Did you ever notice that some days are
almost made of pure unfiltered irritation? Think of day where no
matter what you try, something is always in the way and nothing of
value is accomplished. Yeah...that's the sort of day I had. When life
refuses to even give you so much as lemons, then it's high time to
settle in for some Super Sentai.
Now that we're a few episodes removed
from the great premier, it should become a little more obvious what
kind of show Lupinranger vs Patranger will be, and I'm happy to say
it looks like it will continue to be solid viewing. The writers are
already finding ways to balance out the tone, the action has reduced
the number of crazy camera angles so that they remain special instead
of annoying, and the plot continues to deepen. What I'm trying to say
is, we've got a lot to talk about.
I guess the first item we should check
off the list is that we now know the exact details of what lead the
Lupinranger crew into their current lifestyle. A year ago each of
them was leading fairly normal lives until a currently unknown
Gangler took away someone they love. For Kairi it was his older
brother, Umika lost her best friend, and most magic of all was Touma
who was seperated from his fiancee. In each case the person was
frozen only to eventually crack and shatter into nothing. That is
when each of them were approached by Kogure, the Lupin family butler
with the notion of recovering their friends and family should they
reclaim the Lupin collection.
Another new detail is the introduction
of Good Striker. While seemingly another item from the collection,
Goodie, as he's affectionately called by Umika actually has a
personality and will of its own. It's also what allows both teams to
access their super finishing moves and combine their robots. It's an
odd little bugger that changes sides based on mood, and it seems more
than cautious about Kogure. This along with Patrangers transformation
tech only lends to the theory that there is something going on behind
the scenes and that the butler may not be trustworthy.
Those developments are pretty much in
place by the second episode, allowing us to move on to more character
based plots. Episode three pulls double duty on the secondary men for
each team. Touma's part revolves around his plans to steel the
Patranger transformation devices. After all, why risk valuable parts
of the collection getting blown apart by gung-ho cops who just want
to destroy monsters? Cooler heads prevail as Kairi convinces him that
having Patranger around offers a greater list of options for each
situation. He proves this point by letting the cops trigger a trap
set by the current monster.
Meanwhile on the opposing team, Sakuya
struggles with... I guess being sort of a dullard. Honestly even
after this storyline he is easily the least developed of the core
cast. Basically he finds himself goofing up at work, but then mans up
when necessary. His discovery is that he needs positive encouragement
to perform at his best. I hope he doesn't become the weak link of
the show since he genuinely comes across as warm, if a bit impulsive.
Episode four gives us some time with
the girls, mostly Tsukasa who works to solve a case that speaks to an
embarrassing part of her personal life. A Gangler has been using
stuffed animals to kidnap people to sell on the black market. The
reason this effects our pink ranger so much is that despite her very
professional demeanor, she has an almost perverse love for stuffed
critters.
Umika also gets a little growth as she
cares enough about the victims of these crimes to reach out and give
her lawful rivals a tip. Tsukasa in turn gives Lupin Yellow an ample
opportunity to steal the treasure. Only a few episodes in and the
girls at least show some willingness to work alongside each-other for
the greater good.
As if all this weren't enough already
there's even more upgrades and technology to talk about. First are
the team finishers which are both a tad bizarre. In Patranger's case
the whole team fuses together in a single body. As you can guess the
results so far aren't very coordinated. Lupinranger on the other hand
gets multiple red rangers. How Good Striker is able to facilitate
such reality bending feats is left unanswered.
Anyone whose read previous recaps
knows I'm not not a big fan of the robot portion of this franchise,
though there have been some strides towards fixing that, and for the
first time since Ninninger I'd say we took a big leap towards
more engaging robot battles. The mix of CG and physical elements has
gotten much smoother, the choreography is a step up from the norm,
even the miniature sets are looking better. One little issues
however, and this is one that has been with the franchise all along,
is the sheer amount of destruction on display means at least a few
hundred civilians must have died during these fights. It just seems
like a more obvious issue in this show since there's so much more
detail than just a little model factory blowing up. It's a topic I'd
love to see addressed in a story someday, but I'm probably asking too
much of kiddie shows.
It's hard to imagine but there's even
more to this show than what we've already talked about as it is just
drenched in theme and potential. There's just so many neat touches on
display that could be further developed into something more
meaningful than simply set-dressing. Even the potential for different
kinds of character relationships is teased within these opening
episodes. Consider Sakuya's immediate attraction to Umika and
consider what might happen when he finds out she's a thief, or when
they inevitable start to work together. Right now he's just a goofy
cop with a crush on the cute girl at the bakery, where that might end
up makes for some rich storytelling options.
Once again this show saved my day. It
feels odd to say this so early but this may be the best Sentai I've
covered so far. Really makes a viewer feel good about the franchise
moving forward. That's all for now. I've got to get some sleep in the
hope of making tomorrow at least somewhat productive.
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