[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.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

so physical money still exists in the future. Okay

I remember how in our country we were very proud of the spread of cards and phone payments, and therefore planned to gradually phase out cash. But now the power is out for 15 hours a day, so everyone is very happy that we haven't gone as far as completely eliminating cash. So I think some kind of cash equivalent will still exist in the future, in case of major disasters or a computer uprising. Alternatively, everyone will keep briefcases of gold at home.

[Androzani84]

Time for our second review of the week with…

Time Force 3: Something to Fight For

We open at the prison the mutant gang teleported back in time, which is now inexplicably on its side in the woods, despite being shown to land in the city upright in the previous episode (the Watsonian reason being that they switched to depicting the exterior through stock footage from Timeranger).



As Nadira counts up the cash she managed to steal, Ransik sits in his office or bedroom or whatever, as what appears to be liquid Mercury oozes out of his skin. (Eurgh)



Fortunately, he packed a medicine for whatever he’s suffering from (judging by how many vials he has on hand, and he drinks it rather than injecting it it?s more likely to be a medicine than a straight up antidote or vaccine).



The next day, at the beach, the 4 Rangers scrounge the remains of the time ship for anything useful, and Trip finds something under a piece of rubble that Katie lifts one handed thanks to the magic of… I want to say, a crane?



Inside is Time Force’s counterpart to the Time Flier, the Time Jet (how Trip knew it would be there, I can’t say, since Alex never mentioned it).



Nearby, Jen and Lucas manage to fix up a communicator to speak with Captain Logan. He seems to have forgotten he fired these guys and entrusts them with capturing Ransik’s gang. And instead of being trapped there by themselves because of rules, the reason Time Force can’t send help is because the ship the Rangers stole and blew up was their only Time Machine (then why are you called Time Force?! Time Fraud sounds more like it).



Meanwhile, Wes is being driven through the city to a meeting, and for some reason, his tie isn’t tied.



But when he sees Nadira robbing a bank, Wes tells the chauffeur Phillips that he’s cutting out of the meeting and moves in to try and stop them. An attempt that gets derailed both because of his lack of powers or fighting prowess, and the fact Gluto took hostages along with the money.



Wes is quickly overwhelmed and cornered by Nadira in a fight. The only reason he doesn?t die is that the other Rangers appear to save him by shooting one of Nadira’s nails off (Vanity! Her one weakness).



In the aftermath, Jen calls Wes out for his reckless heroics, telling him he’d be a horrible Ranger because he’s a silver spoon trust fund brat who’s never struggled in his life (Apparently, wanting to genuinely save lives counts for nothing with this bitch). Meanwhile, Nadira whines to Ransik about her broken nail, which makes Frax decide they should defrost a mutant to destroy the Rangers, choosing the Jerata (the use of a definitive article makes it seem like that’s a species or stage name).



Back at his house, Wes gets introduced to his father?s business associates (and the latter seems remarkably blas? about Wes skipping out on a meeting, despite what Phillips implied earlier) as the heir to the latter’s company, Biosynth.



He then gets a chance to opt out of an awkward conversation with some old farts when he sees Trip hiding in the bushes.



Trip explains that Jen’s seeming hatred for Wes stems from the fact he looks like her dead fiance Alex. And we get a cut to Jen back at the beach with a prominent focus shot of her ring.



Wes ducks out of the house to join the others at the beach, gently speaking to Jen to persuade her to grant him one last chance as a Ranger. Meanwhile, Ransik unleashes Jerata (portrayed entirely by stock footage of Jecker) to destroy the Rangers… which he does by flying to the docks and attacking a load of randomly gathered, suspiciously Asian cops. (I’ve noticed the series struggles when they have to work with the Sentai elements, but I’ll go into more detail in the Final Thoughts)



Sensing this, Circuit warns the Rangers, and Jen gives Wes the Red Morpher again.



After Morphing, the group enlarge the Time Jet to seamlessly blend with the footage - I mean, get there quick enough to prevent loss of life.



They arrive, and we get the TimeRed vs Jecker battle footage getting used, even down to Wes hitting the seal on Jerata?s shoulder.





Here, the growth is explained as a result of mutant DNA being exposed to air (which is pretty nonsensical and makes me wonder if the writers even know what DNA is). And whereas Captain Ryuya had to wait through a whole impassioned plea from Tock to grant permission to use the 3D Formation System, Captain Logan immediately sends the Rangers the Time Fliers (so the Time Flier becomes the Time Jet and the TimeJets become Time Fliers. Because that’s not gonna get confusing)..



, which thanks to data uploaded to their visors, can combine into the Time Force Megazord Mode Blue, which is helpfully labelled as a Time Robo with a big b to indicate it’s Mode Blue.



(I am of course, making this crap up as it’s a relic of the Timeranger footage)

After an aerial battle with Jerata, the Megazord splits apart and reforms into the Time Force Megazord Mode Red, which is able to finish off the mutant and shrink him back down to the size of a doll.



After the battle, the episode ends with Jen allowing Wes to keep the Morpher this time, accepting him as part of the team.



Final thoughts: A much stronger offering than the first two episodes, that gives the characters on the heroes’ side more to them, after they came off as slightly one note in the pilot (right now, the villains are still a bit one-note). I’ve noticed this show does better when it’s working with its own elements, rather than the ones from the Sentai, with this episode in particular getting weaker once we got to the battle with Jerata.

[DreamSword]

Koichi Sakamoto has said in interviews that a big inspiration for him when it came to directing Power Rangers was Jackie Chan movies. And I feel like you can definitely see that in episode 3 of Time Force.

That civilian fight with Wes towards the start of the episode? It's shot like an action sequence right out of one of Jackie's' movies. Just played more for drama rather than comedy, given that it's a sequence meant to humble our new Red Ranger a bit.

And while this episode is primarily focused on Wes(with a bit of Jen), I just wanna make it known now that Trip is my favorite character this season, and this episode shows a big reason why. As an empath, he's got alot of empathy for others. Shown here by him going out of his way to try and build a bridge between Wes and Jen.

I also gotta note that rewatching this show now, with alot more knowledge of tokusatsu in general is proving to add an extra layer of fun for me. Like how I now notice that this episode's' monster of the week is made in reference to Gamera. Or, even internally with Power Rangers itself, how Time Force would either establish or codify various tropes that fans online would have quite mixed feelings on in the future.

Lastly, a warning for anyone who wants to watch along via the official YouTube uploads: The official playlist is WAY out of order, so be careful with that.

Still having a blast, as always.