Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Lupinranger vs Patranger Episodes 2-4



Did you ever notice that some days are almost made of pure unfiltered irritation? Think of day where no matter what you try, something is always in the way and nothing of value is accomplished. Yeah...that's the sort of day I had. When life refuses to even give you so much as lemons, then it's high time to settle in for some Super Sentai.

Now that we're a few episodes removed from the great premier, it should become a little more obvious what kind of show Lupinranger vs Patranger will be, and I'm happy to say it looks like it will continue to be solid viewing. The writers are already finding ways to balance out the tone, the action has reduced the number of crazy camera angles so that they remain special instead of annoying, and the plot continues to deepen. What I'm trying to say is, we've got a lot to talk about.

I guess the first item we should check off the list is that we now know the exact details of what lead the Lupinranger crew into their current lifestyle. A year ago each of them was leading fairly normal lives until a currently unknown Gangler took away someone they love. For Kairi it was his older brother, Umika lost her best friend, and most magic of all was Touma who was seperated from his fiancee. In each case the person was frozen only to eventually crack and shatter into nothing. That is when each of them were approached by Kogure, the Lupin family butler with the notion of recovering their friends and family should they reclaim the Lupin collection.

Another new detail is the introduction of Good Striker. While seemingly another item from the collection, Goodie, as he's affectionately called by Umika actually has a personality and will of its own. It's also what allows both teams to access their super finishing moves and combine their robots. It's an odd little bugger that changes sides based on mood, and it seems more than cautious about Kogure. This along with Patrangers transformation tech only lends to the theory that there is something going on behind the scenes and that the butler may not be trustworthy.

Those developments are pretty much in place by the second episode, allowing us to move on to more character based plots. Episode three pulls double duty on the secondary men for each team. Touma's part revolves around his plans to steel the Patranger transformation devices. After all, why risk valuable parts of the collection getting blown apart by gung-ho cops who just want to destroy monsters? Cooler heads prevail as Kairi convinces him that having Patranger around offers a greater list of options for each situation. He proves this point by letting the cops trigger a trap set by the current monster.
Meanwhile on the opposing team, Sakuya struggles with... I guess being sort of a dullard. Honestly even after this storyline he is easily the least developed of the core cast. Basically he finds himself goofing up at work, but then mans up when necessary. His discovery is that he needs positive encouragement to perform at his best. I hope he doesn't become the weak link of the show since he genuinely comes across as warm, if a bit impulsive.

Episode four gives us some time with the girls, mostly Tsukasa who works to solve a case that speaks to an embarrassing part of her personal life. A Gangler has been using stuffed animals to kidnap people to sell on the black market. The reason this effects our pink ranger so much is that despite her very professional demeanor, she has an almost perverse love for stuffed critters.
Umika also gets a little growth as she cares enough about the victims of these crimes to reach out and give her lawful rivals a tip. Tsukasa in turn gives Lupin Yellow an ample opportunity to steal the treasure. Only a few episodes in and the girls at least show some willingness to work alongside each-other for the greater good.

As if all this weren't enough already there's even more upgrades and technology to talk about. First are the team finishers which are both a tad bizarre. In Patranger's case the whole team fuses together in a single body. As you can guess the results so far aren't very coordinated. Lupinranger on the other hand gets multiple red rangers. How Good Striker is able to facilitate such reality bending feats is left unanswered.
Anyone whose read previous recaps knows I'm not not a big fan of the robot portion of this franchise, though there have been some strides towards fixing that, and for the first time since Ninninger I'd say we took a big leap towards more engaging robot battles. The mix of CG and physical elements has gotten much smoother, the choreography is a step up from the norm, even the miniature sets are looking better. One little issues however, and this is one that has been with the franchise all along, is the sheer amount of destruction on display means at least a few hundred civilians must have died during these fights. It just seems like a more obvious issue in this show since there's so much more detail than just a little model factory blowing up. It's a topic I'd love to see addressed in a story someday, but I'm probably asking too much of kiddie shows.

It's hard to imagine but there's even more to this show than what we've already talked about as it is just drenched in theme and potential. There's just so many neat touches on display that could be further developed into something more meaningful than simply set-dressing. Even the potential for different kinds of character relationships is teased within these opening episodes. Consider Sakuya's immediate attraction to Umika and consider what might happen when he finds out she's a thief, or when they inevitable start to work together. Right now he's just a goofy cop with a crush on the cute girl at the bakery, where that might end up makes for some rich storytelling options.

Once again this show saved my day. It feels odd to say this so early but this may be the best Sentai I've covered so far. Really makes a viewer feel good about the franchise moving forward. That's all for now. I've got to get some sleep in the hope of making tomorrow at least somewhat productive.

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