As is customary these days, I must
start this post by apologizing for my extended absence between posts.
Work continues to suck up far more time than what I sighed up for.
These site posts are great therapy however as it's like settling into
a comfy womb. Alright, that's probably because I write in bed.
Forgive me these little luxuries. At work though, I just tryto go
though the motions and survive each day without too much trouble.
Zyuohger found itself doing much the same for the past month with a
stack of standard episodes that failed to move the plot forward by
much. It wasn't so bad though, let's get caught up.
So let's talk about characters first.
Both Yamato and Amu got moderate development over the past few weeks
with more details about his bond with his uncle, and some depth to
her sense of duty and justice. Poor Sela on the other hand sort of
floundered during this stretch which is all the more unfortunate when
you consider she's a shark. Sorry. I couldn't resist.
Leo and Tusk were the targets of
considerably more growth. Tusk has revealed his love of the written
word and a penchant for strategy though he's easily frazzled under
pressure. Even so, he still comes across as a little flat so it helps
that his actor has improved a great deal on comedic timing.
The writer's had already established a
bit of misogyny on Leo's part which they've added onto with a bit of
good old fashioned skirt chasing. Guy loves his ladies. In addition
they've established his respect for the abilities of his teamates
along with the ability to keep rushing through the bullshit. Guy's
still my favorite team member so far this year largely thanks to the
actor who adds in all sorts of extra tidbits to his performance.
The villains haven't developed much
though Naria was finally given the chance to do something more than
make monsters grow. She's also shown a bit of a cruel streak that
rivals her cohorts. Wouldn't be surprised to see her get a nice two
or three part tale revolving around some scheme of her own later on.
As for the episodes, Let's give em a
quick rundown.
Twelve was possibly the weakest
installment of the series thus far. It revolved around Tusk getting
duped into working at an old cranks' bookstore. There was some decent
humor and the monsters plan of removing language was pretty neat.
Problem was Tusk's efforts to get kids interested in books and the
manor in which his friends helped out was far too childish and
pandering for my tastes.
Thirteen fared a little better as it
continued the groups search for the bird man. The team is visited by
a girl who claims to have seen birdy and offers to guide them up a
mountain to where she spotted him. All of this is quickly complicated
both by a monster and Leo's overbearing crush on this new
acquaintance. This one was notable for the guest spot by Sayuri
Inoue; a Japanese idol with a big love for Super Sentai. Supposedly
the girl dreams of being an extra hero one day. While her character
may have been a little flat she's definitely got potential, and is
super cute to boot. I say give the girl some animal print spandex and
let her join the show.
 |
| Somebody turn on Dreamweaver. |
Fourteen is in direct competition with
twelve for bottom of the barrel. The main thrust involved Amu bonding
with a guy and his sickly sister. He works like a dog in hopes of
earning the cash to afford the treatment she needs. The monster of
the week uses this to manipulate the poor fool into helping him steal
some rare jewels and tie up the team.
Most of the tale was well done but the
ending was a real clusterfuck. After deciding to help our heroes who
then defeat the monster, the guy finds the suitcase of money he'd
been tempted with. In the last scene he informs Amu that he'll return
the case to the police and continue working his ass off to afford his
sisters treatments. Amu merely offers her belief in his abilities. I
understand that this is a kids show which makes for a tough time
dealing with moral gray areas but what the fuck? We get no indication
that this dude receives any reward or boost for returning the money
so all we can imagine is that he continues to throw his life away in
the constant pursuit of cash to save his sibling. All the more
insulting is that this money was stolen from a bank, which means it's
insured, so why can't he take it and use it for such a good cause?
The team doesn't even chip in a few dollars to help the guy out.
Woulda made a nice tip after he freed them form yet another case of
bondage. It made our heroes kinda look like dicks which isn't cool. I
like Amu but I certainly hope her character focused episodes improve
before she becomes Yakumo of this series.
Fifteen paired Leo and tusk up to stop
an evil sniper who turned people into dolls. Very basic and
straight-forward tale but nothing to complain about. Continued the
trend of good humor when Uncle Mario thought of altering the Yamato
doll. Something of note here is that both the sniper and the previous
episodes thief were trying to become new team leaders in the evil
aliens blood game. Naturally both fail but this does lead to a new
development in the next episode.
Sixteen shifted focus back to Yamato.
The baddie this week in league with Naria are kidnapping everyone who
looks like an animal in search of Zyuman. Uncle Mario is one of the
victims since he's wondering about dressed as a cow. We get some back
story on their family dynamic. Yamato didn't seem to get along very
well with his father, sharing Mario's same love for animals instead.
As we get to see, that bond also extends to a certain heroism and
respect for all life. Good stuff but the real kicker comes at the end
when we learn the reason for all these abductions. The big boss has
decided to make a zyuranger of his own by taking capturing zyuman and
infusing their power into some poor bastard he's been torturing for
god knows how long.
Seventeen finally gives us the turning
point we've been waiting for with the arrival of evil ranger, Zyuoh
The World. No, really, that's his title. We still don't know his
civilian identity though I'm sure that will be revealed quickly
enough.
Only one third or so of this episode
is actually about this newest villain. The rest is a Sela focused
tale where she showcases her care giving sensibilities when a monster
sticks playing cards to peoples head that provide massive electrical
shocks when near others with the same suite.
Not much of importance occurred during
that main chunk of story. So Sela's good at taking care of people,
that's not something that requires fifteen minutes of screen time for
the audience to understand. On the upside, this continues the provide
the balance a character like her needs. As the resident tough girl of
the group there's a value to having something to soften her up and
keep her likable for the audience and that's still in full effect as
she makes for a good role model with a properly developed
personality.
The real reason you're reading about
this installment though is Zyuoh The World. Obviously I can't say
much about his personality or even the quality of the acting. What we
can discuss is that he's not the bird man as I had suspected. Lord
knows what exactly the plan is there. Maybe birdy will end up
becoming some kind of back-up hero or recurring baddie down the line?
Anyway, this new dude has been infused with the powers of a wolf,
rhino, and crocodile which he can mix together at once. Also he
fights with a fishing rod that doubles as a gun. Alright it sounds
absolutely ridiculous because, frankly it is. To a certain extent,
that's why it actually works. Last year when Starninger showed up on
Ninninger, the series actively pointed out how over the top he was.
That's not the case here at all. Is it silly for some overpowered bad
guy to fight with a fishing pole? Absolutely. Did anyone on the show
point this out? Not at all. It's just there currently as window
dressing. Perhaps later there will prove to be a reason for it. Right
now, it's just fun.
And with that we're all caught up on
Zyuohger for the time being. Much as most of these episodes came up
short when compared to the first ten, this series is still far
improved over the past few years. That alone will keep it at the
forefront of my Summer viewing. I hate to leave you all on such a
sudden note but I've got to edit all the massive spelling errors on
this thing (probably shouldn't write during cocktail hour), read some
Star Wars, and hit the hay. See you soon.
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