MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*
This 2-part OVA, based on a manga I've not read, has a longer title in Japanese, seen in the illustration above. Long ago I copied a subbed copy off the International Channel, and rewatching it now confirms my recollection: it's a cute one-note premise. SHINESMAN the OVA might have been intended as a pilot for a prospective TV show, given that it reputedly introduces a character that wasn't in the manga. But (most of) the world will never know.
The premise: aliens, led by an unseen overlord named "Voice," plan an invasion of Earth. However, the aliens, led by Commander Sasaki and his aide Seki, aren't launching a military invasion, but a hostile business takeover. For reasons that I found elusive, Voice has his servitors infiltrate Earth businesses to conquer from within-- although the only business concern depicted is a kids' TV show, GREATMAN, transparently patterned after SUPER SENTAI/ POWER RANGERS. And some representative of Earth (I guess) has another corporation, Right Trading, come up with a rival team, Shinesman, consisting of six color-themed warriors who wield weapons like "explosive tie clips" and "business-card shuriken." The joke, such as it is, is that the five guys (and one girl, of course) live the lives of ordinary salarymen while waiting for their first summons to fight alien evil. (I'm not sure if the Shinesman characters are also being merchandized as TV characters at the same time.)
The original-to-OVA character is the most enjoyable element of SHINESMAN. Sasaki and Seki don't actually do very much, but Sasaki's ditzy girl cousin Shiina involves herself in taking action against the Shinesman team, leading to some modestly enjoyable TV animation-fights. While she's in disguise as an Earth-girl, Shiina also meets and falls "in like" with the Shinesman leader in his secret ID of Hiroya, and by the OVA's end she's figured out that he's also Shinesman Red.
SHINESMAN is an amusing trifle but its jokes on the commercial world make it stand out a bit from the crowd.
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