Que Bom!
Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger (roughly translated as "Knightosaur Squadron Ryusoulgernote and is a pun on "Ryu Soldier") is the 43rd program in the Super Sentai franchise that aired from 2019 to 2020 and the thirty-first and last Sentai entry in the Heisei Era.note It is the fourth dinosaur-themed installment in the franchise, following Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (1992), Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger (2003) and Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger (2013). This time though, the series' overall themes are also based on knights, and it is the first Sentai to be written by Junpei Yamaoka, a newcomer who is well known for writing J-Dramas (the most prominent would be Majisuka Gakuen). The Title Theme Tune was performed by Tomohiro Hatano for the second time in the franchise.
Sixty-five million years ago, the Druidon Tribe sought to Take Over the World and at the same time, the Ryusoul Tribe took a stand against them. When a giant meteor fell onto Earth, ending the era of Dinosaurs in the process, the Druidon Tribe fled to space. The Ryusoul Tribe remained in Earth and made preparations for future threats by turning the remaining dinosaurs into the Kishiryu, before putting them into slumber.
As the Heisei Era comes to a close and the Reiwa Era is about to begin, the Druidon Tribe, now stronger than last time, returned to Earth to finish what they started. In response to this, the Ryusoulgers have resurfaced to fight them once again.
It aired alongside Kamen Rider Zi-O, and later Kamen Rider Zero-One in the Super Hero Time block, premiering on March 17, 2019, which makes it the first Sentai series since Gekisou Sentai Carranger to debut in March. On February 22, 2020, it was revealed that this series will become the 28th and 29th seasons of the Power Rangers franchise; on May 15 the title was announced as Power Rangers Dino Fury.
Recurring Super Sentai tropes:
- Action Girl: Among the core five, Asuna is the only ranger who is a girl, but she manages to kick through her trials without help.
- Big Bad: Eras, the leader of Druidon Tribe, who is currently dormant in earth's crust. It is been said that she will awaken and wreak havoc on the world.
- Color Character: Another "[team prefix] [English color]" Sentai.
- Fleeting Demographic Rule: It's only been six years since the last dinosaur Sentai. They've previously waited for about ten before recycling that particular premise.
- Humongous Mecha: The Kishiryu.
- Animal Mecha: Take a guess.
- Combining Mecha:
- Tyramigo + Red RyuSoul = KishiRyuOh
- Tyramigo + Triken + Ankyloze = KishiRyuOh Fortress
- Tyramigo + Triken + Ankyloze + Red RyuSoul = KishiRyuOh Three Knights
- Tyramigo + Triken + Ankyloze + TigerLance + MirNeedle + Red RyuSoul = KishiRyuOh Five Knights
- MosaRex + AmmoKnuckles + Gold RyuSoul = KishiRyuNeptune
- MosaRex + AmmoKnuckles + DimeVolcano = SpinoThunder. Unusually, the combined form is an extremely rare case of becoming another beast instead of a humanoid robot.
- KishiRyuOh + SpinoThunder = Gigant KishiRyuuOh
- Pterardon + HieHieSoul = YokuRyuOh
- Tyramigo + Pterardon = Ptyramigo, another beast transformation that gives Tyramigo wings.
- KishiRyuOh + Pterardon + PachyGaroo = KishiRyuOh Jet
- KishiRyuOh + MosaRex + Pterardon = King KishiRyuOh
- Within the auxiliary mecha, ShineRaptor and ShadowRaptor are two halves of CosmoRaptor.
- In the summer movie, Dinomigo + Cobrago = KishiRyuZin
- Leader Forms the Head: Played with. On the one hand, Tyramigo makes up a disproportionate amount of KishiRyuuOh Three Knights. On the other hand, all five Ryusoulgers can each take the lead with an alternate formation where they form its head and chestplate. Also done literally, as the RyuSouls make up the heads of the formations.
- Mecha Expansion Pack: Each of the four non-Red Kishiryu can be used as this for KishiRyuuOh Three Knights. Yes, even Triken and Ankyroze, which are already part of the formation. There are a number of other expansion-pack mecha as well, such as DimeVolcano and the raptors (either individually or as CosmoRaptor), and PachyGaroo.
- Tank-Tread Mecha: KishiRyuuOh Fortress
- Transforming Mecha: Tyramigo/KishiRyuOh, MosaRex/KishiryuNeptune, and the summer movie's Dinomigo/Kishiryuzin all seem like this trope, but it's actually subverted since their heads are formed from their respective RyuSouls which technically makes them all Combining Mecha instead. And the final mecha has Pterardon/YokuRyuOh which actually plays this a little straighter, because it can transform from an egg to a Ptera, but this does not count for YokuRyuOh since just like the former three, its head is formed by its RyuSoul.
- Make My Monster Grow: The Minosaurs would automatically enlarge themselves as part of their natural growth process if the necessary amount of human negative emotions and life energy are gathered.
- Merchandise-Driven: Par for the course, but the reason why Toei is bringing back a dinosaur theme sooner than usual? It's because dinosaurs sell, and the franchise has been under a toy sales slump for the past four years. note
- Mid-Season Upgrade: The Ryusoulgers receive enhanced forms from special Kyoryusouls tied to the secondary mecha, which also doubles as Elemental Powers:
- Playing with Fire: DimeVolcano's Meramera (Burning) Ryusoul
- An Ice Person: Pterardon's Hiehie (Freezing) Ryusoul
- Blow You Away: Dinomigo's Byubyu (Howlingnote ) Ryusoul
- Dishing Out Dirt: PachyGaroo & ChibiGaroo's Doshin (Thumpingnote ) Ryusoul
- Shock and Awe: SpinoThunder's Biribiri (Shocking) Ryusoul
- Light 'em Up: ShineRaptor's Kagayaki (Shining) Ryusoul
- Casting a Shadow: ShadowRaptor's Kurayami (Absolute Darkness) Ryusoul
- Yin-Yang Bomb: CosmoRaptor's Cosmo Ryusoul
- Mini Dress Of Power: Part of Ryusoul Pink's costume.
- Monster of the Week: The Minosaurs are created by Kureon, using humans as Living Batteries.
- Super Mode: All Ryusouls can grant a specific power, but the Greater Ryusouls can unlock a power-up. Kou also gets his own super mode, Max Ryusoul Red.
- Transformation Trinket: the Ryusoul Changer for the main team and the Mosa Changer for Gold.
- Villains Act, Heroes React: As is the norm for Super Sentai, we generally get a Minusaur being spawned Once an Episode, with our heroes then arriving on the scene to stop them.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: The main team each has the Ryusoul Ken, a Cool Sword. RyusoulGold has a Sword and Gun, the Mosa Changer and the Mosa Blade, which can combine to create the Mosa Breaker.
Tropes Present in Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger:
- Aborted Arc: Episode 40 features a cursed mirror that amplifies one's worst fears, which sends anyone who looks into it running away in terror; however, it has zero effect on Kleon, raising questions about his true nature. This is never touched upon again for the rest of the series.
- Accidental Misnaming: Tyramigo gets Melto's name wrong several different ways in episode 19.
- Actor Allusion:
- Canalo hitting on Master Pink leads to an artsy backdrop with Roman pillars and a Gigantic Moon, pulled directly out of Sailor Moon which Miyu Sawai (Master Pink) is still well remembered for.
- Episode 45 has a flashback show Master Black transforming into Ryusoul Black with pose similar to his actor's previous role as Tatsuya Asami/TimeRed.
- Alternate History: Episode 2. Even the resident paleontologist has unearthed the existence of the Kishiryu while looking for dinosaur fossils, implying that the Kishiryu are a separate species that existed alongside actual dinosaurs in this reality.
- Apple of Discord: The Kanae Soul in episode 23. While Macguffins of this level have come up before, most notably in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, this is the first time all the heroes end up at loggerheads over it.
- Artistic License ā Paleontology: An unusually large amount, even in a franchise that has mammals on dino teams. Both RyusoulBlack and Green are based on fictional dinosaur species. The dinosaurs/Kishiryu are all fictional genera/species, based off of but not identical too existing taxa. Tyramigo is a Tyrannosaurus, but not a T. rex; the same applies to Blue's Triceratops and Pink's Ankylosaurus. Black's and Green's Kishiryu species are completely made up: Black's is a Needlesaurus, a stegosaur; and Green's is a Tigersaurus, looking like a reptilian Smilodon.
- Back for the Finale: After being absent for most of the final quarter of the show, Ui returns for the final episode.
- Bait-and-Switch Credits: The opening credits play Kleon up to be the Big Bad of the series. Come episode 46, and it turns out that not only is it not the case (the true villain being Eras), but they even pull a HeelāFace Turn.
- Been There, Shaped History: Episode 14. The unusually long-lived Ryusoul people may have inadvertently walked into important parts of not just history but myth and legend as well, like the story of Urashima Taro, about the guy who went partying undersea for what seemed like a week but turned out to be a century - thus explaining why he never aged more than a week.
- Big Brother Instinct: As familial bond seems to be one of this show's recurring theme, there are Bamba, Canalo, and Princess Cardena who would do anything for their younger siblings' safety.
- Bittersweet Ending: Eras is defeated and the remaining Druidons pull a HeelāFace Turn, but the Kishiryu are gone, having sacrificed themselves to stop Eras. The Ryusoulgers do vow to find a way to bring them back, however.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- Pink rangers usually fill the roles of The Heart. This is not the case with Asuna: she's the muscle of the Ryusoulgers.
- This is the first series where the Monster of the Week is usually not defeated at human-size, as doing so meant they would be Killed Off for Real. To avoid this, they usually escape and go into hiding as soon as they are born to buy time to grow naturally, and only re-emerge as full-grown giants for the usual Humongous Mecha battles.
- Sixth Rangers in a Dino Sentai started out as villains or being possessed by another villain before joining the team after a game-changing event. Canalo on the other hand, is already a hero upon introduction, though he's more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold Anti-Hero due to his wealthy upbringing.
- Call-Forward: Being a prequel to the main series, Legacy of the Masterās Soul has a few:
- The Elder has warned the Master that the Druidon may return, forcing them to choose new apprentices. This causes Master Blue to enquire about Nada, who he thought would be the next Ryusoul Red. Master Red emphatically states that he was a poor choice, but wonders where he is now.
- Master Blueās former apprentice Mayu proved conclusively that Meltās blue hair is purely a genetic defect, and not a sign that he was Born Unlucky.
- Casting Gag: Jiro Dan plays the elder of an ancient monster-fighting tribe, in a season where the monsters look like the ones in the Ultra Series. He's more than qualified, having actually been Ultraman.
- Cerebus Retcon: Episode 1 has a *Drool* Hello gag involving Ui getting Kleon's goop on her; then episode 2 reveals that if any of it got in her mouth, she'd already be Victim of the Week.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Cerberus Minusaur tries to take a bite out of RyusoulBlack with KataSoul on, and noticeably injures its upper left fang. The payoff comes one week later when Koh has to get a live sample off of it to cure its poison, and lets it get close enough before snapping that fang off by hand.
- Continuity Snarl: Surprisingly enough this is actually averted compared to its 2 predecessor Dino Sentai, Abaranger and Kyoryuger. They don't have any retcons or new reasons for how the dinosaurs died instead they just use the giant meteor theory which also serves as the reason why the Druidon tribe fled Earth.
- Create Your Own Hero: Ironically the threat the Druidon posed to the planet is what caused the Ryusoul tribe to become more heroic and focused on protecting the planet defeating them in the present day... after another civil war which resulted in the creation of the Sea Ryusoul tribe.
- Create Your Own Villain: It turns out that the civil wars the Ryusoul tribe waged in the past is what caused Eras to create the Druidon Tribe to destroy them, but in her viewpoint she did this twice since the Druidon then tried to Take Over the World.
- Crossover: The annual VS. Movie sees the Ryusoulgers crossing over with Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger. Additionally, the end credits sequence of said movie features cameos by the Pretty Cures, specifically from HuGtto! Pretty Cure, Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure, and Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure.
- Culture Chop Suey: Due in part to being based in Japan the whole time, the Ryusoul tribe may look European-themed apparel-wise but there's zero language barrier between them and modern day Japanese like Ui. Then you get to the RyusoulKen clearly going "Wasshoi wasshoi sore sore sore sore!", and Asuna is clearly beating out a traditional obon pattern on the drums in a flashback.
- Darker and Edgier: Zigzagged. While Kleon and Wiserue are comical villains, compared to the previous three Dino Sentai entries, the series in general qualifies as this: the Monsters of the Week are made from humans and most of the Ryusoulgers' fights are a Race Against the Clock. Not to mention, the Downer Beginning itself is rather graphic.
- This is also the only Sentai at the moment, from all 40+ Sentai series, where the Red actually died before the final roll call, and did not get revived until the final boss truly died.
- Denser and Wackier: Compared to the Downer Beginning and serious monsters that the starter villain Tankjo has a hand in creating, whenever Wiserue shows up as the primary threat, Ryusoulger as a whole becomes very noticeably sillier.
- Date Peepers: Apparently this happens enough in Japanese media that we get a double-layered subversion in episode 24 - Kou and Asuna notice Melto running off to meet Oto, and sneak along to spy on them, and then realise they're the ones spying on Canalo and his Girl of the Week.
- Dinosaurs Are Dragons: The titular team's name is literally translated as "Knight Dragon Squadron Dragon Soul Ranger" and yet they're outright themed after dinosaur knights.
- Downer Beginning: The first episode has the Druidon Tribe attacking the Ryusoul Tribe's home village, forcing the Ryusoulgers' masters to heroically sacrifice themselves in the process. While Gingaman has the Elder petrifying the entire Ginga Forest and Magiranger has Miyuki getting a Disney Death at the beginning, the on-screen deaths of the characters in question is one of the most brutal openings in Sentai history, with Kyuranger and Liveman topping that said treatment.
- Effortless Amazonian Lift: Asuna has bridal carried two males throughout the show. One is a Victim of the Week, and the other is Koh, the Red Ranger.
- Evil Counterpart: Gaisoulg, a Black Knight opposing the heroic Ryusoulger knights.
- Evolving Credits: Zigzagged - they've added Canalo and everything RyusoulGold-related at the appropriate time, but Kleon remains the only Druidon revealed despite the show having had five generals and Gaisoulg make appearances.
- Foreshadowing: The civil war that MosaRex mentions hints that the Ryusoul Tribe of the past isn't truly as heroic or united as previously thought since it turns out that an earlier civil war is what caused their creator Eras to create the Druidon Tribe to destroy them.
- Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: Gets particularly egregious when MosaRex can leap out of the water and catch Oto in his mouth. And Canalo just mentions that they do this all the time. Then again, this is a show where Melto is bitten on the leg by Tyramigo, and gets to KEEP that leg.
- Girl of the Week: Parodied with Canalo's quest for a bride. He does find one in nearly every episode he's in. And all of them are otherwise attached or have commitments or conditions he cannot fulfil.
- Hidden Elf Village: The whole Ryusoul tribe qualifies (down to being Really 700 Years Old), at least till the Druidon attack turns them into refugees.
- Human Alien: Episode 7 introduces Cardena and Fita, two musically-inclined aliens (to the extent that merely terrible singing is a Brown Note for them).
- Knight in Shining Armor: The Ryusoulgers themselves.
- Lampshade Hanging: The Shen Minusaur's Victim of the Week was chosen for being a trainee firefighter, since Wizel was up against the firebreathing Dimevolcano, but then the man's real interest in films takes over, and the Minusaur exhibits illusory abilities, which Wiserue figures out how to use anyways. Asuna is the first to point out how unnecessarily complicated this is.
- Lost Tribe: The Ryusoul Tribe, who have kept their existence secret for as long as the dinosaurs have been extinct.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: Looks to be a uniquely Druidon ability - one Minosaur acts more like this than a Monster of the Week, and Eras can not only trap a million humans at once, but her power bumps it up to The Final Temptation.
- Mythology Gag: Has its own page.
- Oddly Small Organization:
- Played with. The Druidon Tribe can seem to be the smallest villainous faction in all of Super Sentai, but that's because only two members are shown at any one time (Kleon and the general of the arc).
- Played straight with the Ryusoul Tribe. For a tribe that fights against the Druidon and had 65 million years to prepare for an attack, we only have 6 Ryusoulgers with no kind of organization or even way to track Druidon to back them up.
- Otherworldly Technicolour Hair: Downplayed. One thing that separates the Ryusoul Tribe from ordinary humans apart from their long lifespans is that some of them can have naturally blue hair, like Melto. However, the rest of the team has otherwise naturally-colored hair.
- PokƩmon Speak: Tyramigo roars in "TYRA!!"s. At least until he watches some TV with Koh and picks up some Japanese in Hulk Speak manner.
- Punny Name: The series plays heavily on different meanings of the word "sou (ć½ć¦)":
- The Japanese pronunciation for the word "-saur".
- It is also a way to pronounce "soul", minus the "l".
- In that context, the name for the series' Monster of the Week, the Minosaurs, sounds a lot like "Minus Soul".
- "Sou" can be written as "č£", which means "armament"
- Gimmick-wise, the "sou" in the RyuSouls' names can be taken to mean "seems like it", one example being TsuyoSoul meaning "It seems strong".
- When activating an armament RyuSoul in the RyuSoul Ken, it repeatedly announces "Sou!", which in this context means "Yes!". In full activation, it announces "Sou! Sono kanji!", which means "Yes! That's the spirit!"
- The RyuSoul Changer's announcement of "Ryu so cool!" sounds like "Ryusoul kuru!", meaning "A RyuSoul has come!".
- Prequel: The Super Sentai Strongest Battle mini-series not only serves as an epilogue for the Heisei Era Sentai, but also serves as a prologue for the Reiwa Era Sentai, which is the reason why Towa and Bamba showed up in the trailer.
- Really 700 Years Old: Kou reveals himself to be 209 in episode 7. Oto is 123, and the others are similarly old. It seems to be one human year to ten Ryusoul years, given the ages of the actors in relation to their characters.
- Red Herring: It's hinted that Gaisoulg's true identity isĀ Towa and/or Banba's Master, as in episode 20, he repeats to Towa a mantra that their master once taught to Banba, who later also taught it to Towa. Not to mention Karino remarking that Gaisoulg misses his glory days in episode 13. Presumably, Karino doesn't know that it's actually Nada who's under that armor. She might think that Gaisoulg is still Master Green who did once use the armor, as revealed in episode 30. Episode 43 makes it clear that Nada knew of Master Black's words because he also learned from the same master, as the Ryusoul Green candidate.
- Repetitive Name: King KishiRyuOh, ("King KnightSaurKing").
- Robot Buddy: Using the shrinking power of the Chiisasoul, Tyramigo can scale down to human size and hang out with the Ryusoulgers in their off hours.
- Roger Rabbit Effect: The ending dance sequence of Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger VS Lupinranger VS Patranger features the rangers in live action dancing alongside the Pretty Cures, rendered in CGI.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Gunjoji, a newly created Druidon, is initially established as a threat to the Ryusoulgers, but this turns out to be because Pricious and Saden were helping him. When he attempts to fight the team without their backup, he is soon forced to flee the ensuing Curb-Stomp Battle.
- Spanner in the Works: Episode 9 has a Monster of the Week that behaves more like a Lotus-Eater Machine, trapping our heroes by fulfilling their deepest wishes and then keeping them there - but Koh's deepest wish is to travel all over the world, which is pretty much the opposite of being trapped. This is precisely how he finds out what it is they're stuck in.
- Story Arc: Similar to Gaoranger, Magiranger, and obviously Kyoryuger, the series has a set of small arcs:
- Episodes 1-6: Tankjo Arc
- Episodes 7-10: Wiserue Arc
- Episodes 11-13: DimeVolcano Arc
- Episodes 14-16: Gachireus Arc
- Episodes 17-20: SpinoThunder Arc
- Episodes 21-25: CosmoRaptor Arc
- Episodes 26-32: Gaisoulg Arc
- Episodes 33-39: Pricious Arc
- Episodes 40-48: Eras Arc
- Super-Senses: Episode 2 unveils "ears of a wolf" and "eyes of a hawk" Ryusouls. Episode 5 debuts a "super sense of smell" one.
- Super-Strength: The new "Mukimuki Soul" in episode 3. Used by a character that already has super strength, well...
- Took a Level in Badass: The Druidon Tribe spend the past sixty-five million years fighting off hostile environments from outer space before returning to Earth. The Ryusoul Tribe anticipated this, and turned the surviving Dinosaurs into the Kishiryu just in case.
- We ARE Struggling Together:
- The Druidon's tribe generals don't truly work together and in some cases even can't get along with each other, but they are united in their goals of taking over the planet.
- It turns out that the Ryusoul tribe of the past were no different since their civil war is what caused their creator Eras to create the Druidon to destroy them. Which caused them to unite against a common enemy, only to restart their war again after the Druidon fled to space which resulted into the creation of the sea tribe.
- Whateversaurus: "Kishiryu" (Coming from "Kishi" (Knight) and "Kyouryuu" (Dinosaur)), "Needlesaurus", "Tigersaurus", and "Minosaur" are all made-up dinosaur names.
- Victim of the Week: Borrowing a popular recurring theme from recent Kamen Rider, Minosaurs are created based on the desires of human hosts, and exist physically separate while draining the humans' lifeforce to grow giant eventually, by which time the humans' minutes are numbered.
- Visual Pun: A number of RyuSouls and their armaments resemble modern man-made objects that are somewhat related to the ability they grant, arranged to look like a dinosaur's head.
- HayaSoul is themed after a sports shoe.
- MistSoul is themed after a spray bottle nozzle.
- MabushiSoul is themed after a lightbulb.
- PukupukuSoul is themed after a balloon animal.
- KakureSoul is themed after a Ninja.
- Worf Had the Flu: Although the purification of the Gaisoulg armor made it safe to use, it is also weaker than before. Not helping the matter at all that its user Nada is not as experienced in battle as the Ryusoulgers, which makes him weaker than the others. This was in turn the reason why he initially wanted to go on a training journey to catch up to their level which sadly never happened since his first opponent is a Druidon General who is much stronger than the typical Monster of the Week and managed to kill him.
- Your Size May Vary: Tyramigo is just as huge as any other mecha during fights, but out of it he's shown to be only just as big as a slide while relaxing at a park. Justified later, when the team regularly use a Chiisa Soul to make him human-sized.
