Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• I hated Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger when it was first airing. It was set up as a serious Cop Show (In Space!) with some interesting concepts, but the sheer idiocy of most of the characters completely wasted the concept, and the majority of the cast couldn't act to save their lives. Particularly galling was that the head writer, Naruhisa Arakawa, had written some pretty damn good stuff in the past. In my mind, it was a disgrace to Super Sentai. Then, years later, it finally clicked. Dekaranger was an Affectionate Parody disguised as a serious show. The characters' idiocy? That was Arakawa dialing all the usual Cop Show tropes up to 11; for example, the sheer petulance of Ban and Hoji's rivalry was one giant parody of a Buddy Cop Show's Odd Couple. And, ultimately, what made me really start to like it was when I realized that the entire show was, more than a parody, one long love letter to pop culture. Arakawa packed the show full of Shout Outs to every single show, movie, actor, genre, and author he could think of. Now, I still don't like most of the cast (indeed, the cast was the main reason I failed to "get" Dekaranger when it was first airing), but from a writing perspective, Dekaranger is pretty damn good. -- Tokuiten
  • I always loved the series, especially how they kept the main villain as a periphery and focusing more on the Monster of the Week instead of going with the old cliche of having a villain try to take over the world (don't even start, Raul Julia...) It makes sense if you keep in mind that Aburera is supposed to be a black market agent, and thus would get involved with other criminals only to the point of making impersonal deals and exchanging goods/services with them, so keeping him out of the limelight and putting more focus on the Monster of the Week would fit in perfectly with the series' status as a Super Sentai crime drama - they're working on a case-by-case basis, and can't afford to focus on a single villain when they have other criminals they had to capture. What bugged me, though, was the last-minute Ass Pull that he had planned the destruction of the S.P.D. from the beginning in order to create a criminal paradise, which didn't seem to fit well with his personality; he's not the sort to get his hands dirty or to bother with fighting the law directly when he does his best work in the shadows. However, looking at his words, his actions, and his role in the series, things actually start making sense: he's a black market dealer, it's in his best interest to avoid police confrontation, whenever possible. Not like the forensic evidence found in the scene of his clients' crimes would nail him (it would be like arresting a pawn shop owner for buying/selling a gun that was used in a murder; you could try, but how would you prove that he knew what the gun was going to be used for?), but still, better to be safe than sorry. His gathering of information from the beginning would be more along the lines of sizing up the local law enforcement before setting up shop, using the information he gathered to find weaknesses in the force, blind spots in their jurisdiction, crooked cops that could be paid off, etc. Note that he doesn't even use what he learned against the S.P.D. until much later in the series, after they've proven themselves an obstructive thorn in his side by interfering with his clients' crimes and, thus, ruining his deals with said clients. He starts out indirectly, using hired thugs and using his brainwashing bats to take out and/or discredit the S.P.D. for him, before moving on with direct assaults when those failed. The brutality of his final attack on the S.P.D., as well as his rant about creating a criminal paradise, cements the deal: he didn't plan on destroying the S.P.D. from the beginning, he was pushed into it as a final solution to keep his criminal empire afloat. In short, the final episodes of the series was one massive Villainous Breakdown by Aburera, and his rant about building a criminal paradise wasn't about what he was going to do, but what he already had with his black market, and what the S.P.D. ruined by their interference.
• Why is Umeko always claiming to be the leader, even when it's clear no one acknowledge her as such? Simple, she was being recruited as Gyoku Rou—the former Deka Red—was being wounded and forced to leave SPD. As a result, Doggy must have warned her about the other members being distraught over losing their former leader, and Umeko must have (mis)understood this as meaning that she was going to be their new leader.
• Mika Kikuchi, Umeko's actress, was 20-21 during Dekaranger and 6-7 during Fiveman. If Umeko is close to the same age as Mika, then Umeko could've plausibly have been a student of Remi, in essence Deka Pink was taught by Five Yellow.

Fridge Logic

• So, in ranger mode, where DOES Doggie fit that snout of his?
  • Ban actually asks him this question in the fact video that plays before the credits in episode 14. His response? "Don't ask that." Then he scratches his head in confusion. Apparently, even he doesn't know how that's possible.
    • A humorous take on it.
  • In the Dekaranger vs. Abaranger special, Umeko gets a blade slashed across her torso and sparks fly (as usual). The problem is, she suffers neither physical nor Clothing Damage, and she's unmorphed at the time.
  • The blast from the Deka Wing Robo looks like it could level a few blocks. Who would authorize the use of such a weapon? Kruger? Maybe his authority is that high (he's head of Earth Branch, right?), but then again, being a noble warrior, would he choose to employ such a dangerous weapon within the city limits unless the battle was truly apocalyptic? (Granted, Kruger does pull the trigger via his Megazord, so it is on him in the end, but...)
    • Addendum: Why doesn't the resulting blast level five square blocks?