Turboranger

is a Japanese television show and the thirteenth entry of Toei Company's Super Sentai metaseries and the first title of the Heisei period. it was aired on TV Asahi on February 25, 1989, to February 23, 1990, replacing ''Choujyu Sentai Liveman'' and was replaced by ''Chikyu Sentai Fiveman'' with a total of 51 episodes (1 TV special and 50 ordinary episodes). Its international title in English was listed by Toei is ''Turbo Rangers''. ''Turboranger'' was also the first Super Sentai series to air on Friday instead of Saturday.

During its initial run, ''Turboranger'' was the 11th Super Sentai and billed as the tenth anniversary title of the Super Sentai series (as ''Battle Fever J'' was designated as the first Super Sentai series during 1988 to 1994 after the exclusion of ''Himitsu Sentai Gorenger'' and ''J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai'' due to rights issues with Shotaro Ishinomori). However, in 1995, ''Gorenger'' and ''J.A.K.Q.'' was included into the Super Sentai series once more, thus making ''Turboranger'' the 13th in the franchise.

Plot

20,000 years ago, the Fairy race assisted humans in a battle against the Hundred Bohma Tribes, successfully sealing them. However, due to modern-day pollution and man's destruction of nature, the power of the Fairy magic has weakened, allowing the seal to be broken and thus the Tribe's escape. With the help of Dr. Dazai; Seelon, the last of the fairies, summons five high school seniors. As children, they were showered with the "flames of spirit" of the fallen fairies in a forest and can now hear Seelon's voice. Donning powered suits, the product of a collaboration between Seelon's magic and Dr. Dazai's science, the five become the Turborangers, juggling days of fighting with their regular school lives, in order to defeat the Bohma Tribe.

Characters

Turborangers

The eponymous Turborangers are all high school students of Musashino Academy.

* /: A brave high school baseball team captain. An ace pitcher, his technique is the "Demonball of Fire/Honoo" and dreams of becoming a professional. Despite his apparent hyperactivity disorder, Riki has a high sense of justice and confidence. He is the kind of person who is not in good graces with his teacher due to his low grades which is seen earlier. He shows his unusual amount of power in matters like when he defeats Zimba on their final duel. He also kills Rehda in the middle of the battle with the Super Bohma Beast which he rushed into out of impulsiveness. Riki was captured by Wandering Bohma and forced to pit against Lagorn where after a hard battle, he underwent near death but he managed to win by inflicting a mortal wound on Ragorn's heart at a desperate attempt. He pulled the team together during the final battle. Riki would appear years later to grant the Greater Power of the Turborangers to the Gokaigers during ''Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger'', but the Greater Power would never be used onscreen.
* /: A patient track star who is also a good student giving him the fame of "Running Brain" which is in contrast to Riki. He shows his team concern and is self-sacrificing even when he placed himself at risk to be able to have the Turbo Rugger completed. Daichi is a reliable second in command who will always be for support of his teammates. He once befriended the monster Sumo Bohma who got him into embracing Sumo (which he secretly desired to do), forming a father-and-son bond with the Bohma in the process, he defeated in a sumo battle and granted the demon rest. He defeated Jarmin in battle after helping Dr. Dazai get the parts to complete the Turbo Rugger.
* /: A swimmer and high diver. He is very good at aquatic battle. He is prone to chasing girls. He was once forced to clean the whole school due to his serious misbehavior problems. He once befriended a Bohma named Bell, whose people were oppressed by the evil Jarmin and caught inside a series of bells, falling in love with her in the process.
* /: He is a gymnast and almost behaves like a feral child. He was in love with a girl he only knew as "Sayo-chan" when younger, never realizing it was actually Sayoko Tsukikage/Kirika. He has a younger brother named Shunji who was killed in a hit and run, therefore he befriends the Bohma Beast Hyoma who had a falling out with his younger brother Enma; connecting over their roles and responsibilities.
* /: A student council president and the brightest student in school. She is popular, everyone looks up to her. Gifted with acting skills, she was able to fool both Bohma and the other Turborangers to get the medicine and save Yohei's life.

Allies

* : A scientist who was contacted by Seelon and assisted in the invention of the Turborangers' mecha. Being a car enthusiast, he based their mecha and suits on vehicles and also had been experimenting on a non-contaminant engine. A slight eccentric who longs for the Turborangers' teacher, Yamaguchi.
* : The last surviving Fairy with a height of 8 centimeters (approximately 3 1/4 inches) tall. She can only be seen with the naked eye by the Turborangers; Dazai invented goggles that allows him to see her. She teamed with Dr. Dazai to stop the Tribes. She befriends Saint Beast Rakia. She can emit a "Shine of the Soul" that temporarily disorients enemies, but can be fatal to her. She lives in a small, reconstructed doll house made for her by Dr. Dazai. She is not afraid to dive into danger to assist the Turborangers. After the finale, she becomes a star with Rakia.
* : A white-maned, winged holy beast defender of Earth, the keeper of peace, and guardian of fairies. He fought the Bohma long ago and sealed many of them, sealing himself near Bohma Castle. However, the pollution of the Earth gravely weakened Lakia to being forced to negate the seal on Bohma Castle. He left the task of restoring peace to the future of the Earth to the Turborangers before dying and becoming a constellation to watch over them.
* : The Turborangers' homeroom teacher. Her subject is math. A gentle and well-liked teacher, the five Turborangers are not in her good graces for how often they shirk their classes and extracurricular activities to take part in fighting (although it is unknown to her why they are always absent). She dislikes Dr. Dazai, believing he plays a part in corrupting the five. She is a fan of sumo wrestling. She has a younger sister named Mika who studies martial arts. She finds out the five's secret lives as Turborangers in the finale, boarding the Turbo Base to give them words of inspiration.
* : Classmate of Shunsuke Hino/Yellow Turbo. The first ordinary human being who is able to break the seal of the Bohma Beast. Since she is the one who frees Toritsuki Bohma, she is forced to help him steal the energy of a human child by playing her flute. Her conversation with Shunsuke helps her gain the courage to betray Toritsuki Bohma and foil his goal. It is heavily implied that she has feelings for Shunsuke which he reciprocates.
* : Appears in episode 36. She is the little sister of Misa. She loves her sister more than anything and therefore hates the Turborangers for hiding something from Misa, while Misa cannot stop worrying them all the times. She later finds out Turborangers' true identities and learns to understand the situation. In the end, she does not tell her sister about the Turborangers and let her find out about it herself. After discovering the Turborangers' true identities, she stops hating them and befriends them instead. Of the Rangers, she seems the closest with Daichi.

Hundred Bohma Tribes

The are a crime faction where they are worshippers of violence and magic who lost to human-Fairy coalition 20,000 years ago and were sealed away. However, due to pollution that weakened the Fairy magic that sealed them, the Bohma are free to take their revenge on humanity from as their operations base. In the finale, Bohma Castle is destroyed by the Super Turbo Builder.

* : The absolute statue-esque dictator of the Bohma. He is initially partly immobile as he can still move his head and arms, he always remained seated on his throne with a set of tentacles that can stretch which he uses to punish his subordinates when they fail him. He is shown as merciless and cruel to everyone. He ends up sending Jarmin to her death after witnessing Zimba's brave sacrifice and that Yamimaru defeated the Turbo Robo. He sends Rehda to have his new Super Bohma Beast try to destroy the Turborangers. After Rehda and the Super Bohma Beast were both killed, he decides to punish Zulten with his powers for cowardice. He "dies" after the conspiracy of Yamimaru and Kirika, who decided to kidnap Riki and pit him against Lagorn in a one-on-one battle to the death. Riki mortally wounds him with a stab at the heart, causing him to receive explosions while Zulten only watched helplessly from a distance, not able to lift a finger to help him because of the red thread barrier Yamimaru and Kirika placed to trap him with Red Turbo. However, he becomes mobile after retrieving the monster-enlarging orb, he tries to kill Red Turbo and he grows giant and decides to punish the two traitors Yamimaru and Kirika for their treachery. He was then "destroyed" by Super Turbo Builder. He later revives himself by consuming energies of hatred and sadness around him, and becomes the gold-skinned and mobile snake/dinosaur-like . He faces the Turborangers as a giant in the finale in which he is destroyed for good by the Super Turbo Robo.
* : A bearded mystic genius with an ammonite-like head, a human face, and a cloak that covers his seahorse-like body who is Ragorn's second-in-command. Intelligent and cruel, he hates humanity and his schemes always involve the use of human deeds against humans themselves and mass killings of humans as well. He is usually portrayed to be the kind of field commander who does not show up often and works closely with Lagorn, receiving less ire and is entrusted with the most dangerous of operations. He is very skilled in witchcraft making him a powerful sorcerer. He was later sent to take care of the Turborangers with the Super Bohma Beast when both Jarmin and Jimba died where he almost buried them alive seeking revenge for Ragorn, as he was entrusted. When he saw the Turbo Robo pass by, he used his efforts to lure Red Turbo out to a battle hoping to divide the Turborangers. In that battle, Red Turbo and Lehda duel to the death. He reveals his illusion powers from his cape in an attempt to wipe out Red Turbo even with the ghosts of Jarmin and Zimba. However, Red Turbo managed to counter his attacks by slashing his cape, mortally wounded him and performed a GT Slash which inevitably killed him where he exploded violently as he uttered his final words in an illusion form cursing the Turborangers.
* : A samurai-like keikō-wearing masked Haniwa-themed warrior in black armor, expert in all martial arts with a mastery of swords. He loves to hate, a sadistic madman who takes pleasure in human suffering, especially when it comes to love. The reason from this was that Zimba was originally a man who fought a powerful army to win the heart of a princess he loved. However, when the fight left him near death, Zimba's final moments were the horrifying knowledge that the princess was disgusted by his ugly appearance and never loved him. He died soon after, his spirit burdened by his grudge and transforming his corpse into a Bohma. He is in love with Jarmin as well but denies it at times. When Lagorn becomes furious of how the Turborangers defeat them everything, Zimba protects Jarmin from their leader's rage while volunteering to finish the Turborangers once and far all. He bade farewell to Jarmin with a slashed bell who was sad to see him leave worrying he may never return. He was able to stop the Turborangers from being able to transform for a time but he was defeated by Red Turbo with a GT Crash and was finished off by the others with shots from the Turbo Laser. Yamimaru saw the opportunity to use him and he was enlarged which he defeated the Turbo Robo. However, he was defeated by the Turbo Builder.
* : A cold-hearted magician whose face becomes serpentine whenever angered, motivated to attack humans out of envy and spite while using a whip as her weapon in battle. Her tactics involve deception like when she forced the Bohma Brothers that combine to form Heinous Bohma to fight for her. It was insinuated by Zulten that she used the Sigh Bohma to impress her lover Zimba but she reacted by whipping him. When Lagorn was angered and decided to punish the others, she attempted to beg to Lagorn but her lover Zimba intervened to save her from death. She was hurt to see Zimba bid her farewell with a slashed bell fearing he may never return. When Zimba was killed, she was hurt as she had feelings for him holding the bell that Zimba slashed earlier. She was sentenced to death by Ragorn after Zimba's death where she released her ally Kuroko Bohma. The downside was that whatever happened to her monster also happened to her. She fused her soul with her other half, but was destroyed by the Turbo Rugger.
* : A fat, disgusting creature able to turn into an ATV-like vehicle for Jarmin. He is armed with a slingshot. A cheat who does anything to win; weak willed, always sucking up to superiors. He was the last of the original four bad guys serving Lagorn to be killed. He was not in good graces with Ragorn for his cowardice (and serves as a scapegoat after the death of Rehda, he also tried to use Zulten Metal Type to win his position back) and remained hidden at times afterward but shows up at times especially after Rehda's death and during the arrival of Yamimaru and Kirika and remained unable to help his master during the battle of Red Turbo and Lagorn due to the red thread barrier placed by Yamimaru. He sided with the Wandering Bohma fearing his death but returned loyalty to Lagorn afterward being the type to side with whoever is in charge. He was killed when he tried to perform an assault on the Turbo Builder via fighter jets.
* : The one-eyed caveman-themed foot soldiers under Lagorn's services, the black-skinned Ular are a Bohma Tribe and have the ability to merge into ball-shaped Ular Dumplings. They were originally led by , the Ular Clan's leader and greatest warrior who was sealed away. Once unsealed by Rehda with the Ular's prayers, Ular Bohma finds the Ular Road, which Japan National Route 44 was built on, and released the vast army of Ular sealed there. Then, to show his kind's unwavering loyalty to Lagorn, Ular Bohma has some of his Ular sacrifice themselves to invoke an earthquake to wipe out the human population. However, the Turborangers stop the scheme and the enlarged Ular Bohma was destroyed by the Turbo Robo's Turbo Cannon. The Ulars since vowed to kill the Turborangers to avenge their fallen leader. The Ulars are usually led to battle the red-skinned and , but they no longer show up later on.

Wandering Bohma

The are Yōkai, the offspring of humans and demons.

* : A Tsuchigumo-themed Wandering Bohma who was refused from being a member of the 100 Violent Demon Tribes. Because he was half-demon, he was not sealed and simply wandered Earth for 20,000 years to obtain as much knowledge as he could, while never being accepted by people. In modern times, he assumed the guise of and got himself transferred to the same school as the Turborangers. His plan is to destroy both humans and Bohma and let the Wandering Bohma as the only ones. Originally shaggy-haired, he later gains flashy red and black armor after the death of Rehda and with the help of Kirika. Before that, when he saw Zimba dead, he decided to use him at his own advantage to defeat the Turbo Robo by enlarging Zimba. He rides the giant bat Dragras which was destroyed when it sacrificed itself to destroy the monster Sealing Bohma. He plotted the downfall of Ragorn along with Kirika. He apparently succeeded in Lagorn's supposed death by kidnapping Red Turbo and having the two battle against each other. He took charge of the Tribes until Lagorn's resurrection, when he was almost killed if not saved by Kirika. He became peaceful in the end possibly because he was in love with Kirika.
* : Another Wandering Bohma. She originally lived as a normal girl named until she learned that she is a Wandering Bohma on her 18th birthday, shortly after finding that the man and woman who raised (and protected her for 20,000 years) were really just Skull Monsters. As Tsukikage, was an outcast in school who secretly loved Riki. She is permanently connected to Yamimaru through the "red thread of fate." Cruel and lacking compassion, her resentment of humans stems from her life of being bullied. She is repulsed that the blood running through her is a mixture of human and demon, deciding to call herself a full-fledged demon and throw away her humanity for Yamimaru, resulting in his power-up and her armor. She combined with the monster Armor Bohma to become Armored Kirika. Near the final, she and Yamimaru meets Kirika's true father, a peaceful demon named , who tells them of how much he loved Kirika's fellow peaceful, human mother, who wanted for both sides to coexist and this begins to break the hatred of Kirika and causes her to cease fighting. Because she knows the hatred and loneliness that Yamimaru has been suffered for 20,000 years, she wishes him to release his hatred so she tries to persuade him. In the finale, she manages to save Yamimaru and left to live a peaceful life with him, as Sayoko and Hikaru.

Bohma Beasts

The are a multitude of monsters that share the same demonic genetics and work for the Hundred Bohma Tribes where they were first seen 2,000 years ago during the Hundred Bohma Tribes' war with the humans and the fairies and sealed away. To make a Bohma Beast grow, one of Great Bohma Emperor Ragorn's minions will summon a tornado-like vortex while also causing them to make kaiju-like sounds.

Episodes

Before the very first episode premiered the following week, a television special was aired to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Super Sentai since ''Battle Fever J'' at that time. On October 6, 1989 (the day that episode 32 aired) the show began to be broadcast later on Fridays instead of Saturdays. A movie was released at the Toei Manga Festival on March 18, 1989, which was the same day episode 4 aired.

¹The first episode of ''Turboranger'' was originally scheduled to premiere on February 25, 1989. However, due to the death of Hirohito on January 7, the finale of ''Liveman'' was postponed to February 18, thus moving the premiere of ''Turboranger'' to March 4.

Cast

* Riki Honoo: Kenta Satou
* Daichi Yamagata: Yoshiaki Ganaha
* Yohei Hama: Keiya Asakura
* Shunsuke Hino: Junichiro Katagiri
* Haruna Morikawa: Yoshiko Kinohara
* Dr. Dazai: Fujita Okamoto
* Seelon: Mayumi Omura
* Rakia: Banjo Ginga
* Misa Yamaguchi: Kyoko Takami
* Ragorn: Takeshi Watabe
* Doctor Rehda: Masashi Ishibashi
* Princess Jarmin: Kanako Kishi
* Zimba: Seiichi Hirai
* Zulten: Hideyuki Umezu
* Hikaru Nagareboshi/Yamimaru: Yoshinori Tanaka
* Sayoko Tsukikage/Kirika: Masako Morishita

Guest stars

* Mika: Keiko Hayase (episode 37)
* Yukari: Miho Tojo (episode 35)
* Rin: Hiromi Yuhara (episode 27)
* Yumi Sakakibara: Sayuri Uchida (episode 09)

Songs

;Opening theme
*Kousoku Sentai Turboranger
**Lyrics:
**Composition:
**Arrangement
**Artist:

;Ending theme
*
**Lyrics: Ikki Matsumoto
**Composition: Yoshimasa Inoue
**Arrangement: Ryō Yonemitsu
**Artist: Kenta Satō

;Final Theme
*
**Lyrics: Ikki Matsumoto
**Artist: Kenta Satō

Notes

References

External links

*

{{Super Sentai

Super Sentai
1989 Japanese television series debuts
1990 Japanese television series endings
Japanese fantasy television series
Japanese high school television series
TV Asahi original programming
1980s Japanese television series
1990s Japanese television series
Demons in television
Works about cars