[Phantom Stranger]

Liveman. I've mostly put off watching any more Flashman because of this. I love how fluid the show has been so far, there hasn't really been anything that bothers me too much here. The second episode does have have a few jarring cuts, such as all of a sudden our three heroes having scuba gear and arriving to their underwater base. No establishing shot of them grabbing the gear or anything, just them arriving. Episode 3 also has some flimsy as hell logic from Joh that basically boils down to "He saved a puppy once, that makes it okay that he murdered someone." It's practically a Hitler ate sugar argument.

Episode 6 was honestly outright cringe worthy, but 7 more than makes up for it. I was almost dreading 7 since it was a second part of 6, but it was really good and had some legitimately sad moments for something that's a rather goofy looking rubber suit. The writing(Aside from ep6) is really strong and enjoyable, most everything else are just minor blights on otherwise fantastic episodes. I like the characters, and Colon might be my favorite of all Sentai robot buddies, if only because she actually does things outside of the base. She might not be a great fighter and bit slow moving, but she can sure as hell run your ass over with a Jeep.

The thing that probably sticks out most to me from a visual standpoint is just how well the SFX are done. I love when Zords have complicated or unique movements, and Land Lion is a great example of that. It's not that different from the later Saber Tiger, but this looks incredible for 1988, and most of the others look great too. Live Robo is okay, it's not as great looking as say Flash King, but I do like the design. Some of the make up is great too, the burnt looking skin that pulsates in ep3 is really fantastic and a bit disgusting.

Even if a particular design isn't all that great they usually do something good with it in another way. The dinosaur Gon in episode 6 and 7...it's not a great costume, not a good one for that matter. But the writing combined with other visuals actually make it worth something. Doctor Kemp looks like a rejected Furby, but the transformation sequence is horrifying and is done simply by having sped up head movements and a blur effects, it's slightly disturbing, looking almost like a violent seizure. And while Live Robo might not be a bad design, I enjoy how they use it even more, mainly in that they remember they have a giant lion chest cannon and use it regularly, which works great from both visual and writing standpoint.

Oh, and the ending them is catchy as all hell.