I just finished Denji Sentai Megaranger, and I'm sad it's over. It's definitely been one of my favorites. The Rangers were more memorable and distinct than in some previous seasons (well, except Shun/Mega Blue, who was kind of nondescript), and Dr. Kubota was a terrific mentor character. The actors were effective and charismatic. And the storyline got really intense in the last run of episodes. I mentioned before that its use of secret identities reminded me of Power Rangers -- except in PR, the villains almost always know the Rangers' secret identities yet rarely do anything with the knowledge (like blow up their houses when they're asleep), but here, as soon as the Megarangers are outed, the impact is immediate and nearly catastrophic.
I note there are some vague similarities with the corresponding Power Rangers in Space finale, "Countdown to Destruction" -- the focus on the larger public, the sentiment turning somewhat against the Rangers, the people ultimately standing up for the Rangers, the exposure of the Rangers' identities. Although the Megaranger version went somewhat darker, of course. Though there are some things that PRiS did better, I think. The villains in Megaranger are a little underdeveloped. Yugande wasn't nearly as complex as his adapted version Ecliptor, and there was no rivalry to speak of between Yugande and Guirail the way there was with Ecliptor and Darkonda. The closest thing they had to Astronema was Shibolena, who was menacing at first but faded into the background until the last couple of episodes, where she was belatedly given a bit of backstory along with the main villain Doctor Hinelar. It's disappointing that they set up Hinelar as this old friend of Kubota's who'd turned evil, but never really got around to exploring their backstory and the reasons for Hinelar's turn to villainy until the climactic episode, where it all got crammed into dialogue during the giant mecha battle.
The nature of Neziregia was a little vague too. There was a rough implication that the villains came from cyberspace; they could travel through the Internet, and Yugande's design suggested a 3D wireframe graphic brought to life. But they were also treated as being invaders from an alien dimension/energy field. And there was that weird "twisting" preoccupation in the early episodes that was largely forgotten thereafter. (I do wonder if their name was a play on the English phrase "nether regions," as in Hell/the Underworld.)
One element I didn't care for was the villain's goofy chibi mascot thing, Bibidebi. It was never explained what the hell he was. And as the character that made the monsters grow by biting them, he falls into the same annoying category as characters like Acha and Kocha (Klank and Orbus) from Ohranger/Zeo, or to an extent, Gauche from Lupin vs. Pat. Whenever the gigantification process depends on some villain actually physically approaching or touching the monster to deliver the growth formula, it frustrates me that the Rangers never realize they should just shoot that villain before they reach the fallen monster, and thereby avoid the whole giant battle (and all future giant battles if they manage to destroy the growth-inducer).
