[Fish Sandwich]

Gekiranger Is the S*** Part 2: Episodes 9-14

Turns out I stopped right before they started to do more stuff with Rio and Mele. They're definitely getting more interesting now. In fact, they were doing so much stuff that episode 9 didn't even have an obligatory mecha fight. Bandai probably wasn't too happy about that!

Also they continued to do tons of stuff with the protagonists. I don't know about later but right now I'm definitely liking Ran and Retsu plenty. They're sort of low-key but that's what makes them work, especially given how crazy the other guy on the team is. Speaking of which, Jan is delightful. He's an unholy mix of a small child, a puppy, and an energy drink, and yet the show knows exactly how to write him so that's he's more adorable than annoying. I can't begin to count how many hilarious background gags he's responsible for. It's not a small number.

Also, I'm starting to see why the episodes are just straight up called "training". Not only are the heroes constantly trying to improve on themselves, but now Rio's getting in on the action too. It's literally the entire plot at the moment. The way the show explicitly plays up the contrast between the teaching techniques of the heroes and those of the villains also helps the A plots and the B plots feel connected when they otherwise wouldn't, which goes to show how sharp the writing is.

So yeah, I'm definitely still digging the crap out of this show. Super duper excited to pound out even more of it.