[DreamSword]

Episode 10: I Found the First Bystander!

DS: Before we get into the meat of the episode, I just wanna point out how much I love that every Blaster has its own individual touch to it.

En-chan: They got jealous that Yamashiron modified his gun so they followed suit.

I also love the gag of KitaQMan's gun being functional all along, it's just the safety was on.

DS: And yet his has the label of "Not Safe" slapped on it, haha.

Anyway, yeah, we've hit endgame with Nice Buddy, and the tone takes a rather dramatic turn to match. I was super engrossed into this one. The atmosphere and directing were all incredibly on point!

En-chan: Helps that the episode is mostly shot at night to help give weight to the situation.

DS: There's also the twist that, man, I dunno if it even is a twist so much as something I should've figured as soon as we learned who Great-Z actually was? Basically, it's made very clear here that the flashbacks we got a few episodes ago of the bullied child weren't Riku's', but rather his dad's'. And it makes alot of his behavior and motivations make alot of sense.

En-chan: Yeah, it's a less a twist but there wasn't too much emphasis put onto it until now.

Still, Great-Z's antagonism towards the Dogengers very much comes from the childhood trauma of being bullied by his classmates. Because of that and only viewing the Dogengers at a surface level at first, meant that he assumed our heroes were trying to trample on the dream he made a reality despite the disapproval of those around him.

DS: It's something that is right in the wheelhouse of the director, too. While I was informed that she was a co-director for Super Sentai in years prior, something I found out recently was that she was also heavily involved in Tokusatsu GaGaGa before getting to be the lead director for Dogengers. And Great-Z's' resentment and bitterness really mirrored the backstory of a character from GaGaGa, and both are portrayed wonderfully.

And likewise with GaGaGa, that sort of thing -- inventing your own heroes, having trouble finding those with similar interests, it's all portrayed rather realistically and is something I'm sure many of us who're in this medium can relate to. It's what makes the ending of this one, with the Dogengers extending a hand of understanding and helping to heal Great-Z's' inner child, all the more powerful. The scene where they all geek out over their old designs is great, and shows that, yeah, the people who make this stuff have to have some sort of passion for it, otherwise they wouldn't last.

En-chan: It's such a heartwarming ending to the episode.

Great-Z has that understandable fear given this is clearly a recurring episode in his mind, you can really tell how pained and fearful he is of a repeat with the people he's come to fight against. So when the Dogengers start complimenting and getting all friendly with his inner child, and he starts to realize that they all had the same start, the way he relaxes and comes to accept this as the episode fades to a relaxing white, it's absolutely touching.

The ending of this episode is honestly why I consider this one of my favorite Tokusatsu episodes of all time. It's an emotionally warm climax to everything we've been following and has a wonderful message of telling people that you should still believe in and love heroes, you can still create your own heroes, it may feel rough at points, but keep pushing and you'll find something more despite it all.

DS: The episode all around has alot of layers to it for sure. Heck, it's not like it's all Great-Z either. His entire situation of being a diabetic and not taking care of himself, well, that directly ties into the mission statement of Ohgaman and by extension, Ohga Pharmacy. Their entire mission is to get everyone to properly take their medicine(and sleep!), and having this episode showcase some of the dire consequences that can come about when you don't take proper care of yourself was a bold move for a kid's' show.

And of course, it also helps in keeping with Riku mirroring Jiro, since Riku himself admits he should've pushed harder for his dad to take better care of himself. And what does nearly every episode of Dogengers end with? Telling kids to help their family stay healthy. It's some really cool theming all around and I dug it alot.

En-chan: Oh absolutely.

I was honestly surprised to see them do something this in depth regarding the messages in regard to medicine since we've never hit it this hard or heavy before now. Them tying it into the over-arching narrative in multiple ways worked very effectively.

DS: That's about all I got for the major stuff this episode, so I wanna rapid fire some other bits I got a kick out of:

-Great-Z, if we're going by his old drawing, is based off of Getter Robo, and ya know, great choice for inspiration I must say.

-Maid Butler coming in clutch, Tuxedo Mask style, was a great scene.

-Did... did Shiromaru friggen DIE!?

En-chan: To respond in kind.

-Oh absolutely!

-Maid Butler made an absolutely fabulous entrance, that shot against the moon is such a good frame.

-Who's to say? He did say he smelled the stench of death though.

DS: Was there any more you wanted to note? This was just a great episode all around and I dunno what else to say other than "Yeah, A+ all around."

En-chan: Just that there's a clever choice of book end here.

Great-Z's finisher in episode 2 is definitely a highlight in regards to the comedy of how long it takes. So to see it here in episode 10, where the long process to initiate it becomes excruciating to watch as the man is at his absolute limit? Incredible tone shift to see.

DS: Oh yeah, the toy adverts being played for drama was a great twist too. Really funny on the debuts of the giant robot and all. But in the context of this episode, wherein he's seriously questioning his own sense of heroics? Heartbreaking.

En-chan: Absolutely.

DS: So with that, no outro joke this time. Instead I will simply parrot a certain someone and say "WATCH DOGENGERS!"

En-chan: Yes!