The Power of Ranjuru

Powa Ranjuru grew up in the Tokyo suburb called Seijo. A tomboy of sorts, Powa loved to play Shogun Warriors with the boys on her block. She lived to win: never once did she lose a game of Shogun Warriors! Her toy weapon of choice was a glow-in-the-dark plastic "laser saber," a leftover prop from her elementary school Drama Club days. The neighborhood boys dreaded the whack of Powa's "laser saber" and were embarrassed when she would wave it while throwing glitter on them, her self-choreographed burial rite for their slain bodies. (They weren't dead, of course, they were pretending.)

Always late for supper because she hated ending games of Shogun Warriors, Powa Ranjuru was mostly a good girl; she was the second-best behaved child of her four siblings. Powa's baby brother, Ducko, was the best behaved. Ducko was cute and kind, but often frustrating and embarrassing, as little brothers can be. Besides tardiness, Powa's only other disciplinary flaw was her habit of getting bored and teasing Ducko. (Yes, Tokyo suburbs can get dangerously boring too.) Although she enjoyed whacking Ducko with her plastic sword, deep down Powa loved him and protected him from the older neighborhood bullies.

One tragic day, Powa was supposed to pick up her baby brother from piano lesson. But like always, Powa was distracted by a very competitive game of Shogun Warriors and she showed up late. Ducko got tired of waiting and decided to walk home by himself. But Ducko never made it home. A speeding You Haul truck hit him as he was coming out of the One Yen Candy Store.

Powa was mortified by Ducko's death. After all, she figured, it was her fault. When the shock of his accident finally faded, she remained burdened with guilt for not picking him up on time. She also sorely regretted ridiculing him and serenading him with the Japanese word for "wuss." Powa loved Ducko dearly. She really did. So much, in fact, that she couldn't play Shogun Warriors with the neighborhood kids anymore. One evening, she never came home for supper. But this time she wasn't out playing Shogun Warriors. At age 11, she'd left home in search of salvation from the soul-crushing guilt of Ducko's death.

Powa Ranjuru was not seen or heard from for five years. Then one day, she suddenly descended from the sky at a Kaiju Big Battel and saved Force Trooper Robo from the deadly grip of Midori No Kaiju. After beating Midori senseless with her steel "Mallet Protector" and sparkling "danger dust," she danced a brief victory dance, and then disappeared into the sky again. Her mystifying cameo left everyone wondering, "Who was that masked angel?"