#Beauty Zonnette

[t-u-i-t-c]

Giftober 2023 │ Day 18: Romance

Beauty Zonnette & Red Racer │ Vanity Mirror Fanbelt & Kyosuke Jinnai

+ bonus

[posthumanwanderings]

[himitsusentaiblog]

Since you've seen so many super sentai and kamen raider series, i think you can answer this for me: how many times has a hero fallen in love with a villain or the other way around? And in all those times, has there ever been a happy ending or all of them ended in tragedy? Thanks for reading :)

Without doing a ton of research and just going by memory I can recall two times this has happened with completely different outcomes.

Oh and warning THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HERE!

The first was in 1991′s Choujin Sentai Jetman. This time the romance actually started before either of the characters had gotten powers. Ryu Tendoh and RieAoi were members of the  Sky Force and set to become the first two people infused with Birdonic Waves to form to core of Jetman.

However, Vyram attacked before the process could happen and Rie was apparently sucked out into space to her death.  Ryu meanwhile became the leader of the Jetman team as he was supposed to.  However, it turned out that Rie had not died but been captured by Vyram, brainwashed and made into a leader of their Earth invasion under the name Maria.

Eventually, Rie’s personality re-emerges and Ryu does everything in his power to reunite with his lover.  It is all in vain though as she dies a hero, stabbing the man who brainwashed her in the back before she is killed by him.

Ryu is devastated by the loss of the woman he loved but he moves on and marries a teammate.

The second time I can think of this happening was in 1996′s Gekisou Sentai Carranger where the evil Beauty Zonnette developed a crush on the heroic Red Racer.

Her crush was a bit weird though (as was most of Carranger to be honest) as she really only cared about Red Racer and not his unmasked self, Kyosuke Jinnai.  

Eventually though, thanks to Kyosuke fighting without his powers to prove his love for her, she falls for the man. It is this that helps her eventually be purified back to her true self, Princess Vanity Mirror of the Fanbelt Kingdom.  No, I am not making that up.

I hope that helps answer your question!  I am positive there are other instances of this trope in Super Sentai but these were the two that jumped to mind immediately!

Thanks for the question!

[toku-explained]

Space Bosozoku Bowzock

A company made up of Space Bikers, formed by Gynamo and Zelmoda so rough types could join together as friends. Lead by the fortunes predicted by Sugozue, they destroy planets to bring themselves good luck, marauding, looting and thend destroying the planets, after destroying Hazard they have come to earth.

The Wumpers are the Bowzock soldiers, kept in a jar by Zelmoda. The Bowzock members are all able to grow by eating Imocho's special Imo-Yokan.

President Gynamo is the founder of Bowzock, capable to making vehicles sentient, he wants to impress Zonnette, he has been destroying planets according to a list provided to him by Sugozue.

Deputy Leader Zelmoda is Gynamo's no. 2 and rival turned friend, loyal to his ambitions.

Inventor Grotch is the Bowzock scientist, responsible for developing their vehicles and discovering the growth properties of Imo-Yokan. He is generally loyal to Gynamo.

Beauty Zonnette is a woman willing to use her looks and manipulation to get what she wants out of people, including Gynamo, who has a long time crush on her, choosing earth as the Bowzock target. She finds herself attracted to Red Racer.

Space Cockroach Goki-chan is a cockroach enlarged by Imo-Yokan experiments and kept by Zonnette as a pet. The stays in the background after a while alongside the surviving Zokurangers.

Boso Sentai Zokuranger is a team lead by SS Pamaan who form to fight the Carrangers. After SS Pamaan's defeat the survivors continue to help the Bowzock as they can.

Instructor Ritchihiker is a consultant hired by Gynamo to train members to battle the Carrangers and his old enemy Signalman, before he is mutated into RitchiRitchihiker by a freak accident and gains ambitions of his own.

Reckless Dash Emperor Exhaus is the true identity of the prophet Sugozue, a giant capable of holding the Bowzock satellite in his hand. He appears to influence the Bowzock to support the creation of an Intergalactic Highway, arguing they would have more roads to rampage on.

[pinkspacebabes]

i continue to stan beauty zonnette

also how did gynamo waltz into a store and purchase sparklers without raising any sort of alarms????

[biomic]

kyousuke is stunned by zonnette’s beauty

[tsunflowers]

week of toku ladies: evil ladies

truly one of my favorite female villains in toku. I hope I was able to capture even a tiny bit of what makes them call her “beauty zonnette”

[mateushonrado]

Status Post #6718: Redeemed Sentai villains from Liveman to Gingaman.

Liveman - Kenji Tsukigata / Doctor Kemp

Liveman - Rui Senda / Doctor Mazenda

Liveman - Gou Omura / Doctor Obular

Liveman - Arashi Busujima / Doctor Ashura

Liveman - Butchy

Turboranger - Hikaru Nagareboshi / Yamimaru

Turboranger - Sayoko Tsukikage / Kirika

Turboranger - Ruffian Bōma

Turboranger - Hyoma and Enma

Turboranger - Sumo Bōma

Turboranger - Bell Chime Bōma

Turboranger - Masked Devil Bōma

Fiveman - Meadow

Fiveman - Sairagin

Fiveman - Liogin

Jetman - Rie Aoi / Maria

Jetman - Grey

Jetman - Aya Tendo

Jetman - Gomi Jigen

Jetman - Dryer Jigen

Zyuranger - Bandora

Zyuranger - Burai

Zyuranger - Lamp Fairy Gin / Dora Gin

Dairanger - Zhang Liao / Chouryou

Dairanger - Jin Matoba

Dairanger - Boss Kamikaze

Dairanger - Company President Gravestone

Dairanger - Teacher Telephone

Dairanger - Shouichirou Takamura / Media Magician

Kakuranger - Hakumenrou

Kakuranger - Gali

Kakuranger - Zashiki-warashi

Ohranger - Empress Hysteria

Ohranger - Butlers Acha & Kocha

Ohranger - Bara Revenger

Carranger - Beauty Zonnette

Carranger - Zelmoda

Carranger - Gynamo

Carranger - Grotch

Carranger - Goki-chan

Carranger - Zokurangers (minus Zoku Red)

Gingaman - Shelinda

Gingaman - Bucrates

Gingaman - Degius

[himitsusentaiblog]

The art of Beauty Zonnette that shows up when she is introduced in episode 1 of Gekisou Sentai Carranger.

[himitsusentaiblog]

For @Flei-the-chaos-dragon here is Gynamo and Zonnette from Gekisou Sentai Carranger with their original concept art.  I think Zonnette’s actual profile art from the show is much better but there isn’t a lot of difference between Gynamo and his final product. 

[himitsusentaiblog]

Carranger-related:I am FOREVER bitter that Zonette didn't end being with Gynamo [unhealthy dynamics and everything,but still,would be nice]

Zonnette didn’t seem so keen on the idea, at least not in a traditional relationship

They were cute together though

And perhaps Gynamo let his freak flag fly a little high in the end

But hey, I’m not here to kinkshame a villain so whatever revs your engine big guy!

[himitsusentaiblog]

In comparison with previous Shout Factory releases, what can we expect from Carranger?

That’s a good question!  In my opinion, the Shout! Factory Super Sentai releases have actually been getting better as they go along.  For example, when Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger came out, the subtitles were yellow:

Also, the spine of the DVD case just said Zyuranger, not the full title.

The very next release, Gosei Sentai Dairanger, though it kept the yellow subs (which was a fan complaint) added the full name of the series to the spine.

Once Ninja Sentai Kakuranger came out, they had white subtitles with a black outline as opposed to the yellow, fixing one major fan complaint.

These were still 10 disc sets at this point, which meant that the episode list was spread over the front and back and covered by the first and last disc.  You had to remove discs to get to the episode list.  They fixed that with Chouriki Sentai Ohranger’s release by compacting things down to 8 disc (with no real loss of video quality I could see) which freed up the back of the case to have the entire episode list.

I have no idea what they will improve with Gekisou Sentai Carranger’s release but I will say I LOVE the cover art on it!

I would go so far as to say it is their single best designed cover out of all of them.  I like the color balance and how it makes the heroes really pop on the front as well as the checkered flag motif that really fits the car and racing themes of the show itself. 

As to the show well, don’t expect a serious masterpiece of drama.  Carranger is one of the silliest entries in the entire franchise and was designed as a parody of the concept long before we got Hikounin Sentai Akibaranger.  Viewed through that lense, it’s a great romp.  When it first came out in 1996, I wasn’t a fan because it was so goofy compared to the series I had seen at that point and I felt it was just too childish but now, I really like it.  It’s got a ridiculous charm that somehow appeals to me now as an adult than it did when I was a younger man. 

Plus, it has Beauty Zonnette in it and she’s just amazing.

So, it’s not the best series in the 41 history of Super Sentai but it is among the most ridiculously fun and goofy.  If you are looking for a tokusatsu series that doesn’t take itself seriously at all and just has fun playing with the tropes and beats of a regular Super Sentai entry, check it out!

[himitsusentaiblog]

Beauty Zonnette (Rika Nanase) was a spoiiled space princess who had run away for a life of fun and selfish hedonism with the Space Bosozoku Bowzock in 1996′s Gekisou Sentai CarRanger. She eventually fell in love with the heroic leader of the CarRanger team, Red Racer and it was this love and her little sister who redeemed her and returned her to being Princess Vanity Mirror Fanbelt.

[himitsusentaiblog]

A few more picture of Beauty Zonnette  (美女ゾンネット) portrayed by Rika Nanase in Gekisou Sentai CarRanger including the character design drawing made before the show began filming.

[himitsusentaiblog]

Beauty Zonnette (美女ゾンネット) a.k.a. Princess Vanity Mirror Fanbelt (バニティーミラー・ファンベルト) of the planet Fanbelt from Gekisou Sentai CarRanger.

[himitsusentaiblog]

Just a quick appreciation of the fact Beauty Zonnette a.k.a. Princess Vanity Mirror Fanbelt (Rika Nanase) was a major villain on Gekisou Sentai CarRanger who drove a fur-fringed pink convertible!