When I was younger the month of
January used to torment me as this big hole of nothing to start the
year. As a grown-ass man, albeit one that spends his time reviewing
foreign kids shows, I've begun to appreciate the month as the perfect
opportunity to catch up on countless tasks. On the website front that
means after weeks of holiday antics it's time to return to Sentai
recaps. When last we spoke of Lupinranger vs Patranger the show had
been spinning its wheels for months. Entering into the 40s the series
finally answers some major questions and sets up the final battles to
come. In order to make these big steps a few sub-plots are wrapped up
in unceremonious fashion followed by something awesome. Let's cut to
the chase shall we?
Episode 40 is largely one of those
light comedy efforts though it finishes a character plot that had
built up during the 30s. You may recall Kairi had become a bit of a
bummer recently. When he wasn't infuriated by Kei reminding him of
his brother he'd strike out on his own and neglect his team in the
process. His closest friends have noticed the shift in his behavior
and are further worried when his slacking at work worsens. The plan
is to follow him around to figure out what he's up too. During the
first tailing session a Gangler shows up that doesn't seem to
accomplish much more than spread around some smoke.
Noel gets roped into subsequent
tailing attempts where he observes that both Umika and Touma are
worried about every little thing. Most of these situations are
actually pretty funny with outlandish concepts like death from an
explosive bird and stomach collision. This behavior is eventually
revealed to be a result of the Gangler who can increase worries. The
amount of energy his friends expend on his behalf shows Kairi that he
has a better support system than he'd like to admit. He and Noel do
most of the heavy lifting to take down the baddie of the week so we
can get back to the important stuff.
Kairi's extra slacking is due to him
taking care of a puppy while trying to find a home for the little
bugger. He apologizes to his team for his recent antics but it's when
they encounter the cops on their way to the bistro that he gets his
act together and stops being such a dick to Keichiro. Much as I'm
glad to see a sub-plot get resolved I can't help but wonder what was
the point of this arc? I thought it might have been leading to a
larger face-off between the teams or perhaps the character splitting
from his team upon learning some deeper truth but as is it just feels
like misdirection. At least this took care of the problem while
giving us an entertaining enough installment.
Episode 41 begins a two-part story
focused on Destra’s bid for power. The big pineapple man wants to
take a shot at the boss's chair and his plan involves transporting
the different rangers to the Gangler world where he can execute them
properly. At the same time Tsukasa is trying to encourage Touma to be
more social. He urges her to keep their relationship as a customer
and patron thing which he remarks is somewhat for himself. Before he
can elaborate the baddie attacks and both are sent to Gangler world.
From that point on it's a
multi-pronged battle as the pair try to survive this harsh
environment whole Kei and Sayaka try to get to Gangler world to
rescue their friends and Noel and the remaining Lupinranger keep
Destra occupied. There's a lot going on here such as Touma
accidentally revealing some of his fighting and gun skills to keep
Tsukasa safe while he also revealing how much he cares for his
co-workers. At the same time Zamigo appears to help out the rescue
crew as he has no intention of letting Destra have a victory.
Speaking of the big guy, he proves capable of overcoming Kairi's
recent upgrade that allows him to predict movement. Destra fights in
such a direct and confident fashion that there's no deception or
second-guessing to predict.
Eventually every ranger is back in the
real world and fighting together where they realize that their
opponent is crazy strong without the benefit of collection pieces.
They use all their best toys to smack him down yet he still survives
to fight another day. And that's when Gauche arrives to make him an
offer.
Episode 42 is practically a
battle-royal from scene one. Destra tags in Guache to help him fight
Kairi and Noel in order to both kick their asses and steal some
collection pieces for himself. I'm so glad to finally see the aspect
of pieces being taken back put to good use. Now the already powerful
villain has the ability to predict movements and control gravity
which he celebrates by leveling an entire neighborhood.
This tragedy sends both teams into
planing mode but one person is oddly missing. Noel was not only
lightly injured during the first fight but Gauche scanned him with
something that has made both him and Kogure nervous. That shady
butler goes so far as to ask Noel to stay out of this which he
foolishly does while the others head into battle. And what a fight it
is. Each team plans on using the other by having the cops distract
Destra while the thieves take his new toys. He proves too strong for
that approach and beats them soundly. It all comes down to a big
gambit where Kairi uses his magnum to propel himself through a
gravity shield and prepare a finishing blow while Keichiro manages to
recover the collection pieces. Noel finally decides he can't stay out
of the fight and they all join their big robots together to save the
day.
And so yet another sub-plot draws to a
close and I have a similar complaint to the last one. What was the
point of Destra? He never tied in to any other plot-lines or paved
the way to a bigger threat. He was just a strong lapdog that
eventually took a shot at the prize and lost. And his end comes very
soon after the series had seemingly ushered in a sort of rivalry
between him and Noel. It's as if the writers created this villain
strictly to fill a role without any plans for what they could do with
him. Perhaps something deeper will be revealed later. For now at
least we can thank Destra for serving as a backdrop to a solid
two-parter.
Episode 43 kickstarts yet another
two-parter and this is the big one that answers some of the biggest
questions the series has waved in front of us, namely, what is the
deal with Noel and Kogure? It all begins with the return of Satoru
from one of the video specials. Just my luck that after years of
being trained to pay little mind to the movies and specials Toei
would suddenly decide to make them matter. Anyway Satoru is the
original green member of the Patranger crew who was injured on the
job and eventually transferred to France. He’s back on special
assignment to seek out the mole that’s been feeding the Ganglers
information all this time. His number one suspect is Noel.
At the same time the Lupinrangers are
dealing a rather bumbling Gangler who claims to be working in cahoots
with Noel. This reaches a head when the cops confront their gold and
silver friend in a meeting with said Gangler when Noel actually
shoots at them. Adding to the confusion is Gauche’s revelation to
the thieves that Noel isn’t even human. In the end, nobody knows
what to believe and a ranger is on the run. While this all makes for
a decent warm-up it’s a bit too obvious that there’s a frame-up
at work with too many of the characters falling for it.
Episode 44 takes that somewhat wobbly
beginning and turns it into possibly the best installment of the
entire series. On one end we have the police struggling to deal with
the idea that their comrade may have been a traitor this whole time.
On the other are confrontations between the thieves, Noel, and Kogure
that finally reveal the truth. The other dimension the Gangler’s
come from was once home to people as well. After being drive from
their homes by the monstrous criminals, Arsene Lupin took them in and
offered them security and work. For Noel the master thief was
something of a father figure whose loss lead the young man to joining
the fight against the Gangler hordes.
Keichiro is also struggling to deal
with the changes in his old friend, Satoru who is more cold and
distant than he was in the past. Kei realizes that his friend
uncharacteristically leaves behind his MP3 player that used to be a
constant companion. The red cop pieces together that Satoru is
actually a Gangler in disguise, worse still the actual Satoru is
likely dead. It would seem that when creatures like Zamigo kidnap
people they may end up used as disguises thanks to Gauche’s
experiments. This particular impostor was able to use a collection
piece that can control people bodies to make Noel attack his team. It
doesn’t take long for our heroes to vent their frustration at the
enemy and win the day. Noel finds himself accepted by both groups
again though only the thieves know the full truth about him thus far.
This was an absolutely outstanding
entry with some great cinematography and character moments. The rainy
portions while a bit cliché were beautifully done and so many plot
threads finally came to a point. The truth behind Noel and Kogure
isn’t as interesting as I may have hopped but it was unexpected and
created a reason for their past deceptions without making them
villainous. Knowing that all the human disguises seen throughout the
show were once living people adds some darkness to the experiments
mentioned in the past while adding a ticking clock element to find
the Lupinranger’s loved ones before they are used this way. Most of
all I’m impressed to see a series make use of their video specials
rather than leaving those as weird novelty adventures.
There are still more episodes to talk
about so I figure we’ll have another recap very soon. Classes have
started and so far it seems like I’ll have plenty of time to keep
up around here so expect to see at least one new feature starting
soon and a new approach to Sentai coverage once this show wraps up.
Haven’t even had the chance to talk about the upcoming shows on
that front yet. The franchise is switching to a one month mini-series
in February before the new full show arrives in March. Not terribly
excited by the newest theme but my fingers are crossed for the best
as the production company is bringing in some outside talent to shake
things up. One of the many things to look forward to this year. Gotta
go finish a project, be back with you soon.
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