[GuardianAngel87]

This is honestly my favorite of the two Inoue-helmed episodes of Timeranger. Dead Heat and Battle Casino are among my favorite episodes of the series.

[Androzani84]

New week, new set of four reviews. Starting with?

Timeranger Case File 15: Find the Sniper 21/05/2000

We open on Lila transforming into Tatsuya wearing Ryuya?s uniform for the benefit of the Londars? latest hire, Sniper Reihou, a famous hit woman they?ve hired to wipe out the Timerangers. After some bartering, Dolnero agrees to pay her 35 million yen to wipe the group out (7000 per member). Meanwhile, Sion sees Honami in his magazine getting an article about her exploits, much to Yuri?s (and my) annoyance. She?s announced her intent to interview all of the Timerangers, which makes the group determined to keep her safe.

But as it turns out, the article is basically the prose equivalent of clickbait. Honami already said she refuses to get anymore picture of the Timerangers and further refuses to take responsibility for the article. But we learn she still has a crush on TimeYellow and Ayase (who she?s mistaken for the same person). Once Honami gets home, she finds Reihou waiting for her. Yuri leaps off the Time Flyer to spy on Honami?s apartment, which she finds has been ransacked and is now empty, as Reihou has taken the photojournalist hostage.

Checking the apartment, Ayase discovers a blast mark, which Tock attributes to Reihou, who was imprisoned for 120 years on a murder charge (kind of predictable as crimes go). Meanwhile, unable to gather any information from Honami, Reihou uses her sniper gear to shoot out the elevator, trapping them in the room. When Honami still refuses to talks, Reihou manages to find her wallet with pictures of her crush, which gives her an idea.

Soon, Sion detects an irregular space time pulse at a plaza, where Honami sits, a collar of some sort (I?m guessing a bomb) around her neck. As Tock identifies the source of the pulse, and warns them that Reihou can not only penetrate their suits, but she could be anywhere within a 1 kilometre radius (and no, I don?t know what that is in miles). And it turns out the collar is a bomb, one set to go off in 30 minutes. As Honami has an imagine spot of TimeYellow being gunned down, Reihou shoots her badge off her jacket to get he to stay in place.

Elsewhere, Sion reconfigures VolPulsar to create a barrier around the area so they can ascertain Reihou?s location. The group approaches the square with Tatsuya, Ayase and Domon disguising themselves before transforming, while Yuri and Sion sit in the back, waiting for when the barrier will become stable. But the sight of TimeYellow gets Honami to move, despite him tying to warn her otherwise (for a camerawoman, she?s really bad at reading body language).

Fortunately, Reihou can?t hit her due to the barrier. Unfortunately, it?s unstable as a result of being set off prematurely and Honami won?t sit still long enough to be defused. But they do have Reihou?s location, and can defend against her shots long enough for the three main males (Sion?s counted as a femboy for this descriptor) to corner her, while Yuri and Sion get the bomb off Honami by knocking her out.

Reihou?s battle proceeds to the docks, where she summons a load of Zenits for the trio to battle (and I thought she was a professional killer). But she screws up her shot, before Yuri leaps in to beat her up (good thing the Timerangers have one woman on hand). But Reihou proceeds to trigger a rebound to avoid arrest.

After inexplicably ineffectually shooting Reihou with the VolSniper, Yuri has Tock summon the TimeJets, combining them into TimeRobo Alpha (wouldn't Beta be more appropriate? Then we could have a shoot-out). But Reihou proves just as slippery as a giant, planning Tod est Roy the robot for more money (but given she?s stuck as a giant, how would she spend it?). But they quickly do what I suggested and switch to Beta purely to shoot her and trap her in a forcefield, before shifting back to Alpha for he finishing blow to recapture her.

As Yuri returns Honami to her bed, Sion sees just how many pictures she?s taken of TimeYellow, which causes Yuri to ruminate how her frustration caused her to miss the obvious. They then leave her with an email. Meanwhile, Dolnero and Lila return to hear the bad news from Gien, but they?re not broken up about it. And back with the heroes for one last scene, Domon reads an email from Honami, and asks Sion to teach him how to reply, making both parties happy.

Next time: Domon tries to help out a down on his luck soba chef learn the business at the expense of his duties as a Timeranger, in Timeranger Case File 16: A Dream of Soba.

Final thoughts: I liked this better than Honami?s previous outing (and Honami herself came off as more likeable here), with an appropriately tense situation, and we get what looks like the beginnings of a romantic subplot. How well they?ll pull that off remains to be seen though.

[Androzani84]

Ok, you know by now I?ve got very little to say in these intros, so I?ll just say that from next week, it?ll be back to normal business, because I cannot keep up this current upload schedule and maintain my mental health (though I?ll probably move the second weekly review to Saturday). Anyway, let?s get on with the show.

Timeranger Case File 16: A Dream of Soba 28/05/2000

(Also, this is another Yamaguchi episode)

We open on Dolnero? brushing his teeth. With a toilet brush. (Yeah)



The conversation soon turns to the topic of food, to which Gien chooses that moment to reveal that, appropriately enough, he?s sent out a food themed prisoner to cause chaos.



And then we briefly cut to said Vincent burning down a restaurant.



The next morning, Domon wakes up while Tomorrow Research is amazingly very busy with potential clients.



But in his tired state, he stumbles over a table to answer the phone, which causes all of their customers to leave. (Domon obviously isn?t as good with women as he presents)



Sol to punish him, the others force him out of the building until he can gather new customers to replace the old ones.



But it turns out that going around with a placard and wearable sign isn?t he most glamorous of jobs.



He thus decides to do lunch at a soba shop run by a guy named Sugahara. But the food there is terrible, which Sugahara freely admits is because he went into this as a last resort and he isn?t very good at it.



Domon sympathises, and decides to take him back to Tomorrow Research to try and get the others to help improve his business.



Unfortunately, he decides the best way to do this is have them eat Sugahara?s soba. Which Ayase uses to be blunt about why it?s so terrible.



So aside from Sugahara?s soba lacking the four ?ings?, Domon hasn?t actually bought any new customers in, so the two of them are thrown out, and Sugahara is ready to give up.



But Domon reassures Hik and convinces him to learn and improve so they can turn his luck around (and Domon can show up the others).



Their first step is to head to an actual professional soba place and ask for the recipe. After the chef refuses to give it, another customer proceeds to criticise his cooking.





After the man points out that their ?secret sauce? is just salt, Domon and Sugahara take the hint and leave. As the chef complains about the other man driving his business away, he transforms into the Londars and sets the place on fire.



Meanwhile, Sugahara has been reinvigorated into improving his craft, with Domon?s aid.



And thus, we have a montage cutting Domon and Sugahara learning the art of soba making off by heart, while Vincent burns down several restaurants where he dislikes the food.



Meanwhile, the Timerangers, still down by one, figure out that Vincent is the culprit based on the pattern of the restaurants targeted. Thanks to a cut, Lila states what he?s serving those 120 years in freeze-compression for.



Gien then clarifies that he?s a very picky eater who has a habit of burning down places where he doesn?t like the food.



The 4 Timerangers then appear to arrest him. And unusually, the fight is one-sided in the heroes? favours with the only reason the episode isn?t ended here with Vincent?s arrest being that they can?t form the Voltech Bazooka to freeze-compress him, allowing Gien and Lila to get him to safety. Meanwhile, Domon and Sugahara have reached their final preparations.



It turns out that Domon has learned the four ?ings? of soba making: harvesting, grinding, cutting and boiling. But then Ayase shows up, and gets annoyed that Domon is laser focusing on this over the Londars.



But Domon retorts with a passionate desire to help Sugahara turn his business around, which causes Ayase to leave without a fuss. Back at the apartment, the others are shocked that Domon seems to be seriously considering leaving the Timerangers behind.



As they head out to intercept Vincent, Ayase asks Tock to do something for him. Meanwhile, Sugahara opens his shop up, and while Domon is out, he gets his first customer: Vincent.



Sure enough, Domon soon comes running back when he hears that the soba place is on fire. Sugahara is dismayed, but Domon reassures him.



And Vincent doesn?t stop there, as he menaces a fast food place with a fork (thing Quena) he pulls from inside his tunic and enlarges, before the Timerangers appear to battle him.



Meanwhile, Domon points out that the main issue with Sugahara?s soba is the season. They can?t grow fresh wheat to make really good soba until Autumn, meaning they can?t get the ?harvesting? part right. Cue Tock flying in with a box around his neck.



As the others are defeated by Vincent in battle, Domon pulls up with a soba stand, in full chef?s gear.



He makes the Londars a challenge: if Domon can make really good tasting soba, then Vincent has to turn himself in willingly. Tatsuya thinks this won?t end well, but Ayase insists on letting it play out.



Vincent accepts, and we get treated to a cooking montage.



Playing over this is our third insert for the season, and the reason I consider this a plot relevant episode: Chi * Ka * Ra 2000.

...Element of love

It begins with a smile...
Billions of years of repeating history...

...are forever etched in my heart

Everyone feeling the same pain weighs heavily
...
preventing the page from turning
We ride this rust-eaten Earth

Keep spinning! Keep holding the tears! I said, don't cry my heart!

For the endless future, and to protect those eyes...

Slip through the darkness of sorrow and revive that PO-WE-R!

Vincent takes one bite of the soba, and finds it really mouth watering.



Domon explains that this is because the soba he used for the cooking was fresh soba.



As Yuri questions if Tock can casually do that, Domon equips his Chrono Suit and transforms, with the group forming the Voltech Bazooka? which makes Vincent change his mind.



He thus triggers a Rebound, leading us to the standard robot battle. But Vincent has a clever strategy to avoid arrest: hiding behind a skyscraper full of innocent people (This is why this episode wasn?t adapted: they?d have to explain why the Rangers were reluctant to destroy an empty building).



The solution: Use the Dimension Shoot to have the laser fire redirect in midair and hit Vincent from behind.



After shifting to TimeRobo Alpha, Vincent is finally recaptured. We then cut to sometime later, where Sugahara has not only successfully set up his soba business, but his wife has come back to him (eh, she seems like a gold digger. No true love there).



As Domon gushes to the others about how proud he is, Yuri asks the question on her mind.

The episode ends on his answer: No, he just flew down to the southern hemisphere where soba is in season. All at Ayase?s request as well.

Next week: Tatsuya?s teenage prodigy turns to crime and becomes a delinquent in Case File 17: The Twisted Fist.

Final thoughts: I?ve noticed all of Yamaguchi?s plots for the series so far have someone bonding with a guest character. Not complaining, just an observation. It?s an interesting distinction from Kobayashi?s script. But in terms of opinion, all that comes to mind is that I like that we get a softer side to Ayase?s relationship with Domon, compared to their usual sniping.

[Androzani84]

Sorry for the delay, I?ve been a little distracted. But I?m ready to begin now with?

Timeranger Case File 17: The Twisted Fist 04/06/2000

In our second episode in a row from Yamaguchi?s desk, Dolnero is annoyed at his low income numbers due to the spending that results. Noting they need a larger source of income, Lila unleashes Extortion Gang Leader Franc (the source for Flamecon in TimeForce), whose first act is to assault a pretty woman (just in case you thought he was going to be a sympathetic monster).

The next day, Tatsuya hurries off early in the morning, a recent ritual he?s adopted for training his teenage disciple Urasawa Makoto (played by a pre-Kamen Rider Gaim Hiromi Sakamoto). The other Timerangers? attempts at snooping fail, so Tatsuya decides to formally introduce him, revealing that Makoto insists on one-on-one courses. But later, as Makoto looks on at the bullies at his school, he chooses to hide from them. He asks Tatsuya when they?ll get around to a ctual sparring, but Tatsuya insists on sticking to the basics.

Makoto thus keeps cowering from the bullies and pushing himself unhealthily at night. As Tatsuya worries about his disciple, Makoto?s mother arrives at Tomorrow Research and reveals that Makoto has been getting up to things involving money late at night. Tatsuya agrees to investigate, as Makoto gets beaten up by bullies for not giving them enough of his money. A teacher breaks them up and goes to tend to Makoto in the nurse?s office, as the kid refuses to share his problems with Tatsuya. The teacher reveals that she?s given up on the boys after they got involved with the yakuza, while Tatsuya refuses to keep teaching Makoto if he?s going to exploit his teachings for revenge.

Meanwhile, Yuri has noticed a similar pattern of that gang targeting students across several high schools. The gang?s leader Shibuya learns that Makoto wouldn?t pay up and appears to ruin his gardening work (Well, they are kids in a country with strict gun laws, they can?t really do much else). This angers Makoto enough to lay out Shibuya in one punch? which gets applause from the teacher. That night, she?s installs him as the new head of the gang extorting money, teaching him that strength is justice, and the strong have a right to money. After Makoto lays out the one dissenter, the teacher encourages him to lead through example? as she turns out to be Franc?s human disguise victim.

And thus, after an offscreen makeover, Makoto begins beating Kida who won?t pay their share up. Franc explains to Dolnero that his logic is that not only are kids likely to have money, but keeping it to schools ensures word doesn't get out. Cue Shibuya confessing everything to Tomorrow Research, as Makoto is encouraged to begin beating up old people, adults and kids (Now isn?t that just self-sabotaging on Franc?s part? That ensures word gets out).

Tatsuya?s had enough and challenges Makoto to a karate duel? which he spends not throwing a single punch, not even in retaliation. The lesson works its magic, giving Makoto the realisation that using power for personal gain is not justice, but using it to protect those without is. Makoto tells Franc that he?s quitting the extortion business, which gets him to drop the disguise to try and kill the kid. But thsi turns out to be a sting for the Timerangers, who realised his hand in things offscreen (we don?t even learn what crime got him locked up, or how long for).

Battle ensues, with Franc initially dominating with his chain weapon, until Tatsuya fights back by tickling him, before, hitting with a barrage of karate moves until Franc begs for mercy. Cue a rebound, and our giant battle. This time, they start with TimeJet Gamma and attack with the Gamme Tornado, before switching to TimeRobo Beta and delivering enough rapid punches to send Franc flying through buildings. Finally, they switch to Alpha and recapture the Londars.

We then cut to Tatsuya?s karate class, where Makoto has started showing improvement. And that?s pretty much how it ends. Not much else to say.

Next time: Ayase is Alton in a locked down science lab against a Londar trying tos teal a new energy source in Case File 18: A Shadowy Premonition.

Final thoughts: A pretty basic episode with a pretty good moral (even if someone on the internet somehow interpreted it as ?fighting is always wrong?, and no I don?t know who that person is for you to go and egg their house), and a likeable guest star. I?m noticing that Yamaguchi?s episodes tend to be lighter on in suit action than most others.

[Androzani84]

Once again, I’m really late. I think I’ll do two reviews this weekend, and then we’ll be back on track. For now, here’s the first review of the week.

Timeranger Case File 18: A Shadowy Premonition, 24/06/2000

We open at Londarz Prison at night. Gien is looking over plans for a robot, which he dismisses when Lila takes an interest.



As soon as the others go to sleep, Gien selects a prisoner for his task and defrosts him.



Sandra (who I’m calling as such to spare my spellchecker) insists he doesn’t care about money, just killing people. Luckily, Gien has the perfect job for him. The next morning, Tomorrow Research prepare for a barbecue by buying really classy meat.



But before they can set off, Ayase is hired by a scientist with a broken arm to drive him to work. As he departs, Tatsuya gets worried about Ayase’s Osiris Syndrome, but the latter shrugs it off.



After he drives the scientist to his job, Sandra and the Zenits arrive to hold the place up.



They then put the place on lockdown, trapping Ayase in the building with them. He takes this chance to investigate via the air vents and pass on information to his teammates.



In the main room, Sandra reveals that he’s here to acquire a new element the scientists have discovered.



To spare their personnel a bloody end, they agree to give the scary alien what he wants: a single kilogram of the element. Meanwhile, Ayase passes on the name “Lambda-2000” to the others, who pass it onto Tock, who explains it.







Thus, the heroes formulate a plan to have Ayase undo the lockdown so they can go inside and free the prisoners (with it being revealed that Tatsuya knows the lab’s layout because his dad owns it). But Tatsuya worries about Ayase succumbing to his disease. But he keeps this from the others, because apparently, it’s Ayase’s burden to bear, or something.



But he’s able to pull through enough to open the door to the garage, allowing the Timerangers to enter.



Meanwhile, the scientists use a doohickey to fuse some kind of powder into a a Lambda-2000 crystal, which they need to place in a metal container. (That is literally about as much explanation as the episode gives)



Sandra then prepares to kill his now useless hostages, before Tatsuya and Domon appear to save them. Yuri then orders the latter to join her and Sion in chasing Sandra outside, where he reveals he’s being payed 10 million to get the Lambda-2000. Meanwhile, Tatsuya heads to the security room, finding a figure in Ayase’s jacket slumped over lifeless on the floor.



But it’s just a Zenit. Ayase took off the jacket when equipping his Chrono Suit and used it to blind the robot. The pair join the others in pursuing Sandra, who manages to throw away the crystal to a nearby bush, before triggering a rebound before they can get close to defeating him. The Timerangers form into TimeRobo Beta, but Sandra not only disarms the robot, but manages to inflict massive damage to both them and the city using his grenades.



But with the Time Flier returning at Ayase’s command to fire a shot on its own, the heroes take the chance to reform into Alpha and power through to victory, even with TimeRobo obviously crackling with static as the battle ends.





But they can’t call this a perfect victory, since Gien still got away with the Lambda kilogram.



The Timerangers then proceed to their barbecue, and while the rest have fun, Tatsuya tries getting Ayase to do something about his heart condition, to which the latter continues to brush it off (I remember this biting him later on) and chides Tatsuya for treating him like he’s fragile and delicate.



And after the usual “date this takes place” accompanies the heroes enjoying their barbecue while Tatsuya frets over having no idea how to handle Ayase’s problems, we get a total of 4 stingers. First of which, has Tock realising the true value of Lambda-2000.



Next is Gien actually building the robot he was drawing up earlier.



Then, the scientists from the lab are grateful the Londarz didn’t discover their real project, a giant death tank labelled “Raimei” (Japanese for “thunder”) in the Latin alphabet.



And finally, back in the year 3000, a new robot lies in wait.



Next time: Gien unleashes his killer robot Nova on the city, with the Timerangers seeing visions of themselves, and Tock noticing changes in history, in Case File 19: Moonlit Knight.

Final thoughts: It’s a bit of a weird one, in that while it feels like a plot of the week episode, we’ve got some plot development and world building. The issue is that it’s jammed into 4 scenes at the end that would make the MCU blush at how much they’re setting things up. But the plot as it is is a fairly unique and tense one, that fits in with Timeranger’s general approach to plots of the week.

[Androzani84]

Well, scratch doing two reviews this weekend, I spent too long out of the house yesterday. I think the new update schedule will be ?when I can fit it in?. Like right now.

Timeranger Case File 19: The Moonlit Knight 25/06/2000

We open where one of last week?s stingers ended, with Gien working on his robotic killing machine Nova.



Dolnero and Lila are unaware of this, because the latter is doing a simulated beach trip.



But then they go through what I thought I?d go through this Wednesday just gone.



Gien promptly restores the power, and tells them that it?s just a side effect of his side project, and they shouldn?t pay it any mind. He then turns out to have bought the pair an actual beach trip to go on (I wonder how they expect Dolnero not to stand out).



Lila dismisses all questions and sets off immediately, with Dolnero rushing off after her.



With the comparatively harmless villains gone, Gien is now free to experiment with the Lambda crystal he stole in the previous episode.



Speaking of which, meanwhile Tock explains to the Timerangers that Lambda-2000 can be converted into Zeta-3. And explains what Zeta-3 is.



Sion further explains to Tatsuya that Zeta-3 made waves due to how clean and efficient it was as a fuel source.



They theorise that the Londarz are probably building something, since even if they had the means to convert the Lambda to Zeta-3, there?s no way they could sell it without majorly affecting history. Meanwhile, Captain Ryuya gets up from his desk to inspect something else.



Turns out that he?s expecting his new robot, the titular Moonlit Knight, as it practices fighting with its swords in various holographic locales (and it makes hiya noises with every movement. That?s an instant cool factor for me).

The test over, the Moonlit Knight returns to its storage bay, whereupon it gets inexplicably hung upside down as Ryuya leaves.



Meanwhile, Gien has finished constructing Nova, and now simply needs to insert its power source: the Lambda Crystal. But first, he puts it into an insta-bake oven to turn it into Zeta-3.



He then inserts it into Nova to power the robot up, which causes Tatsuya to notice time freezing up.



And then all of the heroes see alternate versions of themselves (who can be told apart because they?re not wearing the Tomorrow Research jackets).











And then time resumes, as if nothing happened.



As all of them try to discuss the phenomenon with Tock, Gien unleashes Nova, making the robot grow to giant size using a modified compression seal (they notably avoid showing the bubbling blood stock footage, since it?s a robot. Nice touch there). Nova then proceeds to destroy the city.



The Timerangers see this, and Tock tries invoking the Emergency System?



?but nothing happens. Provider Base is devoid of Providus or any signs of life, while the 5 TimeJets lay underground, undisturbed.



Mercifully, it doesn?t take long for the Timerangers to figure out why the TimeJets aren?t coming.



Fortunately, it?s the perfect opportunity for those scientists from the previous episode to try and save the day, by sending in the death tank they were building.



But since our heroes are unaware of this, Tock flies out to tell them their only available strategy.



Ayase is confused as to why they?re not trying to capture Nova, before Tock explains that it?s not a criminal, just a robot powered by the stolen crystal.



Fortunately for their need of time to fire, the scientists? tank appears on the scene.



The Timerangers and Raimei join forces to blast Nova and manage to overwhelm it. But then Gien takes command, and has Nova unleash its full power to turn the tables.



As Tatsuya leads the others in rescuing the pilots from the rubble, Nova comes back in for the kill? at which point time stops and the moon eclipses the sun.



A jet soon emerges from a portal opened by this eclipse, which transforms into the Moonlit Knight.



Tock then properly names the robot as the Time Protection Beureau?s project involving the Zeta-3, Time Shadow. As the name is announced, the insert song for it gets played.

TimeShadow ~Unseen, Unheard~

Slipping through the break in the clouds...
...a dark, silent gust arrives

Rewriting today into tomorrow...
...those black wings dance in the dark night
Look up! That is...
...probably TimeShadow!
Running through the valley of buildings...
...is a dark shadow that leaves no traces
Repainting day into night...
The dark knight stands tall in the moonlit night
Look back! That is...
...definitely TimeShadow!
OH OH! Unsheathe those ShadowSabers!


WOW WOW! Cut up the darkness!

OH OH! Use those unwavering blades...

WOW WOW! ...and protect this day to the end!
For the sake of the unseen tomorrow!



Gien is decidedly unimpressed.



The resulting fight between the two robots causes Gien to crash through the roof into an abandoned mall, where the Timerangers do battle with the Zenits so they?re not completely useless this episode.



Time Shadow then preps its Ultimate Attack by combining its ShadowSabers into one twin-bladed weapon.



Using this, it destroys Nova in one hit, before departing back to the future. But rather than being mad, Gien is amused.



As he departs, vowing to cause more destruction, Yuri is disturbed by just how sadistic the robot criminal is.



And then Tock actually explains that bit of time warping weirdness from earlier: Gien?s experiments gave them a glimpse of another timeline.



And though they don?t know where Raimei came from, Sion pulled out something from its engine that disturbs everyone.



And speaking of Raimei, its engineers report the failure of the field test to their superior mentioned last time? Tatsuya?s dad.



Who in turn, reports the current status of his personal anti-Londarz project to his superior, the Minister of the Interior, who is also the Director of the Public Security Beureau. And apparently, Asami keeps his personal life private, since the Director is unaware of his falling out with his son, and assumes the two are partners in this venture.



And to end the episode, Gien approaches and unlocks a cabinet full of prisoners with danger signs on their containment capsules, planning to unleash more destruction.





Next time: The heroes must deal with the fact history has changed while dealing with a dangerous criminal from the Hells Gate, Madou. Check out Case File 19: A New Bond for the details.

Final thoughts: A pretty unexpectedly creepy episode, between Gien?s sadism, the visions of another timeline and the Rangers being borderline helpless to stop Nova. But we also get a cool new robot and an intriguing plot of the Ministry of Defence trying to come up with ways to save the city on their own (albeit, with private backing).