Barom
1
By Jeffrey
Couto
>>Information for this review including
character names and story details come from posting made
on alt.tv.sentai by August Ragone (Henshin
Online). Some images come from Thai-Toku.
Introduction
After watching this amazing tokusatsu TV
series from the 1970’s I find myself adding the adjective
word “Barom” to any action I perform. So for
example whereas I used to “cook” food, now I
“Barom Cook!”, what was before known as throwing
out the trash is now referred to as “Barom Trash!”
Such is the infectious nature of this great hero program,
which in many ways is a poster program for the experimental
tokusatsu shows of the 1970's.
The
Story:
A long time ago, a fight between an evil
force known as Kopuu and a power that stood for justice
known as Dolge, started somewhere in the universe. Now,
many years after it began, Kopuu has arrived to Earth and
is planning to take over the planet by using his Doruge
Kaijin (Doruge Mutants) and soldier Antmen.
Thankfully, Dolge has found two young earthlings, who register
enough power (200 Baroms - think of it as power born out
of friendship) to successfully form the heroic fighter of
justice and the only power strong enough to stop Kopuu’s
evil plans, Barom 1. These young men are: Kentaro Shiratori,
who excels in academic work & studies, and Takeshi Kido,
who does well in sports & other physical activities;
together they will form Barom 1 and fight Kopuu’s
Doruge Kaijin.
To
aid them on their mission Dolge provides our young heroes
with the Barom-Bopp, a small device that alerts the youngsters
whenever the forces of Kopuu are on the move. The device
can also transform into Barom 1's personal vehicle, Mach
Road, which he uses to pursue the Doruge Kaijin.
How
Good it?
My first impressions of this show after
watching it were very positive. Unlike many of these programs
Barom 1 has an overall darker feel to it. Even the Doruge
Kaijin are not your typical goofy looking creations that
are used in these shows. The monsters are a lot darker and
menacing than your typical monster-of-the-week creations
from this era and add to the overall atmosphere of Barom
1.
Action wise, Barom 1 is also much better than similar fare
from the 70’s. There are a lot of great fights scenes
throughout each episode and some fun car chases featuring
Barom 1 driving his vehicle, Mach Road, in chase of the
episode’s bad guy. BTW the scenes in which Mach Road
is used have to be some of the most fun I’ve ever
seen in one of these programs. It seems like every time
Barom 1 takes it out for a drive, people decide to leave
giant walls and lots of gasoline-filled drums lying around
on the road, which ultimately get driven through and over
by Barom 1 in a rather heroic fashion.
Music and sound wise this program is also top-notch! Especially
noteworthy is the opening theme, which although not as heroic
as some other tokusatsu songs manages to stand out on its
own in a rather unique way. Whether this is a good thing
or a bad thing is a judgement call on the viewer though
;-)
The one aspect of Barom 1, which really let me down were
the special effects, which were minimally used throughout
each episode. The feeling I got from it was that they had
a limited budget to work with, as even the classic Japanese
hero pyrotechnics were barely used in each of the action
segments, however this is not a big problem as the program
flows perfectly the way it is, focusing more on the action
itself.
Conclusion
This show
is my most highly recommended for fans who may be looking
for a classic tokusatsu program to check out. The action
scenes and darker than average atmosphere make this one
really stand out from the pack and should make for a fun
viewing. I think Barom 1 really emcompasses everything that
is fun about Japanese hero shows
and the reason we love to watch them.
Jeffrey
Couto
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