[Sh Ranger]

I imagine this episode would've been received better by those who have actually read the Formation Lap prequel manga, since this feels like a sequel to that by focusing on the completely unknown relationship between Taiya and Chassirou. I haven't read the manga and honestly, I think it's ridiculous to only show the relationship between the first 2 Boonboomgers outside of the actual show. As a result, this episode falls flat for me, like, I can't get emotionally invested in this magical bond of mutual trust between those two characters when I've seen virtually nothing to support it. We've actually seen Chassirou have meaningful interactions with Jyo, Mira and Sakito (although not Genba yet), but when it comes to Taiya, everything is implied and nothing is said.

When Taiya was explaining how he saw through Faux-sirou, I would've been satisfied if he'd only called out how asking about Bundorio's location was suspicious for an informant. But the part about Faux-sirou's eyes seems unconvincing, as it suggests that Taiya has acute awareness of emotional expression even though he can't even understand his own emotions. Geez, that poser's just trying to show off here, but he's not fooling me. Reading people's emotions is a skill I would expect more from somebody with high charisma, like Genba.

Overall, a weak episode that has little emotional value unless you read the manga. Like, I already expect to watch Super Hero Time pretty much every week, so if the show doesn't bother to make me care enough about a certain relationship, then I don't exactly feel inclined to take additional time to read a manga to get that emotional investment. A side content like that should focus on relationships that we clearly understand (like Chassirou and Jyo), while the show's job should be to make us understand to start with. The show has not done that with Taiya and Chassirou.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Next episode's Grantu Risk (Whose name is a wordplay on Gran Turismo) is voiced by Tsutomu Isobe, aka the actor and voice behind Isamu Ozu/Blagel/Wolzard/Wolzard Fire in Magiranger.

How appropriate that Isamu's catchphrase is about chance and now we have Grantu Risk.