Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger is finally unveiled, and it's actually quite a surprise the route their taking. Last year when Zyuohger toy listing was revealed, everyone thought we were gonna get 6 starting heroes (that is until we discovered that Zyuoh Gorilla was a power-up form). This year we have a full house of 9 Heroes!! I find it both interesting and a little iffy. With a team this big I'd expect they start small and work their way up, but they're giving us a lot of characters to work with. Plus I also hear that Red-Blue-Black-Yellow-Green will be the core combo, while Pink-Orange-Gold-Silver will be the secondary rangers. This also seems to be breaking the pattern of post-anniversary series as they usually start with Trios and add 2 more members later on (Hurricaneger, Gekiranger, Go-Busters). While I like the suit designs, and find the helmets to be unique, I do hope that whoever the producer is will have a good explanation for this.
Also, if anyone's curious about Gender:
Shishi Red-Male
Ookami Blue-Male
Kajiki Yellow-Male
Chameleon Green-Female
Oushi Black-Male
Washi Pink-Female
Sasori Orange-Male
Tenbin Gold-Male
Hebitsukai Silver-Male
That makes 3 male Yellows in a row, the first female Green, the first Black since Kyoryuger, Gold & Silver on the same team, and the 4th Orange in Sentai after Battle Cossack, Toq-#6, & Zyuoh Bird.
The heroes main Henshin device is the Seiza Blaster. It's a gauntlet/wrist changer similar to Kyoryu Gold's Gaburi Changer. The main collectible this year are Kyutamas, which are supposedly Planet-like spheres. 4 more are scheduled to appear in the beginning of the series.
The Kyuza weapons will serve as their primary sidearm/main weapon. I can tell this is going to be the type of sidearm that doubles as their signature weapon. Sword for Red, Claw for Blue, Slasher for Yellow, Rapier for Green, Axe for Black, Shot for Pink, Spear for Orange, Crossbow for Gold, Sickle for Silver.
Above will be the heroes main mecha. While this is a space Sentai, the motif for the heroes are constellations, and so each ranger has an animal based on their constellation. The two scans also confirm the division of the two teams. Each of their mecha will be known as "Voyagers". Red, Blue, Black, Green, Yellow, Pink, and Orange's mecha will all be animals while Gold & Silver's will be humanoid. Interesting. Also, below is Kyuren-Oh using the 5 core mecha.
Final Verdict: These are only the initial scans, so I don't think my opinion on the designs will have an effect on the actual series itself. But I actually like the scans so far. Looking at them, it does feel more like Ninja Captor/Gransazer than Sentai with this many members. But again, I'll have to wait and see how the show plays out with this concept. The toys aren't bad though. I like the gauntlet changer and the sidearm-that's-also-their-main-weapon. The Mecha have nice designs, and I like how the Kyutama are incorporated into it. Speaking of which, Kyutama sounds like an interesting gimmick.
Overall, I like the designs, but it'll take a while for the 9-ranger team to grow on me~
