[Androzani84]

Here we are, on week 3 of this project. Let’s get started.

Timeranger Case File 3: the Acceleration of a Dream, 21/02/2000

We start where the last episode set up an ending, with Tatsuya doing some prep work for his plan for income (which involves driving his stuff in with a truck), while Sion sets up a computer for Tock to interface with.



Domon points out that Tatsuya is a rich man’s son, and wonders just how much of his wealth he actually has access to, which results in Ayase calling him out for being a snoop.



Meanwhile, at Londarz HQ, Gien decides they need a better class of criminal to obtain money, and thaws out a prisoner who received 50 years for stealing 30 billion in cash (so physical money still exists in the future. Okay).



Keys reveals that despite what you might be inclined to think, freeze-compression isn’t just going to sleep and waking up when your sentence is up. He was awake and aware the whole time, but unable to do anything





But Gien and Lila stop him from tearing it off, by warning him of the Rebound effect (and every time I think of rebound, my mind defaults to “blowback” as the name), and Dolnero sets him to work. Meanwhile, Yuri puts the frozen Jecker into storage as Tatsuya prepares to present his big idea.



Namely, he’s proposing they start a service that does work for commission in order to pay the bills.



His idea is that he’ll do a karate class, Sion will be a handyman, since he’s technologically proficient and Yuri will do detective work. Call that latter decision sexist all you want, but she’s onboard with it (not that she’ll actually show it).



As for the other two, Sion suggests that Domon teach self-defence (which given the karate class Tatsuya intends to run, feels a little redundant), reminding us that he’s a former pro-fighter. Domon takes the chance to reveal why he’s a “former” pro-fighter: he was banned for life. Why?



Ayase then proves that either you don’t need to be Yuri to figure out why he missed that match, or that he’ll never pass up an opportunity to zing Domon. Probably both.



When asked what he’d like to do, Ayase insists that anything’s fine, before running off. But Tatsuya sees that he was looking at a drawing of a futuristic car, and then sees Ayase admiring a similar vehicle in the parking bay.



Elsewhere in the city, Keys and a gang of Zenits proceed to rob a car delivering money to a bank.



This of course, makes the news, which the Timerangers are watching.



Tock identifies the likely culprit as Keys, who was prisoner number 0032 at the prison (is there any significance to prison numbers, or are they random? Someone let me know), and has the ability to interface with any technology. To stop him, the group takes up a security job at another bank, with Tatsuya and Ayase in charge of transporting the briefcase in a regular car.



To facilitate this, the other three disguise themselves as security guards, sat in the actual transport trucks.



Unfortunately, Keys learns about the switch thanks to one of the bank workers discussing it right next to a computer he’s interfaced with (does do that to get a high? Or is it a lazy way to move the plot forward? I’m going with the lazy way).



Soon enough, Keys appears to attack Tatsuya’s convoy. But he gets blown off by Tatsuya accelerating, requiring that he send some Zenits to give us a car chase.



Keys himself merges onto a car so he can give chase.



Despite being injured, Tatsuya insists on continuing to drive, even as Keys comes within ramming distance. But the pair manages to escape him and blow up the other car (I hope whoever owned it had insurance). Ayase then insists on taking the wheel, since he can tell that Tatsuya is too injured to keep driving.



Once they’ve given him the slip, Tatsuya and Ayase have a talk, in which Ayase admits he was scared to take up the wheel again, which was why he never mentioned being a pro racer before. But Keys soon catches up with them by hijacking a truck, which proves a short lived option to give chase. Ayase resumes by mentioning how Tatsuya’s “changing your tomorrows” speech really stung him, before Keys corners them in a quarry, with Tatsuya taking the chance to try and help Ayase get over having given up what he loves as it drives him to try and commit a heroic death.



The other three arrive, already transformed, to blast the attacker with their guns (Yuri’s being introduced as the VolSniper).



And it turns out the case that Tatsuya and Ayase were carrying is full of the All-Star Batman diet for healthy child growth.



It turns out that Tatsuya and Ayase were the real decoys, while Yuri and the other two transported the money through normal procedures. The whole point of this exercise was to distract Keys long enough to deliver the real bills to the bank safely. And now that that’s over with, Tatsuya and Ayase equip their suits, before giving us our first roll call.

Tatsuya: TimeRed!

Ayase: Blue!

Yuri: Pink:

Domon: Yellow!

Sion: Green!

All: Timeranger!



But Keys refuses to come quietly and summons the Zenits, forcing a fight after Tatsuya and Ayase Chrono Access their Double Vectors.



Tatsuya deals with the Zenits he’s fighting using his new Heat Up: Spark End technique to blow them up, with Ayase doing likewise with his Vector Hurry attack. The two then team up to strike at Keys with a double attack known as Vector Around, before Tatsuya performs the Beat 3. When Keys survives this, Tock radios with more information.



And so, Tatsuya and Ayase debut their own gun weapons purely to introduce our team cannon for the season.







Keys tanks the Press Refreezer blast by triggering his own Rebound, figuring he has nothing left to lose. Tock then summons the TimeJets with the Emergency System, and the Timerangers form Time Robo Beta. When Keys tries to jack it, Yuri has them separate and reform into Time Robo Alpha, which is able to defeat and refreeze Keys. The Time Jets return to the future, as Sion takes note of their ongoing mystery.



Later, back at the apartment, Tatsuya fully debuts his new service by revealing their brand name.



And he reiterates what they’ll be doing: Tatsuya will run a karate dojo, Sion will run a repair shop, Yuri will be a detective, Domon will teach self-defence (again, sounds redundant when you?re also running a karate dojo) and a now more onboard with things Ayase will be a driving agency. Yuri points out that his 30th century license is probably well before the date valid.



The episode then ends with Tatsuya trying to convince a reluctant Domon to wear their new crew jackets (which you’ll have to wait until next week to see), while Tock worries over the future.

Final thoughts: After a first episode introducing the future characters and a second episode focused on introducing Tatsuya, we’re clearly in the “introduce everyone one at a time” territory. Granted, we don’t get a detailed look at just why Ayase gave up driving for suicidal depression, but we?re only 6% of the way into the series. We also get an interesting action sequence in the form of the chase scene (which actually goes on longer than a lot of bike scenes in Kamen Rider, to beat a dead horse), and a rather clever plan to defeat him.