Himitsu Sentai Gorenjā - Secret Task Force Goranger

April 5, 1975 - March 26, 1977, 84 episodes and 1 movie

Created by Ishimori, Shotaro
Produced by Hirayama, Tōru
Music by Watanabe, Michiaki

Character Actor/Actress

Kaijō, Tsuyoshi Makoto, Naoya

Shinmei, Akira Miyauchi, Hiroshi

Ōiwa, Daita Hatakeyama, Baku

Kumano, Daigorō Daruma, Jiro

Peggy Matsuyama Lisa Komaki

Asuka, Kenji Itō, Yukio

Commander Edogawa, Kenpachā Takahara, Toshio

Zero Zero Seven (Katō, Yōko) Kanuma, Eri

Katō, Taro Konuma, Hiroyuki

Gon (voice) Kogawa, Saiko

Black Cross President [episodes 1-55] Andō, Mitsuo

Black Cross President [episodes 56-84] Yana, Nobuo

General Sunring Mask (voice) Masuoka, Hiroshi

General Iron Mask Temujin (voice) Īzuka, Shōzō

General Fire Mountain Mask Magman (voice) [episodes 42-45] Yoda, Eisuke

General Fire Mountain Mask Magman (voice) [episodes 46-54] Īzuka, Shōzō

Great General Golden Mask (voice) Īzuka, Shōzō

Narrator [episodes 1-14] Tanaka, Nobuo

Narrator [episodes 15-84] Ōhira, Tōru

Goranger suit actors:

Akarenjā: Niibori, Kazuo [episodes 1-60];
Oba, Kenji [episodes 61-84]
Aorenjā: Kawarazaki, Hirō; Bunya, Nakamura;
Nakayashiki, Tetsuya; Yuasa, Hiroyuki [episodes 1-60];
Okamoto, Yoshinori [episodes 61-84]
Kirenjā: Maeda, Naotaka; Tanaka, Kōsaburō; Amano, Masato;
Ueda, Kōji [episodes 1-60];
Takebe, Yutaka [episodes 61-84]
Momorenjā: Naitō, Midori; Ueda, Kōji; Kurihara, Ryōji;
Ozawa, Shōji; Kiyōda, Maki [episodes 1-60];
Yokoyama, Minoru [episodes 61-84]
Midrenjā: Bunya, Nakamura; Yukawa, Yasuo;
Hashimoto, Haruhiko [episodes 1-60];
Murakami, Jun [episodes 61-84]

Gorangers

An international military organization EAGLE (Earth Guard League) is formed to combat the international terrorist group the Black Cross Army (Kuro Jüjigun). When five of Eagle's bases in Japan are attacked by the Black Cross five survivors, one from each base (Kantō, Tōhoku, Kyushu, Hokkaido, Kansai), are choosen to form a secret taskforce, the "Gorangers" (Five Rangers).

front: Ōiwa, Daita; Zero Zero Seven; back: Asuka, Kenji; Commander Edogawa, Kenpachi; Shinmei, Akira; Kaijō, Tsuyoshi; Peggy Matsuyama front: Peggy Matsuyama; middle: Shinmei, Akira; Kaijō, Tsuyoshi; back: Asuka, Kenji; Kumano, Daigorō

The Gorangers

Kaijō, Tsuyoshi the Akarenjā was first in command. He was a master of diguises. He was armed with "Red Rope" (whip), "Red Sting" (handgun), "Red Hand" ("Red Rope" with a claw) [episodes 43-84] and "New Red Rope" [68?-84]. He drove the motorcycles Red Machine [episodes 1-54] and Red Star [episodes 55-84]. He was the last to kick the ball in Goranger Storm and Hurricane.

Shinmei, Akira the Aorenjā was second in command. His weapon was the bows "Blue Cherry" (a pun on archery), episodes 1-42 and "Ultra Blue Cherry" [episodes 43-84]. He was the teams pilot, flying Variblune [episodes 1-42] and Varidreen [episodes 43-84]. He also drove the motorcycles Blue Machine [episodes 1-54] and Blue Star [episodes 55-84].

There were two Kirenjā, Ōiwa, Daita [episodes 1-54, 67-84] and Kumano, Daigorō [episodes 55-67]. Ōiwa, Daita loved to ear curry rice. Kumano, Daigorō just loved to eat. Kirenjā was the strongest member of the team. Used the "YTC", radio which jammed the masked villains circuits and "Kisticker Pole" [episodes 43-84]. He rode in sidecars of Blue Machine [episodes 1-54] and Blue Star [episodes 68-84]. [Hatakeyama, Baku left the series to perform in a play. Daruma, Jiro was brought in as a temporary replacement, knowing that his character would be killed of so Hatakeyama, Baku could return.]

Peggy Matsuyama the Momorenjā was the only female member of the team. She was an explosives expert. She was armed with explosive heart shapped ear rings, "Pink Mirror" and "Pink Cards". She provide the explosives for "Goranger Storm" [episodes 1-26], "Goranger Storm New Power" [episodes 27-42] and "Goranger Hurricane" [episodes 43-84]. She rode in sidecars of Green Machine [episodes 1-54] and Green Star [episodes 55-84]. Lisa Komaki wore the "Miss Ameirca" costume in Battle Fever J (the third Sentai).

Asuka, Kenji the Midorenjā was the youngest member of the team. His weapons were "Greenmerang", a boomerang [episodes 1-42] and "Mido (Green) Puncher", a kind of sling-shot [episodes 43-84]. He drove the motorcyles Green Machine [episodes 1-54] and Green Star [episodes 55-84]. Itō, Yukio would later play Shiraishi Kensaku/Battle Cossack 1 in Battle Fever J [episodes 1-33].

Akarenjā flying Momorenjā flying

The Gorangers could fly using rockets on their belts.

Goranger Storm Goranger Hurricane

The Gorangers destroyed the Black Cross Army kaijin with "Goranger Storm" [episodes 1-26], "Goranger Storm New Power" [episodes 27-42] and "Goranger Hurricane" [episodes 43-84]. "Goranger Storm" involved an exploding soccerball, with "new power" the ball would transform into something related to the kaijin before exploding. "Goranger Hurricane" replaced the soccer ball with a football. Momo provided the explosive balls and Aka always gave the final kick.

Green Machine, Red Machine, Blue Machine Green Star, Red Star, Blue Star and Varitank

Printed on their motorcycles "Red Machine", "Blue Machine", "Green Machine" [episodes 1-54], "Red Star", "Blue Star" and "Green "Star" [episodes 55-84] was "GORENGER". Somebody at Toei can't spell English words properly.

There were no giant robots or daikaijuu (giant monsters) in Himitsu Sentai Gorenjā. The Gorangers did have aircrafts Variblune [episodes 1-42] and Varidreen [episodes 43-84].

Varikyun

Varidreen carried Varitank or Varikyun [episodes 69-84]. Varitank could burrow into the ground to destroy Black Cross Army's underground bases. Varikyun was a balloon with a motor on the bottom used to launch it from Varidreen. Varikyun was usually piloted by either Momorenjā or Kirenjā.

Commander Edogawa, Kenpachi

The Gorangers commanding officer Commander Edogawa, Kenpachi disguised himself as the cook at Snack Gon, the snack shop which was the secret entrance to their headquarters. He served Ōiwa, Daita alot of curry rice.

Zero Zero Seven Taro Gon

The Gorangers were assisted in their battle against The Black Cross Army by several spies (most of whom gave their lives in the line of duty). The most important agent was "Zero Zero Seven" (Katō, Yōko). In later episode she often drove Varitank. Every 1970s tokusatsu series had to feature at least one child. The child in this series was Zero Zero Seven's young brother Katō, Taro. The final member of the Gorangers team was a mynah bird, Gon, whose comments usually made Ōiwa, Daita angry.

The Black Cross Army

The Black Cross Army was an international terrorist group led by Black Cross President (played by Andō, Mitsuo [Professor Gill in Jinzo Ningen Kikaida] for episodes 1-55. Under Black Cross President were generals Sunring Mask [episodes 15-20], Iron Mask Temujin [episodes 21-42], Firemountain Mask Magman [episodes 42-54] and Golden Mask [episodes 54-84]. Under the command of the generals were 81 lesser masked villains and hundreds of Zolders (the black clothed soldiers).

For the first 42 episodes The Black Cross Army had missle launchers that could come up out of the ground. They also had one-man aircraft called "Condors". For episodes 43 through 54 they had Navarone, a portable base that come up from the ground to fire upon any target. For episodes 64-84 they had Black Cross Castle, a flying fortress. Both Navorone and Black Cross Castle carried Condors. The Castle also carried larger aircraft called "Battra", which were launched against Varidreen as well as targets on the ground.

Himitsu Sentai Gorenjā was the first, and longest running Sentai series. It was Ishimori, Shotaro's and Toei's second longest super heroe series (after Kamen Rider, which ran for 98 episodes). Thankfully it has not be "Sabanized". There were five Goranger movies, however four were simply television episodes [6, 15, 36, 54] modified for the big screen, the fifth, "Bomb Hurricane" (July 18, 1976), was the only one actually made for the big sgreen. The Gorangers also appeared in "J.A.K.Q. Lightning Strike Team vs Goranger" (March 18, 1978), in which they joined J.A.K.Q. Dengeki Tai in defeating a revieved CRIME. In this film only Momorenjā is seen out of costume. The Gorangers also appeared in two made for video specials, "Future Task Force Special (2001)" and "Rescue Task Force Growl Ranger vs Super Sentai" (September 22, 2001). In the first of these two specials they appear only through scenes from their series in the second Akarenjā appears live at the end, the rest appear only in outtakes from their series. None appear out of costume.

The music for Himitsu Sentai Gorenjā was composed by Watanabe, Michiaki (best known for the music from JInzo Ningen Kikaida).

Ban, Daisuke (Jiro/Kikaida, Watari, Goro/Inazuman; Izumo, Daisuke/Fire Ninja in "Ninja Captor"; Jin, Makoto/Battle Cossack 2 in "Battle Fever J") guess stared in episode 81. Ikeda, Shunsuke (Minami, Takeshi in "Return of Ultraman", Ichiro/Kikaida-01 and the older brother "Condorman") guess stared in episode 83.

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Last modified Monday, February 11, 2008

Himitsu Sentai Gorenjā © 1975-1977 Ishimori Productions and Toei Co., Ltd.
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