Mashin Sentai Kiramager Episode ZERO
- Original Airdate: February 8, 2020
Written by: Naruhisa Arakawa and Ayumi Shimo
Directed by: Kyohei Yamaguchi
Summary
The planet Crystalia is under attack by the Yodonheim Empire. Knowing that Earth would be targeted next, King Oradin instructs his daughter Princess Mabushiina to head there and find the best rangers, while he personally fends off the dark empire. Oradin manages to fight back against Crantula and the Bechats, but before he could deal the finishing blow, he is ambushed by Galza, who is Oradin's brother. Seeing the fall of her father, Mabushiina is at lost when she discovers five Kiramai Stones at the back of the throne. With them, she travels across space into Earth.Meanwhile, in a school, a student named Juru Atsuta snaps out of his daydream and goes back to drawing something. One the corner opposite of him are a group of schoolgirls gossiping behind his back. One of them, Kagihara, tries to get his attention, only to get annoyed when he doesn't respond. She has to scream at the top pf her lungs before Juru starts to notice her. Seeing Juru dedicated to drawing, Kagihara requests for her portrait. Juru thinks for a while, staring at her face, and finally got an inspiration and starts anew.
At a meteoric site, an excavating team from CARAT finds Princess Mabushiina and the Kiramai Stones encased within. In a tower resembling a palm-tree, Mabushiina comes to and finds herself in an office, with a VR player next to her. He introduces himself as Muryo Hakataminami, founder of the CARAT company they're in and a close friend of King Oradin. Mabushiina informs Hakataminami of the Yodonheim invasion. He has prepared the proper gears for the warriors, compatible with the powers of the Kiramai Stones. Mabushiina awakens the Kiramai Stones and assists them in scouting out those warriors who are comparable with their powers—ones with high Kiramental.
By the end of the search, the green Kiramai Stone finds Sena Hayami, the fastest runner in her division; blue finds Shiguru Oshikiri, a highly-famous stunt-swordsman; yellow finds Tametomo Imizu, an e-sports champion; and pink finds Sayo Ooharu, a high-profile surgeon. The red Kiramai Stone, however, is still in search for his partner, so he is unable to meet back on time.
In an intermission, Juru is still in school, drawing a classmate, Mizuki Kakihara. It's evening and everyone has left. Kakihara admitted that she thinks of Juru as good-for-nothing, but she has seen no one else who is as dedicated as him. She starts to get invested in his work.
Hakataminami invites the four chosen heroes into his headquarters. Mabushiina wonders whether they can fend off Yodonheim, but Hakataminami reassures that they are all in together. Suddenly, the alarm goes off. The Yodonheim Empire has infiltrated the base! Hakataminami guides the heroes downstairs where they are confronted by a group of Bechats. One of them kills Hakataminami, prompting them to transform.
With Tametomo taking the lead, the team uses their Kiramai Changer to transform into Kiramagers. As Kiramai Green, Sena charges in and sweeps through the foot solders. As Kiamai Blue, Shiguru slashes all surrounding Bechats with his Kiramai Sword. As Kiramai Pink, Sayo maneuvers through the grunts, being able to beat them both at close and open range. As Kiramai Yellow, Tametomo shoots down all the grunts using Kiramai Shot. Some are smart enough to hide away from his sight, but the yellow hero slots some Kiramai Bullets in and perform a trick shot, finishing off the remaining survivors.
At the end of the battle, the group run up to Hakataminami. Sayo checks up on him and...he's in normal health. It turns out that the attack was a battle simulation to push the team into action. Mabushiina angrily headbutts him for making her worry over nothing.
Back to the red Kiramai Stone, he is still looking for his partner. In the school nearby, Juru finally finishes his work. Kagihara takes a look at it, and sees a mediocre drawing of her. She leaves in frustration while Juru explains his work, not realizing that she's gone. His previous artwork shows Galza, who puts on a helmet as he leads the invasion on Earth.
In a city, a Kaiju shadows over its town square as the populace see it and run in fear. Four rangers suit up in their new uniforms as they prepare for battle.
Tropes specific to this special
- Anger Born of Worry: Mabushiina headbutts Muryo in anger of him pretending to die from his simulated Yodonheim attack.
- Breaking Old Trends: If Episode Zero was aired as the first episode of Kiramager as originally intended, Kiramager would've been the first Sentai series in which the team is formed without the red ranger in it's first episode.
- Cliffhanger: Faucet Hildon appears in the city.
- Curbstomp Battle: Oradin easily wipes the floor with the invading Bechats and Crantula. Were it not for Galza's betrayal, he would have won.
- Dope Slap: A variation. Mabushiina delivers a headbutt to Muryo for pretending to die from the simulated Yodonheim attack. Unfortunately, she's basically made of hard stone, and her headbutt is shown to be powerful enough to make the others wince (but thankfully not enough to do any serious damage to him).
- Episode Zero: The Beginning: This special explains how the Kiramagers are set before the first episode debuts Juru, the red ranger.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: We see the Bechats dog-pile on Oradin and continue beating him up as he screams in agony, onscreen.
- Fragile Speedster: Discussed between Mabushiina and the green Kiramai Stone. When the latter chose Sena for her high speed, Mabushiina asks whether she can fight with that alone.
- Off-the-Shelf FX: Tametomo does gaming using what is quite obviously just a PS4 controller with a piece of tape to cover the PS button.
- Only Sane Man: Mabushina, who questions the Kiramai Stones' choices, especially blue and yellow, being the first to state that actors and video gamers are a lot less relevant to the impending battle than athletes.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Mabushina can somehow remain under the radar while scouring the city for the new Kiramagers, with just a shawl on her head. She can even sneak into a hospital's operating theater!
