Same, Kenji.

Anyway, this was an interesting one in that, while I did like it... it just doesn't quite sit right with me? Atleast not fully.

And the thing is, I dunno if I can really accurately articulate as to why. On paper, it's fine. It's about how we need to be honest with ourselves and be willing to hear the things that we need to hear rather than what we want to hear.

But the way in which that lesson is carried out? I dunno. Komachi take center stage here, with her having been training over the past handful of episodes in order to become a fighter and further aid Kenji in his battle against the Jamanga. But according to the narrative, she lets her newfound power get to her head.

Except, I didn't really see it that way? I more saw it as her being happy that she could finally directly contribute, and the danger was never at her being full of herself like what Kenji claims(and the narrative backing him). If anything, a more sensible reason for having Kenji not want Komachi to join the battle would be that he's worried about her getting hurt. Which does infact happen.

The upside to this though is that this episode also reframes what exactly the story was trying to say about Kenji when it came to Q1 of the show: That he wasn't taking his job as a SHOT member seriously and was simply having fun with all the toys he was getting. Sure, one could argue against that stance as well(especially given how Kenji always took pride in his position as a protector), but it atleast makes a little more sense than "You shouldn't rely on/use the keys!"

There's also some Jack Moon stuff, with the ties to the Komachi storyline being a hint that Jack Moon might still be alive in some form. But there's nothing in this episode that really hints at that outside of Baron Bloody having a hunch that it might be the case. But hey, if it means that the Jack Moon that I know and love will get to return in the future, then sure, let's roll with it.

So, yeah. I guess the best way I could sum this up is: It has some good ideas and moments, but the overall execution left me wanting more.

Ritsuko is on vacation, meaning Ichiko gets her very first solo episode!

And on paper especially, it's a rather bizarre one. The premise being that Ichiko and a fragment of Rock Crimson fall in love.

It for sure sounds like a total shitpost, but yet, I overall felt it was pulled off surprisingly decently? For a one off episode, I feel like they did all they could with the general idea.

Ichiko getting a spotlight of her own was already a nice surprise, as it allowed us to get some insight as to what she's like when her and Ritsuko aren't hovering around one another. Turns out she has the very human aspect of muttering threats under her breath whenever she's annoyed.

Combine that with Rock Crimson's' love of crushing things and his hatred of being called an idiot and you have a surprisingly complimentary pairing. And the fact that he's nothing more than a giant rock with angry eyebrows throughout most of the episode is equal parts hilarious and adorable. It made me like Rock Crimson's' character all the more.

With all that said, it really did make the ending of this one come across as a bit contrived and forced. Rock Crimson regaining his memory and becoming a villain again isn't the worst idea, but the way it came about I wasn't a fan of. It could lead to some interesting stuff down the line, sure, but I dunno. The timing is also a bit odd/interesting since we're also still in the middle of looking at the Mechani-Moon stuff.

So, yeah, the ending is a bit weak, but this episode overall made for a fun and interesting ride.

Ok, I misremembered. This was the other episode that was a favourite.

I can see why! This episode has alot of heart to it.

This felt like the script to a Ryukendo videogame that got retooled into an episode.

The flow of the plot, the fact that it's an escort mission, the waves of enemies blocking progress, and it all ending in a boss fight? Classic game logic.

Don't take that as any sort of negative though, as I still had fun with this one. Baron Bloody's' plan to create a dummy key is actually rather smart, and the way various aspects of the episode build off it are nice to see.

Ichiko being able to get in on the action was a nice surprise, and I loved the attention to detail on how Ryujinoh's' powers still work due to his system being independent from SHOT's'. Plus, we got to see that Tsukaima can drive, but only barely. Putties are superior in this regard.

And while it's kinda weird that the latter half of the episode seems to frame things as if Koichi was the main character, I'm not really gonna complain. Because I again wanna note how much better he is as a side character than a main one. I actually kinda liked him in this one, and it wasn't like his personality was changed at all in order to compensate.

If Ryukendo ever were adapted into a PS2 action game, I think this episode serves as a sort of proof of concept, and I think I'd have fun with it.

Ryukendo Catch Up Corner Part 2!

Episode 19: Can't believe Komachi dated Raidou Kuzunoha, woman's got game I'll say that much. That said I was not expecting a focus episode on her but this was honestly rather nice. We also get a unique minor monster suit again after quite a bit which is always fun to see. It's kind of funny though to see how the Koichi plot wraps up thanks to this ghost summoning bit, since I wasn't expecting his parents to show up as actual ghosts brought back to life and tell him to move on in a completely divorced B-Plot. That said, I do like the ending bit of both Ryukendo and Ryujinoh ascending alongside the departing spirits, legit probably one of my favorite imageries in a Toku now.

Episode 20: This one wasn't as bad as I assumed it was going to be. Felt like the usual treatment for Fudo given this series has not been shy about poking fun at him constantly. Like if there was any doubt about it, the recap episode specifically having the Ryugunoh OP only for Kenji to laugh it off entirely is a big factor. That said, shit kids will be shit kids, I don't think I was turned around on her by the end but I thought the episode worked well enough.

Episode 21: Oh so Jack Moon isn't really dead he was kinda just chilling unconscious for a while and also the Jamanga only just now decided to execute him? Honestly weird, especially when how vague the final clash between him and Thunder Ryukendo was. But I do like how this episode fixes up how Jack Moon was acting in the Thunder Ryukendo episodes, definitely makes those slightly better. Honestly love how Jack Moon decided to go out on his own terms and we basically get the duel with Thunder Ryukendo I was expecting nearly 10 episodes ago. We've also got the appearance of the last Jamanga General that appears in the OP, him basically setting up the episode and walking off with Jack Moon's sword. I'm curious as to where that will lead.

Episode 22: The bathroom scene in this episode is basically the only knowledge I had of Ryukendo until now, it was such a great scene I included it in my Symphogear and Saber crossover. That said this episode is also just a ton of fun in general, what with the folks of Akebono showing their own skills off, and Rock Crimson getting a comeback too, and hell we even get to see Fire Ryukendo and Fire Kong again too. Overall, a real fun one.

Yeah that ending bit is super good. Ryukendo might be peak when it shitposts, but it can do drama surprisingly well at times.

Sure, but on the other hand. I still want that brat thrown off a bridge. And then Inoue could write and episode where she floats on water or something I guess.

It's such a great way to send him off. To the point that I'm willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt in that his reasoning was planned from the getgo. Makes alot of his actions make sense.

Despite it being the show's' most famous scene, I had actually never seen it before, so getting to view it in all of its majesty with eyes unclouded was incredible. The rest of the episode is definitely no slouch either.

Man, I can't believe Shin Ultraman ripped off of Ryukendo.

The Jamanga plot this time? Launch a killer satellite into space called Gren Star; armed with an orbital lazer designed to fire on anyone who defies the Jamanga.

This results in Akebono briefly becoming a police state under Jamanga rule, and our heroes desperate to find a way into space without getting blown up themselves. And can their suits even survive in space?

There's alot of cool aspects that go into this one in terms of plot, but on the character level this episode is all about Kenji and Koichi finally being able to see eye to eye. And while it's not pulled off ideally, I think it overall works, and results in the birth of Lightning Ryukendo.

In terms of the climax, this is the sort of thing I don't think a Kamen Rider show(specifically) has ever done, nor will it. A blast off into space with Ryukendo against a giant space weapon. All while the citizens of Akebono cheer God Ryukendo on and giving him the edge he needs in saving the day. Sound familiar? If you said Kamen Rider Fourze, you lose!

It's not my favorite episode of Q3, and it's not what I'd immediately think of in terms of placing it as a final episode of a quarter, but I'm overall satisfied. And very shocked that it wasn't another recap episode ontop of that. Solid stuff.

Ryukendo Catch Up Corner Part 3!

Episode 23: Huh... aliens... was not expecting this, at least until the man behind the curtain was revealed. No, it looks like our new General is finally getting into action and it seems his methods are wildly different than the other Jamanga. Other than that, this was pretty alright, even if the tone with how Goryugun's death here was kind of all over the place. Fudo saying it's destroyed is fine but the way he pivoted to "I'm not your partner anymore, you still have your trinity!" is like the weirdest ways to prompt Kenji into doing his team attack with Brave Leon and Gekiryuken.

Episode 24: Okay this was a pretty cool follow-up, what with Fudo going all gung-ho and doing what he can to protect the being repaired Ryugunoh. Will say though now that we?'re three episodes in, I'm surprised that Umi's back, like I figured she would be but it?'s weird to see her recurring like this. I will admit I wasn't expecting us to get deeper lore on what happened with Koichi's parents, nor that our new General, Bloody, would be involved. Ngl, this is the most excited I've been when watching Koichi on screen, just him going "Zanyru, I'm going to be an idiot too!" in response to confronting who is basically his parents' murderer and going gung-ho as well is kind of great.

Episode 25: Okay, the Rin plot this episode was neat, but what I got the biggest kick out of was Komachi trying to act as a wing-woman to Rin and Kenji. It was also pretty fun seeing old monster suits again, and it's cool that Ryugunoh is still out of commission so we need to keep teaming up with Ryujinoh for the time being.

Episode 26: It feels weird seeing SHOT HQ under normal lighting and not the usual mood lighting they have. That said, this recap is more my speed when it comes to things. It switches up the usual viewing of old footage format by framing it as a game show, and we get some fun competitive scenes out of it. Also was not expecting some teases of some new forms for Ryukendo and Ryugunoh too, so that's definitely something fun to look forward to.

Personally, I feel like aliens would be one of the least ridiculous things to come out of Ryukendo, haha.

Yeah, they finally got a proper handle on how to to utilize Koichi, and while he's not my new favorite or anything, I do start to like him more than I did during his intro arc.

She's very much a shipper, and it leads to some fun stuff for sure.

The game show aspect really is a great idea ontop of it being utilized rather smartly. Loved how the climax had Kenji pointing out how nine keys were used, even if we never saw one of them being loaded.

Remember episode 14, the one with the fake Ryukendo?

What if like, we did that again, only very slightly differently, to the point that we don't actually account for how the lead characters have grown since then?

This really does feel like a recycled script. There's Fudo getting mad at being called old, which hasn't been a thing for like 20 episodes now, there's Kenji's' abrasiveness which has been really toned down in recent times, and Koichi doesn't even show up in this one.

As a result, the whole episode feels incredibly out of place, transpiring during this part of the show. Sure, there's a few decent gags to be had, but outside of that, I just really couldn't get into this one. And it wasn't at all helped by the ending, which implies that the entire thing was an act on a part of Kenji and Fudo, despite that making no sense and feeling like an asspull.

There's also the premiere of the fourth and final ending song, which comes in to probably the most unfitting scene that they could've put it with? It's a more mellow and somber song coming in during an unfunny gag scene with the villains.

Both Kamen Rider Blade and Metallic Rouge did this whole thing way better, is all I'm saying.

Legit the best part because of how it points out despite the footage not showing it, the caster dagger has to have a key used for it because literally everything is summoned by the keys.

Anyway since I'm catching up more quickly let's go for a...

Ryukendo Catch Up Corner Part 4!

Episode 27: Remember kids don't click random icons that pop on your computer. This episode is like a mix between Gridman and Garo in terms of this being a digital world plot but with a surreal atmosphere. There's some real good directing and cinematography in this episode too. Of course this is also Fudoh's come back as Ryugunoh via his new Magna form, it's simple but really cool. I always dig it when you just make a gun a bigger gun.

Episode 28: Huh, so I guess Magna Ryugunoh is just our new default form for Fudo now, neat. Also nice to see the show spend a bit more time on his upgrade rather than just brushing it aside for the next. Though it looks like Ryukendo's up next time in regards to that.

Episode 29: Ngl, I thought it was weird they decided to pull out this odd sort of narrative hook on confidence and belief. I just didn't really see where they were honestly going with the confidence bit compared to the part about belief, so it stuck out in an odd way to me. This is still a real good episode for Kenji and Gekiryuken though, and It is interesting to see that God Ryukendo is also a permanent default change. Very interesting way of switching up with the new toys I suppose, though that means we kind of lose all the cool stuff from before.

Episode 30: Oh okay nevermind, the intro just reassured me that we'll get to use all the old stuff but as upgraded versions now, neat. This was honestly a fun episode in how our heroes had to make their way into the main area in order to fight the demon. We get some more character stuff for our supporting cast, and we get more showcasing of God Ryukendo. Overall and enjoyable time, oh right, the new openings pretty alright though I prefer OP1, ED3's really fun though, I'll need to listen to them some more though.

Episode 31: We've got a Setoyama focus this time around and it's really cool to see his determination in play. But this was also a fun Looney Tunes case of mistaken cargo which involves Lady Gold and her crew in new outfits, two robbers, and a door to door salesman. This is legitimately a fun episode where we just keep building more and more to the pile of chaos that's already been created, with a third case getting pushed into the mix alongside Koichi getting involved in a hilarious way too.

Episode 32: The Jamanga's plot this time was pretty fun to be honest, made for some interesting and funny moments. Ryugunoh basically sobbing the entire time while fighting was a highlight. Koichi's stuff was neat too, though it is kind of funny to get back to him after this most recent string of episodes where he's either not been around or been relatively minor. Random note though, I'm really loving the instrumental of OP2 whenever Ryukendo does his finisher, those trumpets rock!

Episode 33: Delta Shadow always had a bike-look to it so I was really confused by how Ryujinoh never used it in that form, I guess he just had to unlock it lol. It's interesting to get two kind-of Koichi episodes back to back or rather one for Zanryujin. It's a good episode for both of them. I also enjoy having a dapper suited mirror monster powered Jamanga even if it?s just a person wielding a scythe with a mask on, simple but effective.

If at first gun don't work, use more gun.

Yeah, I was surprised that these were actual upgrades and not just new forms. Gonna really miss the old suits though.

"In order to truly believe in something, you must have confidence in it as well." I felt like they got the point across well enough.

It did make for some fun character beats, yeah.

I imagine this made it one of Androzani's' favorite episodes.

It was so good! Bro was about to make a sweater out of his tears.

The sheer variety, ontop of the creativity of Ryukendo's' monster designs is really great, for sure. They're the first monster of the week designs that have really stood out to me in a long time.

I did it folks! Fully caught up!

Ryukendo Catch Up Corner Final(hopefully)!

Episode 34: We get an absolutely aesthetic and surreal intro into an absurd plot via an umbrella that makes a Space Odyssey reference for its entrance. Kobashiri was also a fun character to focus on this time around, him being the catalyst behind this event in the first place. Overall this was a good one-off and we get our evolved Fire Ryukendo/Kong finally introduced, Burning Ryukendo and Burning Kong.

Episode 35: This was a fun episode, we get to see the mayor's son again, some bits of Akebono world-building what with their demon safety stage event, and some really fun indoor action featuring a lot of the cast. I was curious why they kept Jack Moon as part of the villain intro in OP2 but it's only upon this episode that I realize the credits/lyric subs are covering him up so well that his portrait's been replaced by Mechani-Moon all this time. I figured Baron Bloody was up to something by taking that broken blade, but damn. To think this comes around something similar happening to another favorite General of mine in Boonboomger.

Episode 36: This was another good episode, though I feel like the messaging was all over the place with this one. But it was still nice to see Komachi again after she's been absent. Also hey we've got Blizzard Ryukendo and Blizzard Shark now! Now to see how long we'll be waiting for Thunder to get upgraded given how long it took for us to get that originally.

Episode 37: We get an Ichiko focused episode and Rock Crimson returns! I was not expecting a love story between the two, but sure, why not? It's an interesting and actual heartfelt episode at points despite the premise being absurd. I'm curious if this will ever be revisited or if it'll just be a one-off plot, but who knows given this is Ryukendo we're talking about.

Episode 38: A standard Jamanga encounter turned into a deadly trap by taking advantage of the fact that our heroes usually always purify and refine the keys they take from the demons they defeat. It's a pretty tense episode with Kenji having to escort Professor Mikurya to the closed off SHOT base that's threatening to blow up at any moment. The fact that Kenji can't transform due to the interference so he has to rely on Ryujinoh is pretty neat, and just adds to the tense nature especially when Mechani-Moon shows up.

Episode 39: Whoa okay, they just went full SA2 Space Colony Ark with the latest Jamanga plot here. If there was ever any way to upgrade Thunder into Lightning, I'm glad this is how we did it. I also like how this implies that God Ryukendo could utilize the old keys before, he just didn't have any reason to until they suddenly upgraded themselves for him to use. That said, we get some fun stuff from our three heroes here having to work together and also get a cool rallying scene of the townspeople towards the very end.

Episode 40: This was a weird one in terms of following up the past several episodes of either unique plot or rather tense/action packed episodes. A failed Jamanga creation pretty much causes chaos, Kenji and Fudo are feuding for some reason, Umi's back for some reason, but we get an interesting fight at the end out of it at the very least.

Burning Kong has one of the best finishers! Say it!

It does kinda raise the question of how he rebuilt Jack Moon off the sword alone. Like, Baron Bloody claims he reanimated Jack Moon's' corpse, but it seems way more likely that Bloody cloned Jack instead.

I don't blame you. It was kinda hard to tell what exactly this one was gunning for.

It really is anyone's' guess. We still haven't gotten the full context on Gekiryuken's' amnesia, afterall.

"Tense" is probably the best word to sum up the atmosphere of the episode, yeah. They really did capture the feeling of racing against the clock.

Ultraman style endings are always a treat.

I'm glad you found more to like out of this one than I did.

Toshiki Inoue has a weird backstory.

Okay, jokes aside, I've said it a couple times before, but I'll say it again: Koichi works so much better as a support than as a frontliner.

In this, he's here to offer a guiding hand to a kid named Toshiki; A bullied kid who's having confidence troubles. And while Koichi's' wording isn't exactly the best, his message comes across well enough: Stand up for yourself.

What follows is a fun chase episode wherein Toshiki does his best to protect a doll housing the soul of Ryujinoh(it makes sense in context), and in turn working on his own brand of courage and standing up for what he believes in. To the point that he even manages to ward off Baron Bloody(very temporarily, but still).

And while it's unfortunately played for a joke, I will also give this episode credit in that it portrays anxiety actually rather well. Especially the scene wherein Toshiki misunderstands the words and intent behind Kenji and Fudo asking him to cooperate with him. The scene wherein Toshiki hesitates to cross the bridge was another good example.

We also get the return of the Caster Knuckle! We haven't seen that in like 20 episodes! I honestly felt like the showrunners just kinda forgot that it existed. Regardless, the brutal beating of Baron Bloody that followed was fun, but something tells me that he's not gone for good yet. Maybe it was the little barrier effect that happened as he blew up, maybe it was the minion running off with his stave afterward, but I'm sure he'll be back.

I liked this episode. A good bounce back after the disappointment of last episode.

I enjoyed this episode as well.

When you give Koichi another named character to bounce off of, he can work surprisingly well when compared to him being on his own. Especially since after the first portion of the episode, he's entirely absent and its all Toshiki until he returns.

Speaking of I did like the little bit of Toshiki called out Ryujinoh's name and him completing the call out, it was a cute little moment. Another fun touch is hearing Zanryujin get really hot blooded in the announcements for the different attacks at the end. Really showed you how pissed both he and Koichi were after being freed.

Those were really nice to see for sure. Zanryujin is just as much out of blood against Bloody as Koichi is!

This one was... fine.

My boy Fudo takes the lead on this one; with him investigating a string of incidents happening around Akebono, and yet no demon in sight.

And while I get what the episode was going for, and it arguably does it well, I dunno, the overall thing just didn't sit quite right with me? It's another of those cases where I don't know if I can properly articulate what I'm feeling.

The general idea, from what I can tell atleast, is that while Fudo is an effective detective, he's still a regular guy in alot of ways. Having frustrations at how people judge him, and him briefly falling for the disguised Lady Gold's' charms to the point that he doesn't immediately raid the restaurant even though he should.

I'll also say that the episode does a good job at having an atmosphere of unease all throughout it; reflecting Fudo's' mind state all throughout the event. There isn't even a single comedic beat in this one to help reinforce this. The whole episodes comes across as being rather uncomfortable, and arguably in a rather good way in terms of execution.

But I think the main thing that keeps me from fully embracing it is, well, that Fudo ends up thinking with his dick. Sure, it's brief, and he keeps his wits about him enough to be able to move forward regardless. But on the other hand, Fudo's' been shown to be smarter than that plenty of times throughout the show. It sets a small seed of disappointment that the back of my mind just couldn't quite let go of all throughout the episode.

Sure, you can argue that it's a very minor complaint, or even that it shouldn't even qualify as one. But that's just how I felt when experiencing the episode. Again, the episode overall is fine, but for whatever reason, I just couldn't fully immerse myself into it. It's a shame, but it doesn't kill the inherent qualities that this episode does have. Not really.

I thought this was a pretty solid episode with Fudo at the forefront. I do find it funny though how we need Ryukendo to kind of do something so Kenji has to fight a giant frying pot ha ha.

I also find it funny how it took us like 13 episodes after his introduction, but starting with Episode 40 the show has to let you know that Ryugunoh's new toy can also become a short sword.

Now we just wait for the day he dual wields.

So here's this giant enemy crab...

And while it is covered in weak points, unfortunately our heroes can't stage an all out attack because Rin ends up trapped inside.

The episode very much plays out like your average giant monster movie, and that is not at all a bad thing, because in usual Ryukendo fashion, they have fun with the base idea. Typically by means of character interactions.

And, well, it also kinda leaves me without much to say? There's no big reveal in the plot(unless you count the very nonchalant reveal of Baron Bloody still being alive), no big theme or message. Just a simple, fun rescue mission that happens to involve a giant robot.

So, all in all, solid episode. No real complaints.

Yeah this was a pretty solid episode with not much else to say.

I think my favorite bit was the ending of it where our three heroes are told they have to put Akebono Tower back where it was. Specifically with Koichi making the very meta and amusing response of "I think it'll take a week" in regards to how long it'll get them to put it back in place.

Power scalers would go nuts over this moment, I'm sure.

I never expected the police chief to get a focus episode.

Like, him and most of the other cops who aren't the Besties have been pretty one-note the entire show. In a fun way, mind you, but even so.

So to have this episode come along and give the Chief a backstory, an arc, and for those to be tied in with Komachi, who herself also used to be part of Akebono PD? It was a pleasant surprise!

It really is their episode too, with the other citizens of Akebono coming in second, as the Caster Warriors are all incapacitated due to the latest scheme by Dr. Worm. And Ryukendo continues to prove just how wonderful its supporting cast is by filling the episode with great interactions and top notch comedy.

Case in point, the climax of the episode, wherein Komachi reminds the Chief about the passion he used to have for his job, which ends up leading to an "I Am Sparticus" scene involving a ton of the townsfolk. A wonderfully touching moment all on its own, but then it's topped off by not only having everyone do their own silly version of the Ryukendo pose, but having Fudo and Koichi do their own in the background at the same time. I died of laughter at that.

What else can I say other than that this episode had alot of heart in it, and it really showed? It's a wonderfully great time, and I was giving that same thumbs up that Kenji was by the end.

I really enjoyed this episode, it was a fun surprise to see the police chief get the spotlight and so directly too. I was not expecting him to actually have a connection to Komachi, so it was a pleasant surprise.

It's also nice to see Komachi again, and she really does a lot in this episode too which was extra great.

But also yeah that Spartacus/Countdown to Destruction scene towards the end was also another highlight. It's a fun domino in which the Police Chief ends up showing enough courage for everyone else to do the same.

Oh for sure. It was great to see that she hadn't just lost all of her battle skills after her last episode. And making her a very direct contributor in everything was fantastic.

The villains attempt to bring about the usual Power Rangers finale!

But in a nice twist, our heroes learn of the plan right as it starts, and thus the race is on to prevent SHOT's' base from being raided.

This results in an episode that gives everyone an equal amount of focus(with a slight edge towards Setoyama) and has a fun amount of action all throughout. All capped off with a brand new form for Ryukendo out of nowhere.

And while I did like the episode for what it was, I was a bit disappointed in how it seems like Rock Crimson is now gone for good. The brief flashback we get to episode 37 gave me hope that that plot of that episode would get some kind of follow up, but alas, it seems it's not to be.

It's another simple and straight-forward episode, which is good, because I'm gonna try to do multiple episodes tonight as a means of catching up with how life got in the way a handful of times through the time I've been watching this show. So stay tuned.

This episode was pretty solid overall, it very much has all our major players active and doing something, and we get a fun new mystery to unravel in how the heck Ryukendo got that form and how that key was even there to give it to him in the first place.

It also kinda begs the question of how did the key not get discovered earlier with how many times that Rock Crimson has been blown up, but eh, it's not a big deal.

The ending ruined it for me.

Like, at first, I was all for this episode where, surprisingly, Dr. Worm is actually the lead character. With the plot being about him trying to honor Rock Crimson.

And along the way, there are some events that really didn't sit too right with me, but I was willing to overlook them on account of the direction that I was hoping the episode would go.

But then in the end, despite all evidence pointing towards Dr. Worm having a turnaround, he instead goes back to the very people who betrayed him and have done nothing but treat him like dirt for the entire show. It's an incredibly frustrating reinforcement of the status quo and soured the whole experience.

Now, rather than Bloody and Gold acting paranoid over nothing being the point, they're justified in that it's what results in Worm returning to their side and them getting away with all the trouble they caused. Even dumber when they arrive and demand that Worm speak, all while the Caster Warriors are in earshot. And no one, not even Kenji, stops to think that something might be up.

Heck, Worm's' internal logic doesn't even check out here, as he himself notes during the funeral how admirable Kenji's' heart actually is. And, you know, Bloody outright tried to, ya know, kill him? The ending takes what could've been a really great story about just how strong the love of genuine friendship can be and instead makes it about self-preservation to the point of idiocy. And I don't think that was the intent either.

Did not jive with this one at all. No thanks.

I took the ending a different way.

While I agree, not the best, I think it was mostly the brief shot of Gren Ghost we got before Worm realized what he needed to do. In that, yes he does care, but he needs to put up a front to appease Bloody and Lady Gold so that he can complete his life's calling which is to revive Gren Ghost... at least that's how I saw it anyway.

Could've probably been handled a bit better though, yeah.

Honestly, I hope your interpretation is correct, because it's the much better outcome.

Man, I can't believe Bima Legend made it into this show!

I'm kidding of course, but Master Ryukendo there does take alot of similar cues. Including the caped design.

This episode is all about reinforcing the friendship between Kenji and Gekiryuken via Gekiryuken temporarily getting his old body back. And what at first starts as a wacky antics episode soon turns into something more serious and lore heavy.

The big takeaway being that we finally get full context on Gekiryuken's' amnesia from forever ago. Essentially, he and the other two previous Caster Warriors combined their spirits with those of the Dragons of Light, thus becoming the Dragon Cores the current generation now uses.

And MY big takeaway from that being that this means that, with the old trio being the dragons, that means that they were also getting snippy with eachother in the bathroom episode of Ryukendo. And that's just hilarious. Though this lore also does make me wonder where Goryugun's' love of percentages and computers came from. Oh well.

It's assumedly also out prelude to Ryukendo's' endgame, what with Gren Ghost being on the cusp of reviving and the Canon of Light now being fully translated. And with five(technically six) episodes left to go, it definitely makes me wonder what direction the show will go in.

This was a cool way to bring back the old Ryukendo suit and Gekiryuken, albeit slightly modified. Bronze honestly is not a color I thought could go with blue but Ryukendo proved me wrong lol.

But yeah, overall real good solid focus on Kenji and Gekiryuken, we get a bit more of the Akebono folks (they have their own baseball team and meetups that Kenji's a part of, that's cool) and of course we get a rather foreboding tone shift as we basically hit our endgame. At least I assume anyway given how things went.

Makes me wonder who the heck they even play against. I hope there's a Futo baseball team that they square off with.

It's the final battle! Kinda.

It certainly has all the tellings of one. What if the enemy base touching down in the human world, and Bloody and Gold meeting their ends.

But by the end we're left with a couple of loose ends that prevent the story from ending in any sort of definitive way. We never see what becomes of Dr. Worm or Mechani-Moon, and Gren Ghost isn't quite dead yet.

As for the events of the episode itself, they're overall fun. It's alot of action beats as one should expect for a raid on the enemy fortress. And each fight that the Caster Warriors find themselves in has some cool detail or other that helps them to stand out.

The best one for me by far being Magna Ryugunoh's' final bout with Lady Gold, wherein he discovers the key weakness of his opponent: Her earring. It's the sort of neat detail that I had never actually noticed before, and when Fudo pointed it out I was pleasantly surprised. I also found myself appreciating how Koichi's' quest for vengeance never actually stopped being one, and he got it in the end.

Now it's not a perfect episode. There were a couple moments that made me scratch my head some, like Ryugunoh's' major leap in logic on figuring out that the generals had the Ultimate Keys in them, and how they're somehow the key to regeneration despite that contradicting everything we ever saw with Rock Crimson. But, it's whatever. The episode was still overall fun, and it's capsized off with a finisher from Ultimate Ryukendo that's so over the top that it kinda flips around to being genuinely cool.

So, I liked this. Quite the way of starting off the endgame.

A pretty bombastic episode if I do say so myself.

It's pretty much a big action setpiece, but it's a fun one. We get each of the remaining Generals fighting in their own ways, some fun counterattacking from our heroes, and a proper debut of Ultimate Ryukendo this time around.

Despite that all though, the scene I ended up enjoying the most was Koichi finishing off Bloody. The way he just stabs his weapon into Bloody's mouth and those hit sparks just fly, oof. Then Bloody screaming at the end before he's cut off abruptly because he explodes, real good stuff.

That one felt pretty personal, hahaha.

Late reply, but surprisingly, the guy playing Master Ryukendo isn’t played by a veteran from a previous Toku show. He’s just a guy they cast.