Oh the times are
changing yet again as we gather to say a fond farewell to another
Super Sentai series. This one goes out at an odd time for me
personally as I had the chance to view the final adventure under new
living conditions. It's not a topic I bring up very often but I live
in one of those multi-generational homes. Ya know, the ones the movie
stars are always on about (read that in your best old lady voice).
Our home was a bit undersized for the number of people but somebody
moved out meaning I have a room all to myself for the first time in
years. This has made my room feel sort of unreal but it's only
fitting as we usher out the old and ring in the new.
Picking right up
from our previous story-arc the Lupinrangers are on the run. They've
left the bistro behind and are now crashing at a safe house provided
by Noel and Kogure. Noel is actually in a spot of trouble himself
having hidden the truth for so long, a fact that Sakuya confronts him
about only to be quickly disarmed at the admission that Noel
sincerely wanted everyone to get-along.
The main focus of
this outing is how Keiichiro and Kairi cope with everything being
revealed. For his part Kei is actually disappointed in himself for
not noticing what was going on and failing to help these people as a
proper peace officer should. Kousei Yuuki is fantastic in these
encounters as the usually hotblooded cop is nearly reduced to tears.
The first encounter between the pair mostly keeps to that topic with
Kairi making it clear that it doesn't matter how good the cops are as
those who can't rely on them would become thieves. Kei informs his
friend of how Ganglers are using people as disguises amping the
pressure on the other team to take-out Zamigo. Before they can get to
that however, boss Dogranio shows up to cause some destruction and
nearly destroys our favorite lawless team.
With most of the
Lupinrangers hospitalized Kairi patches himself up and goes in search
of Zamigo only to meet Keiichiro again. Much as the lawman wishes to
help the two come to an understanding that each has a role that can't
be filled by the other. One must use his position to protect the
public while the other subverts the enemy with more underhanded
means. They separate and the episode closes with Kairi commencing a
duel against his icy rival.
Episode 50 wraps
up those carryover action scenes fairly quickly and has Umika and
Touma escape the hospital in order to get things moving. The audience
is treated to one of the best scenes of the whole series when the
pair of thieves break into Patranger HQ to recover their gear. Here
they are faced with Tsukasa and Sakuya and the emotional content here
is just great as the cops let them get away with the promise that
they come back alive. Best of all is the moment when Sakuya wishes
he'd met Umika years ago so he could have helped her but she lets him
know it was better meeting as they did since it allowed her to see
what a good man he really is. I've made this point before but scenes
like this showcase what a great performer Haruka Kudo is.
The teams are
split yet again as the Patrangers take on Dogranio and his goon while
Lupinrangers go after Zamigo along with Noel who convinced Keiichiro
to lend him a few collection pieces for a plan. The ensuing battle is
quite the spectacle resulting in the team recovering the item that
allows their enemy to liquefy his body. Just as it seems like victory
is assured the fight between the cops and Dogranio spills over.
Taking advantage of the situation Zamigo challenges the thieves to
continue their fight within the dimensional void that is Dogranio's
safe. The trio agrees but gives the police a few pieces on the way
out.
At last the final
battle with Zamigo takes place with two members sacrificing
themselves in what seems to be an effort to bust open his leg safes.
What the villain doesn't realize is they were altering the access
code essentially cutting him off from his own power. Kairi deals the
killing blow, restoring his friends, all they loved-ones, and
everyone else who'd been captured but not used as a disguise. The
three friends celebrate achieving their dream while still locked
inside this sub-dimension full of collection pieces.
At last the final
installment. The Patrangers with Noel are greatly overpowered by
Dogranio who has a vast supply of collection pieces at his disposal.
Adding further difficulty to the situation is the reluctance to
outright destroy the crime boss and loose the Lupinrangers in the
process.
Speaking of the
phantom thieves, the trio is spending their presumed final moments
thankful in the completion of freeing their loved ones and thinking
on their hopes for those they saved. Eventually a realization dawns
on them. Kogure had left them in charge of the collection catalog
that teleports recovered pieces to the storeroom. With that they
begin to rob Dogranio of his powers from within, restoring a massive
amount of the collection in the process. This weakens the villain
enough that the cops are able to gain the upper hand. Sadly their
strongest attacks still can't break the chains that keep his safe
sealed.
The
following scene is a reminder of the important friendship that grew
between both teams. The Patrangers are cleared to destroy this final
villain yet they're unsure if they can seal the fate of their
friends. Kei shuffles forward to potentially deal the killing blow as
he thinks of his fondness for Kairi. Sakuya falls to his knees at the
thought of never paling around at the bistro or seeing Umika again.
Tsukasa holds firm but balks at her inability to protect the bonds
they forged while Noel can't bare to look. A gunshot is heard.
A year later the
world is a much safer place. Ganglers are scattered with only a few
small groups remaining. Patrangers are held high as the image of
heroism. Those that were freed from Zamigos ice prison try to
continue their lives without Kairi, Umika, and Touma. Umika's friend
even tries to publish a manga about a daring female phantom thief.
While the trio is missing, hope is not lost. Instead of killing
Dogranio the police chained him in a basement cell.
The Patrangers are
called to deal with another Gangler who has one of the few
uncollected pieces. Upon arrival they encounter their old friends.
How could the phantom thieves have finally returned? They were
rescued by Jackpot Striker, a counterpart to Goody from one of the
films. Yet again it's bizarre how this series actually used the
movies to create valuable plot points when so many others don't. He
has a brainwashing ability that forced Dogranio to spill the contents
of his safe. It's noted this makes little sense as Jack was missing.
As it turns out he was reclaimed by another batch of Thieves, Kairi's
brother, Umika's friend, and Touma's fiance. Noel trained them in
thievery in order to complete the mission the original threesome
started. The Reunion scene is pretty damn emotional, especially Kari
finally having the chance to apologize to his brother. Yet again a
wonderfully acted scene with Asahi Itou as Kairi stealing this last
big emotional moment.
The reunion
between both teams isn't quite as sweet however. The Lupin collection
still isn't complete until the thieves can take the last remaining
pieces from the ganglers and the stuff from the Patrangers. Thus the
status quo is restored with both teams battling the ganglers and
each-other.
For as much love
as I have for this show the big wrap-up left me slightly cold. On one
end there were some outstanding emotional moments that made the
entire journey feel worthwhile. On the other end are some odd
creative decisions that leave the story unfinished. A perfect example
would be Noel who not only doesn't complete his mission by series end
but was just sort of around for this last few episodes. In fact we
never see what happens when the collection is all together, something
that was the entire basis of the show to begin with. The weird
disconnect at the end just doesn't feel right. To see Keiichiro shift
from happiness at seeing his friends return to then shooting at them
to uphold the law was unsatisfactory at best. It might all feel a bit
more forgivable if this had been some all-out action-packed finale
but that wasn't the case at all. Something more streamlined could
have taken place in order to give these characters the send-off they
deserved. This isn't a bad finale mind you, we're not talking about
Dairanger here, it's just not as great as we know the series can be.
In the end I
suppose that's sort of fitting for this particular show. The first
half of the series was filled with so much quality while the second
fell victim to poor pacing and questionable storylines. Whole
sub-plots came and went with little fanfare smashed together after
far too many stand-alone outings. Remember the era of angry Kairi?
How about the lacking motivation for most villains? Character
pairings that proved to have wonderful dramatic or comedic chemistry
like Tsukasa and Noel or Umika and Kei would get maybe one episode
each while others were forced down our throats. What we have is a
pretty awesome show, sad part is we have the makings of a nearly
perfect one.
Like any good
team, we know these heroes will return. Toei has already showcased
some material for a team-up movie with that dreadful Kyuranger.
Keiichiro is supposed to make an appearance in the upcoming Strongest
Battle mini-series. Of course we know they'll likely have a crossover
with the upcoming series as well. Perhaps then we'll have enough
extra material to make this ending feel more solid.
And so we wave
goodbye to this batch of TV friends and prepare for what's to come.
I'll miss this current crew as they brought so much entertainment,
even if it came with a few frustrations. Next week begins the
Strongest Battle mini-series which seems to be set as a send-off for
Heisi era Sentai before Ryusoulger leads into the still unnamed new
Japanese era. You Sentai fans be sure to come back for a new review
format and more regular posts. With any luck we'll be treated to
something amazing in the coming months.
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