In my experience, February is often one
of, if not the worst month of the year. Ugly scenery, lackluster
holidays, and some of the most horrid weather in existence help to
make this month a gauntlet of pure crap. This year is looking a tad
brighter than most thanks to a few items I've got in the air. Even if
it does all turn to shit, there's one constant that acts as something
of a Chinese New year for nerds, the Super Sentai switch-out. Every
February brings the end of one sentai followed immediately by the
bringing of the next. Now here we stand just a couple weeks away from
this changing of the guard which means this is the penultimate
installment of Ninninger recaps.
Episode 44
There's a fairly even split to this
tale with the most important half revolving around Takaharu's final
exam in the form of a duel with his grandfather. The old man wants to
battle this kids one at a time to test their resolve because he's
naturally been holding back an important detail through the whole
series. See, the final transfer of power to become the last ninja
comes from striking down the previous title holder. Thous one of our
kids has to kill grandpappy in order to take his place. Takaharu
thinks this is total bunk which as you might imagine earns him a
proper kick to the ass.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team deals
with Tsugomori who's first in line for a series of final battles. The
chief strategist has a plan that involves manipulating memories of
people who relay on others for emotional support. Using this method
he sways Kinji, Nagi, and Kasumi over to his side by taking the place
of Takaharu in their minds. He tricks plenty of other twits to look
upon him as some sort of superman until making the damn fool mistake
of trying to brainwash Yakumo and Fuuka. If you ever needed proof
that villains pay zero attention to their own narrative, this is it.
I mean even for a show where the heroes emerge victorious in 90% of
the episodes, attacking Fuuka is basically a death sentence, and this
time she's got back up. As expected, our girl in white works with
Yakumo to overcome the memory replacement attack by remembering all
the times Taka was just plain awful and placing Tsugomori in those
situations.
Now here's a part that had me just
slightly confused. Once the team gets their shit together and
completely goes on the defensive, a last minute revelation is made.
Turns out that during the whole series, they've never really fought
Tsugomori because he's like 6 inches tall and pilots a human sized
robot. For some reason this makes him harder to kill than other
baddies, but why? They've fought man sized robots before and won.
What makes this one so special that the pilot needs to be cast out
and destroyed on his own?
In the end, Taka is laid out by his
grandfather, and the evil little strategist is destroyed. All told
it's a middle of the road episode with some solid action and a few
decent character beats to see it through to the end.
Episode 45
It's probably bad form to complain
about an abundance of activity but this one's gonna be a little tough
to cover. We've got a spread of fights from most of the team vs Gabi,
all of the team vs Kyuuemon round 1, round 2, and grampa vs Gangetsu.
They're good battles too, with some damn fine choreography and energy
to spare.
On the story front there aren't many
important beats. Kyuuemon reveals his origins as Gangetsu's son from
a concubine to our heroes before sealing off their ninpo abilities.
They eventually find a way around by creating their own ninpo. With
their foe on the ropes, Tsumuji's powers are finally recovered. It's
one of those moments that helps to make the show seem better than it
really is. Seeing this character regain a lost part of himself and
finally be able to help out these children directly, it's such a fine
sight to behold. Weird to think this sub-plot began long ago in a
corny throwaway episode and now it's a key moment.
Still; there's plenty to of little
character bits and cool action moves to make this one a winner. We're
left with an awesome ending as the team grows by two members, with
gramps and Tsumuji becoming two extra red rangers. Good stuff right
there.
Episode 46
Being this close to the ending can
only mean one thing; explosions. So many explosions. We're talking
enough pyrotechnics to make Michael Bay feel overstimulated. It's
understandable given the sheer quantity of fight scenes, the first of
which brings the major twist of the week. The whole Igasaki clan
faces off against the big bad. The tide of battle seems to be going
their way until their super finishing attack leaves him with nothing
more than a case of the giggles. During a last ditch attempt to win
the day, gramps is totally stabbed in the back by Kyuuemon who then
steals the end shuriken. His daddy also sees fit to jack him up with
the remaining sealing shurikens which grants him a new, extremely
gaudy form.
As some viewers may have guessed,
grampa was living on borrowed time anyway. We get some details as to
how he died way back when he sealed Gangetsu away, but the power of
the end shuriken allowed him to keep his human form all these years.
With the shiny bauble in the hands of the enemy, the old dude finally
passes. Must admit seeing him go was kind of touching. More than most
of the other characters, he had a great deal of growth throughout the
series and contributed to some of the finest scenes. Continuing that
trend, Tsumuji digs out a last will video where the old guy praises
the kids and pushes them on toward victory.
As we're treated to a few more fight
sequences, some new plot developments occur. Yakumo takes out Gabi
Raizo while Kasumi and Kinji waste that evil bitch who's name always
slips my mind. Add them to the pile of Sentai villains who never
lived up to their potential.
Oh, and it's time for the last
cliffhanger. Kyuuemon triggers the end shuriken which unleashes a
horde of monsters to destroy the world. In the process, all the kids
are depowered in the midst of different battles.
So here we are, just a week away from
the ending of both this series and my goal of reviewing one complete
Sentai. Will these kids go out like punks? Or will we bare witness
to an ending capable of lifting this series above the crowd, into the
heights of tokusatsu? IF nothing else, I hope the writers stay on
point and send these characters off in their own unique way rather
than relying on tired old concepts. Tune in next week to find out how
it all ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment