As always seems to happen the month of August has done its utmost to
beat me down. Allergies were in full bloom, no luck with the job
hunt, a kitty with an ear infection, you get the basic idea. At the
same time there was this little spark of luck that has been building
for weeks in order to combat the troublesome ways of summer. This has
taken further hold in recent days with excellent thrift store finds,
the cats quickly improving health, and the miracle that this years
allergies didn't bring the usual bouts of narcolepsy with them. Amid
the hassle I had some difficulty keeping up with Ryusolger but
that changed in recent days and much like it was during our previous
recap this show is continuing to break out of its shell to provide
some lovely entertainment. We've got plenty to discuss so let's get
to it.
Story:
Episode nineteen was very much a small adventure focused on a mascot
character, in this case the dinoknight Tyramigo, which would normally
mark it as just a simple diversion. There was a level of craft on
display however that helped to make this an excellent slice of TV
that added ever so slightly to the series depth. The key concept
involved a Minosaur made from a very strict, and rather lovely,
elementary teacher whose obsession with rules made for a beast that
sent people to a kind of detention dimension for any transgression
against the rules. Tyramigo is apparently quite fond of visiting the
students here which helps to get him wrapped up in the action. After
a few slip-ups from the good guys however the dinknight ends up
working with his least-liked connection, Melto.
While it may have been just a simple romp of an episode there were
some interesting tidbits such as learning where the hell Tyramigo
goes all the time, he's essentially a man (err... dinosaur) about
town at this point. Then we have his strained relationship with Melto
whom he simply doesn't like though he gains some slight respect for
him. There's also a small demonstration of heroism on Asuna's part
that is further developed in the following installments. All in all
it was a breezy and very well-done addition to the series.
For episode twenty the focus returns to someone who's been mostly
hanging in the background for a while when Towa gets called out for
relying solely on his speed rather than any kind of strategy during a
training session. He scuffs at the accusation painfully unaware that
the writers room is setting him up for a challenge.
There's another object minosaur in the mix. This time it's a sketch
pad which Wyzul uses to rain traps down from the sky in order to
capture the heroes. Towa can dodge them due to his speed yet he has
no clue how to rescue his friends. The situation leads to some deeper
insights into his personality, namely fears of being alone and
worthless. To top it all off he's confronted by Gaisorg who offers
words of advice from the kids former master. Let's note that despite
having faced each-other during Sentai Strongest Battle, Towa
shows no recognition of the sentient armor. We'll discuss this later.
Once again this is mostly a contained and well-done adventure all on
its own with the addition of further depth for our green ranger along
with some doubts about his brothers honesty regarding the fate of
their master. Solid entertainment all around.
Episodes twenty-one and twenty-two mark a reemergence of some
headier themes for the series, largely that of loss. Around the whole
country different lifeforms are disappearing while at the same time
dead people are returning to life. For our heroes this phenomenon
takes the shapes of Ui's mother and Asuna's former master who are
both alive and well with no discernible explanation. Also back in the
land of the living is Lord Tankjoh much to the pleasure of Kreon.
These sort of adventures are where the true heart of this shows comes out. For many series the simple set-up of an earlier villain returning over and over regardless of how often he's destroyed might make for enough story to fill the run time. Yet here we're treated to some fine character moments for our two main girls. For Ui's part she stays at home to bond with the mother she hasn't seen since she was little. Asuna on the other hand must finally come to terms with what her master meant to her as well as her proper place within the team. Beyond that we slove the mystery of why Ui's father ocassionally slips into weird trances to deliver Important information as he's possessed by a former Ryusoul Tribe member whose tomb he once explored. Plus there are two raptor robots that wield some control over the forces of light/life and dark/death. Heady stuff though we'll get to the biggest points in the next section.
Heroes:
One aspect of this series that continues to surprise is how much the
character rankings can shift with just a few small moments. I've
noted some dissatisfaction with Asuna in the past as he role of dumb
grunt doesn't mesh very well with her place as the only heroine.
During these episodes we see her shift from being a pure smasher when
she commits to being a protector. She has more strength than anyone
around her and at last she's using it in a focused and meaningful
way. At one point the majority of the team holds back and feeds her
more power so she can take on Tankjoh solo. We see a hint of this
shift earlier when she protects a group of kids despite harm to
herself but when this development takes full shape when she declaires
her goal of protecting the others it makes for a much more compelling
character. What's better is this growth was aided by a realization of
her masters imperfections as the minsoaur who swamped lives was born
of her jealousy towards the living.
Ui sat out a some of these adventures but the time spent with her
mother made up for it. Not only did it gave the actress more to work
with but the knowledge of what happened to her mom re-frames her
personality. It was already obvious how Ui was rather lonely before
meeting the Ryusoulgers which explained some of her traits and
tendency towards depression. Knowing she lost her mother to illness
at a young age colors her whole Dora the Explorer act as a form of
self-imposed arrested development to maintain her childhood
innocence.
As for the guys the tidbits about Towa and the potential of secrets
between the brothers could make for some fine drama later on. Canalo
doesn't spend as much time in the spotlight which is fine since he
just had a ton of focus recently and he gets several excellent
comedic scenes. Melto has received a more balanced personality as
he's lightened up, which is often aided by hi friends mockery of how
serious he can be. The only loser here is Koh who hasn't gotten
anything other than new toys and power-ups to play with. Given recent
Sentai history I'm more than glad to step back from the red ranger.
It just seems a tad off for the leader to possibly be the least
developed hero.
Villains:
Let's get the elephant out of the room first. Towa not remembering
Gaisorg is such an odd goof when you consider how Strongest Battle
included a shot of some mysterious person taking the armor for their
own use as a prelude for its appearance in this series. It's just
such a mis-match of forethought and forgetfulness. At the very least
this current incarnation of Gaisorg is proving far more interesting
than his original outing.
Seeing Lord Tankjoh back in action proved to be more fun than
anticipated since the recent trend of improved writing lent him a
little more personality than was showcased in the past. Guy actually
had some fun palling around with Kreon again and reliving the glory
days. The little slime pile got some mileage off the event as well
displaying sorrow at his inability to keep his revived friend around.
All that said this is still Wyzul's show and I couldn't be happier
that he's still around. While Kreon may provide the sort of mascot
style comedy Wyzul still manages to balance creulty and comedy in
just the right way. Seeing him lend a hanky to his depressed
underling made for a surprising bit of tenderness among the bad guy
camp/
Action:
As with everything else the action scenes are on their way up as
well. Most fights during this batch of stories seemed a bit shorter
which, honestly, makes more time for proper plots so I'm all for it.
The focus should be on making the fights stand out for their
production and this is ever more the situation. Moves are faster and
more fluid, the camera and editing teams is doing a better job of
hiding mistakes. Best of all is some of that fancy camerawork my
favorite being a shot that cames from behind two robots into the
heart of battle. It seems almost unbelievable that there would be
more innovation in action from childrens television than proper
movies. Guess that's just the world we live in.
Overall:
Much as I love Tokusatsu programs I'm still something of a novice
compared to some of the fans that are out there. That being said I've
never seen a series dive and recover in quality quite like Ryusoulger
has. The show began with real potential before settling into a dull
routine and is now something very nice. The show is beging to feel
like some of the 90s Sentai shows that sometimes made questionable
decisions but always sought out unique storytelling. Comparatively
this could become a modern day Dairanger, though hopefully
with a significantly better ending.
Halloween coverage will be starting within the next week or so but
don't let that concern you Sentai fans. I've been working ahead on
seasonal content so that I should havenjust enough time to keep this
show on schedule amid all the pumpkins and ghosts. For now my dizzy
cat and I are off to bed.
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