Super Sentai: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger – Power Rangers By The King Of Manga

Written and art by Shotaro Ishinomori. Translated by Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley. Published by Seven Seas Entertainment.

Shotaro Ishinomori is considered the “King of Manga” in Japan. Second only to his mentor, the “God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka, he had a prolific career lasting more than four decades. This included a Guinness World Record level of output, resulting in many creations that have outlived him (Shotaro Ishinomori passed away in 1998), such as Cyborg 009, Kamen Rider, and the Super Sentai franchise. That last one is what I want to discuss here. With confirmation that Super Sentai is wrapping up after 50 years, I finally decided to pull Ishinomori’s Super Sentai: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger manga adaptation from the to-read pile, where it sat for too many years.

The name “Super Sentai” might not be ubiquitous in the West as it is in its home country. That’s because its legacy reverberated outwards into a different form – Power Rangers. The Super Sentai franchise forms the bedrock of Power Rangers, with the latter adopting not only the show’s formula but also implementing extensive action footage from the Japanese show. Shotaro Ishinomori, who had worked with production company Toei on other live-action tokusatsu shows in the 1970s, formulated many of the franchise’s foundational elements.

Super Sentai: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger cover by Shotaro Ishinomori.

Shotaro Ishinomori wasn’t content to just create the live-action show. As Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, the show’s first iteration of many, was airing on Japanese television in 1975, there were also two manga tie-in series being serialised at the same time. Impressively, both were done by Ishinomori. Seven Seas Entertainment collected these manga stories for the English market a few years ago in a single hardback volume. The result is two separate interpretations of the material that exercise restraint in different ways.

The broad strokes of Himitsu Sentai Gorenger are as follows:

Five teenagers in colour-coded supersuits (a.k.a the Gorengers) are the last line of defence against the Japanese branch of The Black Cross Army. Based underneath a curry shop, the team fights against the nefarious international organisation so they don’t profit from stealing government secrets and technological breakthroughs that could benefit mankind. Along the way, the teens face elaborately masked villains and their goons. (For those wondering: the giant robots and Ultraman-style battles were not introduced into the franchise until 1979.)

The collection begins with the Weekly Shonen Sunday version. Published weekly between May and August 1975, the comic was serialised while the television series aired. The stories of this interpretation of Himitsu Sentai Gorenger lean into the strengths of the comics medium.

Super Sentai: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger page by Shotaro Ishinomori.

To start with, the stories are longer, stretching multiple chapters in a serialised fashion. The longer nature allows scenes and ideas to be elaborated on cinematically. This means that the missions don’t feel rushed, adding additional twists and turns to the story that may not have room for in a 30-minute television episode. Oddly enough, the origins of the team feel rushed in this interpretation. Events that build up the team’s formation happen at a pretty fast pace, only breaking for an unhinged ten-page action sequence that involves a girlfriend held at knifepoint, a dozen weapon-wielding hooded figures, and a flamethrower. Once we get to the secret base, the team forms with a very nonchalant attitude and no questions asked. Perhaps Ishinomori was more interested in getting to the meat and potatoes of the story, the team’s mission, as soon as possible, with the origin story taking a hit to arrive there.

That being said, I’m fine with a rushed and uneven origin story if it means the rest of the Weekly Shonen Sunday version. The two missions feel akin to Ishinomori’s other body of work. He gets to play with the Super Sentai characters and concepts in a way that’s unrestricted by a television budget. Everything feels bigger. And it’s not just because he can have a giant robot dinosaur ruin buildings or include Michael Bay levels of explosions. Ishinomori’s panel framing makes everything more exciting. Tanks appear more dangerous as they’re viewed from a lower perspective, towering over the reader as they charge forward. On the other end, when combined with scaling techniques, aerial shots and panels rendered a high angle add great emphasis. This includes introducing the team’s ship and surveying the damage caused by a giant dinosaur. It feels more like Ishinomori’s vision for Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, transcending what’s possible on television in 1975.

Ishinomori’s other interpretation of Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, as published through Shogaku Gonensei magazine at the same time, is more restricted in its execution. These four stories – or directives, as they’re referred to – feel comparable to an episode of the television show. Ishinomori could all out in the pages of Weekly Shonen Sunday. However, here, he has to be more on brand. (That being said, both strips play it loose with being true to the show, with the team younger than their television counterparts, among other small details.) Just like the television show, these are monster-of-the-week-style stories, made to be self-contained for a fifth-grade audience. The episodic nature benefits the origin story. While it doesn’t contain an unhinged fight sequence, it benefits from even pacing and being the core storyline of the first story.

Super Sentai: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger page by Shotaro Ishinomori.

These four stories are less ambitious than the Weekly Shonen Sunday ones, leaning into subject matter that aligns more with what was seen on television. The Black Cross Army’s schemes are smaller in scope – more focused on eliminating the Gorengers or stealing some cutting-edge technology. The action scenes are not as dynamic. As a result, where the other interpretation is superheroes rooted in science fiction, these tales have more of a spy-fi element to them.

While it’s not as cinematic as the other version, Ishinomori still finds opportunities to draw some great-looking panels. A wooden ship emerging from the ocean is an example of this. The manga king renders it in intricate detail, with cross-hatching and streams of white water gushing from its frame. At the same time, the sea rages and the sky swirls to cap off a panel that shows off the Black Cross Army’s sinister plans in a frightening manner. Also, despite the limitations of these strips, Ishinomori is occasionally able to transcend the TV budget by drawing the hell out of a panel.

Himitsu Sentai Gorenger will be a no-brainer for Super Sentai and Power Rangers fans. It’s an interesting curiosity that shows the franchise in its infancy. But you don’t have to be a fan to appreciate this collection. Shotaro Ishinomori brings plenty of energy to this work that will begin to give you an understanding of why he’s the King of Manga.

Super Sentai: Himitsu Sentai Gorenger is available at good comic book shops, online retailers, eBay, and Amazon/Kindle.