LupinRanger VS PatRanger Episode 8- "The Phantom Thieves' Identities!" Discussion
 

The PatRangers believe they might at last know the faces behind the infamous "Phantom Thieves" and begin a stakeout on the Bistrot Jurer to uncover the truth...

Going to need to see the subs but even without it that has to be the best episode of the series so far. Really cool to see them deviate from the usual formula to actually focus on the conflict between the two teams. I guess this conflict will also help the issue of a limited amount of monster suits per season.

I wonder if GoodStriker was the one who let the Lupinrangers in on the Patorangers' plan?

Okay, I would have liked it if we had even more, but I do like that we got more on the monster grower lady this time. So she's a crime doctor who like experimenting on people and apparently does so on her own. This is already more characterization than Naria ever go. I'm hoping we got more on her and her schemes in the future.

Figured something like that would happen.

And man, Kogure is shady as hell.

Liked how the Pordermen huddled before they attacked Lupinkaiser, all for naught though.

Sakuya needs to chill a bit. He's being stalkerish now.

And I liked the riddle portion. And Jim is cute as a gangler.

I thought they were using either robots for the Lupinrangers or holograms for their civilian forms. Kogure as Kairi acted like a robot I thought he really was one.

That riddle needed some work to get.

This was a really great episode, but I'm not a fan of the "characters discover secret identities only to be proved wrong when they were actually right" kind of stories. Especially when it's done to characters I really like :lol

Don't get me wrong I knew it HAD to happen, especially this early on, I just wish it didn't have to come at the expense of the Patrangers being made to look like fools. The way they did it was very clever though - I'd kind of figured it out before they revealed it but was still questioning myself as it went along.

Using the Goodstriker duplication ability for something like this is a very neat move (especially since they never actually use it strategically during a battle)

How's Sakuya going to react when he finds out Umika really is a phantom thief.

That kind of went down predictably, right down to how they got away with it. Though, it's alright, since I figured it was way too early for them to learn their identities.
Still, I enjoyed it. I liked that the conflict was between the two teams this episode, without a main Gangler for them to fight.

I am glad Goodie was the one to tip them off, though. It would have made the Patrangers feel incompetent if the Lupinrangers figured out they were being tailed without any hints, so it's nice to know they only failed because Goodie crossed them.

Yeah... I'd likely say this is the worst episode so far in regards to the main plot.

I really liked how smart this episode worked. There was forward motion in the character development, the Lupins got some better backgrounds, and the comedy wasn't over the top, while still getting the cultural in jokes.