Ryusoulger Episodes 46-48 Review

For quite some time I have held the belief that the new year doesn't truly strike until roughly March, which makes the current seasonal switch for Super Sentai all the more fitting. We're finally getting into the first real bite of this new decade, which is starting off pretty damn lame in many respects, and with it we say goodbye to Ryusoulger and the Heisei era of this massive franchise. Soon we will meet a new group of gem powered heroes and see what the Reiwa era has to offer in full but for now it's time to decide whether this fourth dinosaur themed sentai proved to be a worthwhile endeavor. For those of you pressed for time I'll throw you a bone, it's pretty damn good actually.

Story:

The first of these final three installments begins with Pricious killing off the traitorous Yabasword before pleading with Master Eras to explain such betrayal. Her answer comes in the form of a vision-inducing shockwave which the meaning of will be revealed later.

Back at the base our heroes heal up from the past few rounds of battle and decide it is time to return to the ruins and make their stand against Eras. The issue is not knowing how to accomplish anything more than sealing it away like before, a plan that doesn't sit well as it would also seal away the dinoknights. This leads to a sequence between Koh and Tyramigo that is far more touching than anything featuring a plastic talking dinosaur should be wherein the T-Rex accepts the likelihood of being sacrificed in order to save his friends.

The kids set out, leaving Master Black behind as he isn't fully recovered from having his heart returned to him. What ensues is mostly the kind of action and humor one expects from this series, seemingly to hit the expected notes before the more melancholy tone of the following episodes. The team is briefly joined in battle by a Setoh possessed Mr. Tatsui who dons a brown version of the Gaisorg armor. His send final bits in this scene are so comical that they almost don't work. Thankfully the last part makes up for that.

While confronted by her enemies, Pricious reveals the truth given to her by Eras. The Ryusoul Tribe was created by Eras to serve as protectors of the Earth. Eventually the tribe lost their way and started the war that has been mentioned previously. This caused Eras to create Druidons as a means of defending Earth from the Ryusoul Tribe. They too became unruly and now the master seeks to destroy both creations and remake the world. During this revelation Wyzul reveals himself to be, somehow, still alive as he encourages Pricious to give up on this pointless conflict and enjoy life instead. His platitudes do nothing as Eras kills Pricious before emitting a blinding light.

Episode 47 begins in a new peaceful world where nearly everyone is off doing their own thing. Canalo is getting married, Asuna is eating record amounts of food, Melto is a chick magnet. Koh has a little more going on as he still lives with the Tatsui’s and hangs out with a still living Nada. Kreon shows up to wake them all from this fantasy world and they discover that in reality Eras has placed everyone in a deep sleep and is beginning to destroy the world in order to remake it.

Much of the episode focuses on the emotional reactions our characters have to this situation. Asuna, Melto, and Kreon are temporarily eaten by Eras until the latter two create a minusaur to break free. During this time the others hang out in a cave and contemplate the fate of the world. When facing the last battle there are two major emotional outbursts. The first comes from Canalo who has struggled with the reason for fighting this whole time. He wonders if perhaps the global population would be better off living in a peaceful dream rather than struggle to repair this damaged world. That’s when Asuna gets her chance to shine with a big tearful speech about how the dreamworld lacked the personal connections her friends have shared this whole time. She wants friendships to continue, for people to grow and make mistakes. This allows the whole group to understand that one reason for fighting is to cultivate the connections between each-other. Pretty heady stuff for a kids show, huh? With that the last fight begins.

Episode 48 exists in two halves. The first is the big final battle witch plenty of dramatic moments. The dinoknights give up their energy in order for Koh to seal Eras away, only the maneuver just manages to shrink her down to human size before failing. Eras then kills the red ranger, though his spirit is absorbed inside of her via a Ryusoul left behind during the previous installments captivity sub-plot. While the others fight on bravely Koh speaks with Eras on matters of friendship and emotional experiences, things she knows nothing of. The combination of this conversation, wounds from the diniknight attack, and continuing pressure from the team finally destroy Eras. Koh is brought back from the brink of death and we flash ahead slightly.

As time passes we see the group move on to new things. Melto and Oto work alongside Mr. Tatsui in his archaeology. Asuna opens a school for Ryusoul tribe children as a place where her and her friends can always gather. Koh spends some time with the tribal elder whose business ventures went bust, and also visits the spirit of Nada. Towa goes backpacking on his own while Bamba tries to learn how to relax alongside his old master. Canalo spends a lot of time around Asuna’s school having developed feelings for her though she hasn’t caught on. At last everyone gathers again at the Tatsui household to welcome Ui back from Hollywood as we close with a wall of photos showcasing their connections to each-other.

Heroes:

As in years past let’s look at the best and worst character beats across the entire length of the series. Without a doubt Bamba wins the MVP award this season. Both the character and actor were solid from the get-go and never wavered. However the most improved characters proved to be Melto and Asuna who grew from shaky and sometimes unlikable early-on to nearly the emotional core of the team.

The weakest character is still Towa who never had much going on to begin with and become more bland as time wore on. On the flipside the biggest waste of a character goes to Ui who provided so much early in the series when she acted as almost a junior member of the team. As more focus was spent on villains and larger story-arcs she was pushed aside and barely factored in the final third of the series. I still think it’d benefit the series greatly if in some upcoming video special or movie she got to pilot a dinoknight or become a ranger, something to fully solidify her link to the others.Koh, Canalo, and the other supporting cast all fared fairly well in the end, even if a few like Setoh and Oto weren’t really necessary to the overall plot.

Villains:

Master Eras turned out to be an odd yet thematically functional big bad. In essence she was like a lesser god who served as the planets defense system. As she lived a solitary life of duty she understood nothing of emotions or companionship which leads to her total disconnect considering what is best for us mere mortals. I've seen this sort of notion presented in other Japanese entertainment, Lightning Returns for example, and always love how they note that a god would understand nothing about being human which makes them dangerous. On the other hand our connections, feelings, and sheer numbers make us a threat to them. I do find it strange that while Eras takes responsibility for Ryusoul and Druidon life there's no mention of who created Humans.

In the realm of confusing last-minute revelations how did I not know that Kreon wasn't actually a Druidon? Was this ever mentioned previously? Wyzul mentions that the goober could be his own planets take on Eras given their shared ability to create new life. Seems like that could have been better developed. Still it was nice to see the greenie help out our heroes a few more times and regain his friendship with Wyzul.

Speaking of Wyzul, he may not have done much in these last few episodes but man was it ever nice to see him again. Plus he presented another aspect of the series mission statement to simply enjoy life while it lasts.

Pricious was far from the best villain this show had to offer. I do appreciate her few moments of dramatic depth in this last stretch though it would’ve been better to grow her personality earlier. As for her buddy, Gun-joji... I got nothing.

Overall:

I’ve been at this Sentai review gig for a few years now and have already seen series from across the quality spectrum from the surprising wonders of Zyuohger, to the well-meaning stupidity of Ninninger, and the outright embarrassment of Kyuranger. Ryusoulger was a tough show to measure as it moved along. Some portions like the end of the Nada arc rank among the best Sentai has to offer yet there were also portions where the show flopped around, accomplishing very little. So what’s the final verdict? Actually quite positive.

Like any of the recent Sentai series there were some definite missteps along the path. I’ve droned on about the flawed handling of Ui. For as good as the arc and character were, the whole Nada thing still felt like a side-trip. Not to mention the revelation about the origin of Druidons and Ryusoul Tribe came far too late to properly develop. Yet for all of the various flaws this series has been far more consistent than many recent series with the majority of its themes landing in the end. Consider the massive drag that occurred during the 30s of Lupinranger vs Patranger, the closest thing this series got to that sort of lull was very early and served the purpose of illustrating how much the heroes needed to grow. It never overloaded the audience with sub-plots or extra heroes, instead offering a variety of villains and story styles to keep us engaged. More than anything the theme of connection was expertly delivered with each hero searching for something in other people while showcasing the opposite issues with many villains, save for the two that built a lasting relationship. Perhaps this is due to my living in the middle of America and studying social issues but a show that features the importance of self-improvement to help those around you holds a lot of value in a time and place where everyone seems to push their own identity regardless of whether it infringes on anyone else.

If you’ve yet to dip your toes into the Super Sentai pool then Ryusoulger ain’t too shabby a place to start. I still place higher value on some of the older series like Kakuranger but for something with more modern sensibilities this has a solid cast coupled with a good message and strong presentation. All in all it makes a fine send-off for the Heisei era.

Of course there’s no rest for us tokusatsu fans as the next show is already on the air. As always you can expect yet another revamp to the review format in just a week or two when it comes time to discuss our newest batch of colorful heroes. Right now we can at least say we had a good run with Ryusoulger, and I’m glad we took the time to witness their adventures.