Choudenshi Bioman: A Sensational Sentai of the ‘80s

Choudenshi Bioman (Super Electronic Bioman)

Year: 1984

Number of Episodes: 51, approximately 20 minutes each

Fansubs viewed: Grownups in Spandex 

Subtitle quality: Excellent.

In a lot of ways, Choudenshi Bioman is the quintessential Sentai series for the ‘80s. Despite subtitled versions of earlier Sentai gaining some traction in places like Hawaii, Bioman was the first in the series to enjoy lots of success outside of its home county. (See inset, “Bioman Around the World.”) It was also the first Sentai that Haim Saban pitched for Americanization, around 1987. Of course, Saban wouldn’t see his wish fulfilled until 1993’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, which utilized footage from a different Sentai series entirely.

It’s tough to say how the Saban adaptation would have turned out: the pilot is missing in action as of this writing. But Bioman in its original Japanese form is nothing short of spectacular.

Synopsis (No spoilers)

The New Gear Empire, led by the cybernetic Doctor Man and the cast of Phantasy Star 2 his dastardly Mecha Humans, set out to prove the doctor’s scientific superiority to the people of Earth. But Instead of just inventing ‘80s iPhones or something, they send down wave after wave of robots to kill pretty much everybody, even your mom. Their first target: Japan.

About 500 years earlier, C3PO wannabe Pebo traveled to Earth after his home planet, Bio, was destroyed. Anticipating a battle in the future, Pebo showered a small group of peasants with “bio particles,” which they passed from generation to generation.

As Doctor Man attacks in the present time, Pebo springs into action, locating those who carry bio particles within them. Now a group of five teenagers with attitude upstanding young people must tap into their long dormant Bio power to become the Biomen and put an end to the mad doctor’s relentless onslaught. 

Seriously, though, Phantasy Star 2 rips off Bioman's designs. HARD.

See?

Evaluation (Spoilers)

Beneath the surface of Choudenshi Bioman’s Super Sentai stereotypes lies something special. Maybe it’s the sleek, flashy suits that gives Bioman its charm. Maybe it’s the badass, guitar and synth soaked soundtrack. Maybe it’s consistency:  Bioman avoids the hot-‘n’-cold temperament of Dairanger, so most episodes are fun to watch.

Or maybe it’s Bioman’s ability to get viewers to ignore its flaws and watch with a childlike sense of excitement.

No one is going to accuse Bioman’s heroes of being shining examples of character development. Pink Five plays and flute, Yellow Four is an archer, Red One is the stoic leader. That’s about it. The best written is the original Yellow Four, who has more personality in 10 episodes than Green and Blue have in 50. Then she dies. Bummer.

Like Battle Fever J, once the team calls for Bio Robo, anything interesting the show had going comes to a screeching halt. It would help if the enemy ‘bots were more integrated into the storyline, instead of just metallic fodder for Bio Robo to cut to ribbons.

However, shifting the focus from the monster of the week allows the show’s recurring villains to take center stage. Doctor Man oozes with evil authority. Mason is cool and calculated, like some kind of businessman turned assassin. Monster and Juo, despite their Bulk and Skull-style foul-ups, are menacing adversaries. Also like Bulk and Skull, they genuinely care for each other: if a Bioman hurts one, the other comes running to protect his friend. You know something? Monster and Juo may actually be the first gay robot couple on television.

I’m dead serious.

Why would anyone build a gay robot? Well, why not! Monster and Juo are the best.

Bioman gets a passing grade for its underwhelming finale. Stuff gets real in the last four episodes and the seeds are planted early enough that plot points don’t feel tacked on. The good guys win, the bad guys lose, and Pebo fulfills his destiny as a giant Duracell battery for Bio Robo, so that’s all good.

Where the finale fails is the consciousness circuit subplot, which goes nowhere. The audience is led to believe at various points that the bad guys will get said consciousness circuits and turn good. Without spoiling too much, that’s not quite how it goes. I’d have loved to see Mason in an office job, Doctor Mann in a lab somewhere curing cancer, Monster and Juo living together Ernie and Bert-style, and so on. With villains who were more interesting than the main cast, this might be Bioman’s biggest sin.

Speaking of missed opportunities, let’s focus on Silva, the hunter from planet Bio. Though he was introduced many episodes before the finale, he always seemed a little out of place. Like, what’s he doing when the Biomen aren’t around? A few times he shows up just to be a dick for seven seconds and remind us that yes, Virginia, there is a random anti-bio robot running around unchecked. Despite his sweet theme song and the hype when he’s introduced, Silva winds up being nothing more than a way to push the plot forward.

But I nitpick. In a word, Bioman is awesome.

Bioman: The Movie

The Bioman movie is notable for a largescale battle between the Biomen and nearly the entire New Empire Gear army, but not much else. It also introduces the Cat Army, which includes Ferrah Cat and some numbered palette swaps that we never see again. The plot follows some kids, and a map, and it’s dumb. I know I should go into more detail, but it’s not worth it. If you skip it, you’re not missing much.

Overall

Of the four Super Sentai series I’ve seen so far, Bioman is unquestionably the best. I really dig Dairanger, but nearly half the episodes are outright duds, unfortunately including the finale. In contrast, I’m hard pressed to think of a single episode of Bioman that had me praying for Zordon to put me out of my misery. To put things in context, going back and subtitling the Battle Fever J movie was a chore – not because of the work, but because I had to watch BFJ again. That experience really drove home the fact that Bioman is a joy to watch.

Aside from a boring movie and a lackluster-yet-appropriate conclusion, Bioman’s a fun ride throughout. If you’re looking to get into Super Sentai but don’t care about Zyuranger, Choudenshi Bioman is a great place to start.

Rankings so far, from best to worst (order within tiers also reflects ranking):

GREAT

Bioman

Diaranger

GOOD

Zyuranger

FAIR

Battle Fever J

Next up: Changeman! Well, unless I watch Gekiranger first. Or maybe something else? Hmm. I’ll get back to you on that. 

There's just so many Super Sentai to pick from!

Battle Fever J: A Rocky Start to Super Sentai

Battle Fever J

Year: 1979

Number of Episodes: 52, approximately 25 minutes each

Fansubs viewed: Nemet 

Subtitle quality: Good to extremely poor, depending on the episode. Currently these subs are the only way to watch the entire series in English. Battle Fever J was aired with subtitles in Hawaii in the early ‘80s and Nemet’s subs are based on these, so 99 percent of their flaws are due to the sketchy source material.

My first real exposure to Battle Fever J came on a day when I literally couldn’t move without pain. My wife headed off alone to the wedding we were supposed to attend, and I, burning with fever from the worst flu I’ve ever had, hurt so bad I couldn’t even operate a PlayStation controller. So I propped myself up on the couch and started marathoning what was long considered the first Super Sentai series. (Later, two previous series were grandfathered in to the Super Sentai family, but that’s a story for another day.)

I sometimes wonder if my opinion of BFJ was tainted by my physical and mental state at the time. And I’m sure it didn’t help that I just kept watching episode after episode, long after I wouldn’t have called it a day, because it was easier than trying to stand up and turn it off. However, no amount of second guessing can save Battle Fever J from being an overly repetitive, ho-hum entry into the Super Sentai series.

Whether it be coincidence or cosmic conspiracy, illness rears its ugly head as I write this review today, this time a nasty sinus infection. Well, at least I can move this time.

Synopsis (No spoilers)

Japan, the late 1970s. General Kurama, a high-ranking officer in Definitely Not Interpol, assembles a team of five special agents who have been trained for combat (and awful dancing) throughout the world. The agents become the super-powered heroes Battle Fever J and take on the global threat of Egos, a shadowy band of villains whose motivations for evil are often unclear, but always involve making giant, pissed off robots.

Review (spoilers)

I had high hopes for Battle Fever J, the follow-up series to J.A.K.Q Blitzkrieg Squad. Though it was only the first four episodes, J.A.K.Q. was the first Sentai I ever watched. J.A.K.Q. is more adult than I would have ever imagined for a kids’ show, mixing elements of a crime drama with typical Sentai troupes. So Battle Fever J, from two years later, should have been just as good, right?

Not so much.

From the minute you see the freaky costumes, you know something’s very wrong with Battle Fever J. Battle Japan and France look pretty good, but Kenya, Cossack, and especially Miss America are downright disturbing. I can’t put my finger on it, but… I mean, you have eyes. You probably see it too.

If you’re hoping for an ongoing plotline akin to the Green Ranger saga in Zyuranger/MMPR, or even just any kind of plot progression besides throwing another bad guy down a hill, you’re going to be disappointed with Battle Fever J. Most episodes are formulaic standalones and unlike Zyuranger, it gets real old, real quick.

It doesn’t help that the budget must have started running out near the middle of the series, as Battle Fever J utterly abuses stock footage in later episodes. How many times am I going to have to watch Miss America throw those same knives? Do we really need to see Battle Kenya scurrying along that wall for the millionth time? Couldn’t you guys have filmed more than one stock explosion? And when the BFJ team leaps into Battle Fever Robo, the real fight is trying to stay awake. It’s enough to make you want to strap on a motorcycle helmet and film new scenes yourself, just for something different. 

What saves BFJ from the depths of unwachability is a handful of memorable characters. Battle France provides a respite from the more generic cast members by injecting a modicum of humor into the show. He’s a little bit like Lance in the original Voltron. The right hand man of Satan Egos, Heda provides an over the top performance, acting just as much with his facial expressions as with his booming, overblown voice. And late in the series, gun-toting cowboy Jin takes the helm as Battle Cossack, providing viewers with some precious character development right before he rides into the sunset with the rest of the cast.

Heda's superpower: Overacting 

My favorite though is Battle Kenya, who is energetic, goofy, and genuinely funny. Kenya is the only one who finds it odd that the bad guys seem to have an endless supply of giant robots, and he straddles the fourth wall with comments like “Do they own a warehouse?” and “Where do they keep them all?” They’re throwaway lines to be sure, but sometimes, that was all it took to keep me from fast forwarding thought yet another mind-numbing mech battle.

There was also a Battle Fever J movie, which I was told is just a recut version of episode 5. That’s actually incorrect. It’s 100 percent episode 5 with no changes. I know this because I subtitled it. If you want to get your hands on it – it’s a good example of what you’ll see in the rest of the series – mosey on over to this download page.

Overall

Horrifying costumes, sleep-inducing plotlines, and egregious overuse of stock footage are three strikes against Battle Fever J that are tough to ignore, but the series isn’t ready to head back to the dugout just yet. There *are* enjoyable episodes of BFJ, but they’re mostly stacked either in the beginning or near the end. Cut the filler, and you’ve got a pretty decent Sentai series. But as it stands, BFJ teeters on the edge mediocracy, only barely worth your time.  

My recommendation for regular guys and gals is to Google which episodes are worth seeing, watch those, and leave the 30 or so filler episodes for hardcore Sentai fans only. (Super quick guide: 1, 5, 24, 33, and 52.) Unless you’re super curious about the origins of Super Sentai, I’d avoid Battle Fever J in favor of some of the better seasons, like Zyuranger, Dairanger, and the current series, Kyuranger. Come back to BFJ when you’re running out of the good stuff.

My current Sentai rankings are as follows, broken into tiers:

GREAT

Dairanger

GOOD

Zyuranger

FAIR

Battle Fever J

With the last Sentai of the 1970s under our belts, let’s jump into the ‘80s! Join me next time for Super Electronic Bioman. Spoiler: It’s awesome!

A Regular Guy’s Guide to Fansubs: File Formats, Distribution, and More

Well regular folk, we had to address the spandex-clad elephant in room at some point: not every Super Sentai series is available from Shout! Factory for free on their website, or even to purchase on DVD. So far, they’ve released five seasons with plans for a sixth underway:

-          Zyuranger, which became Mighty Morphin’ season 1

-          Dairanger, which became Mighty Morphin’ season 2

-          Kakuranger, which became Mighty Morphin’ season 3

-          Ohranger, which became Zeo

-          Carranger, which became Turbo, and

-          Megaranger, which became In Space, coming in September 2017.

Zyuranger, North America release

That’s more than 300 episodes right there! That seems like a lot, right? Now you might be wondering, “how many seasons of Super Sentai could there be, away?”

Japanese television is currently airing Space Sentai Kyuranger, which is Super Sentai season 41. Forty-one. FORTY. ONE. That means Super Sentai is more prolific than Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, or even The Simpsons.

Suddenly, six seasons doesn’t seem like all that much.

So how are we going to watch Battle Fever J, one of the first Sentai, as I promised at the end of my Dairanger review? We’re going to delve into the wonderful world of fansubs, of course!

What are fansubs?

Fansubs are just what they sound like: unofficial translations created by fans, applied to video files, and traded online. The sometimes they’re hard to find, the quality varies wildly depending on the fansubber, and there’s a bunch of file formats that might be intimidating to a newcomer. But that’s one of the reasons I created this blog: to teach other regular guys and gals the things I had to learn the hard way.

Let me make something clear, however: downloading these shows, even if they’re not available where you live and in your language, is still piracy, so do so at your own risk. Also, please support the official releases either by watching them on the Shout! Factory website (Zyuranger and Dairanger) or buying them (Zyuranger though Megaranger). You’re probably tired of the “Pirate with Morals” speech you’ve heard 1,000 times by now, but please buy their shows so they release more sets. I’m speaking from experience when I tell you that the quality of the Shout! Factory seasons is excellent.

A bumper for "Bioman," subbed by the fan group Grown-Ups in Spandex (see upper right corner)

What are some fansub formats?

Fansubs come in a variety of formats to suit a variety of needs, but the ones you’ll come across most are MP4 and MKV.

You’re probably already familiar with MP4 files. Most standalone videos nowadays are in this format, and most computers have MP4 players built in. This format is good if you want to watch movies on your TV through devices like the Xbox One, as I do, or if you’re just looking for the easiest option.

MP4s are the second most common fansub format. If you ever see a “hardsub” option, they’re probably talking about MP4s. That’s because the subtitles are “burned in” to the frames of an MP4, meaning you can’t turn them off. Also, a lot of times the MP4 option is in standard definition (SD). I don’t know why that is, but if you’re looking to save hard drive space and don’t mind 480p resolution, that’s the way to go.

AVI and wmv files have most of the same properties of MP4s, but they’re outdated formats. If you see them floating around, it probably means you’re working with translations from at least five, possibly ten years ago. Might be best to search for a newer translation at a higher definition.

MKV files are the preferred format of the fansub community. Unlike MP4s, MKVs keep the video and the subtitles separate, meaning you can turn them on or off. This is called “soft subbing.” The advantage here is being able to swap subtitles out manually if you find a better translation, or you can have more than one subtitle file included with a video and switch between them at will (maybe Spanish and English in the same file, for example). The MKV option is often the high definition (HD) option too, at least when it comes to Sentai made after 2008-ish, including Shinkenger and beyond.

You’ll probably have to download an MKV player because they don’t usually come standard. I recommend VLC Media Player, but just be careful what you agree to installing. Suggestion: Just the player itself, not the other garbage it offers you.

In case you were wondering, I like MP4s because they play nice with my PC and my XBone, requiring no extra fuss. But I also like HD video, which is often a hallmark of MKVs. Sometimes I’ll use Handbrake to convert MKVs into MP4 files, but it sure does take a long time. Mostly I break down and just watch the damn MKV on my computer instead.

MP4s are the “regular guy” option, so maybe start there. If you find yourself wanting higher video quality or wanting to explore the world of fansubs more thoroughly, switch to MKVs once you’re comfortable.

One last thing to note: .ass, .ssa, and .srt files are raw subtitles. They can be applied to video files using programs like Handbrake, but it’s easier just to find them already attached to the video file, especially if you’re looking for a hassle-free viewing experience. Don’t worry though, you’ll rarely come across these in the wild if you’re not looking for them.

How do I get fansubs?

Now that you’ve picked your format, it’s time to actually download something and watch it.

The most straightforward way to get fansubs is the direct download (DDL) method. Many fansubbing groups host their work though a site called Mega.nz, where users can download shows one episode at a time. On a decent internet connection, it’s a simple, easy option. Mega.nz has a download limit of about 5 gigs per day per free user, but I doubt you’ll be watching 10 to 15 Sentai episodes in one sitting, so it shouldn’t be a big issue. 

But not all fansubbing groups have direct download pages. Others, like the popular Over-ti.me (currently translating Kyuranger), invite users to post their own DDL links in the comments section for each episode. So if another user hasn’t taken it upon him- or herself to be philanthropic, you’re out of luck. Secondly, if Mega.nz ever goes down, much like Megaupload did a few years ago, there goes 99 percent of your DDL options.

Space Sentai Kyuranger, currently playing in Japan and translated by Over-ti.me 

But on the plus side, you should be able to find most of the popular Sentai in this way. One great resource for DDL is Jps317’s “Folders” blog, which contains excellent Sentai shows like Dynaman and Gokaiger. Jps317’s work was a great boon to my early forays into Super Sentai fansubs. Check it out.

The second download option is torrenting. It’s more advanced, riskier, and can be more frustrating, but it’s also the key to finding the obscure stuff. You remember programs like Napster and Kazaa in the ‘90s? Those worked by letting you download files directly from someone else’s computer. That’s torrenting in a nutshell.

Nowadays there’s a bunch of torrent programs, but my recommendation is Bittorrent. You’ll have to download and install it on your own – I’d rather not link to it in this blog – but a quick Google search should get you where you need to go.

A torrent program is useless without telling it what to download and where to get it. You’ll need to go to a site that keeps track of torrents. Until very recently, nyaa.se was the undisputed king of Super Sentai torrents, but on May 1, 2017, the owner shut it down out of fear of legal action. This scattered Sentai torrents to the winds, but most fansubbing groups have chosen https://anidex.info/ as their new home. Sentai for Regualr Guys (SfRG) has a profile page there too, if you want to visit.

As Stan Lee would say, with great power, comes great, uh, downsides. If users stop “seeding” a file (hosting it for others to download), you’ll have to wait for them to come back online before you can grab the rest. The end result can be weeks of waiting to finish your download, or worse, a torrent you can never complete. You’re also at the mercy of someone else’s internet connection, which means you might be downloading at a brisk 2 MB a second, or crawling along at dial-up speeds. The more you get into Super Sentai, the more you’ll be leaving your computer on all night downloading torrents.

Also, I’m not wild about connecting directly to a bunch of other people’s PCs. I’ve never experienced a virus or security issue that I’m aware of, but it’s just something to keep in mind.

There’s one last option if you’re not into amassing hundreds of gigs of men in helmets punching other men in rubber suits, and don’t mind a moderate amount of malware. You could always stream your fansubs from KissAsian.com, which sounds like a shameful mecca of tentacle-based filth, but is actually a repository for countless Asian drama shows no one has ever heard of. Also spyware. It’s sort of like Netflix, if Netflix were illegal and run by some kind of evil(er?) version of Mark Zuckerberg. There’s a shocking amount of content on this site, but as you might expect, it’s as shady as a late ‘90s Nintendo ROM site. Shortcomings aside, this might be a good option if you’ve got a junker PC and a decent internet connection.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the easiest thing to do is grab one of the DVD sets, crack open a beer, and enjoy something that’s both new and pleasantly familiar. That definitely seems like what a regular guy or gal would do. But if you’d like to explore beyond what you saw on Power Rangers when you were a kid, I invite you to delve into the world of fansubs. It can be intimidating, but with these tips, you should be able to get your foot in the door.

All that’s really left is to pick a series and start watching, but with 40-plus seasons of Super Sentai to choose from, that too can be daunting. Maybe you go in order from Zyuranger onward until you get board. Maybe you watch in the order I write this blog. Or maybe you forge your own path. In any event, have fun with it.

As for Sentai for Regular Guys, we’ll be taking a look at 1979’s Battle Fever J very soon. Stay tuned!