Uchu Sentai KyuRanger Episode 18- "Emergency Dispatch! Space Heroes!" Discussion
 

The hunt for the Pyxis KyuTama takes an unusual turn, and the KyuRangers are split across the universe by a black hole. But in the middle of a Jark Matter attack, some VERY DIFFERENT heroes appear...

I was surprised this wasn't a 2 part special. The best part of this episode is Garu+Kruger.

This was a very neat episode :3

Hot dang this was awesome. I didn't expect it to suck or anything but man, I wasn't expecting something this thoroughly entertaining.

I'm not quite sure where to start. This was like they took what could've been a somewhat limp two-parter and trimmed the fat off, leaving us with a single episode that doesn't go more than 5 seconds between interesting things happening. Props to Arakawa, the script here was impeccably tight, and he was clearly having fun with the premise. There's so much to talk about I actually get to bust out the bullet points for Kyuranger again:

- Having Naga hang out with Lucky so that you have a sort of matching pair with Gavan Type G and Deka Red is actually kind of genius.

- Naga was bringing his A game with the comic relief here.

- Although the よっしゃラッキー！ count was the highest it's been in a long while, I really appreciated both here and especially last episode how Lucky says it specifically in bad scenarios to show he's looking on the bright side. Considering Kyuranger is all about optimism, I'm surprised he doesn't use it that way more often. It's like, the perfect use of that catchphrase.

- Having the Kyurangers straight up not understand the concept of police is another stroke of genius. I think this show has been pretty good about showing how oppressed people in its universe are, and while ultimately it's just an excuse for exposition, the depressing implications there are great.

- They got in pretty much all the "hey wouldn't it be neat if" stuff you could ask for. CG-enabled mecha team-ups! Double dragons! Double dogs! Geki quoting his (predecessor's) theme song! All very satisfying to see.

- Speaking of which, having the Gavan theme song adds a +1 bonus to this episode's cool factor.

- Having the Dekaranger theme song multiplies it by two.

- While I can't be nostalgic for Dekaranger, not having seen it yet, it's always nice to see Geki again. Despite making his introduction by trying to ruin Go-Busters for two episodes I find him a super likable character and maintain I would watch a soft reboot new Metal Hero TV show starring him in a heartbeat. You know you want to make it, Toei!

This was an awesome episode. It went by fast.

So that's what Kyuranger would be like with much cooler theme songs.

This feels like 2 different crossovers crammed into one episode. They really should've picked Gavan or Dekaranger, not both. At least it went by quickly.

Best family reunion ever!

But honestly, this needed to be a two-parter like the Gokaiger episodes from Zyuohger.

This was definitely done well. The characters were all really great together. There were so many great moments like the battle at the end with the reds and silvers and Garu and Doggie. I wish this was a two-parter.

I am probably going to be one of the few if not the only one who is glad this was not a two parter because I feel that things would of been grating if it was two episodes,

I want to say this episode was awesome, buuuuuuuuuuuut how did octopus lady even steal the Kyutama? It just starts off with them chasing her as if I missed an episode even though I just watched episode 17 forty seconds prior.

Anyway, still not a fan of the new Gavan dude, but it was nice seeing Doggie Krugger and Sen back. Too bad it had Umeko and Ban in it instead of Jasmine. At least both of them barely ever spoke.

However, I'm getting really tired of the worm monsters. It was just used two episodes ago and a few episodes before that. I still don't even understand how the Monsters of the Week work in this show. Why do some grow and some don't? In fact, this series probably has hands down the worst Monsters of the Week out of any Sentai show.

Back to the important thing though, how did Octo lady steal the Kyutama?

I haven't watched this show in a couple months and wouldn't have if it weren't for the Dekaranger cameos. I see that Lucky is still a fucking moron. i know this was mostly a teaser for the upcoming Dekaranger movies, but it was still really fun to see these characters again, even if they had to share screentime with the charisma-less yahoos that are the Kyurangers.

You honestly haven't missed much.

Stinger, Champ, and Lucky are the only ones to have had character development. Unfortunately, they've turned Stinger from badass loner into a whiny emo. Hammy got about 3 minutes while Garu and Sparda are still waiting.

None of the villains have received any development either and there seems to be no set rules on how a monster grows or not. Sometimes they grow, sometimes they have a mecha, etc. The worm creature you saw in this episode has already been used 3 or 4 times within the last 10 episodes, if that. In fact, there hasn't even been a villain yet that can even match up to the rangers because they are always being handed a new upgrade to beat that monster on a silver platter rather than having to learn a lesson or a new skill, or anything.

....did you miss the part where one of the team was quite literally trashed by the "new" villain?

Also who cares if there's no set rules about how monsters grow? If it was just one way it would be formulaic and god knows Sentai needs less of that.

This is objectively wrong. Sparda got a bunch of screen time with Draco Violet's debut episodes, Hammy was the focus a few episodes back and Stinger isn't a whiny emo kid. I'm struggling to decide whether or not I like the show but don't make shit up please

Sparda the only character development he got is the likes to cook food for the poor. Hammy all she got that that can matter now is that she is a ninja who does not easy bullshit methods to be the best like Lucky. These are still not enough, hell somehow Garu has gotten more development over the episodes to build the fact that he is Lucky's loyal dog. As for stinger I can understand the emo kid thing because he did just seem like Sasuke but they might change that now.

Oh, it's fine. I'm not coming back again unless there's another Deka crossover. This show can continue to go YOSSHA RUCKY!!! itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p05gLtRw70M My Kyu 18 Reaction is out!

Sparda's got a strong sense of justice and can't ignore a person in need and Hammy got an episode actually about her backstory. Stinger's also justified as his planet was wiped out by the person he cares about the most for a selfish reason

Yeah, what a load! What, just 'cause your brother betrayed your people to join an evil space shogunate, manipulated you into believing he might still be a good guy to get you to spill sensitive information, tried to kill you after callously mocking you for believing he might still be a good guy, and then killed your best frenemy who spent several months hating your guts only to nevertheless selflessly sacrifice himself to save you, you're feeling a little emotional? What a baby! You call that trauma?! Get back to me when you have some REAL problems, Stinger! :p

But in all seriousness, I'm curious why you harp so much on character development in Kyuranger. Obviously guys like Garu and Spada are still in need of more attention, but it's the kind of thing where I feel like shows with way smaller casts have failed way harder.

Outside of the real AAA, solid gold, top tier Sentai like Gekiranger, character growth often isn't something you get a lot of in 18 episodes. Tell me how Saya or Gouki had grown by this point in Gingaman. Or even in the entire series. What about everyone in Zyuohger?

I can see where you might feel like "well those shows had other things to fall back on", but it seems like instead of criticizing the elements of Kyuranger that are actually bad, you're focusing on something it's handled, at its worst, no more poorly than most other Sentai.

Spard's development lasted all of 30 seconds and then he was sidelined for Draco Violet.

And yes, Stinger was balling like a little bitch. "OH no, you betrayed, please kill me now as I have nothing to live for." He knew his brother betrayed him years ago. Why should this effect him now?

It's sad because Kyuranger had so much potential.

Same reason why I harp on character development in ALL shows. I want a reason to like my heroes. It's one of the reasons I could never buy into Optimus Prime's bullshit in the original Transformers series. He never had an ounce of development. That is why Rodimus was such a superior character, even when I was 6 years old. The bot had to grow into a leader. He had flaws that he had to work on. He wasn't perfectly, and that made him stronger from a narrative standpoint. It's too bad that when he finally accepted his role as leader Hasbro made it entirely pointless by bringing Optimus back.

It another reason why I find the Soda era of Sentai to be subpar. His rangers were never given any development. They were chosen to be the rangers because reasons. Like I am 25 episodes into Dynaman and I still don't have any idea why these guys were chosen to be the heroes. I guess I can understand Ryu because he is a ninja, but why? Was someone in his clan destined to become a ranger? What makes him a great inventor? What makes any of these guys inventors? Did they graduate with PhDs? Are they going to school to get their doctorates? Why is Rei scared of cats?

And then we have the cast of Changeman. Okay, the Earth Force chose them to be rangers, but why? So the red ranger used to be a baseball player, cool. What about everyone else? Why is it important for the blue ranger to own a restaraunt after he is done? Was pink part of a biker gang at one point? The only thing I know about the white ranger in all 55 episodes is that her skirt was one inch away from the show having to be called Dengeki Hentai Changeman.

My problem is these guys should have had episodes to themselves before they even introduced Balance, Naga, Stinger, Draco's ranger form, the kid, and the pink robot's ranger form.

I don't know. I haven't atched Gingaman subbed yet. Asking about Zyuohger is redundant.

By episode 18 of Dairanger, the rangers had learned how to work together as a team, earned the right to use the Kiden Beasts, earned the ability to combine the Kiden Beasts, Ryo lost his father, Daigo fell in love with Kujaku and was trying to get her to drop her plans for vengeance, we learned that Rin grew up with Gon, who is the inventor of the Dairangers' weapons and suits, and that Shadam has a kid.

By episode 18 of Kakuranger, they had formed the team, Sasuke had learned how to be a responsible ninja over being a lazy goof, Tsuruhime had taken charge to be their leader and had to put them all into shape, and that Junior had to take charge of the Youkai because they were spending more time goofing off than actually being monsters.

Now perhaps you are right, perhaps I am being too hard on Kyuranger. However, I've seen Sentai do so much better, so I shouldn't have to lower my expectactions because Toei wants to be lazy. Even without the character development aspect though, Lucky is the love child of Ban and Daigo, the villains are pretty much pointless (not to mention their designs are mediocre), the mech battles are forced into every episode even when they don't need to be there, and there is way too much CGI. The one thing I do like are the first person shots, but there are way too few of those used and far inbetween. I want to see a good minute of battle done from that perspective.

Ultimately though, I am bored.

Ah, okay then. Character development is just a priority to you. Fair enough.

Bringing up Dairanger, what I understand to be THE most characters driven Sentai, and Kakuranger, which like Dai is one of those rare "solid gold" shows I was talking about, seems a little unfair given that they apparently make most shows look like s***. But okay, let's see how Kyuranger fares against them.

*ahem*

By episode 18 of Kyuranger, they had formed the team (which apparently counts as character growth?), Garu got back his fighting spirit, Balance learned to appreciate his friends (even if it was in the same episode they were introduced, they're still different people then when we met them) Naga understands and expresses emotions way better now, Raptor got to fulfill her dreams of fighting on the front lines, Xiao had to confront his past in which the previous leader of the Rebellion died covering for his brash behavior, Koutarou became a Kyuranger, learned how to be a better hero/brother from Stinger and went off to get proper training, Lucky learned how to make his own luck, Stinger finally reunited with his brother Scorpio, only to find out he really was just a jerk, we learned Scorpio is planning on usurping control of Jark Matter, and Champ resolved his issues with Stinger, ultimately sacrificing himself for the guy with no guarantee he'll ever be back to normal.

I don't know, it's just, I feel like I know the Kyurangers way better than most Sentai teams. The upside of this show's hyperactive pacing is that important stuff is happening pretty much constantly, and while I can't say they've changed at all, we do at least know the backstories for Spada and Hammy and how they shaped their personalities, so it's not like they're total blank slates.

I'm also not sure how the mecha battles are forced enough to be noteworthy. That's kind of Sentai's thing. And while Don Armage could definitely stand to be more, you know, in the show, I think with Scorpio as part of the cast you can hardly call the villains "pretty much pointless". He's been more effective in a couple episodes than most Sentai villains are in 50.

I'm looking at Scorpio as being more like Juuzo and Basco though. He's not a main villain, but a third party who just happens to be working for the main boss. Hell, we still don't even know who Don Armage really is. For all we know, it's a child behind the hologram.

So apparently believing everyone should have food means you got a strong sense of justice? Hammy's backstory is she was a quiet child on a ninja planet. That is not much of a backstory if any. So unless they do something with the fact that she only likes it when people earn the power and not through bullshit, then there is nothing to her. Also how old is she?

I will immediately like this show if it turns out Don Armage is a two foot munchkin,

It is, but I guess that could be because I am waiting for that Sentai to truly WOW me again. I mean, I loved Gokaiger, it is my 10th favorite, but it never truly wowed me outside of a few instances. I guess that since I have seen the best Sentai has to offer (Dai, Zyu, Kaku, Car, Geki, GoGoV), I've been spoiled and want something new to match the same quality and give me the same joy I had when I experienced those series for the first time.

this episode was okay to me
also kyuuranger being in alternate universe really explain what happen to other sentai

but i have few problem though
-like dr kain said how madako steal the kyuutama
-did they really gonna kill madako in this epsode especially when this episode supposed to be a kinda crossover episode. wouldn't be better if madako just keep madako alive atleast until the middle or near the end of the series


this series have problem often with killing their generals to early
i would like if instead of they killing their general the new general are send to help the current general
and i kinda like ikagen(mostly becase he kicking lucky ass)

i hope we get more character development like raptor,naga,sparda,shou ranpo or koutaro(actual character development i mean)

We learned about how Hammy was raised which helps world building
Sparda saw people in danger and refused to stand by

Really? I must of been bored with the episode because all I remember is that she was raised to be a ninja and she does not like people bullshit their way to power.

I remember Sparda refused to stand by when Jark Matter were attacking people and keep them from eating. Not much so because they were in danger.

We also learned that she was shy. Sparda ended up helping regarfless of food jokes

Even her being shy as a kid is not much other than she was like other shy kids. It really doesn't play into anything now.

True, but we learned something about her, she got a bit fleshed out

It's kind of sad though that any little bit of information for a character seems like a big revelation. It's too bad this isn't a 50 episode series.

Umm... What? Every Sentai has had about 50 episodes, how is Kyuranger different? If anything, it should have had a bit more considering how large the cast is

I feel like this episode should have been a two parter.

I think he's talking about Gavan.

You two do know he is most likely being sarcastic right?

Spearichu wins the no-prize. :lol