Premiering March 8, 2020, Kiramager was the first Super Sentai show of Japan’s Reiwa era. The show itself actually begins in media res, as a month prior, an Episode Zero was shown in Japanese theaters. It mostly covers how we got here – ultimately, an dark army known as Yodonheim invaded the planet Crystaria, causing Crystaria’s princess, Mabushina, to escape to Earth. She meets Muryo, the founder of an anti-Yodonheim organization on Earth, and they together seek out people with “Kiramentality” (or sparkling energy), recruiting the first four members of the team.

The first TV episode opens with them still having not found the Red of the team, but later quickly find Juuru, a timid, anxious individual who simply just loves to draw. Not a fighter, not much of a leader, just a kid with significant imagination. Mabushina discovers him and convinces Juuru to join up as Kiramai Red, citing him for having an imagination as strong as Crystaria’s king, King Oradin. In fact, Juuru possesses so much Kiramentality that his drawings in his sketchbook cause the creation of everyone’s machines and allow them to defeat the first episode’s monster of the week. That “insparkleration” powers everything throughout the series.

Unlike last season’s show Ryusoulger, I actually do have a bit to say about the other members of the team. Let’s run them down.

Yellow is Tametomo, an eSports champion. Yep, we’ve got a gamer on the team! Being such a gamer pegs him to be the Kiramagers’ tactician, though his pride also makes him want to be the leader. He eventually settles down and lets Juuru lead the team as while he’s not the best fighter or best speaker or even originally much of a leader, the team rallies around him. That’s kind of what Reds do, after all.

Blue is Shiguru, a famous young actor. A serious actor with a serious training regime, but who knows what goofiness he hides inside of him. He’s often played as the straight man concerning many gags throughout the show.

Green is Sena, a prodigy athlete still (???) in high school. Excitable, energetic, definitely a problem solver. She’s certainly the youngest on the team, an unfortunate note that the show likes to lean on just a little too much in the sense of good taste.

In contrast, Pink is Sayo, a talented medical surgeon. She’s clearly meant to be much older than Sena, but in a young adult sort of way. She radiates positivity and adult competence throughout her character episodes.

And the sixth member is Takamichi, revealed to be Mabushina’s foster brother and Muryo’s actual long-lost brother. He left Crystaria right before it was invaded to go treasure hunting, and at first is considered a headcase.

It’s not an exaggeration to say COVID did a number on this show’s production. Kiramager only has 45 episodes, pretty low for a Super Sentai. Production had to be shut down at the end of March 2020 when Juuru’s actor came down with COVID and hence had to quarantine himself at least two weeks. The show then officially went into hiatus in early May, causing Toei to air filler/reruns of the series in the meantime. This included four specials, notably director’s cuts of episodes, not to mention a television airing of Episode Zero.

But honestly? 45 episodes is fine. Kiramager uses its limited in comparison time to do solid character episodes, as well as inventive action sequences (featuring single-camera tracking shots!) and interesting villains. Or perhaps I just like any evil lady with a whip, like Yodonna here. It helps she’s a fun adversary throughout the series.

Ultimately, if Ryusoulger was a paint by numbers Sentai that didn’t do anything exciting, Kiramager is an evolution of sorts. The tropes are there, the pacing is basic, but it’s done exceptionally well. If you need a random Super Sentai to jump into, you can’t go wrong here. Highly recommended.