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.

Ryusoulger Episodes 43-45 Review

This Super Sentai recap is brought to you by one of the core virtues of the franchise, dedication. That's because I'm trying to piece this together after countless pages of term papers on everything from neurological disorders to Matthew McConaughey movies... maybe those topics aren't all that different actually. So while I wait for school file uploading system to start working again we have an opportunity to catch up with the fabulous fighting force known as Ryusoulger.

Story:

This threesome of episodes serves as a sort of clumsy arc with our heroes learning about the past exploits of Master Black and the background on the Ryusoul Calibur while attempting to reach Master Eras and end this conflict. The team hits a bit of a roadblock however as Master Eras may not be so easy to destroy. In the past it was sealed away with the Calibur but overtime the monster began to feed off of the sword and has also intertwined its roots into the Earth itself. Quite the nasty little beast but let's not get too far ahead.

In an attempt to keep all this straight let's chat about episode 43. Pricious and Sedan have officially moved into the caverns under the floating temple where Master Eras sleeps. Not unlike how Kreon creates Minusaurs so does Eras give birth to Druidons. In fact she squirts out a new one named Gunjoji who soon takes his first tour of causing havoc on the human world.

Once our heroes hear the name Eras it sparks memories in Bamba of when his former master attacked their home village and swore to protect the mother of Druidons. The team must also deal with the cowardice of Oto and the teradon robot who each want to hide away from the battles to come. Fighting ensues, a second Gunjoji is born and the final confrontation looks to be taking place, or maybe not.

Suddenly we are treated to the speediest, most unnecessary bit of retroactive continuity I’ve seen in quite some time. Episode 43 ended with the whole crew walking into the caves all decked out in their shiny dino tights. Awaiting them inside are the Druidions who have just kidnapped Oto. When the next episode picks up the whole crew is outside, unmorphed, and is confronted by Sedan with the captured girl in tow. Not only do our heroes not enter the caves until roughly a third of the way into this installment but once they do it’s only four of them in their civilian garb. Oh and suddenly Gunjoji has made the leap from baby talk to full on sentences. Did the writers room suffer an attack by body snatchers?

Outside of the bizarre continuity issues, Episode 44 largely revolves around Oto and the Teradon overcoming their fears to join the fight with another new Druidon named Yabasword while Master Black arrives to defeat Gunjoji Jr.

Turns out Master Black wasn't actually protecting Eras but was trying to prevent his students from becoming Ryusoulgers so the Ryusoul Calibur that had sealed the beast wouldn't be removed. In order to watch over the situation, Master Black killed Sedan and has been wearing his skin for, I guess, a couple centuries by now... hmmmm icky and I just realized this is getting into the following episode's content.

Part 45 involves the team learning Master Black's history and attempting to formulate a plan to destroy Eras. So far the best option they have is Asuna's recommendation that they pull it out of the Earth, roots and all, like a weed. Before anything better comes to mind the team is sidetracked with a mission to recover Master Black's heart from Pricious.

During the big ending fight of the episode something strange happens. Eras seemingly commands the newborn Yabasword to turn on his comrades and rage against Ryusoul Tribe and Druidon alike. We're left hanging on that mystery for now so be thankful there's a full three episode left to get an answer.

Heroes:

Being this close to the end means the core crew are already well-developed so we really just get further proof of how much they've improved as a cohesive unit. I do feel it's important to note how much Koh has improved as a leader. Kid's actually making smart calls and placing himself in danger to protect those around him, such as taking Master Black's place inside the Sedan suit.

In the continuing drama of supporting female characters, Ui is still presumably out in Hollywood. Oto takes her place and actually helps out in battle by piloting a giant robot. I'm all for Oto pulling her weight in battle but once again it must be asked why wasn’t she just made a ryusoulger already? I mean if she’s gonna join the fight at least give a costume and some gadgets.

Meanwhile Towa is still just Towa. There’s a bit about how he was chosen to be the green ranger over Nada because he has a light in him. That better be some meaningful plot point cause I remember Nada and the dude had a lot more going on than this kid.

Villains:

Wyzul's absence is greatly felt during these episodes with the newbies severely lacking in personality. Pricious ain't much better though she does have some interesting banter with Asuna where their respective points mirror each-other only Asuna trusts her teammates whereas Pricious enforces loyalty. This has been a growing theme in this latter portion of the series and I hope something more can be done with it before the end.

You've likely noticed how little mention there is of Kreon. That's because he mostly sat these installments out after finding the card Pricious used to steal Wyzul's heart. Lil goopy guy is going on his own sort of Search for Spock mission and I'm all for it.

Overall:

Obviously I didn't have a ton to say about this batch of episodes but that's more to do with them being action heavy rather than any sort of quality issue. The show is simply trying to get all the pieces lined up for the big finale. Honestly I think I would have enjoyed more stand-alone fare as this series seems to work better in focused bursts.

One fun tidbit to mention is a shout-out to Mark Dacascos in episode 44. Alright, so it's just a funny bit from the writers but man would it ever be awesome to get him into this franchise. He could be a mentor, a villain, or even contained to a single arc like when Sho Kosugi appeared on Kakuranger. Somebody just get the word to him that Sentai loves him and would like to talk. Looks like someone shared it with his twitter now we just need a producer that likes to throw cash around.

Quality-wise the show is in holding position with the next few weeks proving once again to be the deciding factor of whether Ryusoulger will go down in history as great tokusatsu or just an entertaining diversion. As for yous truly I must get some sleep and prepare for another day of classes. Seeing as one of them is already done I should have time to get the updates flowing regularly again cause I've got a line of topics for you all including all manner of snacks, books, and god knows what else. Stay tuned and maybe I'll have something up for you this weekend.

Ryusoulger Episodes 40-42 Review

It can be tough sometimes to remember why we love doing the things we do. This is why it can be so damn difficult to sit down and do the otherwise fun activity of writing after putting together three to four college projects. The problem is only exacerbated further when forced to write about things you hate, such as the philosophical implications of Pixar movies, god how I loath them. What is very much appreciated is a show that reminds me why I watch silly imported childrens' action shows. Which is that despite all its warts, and yes there are several, this is such refreshingly honest entertainment to settle in with after nights of playing intellectual pretend.

I had hinted at covering this final run of Ryusoulger episodes in smaller chunks and the plan is to hold to that proposal. It's a good thing too as the show is really moving now. Characters are coming in, characters are going out, it's the hokey-pokey of serialized entertainment and, as usual, I'm already a few steps behind. So strap on your spandex and let's talk Ryusoulger.

Story:

The 40s begin with a relatively standalone episode that works to refocus the heroes as they move towards the grand finale while providing a few hints at the greater threat. The primary story involves a monster that can make fears a reality. This manifests in different forms such as Towa's legs locking up, robbing him of his speed, or Asuna putting on some poundage from her outragious eating habits. Even once the trick behind this critter is descovere he still proves nearly impossible to defeat as the whole group fears the potential deaths of their friends. As I said it's mainly a challenge to get them in the correct mindset for the dangers to come.

The key thing that was introduced here is master Eras, leader of the Druidons. Currently it's just a shiny ball inside an old temple but apparently its regeneration has been kick started with the usage of the Ryousoulcalibur. Not only does this suggest a deeper connection between both the Ryusoul tribe and Druidons, good thematic connections btw, but it's interesting to think Eras was on Earth this whole time while the underlings had fled to space.

Episode was a little bit of everything all in one package. On one front it was about Canalo and an ex-fiance, it was also about Oto's friendship with said ex, another Druidon general was introduced, and he tries to kill Kreon, oh and the team takes on a job as stuntmen. Yeah, it's a lot so let's bring it down to two key developments.

Remember Uden? The one episode general who killed off Nada? He's brother Saden is in town and while not quite up to the level of his sibling he's still one nasty lil bugger. The guy basically lives to take orders and destroy shit. When sent out to steal the Ryusoulcalibur he attempts to murder Kreon who got to it first.

As for our goopy guy Kreon, he is saved by the Ryusoulgers and in turn gives back the Ryusoulcalibur. After denying he was helping them the poor dude runs off to fine Wyzul that maybe the Ryusoulgers could be the key to getting Wyzul's heart back.

That's where episode 42 picks up, and while it's not clear how the established plan would resore Wyzul's heart he's basically going all out to finally crush the multicolored heroes by trapping them in a stage play of his own design. Among his many traps are having Canalo and Asuna act out Romero and Juliet with actual poison. As a whole the episode is tons of fun and has some great novelty such as using tricks from the live sentai stage shows during the final showdown between Wyzul and Koh.

This brings us to the big moment when Wyzul is defeated, a moment that ties Kreon and Koh together in a strange way. The Druidons killed Koh's friend and now he's taken the another of theirs which leaves Kreon alone with nowhere to turn.

Heroes:

Before getting too far into the heroes section I wanted to mentioned a leftover plot thread that's been bothering me for a few episodes. Anyone remember how the prime minister was another ryusoul tribe member who'd been hoping for death? Well she had a fairly chummy relationship with Gaisorg, presumably she knew it was Nada in the armor. What the hell happened to her? Like what was the point of linking her and Gaisorg only to never bring it up again? Just something I'd like to see covered in the remaining six or so episodes.

As for the main crew just about everyone has matured a little more of late due to the recent upgrade in threats. Koh and Bamba in particular with the former seeing a potential ally in Kreon only to possibly make him an even bigger foe while the later has been thinking ever more of his teacher who taught him to avoid attachments. Towa is still lagging behind everyone else and has essentially reached the point of being that guy in a war movie who's talking about his favorite candy bar mere seconds before getting blown up.

Meanwhile in the ongoing saga of where the hell is Ui? She's supposedly been very busy of late because she's been discovered by someone in Hollywood and is traveling over there for a bit. For as much as I've grown to enjoy this show the absolute lack of direction regarding this girl is just plain baffling. Remember when she helped with missions and actually spent time with the team? In the beginning she was very much an embodiment of the theme of human connection and now she's just jetting off to Hollywood. Far be it from me to suggest some damsel in distress outcome but can this please be an evil scheme or something?

Villains:

Obviously the major talking point is the exit of Wyzul. After Tankjoh stepped out way back in ep 5, 6? We knew Wyzul wouldn't last the whole show but that doesn't make his goodbye any easier. I wouldn't say Sentai has had a villain problem these past few years but there has been a higher than average amount of generic bad guys. Watching this cocky, eccentric blow-hard thoroughly enjoy his evil work has been a blast and while his final scheme didn't make the most sense it was a perfect send-off for a guy who viewed villainy as a show.

Kreon is definitely becoming more interesting given recent developments. the current command structure of Druidons has no interest in him, His best friend is dead, and the Ryusoulgers who he was starting to believe in are the ones responsible. Whether or not my prediction of him becoming the endgame villain comes true he's absolutely primed to be a key figure in however this conflict will end.

For her part Pricious continues to be evil for evil's sake. Her new lacky Sedan isn't quite as cool as his brother but he is a formidable opponent. There's nothing terribly wrong with either of them but fingers crossed one of them or Master Eras turns out to have deeper personality traits than just pure evil.

Overall:

It probably seems like I have a lot of complaints about this series but that's more from the lens of the story nearly being over than with my enjoyment of it. By and large the characters, action, and plots are better than ever. Plus it's great to see a show doing so much better in it's back half after witnessing Lupinranger vs. Patranger aimlessly wander during several points in its run. Ryusoulger really is one of the better sentai I've seen from this past decade to the point that even if it doesn't fully stick the landing it'll still be a solid wrap up to the Heisei era.

That reminds me that we now have plenty of information on the next sure that will fully usher in the Reiwa era of the franchise. So far Kirameiger looks like a real trip with lots of retro looking aspects alongside some modern production values. The suits ares very straightforward with a few nice touches, I really like how some of the villains have humanoid features rather than being fully costumed. What excites me the most is that these heroes have established careers. After years of each hero only working at being a hero it's exciting to imagine how the pink ranger being a doctor, or yellow being an e-sportsman might interact with their battle against evil. There's some very interesting talent behind the scenes with writers from Abaranger and Dekaranger, a decent looking cast, and some spiffy looking light-up robots. Color me excited.

There will be another review up soon enough since I already have a couple more episodes in the can. Blessedly the next couple of weeks are far less busy which leaves plenty of time to catch you all up on more super-heroics, snacks, and the first Star Wars book in a good long while. See you all soon.

Ryusoulger Episodes 34-39 Review

Much as I'd have liked this update to come much sooner I've played host to a rather unexpected house-guest. Last week we discovered a young Siamese kitty hiding from the cold inside our garage. Days were then spent nursing her malnourished, bony butt back to health alongside fleabaths and the like. While the lil critter has a very nice demeanor about her there is the unfortunate aspect of some weird bathroom behaviors that we don't have time to observe and correct along with our other responsibilities. And though she seems fine around the other pets, the two main kitties would obviously be happier with her removal. Right now we're setting her up with a woman who has plenty of experience and connections when it comes to finding proper homes for kitties so the lil creature should soon have a proper place to live quite soon. During this year-opening good deed I've had the occasional chance to continue catching up on Ryusoulger so that we might finally have these recaps back on track. Without further ado let's dive in.

Story:

It's gonna be a challenge to keep everything straight with this recap as we're essentially talking about three separate clumps of storytelling. The initial plot-line concerns the appearance of the newest Druidon general, Pricious. She's a right piece of work who deals in manipulation and subterfuge more often than direct combat. Don't take that as a sign of weakness however as her skills in battle are nothing to scuff at. Not long after her arrival she steals the hearts of both Wyzul and Gachireus in order to bind them to her will. Then she ushers in a strike from a space dragon and tops it all off by kicking the Ryusoulgers to the curb due largely in part to her theft of one of their best maneuvers.

During this first assault the team is also faced with the option of training at a scared mountain. The place crafts a specific training program to counteract each heroes weakness such as forcing Bamba to be more graceful and cautious whereas Asuna was made to work on concentrated speed. The person who struggled the most with this was Koh who is still shaken after the loss of Nada and has begun to view strength in more binary terms. Unfortunately we don't get anything close to the level of drama from the Nada arc but this two-parter sets up a new threat quite nicely. Also of note is the return of the tribe elder who has opened a cafe and hired Oto as his primary waitress.

Next up things move toward more episodic territory with a focus on Towa. The young man has found himself tricked into serving as a bodyguard for a young lady who's actually a notable race car driver trying to run away from the stress of her life. The two bond due to Towa's old-fashioned ya gotta do your duty mentality but the experience forces the team to think of what their future could be like should they defeat the Druidons.

After that comes an episode focused on Tyramigo which, per the usual for a mascot episode, is better than it should be while still feeling a bit redundant. There's some solid action, a decent lesson about not putting too much pressure on kids, and Koh learns how easy one can shift from working alongside someone to controlling them. The biggest development for this installment is how much Wyzul hates being under the thumb of Pricious. He's lashing out rather violently now that he's unable to indulge in his normal thrill-seeking behavior.

Episode 38 serves as an introduction to the teams newest toy while building a conflict that carries on to further installments. The group learns of an ancient temple housing a great power. Both Koh and Canalo are sucked inside and forced to undergo challenges as representatives of their respective tribes. Meanwhile the others must confront a new form of Minusaur spawned from Gachireus himself, leading to the first instance of a host aiding their Minusaur in battle. Back at the temple we find Koh and Canalo are force to fight one-another in order to claim the Ryusoul-calibur sword. This is due each choosing a different answer when weighing duty and comrades. Discovering they can still serve a common goal despite different outlooks allows them to flee with the new dodad and a warning that a greater challenges is coming. Of course they then use the new toy to save the day.

Lastly we have the newest Christmas episode which proved to be a wild and fun bit of entertainment with a nice development for the plot moving forward. Feeling that nobody like Santa should outshine him, Wyzul begins to kidnap people dressed like old saint Nick and creates a Minusaur that steals Christmas items. This brings down the wrath of three heroes with a major investment in the holiday. Bamba, we find out, brings yearly gifts to children (unsure if they were expressly stated as orphans but let's go with that) mostly due to him having the hots for their caregiver. Asuna has an obsession for Christmas cake, and then there's Tyramigo who just learned about the holiday. There's a ton of great humor and character interactions in this one, making for one of the most outright fun episodes of the whole series. The biggest gift of all comes at the end when the team finally destroys Gachireus for good. Now that's a holiday miracle.

Heroes:

The primary crew isn't given any massive developments during this round of episodes. Each of them is instead provided with further cementing of their core strengths while the actors are given different material to play with. The overall rankings of each character is about the same with Bamba, Melto, and Asuna largely leading the pack. Koh and Towa are still hanging out near the bottom mostly due to being a bit underwritten. There are cute touches such as Towa being too naive to recognize his brothers obvious attraction to a certain woman (played by a former Sailor Venus who's still very cute) but those bits aren't enough to make him anything more than the young cocky fighter.

One person who is moving up a few spots is Canalo. After being stuck with an underwhelming rivalry against Gachireus it was beginning to seem like this guy had nothing left to offer the show. First off they slowed the weird fights between these two way down plus the removal of said villain completely eliminates the issue. Then the actor himself has gotten much better at portraying the character as something more than a girl-hungry nitwit. The biggest aspect helping his rise through the rankings is that the writing staff seem to be hinting at a larger conflict for the character, maybe a rift with his comrades or a choice to be made. It almost feels like they still don't know what to do with him but know that they should be doing something with him. We'll just have to wait and see if anything comes from these pensive looks.

A pair that hasn't fared so well regarding development are the girl sidekicks Ui and Oto. The former in particular still has a strange habit of simply not appearing in some episodes without any explanation. which is extra bizarre when you consider how much of the show takes place inside her house. It's been established that her mom is dead, she has no friends outside of the Ryusoul tribesmen, and there's been zero mention of work or school, so where the hell does she disappear too? She's even absent at Christmas for god's sake. For her part, Oto at least has an excuse to vanish as she not only has a home under the sea but works at the elders cafe. She just has a convenient method of appearing whenever Ui goes missing.

Villains:

The audience was given quite a gift with the exit of Gachireus. I'd almost say it's sad to see him go as he finally started to show some personality in these last few appearances. Likely his best scene involve ordering Kreon to verbally abuse him in order to fuel his Minusaur. Still; Gachy never become much more than a generic strong evil guy and his removal takes care of the weirdly forced rivalry with Canalo which could very much help the gold ranger down the line. If you have something handy let us pour one out for this underdeveloped baddie who tried his best.

As for the new girl, Pricius, she also lacks motivation grander than simply being evil though her more cunning and domineering nature make her a more interesting piece of the puzzle than Gachy ever was. Part of that lies in how her relationships with the other villains. She asserts her dominance over the likes of Gauchy and Wyzul by stealing their hearts and holding their lives in her hands, When it comes to Kreon however she has no such option which results in her treating him a more fairly, even offering him a second in command post. For his part Kreon still seems to prefer Wyzul's company.

As for the future I know there are at least two more Druidon generals arriving in the coming weeks along with some hint as to who they answer too. The series has been wise to not taunt us with that mystery which has kept it comfortably in the background but it'll be interesting to see if they provide an answer that adds more depth to the conflict or simply provide a monsterous being to toss our heroes around.

Action:

The action on this series still manages to surprise me. I mean this is a Sunday-morning show for kids and they come up with more elaborate battles each week than some of our streaming shows do in a whole season. I believe we may have a first for the franchise as well with the Christmas episode utilizing drone photography during a CG-enhanced giant-robot fight scene. Should I point out again how all this effort is being put into a kids show?

Overall:

And so we're about to reach the forties and, presumably, the final stretch of the show. From all currently available info I'm guessing the show will end somewhere around episode 47-48 as it seems like the next series is likely primed to launch in early March. As it stands the 30s offered some very compelling material from the outstanding drama of the Nada arc to the wild hi-jinks of the Christmas show. It will soon be time to discover if Ryusoulger goes down as a great Sentai series but I'd say it's already done more than enough to rank as a solid one. In celebration of that the goal is to base the next few recaps on fewer episodes in order to go into greater detail and enjoy what remaining time we have with this story.

That's it for today my friends. Got class and homework aplenty tonight which means I'm gonna need my beauty sleep. Updates should be back on schedule for a while so keep your eyes out for more recaps and what is sure to be the first of many pieces about new snack food. Peace out.

Ryusoulger Episodes 28-33 Review

It's no secret that the Super Sentai recaps have fallen way behind of late with this update still leaving things a month behind schedule. For once there's a better reason than the usual excuse of holidays and laziness. Yours truly has gotten some great news regarding the return to school which will result in far less debt when all is said and done. While I look ahead at a full-scale barrage of coursework that will have me entering the coming decade with a fresh bachelor's degree I finally carved out some time to sit back and play catch-up with Ryusoulger. And while the first few episodes we're gonna talk about maintain the usual quality of the series thus far it is a double whammy of episodes 32 and 33 that mark what is likely to be the definitive moment in this show's run. Settle in with your comfort blanket folks cause shit's about to get heavy.

Story:

For the 28^th installment of the show we're given something almost like body-horror. This unsettling development occurs when Asuna's body is invaded by a minusaur who wraps his saw-like tail around her heart which makes it so any pain delivered onto him immediately transfers into her. Worse still, and far more gross, is the threat of what will happen once he grows to giant-size. This puts the whole team on the clock as some rush off to try and prevent the minusaur host from letting it grow while Koh attempts to learn a special punching technique that will expel the beast from Asuna at the risk of exploding her heart.

This is a solid adventure with some good emotions from the crew. The best part is easilly when Bamba lets his concern for Asuna's welfare become obvious, guy may have even shed a tear. The teams new friend, Nada tries to help Koh with his training only to end up feeding the red rangers fears of failure. It becomes very obvious here that something is up with Nada, and that is what forms the backbone of each episode to come.

Next up the focus shifts to Canelo and his continuing quest to find a bride. It would seem he's finally found the woman of his dreams though she has one demand for marriage, that he not do anything dangerous. Nada encourages Canelo to follow his goal and leave the superhero lifestyle behind but in the end Canelo chooses to continue the fight against Druidons. In the process we see a beginning to some kind of rivalry between him and Gachireus which I'll come back to later in the article. The biggest revelation of the episode comes near the end when Bamba and Towa are fighting Gaisorg and discover Nada is the one who's been under the armor this whole time.

thirty is largely based on the fall-out of the revelation that Nada and Gaisorg are one and the same. This is played out against another Canelo storyline that... yeah... we didn't need two Canelo episodes in a row did we? Thankfully it's sort of the b-plot as the group tries to work out the whole Nada thing. We learn that the Gaisorg armor slowly learns the emotional weakness of its host in order to gain control over them. In this case once it seems like Nada might have enough control his great need to be a Ryusoulger becomes his undoing and he injures Koh. Otherwise this is a fairly standard tale which is a bit disappointing given that it features a guest role from Nao Nagasawa of Hurricanger fame.

We continue to move on with the team deciding how to deal with Nada which is further complicated by a flying musical minusaur that makes people focus on fun to the determent of all other things, they'd rather starve than not have fun. Frankly I don't see how one can have fun on an empty stomach but that's an argument for another time. Only three people are left unaffected by this beast, Canelo and his sister as they have altered hearing from living underwater, and Koh due to the pain of his injury. The big push here is getting the newest dinoknight, Piitan into the mix allowing for airborne giant-robot antics. Ok episode, nothing amazing.

At last we reach the two-part story that marks the high-point for this show, and possibly the primary narrative it may be remembered for in the future. There is still some disagreement over whether Nada can be saved from the Gaisorg armor or if it is even possible to do so, a debate that is all the more relevent when an extra dangerous minusaur enters the picture. Our heroes hope to focus on the monster that absorbs hatred from human hearts only to concentrate and convert it into rain that causes hatred and violence wherever it falls. Unfortunately their battle with this critter is interrupted by Gaisorg who is even more violent than usual.

There's so much going on of note in this episode. The direction is mostly somber with some very slow and emotional scenes that are played out with some excellent cinematography. Each character does their part in the fight to free Nada, and even some of the dinokights go off together to handle the minusaur while our main heroes tackle this problem, but the big moment where it all comes together is something special. Towa beats Nada enough to encourage Gaisorg to seek a new host which is when Koh offers himself to the armor and absorbs all the hatred absorbed within it. The others must keep the entire armor from overcoming their friend, spurring Nada to hold onto a little of it himself, and have the minusaur absorb Gaisorg's hatred sort of like an exorcism.

Everything culminates in a seminal installment of the show, one of the best episodes of Sentai I've been blessed to see during a currently running series. It begins with everyone together having a good time as they play ping-pong for an afternoon away from battle. Little do they know another Druidon named Uden has appeared. He's the quest and deadly sort who quickly makes his prescience known by defeating and capturing both Towa and Canelo. His trick is to capture warriors inside a pocket dimension where copies of himself attack them. Anyone stranded in this situation is essentially doomed as the copies can kill them but fighting back only allows Uden to absorbs their fighting moves and lifeforce.

Eventually the core team are all captured, leaving their new man Nada to try and save the day. At first he enjoys the theatrics of posing and doing the role-call but it becomes clear is his up against a much stronger opponent. The fight is rough and dirty but Nada provides an opening for Koh to escape though the effort costs him his life. He dies having saved the friends who gave his life new meaning and focus but before passing he entrust his soul to Koh as a new powerful armor that allows the red ranger to destroy Uden and free the rest of the team.

The final scene is an absolute beauty with Ui revealing a video Nada had filmed as a goodbye. He had planned to leave for training rather than slow the team down but he wanted each of them to know how skilled unique each of them was while thanking them for changing his life. It's a great big gut-punch of a scene with these actors pulling their weight.

Heroes:

By this point in the series it's only natural to see how much the performances have improved across the board and that two-part with the salvation and death of Nada make it all the more clear this show has some real talent in its roster, namely Ichika Osaki (Asuna) and Tatsuya Kishida (Bamba) who are knocking their parts out of the park lately. Osaki has also become quite the ace at those tear-jerking scenes. Even Hayate Ichinose (Koh) who has generally been towards the pack of the pack makes some excellent gains here which is becoming all the more important as the series has been paying more attention to him. The core five heroes have proven to be a solid group and I can't wait to see where they go now that the severity of their battle has been made more obvious. On that note I want to see a wider variety of character focused episodes and some different pairings before the eventual endgame rush occurs.

One issue I do have is Canelo. While his initial introduction was rather entertaining he has quickly begun to suffer from a common problem among sixth rangers which is a lack of reason for being around. He provides very little to the overall story and though his theme of finding a bride should tie into the greater theme of connecting souls it often plays out as a simple gag on constant repeat. The writers are obviously trying to push him into the spotlight whenever possible, even going so far as to pair him off in battle with Gachireus in one fight after another. When you consider these two have no real beef with each-other that feud becomes empty window-dressing.

Then we have the matter of Oto. Honestly she's sort of fun to have around with how she plays off of characters like Melto but once again the question must be asked, what is the point of her being around? When the show began Ui was the person who discovered the Ryusoul tribe and brought them into her home, she earned their friendship and has served as a helper in the past but it seems like she's getting phased out in favor of Oto who has less thematic ties to the greater whole of this series.

Villains:

Much in the same way that the heroes seem to have excess members that aren't pulling their weight, the villains need to trim some weight before long. Wyzul is tremendously fun and has proven to be a threat multiple times over. Kreon has become something more than the generic mascot baddie he was early on. And that Uden guy, despite only being in one episode, was one nasty piece of work. He was the sort of quiet and vicious villain that doesn't appear often enough in modern Sentai.

The problem here is Gachireus. The guy's a poor threat who needs to go. His personality is only occasionally fun, there's zero depth to him, he's just a strong guy who's evil purely for the sake of being evil. As mentioned previously his newfound rivalry with Canelo came out of the blue has provided nothing of dramatic worth. I know another Druidon General is on the way so can we please give this dude the boot?

Action:

The fight scenes seem to have evened out of late with the series finding a groove in how much gimmicky toys to mix in with proper martial-arts. Giant-Robot sequences are still ranking among the best the franchise has to offer. Nothing hiuge to report in this department though major props are due to the crazy looking cloud set used for flying robot fights.

Overall:

While I haven't always been able to recommend this show wholeheartedly to everyone out there the double-feature of episodes 32 and 33 is something for the history books. The Nada story-arc, though short and rushed in some areas, delivered on the themes of human connection in a way that's rare for this franchise, to say nothing of imitators. If you have the means and the interest this is an ideal way to discover how excellent tokusatsu programming can be.

Moving forward it's hard not to wonder how this arc will effect the remainder of the series. From this point there are maybe twenty episodes left to go and no clear direction for what needs to be accomplished. There are more Druidon generals out there for certain, which only adds to the argument that some of them need to be trimmed out, but that's about it. Anything is possible from this point onward and I can't help be be a little excited when I consider how Sentai usually takes this point in each show to optimize toy sales rather than push emotional content. With that I will redouble efforts to get on top of things and keep you all in the know on whether this show builds to something wonderful or wastes this remarkable dramatic push.

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.