[Locke]

So Fourze 36: was better than it probably should have been even if it was cringeworthy in how corny it was in places.

The fact that God can play music that both drains life energy and allows them to find the magic doodad makes him a pretty major player, even if he was reduced to basically a glorified monster of the week as well.

Leo's ability to use old Switches is kinda awesome, if you don't think on how much that contradicts the rules of the show too much and he's at least lasted longer than two episodes so far so by this point of the show he counts as a major villain.

Remember the days when the identity of Scorpion was an interesting mystery spread out over many episodes? And how the Horoscopes were bigged up as these unique and extremely powerful monsters? Yeah they sure dropped that huh...

OOO 34: I kinda wish sticking random medals together to see what happens had been a more central part to the series. I mean I know it has but the show never really made any deal out of the random medals most of the time, Eiji just rolled with it with only really the Combos played up as anything special. This episode sort of almost gave me a Ben 10 feel when the seemingly random combination turned out to be key in the way Ben would get the alien he didn't want but then find out that it was actually the one he needed all along. Still I think MMPR Eiji is my favourite form, shitty effects aside, he really reminds me of Hollow Ichigo and I just think it's really cool.

Plus it's a pretty cool character turn to know Eiji is basically using Ankh to support his own idealism, he isn't so damaged that he is like emo and useless but Eiji is an extremely flawed hero in a very interesting way and Eiji almost embraces his problems which makes him seem so human and just generally likeable without it being forced like so many toku protagonists who are just perfect in every way as the show basically screams at you to like them and even if you don't everyone in the entire show falls in love with them anyway.

It was a pretty great episode for Ankh as well, I'm going to be perfectly honest and say I cannot stand Ankh (Although I don't think I'm meant to) and despite he and Eiji being the core duo I find their relationship completely uninteresting. I see nothing wrong with this kind of dynamic but I like the dynamic to feel like it's moving forwards and progressing, I like the tsundere to soften and for you to see their friendship form right before your very eyes ala Jack and Sky from SPD.

And it may have taken 34 episodes but I think Ankh finally showed a moment of vulnerability, admitting he needed Eiji's help and genuinely this time rather than his usual sly asshole insult way of saying it, and literally risking his own life to help Eiji even if it was ultimately to serve him this is the closest Ankh has come to selfless which is both a huge step for his character and a huge step in general since Greed are driven by their own personal desires. I hope this means Ankh's character will actually start to grow now as I have found his 34 episodes as a pouting Topman model a thorn in my side, especially when he's juxtaposed with so many other great characters like Eiji, Brotou and Date.

Fourze 37: Enter Aquarius the water bender with the bodacious rack who was actually really shit but had bullshit healing powers so she didn't die in the first five minutes. I also like that despite in the early episode Kengo's unexplored illness is finally cured and they don't bring it up again.

It was a pretty fun episode, good to see Libra finally get called out on his scumminess but overall eh...the show really has gone downhill since Meteor appeared, I mean sure it's still fun and what have you but in the early days it seemed to actually be about something and was actually trying to raise above its own sentimental silliness but for the last fifteen or so episodes I feel like we're just going through the same arc over and over again and it only isn't filler, in a sense, because these aren't just monsters of the week they are meant to be big bads even if the show does nothing to convince us of such.

There is nothing wrong with being fun, especially given why this was made, but this series was better than 'just fun' once and it just all feels like a downgrade now.