No.1 Sentai Gozyuger Episode 37- "Friendship Cross! Lord Kumade is a Fashionista!"
 

Bouquet seeks a new Bridan to counter the growing power of the Gozyugers.

No episode preview wow that’s a first in sentai. This ep felt like a cash grab with polar new jacket and very choppy edit of the ep.

It's unfortunate that the situation involving Sumino's actress has negatively impacted the production. Poor luck for producer Matsura, whose position I don't envy at all...

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Which makes me wonder if episode 38 is supposed to be a Sumino episode and because of what happened they didn't show it in its entirety, because had it been a non-Sumino episode I reckon they'd just not use any of the footage with her in it and go about it as usual. Side note, the voice of Sumino in this episode was done by Ayaka Maekawa, whose recent toku work was as the Poison Nightmare in Zeztz from episodes 8 and 9. I guess Toei's HR contacted her ASAP having worked with her recently for Zeztz.

Yes
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ39P...VuOWQ5cjc5cw==

Dang, I reckon Toei is hard at work trying to decide what to do from here. Again, truly unfortunate.

Well, it's a pretty good episode. Kumade made a strong debut, but quickly faded into a supporting character. So a more focused episode is definitely needed. In fact, despite the humorous delivery, the topic is quite serious, as Gozyu Polar is truly very lonely. At the very least, Bun Violet had a life and adventures in space, while Kumade was simply whisked away from his time. So his resentment towards TegaSword and desire to take the fate of the world into his own hands are understandable. Although I didn't think he was so insecure that losing his cloak could hit him so hard.
In any case, Kumade and Bear Kuma's relationship in this episode is incredibly sweet. I even caught Gotchard's vibe, with his friendship between Hotaro and Hopper-1. And the inclusion of Goode Burn at the end was also very fitting.
I also really liked how Hoeru pointedly helped his comrades with this episode. What's special about Gozyu Woolf is that, despite understanding nothing about the topic, he manages to get right to the heart of it (in most cases). And here, Hoeru unmistakably recognized that the real topic of this episode wasn't fashion, but friendship.
Still, the events in this episode seemed very rushed to me. Perhaps such a plot wouldn't have prevented it from being split into two episodes, but at the same time, it could have robbed it of its charming lightness. So, most likely, it simply shouldn't have been Ribbon of Destruction's debut.
Speaking of which, this sweet, restless creature with terrifying strength is a very good addition to Bridan's team. It's a good thing she appeared closer to the end of the show, as such active characters with a pronounced childishness can become irritating if you watch them for too long. Moreover, she's connected to the secret behind Jun's malfunctioning powers, which will undoubtedly play out in the future.
But of course, it's hard to ignore the elephant in the room: Sumino's absence. It's a shame it happened this way. The interesting thing is that among the first episodes, there was already one where she and Rikuo appeared only in costume, and that episode wasn't about Gozyuger, so it's not all that bad or radically different. Still, the cutoffs are noticeable and interfere with the enjoyment. We'll see what Toei comes up with next.

It feels like everything is going to be just as bad as it could be. If Imamori had been fired just a couple of weeks earlier or later, it wouldn't have looked so awful.

A cash grab in a Kumade focus episode? No way! :p

Wow, she has impressive range. Her Sumino voice was pretty convincing.

I do think the premise of Kumade losing his feeling of Godness would've been more novel if he lived up to half of his boasts and didn't literally just lose a No.1 Battle last episode by suddenly being revealed as a nekojita. Nevertheless, this episode succeeds in showing his human side and making him sympathetic. Perhaps the cloak isn't what's important, but rather the feeling of Godness it gives him serves as a distraction from the fact that he lost all his old friends and the new cloak serves as a symbol of his new friendship with Bear Devil and Goode Burn. The Money No.1 episode may have foreshadowed his loneliness, as by keeping people indebted to him, it gives him an excuse to see those people in the future. Certainly, a big part of fashion is self-expression, so a moral about turning friendship in to a physical part of identity is tailored (get it?) for Kumade.

Hoeru's intuition is sharp for sure, but man, it really sucks for him that he keeps getting fired for trying to help people. That coldhearted manager didn't deserve him or the customers.

Ribbon reminds me of Triceratops Dopant and Hillbill Leech. I agree with Bouquet that she's cute and I look forward to seeing what she'll bring to Bridan's dynamic. While Tega June feels like she made a mistake in the design, maybe she'll learn how even flaws can be interesting and fun. Ribbon's actually quick to point out how Fire Candle and KnifeCake have features that don't really do anything, but we know they're also unique parts of their identities, which is appropriate for the episode's theme.

This episode was a heartwarming tale of a man discovering whats really important is his sentient bear tank.

It’s a shame Sumino missed the main action, I’d like to have seen what kind of outfit she would've modelled in the store (especially since everyone else already tried each other’s fashions)

She appears to have done multiple minor voice work in Super Sentai since Goseiger, mostly what I assume are roles such as "Random Pedestrian 1" chatting in the background, etc.