Kanjani Sentai Eightranger
Kanjani Sentai Eightranger (関ジャニ戦隊∞レンジャー Kanjani Sentai Eitorenjā) is a production produced by the Japanese boyband, Kanjani Eight. The title stands for two things:
- The name of their corner on their official Jweb
- A series of performances at their concerts, where they assume the roles of real life super heroes.
This article is about the latter.
Concept and History
Within the Johnny & Associates managed website, "Johnny's Web", a subscription based cellphone web service in Japan, the title for Kanjani Eight's journal serialization corner is "Kanjani Sentai Eightranger". Within this section, each member has an image color (otherwise known as Ranger Color) assigned to them. Each member's journal entries are then organized with the text colored with their chosen image color.
In December 2005, member Yokoyama Yuu created a performance parodying the Super Sentai franchise for "Kanjani Eight Xmas Party 2005" concert series. He drew inspiration for the skit from his love of tokusatsu as well as from the manzai duo Downtown's own Sentai parody from the late 1980s.[1] In creating the scripts for the skits, he mentioned that writes the scripts anticipating what the fans want. Such as writing the Green Ranger to say silly things or to make the Blue Ranger fall in love.[2] Originally, there were two green rangers, but after the joke not catching on with audiences, Yokoyama changed his image color from dark green to black. Yokoyama admitted to the "two greens" being a joke inspired by the Downtown skit, 5 Range-i.[3]
After the success of the skits at the Xmas Party series, the Eight Ranger skits were brought to the concert tours and a new story was weaved for each tour. Majority of the stories, or konto, are filled with jokes and a lot of dialogue is changed on the spot. Yokoyama himself uses the opportunity to ad-lib a lot in performances. Sometimes he'll change character roles on the spot, as in the case for the 2007 concert tour.[4] Originally, the skits had the same premise; the Rangers would protect Eight City from the Kansai Juniors' group B.A.D, but after their 2006 tour the skits focused more on the Rangers themselves rather than the Rangers fighting B.A.D.
In 2008, during their Summer Tour "KANJANI8 Live Tour 2008 It's Summer! It's a Tour! Wahaha!!!", the skit was removed from the tour set list. In response to the removal of the skits from the tour at a press conference, Murakami Shingo said, "We talked about a lot of things and we have been doing it for a long time. We performed it once in all 47 prefectures, so everyone was able to see it. [...] We wanted to tear this down once and present a new Kanjani8." Yokoyama followed up with, " It's nothing serious, there's absolute no deep meaning to it. We just said, ' Let's not do it this time ', lightheartedly. Just like he said earlier, in order for us to continue forward, let's try doing this." He later joked, " Do we really need a serious comment for something like the Eight Rangers? "[5] This happened after 2 and a half years of performing the skits since December 2005.
Eventually the skits were brought back for the 2009 tour but were again scrubbed from the setlist in 2010 in favor for the 8Uppers skit/game, a new set of characters created by the band for the movie/album release that year. It also was not included in the 2011 concert performances. The skits eventually returned in 2012 for the "Kanjani8 Live Tour 8EST: Everyone, how are ya feeling? Our feelings are infinite!" arena and stadium portions of the concert series. The Eight Ranger image and characters were also used for many of the tour's concert goods.[6]
In 2012, the Eight Ranger concept was brought to the big screen and was turned into a movie titled, Eight Ranger. The movie's premise, background story, and characters were changed from the original story performed on stage to a more grim dark scenario involving terrorists, a collapsed economy, and darker characters. The members of Kanjani Eight reprised their roles as unwilling heroes jaded with no ambitions until Yokoyama's character joins them as the new Black Ranger. The movie opened up in theaters on July 28, 2012.[7] Mass marketing for the movie using the Eight Ranger characters and image took place in the summer of 2012 and involved collaborations between Sanrio, 7 Eleven, the candy Hi Chew, and the shampoo brand Scalabo.[8][9][10] In addition, Kanjani Eight, as the Eight Rangers, released a single titled "ER (Eightranger)" serving as the movie's theme song.[11] A second film, Eight Ranger 2, will be released on July 26, 2014.[12]
Characters and cast
Eightrangers
The Eightrangers are the allies of justice who stand and fight for those in "Eight City", the fictional world that the skits take place. According to their theme song, they protect the world by picking up garbage in the park and their special attack is "Mugendai" or "Infinity". They promise to therefore lock up the B.A.D Group in prison and help children, thus allowing the sun to look down upon everyone with its shining rays.
Respectively their names are by their Ranger Color, and their costume or "Eitings", all have the same uniformed look. At first Ohkura Tadayoshi was a pale green and Yokoyama Yuu was green for their Eight Colors, but in May 2006 during the " Kanjani Eight Concert Tour 2006 ' Funky Tokyo Osaka Nagoya ' " tour, Okura became green and Yokoyama became black respectively. During the skits, " Ranger " is omitted and their colors are said only.
- Red Ranger (Subaru Shibutani)
- Red Ranger, or Red, is the Eightrangers' Leader. He has a very passionate personality and will quickly rush into things without much of a second thought. Because of his passionate filled personality, he and fellow ranger, Black, bump heads causing major rifts between the team members. His preferred weapon of choice is a gun. During his days in Kindergarten, he was called "Suba-chan" as a nickname; he also acted very maturely for his age.
In the movie adaptation, he is an alcoholic and not the leader of the Rangers. Because of his alcoholism, he managed to learn drunken boxing.
- Yellow Ranger (Ryo Nishikido)
- Yellow Ranger, or Yellow, is the most emotional member of the team. Because of this character trait, he tends to get angry, sad, or happy very easily. He also may react drastically without much regard to the consequences, such as pulling out a knife in the middle of a fight between the members. Yellow enjoys fighting and can take on multiple enemies on his own. During his days in Kindergarten, his nickname was "Ryo-tan".
In the movie adaptation, he is a selfish former rockstar with an attitude when not center of the attention.
- Orange Ranger (Ryuhei Maruyama)
- Orange Ranger, or Orange, is the energetic member of the team. His energetic personality feeds into his natural kindness for others. He's the mood maker of the team and not very confrontational. He tends to solve problems with jokes, one liners, and funny faces. It takes a lot to get him to actually react physically. During his days in Kindergarten, his nickname was "Ma-tan".
In the movie adaptation, he's a hikkikomori and an online-shopping addict who's deep in debt.
- Blue Ranger (Shota Yasuda)
- Blue Ranger, or Blue, is the optimistic member of the team. He's also narrator of the skits. Blue's optimism always makes him try to find the positives in a situation. He never looks for the negatives, which allows him to fall pray to many bad situations such as being tricked by someone he loved. He tries resolve problems in the least confrontational way, but he tends to be ignored. During his days in Kindergarten, his nickname was "Yasuda".
In the movie adaptation, he's an airhead that's obsessed with the color blue and has a hidden past.
- Green Ranger (Tadayoshi Okura)
- Green Ranger, or Green, used to call himself Turquoise Ranger before finally becoming the Green Ranger. Green is the more naive, yet silent, member of the team who happens to always be the target of misfire. Such as dying in result of an argument between Black and Red, being shot at because of another fight between the two, or any other bodily harm indirectly caused by the two arguing. Though, when put to the challenge, he can solve arguments. During his days in Kindergarten his nickname was "Tada-kun".
In the movie adaptation, he's a nice person who speaks Kagoshima-ben even though he's not from Kagoshima (everyone speaks Osaka-ben in Eight City). He's also in immense debt due to constantly being sucked into ATM frauds.
- Purple Ranger (Shingo Murakami)
- Purple Ranger, or Nasu (Eggplant), is the sensible and straight forward member of the team. He's usually the one that keeps the other members in check and when things get out of control, he's the member who ends up trying to put a stop to the fight. Because of his short temper, he tends to scare away enemies by simply yelling at them. Though, because of being the mediator of the group, he himself has died or come close to death's door due to the reckless actions of his fellow rangers. During his days in Kindergarten, his nickname was "Shin-chan". He also tended to be oblivious to the situation around him.
In the movie adaptation, he's a virgin who's very kind and in-love with a girl that works at the local police station.
- Black Ranger (You Yokoyama)
- Black Ranger, or Black, was the Green Ranger before changing his color to Black. He always wants to be the center of attention and tends to make a big deal if he's not. Especially if he's being ignored. Because of this notorious character trait, he and Red often bump heads causing rifts within the ranger unit. Sometimes these arguments causes a member, usually Green or Purple, to die or become severely injured. Black wants to be the leader of the Eight Rangers so he can sing and will usually push Red out the way in team poses to steal his position. During his days in Kindergarten, his nickname was "Kimi-kun".
In the movie adaptation, he's a gambling addict who's in immense debt and always from the run from his collectors. He becomes the new leader of the Rangers.
B.A.D Group
Kiriyaman (Kiriyama Akito) and Nakaman (Nakama Junta) lead this evil organization. They are the Eightrangers' arch enemy because they steal candy from children, eating it all, and repeating evil deeds over and over again. When Purple Ranger yells at them, they become very nervous.
Story
In the year 200X, everyone lived happily and got along with each other in the peaceful city of "Eight City", until one day when terrible guards and B.A.D Group came in and started their wrongdoings. So now a group stands up against them as allies of justice, Kanjani Sentai Eightranger.
| | |
| Episode: Reality of a Savior | Performed at "Kanjani8 Eight Xmas Party 2005" |
| This was the first time that the theme song "Eightranger" was performed to the public. Sankyoudai and Yamada, along with Eight Ranger, save the day. | |
| Episode: Can't be! The Eightrangers Break up?! The revival of friendship! | "Kanjani Eight Concert Tour 2006 'Funky Tokyo Osaka Nagoya'" |
| While the other members ride on their bikes, Black Ranger becomes upset because he doesn't have his bike. Because of this, a split among the group happens. Green Ranger goes to help fix the broken relationship between Black Ranger and Red Ranger and the two peacefully become friends again. On the last day that this was performed, at National Yoyogi Stadium, Black Ranger's bike appears. This was featured on the DVD " Heat Up! ". | |
| Episode: Can't Be! The Eightrangers Break up?! The Revival of Friendship! Part II | "Kanjani Eight First National Tour 2∞6" |
| While the other Rangers get new, shiny, belts, Black Ranger is upset because he doesn't have one. This causes split among the group, but in the end, they become friends again. In the public performances, it's not just Black Ranger who gets upset, as it rotates between the other members. Their commander arrives, establishing the Eight Rangers. | |
| Episode: Eightrangers, Unbelievable Developments! Thank you... and, Good bye | Kanjani Eight KAN FU FIGHTING National Tour 2006 Part 2 |
| Because Black Ranger's Cracker is unable to work, he gets upset. Red Ranger then brings out his gun and fires it. After many twists and turns, one eventually hits Green Ranger and he dies. In order to save Green Ranger, the Eightrangers go into the " Fernand Death Forest " to get help from the " Eita Cross ".
In this piece, this performance showcases each member's characteristic. Every performance had a different, ad libbed, work. | |
| Episode: Eightrangers, Let's know the old days! Aim to be a Super Hero! | "Kanjani Eight Eh?! Really?! Shocking!! Dome Concert in Osaka" |
| An unknown story about the Eight Rangers is told about their days in Kindergarten. | |
| Episode: Eightrangers, Premonition of Love: In the threshold of trembling love and friendship... | "Kanjani Eight Eh?! Really?! Shocking!! Tour 2007" |
| It begins when Blue Ranger wants to confess to his love. Because Blue Ranger values his love over all his other feelings, Black Ranger and Blue Ranger fight. In other performances it is not just the Blue Ranger who confesses, as all the positions are swapped between each member. The switches began at the Yokohama performance. | |
| Episode: Eightrangers, Black Ranger Independent Side Story. Saving?! A Young Boy's Heart... | "Yokoyama YOU does it! Concert" |
| Black Ranger appeared in this performance without the other Eight Rangers. After saving a boy who was being bullied, Black Ranger eventually becomes interested in the boy and figures out the reason why he's being bullied. By himself, he tries to fight B.A.D Group and another group of delinquents, but ends up losing the courage so he tries to solve it with money. The honest boy eventually stands up against them. On the way there, the boy runs into Yuukan Club's Seshirou Kikumasamune who helps him and Haikei, Chichiue's Nakakawa Tokio who he jokes with.
This skit appears again in "Yokoyama YOU does it! Concert part II" in Tokyo/Nagoya but the members who help him are a surprise. The two characters that the young boy runs into are actual characters in dramas played by Yokoyama Yuu, the Black Ranger. | |
| Episode: Episode: Eightrangers Return! The Grass is Greener on the Other Side | "Kanjani Eight Tour 2009: Puzzle " |
| After a year of no activities, the Rangers come back to Eight City to resume their roles as the Eight Rangers, but, something is a little odd when the Black Ranger is now dressed as the Red Ranger. After the Red Ranger's vocal displeasure with Black's stubborn attitude, Black also reveals that Orange and Green want to switch colors with Yellow and Blue as well. Angered by the sudden actions of the taller three rangers, Blue/Red/Yellow storm off and form their own team while "New" Red/Yellow/Blue start their own team. Purple is then caught in the middle and goes off to try to reunite his teammates.
The "New" Red, Yellow, and Blue send a challenge letter to the originals declaring to settle the score. They accept the offer and the following night they begin to fight, refusing to stand down and become the "New" Black, Orange, and Green. When the fight gets heated, Yellow takes out a knife and in result accidentally stabs Purple when he rushes into the fight to break it up. Distraught, the Rangers reflect on their actions until Blue notices puzzle pieces around them. Each member grabs a piece, puts it together, and realize their faults. Suddenly, Purple wakes up and shocks the Rangers by explaining to them that it was Yellow's piece that saved his life. "New" Red, Yellow, and Blue realize their faults and want to return to their original selves, but are unable to. Then, Purple uses his magic wand to transform them back to Black, Orange, and Green. In this piece, it was adlibed for each performance like many of their previous skits. | |
| Episode: Episode: The Strongest Fight in History! The Savior is YOU?! | "Kanjani Eight Live Tour 8EST: Everyone, how are ya feeling? Our feelings are infinite! " (Stadium and Arena performances only) |
| For nearly three years, the rangers had split up and pursued different activities. Red became an artist, Purple became a richer man, Yellow continued to push himself into being a bigger man, Blue continued to be pretty, Orange became a pop singer, Green became a taiko master, and Black continuously was scheming. After that gap, the Rangers came back to Eight City to resume their roles as Eight Rangers but then are magically transported to another dimension, a fantasy world where the fabeled Snow White lives.
The Rangers are all smitten with the Princess and talk amongst each other, comparing themselves to be like the 7 dwarfs. But, while they were talking amongst each other, the princess approaches an apple and eats it. Once the Rangers realize that the princess was indeed Snow White of the fairy tale, they are too late to stop her from eating the apple and discover her comatose body. Distraught, they try think of a way to save her but are approached by a pack of wolves who admit to poisoning the Princess. The Rangers then find out they have 15 minutes to defeat the wolves and get the cure to save Snow White's life. The Rangers and Wolves fight as one initially but are over powered and split off. Green takes on a few by himself and Black gets caught. Green then pulls out his gun and shoots at the wolves but it ricochets. Black makes an attempt and the bullet ends up hitting Green instead of the wolves. In another splinter of the fight, Red engages a group of wolves and the rivals enter a singing competition in which Red comes out victorious. The fight continues with Orange attempting to make a wolf laugh with Red and Black as referees, but fails at this attempt and the wolf wins. Finally, Yellow brandishes a sword and takes on the entire pack of wolves himself. He uses all of his powers to destroy them but it fruitless and the wolves make it out of the attack alive. Suddenly, from above, Babun descends onto the scene and defeats the wolves with a single attack. Babun manages to save Snow White with a kiss. The Rangers initially think Babun is Purple but Babun denies the claims and Purple joins the Rangers. Babun and Snow White two disappear happily together. Much like their previous skits, this performance was ad-libbed. | |
Special attacks
- Eight Dilemma
- Eight Heartful Mind
- Eight Blue Attack
- Eight Flash
- Eight Rainbow Flash
See also
- ↑ "#739". Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ. October 22, 2012. FujiTV.
- ↑ Tadayoshi Okura, Shota Yasuda (2012). Dear Eighter. Tohryo Printing. p. 32.
- ↑ "#739". Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ. October 22, 2012. FujiTV.
- ↑ Kanjani8 (2007). 47 (DVD). Teichiku Entertainment.
- ↑ Kanjani8 (July 8, 2008). Ana☆Para (Interview). Interview with Members of the Press. Tokyo: NTV. Missing or empty
|title=(help); - ↑ "KANJANI∞ LIVE TOUR!! 8EST ～みんなの想いはどうなんだい？ 僕らの想いは無限大!!～ コンサートグッズ". Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ↑ "映画「エイトレンジャー」". Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- ↑ "ファースト・スカルプシャンプー「SCALABO」× 映画『エイトレンジャー』スペシャルコラボレーション！！". Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ↑ "ハイチュウ×映画『エイトレンジャー』 "正義"のコラボレーション決定！！". Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ↑ "セブン-イレブン×映画『エイトレンジャー』". Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ↑ "エイトレンジャー（関ジャニ∞）［ER：TECI-833／TECI-834／TECI-835］－ IMPERIAL RECORDS". Retrieved January 7, 2013.
- ↑ "The trailer for 'Eight Ranger 2' revealed". tokyohive. 6Theory Media, LLC. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.