[Fish Sandwich]

What's that, you wanted some follow-up on what's going on with Stacey? Kaito's parents? Sorry, but the plot's on vacation this week, along with everyone else!

I sort of wouldn't have believed a show like Zenkaiger could find a way to do an episode about everyone goofing off and having fun when that's already most of the series anyway, but I really should've known better. It's like, yeah, they're always goofing off, but in this episode, they're full-power goofing off. They are literally rendered incapable of doing anything besides goofing off. It's the kind of crushing defeat for the heroes only this show could come up with, where the heroes don't even realize they've lost 3 minutes in, which is fine, because most of the villains forget they won right after that. The entire logic of this episode is as aggressively Zenkaiger as it gets. As in it's going out of its way to look like it has none whatsoever, despite putting enormous amounts of effort and consideration into every last aspect of what you're watching on-screen.

It's skipping straight to the climax, but I'm almost baffled by how great the "fight" in this one is. That entirety of it was easily one of the most elaborate and exciting sequences of action in this entire show so far, and it revolves around everyone chasing after watermelons. And they make that so epic and chaotic! With big long takes and tons of characters in a given shot! That had to be a huge pain to film, and that's why it so perfectly represents Zenkaiger's unique style. It's like this masterclass of raw talent that handily outstrips so many other shows, and yet the staff is always consciously choosing to apply it to the most unorthodox and just plain weird crap imaginable. But that's also the secret, I think. They can only get this fired up specifically because they're allowed to goof off so much, and hey, that even ties me right back into the plot!

Because that's what this episode is about, underneath it all. It's heroes and villains alike putting aside their differences and realizing they can all have a great time together if they stop worrying so much about sticking to the formula. Like, I don't know if you can call it a moral, exactly, when they genuinely should not be goofing off under these circumstances, but it's definitely a theme, and it comes together pretty nicely when the Zenkaigers aren't even the ones who finish off the monster of the week. After all, how could they destroy a guy they became such pals with, right? You get a return to normalcy for the robot fight ("normal" for this show meaning the set is still littered with beach decorations, of course), but even in the very end, Kaito is left wondering "what if?" What if there the day came where everybody could all be pals and party for real, without it being some sham they were forced into? How cool would that be? And if that world looks anything like this episode, I can assure Kaito that it would be awesome.

...Just don't forget to tidy up the house at the end of the day though, alright? It gets messy faster than you'd think.