Ryusoulger Episodes 23-27

For everything there is a season and for my lazy butt that means every November brings forth a mad dash to catch up with Super Sentai content, save for that year when I chose to ignore the awfulness of Kyuranger. After months of Halloween goodness I was gearing up for a couple rounds of recaps before realizing it's already the 12 of this month, how is that possible? So without further ado let us march along and discuss how Ryusoulger has been faring before I get sidelined by holiday sodas.

Story:

Sadly my first venture into this batch of episodes was victim of one of the most dreaded phenomenon in television. Yea, it was time for a clip show though much like last year the writers almost managed to make this one count for something. The theme for all the flashbacks were the various dino souls the heroes use as nifty tools in their adventures, oddly enough these things can actually fizzle out after so many uses. The group meets to trade when they find a soul that grants wishes that the villains, disguised as Canelo's sister, run off with. Evil is defeated and the soul that has its own wish for peace is hidden away so no one will fight over the power it can bestow.

After that we're given another one-off adventure with Canelo trying to impress a girls martial artist father in order to win her hand in marriage, or so he thinks. It's a fairly basic outing though the monster, a karate master with pastry skills, is fairly neat. Also of note is the training sequence where Canelo tries to master a new move to overcome the monster. This whole section of the show reminded me of Ultraman Leo only without the ludicrous abuse of our lead.

For episode 25 things switch towards Melto and Ui and you all know I consider her to be the best representation for the series message of connection and friendship as she struggles with such notions. Stranger still is how this one serves as an explanation for the ending-credits dance sequence. Suppose I should explain.

Ui has roped her friends into creating a dance video for her channel and the project isn't going very well as Melto just can't get the moves right. He snaps at Ui, refusing to continue the project and inquiring why she isn't in the video herself. It's not long after that a viral video staring Kreon begins to steal peoples souls, including Ui and Canelo's Sister, Oto. The team must figure out how to defeat a monster that hides in the internet, but also doesn't harm its host as the removal of negative thoughts and current life situation leaves the man feeling wonderful. This one might have been lost if not for some unexpected actions on Kreon's part (more on that later) but in the end everyone is able to help with Ui's video, otherwise known as the ending credits.

With a few small-scale stories concluded the show moves into a new arc by introducing another Ryusoul tribe member named Nada. He was actually in training to be the red ranger years ago before his master decided on Koh to inherit those powers. Nada just wants to help out however he can which is important given the return of Gachireus (who faked his death), Gaisorg, and a new monster that can remove kindness for human hearts, which makes for a fine revelation about Koh.

Episodes 26 and 27 are a rough two-parter with how they share the same monster along with introducing Nada to the group. Each installment is distinctly different however with the first revolving around Koh's darker nature while the latter involves reuniting a father/son pair of Dino Knights. Both are solid stories with some excellent character development and the new guy offers a fun personality for the other heroes to work with. Speaking of which...

Heroes:

More than anyone the original trio gets the biggest share of growth during this batch of episodes. In the case of Koh we learn during the clipshow that he is actually capable of hearing the voices of dino souls. Whether or not this will serves as an important detail later on is up in the air but it still merits a mention. Of more potential importance is what happens when Koh gets blasted by the critter that takes kindness away from people. Not only does this turn him into a psychotic badass but the audience learns this is his default mode from childhood. It wasn't until Asuna came to their village that he began to watch over her and mellow out. Later he admits he learned kindness from watching Melto help Asuna with her swordwork and that he was able to overcome his current problem by focusing on the group of friends he has now.

Melto has also improved recently first blowing up at and then mending fences with Ui, spending far more time with Oto, and becoming more resilient in battle. Seeing how the boys looked after Asuna growing up makes her current role as the strongman of the group more meaningful as she now has the power to look out for them.

Lastly we've got Nada who obviously has a deep dark secret, one I already know from future episodes. As of right now he's a very entertaining addition to the cast with the actor being both funny and charming. Given his background as a warrior who was deemed unworthy of being a Ryusoulger he could fill the mostly absent role of a mentor to the group, especially since the village elder hasn't been seen in about twenty episodes.

Villains:

The return of Gachireus means my struggle to remember the spelling of his name is back in full-force. It also means his former tenure on the show feels like less of a red-herring. Still can't quite figure if this guy is worthwhile or not. He's more interesting than Tankjoh and his arguments with Wyzul can be fun bur I'm sorta hopping he gets swapped out for a more unique baddie.

Kreon is proving to be more interesting than previous content let on. During the viral video adventure we learned quite a bit about this little snot slinger. Not only does he enjoy creating things like videos for fun, before Wyzul hijacks them for evil, but he actually made friends with a human and worried about their fate as a host to a Minosaur. Beyond that he deleted the video that allowed the creature to spread despite it meaning defeat for his side. Since the show has slowed the shuffle of villains down significantly it's less likely this little guy will be an endgame threat so much as a goofy mascot or possibly sob story.

Action:

While there were no absolute standout action scenes during these installments the overall quality of fight scenes is holding up quite well. Of note are the instances when the stunt team mixes wirework into tracking shots. Also have to give some major points to the suit actors for green and gold. In an already excellent stunt-crew these two manage to pull off some of the most impressive and fluid maneuvers in each battle.

Overall:

So these weren't the brightest moments of the series so far given the presence of clipshows, cutesy kid robots (don't ask) and and lighthearted karate romance. Deeper revelations about our characters and their relationships are helping to push the series theme plus the actors keep getting better with each installment. With a new character in place and hints of new villains there's a lot of potential for the upcoming slate of episodes. I still have a lot to catch up on and once I do you expect these recaps to become less vague, getting my Sentai legs back after all. This show is at it's best when it focuses on the inner lives of the heroes and the lengths to which the villains will go to spread havoc so my fingers are crossed that the story is moving back in that direction for the foreseeable future.

That's all for tonight, Santai fans. I've got appointments to set-up and stuff to watch from the corporate overlords at the house of mouse. I shall return with further Ryusoulger antics soon, give or take a break to discuss festive food and horrible films for Thanksgiving. As is so often asked by these tokusatsu shows, please look forward to it.