The twelve zodiac animals show up as warriors because fairy tales are literally dying, and each episode pulls you into a different story world to save it before darkness erases it completely. The premise sounds gimmicky until you realize the show actually means it: these aren't just costumes, they're guardians of stories that matter. A kid watching this in 1995 didn't get a toy commercial dressed as anime, they got the strange gift of watching Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood get fought for like they were worth saving.

Twelve anthropomorphic animals, each standing for one of the Chinese zodiac signs, make up the Eto Rangers. Aboard Kirinda, a machine that travels through space and time, they set out to mend the Novel Worlds of Mugen, living realms born from human imagination that range from old folk tales to newer books. Mugen is ruled by Princess Aura. Their enemy is Nyanma, the forgotten Spirit of Cats, who lost her place among the twelve protectors after being disqualified from the race. For revenge, she sends Jarei Monsters into the Novel Worlds to warp their stories, sometimes into parodies. The Rangers often have to play out parts of a tale to work out which figure is the hidden monster. Bakumaru, the Spirit of Mice, then exposes it with the Genmakyou mirror, and Kirinda purifies it. The result is an action comedy.