[Matrixbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

It's like they took Raita from Jetman

Holy shit, it IS Raita from Jetman. Damn

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

Holy shit, it IS Raita from Jetman. Damn

Yeah. THe original actor they got to play Kameo was only in for his first 2 or 3 episodes and then he quit the show.

BTW, the reason Daimugen is a turtle is because it all goes in line with the Chinese mythology the show dives into. The Four Guardians are the Azure Dragon (East), the White Tiger (West), the Red Phoenix (South), and the Black Turtle (North). However, in Japan, the White Tiger is sometimes replaced with a Kirin.

[Matrixbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

Yeah. THe original actor they got to play Kameo was only in for his first 2 or 3 episodes and then he quit the show.

BTW, the reason Daimugen is a turtle is because it all goes in line with the Chinese mythology the show dives into. The Four Guardians are the Azure Dragon (East), the White Tiger (West), the Red Phoenix (South), and the Black Turtle (North). However, in Japan, the White Tiger is sometimes replaced with a Kirin.

That's interesting. I guess me seeing a lot of Raita in him was more on point than I thought

And yeah, I know about the cardinal beasts. No worries. I was curious about the other 3 rangers' beasts, though. Since I knew the significance of the dragon and phoenix, and I knew that a tortoise and tiger were going to be used, too. I never got why a lion/shishi, tenma, and kirin were chosen.
Didn't know Japan used the kirin in place of a tiger, though.

[Matrixbeast]

Episodes 32 and 33.
First was an interesting play on the boy who cried wolf, with Shoji using the Aura Changer to wake Ryo up, but then Ryo ignoring it the second time after a Gouma attack. Rather than have it be the same lesson on lying, they put the issue on Ryo's shoulders of doubting a friend.
It wasn't anything special. Gouma had one hell of a kick, though.

33 was another beast, though. Rin falling in love with a Gouma, and the Gouma loving her back, going so far as to halt his plan to save her. It didn't anticipate it, as I was expecting him to pull a Frozen "I never loved you" kind of non-twist. It was hard to watch him die protecting a weakened Rin from Gara, and then having Rin kill his rampaging giant form.
I like it when a series shows it's villains having a heart. I like it even more when it's tragic, as it shows why they don't just defect at moment's notice, having such consequences be evident that surviving is more difficult. Still, it was a touching episode. I'll miss ya, Media Magician.
Probably the best one off episode in the series (Granted, I still have 17 episodes to go).

Aside: I think this was the first episode to feature DaiRenOh being directly piloted by someone other than Ryuuranger, as even in episodes centered on other characters, Ryuuranger was always the one front and center in the cockpit (Granted, the focus character would still call out the attack).

[Matrixbeast]

Episodes 34 and 35
It wasn't anything special, to be honest. It had a semi environmentalist message to it, but it wasn't inserted well. I don't quite know what this episode was going for, but eh. Daigo's episodes tend to focus more on protecting all life, plants included, so it makes some sense...This episode was just too fast paced and the cactus monster's gimmick was just a less interesting version of the puppet from way early on.

35 sees the return of Jin, the murderous martial artist. Making use of his new abilities and form, he's still up to his old ways, utilizing a spider technique to kill foes through fear.
He's a bit of a cheating bastard.
I really dislike that he can beat the other Dairangers no problem, and that Ryou is the only one on his level. I know Ryou went through training from hell, but it's kind of an insult to see the other rangers beaten so easily.
Anyway, Jin ultimately pulls the cliche "Only I can beat you" card and takes a bullet (Er...Cannon) meant for Ryou and dies/passes out. It's not really clear. What we do know is that Zaidos has abducted his body and plans on turning him into a puppet.
It was an okay episode, but rather weak compared to his introductory episodes.

EDIT: Episode 36.
The Kujaku arc continues, with it seeming that they've found the location of the Sacred Peacock Tear. However, it all turns out to be an illusion set up by a monster and Gara.
The plan was rather weak, basically relying on them being completely unable to focus their ki, but I guess since it was specifically set up to trick the weakened Kujaku, I guess I'll let it slide.

Really though, the part that made the episode interesting was seeing both sides of the coin when it comes to Kujaku and Gara's past. We learn that Gara was a former Dai member who defected to the Gouma tribe, as well as how Gara got her scar (That she can totally hide with her powers), protecting Kujaku from a rain of stone bricks.
At first we're presented that Gara is a vain bitch who was angry because the scar ruined her looks, and Kujaku, wanting to repay her for protecting her, became the avatar for the king of peacocks to use a method to heal her.
However, we soon learn that Gara was angry for an entirely different reason. She didn't care about the scar as long as she had her valued friend by her side. But with Kujaku leaving to learn and train to heal her, she lost that friendship and grew embittered, thinking she was abandoned. It's always interesting to see how one story can split in two ways, and this one was certainly interesting.

In the end, Kujaku still needs the Peacock Tear and they're no closer to finding it, putting them in a predicament.
However, we now know Gara is a former Dai Tribe member, which is pretty neat. I'm certainly intrigued in how Kujaku's story arc continues.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

That's interesting. I guess me seeing a lot of Raita in him was more on point than I thought

And yeah, I know about the cardinal beasts. No worries. I was curious about the other 3 rangers' beasts, though. Since I knew the significance of the dragon and phoenix, and I knew that a tortoise and tiger were going to be used, too. I never got why a lion/shishi, tenma, and kirin were chosen.
Didn't know Japan used the kirin in place of a tiger, though.

The lion, or Shishi, is another protector in Buddhism. The Tenma, or Pegasus is because the Kirin is often confused with a unicorn, especially in Western ideologies. That is also why both Kiden Beasts are pretty much identical in design.

BTW, the Golden Kick Oni episode is one of my favorites. I love the monster and how crazy unique he is and I love the music that accompanies him.

[Matrixbeast]

Episodes 37 and 38.
Well, quite a lot happened in these two episodes.
First, Kameo spots the silhouette of a dragon on the moon. Naturally, no one else sees it. It turns out to be the coming of DaiJinRyuu, a being of destruction who is a neutral party in this war. Seeing Earth in constant turmoil, he decides that destroying it would be the best course of action to keep space balanced (Jeez, with that lurking over your shoulder, no wonder DaiMugen hates fighting). Dwarfing DaiRenOh and towering over many buildings, including the Tokyo Tower, fighting him would basically amount to kicking Godzilla's toes and expecting to take it down.

However, that's not all. Kou's birthday is soon approaching as YouRyoku is starting to emit from his body. Gouma takes this opportunity (Mainly Shadam, to spite his son's plan of waiting it out) to fill Kou with YouRyoku to mind control him.

With the constant fighting going on, DaiJinRyuu takes it on himself to kill everyone, traveling from country to country and wrecking the place, mainly wherever he finds the most strife. Kaku takes drastic action and walks into Gouma's front door (And we see he can perform YouRyoku, interesting). Meeting with Gouma the 15th, he demands a ceasefire. The answer is obvious, but DaiJinRyuu shows up with impeccable timing and begins to destroy their headquarters, causing Gouma the 15th to concede and a ceasefire is created. With the ceasefire, DaiJinRyuu relents his decision and returns to space. (However, in the stinger, Gouma just says that he'll keep attacking, only keeping an eye on DaiJinRyuu to make sure he doesn't return)

With Kou missing and under mind control, the Dairangers in a ceasefire with Gouma (Though they will probably break it next episode), and the city in pieces, these two episodes felt quite grand.

Something I enjoyed in these episodes were the scale of things. DaiJinRyuu's appearance was built up quite well, with multiple establishing shots to showcase just how large he was physically as well as how large of a threat he was. The tension was also upped by having the Dairangers aiding civilians, completely unable to compete against DaiJinRyuu. It felt like quite the crisis as all they could do was lift rubble and get people to safety as they watched the destruction occur.
The revelation that Kaku is hiding some kind of relation to Gouma is also pretty interesting. While I'm not surprised, I do want to know more of what's going on (I know Gouma the 15th greeted Kaku as "His old friend," but considering he's a villain with an ego, I'm assuming that's more of an asshole taunt and not taking it at face value).

Quite a lot went down in these two episodes, and I'm super curious if Gouma's decision to immediately go against the ceasefire will call DaiJinRyuu back anytime soon.

[Matrixbeast]

Episodes 39 and 40.
We see the return of Jin, who survived the sucker punch, but was modified by Zaidos into a raging monster. However, he is able to overcome it and turn on him.
A notable part of this episode was Jin seeing the good through Ryou's actions, surprising considering he already saw the good in the world through his former partner...And he killed her...
Still though, while he never got his true final duel with Ryou, he went out Western style, fighting down foes before being taken down by a hail of bullets, knowing his death was coming.

40 also focused on the return of former characters, this time the 3 idiots. Challenging Shoji to a race, Zaidos reveals to have rigged the race, anticipating Kamikaze to fail like always and lined the finish line with bombs to kill Shouji as he crosses it.
Kamikaze (Actually neck and neck with Shoji) finds this out and, in a sense of honor for a duel between men, chooses to put his all into winning. The other 2 try to stop him, but they (Along with Zaidos) get caught in the explosion, dying rather tragically. One mech fight later, Shouji laments their loss at the sunset, declaring Kamikaze the winner.
...Until it's revealed that Hell didn't want them. They decide to denounce Gouma and choose to wander Earth, atoning for their sins.

I'm not surprised that these two episodes weren't as heavy considering the previous two. They were quite nice, giving us resolution and (Minor) redemption towards Jin, who ultimately wanted a fight between warriors, not as monster and senshi.
It was also nice to see the 3 idiots one more time. Though they were still up to their cheating ways, it was good to see that Kamikaze held enough honor to sacrifice himself, rather than kill Shouji through cheating.

[Matrixbeast]

41, 42, and 43.
I tend to watch 2 episodes at a time, but I thought 42 and 43 were connected. Then I found out that 43 ended on a cliffhanger. I didn't want to forget my thoughts on 41 before posting, so I'll put ep 44 on hold.

Anyway, 41.
The Kujaku story arc seems to have finished, and what a story it was. I found it pretty interesting how they handled it. Something I didn't think of was that as soon as they used the Peacock Tear to heal Kujaku, she'd just start deteriorating again since it'd just heal her, not adapt her body to the current time. It was a nice twist that I didn't anticipate.
We are also presented with the option that the Peacock Tear could remove the pollution in the world. While a good idea on paper, there are numerous problems with how that could work out, notably what qualifies as pollution. The episode presents the idea that in removing pollution, we also remove our bodies' various immunities to viruses and bacteria. I don't think that quite makes sense, but the concept of just wiping out pollution in one fell swoop might not just fix the world's problems.
For the story proper, we finally end Gara and Kujaku's rivalry, with Kujaku choosing to use the Peacock Tear to heal Gara's scar (And blindness, which she received in battle earlier) to finally thank Gara properly for saving her life earlier. Throwing the Tear into the lake/river/ocean, she loses her chance to heal, and soon dies. It was a touching scene, watching her fade away, her KiRyoku flying off into the distance as a rainbow peacock and Kujaku becoming Mahamayri Vidyaraja.

That's not all, though.
42 and 43 don't relent at all.
Picking up the story of Kou becoming a Gouma, we find that his birthday is close at hand, barely having a day to fix things. For good news, they are finally able to save Kou's mother, but unfortunately, they lose Byakko Shinken, who is necessary to the ceremony, and Kou is still missing.
As the YouRyoku surges through Kou's body, he finds himself in a helpless trance and attacking the Dairangers before spontaneously retreating. But that's not all. Shadam is also kind of an asshole (Shocking, I know). Choosing to screw over Akomaru's plan, he gets his son banished from Gouma, causing him to go into a rage to keep the Dairangers and Kou's mother from reaching Kou.
And the icing on the cake is that DaiJinRyuu has noticed that the fighting has continued, and returned to Earth. Rather than just destroy at random, though, he chose a more creative path to get his point across. Hypnotizing as many humans as he can, he lines them up across buildings, ready to jump to their deaths at a moments notice if the fighting doesn't cease.

The stakes are certainly being raised with Kou having little time remaining to meet with his mother and DaiJinRyuu making his comeback. We also get the shocking revelation that Akomaru is, in fact, Kou's brother, which I initially assumed. We still don't have 100% proof that Shadam is the father to both of them, but I'm fairly positive he is.

Things are getting tense. Gouma the 15th is seemingly afraid of Shadam, we have no idea how Kaku managed to retrieve Byakko Shinken from Gouma's hands, DaiJinRyuu is ready to have an entire city perform a mass suicide to get his point across, and Akomaru is hellbent on making sure Kou transforms into a Gouma.

EDIT: Episode 44
Wow, so that was one hell of a conclusion.
We learn why Kou's mother never really met Akomaru, choosing to abandon him to save the life of Kou. While it is kind that she chose the route that saved both her sons' lives, it does justify why Akomaru is so cold hearted, being raised by the cruel Gouma with his heartless father. We also get, for certainty, that Shadam is Kou's father, too. Poor kid.

Anyway, Kou is finally cleansed of the Gouma and is back to his normal self. However, the ceremony causes a cave in, trapping Kou's mother for certain death. Tearfully, they share a loving moment before Kou is forced out and aids in defeating the monster. Akomaru finally gets to share a brief moment with his mother, too, being near death after an attack by Shadam himself.

We also learn how Kaku got the Byakko Shinken back and created the true peace treaty, requiring the Dairangers to disband and Kaku return to the side of Gouma. I do love this twist, but because I'm a bit too media savvy, I anticipated it ever since they revealed he had a secret path to the Gouma's base.

With Akomaru's monster defeated and Gouma having formed a peace treaty, DaiJinRyuu removes the hypnotism and departs from Earth once more, but the terms of said treaty don't leave much in the way for wiggle room. I'm super curious to see where this goes next.

[Dr Kain]

Just to fore warn you, you might want to just watch the remaining 6 episodes in one sitting since they are all one big arc.