Why Every Power Rangers Fan Should Watch Jetman
Chojin Sentai Jetman is a hidden gem among Super Sentai shows: memorably unique but not well-known among U.S. fans, it almost came to America in the 90s as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. (Saban instead chose to use the following season, Zyuranger, as its source material.) Because of this, Western fans have never really been exposed to the series. But in Japan, several later Super Sentai series have paid Jetman homage; for example, this year’s Zyuohger features a Red Eagle and the later incarnation of their mecha is called Zyuoh Icarus. Jetman itself takes its bird motif from the classic sci-fi anime Gatchaman.
What makes Jetman so memorable? It is not afraid to be very dark, and it frequently loses itself in a mess of love polygons that can be either satisfying or frustrating depending on the week. It does an excellent job at developing most of the Jetmen while doing an even better job at developing the villain group, Vyram. The Jetmen are led by a funny and strong-willed female commander and the gang meets and loses several good allies along the way. The plot twists are meticulously thought out, and despite a rage-inducing finale, I feel confident in saying that Jetman is one of the best-written Super Sentai series that I have watched.
Jetman does a decent job at developing characters. Ryu Tendo is the prototype for a well-written Red Ranger. In a series full of love triangles and tragedies, his romantic subplot with Maria/Rie is the most tragic of them all. We watch as Ryu repeatedly experiences the stages of grieving. He is a straight-edge man who takes his milk warm when he goes to the bar. As the only non-civilian of the crew, he is considered the most responsible and mature of the Jetmen. But he is not devoid of a sense of humor, nor does he always make the right decisions. Throughout the series he does things that are hurtful to others - namely Kaori and Gai, but especially Kaori. As the leader, it is not surprising that he is the one who develops the most throughout the show. However, his character arc is incredibly satisfying to watch.
Gai has the second-most amount of development, and I’m thankful that he does or else I would still hate his guts. In the first couple episodes he became my favorite character: he was a trumpet-playing, whiskey-drinking playboy who should have stayed that way. But he falls in love with Kaori and pursues her so aggressively that it becomes quite scary. He suddenly became very whiny, going from playboy to friend-zoned loser. Eventually he grows into his own and starts learning from his mistakes. His fate at the end of the series is infamous for causing an uproar amongst fans, especially his older female admirers. Whether you think that his ending was deserved will be up to you to find out, but I personally felt sick while watching it. Really, the last eight minutes or so of the final episode are equal parts terrifying and upsetting – and this is a supposed to be the happy ending!
The show’s Yellow Owl, Raita, and Blue Swallow, Ako, take a backseat for most of the series, which focuses mainly on the relationships and development of Ryu, Gai, and Kaori. Ako has the least amount of episodes dedicated to her. She also has no real romantic interests, which is refreshing but probably one of the reasons why she is never given any attention. Even Raita has more romantic entanglements than she does: also in love with Kaori, he serves as the fourth (and always ignored) wheel.
I can understand Kaori’s appeal, though. She does share a lot of the same pitfalls that some stereotypical girly Rangers have, but avoids a lot of others. At the beginning of the series she is afraid to do pretty much anything, but she quickly overcomes her fears. I don’t even blame her, though: her reactions seemed more normal for a civilian and she was less whiny than she could have been. She is extremely excited when she is told that she is a Jetman, which offers her an escape from her boring life of luxury. She deals (to varying levels of success) with a rude fiancée, a rude Red Hawk, and a mostly awful Black Condor. Her soap opera relationships between Gai and Ryu are among the best and worst parts of the series.
Gai’s early treatment of Kaori is creepy at best and abusive at worst. At one point, he is essentially terrorizing her, chasing her into elevators and telling her that she will be his. He has the self-control of a two-year old and Kaori is a combination of too confused and not empowered enough to just kick him in the head and tell him to leave her alone. At the same time, she is in love with Ryu, who as I mentioned before is still grieving over the love of his life. In his grief, Ryu acts irrationally and hurts her feelings. At the same time, Kaori is incredibly insensitive to the pain that Ryu is going through. Any attempts that she makes to comfort him at any point in the series just seems to be a superficial mask for her own desire to be with him. Nearly everything that happens amongst this trio is infuriating yet so entertaining.
The villains, Dimensional War Party Vyram, have their own romantic entanglements but mostly deal with power struggles. The show’s treatment of Vyram is excellent, with betrayals and confusing moments in which I felt sympathetic towards each one of the bad guys. It was interesting enough that one of the villains is connected to Ryu. Radiguet and Tran have probably the best character trajectories, but my favorite Vyram is Grey. A cigar-smoking evil robot with a weakness for classical music, he is arguably the most gentle of the villains but still kicks serious ass. Their monsters are mostly the typically silly topical creatures (ranging from a house to a Ramen Noodle God), but included some heartfelt endings. More than one of Vyram’s monsters turns out to be good, with one even surviving the show.
The mecha are well-designed and fit well with the show’s bird theme. Tetraboy is a cool and powerful auxillary robot, but I was frequently creeped out by its quick, unnatural movements. I prefer the design of Jet Garuda to Jet Icarus and I find Great Icarus to be a bulky, but not terrible combo robot. Many of the fight scenes are memorable; the show is not afraid of having pilots leave their mecha mid-battle.
As mentioned before, Jetman is notoriously dark, and often I had to remind myself that I was watching a children’s show. There is murder, suicide, and mutilation and the rape overtones can be overwhelming. The first half of the series often left me with mood whiplash; light-hearted comedic episodes were followed by murder mysteries, which were then followed by childhood nightmares. This is also the show’s virtue; there wasn’t a single episode that I wanted to skip.
I would recommend Jetman to any Super Sentai and Power Rangers fan who has yet to watch it. It is a change of pace, a look at how different you can make a show that still follows time-worn traditions. I also think it is the best option for older viewers who shy away from Super Sentai because they find it too childish. At its heart, Jetman is a drama; children are the original intended audience but the often heavy subject matter and the show’s emotional effects on viewers make it a gem that all fans can value.
