DreamSword Watches Unfamiliar Toku: Part 4 - Super Shining Solider Changerion
 

Hello all! Welcome to the next step in my year long project of trying out Tokusatsu outside of the Big Three(and Godzilla). For the next 39-ish days we'll be tackling Changerion, a show I only learned the existence of thanks to some unexpected merchandise being made of the main hero a year or two ago.

So what is Changerion? No idea! The only things I know about it are that it was funded by SEGA, created by Toei, and was originally conceived as a Hakaider TV show before getting retooled into something original. I believe it's also written by Inoue, the writer whose works are never contested or controversial at all! He recently wrote DonBrothers!

As per usual, the only two rules are to be respectful of other's' insights/interpretations, and to also not discuss spoilers unless you use spoiler tags. Other than that, this is my latest Watch Thread and we all should know the drill.

With that out of the way, let's dive into...

Episode 1: A Hero!! Me?

What... what did I just watch?

So uh, to sum up the basic premise of Changerion as best I can: This is essentially Kamen Rider W if it was written by Inoue.

Our lead character is Akira Suzumura, a detective who struggles to make ends meat due to only getting basic jobs consisting of things like finding lost pets. Not to mention having to pay his assistant, Akemi.

One day though, Akira seems to get his big break when a local school hires him to figure out the whereabouts of six missing school children. But this case quickly turns into more than it might initially seem, as an alien organization known as DarkZide soon reveals themselves via sentient portal.

One thing leads to another, and after a fateful meeting with truck-kun, Akira ends up absorbing the Crystal Power developed by SAIDOC, allowing him to transform into Changerion, and humanity's' biggest hope against the invaders from another dimension. He's incredibly happy about it, but the workers of SAIDOC most certainly are not.

If my description at all made the show sound mundane to you, then let me assure that, going by this first episode alone, Changerion most certainly is not. Things start off relatively simple at first, but once Akira gets the job to finds the kids, all bets are off and the whole rest of the episode goes by at what I can only describe as classic Power Rangers pacing, where things get thrown at you so quickly that you barely have any time to process it all.

In other words, this episode, and I imagine by extension the show as a whole, is a roller coaster ride, and me? I'm all for it. Sure, this episode is basically all setup in terms of characters and plot, but the atmosphere as well as the seemingly genuine effort to play with superhero tropes of the time(usually in the way of humor via subverted expectations), like with Akira having almost no standard heroic traits to him. Even the school children mock him! And sure, I didn't find most of the humor to be laugh out loud funny, but none of it was annoying.

I did get one genuine laugh though. The shot towards the beginning where the schedule says "ENTIRELY EMPTY." Yeah it's basic, but it got a good giggle out of me. And in the realm of ironic laughs, oh man that dated CGI. Let me just say that if I didn't know beforehand that SEGA helped fund this thing, the style of which the CG is done, especially in the very beginning, would've reminded me, say, Pepsiman right away. Pretty sure I've seen the exact portal gif they use in a SEGA game too, though don't expect me to nail down which. The Changerion suit itself is a cool one, though!

So... yeah. I dunno what I can really say about this episode in terms of specifics outside of that I had fun watching it, and if the next episode preview is anything to go by, I'm in for a wild ride with this show. You'd better believe I'm looking forward to it if so.

Ah yes, the show where Asakura from Ryuki is the main hero.

Funny show and very crazy. Next will be even more fun.
By the way, Changerion was broadcast simultaneously with Gayferd from Toho and Capcom, so in the 96th year the fight between the largest tokusatsu studios and the largest game companies was very hot.

Wait, really? I didn't even recognize him!

This is the first time I've ever even heard of Guyferd.

...

I gotta watch that next, don't I?

In fact, Changerion became a meme in Japan before the term even existed. So I'm wondering how those in charge of Ryuki decided to cast an actor with a comedic reputation for the role of Asakura.




It's not a bad show. Plus, it only has 26 episodes.

No, I don't know what that title has to do with the content of the episode.

That aside, while things slow down a bit for this one, that doesn't make the events of the episode any less crazy.

On its face, the episode concerns itself with a monster that abducts women through possessed shoes, whom he then forces said women to eat in order to fatten them up and eat them.

In terms of the setting up of character arcs and overarching plot though, the episode establishes that a guy called Hayami was originally supposed to become Changerion before the accident happened and the powers went to Akira. Akira loves his new powers, but has no interest in saving the world.

It doesn't help that the argument SAIDOC tries to use to recruit Akira is a pretty faulty one. The agent lady tells Akira to consider Hayami's' feelings, when Akira barely even knows who Hayami is, and that's about the end of it. This all leads into the two men crossdressing in order to infiltrate a shoe store. What? That's just natural progression to me!

Okay, I obviously left out some details, but hopefully you get the idea that I'm gunning for: Just like the first episode, this one escalates and when it does, it does so with gusto. I also gotta say that on a character front, I do like that, despite his jokey personality and general incompetence, I do like that Akira does infact have some honed detective skills, shown when he sets up to kinda Akemi after she's kidnapped by a pair of shoes.

It's not like this is some perfect super fun ride though. The ADR throughout the episode is impressively bad, and a big source of the humor in this episode(crossdressing, gay jokes) are ones that certainly haven't aged well. The action side of things is pretty weak too, with the monster of the week being dealt with pretty quickly to the point that it barely counts as a fight scene(also featuring Akira suddenly knowing how to use more of his arsenal). It almsot feels tacked on in the way it's handled.

Still, if these first two episodes are meant to establish a sort of pattern for the average Changerion episode to follow, then you know what? The show should end up at the very least be an interesting watch, if not a good one.

Not only did Inoue write both this and Donbrothers, Sonoroku from the latter had his armored form based on Changerion.

What little I can add about this entry stems from a review done a while back ago.

https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2021/09...hi-changerion/

Seems this little show has quite the legacy that I was unaware of!

Not really interested in other reviews at the moment, but thank you.

You know it's an Inoue show when there's a scene of people eating copious amounts of food together.

Anyway, I don't choose that thumbnail solely because I'm immature.

Rather, I feel as though it highlights why Changerion didn't exactly catch on with alot of people. That being that the show seems very confused as to exactly its target audience is.

Sure, there's many the toyetic element and childlike high energy found in many a children's' toku, but at the same time, the show is full of alot of surprisingly adult humor and content. As such, no way are parents gonna let their kids watch this and older audiences will just pass it off as a standard toku.

It's certainly a strange beast, and I can only think that maybe they were aiming for (pre-)teens? Even the writing seems pretty random. With the hyper simplicity of the children's' show but then there's adult content--look, I'm going in circles. Point is, Changerion sends alot of mixed messages and it makes it very hard for me to grasp just what its end goal is if there even is one.

Take this very episode as a prime example. It's what is on the surface an episode straight out of Power Rangers, wherein the monster of the week is kidnapping brides to be. But then you're bombarded with other things such as Akira and Hayami being creeps to women, many of the fake brides getting catty with eachother over their looks, and of course, the D-cups joke shown right there in the screencap above.

That all aside, maybe this is just a me thing, but I also didn't find this episode all that funny or engaging? It actually made me kinda worried that Changerion is gonna eventually overstay its welcome, and made me kinda wish that I was binging it instead of doing an episode daily. And if so, then I will very much be able to see why the show was cut short the way it was. Like, this episode was certainly one that I watched and that was about the extent of my impressions of it as far as a review goes.

It just is what it is. Not awful or anything, I just wasn't really into it and more spent the time I had thinking about what the show might end up being like as an overall experience by the end.

Exploding toilet paper monster.

Do I even need to write a review at this point? That one sentence alone should tell you basically everything you need to know about this episode.

But I guess I can't get off that easy, can I? Alright, I'll do my best to get at the meat of things here, though I will say that this is the sort of episode that you really should see for yourself to understand just how crazy it is.

Actually, a better thought, here a question for you readers out there: Have you and a friend ever been accused of a crime you didn't commit, so you break yourselves out of jail to find the real culprit, but one really persistent cop(who for some reason doesn't just call for backup) keeps getting in the way, leading to you and your friend being handcuffed together?

Then, seeing no other option, you have your friend push you down the road on a wheelbarrel, leading to you both freeing yourselves via crashing into a pole. To celebrate, you decide to bro fist, leading to the handcuffs reattaching themselves, so you then decide to head back to your place, which in turn leads to you discovering the real culprit of the original crime, who just so happens to be a guy that likes to strangle people with toilet paper?

That's essentially the entire middle chunk of the episode, all directed and filmed in as zany of a way as possible. There's some other stuff here too, like Hayami inadvertently helping a boy grow closer with his mother, but that is such a footnote when put next to a freaking toilet paper monster.

I also gotta give it to Inoue, I think this is the first toku I've ever seen where a monster causing stuff to blow up is what in turn powers up the show's' equivalent to Zords. And also one of the few I've seen in which funding is a big factor in terms of building all of this super equipment. Letting Inoue loose leads to interesting results if nothing else.

So... yeah. Another fun one, if you couldn't tell. I have no idea how this episode is gonna be topped, if ever in the show's' run though. But man would it be impressive if things only got crazier.

When a woman gets kidnapped on a bus by DarkZide, it's up to our main trio to track down and figure out who the culprit is. The prime suspects being the only other three passengers on said bus.

It's a relatively simple, but an interesting one. The group splitting up certainly offers a chance at diving deeper into the personalities and development of our main cast.

...But Changerion isn't really interested in any of that.

See, here's the thing. Despite the obvious set up for story and character development, our run time is spent instead injecting character and ironic humor into pretty much every scenario. And in the end, very little actual detective work is even done.

And while in many other stories I'd find this a bit annoying or disappointing, when it comes to Changerion specifically, I think it ultimately works out. Because I think this episode, more than any of the previous ones, signals exactly what this show is setting out to be: An adult-oriented parody of common Toku tropes of the time period.

To that end, while I did get a small chuckle or two out of the episode, the humor overall was nothing stellar to me. But hey, I at the very least didn't find any of it obnoxious, and it at the very least wasn't ruining any sort of pre-established dramatic mood or tension that the episode had built up. The episode remains tonally consistent all throughout, and if that seems like I'm giving some sort of backhanded compliment, I'm really not.

There is one interesting plot detail dropped that I found pretty cool and unique though: The reveal that DarkZide isn't actually fully aware of SAIDOC yet. Because they've all been splitting up on their own to infiltrate humanity, no one has been able to report in on how Changerion has been killing them one by one. I don't think that's an angle I've ever seen another superhero show do, much less a toku, and is one I'd love to see expanded on in a more story focused show someday.

I really didn't like this one.

It's just so out of place in regards to basically everything. Both in terms of its own internal structure as well as series composition.

What it boils down to is that the episode tries really hard to be tragic, without having the atmosphere, writing, or characterization to really back it up. I mainly just found myself rolling my eyes through the whole thing.

The plot is that Akira and a DarkZide monster fall in love over a single date and because DarkZiders need to eat the life energy of humans, the two are forced to try and kill one another in the end. And if that sounds interesting to you, I recommend watching almost any other superhero show to see it done better.

I felt nothing for Jiro because she's barely a character, and I felt nothing for Akira because all throughout the episode he's just being his usual womanizing self without even a hint of anything deeper going on. The two having next to no chemistry together really doesn't help either. Couldn't even turn my brain off and enjoy the fight due to lazy choreography.

Overall the episode is a total misfire that I just couldn't get invested in. But hey, given my own disposition towards romance, maybe I'm just not he target audience for this one.

As I've said before, I'm not really a fan of idol content.

And rather than explain for the tenth time as to why, I'll just be upfront and say that, surprisingly, I found this to be one of the better episodes so far.

Sure, like with alot of things in Changerion, plenty of aspects to it haven't aged well. Many of the jokes and critiques it makes at the expense of the idol industry are ones that have been done plenty of times since this show first aired.

But yet this episode also features some of the better character humor seen in the show's' run so far(the screencap I chose is one of the few genuine laughs that Changerion has gotten out of me), and I felt that the development given to Akira and Akemi was actually pretty decently handled.

Yeah, the episode isn't breaking any new ground, and the monster fight at the end almost feels tacked on, but despite all that, overall, the episode was still a pretty fun sit and I felt it handled itself pretty well. Solid character interaction while only being mildly less crazy than the average episode. And really, I'm not sure what else I could even hope to ask for.

Out of all the episodes so far, this one was by far the most Inoue for me.

And by that I mean that I felt that this episode had something going, only for it to fizzle out and just be kinda nothing to me by the end.

The episode centers around Eri and her relationship with her father. And there are two different and conflicting messages going on here that just muddy things throughout the episode.

At first the idea seems to be that Eri wants to take charge of her own life, which, you know, fair enough. But then at the end the episode seems to more side with the father's' doting over his daughter's' livelihood? And all because he took pictures with her as a kid?

I dunno, it just leaves a really sour taste in my mouth. Maybe this is some sort of deal with gender roles in Japan that I as an American just don't understand, but even if I ignore that, it's not like the comedic elements of this episode were any sort of highlight in order to make up for it. It's Inoue's' usual misunderstandings shtick, it's just played for laughs here.

It's a shame too, because an episode focused on Eri in and of itself is not a bad idea, given that's she's had the least focus out of the main cast so far. But unfortunately, none of the stuff that has made Changerion fun to watch was present this time around, which just sank things even further. Not the weakest episode in the show, but one that I can't see myself looking back on fondly, if I even remember it at all.

This actually ended up being a rather nice package all around.

Primarily this is a personality swap episode, with all the zany antics that such a premise usually entails, but it's also used as a vehicle for solid character development.

Hayami was the one who was originally supposed to Changerion, remember? So this episode explores what happens that Hayami finally gets his shot due to an accident leading to a personality swap with Akira.

Even in the prospect of swap episodes though, this one proves to be rather unique in that it's the only one I've seen where the effects of the swap fade in and out. Sure, the gags are basic, but that unique aspect alone makes up for it in my eyes.

We also get to see why exactly Hayami isn't fit for the job of Changerion. Sure, he's more than capable physically, but mentally, he's actually too good of a guy, too honorable, to the point that he can't bring himself to actually kill a DarkZide monster despite their heinous deeds. Something Akira has never had a problem doing even when he fell in love with one.

And that's also where the one big flaw of the episode comes in. This takes place after the episode where Akira and Jiro fell in love, so Akira claiming in this episode that all monsters are evil feels really out of place. Had the Jiro episode taken place after this one, that'd be one thing, but it felt out of character that this interactions takes place when it does. Or maybe Akira thinks only all male monsters are evil, or something.

That aside, it was also nice to see both men gain some new respect for eachother once everything was said and done. Sure, they try and end things on a bit of an ambiguous note, but I personally feel it's pretty obvious that Akira has warmed up to Hayami and vice-versa.

It's just kind of a nice episode to experience overall, and I dug it.

I... I don't even know what I just watched.

No, really, I'm not even sure as to what I can even say about this one other than just detailing every bit of insanity that happens.

But I don't wanna do that, because that would just give away everything that makes this easily the most cracked out episode of Changerion yet. I guarantee that you aren't ready for anything this episode has in store.

If there's one thing I got out of this(other than feeling like I was on drugs the whole time), it's that I now know why a mackerel was included as an accessory for the figure Sentinel made for Changerion.

And that's all I'm gonna say. Go watch this episode. Just... just watch it.

There is alot going on in this episode.

The A plot is about Akira getting hired to discover the whereabouts of a man's' missing girlfriend, who turns out was not actually kidnapped by DarkZide.

The B plot, however, is alot more involving and the one that I found alot more interesting, as it very heavily expands on the culture of the creatures from the Dark Dimension, and introduces us to who I assume is to be Changerion's' rival.

Seeing the monsters having difficulty in integrating in human society, to the point of needing a special consultant/therapist is a really unique angle, and made me think this show kind set the stage for alot of the things Inoue would later write about in Kamen Rider Faiz.

Funnily enough, the episode also becomes a sort of alcohol PSA, as alcoholism very much affects the monster of the week, who could've probably lead a much longer and happier life without it. But alas, many humans are cruel, and as such things spiral out of hand until Gauzer reveals himself to do cleanup. And of course, he wields a katana.

I gotta hand it to whoever directed this one too. The atmosphere was handled pretty well all throughout the episode; Managing to blend the wackiness of the A plot with the solemness of the B plot rather well. Granted the two plots coming together at the end isn't exactly the cleanest way it could've been done, but I think it worked out overall. Plus, this episode featured people splashing in water! All of the Inoue boxes have been checked at long last!

So yeah, this was a solid episode that progressed the overall plot in a neat way. Looking forward to more.

This episode tones down the crazy, but in a good way!

And when you get right down to it, this episode is a much better version of the Jiro episode we had not too long ago.

The primary meat of the episode is about establishing the character of Gauzer and how he's a dude who's super obsessed with doing things the "proper" way as a means to showcase how much better he is than everyone else.

And in that regard shows all of negatives aspects right at the forefront. In short that he's a pretentious manipulator, and that while he and Eri do end up having feelings for one another, Gauzer is by no means a good guy nor does he ever intend to treat Eri well.

But beside that, the character interactions in this episode are top notch, and mostly from Akira. Him being able to near instantly recognize Gauzer as a fake, as well as him belittling Gauzer for fun make for some top notch stuff. Hayami and Eri are no slouches either though, with their own personalities on full display and never once going out of character.

I can see the ending of the eventual fight between Gauzer and Changerion being a bit contentious for some, but I'm overall fine with it. Eri distracting Gauzer with the Daruma callout not only hammers in how she's done with him, but ties into Gauzer's' obsessive character flaw and also shows that Akira still has alot of growing to do before he can hope to win against Gauzer in a fair fight, which is in turn consistent with the workout session at the start of the episode.

Overall, this one was a fun watch full of solid character beats, and I dug it.

Why would anyone do drugs when they could just watch tokusatsu?

I honestly feel as though this episode was Changerion at its peak, and I can't even begin to imagine anything later on in the show topping it.

It's an episode where the main threat is an insurance salesman who kidnaps people with mind controlled, exploding, stuffed rabbits that suck their victims' blood until they run dry so he can feast on their life energy.

Do I even need to say anything more after that? That alone makes up a ton of the absolute insanity that makes up this episode. Not just the very premise, but the action, comedy, and even dramatic tension that all comes out of it. Stuff like this is why I love toku as a medium.

But that's not all the episode has to offer either. Because surprisingly, there's actually character development! The focus of which being Akemi and Eri actually learning to put aside their differences to rescue the people they care about, even find some common ground in order to grow closer as friends. And all while never forgetting the two's' best bit of being catty with eachother.

Oh, and also the robots get a combined form but really, that's small potatoes when compared to all of the, well, literally everything else. This episode is a high energy roller coaster ride from beginning to end, and one that I did not wanna get off of. It was just a really fun time all around and don't think I could complain about a single second of it. Great stuff.

Was not expecting Changerion of all shows to throw a deep, moral quandary at me.

This episode has the balls to ask: "Which is the bigger, more important threat? A monster eating seniors at a retirement home, or someone threatening to bomb a kindergarten?"

Not that it matters a whole lot though, given how both plots end up tying together by the end. But if you're curious, we spend alot more time at the kindergarten than we do at the retirement home.

Which, ya know, I think this is the first Toku I've seen where a retirement home even exists, so much as being involved in a monster of the week plot. Changerion continues to subvert expectations in alot of ways, and I really can't get enough of that aspect of it.

Anyway, the biggest focus and takeaway of the episode is what you might expect from the title: Akemi, and her figuring out what exactly it is she wants to do with her life. Turns out she's really good with kids, to the point she's able to bond with the kid who's known as a troublemaker, though not without some effort on her part.

What's nice is that the kid in question, Takanori, while trouble, never comes across as obnoxious nor is his behavior simply glossed over. He's like a way better done Kiriya from the Inoue half of Kamen Rider Hibiki. Especially given the kid's' troubles primarily stemming from not having a mother in his life. Which, given how many bad/missing dads are in toku, is another somewhat refreshing angle to have.

But yes, by the end, Akemi decides that she wants to be a kindergarten teacher, and as such departs on her own path in life, and as such I imagine she's now out of the show entirely. And I'll be honest, I found it kind of a shame given how I only just recently grew to like everyone in the main cast, and now we're already getting rid of one of them. At the very least I found the story connected nice enough to experience, and it's not like they kill her off gruesomely just for sympathy points.

But yeah, in the end, this was overall satisfying, and I look forward to seeing how Akira plans to cope with Akemi being gone.

Daimajin Kanon.

Wait, really? It's been so long since I've seen Daimajin Kanon that I straight up don't remember this.

This episode was way too relatable.

We're all Tokusatsu fans on these boards, right? As such, many of us are also collectors, I think Japan knew that was a big part of the market even back in the 90s when Changerion was made.

Which makes it kind of a ballsy move to feature an episode where half its content is making fun of collectors, which are a big part of your audience.

Now, don't get me wrong, the episode doesn't make any jokes that are outright offensive at our expense or anything, but it was amusing in a bit of an unintended way that, with almost every crack they made, I found myself more going "Yeah, I get it" than feeling like I was being silly or whatever.

The other part of the plot is how Akira is looking for a new secretary now that Akemi is gone, and weird as it is to say, I actually found that bit of episode to be the more interesting one despite it feeling minor in comparison. Granted, I wasn't expecting too much out of it given that Changerion isn't exactly a hardcore drama or anything; I just found it a touch more intriguing.

And that's kinda all I can really say about this one? Most of it is a one note "Ha, nerds" joke, and while it doesn't devolve to the level of, say, Big Bang Theory in terms of obnoxiousness or anything, it does mean there aren't that many avenues to examine. For me atleast. It just is what it is and, really, I'm not about to hold that against it.

Kanon's father's fianc?e worked there.

An interesting character study on the pros and cons of prioritizing seeing the good in others.

As you might expect from a premise like that, Hayami is the one who takes center stage here, with his encounter with a troubled girl being the plot.

Hayami's' goody-goody nature unfortunately leaves him suspect to not only getting into his own head about the hidden good within others, but also makes him rather gullible and easy to manipulate, as we've seen before.

But unlike the episode where he was able to temporarily become Changerion, this one more so looks at how, yeah, Hayami is a sucker, but it's his attitude of always trying to do the right thing that also endears him to others who are also good at heart.

In the end it's a nice tale about genuine kindness overcoming cynicism, but this episode was refreshing in that it wasn't only Hayami's' kind deeds that won Kiriko over. Akira shines in this episode too with how he not only looks out for his friend, but also forces Kiriko to confront the harm that her lies are doing to the guy she's been manipulating.

Sure, in reality things are hardly ever this clean, and people who take advantage of others will often do so without so much as a care and will keep doing it as long as they continue to gain something out of it. But, in a story, and in a world we often like to dream of being ideal, stories like this are always nice to see, and just maybe, one day we as humans will grow to sprout enough joy and love to one another that such stories won't be just a fantasy.

I know it wasn't the primary focus of the episode, but I learned alot about Akira.

It took me this long to realize that his constant forced smile is infact what he does in universe, as a way of keeping composure in the face of adversity.

It's actually not that uncommon in real life either. Many people(myself included) will let out a smirk or a small laugh as a way to react when they're either not entire sure of what's appropriate or as a way of keeping from expressing something else.

And yeah, I know I'm slow to realize this, as in hindsight it was very much the point the entire time, especially given how Akira is adept at misdirection, but I felt like alot of his character quirks shined in this episode alot better than in most.

For example, his detective's intuition shines greatly here when it comes to investigating the kidnapping of a local high school girl. He deduces rather quickly that both suspects are guilty and a part of DarkZide, and not just because he's frustrated at the situation in and of itself. Sure, he still has those feelings, but they don't get in the way of his job.

Making the character beats even stronger is that this episode in general is actually genuinely funny both in terms of its character humor as well as its general parody of toku tropes; the biggest one being poking fun at Rival characters, with no less than three DarkZide monsters all wanting to claim the title as Changerion's' fated rival and listing off generic reasons as to why such a thing gets established in other superhero shows.

This episode also serves as the first part of the show's' first two-parter, so I gotta wonder where exactly this is all headed, given the end of the episode almost outright says that the initial investigation that kicked it all off is basically irrelevant by this point, not to mention the mysterious figure introduced right at the end who might be yet another rival for Changerion to deal with.

I'm excited for tomorrow's' episode!

I'm honestly starting to question whether Inoue is a genius or just crazy.

Yeah, as you might expect from the title, this episode does continue the joke established in the previous one, with a fourth monster coming in.

But despite both that and some other humorous elements here and there, the episode as a whole is played almost entirely straight; Not unlike something you'd see out of another Tokusatsu's' "mid-season upgrade" episode.

...That is, until the very end.

And given the thumbnail I chose for the episode, I'm sure you might be able to guess what I'm getting at: The big twist is that a stray dog ends up eating Changerion's' power-up item before Akira is able to acquire it, and is thus denied any sort of new power.

That alone is enough to make the average viewer(or atleast me) cry out "Who does that!?" but then... it actually ends up leading to solid character development, ontop of tying in with the plot points brought up in the previous two episodes?? Heck, it ties in with the current plot by reinforcing that Gauzer is infact Changerion's' rival!

Because something to note about nearly every fight that Changerion has been in up to now: If he doesn't win with ease, then he usually has one of the three robo knights there to bail him now. He's never really had to try super hard in order to take out the DarkZide monsters up to now, right? However, seeing DarkZide stomp all over the feelings of an innocent girl is enough to give him the drive to get serious for once, and he shows that he doesn't need any power up.

Said girl also ends up becoming Akira's' new secretary, and yeah, the joke about her cooking at the end is to be expecting, but really, it's such a minor thing that I really can't complain. This entire episode had a surprising amount of thought and heart put into it, and all under the guise of being completely bonkers to boot. And that's also what's made Changerion as a show so fun to watch so far. It somehow has yet to bottom out! I have no idea how long it can maintain this momentum, but I'm still impressed!

This was a great one, absolutely.

Pretty basic, all things considered.

In terms of a mystery, I saw the twist coming a mile away, most of the comedy was bog standard, and the monster plot feels pretty forced.

The episode's' primary focus is to flesh out Rui's' backstory, but not only is her backstory not much in and of itself, it's made even weaker in terms of impact just by the episode in and of itself being so basic.

Like, the episode overall isn't bad per se, but for a show that's been so good about subverting expectations and throwing wild curveballs, I can't help but feel a bit let down, ya know? Oh well, I suppose it does help to let us in on who Rui is as a person a bit more, so it's not a total wash.

Anyway yeah, not much to say about this one. Very standard, very whatever.

Recap episode.

What? Were you maybe expecting something different with the title that this episode has?

Sure, it's pretty standard in terms of clipshow episodes for its format, but there is the fun twist/gag that Akira is literally dying in the foreground as everyone else is busy reminiscing.

Plus, it does serves as an in universe way of catching Rui up to speed since she's been absent for half the show. And the way it all ends, with the bickering between Akira and Hayami, well, what other way would you want your average Changerion episode to end, really?

So, yeah. This episode is simple and straightforward, but in a fun way.

This one was not for me.

Hayami and a DarkZide monster fall in love. Misunderstandings happen. Akira has to kill the monster at the end. Sound familiar?

Yeah, this is basically the Jiro episode but very slightly edited. And in that regard, I guess this one is better than the older episode, but really not by a whole lot. Akira trying to help his friend out was nice, atleast.

So... yeah. It's an episode that did nothing for me and thus I don't really have anything to say on it, sorry.

Incredibly unfunny.

Do I really gotta say any more than that? It's an episode whose entire premise is built upon two running gags that I never found funny, resulting in more unfunny.

If you want the actual plot, it's that Rui's' tiresome running gag of spending way too much money(seriously, she should've long since learned her lesson by now), puts Akira in debt and under threat of being sued by the bank.

However, lucky for him, his next case involves the buried treasure of some rich old guy. So the plan is to go undercover and try to get the dying old man to tell them where the treasure is buried. What results is very unfunny Entitled Old Man jokes and a wild goose chase of fake buried treasures.

It'd be one thing if the ridiculousness of the scenario were on par with previous episodes, or if the character humor were executed really well, but I'll be honest, I only ever got one decent laugh out of the whole thing(and it's thanks to Akira's' on point selfishness), and that's really bad for what is very blatantly meant to be a comedy focused episode.

Changerion has really been losing steam with these last few episodes, and I'm really hoping that Inoue either amps up the crazy or the character development sometime soon, given how much I'd been enjoying things up until the most recent string of episodes.

While not perfect, this was a surprising step up from the last few episodes.

It's a premise we've all seen in a ton of shows, aimed at kids or otherwise. The hero is put to trial in an obviously corrupt court run by the villains.

And sure, most of the events that transpire in the episode itself are very standard for this sort of episode too. However, there are a few key details that actually help this episode stand on its own two legs.

First is the actually pretty funny gag that the two bankers are literally named Banker A and Banker B, with no one even bothering to question it. Next is the various callbacks to previous episodes without this becoming another clip show episode like many other shows would do.

And last... it was just kinda fun to see play out, ya know? The only major flaw of the whole thing was that Akira acknowledges that it's a DarkZide court right at the start, and yet is somehow surprised later to find that the judge is a monster. I would've also liked to have seen Eri or whoever list actual good deeds that Akira has done at the end, given that he has done alot. But oh well.

The episode itself is all about farces anyway; from the court itself, to whether Gauzer is actually as smart as he claims, it's the sort of thing that at the very least kept me interested all throughout, even if I've seen Kangaroo Court episodes that I've liked more in other shows. And hey, apparently this was part two of a three parter, and with a new boss monster apparently on the horizon, it makes me very curious as to the direction that Changerion is headed.

Interesting, but not exactly great, per say.

The episode certainly has a cool enough premise, which is to recycle the "monster falls in love" scripts of previous episodes, only for things to take a dark turn.

And unfortunately, the premise is kind of all this episode has got. There's still humor, but none of it lands, especially given it's usually during scenes where the darker aspects should be played up more.

There's also some very confusing bits of decision making on the part of the characters, mainly in the climax. Most notably, there was no reason for Akira to have let Zapphire live at the end, both due to all he'd gone through as well as his experiences from past episodes.

I know it's played for a joke, but I also didn't like how no lesson was learned at the end either. The episode could've served as a cool cautionary tale about how Akira's' usual antics realistically only lead to trouble, but I guess maybe they felt that'd go against the usual tone of the show. Which only in turn makes me wonder why this episode even exists to begin with.

So, yeah. An interesting watch, but not exactly a fulfilling one.

This might be the straightest that Changerion has ever played itself.

And to serve as proof that certain stories and tropes really are timeless, this is an episode that I ended up really liking.

It's the classic tale of our hero falling in love with a thief ala Catwoman or Black Cat. Only this time it's with Akira and the title thief of the episode. And what can I say? I'm a sucker for thief characters.

It helps that her actress brings alot of charisma to the role, and the dynamic between her and Akira actually has a surprising amount of heart to it. The transition from rivalry to love is pulled off at the best pace it possibly could within a single episode's' time span, I feel.

There were also a good amount of genuine laughs to be had here too, mostly in terms of character humor and how everyone played off eachother. Heck, even outside the two leads, Hayami's' daydreaming getting a callback actually got a really solid laugh out of me. Yeah the aspect itself is fun but it's totally sold by the way Akira reacts to it.

I really hope that our Butterfly Thief isn't just some one off character, as that'd be a total waste.

It's all politics, and thus is easily the worst episode.

Even putting that aside, the only things established outside of Gauzer becoming Governor of Japan is that Eri for some dumb reason is still in love with him.

Yeah, no. This episode is every bit as boring as it is frustrating, and I didn't like it. That's all I got.

So this thread will most likely be going on a short hiatus. Why? Well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEeCBqulX0A

My favorite MMO just dropped a major update, and I kinda wanna grind out the current events as quick as possible. Sorry!

And so do I!

Now, I have no doubt that my two and a half week long break from Changerion did me some good on refreshing myself to the show.

However, I think that I'd still have a good time with this episode despite that because I felt that overall, this one was rather well done! I had alot of fun when watching this episode!

The most impressive aspect to me was just how cleanly this episode was able to transition between various different moods without every feeling like tonal whiplash, and all while doing every one of them well, too, with each one only serving to enhance the central core of the story: Akemi and Rui's' rivalry.

There's the good character humor between the cast as always, but then there's the more haunting stuff with how the DarkZide monster goes about claiming its victims, as well as the action actually being a bit more dynamic than normal, with a big chunk of it taking place inside of the boiler room of a hospital. The twist of who the monster actually is was something I felt was handled well too.

Really appreciated how everything ended too, as not only is it a fun parody on the classic rival duel you see in these kinds of stories, but it's essentially Inoue saying "It's fun to revisit old times, but we're passed that point now." Which in turn doesn't reset status quo and keeps the character development that the cast has had up to now mostly intact. Sure, one final word from Akira would've been nice, but I think the episode mostly wrapped up clean.

Overall, it's an episode that has fun with a beloved character temporarily returning to the show while reinforcing the story decisions that have been made up to this point, and I can't really fault it for that.

Welcome back!