[Androzani84]

Scroll 12: The Steel Frame and Father And Daughter

This episode is written by Naruhisa Arakawa. You probably know who he is (and if you don’t, what’s wrong with you?), but I will include an explanation. He started off by doing an episode of Kamen Rider Black, but then he became a staff writer on Super Sentai from Jetman through Gingaman (except Ohranger, where the requirements to be on the writing staff was apparently to have been the head writer on a previous Sentai), before being poached by Shigenori Taketera to revive some franchise about insects and motorcycles (can’t imagine it lasting long afterwards). After Hurricaneger, he went on to head write the next two Sentai seasons, Abaranger and Dekaranger, before becoming a staff writer for the next 4 shows (including doing a good deal of Gekiranger’s plot points, particularly some I didn’t like the way they were handled), before skipping Shinkenger and only doing one arc for Goseiger (which if you ask me, is the weakest of the series), before heading Gokaiger (You probably know my opinions on that show. If you don’t, then I didn’t like much of it), before taking 4 years off during which he headed Akibaranger and the Next Generation Space Sheriff V-Cinemas. He returned to Sentai with Zyuohger, and has stayed ever since, most recently being the head writer for Kiramager(which has proved popular for those willing to look past the silliness and low budget monster suits. Heck, I like the show and even I think it gets TOO silly at times) . Now that that’s over, on to the episode.

The episode begins with our monster for the week, Metal Ninja Tekkotsumoeba, on the attack, grabbing things made of metal and absorbing them. The Hurricanegers give chase and after Yosuke knocks him off the car he’d merged with, they weaken him with a Kage no Mai and destroy him with the Sonic Gadget. (That’s got to be one of the quickest victories for the heroes ever, right?). Nanami says that the attack had been augmented by Oboro, who celebrates her success while Hamster Headmaster chides her for using a powerful attack on a weak foe (while I can buy that moral in a regular martial arts story, this was a monster trying to destroy the Earth!). The Gouraigers observe the aftermath, calling the Hayate Way pupils still naive. At the Centipede, Sargain refuses to accept he failed (even though as Wendinu points out, his monster didn’t even last long enough for a Copy Giant to be sent out, which doesn’t jive with what’s been established about Copy Giants, but whatever), insisting that “failure is the mother of success” (whatever that means) to let Tau Zant allow him to continue (surprisingly, this works).

Back at Ninja Base, the Hurricanegers and Oboro plan to celebrate their latest victory and because they’ve been doing so well lately. (Haven’t we been here before? When the Gouraigers debuted) Hamster Headmaster chides them all for this, insisting that they should investigate where Tekkotsumoeba appeared (I don’t understand why? Nothing indicates it was any sort of trick). Oboro, frustrated with his sh*t, loads him into a wooden ball and fires him towards the site. At that site, Sargain talks with Tekkotsumoeba, who’s remains have fused with one of the nearby skyscrapers, allowing him to prevail (what the hell does this have to do with corrupting Earth? Hell if I know). As the sphere approaches, Sargain knocks it away into a nearby high-rise, before leaving after noting that it wasn’t a enemy (mwah mwah). Hamster Headmaster ends up in the hands of a little girl name Yuriko, who apparently wished for a pet hamster to keep her company.

At the arcade, Kouta notes that Oboro is pretty OOC this episode (when your characters can point out the OOC, it’s generally not a good sign). So she sits down on the slide at a playground (way to kill any seriousness you were going for, Arakawa), while Yuriko shares why she’s so lonely. The latter reveals that her parents are always working and when they are home, they nag her to succeed at everything. Oboro meanwhile reveals she feels overworked worrying about Gouraijin and feels that her dad’s nagging is getting overwhelming. Hamster Headmaster tells Yuriko that her parents only want her to succeed so they can be proud of her (though the evidence he uses, that they hung her one award on the wall, doesn’t really sit right with me. If anything, it proves her right, given they care more about the award than her). Yosuke then reveals to Oboro that he read Hamster Headmaster’s web diary (don’t ask how a hamster can keep a web diary) and saw that her dad wants the fight to be over as soon as possible… so he can see his daughter get married (which probably won’t seem that heartwarming to some people).

It’s then that the skyscraper partially transforms into a giant Tekkotsumoeba - as in, even bigger than the norm. Sargain reveals that the scattered cells have been absorbed into the buildings and will pull together all 70000 of his cells within them, creating an even bigger Tekkotsumoeba. Oboro calculates that the result will be 500 times the size of Senpuujin (helpfully illustrated using a DX toy and a cardboard cutout). The Hurricanegers summon Senpuujin to try and stop him, only to be countered by the arrival of the Gouraigers in their Shinobi Machines, which combine into Gouraijin. Kouta summons the Goat Crusher to fight against them, to which they counter by detaching their chest plate to form the Double Claw.

Elsewhere, with Yuriko having broken her leg as the high-rise is being pulled into Tekkotsumoeba, Hamster Headmaster contacts Oboro through a device in his hamster ball (which does make her throwing him out there less callous than it seemed at first, so I’ll give the episode that). Back at the fight, the Gouraigers have the upper hand, so Senpuujin throws down a smokescreen. But Gouraijin finds them seemingly easy and attacks with an itto ryodan (Butagiri! Dogon, Dogon, Dogouken Gekido! Okay, I’ll stop). But it turns out they hit Hurricane Leon and Hurricane Dolphin, the smokescreen having been a distraction for them to disengage the combination. Yosuke then uses Karakuri Ninpo: Kaen Taka to incinerates Tekkotsumoeba’s main core, vanquishing him for good. But the buildings are still falling, with Yuriko and Hamster Headmaster being saved by Oboro arriving on a bike (and it turns out she’s part of Hayate Way Class 487, which puts her at least 20 years older than our heroes. Good to know). Angered at being duped, the Kasumi Bros in Gouraijin decide to split.

As Yuriko reunites with her parents, Oboro and HH have a heart-to-heart, wherein the latter finally calls his daughter pretty (which makes him seem worse, if you ask me) and mentions he wants to be human again someday (which contradicts how happily he seemed to have took to being a hamster in previous episodes). And that’s where we end the episode. Next time, Yosuke and Nanami try to recover a guy’s engagement ring and Karakuri Ball 05 debuts. All this and more in Scroll 13: Moustache and Engagement Ring.

Final verdict: I think this is the first episode of the show I didn’t like. The monster not only feels massively divorced from the usual concepts behind Jakanja’s monster, but the plan he was involved in only makes sense if you assume he was intended to destroy the Hurricanegers (which would contradict the Jakanja’s strict MO of trying to corrupt the planet to get “that”). The main characters all felt like an afterthought here, for a family drama that felt contrived for this episode. Plus the way Hamster Headmaster was portrayed here demonstrates one of Arakawa’s main flaws when it comes to writing: he can’t write a Jerkass character who’s supposed to be likeable (Mikoto feels more like an accident rather than any attempt to do this). Overall, I would not recommend this episode.