Gorenger: Episode 53 Look Back

The Himitsu Sentai Gorenger TV series was packed with many memorable characters and stories that are still referenced by its sequel series fifty years later. We have covered some of these in our YouTube series like, episode 46: Black Super Express! Locomotive Mask's Big Rampage.

One of the most popular episodes in the series unfolded in episode 53: The Red Home Run King! The Deadly Number 1. This episode was produced during the period in which Gorenger was transitioning from a mostly-serious presentation, which was informed by spy-thriller-like storylines, to a humorous approach and over-the-top designs for the Masked Monsters.

The episode opens with the Gorenger escorting the Black Cross Army scientist, Dr. Shinigami, to EAGLE’s prison. This sets up the stage for a special rescue mission by the Black Cross forces, which is in desperate need of the scientist in order to complete their weapon of mass destruction, the Ball Bomb. They select Baseball Mask and his special group of baseball-themed Zolders to lead this mission.

To carry out their mission, Baseball Mask sneaks in a pill that allows the Dr. Shinigami to appear as if he suddenly lied. This allows the bizarre masked monster and his soldiers to steal his body from the Gorenger when they escort it to a nearby hospital, where the body was to have undergone an autopsy.

After reviving the scientist at their secret base, gets back to work on the Ball Bomb, which proves to be highly destructive during a demonstration in which it kills several of Baseball Mask’s soldiers. Angered by this, Baseball Mask threatens to kill Dr. Shinigami, setting the stage for a conflict between the two for the rest of the episode.

Following the mass production of the Ball Bomb, Dr. Shinigami and Baseball Mask, set them up in an underground facility. When they go off, everyone in a 10-kilometer radius will be killed. Thankfully, the Gorenger arrive just in time to defuse the bombs and put a stop to Black Cross Army’s forces.

The story and pace of this episode is consistent with Gorenger’s episodic template at this point in the series production. What makes this story a standout one, is Baseball Mask. The character’s silhouette alone would have been rough to make him a classic Gorenger Mask Monster, but in addition to his design, his voice was provided by Ichiro Nagai.

The actor’s performance as Baseball Mask gives the character a rich and entertaining personality that is a standout amongst the Gorenger’s Mask Monsters. And when these elements were paired up with a story that gave the character a higher level of depth than the typical, it made for a breakout episode.

This is shown throughout the episode in a few ways. When the character is introduced, he’s shown playing baseball with his Zolder soldiers, who are wearing baseball-themed uniforms. As the story progresses, he’s shown to care for them and to not be one to just send them off to do this work without him leading the charge. This is why, when Dr. Shinigami kills off several of them during a demonstration of his Ball Bomb, it angers Baseball Mask. He thinks of the Zolder soldiers as his precious underlings.

When you combine this presentation and personality with multiple baseball-themed gags throughout the episode, you have the makings for one of Himitsu Sentai Gorenger’s most memorable episodes.

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