two here). It is also just about equal in size to Gougou Vehicle #01- Gougou Dump from the DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken. Like Gougou Voyager, Gougou Carrier is just a hunk of ABS & PVC plastic, batteries, and a small electric motor. It has no function other than that and the ability to roll on the ground. The three flying Gougou vehicles- Gougou Commander, Gougou Fighter, and Gougou Attacker- also seem more-so like afterthoughts in design. (Gougou Attacker is also the only one in the set with retractable landing gear.) Gougou Commander has a few stubby wings and a painted cockpit, and that’s it. Otherwise it just looks like the superstructure of a sea vessel bent into half. I’d even go as far as to say that Gougou Fighter and Gougou Roader are the most ‘believable’ in the set.

• Transformation is exceedingly simple. Too simple, I’d say. None of the five parts requires more than two steps to prepare it for DaiVoyager mode; and that’s tied between Gougou Commander and Gougou Fighter. I can think of a half-dozen ways to increase the complexity of the transformation that, in no way, would have interfered with the combinations. Gougou Vehicles 01-13 are much better in that regard. What happened to all the sliding, snapping, shifting, and twisting of the past- oh, I don’t know- 31 years!?
• Gougou Carrier truly is just a lump, no no- a brick- of plastic. It does nothing other than roll and spins the fists. That’s it. And for all of that, it’s bigger than Gougou Vehicle #11- Gougou Fire from the DX Siren Builder set! I can understand building difficulties with moving the small turrets on the legs, but that’s not an excuse for anything else moving!
• Gougou Commander is a mess. It has sharp corners, small wings, multiple windscreens in lots of different places, and a small, transparent dome that has no function other than hiding the face from view. Perhaps it would have done better as another tank-like vehicle, IMHO. (Three flyers is a bit too many for one set...)
• Why does DaiVoyager have such a hollow chest with just that little roll-bar across it? In Gougou Voyager mode, it’s fine, but why leave all that space in between Gougou Carrier and Gougou Attacker when in robot mode???
• What is it that in recent years, with the resent larger final-release DX sets, requires that they have their legs molded into a single piece without any space in between or being separate components altogether??? The DX Densetsu Gattai MagiLegend/Deluxe Manticore Megazord, DX Chou Kyodai Kidou DekaBase Robo/Deluxe Delta Base Megazord, and DX Bakuryuu Gattai MaxOhJa/Deluxe Mezodon Megazord all did this as well. It’s bad enough as it is that they don’t make the legs move anyways...
• Again in 2006, pop-out, poseable elbows were possible, and again they did not happen. I can understand that this might have been needed because of the fist-spinning feature, but still--!
• I recall how, in 2003’s “Bakuryuu Sentai AbaRanger”, the main Bakuryuu toys had battery-powered spinning tabs inside the limbs’ shoulder joints to activate the accessory arms’ features. Why wasn’t that done here as well??? (That would have left more than enough room for them there pop-out elbow joints-!)
• Ah- it looks nice ‘n all, but having the two halves of Gougou Fighter just hanging there with no real function in the combination wasn’t so great.
• They make such a pointed issue of showing the four large cannon turrets rotating upwards on DaiVoyager in the series; yet on the toy they only twist side-to-side. Why!? They could easily have done both on the DX toy with a little redesigning!
• A warship doesn’t really fit in with the whole adventure/treasure hunting theme they’re using in 2006. This means that, yet again, PLEX and Bandai broke the series’ image style/trend just to give us something ‘big and cool’ for a finale.
• Why are there rocket engines on the feet of DaiVoyager? This is a sea-going/land-going battleship, not a space battleship like the SDF-1 Macross or Yamato! They don’t use them in the series; why put them in there!?
• Why is it that- after they were pre-applied to Gougou Formula and Gougou Gattai Vehicle #5- Gougou Jet- you need to apply the four decals to Gougou Roader? The sides of the upper legs & torso already have theirs applied during factory assembly; why didn’t they just apply them all?

(For those of you on CollectionDX keeping count, this is the most complaints I’ve made on any one review yet. Second-most was on my DX Siren Builder review)

I’ve put off bashing the lack of design ingenuity of the last five Gougou Vehicles (and the alternate sequence I wrote this review in) until I could get everything else out first. And the reason I’m doing this is because of what Makino-sensei said in Task 35. He says that Gougou Voyager was designed by another team. Okay, fine- that explains why it doesn’t match the construction vehicle-theme of Gougou Vehicles 01-13. But, unlike all other Gougou Vehicles, the five that compose Gougou Voyager are not separately stored or launched from the SGS hangar bay; instead, they are combined and Gougou Voyager is stored in a completely different bay fully assembled. It is also launched assembled, and it is not until the Voyager Formation is needed that the five components separate. Makino-sensei also said that SGS had not planned to give Gougou Voyager a Gougou Vehicle designation because it (notice that he did not say “they”) was too powerful. This leads me to believe that even though it is composed of independently-operated components, Gougou Voyager is actually one Gougou Vehicle, and not a combination of five. The numbering of the individual components may be something that SGS did after the emergency launch in Task 34. (The late numbering I am suggesting, I realize, is contrary to the stock footage used in Tasks 34 and 35.) This would make Gougou Voyager (and not the five vehicles) the largest and most powerful single Gougou Vehicle in front of all the others. The inclusion of Neo-Parallel Engines is a result of the appearance of the Anti-Parallel/Gordom Engines and/or a new level of SGS’s power-generating technology being reached. This also explains why the five components look better and more sensible from an aesthetic point of view combined rather than when they are separate. If this were true, then Gougou Voyager (and DaiVoyager, for that matter) would be the first in Super Sentai history to be considered a single mecha but with separating, independently-operated components.

1. Major loss of paint applications
2. Loss of battery-powered motor feature
3. Various combinations of the above
4. They don’t release it at all

For ¥10,000, that puts it at about $84.02 off the shelf, so I would not be surprised if any of the above- most likely, the fourth option- happened. However, if they do decide to bring it over, I would strongly suggest that you appeal to Bandai America and tell them to leave it the way it is!

My biggest problems with this set are the lack of moving parts & such during transformations, and how utterly featureless Gougou Carrier is (motorized actions notwithstanding). It’s too simple once you learn where everything goes. The rotating face is an old-school idea and makes a nice return. I will say that Gougou Voyager, as a third mode for the same set, is a lot better than the Gougou Trailer mode is on the DaiBouken! The level of surface detail is also top notch; the decals include panel lines. The toggle switch for the motor, once more, is a great idea; though why you can turn the motor on and not have it running anything in free-drive mode is a bit odd. I think that another rotating slot could have been added to the front of Gougou Carrier so that, in DaiVoyager mode, the sensor arrays would turn at the same time as the fists. That would have been cool. I like how the anti-aircraft turrets are all lined up together, though I wish they’d have added a few more in some other places on Gougou Voyager. As an added bonus, the shoulder joints are fully compatible with all of the other arm Gougou Vehicles-

• 04- Gougou Dozer
• 05- Gougou Marine Diver
• 06- Gougou Drill
• 07- Gougou Shovel
• 08- Gougou Mixer
• 09- Gougou Crane
• 12- Gougou Aider
• 13- Gougou Police

-though Gougou Jet cannot be utilized. Gougou Roader, alternatively, can be added (with or without Gougou Fighter) to DX Gougou Gattai DaiBouken, Chou Gougou Gattai Super DaiBouken, Kyuukyoku Gougou Gattai Ultimate DaiBouken, Gougou Gattai DaiTanken, and DX Kinkyuu Gougou Gattai Siren Builder.

It is a big block of plastic, and it’s also an expensive one. (That’s happened before) For a name which means “Transcendental Thundering Combination Great-Voyager” in Japanese, I would have expected something a bit more, oh I don’t know- transcending from Bandai and PLEX. The lack of flexibility is a bit of a downer, but it’s still impressive. Early rumblings in online fan communities suggests that this will be a bad year for Super Sentai-to-“PR” toy transitions, so I suggest that if you can afford the DX Chouzetsu Gougou Gattai DaiVoyager, you go for it as soon as possible.

The DX Chouzetsu Gougou Gattai DaiVoyager is the very last set in the regular Gougou Vehicle line. Beyond this will most likely be repaints, such as the limited-edition black-&-gold DX Kyuukyoku Gougou Gattai Ultimate DaiBouken--

--“Zubaan!”--

...Yeah, and him too.

--“Zun! Zun!”--

(sigh)

I find it hard to complain about things like less poseable elbows or non-poseable legs, and those things can be overlooked because what they did do was excellent!

Two (2) AAA-size batteries are required to operate electronic Light-&-Sound feature, and should be replaced by a responsible adult.

The Super Sentai saga- created and produced by Toei Company, Ltd. since 1975- celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2006! Every year for the past 31 years, a completely new Super Sentai [“special taskforce”] series had aired, with new characters, new villains, new storylines, and new mecha- creating a genre that has become generational in its appeal to of the island nation of Japan. In fact, some of the actors today who perform in a Super Sentai series were fans themselves when they were younger Rarely does a franchise last for so long and succeed at being able to reinvent itself from year-to-year and continue to please fans of young and old; very few have been able to keep pace with it. It is filled with both drama and humor- with some hero characters actually dying or being replaced. And the villains- ranging from mad human scientists, buried demons, to invading space ninja aliens- are no less varied in personality, motives, and methods; aggressively attacking with carefully planned operations. Super Sentai was so popular that in 1983, “Kagaku Sentai Dynaman” was brought over to the USA Network as a dubbed comedic parody. Unfortunately, American audiences failed to stick with it. Saban Entertainment attempted to reintroduce Super Sentai to America as a children’s series in 1992 with “Choujin Sentai Jetman”, but failed with the younger test audience. Saban tried one more time the following year with a new version of “Kyoryu Sentai ZyuRanger”, and succeeded when the less-intense first season of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” became an instant hit with children 6-to-10yrs. While “Power Rangers” is based on the previous year’s Super Sentai show, it is a separate entity that will be celebrating its own 15th anniversary in 2007. Here are the Super Sentai that have come before:

The 2006 series- “Gougou Sentai Boukenger” [“Thundering Taskforce Adventure-Rangers”] - is a tribute to all that have come before, with old and new styles mixed together. For a more expanded explanation of Super Sentai, be sure to view this Wikipedia entry.

The Search Guard Successor museum organization (also known as SGS, or Sargess) has created a secret team to begin tracking down ancient artifacts that have been disappearing. With skills in treasure hunting/recovery, and their adventurous hearts, the Boukenger use their Accellular henshin devices to scan relics (called Precious) to discover their hazard levels and value. However, the many Negative Syndicates- the ancient stone Gordom Civilization, bio-engineered reptilian Jaryuu Clan, covert ninja Dark Shadow, and the converted biotech Questors- are also separately on the lookout for Precious to rule the world... or destroy it. The Precious are many, and they hold unknown power. Who will gain the most from them?

In Task 29- “The Golden Sword”, Akashi (Bouken Red) and Eiji (Bouken Silver) go into some mountains to investigate recent mysterious activity regarding a previously unknown Precious. There, they run into Professor Hanzo Igarashi- the world’s foremost expert on the ancient Lemurian Civilization, which thrived in the southwestern Pacific between Asia and Australia long before both Atlantis and Gordom. Realizing that the Lemurian artifact he was trying to recover is suddenly taken, he becomes outraged at the two Boukenger- his being well-known for his loud protests against SGS’s “monopoly” on Precious. While Akashi follows Igarashi for information, Eiji tracks the Lemurian Egg to a group of Jaryuu grunts trying to sneak away with it. But when he engages them, they foolishly open the Lemurian Egg and a giant Mythical Beast promptly roasts the Jaryuu alive. While both Ultimate DaiBouken and Siren Builder engage the Mythical Beast, Akashi learns from Igarashi that he is now looking for the nearby Golden Sword- the only thing capable of taming the Lemurian monster. But they run into King Ryuuon, leader of the Jaryuu Clan, who is also looking for the Golden Sword, and he injures Akashi. Igarashi suddenly realizes that Ryuuon can also read Lemurian- something that only he and a scholar from 200 years ago could do. Putting two and two together, it is revealed that Ryuuon was once human himself but was ridiculed and abandoned by his crew while he too was looking for evidence of the Lemurian Civilization. After humanity betrayed him, the enraged man gave up his own body, and used a special potion based on the few Lemurian texts to turn himself into a dragon and vowed to destroy all of mankind. To do that, he needed both the Lemurian Egg and the Golden Sword to control it. After all three reach the resting place of the Golden Sword, both Ryuuon and Igarashi are unable to remove it from the red stone it is placed in- the sword chooses who has the most righteous soul to be its owner. Right out of Arthurian legend, Akashi proves he is worthy and pulls the sword from the stone, and quickly forces Ryuuon to retreat with the overwhelming power of the Golden Sword. Then, running to the site of the fallen and heavily-damaged Gougou Vehicles, Bouken Red single-handedly destroys the Mythical Beast with one Golden Slash from the Lemurian sword. Meanwhile, on the valley floor, High Priest Gaja of the Gordom Civilization takes the carelessly-discarded Lemurian Egg for himself, laughing at King Ryuuon’s foolishness...

The Golden Sword (back), in toy form, is more dagger-sized at 13¼” than the machete-size portrayed in the show. It’s also a little more bulky, but that is acceptable considering what is coming-up—

(muffled sound)

The black 2” grip is scarcely long enough for an adult collector to grab completely and so you end up hanging onto the orange-and-gold crest on the pommel. The crossguard is as thick as the grip, but is decorated with a gold-plated plastic crest with two painted red jewels and one larger green one lined by silver paint. The ‘sharp’ edge of the sword is painted silver with orange and gold highlights, but the point of the blade is silver PVC.

--Z...--

(muffled struggling sounds)

Shh! Not yet-!

The light & sound feature is built into the grip and the On/Off switch is just below the transparent red crystal on the back side as is the battery compartment. The speakers are hidden behind the orange-&-gold plastic on the back side as well. Looking at the Golden Sword from the front, point downward, the orange plastic trigger for the light-&-sound is on the right side. Turing it on—-

(struggling increases)

N-- stop it! What is with you!? What part of “not yet” don’t you get!?

(struggling subsides)

Ahem... When you turn it on, there’s the sound of metal clashing twice accompanied by the red light inside the crystal. Pressing the trigger sounds a clear sword clashing sound again accompanied by the light effect. Cute, basic, everyone makes ‘em like that.

Well, at the end of Task 29, the six Boukenger are standing around admiring the Golden Sword when one of them notices the three jewels on the crest glowing. Passing is back to Akashi, he looks closer and runs his hand along the golden crests. Glowing even brighter, the crest turns all by itself. The Golden Sword jumps out of Akashi’s hand and suddenly triples in size! As this happens, the Lemurian relic splits apart and reconfigures itself into a human-sized figure! The Boukenger step back, flabbergast at this sudden and quite unexpected development.

(struggling resumes)

Fine. Y-you know what? Ugh... whatever.

(grabs Golden Sword by handle and turns crest clockwise. Sword jumps out of writer’s hands and transforms all by itself)

(choir singing brief harmony)

--Zu-ba-a-an!--

(sigh) You do this to Akashi-san too?

--“Zun-Zun”--

Figures... Okay; now that you’re all opened-up, you gonna behave?

--"Zun!"--

Don’t “Zun” me. Yes or no?

--"Zun-Zun"--

I’ll take that as a “yes”... Well, anyways, in Task 30- “The Rage of the Golden Majin”, the Boukenger weren’t quite to sure what to do with, em, Zubaan, either. He followed Akashi all around, but for whatever reason, all he could say was his name.

--"Zubaan!"--

Uh... yeah... Or parts of it. With such a significantly-limited vocabulary, it was difficult to figure out what he wanted even though he seemed benign and friendly enough. But when the Boukenger begin arguing as to its fate, Zubaan quickly beats each of them up (except for Akashi who was with Makino-sensei discussing the missing Lemurian Egg) and runs away from the SGS Museum! Trying to figure out what went wrong, Mister Voice (their anonymous boss who communicates through a cone-shaped avatar in HQ) suggests that perhaps Zubaan has a grudge against humanity because he is a living machine with a will of his own. Now worried about what he might do, the Boukenger spread out through the city looking for the potentially dangerous Precious. Overhearing some young children talking about an interesting gold robot, Akashi and Sakura (Bouken Pink) follow them and find Zubaan surrounded, enjoying the company of over a dozen curious children. But when the six Boukenger try to pull the children away and restrain Zubaan, he becomes confused and moody again and resists, even ignoring Akashi’s pleas to stop. Head drooping, Zubaan throws the Boukenger off and runs away.

--“Bon...”--

Chasing after him, High Priest Gaja laughs at three of the Boukenger, knowing they can’t control Zubaan after all. He then sends his latest creation at them- a brand new Mystical Beast equipped with a Gordom Engine inside its body! Somehow, Zubaan knows that Bouken Red is in danger, and he unknowingly leads the other Boukenger to the fight. But when Bouken Red questions Zubaan about his motivations, he becomes very depressed and changes himself back into his sword form! And even when Bouken Red tries to use the powerful Golden Slash attack, it has no effect. Gaja steals Zubaan and tries to use him, but he also fails to prompt the Lemurian sword to do anything, so he disappears planning to destroy it. While Eiji tracks Gaja down, the others return to HQ- where Natsuki (Bouken Yellow) and Souta (Bouken Blue) have a revelation about Zubaan. When he was around Natsuki earlier, Zubaan was pleasant to be around, but when the Boukenger began fighting, the jewels on his chest went dark and his mood immediately changed; same thing with the children- when they were around him, he was happy and the jewels glowed, but when the Boukenger became hostile towards him, the jewels darkened, he became defensive again and ran aw