[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Fourze 37-38

This is probably the last arc of the show that I really remembered clearly and it is pretty much all because of Yuuki.

Way back when the show was originally airing I made a thread on here to gauge people's thoughts on Yuuki - like, dislike, liked now dislike, etc. I fell into the "liked now dislike" camp. This is a really rough arc for Yuuki. I did my running gag about her going crazy during most of this rewatch and it was all in build-up to these episodes. At the start of the show Yuuki was Gentarou's really hyper but well-meaning friend. But now? Now she's wearing the Hayabusa puppet everywhere, praying to a rocket while wearing a headdress, and flailing and wailing all over the place. I think it's supposed to be cute. It isn't.

I used to listen to the Henshin Justice podcast around the time Fourze was airing (back when said podcast still existed). One of the regular guests had this theory about Yuuki that I've always liked. He proposed that Yuuki has spent too much time standing near Gentarou when he transformed and her brain has been getting increasingly damaged by cosmic rays. I liked that theory because it was funny and it really tracks with how badly the character went off the rails.

Now, the rest of these episodes aren't bad. I actually like them a lot. Elleen is one of the more memorable and likable guest characters. Part of that is that she is 100% right when she says Yuuki is a terrible choice for an astronaut. I wouldn't trust her to be in charge of the kiddie rocket ride outside of the grocery station, much less a real space flight (she will miss most of the Fourze/Wizard Movie War, in fact, because she crashes a space ship and is presumed dead). I also like Elleen because she has a good story that puts her in a strong conflict with Gentarou. I really love their final showdown and it's quietly tragic that she forgets everything that happened (although it would totally pay off if she shoved Yuuki off another cliff).

So from here on out we're mostly going to be in territory that I've long forgotten. I saw the trailer for 39 and it does look a little familiar, but I really don't remember what the story is around the Taurus Horoscope. Looking forward to finding out.

Seriously, though, Yuuki is the worst. I mean, not Onari bad, not no one is Onari bad. At least Yuuki's cringey comic relief ties into the plot and isn't just random bullshit.

I am deeply conflicted about these episodes. On the one hand, Yuuki is absolutely intolerable and drags down every scene she's in - which is a lot of them. On the other, Elleen's story is really good and she has a fantastic dynamic with Gentarou. On the third hand, Elleen's actress is... not amazing; she's at about an 11 for most of the episodes when the performance would work much better at like a 6. On hand #4, there's an emotional climactic battle in the rain and I'm too big of a Dekaranger fan to ever hate on that. Fifth hand, Elleen's character development is frustratingly derailed by amnesia so she can't tell anyone that Gamou is the big bad. Upon the hand of the sixth, the Aquarius Zodiart provides many opportunities for puerile jokes about her amazing jugs.

So yeah, conflicted. It's definitely still the most memorable story from this phase of the show.

I'll also add that on this rewatch I realized that three of the four finalists were Horoscopes: Aquarius, Taurus, and Gemini. I thought that was really cool until the show made it explicit at the end that Hayami didn't know that Sugiura and Yuuki were Horoscopes. Not sure if that counts as foreshadowing or not.