Despite still being in the grip of hot
& steamy Summer weather my household has taken on a project
mindset, making improvements wherever possible. After all the trouble
with school these tasks have been a welcome reprieve though I caught
myself slipping in one key area, Between all the phone calls,
furniture moving, and cleaning I found myself getting behind on vital
Sentai viewing. Seeing as we're not far from kicking-off Halloween
season articles I'd say this makes a fine time to catch-up on all the
colorful heroics of Lupinranger vs Patranger. The series has
officially moved into it's second-half with an odd bundle of
episodes, one is a concept that should have been an easy knockout yet
fails to inspire, while another that should never work proves to be
surprisingly entertaining. Just goes to show you can never expect the
obvious from this show.
With the threat of the Lymon gang
eliminated by the first unification of the teams, Episode 26 returns
to working on character-pairing storylines. For this outing we're
treated to Noel and Umika infiltrating criminal underworld auctions
to reclaim a statue once belonging to the Lupin collection. Given how
any tale focused on the adorable yellow thief has been top-ten
material I figured this was another guaranteed hit. Not so however as
we ended up with a pretty middling affair.
In short, Noel enlists Umika to
accompany him to a the auction, and gets Kogure to cover the bill.
The pair attend the event and win the auction only for the object to
be stolen by a Gangler and the auction house to demand payment. The
two thieves create sketches of everyone they can remember from the
showcase and gather them all at a fake auction to reveal which is the
Gangler is disguise. That's pretty much it. There's no real added
depth to the larger narrative or characters. Plus the episode itself
doesn't really have much of a tone. It's not a wacky caper, or crime
drama, just basic Sentai formula. If you're a Patranger fan this one
is all the worse as they get maybe two small scenes.
About the only thing gained from this
adventure is how Noel and Umika look at money. For him it's
infinitely disposable but she's very old-fashioned and protective of
it, to the point of fainting if too much is spent.
From the moment I saw images of
episode 27 I figured we were in for one of the worst installments
yet. Let's be honest; both Touma and Sakuya have a tendency for
lackluster adventures so the idea of a comical pairing seemed like
the perfect recipe for failure. Somehow the opposite proved true and
putting these two lesser elements of the show together allowed them
to shine just a little bit in one incredibly goofy tale.
We begin with the Lupinrangers right
in the heat of battle against a weird birdlike Gangler who at one
point tells Touma not to chase after him, an order which the blue
ranger oddly follows. Later that day after buying some groceries,
Touma encounters a pushy martial-arts instructor who convinces the
cook to somehow join his dojo. During the first lesson it is revealed
that the head-student of this academy is none other than Sakuya and
that the martial-arts in question are really just tacky aerobics
complete with spandex and leg-warmers.
No matter how much Touma wishes to
quit, the master keeps talking him into continuing as a student.
Possibly worse than that is dealing with Sakuya on a daily basis as
the young officer wishes to be called Senpai, then Bro, and even has
the nerve to ask for advice with ladies like Umika. Eventually Touma
manages to catch the master convince Sakuya to bring a bomb to the
police station. Having figured out that this is the same Gangler as
earlier and that his collection piece allows him to command people,
it becomes a matter of sealing his mouth shut.
The Lupinrangers take the baddie out
on the ground, while Patranger handles the gaint-robot duties. Here
we discover that for all his daffiness, Sakuya has a massive temper
which is in full-swing as he takes command of the robot and
slaughters the enemy who extorted tons of cash from him.
While a bit over the top in parts with
a few jokes that don't quite land, this was still a surprisingly fun
outing that proved there can be some merit in Touma-centric stories.
I can't help but wonder why the character is constantly placed in
more comical fare rather than using the loss of his fiancee for more
dramatic outings. There's still enough time for one solid emotional
tale if the writers are wise enough to put one together.
After two relatively lite outings the
show gives us a rich adventure with Episode 28. A middle-aged man
shows up at the bistro only to quickly fly into a rage and chase
after Kairi for hitting on his little girl. Yes, Umika's dad has come
to reconnect with his daughter on her nineteenth birthday. The pair
haven't spoken since she dropped out of school after her friend died.
It's not a full-scale reunion however
as Umika and Touma are busy tracking down the newest Gangler who goes
around aging people for fun. While investigating the enemy hideout
the two discuss the protective nature of fathers and each open up a
little to each-other. Meanwhile Kairi watches out for her dad and
assures him how strong and competent his daughter has turned out to
be. All the actors knock it out of the park with this one, especially
Haruka Kudo who once again proves to be a very natural performer. Her
worked has elivated her character throughout this entire series.
One issue I did take with this
installment is that when it comes time to take down the Gangler, Noel
gives his newest tool to Kairi who shows off and saves the day. It
seems really out of place for a story about Umika who at only gets
the blade and scissors weapons as something of a hand-me-down.
Patrangers mostly sit this one out
though there's a part of the larger narrative where Tsukasa wonders
why Noel isn't using his newest creation, opting to only let the
other thieves play around with it. She's been the most speciousness
of his activities thus far and now it seems she may be developing a
theory about his true goals.
Last up on the block we've got that
thing so many fans dread, a clip-show. Look, I get that it's good
business to make these installments as they offer young viewers a
refresher on events while potentially offering a fresh point of entry
for those late to the party. That being said they're an enormous
speed-bump in the series pacing and since there's nearly always a
recap around New Years this could be one of two separate clip-shows.
Sad as it may be that we have to deal
with these sort of stories every year, Episode 29 makes an effort to
actually matter. Remember way back in the early days of the series
when it was revealed Gauche was conducting experiments on humans?
She's still at it, and her current test involves a modified grunt who
can strike the memories from your mind, turning them into
photographs. This attack is used against Keichiro who loses most, but
not all, of his memories. Out of all the gathered photos the ones of
the phantom thieves triggers the largest emotional response which
leads Noel to believe his friends are the ones who must restore the
supercop to fighting shape.
It takes some reflection for the
Lupinrangers to decide the benefits of their red rival outweigh the
risks. A showcase of their abilities in combat reminds him of his
dedication to justice and just how much he despises any criminal
behavior. He regains his memories, and gets a new weapon in the
process. Both groups gather later to celebrate Obon.
Nothing much to say here. A clip-show
will never be all that special but there are a some decent
interactions and character moments. Those small touches make the
whole affair much easier to deal with. While it was nice to get a
reminder of Gauche's activities the series still has yet to explain
her interest in human physiology.
With September just around the corner,
our next update will be ushering in Halloween content. I've actually
got a little bit of a head start this time around so look forward to
a variety of articles over the next two months. I'll probably sneak
some more Sentai coverage in the mix since it's got enough monsters
and goofiness to count. Right this moment I want to honor the coming
of spooky season with the nifty storm that's rolling in. You'll
probably see the next update over the weekend. Stay cool everybody.
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