[Fish Sandwich]

EPISODE 9: "Siblings"

After a moody nighttime cold open with some hapless guy making the mistake of walking into a warehouse the Grongi have decided to take up residence in, the episode moves to Pole Pole, where Yuusuke is feeling pretty great about being Kuuga. He's downright jolly, even, gradually expanding his line of custom Kuuga-branded clothing, and excitedly showing it to a clueless Pops, who doesn't know what a Kuuga is, but would love to tell you how great this Unidentified Lifeform #4 guy he keeps hearing about is.

Now, Pops may not be able to put two and two together on that front, but Minori knows Yuusuke's dual identity, and it's got her real worried. One thing these episodes do an excellent job of is differentiating themselves from the plot of Dragon Form's introductory arc. The basic concept of a supporting character worried about Yuusuke being Kuuga is the same, but while Sakurako was concerned Yuusuke was going to get himself killed fighting, Minori is concerned that Yuusuke is fighting at all. I love this angle a lot, because it really shows you how close these two are. Their core values as people are very much the same, and that's exactly why Yuusuke's usual carefree demeanor is freaking her out. Minori can't reconcile the kind-hearted, gentle older brother she knows and loves with the violent, mysterious #4, and the seeming indifference he displays towards his recent massive change in lifestyle leaves her considering the possibility he's simply started enjoying the fighting.

Meanwhile, the police are trying to get as much control over the Grongi situation as they can. The body count as of this episode's beginning is up to 278, and will be a few more by the end. Clearly, they have to do something, but with the lack of access to any fanciful science fiction laser guns or power armor or, really, anything cool like that, the best they can cook up for now are some gas grenades based on Badzuu's weakness to pollution as established in episode 6. The way the cops gradually try to improve their arsenal throughout the series is so neat. You get a real sense of how hard all these people are working, despite having so little to work with. They look for any advantage they can get, and try every angle, never giving up on protecting the people when really, I don't think anyone would blame them for calling it a day after a while.

You know who else is too cool to call it a day? Jean! He's off to Nagano this episode to figure out the deal with that rock Mika brought to the university, and while it's a pretty short scene I could easily skimp on talking about, since it lacks relevance to the immediate plot, I wanna mention it anyway. He meets a new supporting character we'll get to know better in a bit, and it also establishes his love for umeboshi, answering the question you just know was on the lips of every viewer, "what kind of food does Jean like?"

No word on whether or not he collects stamps yet.



This episode also checks in on Enokida, thoroughly establishing her workaholic tendencies. She ends up arriving late to spend the day off with her son, and also ends up leaving early to help investigate a crime scene. Don't make the mistake of assuming this means she doesn't genuinely care about her child, though. Having any amount of screentime at all devoted to plotlines about a single mother kept busy by her career is, quite honestly, possibly one of the biggest indicators of how much it meant to Kuuga to introduce more real world drama into its stories. The Grongi being so violent, the realistic cops, all that's easy to point to, but little kids still like monsters, and everyone loves a good cop show. The kind of drama Enokida brings to the table, though? I'm honestly more surprised they got away with that than the gruesome murders.

Not that I want to downplay the gruesome murders too much. Our baddie for this one is Me-Giiga-Gi, and let me tell you, this squid is a real devil! When his first big action in the episode is to spit his explosive ink all over two random schoolgirls, you know you're dealing with someone... well, I'd say worse than usual, but I guess all the Grongi have just been the most terrifying creatures imaginable, huh?



Yuusuke's off to fight him by the end, naturally.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

It's no wonder Minori is so worried about Yuusuke when he's going entire episodes without giving a single thumbs up!

Total thumbs up count: 19+0 = 19

EPISODE 10: "Fierceness"

Yuusuke's battle against Giiga doesn't end up going great, so he heads to join with Ichijou and company, who are currently in the middle of raiding that warehouse after the world's greatest police dog manages to track down the Grongi's scent. Their new gas bombs seem to work well enough... right up until the Grongi leave out an exit they didn't account for. By the time Yuusuke arrives, the Grongi are off to find their next lair, and the cops are short one very brave canine. You will be missed, Mikado.

A steep price to pay, but not a total loss. The sudden exit means evidence left behind, including the sacred Grongi Whiteboard, which Yuusuke notes they seem to have been using to count something while talking with Ichijou about it afterwards. I'd do the usual "huh" bit, but it's probably not hard to figure out what they're counting, even this early. Why might still be a mystery, however. Yuusuke also tries to get a strategy against Giiga going with Ichijou's help. Sakurako's research suggests Kuuga has a form that uses a sword, which Yuusuke figures could give him an edge in a rematch. This leads to them practicing kendo, which is just awesome. It's always great when heroes put in hard work and actual training to beat the bad guys. Yuusuke struggles with the approach he wants to take for a while. With some advice from Ichijou, he eventually lands on the idea of just forgoing defense entirely, and ending the match in a single strike.



During all this, Minori has been trying to work out her feelings on what's happening with Yuusuke, which eventually leads to them having a conversation about it. This is another really great scene. Minori confronts Yuusuke with how much the thought of what he could become scares her, and Yuusuke admits something important to remember -- it scares him too. So how can he still be so gung-ho about being Kuuga? Why can we have scenes where he seems so at peace with it, to the point of branding his own clothes? That seeming contradiction could've run the risk of hanging over the show in a bad way, but what this episode accomplishes is addressing it by reemphasizing what we already know. When Minori asks why he still does it if he's scared, Yuusuke answers with another question. Why is Minori a teacher? The answer, in both cases, is because they believe in the importance of making people smile. Minori does that in her way, and right now, being Kuuga is Yuusuke's way of doing it. It's an elaboration on Yuusuke's motives as they were presented back in episode 2, and something definitely worth reiterating with some extra clarity, with how important it is to the series as a whole.

In the now, the heartwarming nature of the conversation, with Minori giving Yuusuke a birthday present from the kids at the preschool before he heads off, serves to change the tone for the ending fight scene this time. Pegasus Form's epic two-stroke takedown of Badjisu on the beach was pretty dang memorable, but Titan Form's debut, in all its purple glory, may top even that. The show wisely decided not to do the same formula three times in a row, so this is the first we see of Titan Form. There's no time spent figuring out how it works, because he already did that earlier with Ichijou. He's just gotta walk forward, and stab Giiga. Couldn't be simpler. Use all that armor, don't stop, and end the battle in a single strike.



That's what makes the fight so remarkable. It legitimately consists of nothing but Kuuga slowly walking in a straight line before stabbing the monster once, and it's somehow not only cool, it's awesome. What's even more awesome, is how the show intercuts this with Minori doing her thing at the preschool, playing off of Yuusuke's earlier line about how they each bring smiles in their own way, simultaneously affirming not only that what Kuuga does is heroic, but also kinda directly equating the importance of a teacher's role in shaping children with that of being a superhero who saves lives. Which maybe tells you where this show's values really lie. But that's as much a story for next time as it is for this one.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

A sibling combo, yet again, at a perfectly timed dramatic moment.




Total thumbs up count: 19+2 = 21