Being that it's the eve of Independence
Day, my birthday, whichever you prefer to celebrate, nothing seems
quite as American as gabbing about another countries pop-culture.
Actually that's just a cute excuse for being so late on recaps, as
most long-time readers can attest that Summer leaves me feeling as
energetic as a sloth. Right this moment I'm pratcially falling asleep
in front my laptop but if I ever intend to throw some new weird
articles your way then I'd best catch up on Patranger vs Lupinranger
first. Should also get one of those damn Star Wars books reviewed
too. Can you guess I'm not one fore Summer reading?
Episode eighteen revolves around, of
all things, Good Striker. Ya know the goofy puppet thing that allows
both teams to utilize their giant robots and super abilities? Well it
was his time for him to receive a little emotional depth. By all
rights this story simply shouldn't work but if any show can make a
talking toy seem sympathetic, it's this one.
Back in episode sixteen there was a
seemingly throwaway bit about how Gangler safes essentially act as
their cores. The exact core they were studying which had been stored
at Police HQ is restored and its Gangler back from the dead though a
little different. This tips off the cops that they've got a mole in
their organization. No resolution to that point just yet.
The resurrected monster is the
handy-work of Destra who's working on an experiment of his own after
getting some info from Zamigo. The big grenade/pineapple man
(seriously, what is he exactly?) drops some knowledge on us that
Kogure later repeats to the Lupinrangers. The items from the Lupin
collection were originally from the villains dimension, and have been
altered for usage by humans. This work was originally started by
Arsene Lupin who made Good Striker to enhance and protect the
collection. His focus on this creation eventually gave it a will of
its own.
Good Stiker becomes the focus here as
both team require his services to deal with the monster yet neither
consider his feelings towards the matter. In his case he wants to
defeat Ganglers to protect the collection but that means he can't let
Patrangers destroy the baddies before the thieves reclaim their
items. His impulsive nature means he still wants to work with both
teams but thus far only Lupinranger has made an effort to understand
that he has a will of his own.
While most of the action was of the
giant variety, there was one scene that worked as almost proof of
concept for a series like this. Since the monster was giant sized,
the thieves need Good Striker in order to steel the collection piece.
Patranger steals him away, acting almost like villains as they force
a sentient being to do their bidding, but Kairi slips his machine
into the mix. The result was a spectacular mix-up where he fights two
of the cops inside the cockpit while keeping the robot fighting
against the gangler.
I've noticed a trend with this series
that whenever I point out something that could become a problem, the
writers address it within a few weeks. It's as if they're keeping a
running Talley of their weakness in order counteract them later. In
episode nineteen we finally get to see Touma start to give a crap
about the folks on the other side. It's not much mind you, in fact
he's still probably the least developed character, but it's progress
and that counts for something.
The main thrist of this little
adventure revolves around Sakuya becoming the target of a Gangler who
can turn invisible. The little bugger uses that ability to get the
guy suspended from the police force by making him lash out against
his team and a higher-up in the force. Lucky for him Good Striker and
Touma are on the case and find the real culprit. Lupin Blue even
encourages Striker to help the cops get some revenge. Guy has a heart
after all.
We also get some additional depth to
Commander Hilltop as we see himput his own job on the line to help
Sakuya get back in the game. So far, Hilltop has become one of my
favorite mentors as he does more to help his team than dispense
nuggets of wisdom or personal challenges. It may not have been an
outstanding episode but it made nice steps towards improving these
three chracters.
Throughout the series there have been
small mentions of the Paris branch of the world police. While a
couple of them have seemed important, most slip under the radar as a
bit of additional color or world-building. In fact these small asides
have been hints about the new ranger and his importance to the
overall narrative. All of which becomes more complicated with the
arrival of Takeo Noel AKA Lupin/Patren X. We're going to talk about
episodes 20 and 21 together as they are tightly linked and have so
much to cover that something might even get lost in the shuffle.
I think it's safe to assume that most
viewers figured the new guy would play each team off of the other.
Keeping a dual-identity and hiding secrets from both sides seemed
guaranteed to be the order of the day. Instead we get a far more
refreshing approach in that he announces himself to be both a thief
and cop, doesn't hide this fact at all. That being said he intends to
protect the other thieves from the cops and protect the lupin
collection all while doing his duty as an officer of the law. Though
in truth he serves the Lupin family just like Kogure, answers to a
different chain of command within the police force, and he's the
engineer who modified the collection pieces to be usable by humans.
He says that some of these accidentally ended up with the police
which is why he joined their ranks but it's obvious that along with
Kogure he is hiding a deeper truth.
Personality wise, Noel is a bit much.
He's one of those over the top, just a bit effeminate, blowhards. At
this point he could easily become an annoying presence if not for the
obvious fact that there's more going on. Once we get past his flashy
facade and see him build relationships with the other heroes, I can
imagine him becoming much more bearable.
Throughout these two installments,
Noel showcases the full potential of his duality shifting from one
form to another mid-battle, aiding a team one day and fighting them
the next. As you can imagine this hardly sits well with either group.
In the end they come to their own conclusions about him. The
Patrangers decided to believe his claim that he wants the Lupin
collection to be used for the betterment of mankind though this is
hardly a unanimous decision. Out of the three, Tsukasa is not that
thrilled with the situation. In the case of the Lupinrangers they've
decided to manipulate him to their advantage since they've got an
inkling that some larger game is being played.
And with that, we're all caught up. It
looks like the next few weeks will be spent pairing Noel up with
different characters and finding his niche with the story. I'd
imagine we'll get to another big plot development soon afterward.
I plan on being back here before the
week is out, a little older but likely no wiser. Everybody enjoy the
holiday and don't blow off your hands with fireworks.
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