Juukou B-Fighter, Episode 1: "It's Insect Warriors!!"

Recently, Hinotori Fansubs began subbing Juukou B-Fighter, the show that provided the fight scene footage for the first season of Big Bad Beetleborgs. I wasn't a particularly big fan of Beetleborgs, but I watched it because it was similar to Power Rangers, and that's all I needed in those days. In spite of that, there's something about seeing where the show came from that's appealing to me. My clearest memories of it are the guy with the Jay Leno chin and the strange way in which they re-casted the main female character, so I can't do much to compare the two shows, but I was interested in seeing what it's like all the same.

On Juukou B-Fighter, Earth has been invaded by an alien race that intends to enslave humanity. A group named Earth Academia is working to create suits that will allow them to fight back against the invaders, but are struggling to get the working properly. A strange creature named Sage Guru infuses the suits with the life force of insects, and each suit chooses its master. Juuukou!

This is Sage Guru. That should give you an idea of the sort of show this is.

A short recap and gifs under the cut!

The show starts off by establishing that insects all over the world are going crazy, and that animals are reacting strangely too. We are then introduced to our main characters; an entomologist named Takuya, a tree doctor named Daisaku, and a dolphin trainer named Rei. Everyone on the show seems pretty likable so far, although we haven't gotten to see much of them. I appreciate that the characters aren't very over the top, since this is a pretty goofy show.

Anyways, Takuya meets the aforementioned Sage Guru, who informs him that the insects of the world are preparing to fight back against the alien menace. Takuya, who seems oddly unphased by running into this guy in the woods, promises that humans will fight back as well.

Enter our villains! The mad scientist looking one is already my favorite. Their name is Combat-Mecha Army Commander Schwartz, after all. Anyways, they talk a little, but mostly they blow things up. They get a group of humans together and capture them.




In this group is Rei, and a girl named Haruka. The aliens try and take Haruka's kabuto beetle from her, and Rei's not going to stand for that, because small insects have lives too!




Then this happens. It is awesome. So awesome that an army of insects is inspired to launch an attack!




Meanwhile, Sage Guru shows up at at the Earth Academia HQ and does that bug life infusing stuff I mentioned earlier in the post. Conveniently, Takuya, who is in the room, is chosen by the blue B-Commander. He henshins, and it's pretty cool. The other two B-Commanders go out in search of suitable people.

Apparently the insect attack didn't go so well, because Daisaku and Rei have now been captured and are being forced to watch a bizarre dance routine! Also, they're going to be executed. The kabuto beetle comes back to try and save them, which is actually pretty cute. Luckily, our heroes are selected by the B-commanders, and they quickly escape and start fighting back!




They are kicking a lot of ass, as can be seen above, when suddenly, they are transported into the GAOHM ZONE.

The GAOHM ZONE is a supernatural battlefield where capes and swords fly around on their own. Also, there are a lot of bubbles. After several minutes of very strange fights, our heroes emerge victorious! You can tell they are victorious because there was an explosion. Fight! Juuko B-Fighter!

I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting to. It's incredibly cheesy, sure, but if I had a problem with cheese, I  wouldn't be as big a fan of toku as I am. It made me feel really nostalgic, like I was watching a beloved show from my childhood. Maybe I have subconscious happy memories of Beetleborgs, who knows?

Anyways, in spite of my snark, I had a lot of fun watching this, and I really hope it keeps getting subbed. Yeah, the fights and the plot are silly, but it's a neat little show and its brand of cheese feels very genuine. If you think you can handle its goofier aspects, I'd definitely recommend checking it out.