[Androzani84]

Once again, slightly later than intended due to unforeseen complications. But anyway, let?s get on with?

Timeranger Case File 13: Battle Casino 07/05/2000

We open at the eponymous venue, in which people bet on fights between two opponents in fighting tournaments, with one being ?Red (name of animal)? and the other ?Black (name of animal)?.



What does this have to do with the Timerangers? Well, Tomorrow Research are asked by a woman named Mami Hosoki to find her husband Shinji, who started frequenting the establishment so often he never came home one night.



Their solution? Send Domon in with the disguise of a tuxedo.



As it happens, Hosoki has been invited to join the casino?s manager in placing bets.



Unfortunately, his guy, who he bet the last of his money on against the Black Panther (This clearly predated anyone having heard of the Marvel character), gets defeated.

Referee: Down! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! Knockout! (And yes, that entire line is in English. And you?ll be hearing it a lot throughout the episode)



With all of his money gone, Hosoki is dragged off by security. Domon tries to intervene, but security throws him out.



But the heroes anticipated this, and go to plan B: Have Tatsuya go in disguised as a yakuza thug and audition to become a fighter.



As Tatsuya gets accepted (man, the hiring standard is lax at that place), Domon shares what he managed to suss out from the strength of the guards.



Inside, Tatsuya meets his fellow fighters, who embody every martial artist stereotype under the sun.



Meanwhile, Hosoki is taken to the boss, who shows his face (who got adapted for Tentaclaw in Time Force) purely to order the poor man be taken away to be punished for blowing all his money.



Meanwhile, Tock identifies the Londar prisoner most likely to be running a casino (and since the higher ups aren?t in this episode, he explains what he was sentenced to freeze-compression for).



Meanwhile, Tatsuya enters the ring for his first battle.



And unfortunately, his first opponent is the woefully underprepared Hosoki as the Red Octopus, as the Red .



During the fight, Hosoki admits that he blew all his money gambling at the casino, and his only way to get it back is to win his match. Tatsuya offers to take a dive? before a tendril appears to increase the force, costing Hosoki the match.



Berith, once more in the hood, leaves to confront his losing client, while Tatsuya must face the Red Grizzly.



After Berith roughs up Hosoki and demands the latter pay him double what he lost, Hosoki laments to Tatsuya that the money he lost was going towards gifts for his wife. He also blames his gambling addiction (See parents, it?s educational too)



As Tatsuya vows to get Hosoki?s money back, the others set to work on a plan to bring down Berith?s operation.



To signify his resolve, Tatsuya picks up Hosoki?s headband and puts it on.



So, presumably the next night (either that, or everyone?s a massive insomniac), Yuri sneaks into the casino as a wealthy visitor.



Meanwhile, Ayase and Sion pose as wait staff (after knocking out the two Zenits serving that function? somehow) to add something to the drinks.



The Foghting starts, with Yuri betting on the Red Tiger (Tatsuya) and getting a winning streak going, starting with the Black Falcon.



Eventually, Yuri gets invited to join Berith in betting, as Tatsuya goes up against the Black Temple (the dude in the Chinese robes).



The tentacles reach out to strike Tatsuya, but he isn?t knocked down, and attacks the referee.



Sure enough, the referee turns out to be Berith??s body.



As for the guy in the cloak? He?s Berith?s head. (To be fair, he doesn?t do anything but walk in the cloak, so it?s not too unbelievable)



As Ayase takes back the dirty money and Domon effortlessly knocks out Black Temple, Sion?s reveals the powder he spiked the drinks with was a sedative.



Realising the 5 are Timerangers, Berith reunites with his body and turns to flee, only for the Timerangers to catch up with him.



During the fight, Tatsuya destroys Berith?s tentacles, before Yuri shoots his head, and like in the Time Force episode adapted from this, the Rangers get their first palpable capture with the Voltech Bazooka.



Using the last of his energy, Berith enlarges his body for the giant battle in a manner similar to a Rebound.



As the Timerangers enter the Tome Jets, Tock clarifies the nature of their opponent (meaning I can?t reuse the same ?do x and die? joke from the Time Force episode).



So, the heroes end the fight quickly be transforming into TimeRobo Beta, summoning the Flier Magnum and exploding the robot.





Later, as the casino is closed as part of an anti-gambling campaign, Hosoki reunites with his wife and all the money he lost.



Their job done, our heroes end the episode by heading home (with a surprising lack of jokes).



Next time: Ayase has one last race with his old racing rival turned Londars criminal Baron, in Case File 14: Dead Heat.

Final thoughts: In all honesty, I thought this was a better version of what episode 11 was going for with a more mature and violent plot, but without Honami and the lack of any serious onscreen violence dragging it down. And in all honesty, I was surprised by Berith also being the referee, despite having seen the episode and knowing about his gimmick from the Time Force episode. That?s a well done twist if I ever saw one.