[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Alright. Maskman continues.

Episode 19- Akira/Blue Mask focus. While fighting Tube in the mountains, the Maskmen encounter a new general, the Peculiar Ground Beast Anagmus. He has has the ability to increase the other generals' power. During the fight, Anagmus zaps Akira with a Phantom Orb... and it either causes him to lose his memory or causes him to hit his head and lose his memory. Either way -- Akira's memory? Gone. A group of kids find Akira literally adrift in a river -- and wouldn't you know it, they know Akira from his pre-Maskman days. I guess he grew up in these same mountains. It becomes the kids' job to help Akira regain his memory.

Episode 20 - Momoko/Pink Mask focus. While teaching some kids her style of Kendo, Momoko is assaulted by a mysterious woman in black. The arrogant bitch criticizes Momoko's Kendo, comparing it to amateur parlor tricks. She proclaims that her own is stronger and proceeds to steal Momoko's students. But Momoko feels something is amiss -- this woman's Kendo is dark and violent, and she can't let her students fall victim to it. So the two women duke it out until mystery bitch reveals she's actually a Ground Beast in disguise. Still intent on proving the strength of her Kendo -- and to reinforce to her students that one should fight to the bitter end -- Momoko refuses to transform and takes on the beast in her civilian state. She ultimately proves the power of her Kendo -- but too late! Turns out the plan all along was to weaken Momoko so the Maskmen can't efficiently pilot their robot, The Great Five. The Maskmen defeat the enemy, but at the expense of their giant robot, which is swallowed by the Earth. Momoko watches, helpless. What will the team do now?


These episodes are interesting counterpoints to each other. On the one hand, Episode 19 is terrible. It suffers from the shallowness you'd expect from an 80s kids show. The ridiculous coincidences (Akira just happens to be found by some mountain kids he already knows? Really?), the stupid villain plot, the annoying amnesia cliche, the horrible daikaiju fight. Lame, lame, lame, lame. The only stand out element was the ground fighting -- which continues to be stunning.

On the other hand, Episode 20 is fucking awesome. The conflict between the two martial arts badass ladies made this episode feel like a flashback from Kill Bill. Momoko continues to be elevated from standard Pink to tough-as-nails fighter. It's awesome that the female-member-focused episodes continue to be the standouts in this series. And this episode contains actual stakes for the daikaiju fight! Watching the team fail due to Momoko's absence makes it actually thrilling. These guys can't operate effectively without a single member of their team. As with any great Sentai, each member contributes something essential to the whole. Great stuff.

These two episodes represent a lot of what I like and dislike about the show. Two sides of the same coin. The inconsistency makes it a little hard to get through the show -- but the good parts are more than worth the bad.