[DreamSword]

Episode 7: In Charge of Construction

DS: En-chan "convincing" people to watch Dogengers.

En-chan: Yeah, this is accurate.

Androzani: Why does the Shadow look so sexy in this shot?

DS: ANYWAY. This episode, while not super crazy, went alot of places I wasn't exactly expecting.

Androzani: We had a Drive moment, with Mako outing herself as the superhero to her classmates (Except Daisuke, because drama).

DS: True, but it wasn't just that. There was alot of things in the way this episode's' plot was structured that surprised me. Like how El Brave plays a supporter in this one, with the lead being the shakedown guy from episode 1 of all people.

En-chan: Yeah, we had seen him a couple of times before, but I was honestly surprised the first time around when we ended up getting a focus episode on him.

But it does end up lending towards the "people can change" theme that's prevalent.

DS: And speaking of El Brave helping Tetsu out, I did rather like that little callback they did to season 1 with him("tiptoes") showing that he's retained his character development.

Androzani: And I'm pretty sure this time that Tetsu is Taiga from Ex-Aid.

En-chan: Yep, that's him alright.

DS: I won't lie, I didn't recognize him at all.

En-chan: It was mostly the voice for me that helped out.

Androzani: I mean, I thought the teacher was Oosugi from Fourze, because I recognized him, but I didn't recall from where.

DS: That said, fun little reference they did with both his roles there. Since Tetsu and Taiga are both guys who seemed destined for greatness only to fall from grace.

Speaking of being a literal shadow of your former self though, this is also the first time that Uzagi got separated from her Shadow, which made for a very interesting dynamic in its own right.

En-chan: We usually don't see them split up for too long, and if they do it's for a fight.

It was honestly fun to see Shadow on its own. And it was nice how El Brave just immediately went to help Shadow out after realizing it was separated from Uzagi.

DS: Of all the characters in Dogengers, Shadow was the last one I ever expected to get actual character development. But here we are.

Androzani: Speaking of characters, we get another new guy, who somehow has no knowledge of the super powers situation in Fukuoka beyond "There's a team of them."

DS: Who dat?

En-chan: I believe he's referring to Koujin Ex, who we saw cameo in Nice Buddy.

In which he gets a more prominent appearance here in this episode.

DS: Ah yeah, I've been waiting for him, actually. Given the stinger at the end of season 2, I was thinking he might be important here in season 3. And yeah, there's still time. But I guess his partnership with Great must not have gotten very far, huh?

En-chan: Either that or the writing room forgot that they were supposed to be partners.

DS: If the latter, then we can thoroughly blame Shaberryman for all of this.

Androzani: I assume the change in directors between seasons led to some plans being changed.

DS: On the note of connections to previous seasons though, I was not expecting them to talk about the Golden Seal from season 1. Turns out it came from Koujin's' neck of the woods.

Androzani: And he has a clue to another plot mcguffin, with something related to Kireko being at the Fukuoka Museum.

En-chan: Indeed, the plot's thickening as we start getting into the back half of this season.

DS: But obviously the much more important plot is the Culture Festival, and by the looks of things, everything's all set for it... would be a shame if some local hero who's also an internet influencer had something to say about it.

Overall though, yeah, I liked this one. Mako taking a backseat for once was a surprise, and I did like the character development we got out of the major players here. It's simple, sure, but it was nice to see.

En-chan: It was rather nice.

Also it looks like we can add El Brave to the list of people that give Mako actual combat advice.

DS: Suplex.

What other highlights did you guys have for this episode? Was it the kale juice? I bet it was the kale juice.

Androzani: For me, it's the switch to the second verse of the theme, with even more lyrics about high school cliches

En-chan: I enjoy how Yabai Kamen, while enjoying good food, is also aware that they're trying to butter him up. And also remembers the pecking order once he realizes Ohgaman's involved.

DS: Gonna need alotta kale juice for that matchup.

But alright, with that out of the way, I'm looking forward to where we go from here, since alot of pieces are now in play. Will KitaQman's' car get blown up again? Will Kireko growl at Daisuke some more? I sure hope so!

Androzani: And will Koujin Ex see the literal writing on the wall for his new "friends"?

DS: And will En-chan ever finish Doki Doki Pretty Cure? THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!

En-chan: Well I'll have you know... I've been watching a couple episodes the past few days.

So perhaps!