[Androzani84]

Yes, that last post was an April fools joke. I have no intention of ending this thread until I have watched both every episode of the show and every bit of post show official media in which one of the show’s characters has a prominent role (Abaranger vs Hurricaneger, Boukenger vs Super Sentai, Gokaiger episodes 25 and 26, Akibaranger Season Tsuu episode 7, Hurricaneger 10 Years After, Ninninger episodes 7 and 43 and Hero Mama League. If you think this is long, you should see the list you’d be stuck with in a similarly dedicated Dekaranger watch thread). For now, let’s move on to the one episode who’s monster was never adapted into Power Rangers (all the other ones at least managed a cameo).

Scroll 35: Sparkle and Shamisen

Instead of the usual opening credits, we open with Shurikenger training the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers to use the Ninjamisen (well, after a shot of Revolver Mammoth)









After Ikkou is unable to lift the ball higher than few feet, Shurikenger hands the Ninjamisen over to the Hurricanegers to try (Apparently, Isshu doesn’t even get a turn). Now, we cue the titles.



After the OP, the copy of Floaty-Head has a prophecy showing a cosmic event.





He then raps himself in a cocoon, in (what I’m sure is) reused footage from when the original did this (he even has the same dialogue once he’s fully rapped up)



Elsewhere, all three Hurricanegers try the Ninjamisen (which only brings up my earlier Isshu, er issue) and fail to even move the ball (but at least their playing sounds like a Shamisen. Looking at you Shurikenger and your rock solos). Before Shurikenger can fully berate them, he receives a call on the phone in his Shuriken Zubatto (just what can that thing NOT do?)

Shurikenger: Hello. What? The Evil Will? Are you sure, Master Gozen?

Before he can explain who he’s talking to, he leaves, telling them to keep practising (giving no actual practical advice, I might add).

At the Centipede, Tau Zant discusses the Evil Will’s latest message (that thing wastes no time) using his 4 heads (sadly, they all speak with the same voice and personality, so this is just to be visually interesting).









Sargain then enters the room, offering a new plan, involving his newest puppet, Gliding Ninja Musasabitaru (which I do have a nickname for, you’ll have to wait a paragraph).



As Satarakura mocks it, Sargain leaps out of his own body and into the puppet’s (thus, I shall dub this “Squirrelgain”)





Squirrelgain stated that he’s controlling this one so the operation won’t be an utter disaster like the last one (and Furabijo gets a laugh out of the sick burn directed at Wendinu). Tau Zant is intrigued enough to let him try this plan. Soon enough, Squirrelgain glides over the city, dropping down jewels, which trap anyone who picks them up, before returning to sender. All of this is witnessed by this guy (played by Yuji Kishi, better known as Kyosuke Jinnai/Red Racer in Gekisou Sentai Carranger. He’s also a voice actor and provided the voice for Chubozoo in the vs movie with Gaoranger, in addition to dubbing over his second PR counterpart TJ).



The Hurricanegers are alerted to the attack and fly in on their Hurricane Wingers… which Squirrelgain promptly shoots down. When they try to fight him, Squirrelgain quickly gains the upper hand.



When the Gouraigers show up, they for, the Victory Gadget… which fails to do anything (In all honesty, they seem to have more luck when they solo/pair kill a monster lately). Shurikenger shows up and suggests they use the Ninjamisen. Yosuke uses it… in gun mode, which is not what Shurikenger meant at all. So Ikkou plugs in the Ikazuchimaru and attacks him with a low frequency sound attack, which causes some damage.



However, Shurikenger chooses to criticise him for this, which gives Squirrelgain an opening he happily takes. This forces the 6 to withdraw, much to the pleasure of the rest of Jakanja, with Tau Zant advocating that Sargain hurry up and corrupt the Earth. Back with the heroes, Shurikenger reveals that Squirrelgain’s weakness is supersonic waves (quick, call Voicelugger), which can be generated with the Ninjamisen. But then the Hurricanegers speak up to say they’re sick of Shurikenger treating them as his whipping boys and not actually telling them anything about himself(as much as I like Shurikenger, this was long overdue). The state that they’ll defeat Squirrelgain without his help. And even the Kasumi Bros admit that Shurikenger focuses too much on the results rather than the actual method of getting there. It’s then we see that the guy from earlier has been watching them and he’s a Shamisen player himself… which gives Shurikenger an idea.

Elsewhere, as Hamster Headmaster tries begging Master Gozen for another chance, it turns out the Hurricanegers have no idea how to beat Squirrelgain… until they see our guest character, who they recognise as the “Charisma Shamisen Player” Kazuma Namikawa. They decide that he’d be a much better teacher than Shurikenger and get him to agree to teach them… once they’ve worked out a payment plan.



As Kazuma tells them to focus more on heart than technique, the Kasumi Bros show up, also deciding to take the lessons



Kazuma tells them to keep playing until they reach a state of zen and are able to grasp the “Nagare Basho” (Running Water Bomb. Hmm, that sounds a lot like a Ninpo technique).





Elsewhere, Squirrelgain tests his powerful laser, powered by the people he captured.





Hearing of the trouble, the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers abandon the lesson, stating they’ve found their resolve. Pleased by this, Kazuma hands them the Ninjamisen (as the episode itself states, don’t ask where he got it). Thus they run to the scene, Shinobi changing and facin down Squirrelgain with the Ninjamisen.



Yosuke inserts his Hayatemaru and goes first in attacking.



Nanami goes next.





Then Kouta.



Ikkou then inserts his Ikazuchimaru to take over the chain.



And finally, Isshu gets his turn.



Kazuma then appears and pulls out the Shuriken Ball (and if you’re not convinced he’s Red Racer, he does the Carranger/Turbo pose, just like the last guy).



Shurikenger then takes up the Ninjamisen and inserts his Shuriken Zubatto, performing the final part of the Nagare Basho: Shuriken Sonic.



This successfully destroys Squirrelgain and sends Sargain flying clear of the blast (strange. Normally a bad guy turning into a monster of the week means they’re going to die). Shurikenger apologises for his earlier lack of tact and Wendinu grows the Squrrel body, with Sargain returning to his old one to control it remotely.







Shurikenger hands Yosuke the Ninjamisen, confident he can use it to call Revolver Mammoth. Despite Yosuke playing it differently to Shurikenger (again, his playing sounds more like a Shamisen), he successfully manoeuvres Revovler Mammoth to take down the Squirrel robot, before they form Revolver GouraiSenpuujin to destroy it for good.

Back at the Centipede, a copy of Manmarva (who I will dub “Clonemarva) emerges from the cocoon, reeling from the power he has now, ending the episode.







In our next instalment, “Scroll 36: Ring and Revenge”, Clonemarva goes full force against the heroes. And in addition to the pre-title scene, we now get an extended next time trailer, with no dialogue beyond one line at the end, set to an instrumental of the main theme.













Final thoughts: as said, I like that Shurikenger was actually called out for his aloof ally schtick, rather than being allowed to carry it on throughout the show. And it’s cool that the Ninjamisen does more than control the final upgrade Mecha. As for Manmarva’s clone… you’ll hear my thoughts on that next time.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 36: Rings and Revenge

This is another Arakawa episode, so I’m just going to cut the filler and just get to the main event quickly.

We begin with the Hurricanegers running through a quarry, which is beset with mines and spear traps (so, a regular training exercise), all of them carrying a blank shinobi medal on their chests. They get pursued by the Gouraigers, who manage to take the medals from them using the BariThunders.











After the credits, Kouta points out the Hurricanegers have lost this exercise 19 times (how about we try again and make it an even 20?).



Then Yosuke and Nanami point out that there MIGHT be a bit of a power difference.







As Kouta tries to stop the two Red and Blue duos from devolving into a real fight, Yosuke and Nanami decide to hop on the BariThunders and try them out… and it turns out that there’s a difference between hopping on a bike and knowing how to use the bike (Kamen Rider’s been lying to you this whole time. Sorry kids).



At the Centipede, Satarakura is waiting on his latest Ninja Commander’s arrival through the mail (no, really. Satarakura is just that crazy). As Sargain mocks him for not using express delivery, someone comes in… but it’s Clonemarva.



As Satarakura hides from “Manmarva’s ghost” (that’s a surprisingly apt description), Clonemarva explains how he came to be.





Furabijo is confused, but Wendinu explains it to her succinctly.





Tau Zant insists that Clonemarva is much stronger than the original (I’ll believe that when I see it), and Clonemarva reveals his latest prophecy (I have to wonder how much of this he made up).







Elsewhere, the three Hayate students comment on Ikkou’s latest career.





It also turns out that the mothers are literally fighting each other for Isshu’s sweat (that’s not an exaggeration. That actually happens). So, The Hurricanegers decide to ask for help from the wisest person they know.



But Hamster Headmaster tells them to not disturb her, since she’s working on something.



It turns out she has a hot date to work on this with. As they wonder who it could be, he announces himself with “Hi, my honey.”



As everyone is shocked by this (yes, even Hamster Headmaster), they get even more shocked by what happens next.



As everyone is even more shocked, Nanami tears into “Ikkou” for being a flirt, he tells them they don’t understand, before he puts the bouquet back in front of his face and pulls it off.



As Yosuke asks why Shurikenger disguised himself as Ikkou, Oboro explains it was to make his entrance interesting, on her request (that seems an incredibly trivial use of Shurikenger’s powers). Elsewhere, Ikkou and Isshu help an old lady pick up her suitcase filled with excessive apples, while Clonemarva walks through a tunnel, carrying a set of large rings in his hand.





The Kasumi Bros then help a little girl recover her kite (I think they’re going a little overboard in showing their good sides). They quickly hear her scream and run back to her, finding a ring around her neck.



Ikkou and Isshu attempt to remove the ring, but it turns out to be electrocuted. They then hear another steam and find the old woman also has a ring on her neck. Noticing a pattern, they run back to the kendo school… where all the kids are being loaded into ambulances. Isshu then notices the rings look like Manmarva’s face (eh, not really if you ask me). At the Centipede, Furabijo wonders why Clonemarva is bothering with this torture of innocents (that’s a very good question), to which Furabijo and Sargain explain is him punishing the Gouraigers for not living in the shadows (I’m not convinced. I doubt Manmarva would’ve resorted to this kind of assholery before he was cloned). Elsewhere, we get a glimpse of Shurikenger and Oboro’s project.





As they wonder where the Hurricanegers have gone, we see the trio are working on their moves down by the riverbank. Then Clonemarva appears and collars all of them, knocking them out with an electric shock.



As all of Clonemarva’s victims are rushed to the hospital, he confronts the Kasumi Bros, informing them that all who have the ring around their necks will die when the eyes open (Again, I’m not convinced the original Manmarva would’ve resorted to this kind of sadism) and to meet him at the abandoned Onibi New Town. As Ikkou and Isshu overlook everyone in the hospital, they head out, while Clonemarva has overwhelming visions of destruction.





He informs Tau Zant that once he’s defeated the Gouraigers, he will be able to see what “that” looks like (Wait, they didn’t even know what they were looking for? No wonder they haven’t found it). Tau Zant then reveals Jakanja’s plan: to dominate the universe using “that” (rather dull, if you ask me). The Gouraigers meet with Clonemarva at an abandoned warehouse and engage in a prolonged duel using their respective bikes, for which Manmarva’s Honoo Kiba has the advantage throughout.



In the hospital, Yosuke, Nanami and Kouta wake up, tear off their apparently needless bandages (making me wonder why they put them on) and running to the scene, in spite of the eyes beginning to open. Elsewhere, Clonemarva has defeated the Gouraigers.



Before he can finish them off though, a meteor shower happens (a lot of those in this series), to which he turns his attention.



He absorbs the information in the meteors… which turns out to be too much for him (and the Jakanja once more voice my thoughts for me).







Clonemarva then mutates into a gigantic monstrosity (who I will heretofore refer to as “Clonemonstrous”) with none of his intelligence or personality intact.



Tenkuujin tries to stop Clonemonstrous, but gets easily defeated. The beast then begins to suck Ikkou and Isshu in, succeeding just as the Hurricanegers Shinobi Change on the scene.







The episode ends with the Hurricanegers facing down Clonemonstrous.



Next time: the Hurricanegers must learn to use the BariThunders to rescue the Gouraigers (why? Don’t they have hang gliders?), but Jakanja won’t make it easy for them. This and more on “Scroll 37: Third Spear and Great Escape.” And our next time line?

All: TenraiSenpuujin, on stage!

Final thoughts: Yeah, I wasn’t too keen on this episode. In addition to going overboard with the Kasumi Bros doing good deeds, I also didn’t like the fact they brought back Manmarva after his perfectly good death and turned him into a monster that barely resembles him purely so he can have an “epic” death. It annoyed me with Messiah and Escape in Go-Busters and it annoys me here.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 37: The Third Spear and the Great Escape

Look, what can I say at this point: It’s an Arakawa episode. It’s his last one as well, which is the best news I’ve had this week.

After a recap of last time, Shurikenger tries hitting Clonemonstrous with the Spin Bee… which fails. The Hurricanegers then summon Senpuujin to help out, which doesn’t help much. They then try forming TenkuuSenpuujin and summoning Revolver Mammoth, but Clonemonstrous is simply too powerful, knocking both down and opening the eyes on the rings more. Fortunately for them, he then goes to sleep. Tau Zant theorises that this is a result of the mutation bought on by the energy of the meteors and states that Clonemonstrous won’t be returning to normal (How did he think that would make me feel?), but he is going to be using a spell to dissect his brain for information. The next day, while Shurikenger and Oboro begin work on “that flying object” (which is starting to look familiar to those who’ve seen the movie), while the Hurricanegers forego bed rest in favour of learning to use the BariThunders. But they only have four hours before Clonemonstrous digests the Gouraigers successfully.



Nanami and Kouta (Yosuke’s broken his arm) practice to clear the three car gap needed to enter Clonemonstrous’s mouth from a skyscraper (they aren’t practising from a skyscraper, that’s what they’re going to be jumping from). Not helping matters is that Clonemonstrous stirs long enough to open the eyes on their rings slightly more and destroy a few buildings with his breath (how has he not destroyed the city yet?). As Clonemonstrous wakes up fully, Yosuke pilots Senpuujin to hold him off.



With Senpuujin holding Clonemonstrous in place, Kouta and Nanami make the jump (And now I remember to ask: why are they doing this with the BariThunders? They have hang gliders, which would surely be much more useful in this situation). Despite interference by Wendinu and Furabijo, the two succeed and enter the mouth of madness (literally)





Once inside, they surmise that the mouth is a separate dimension created by Clonemarva to torment the Gouraigers (somehow).



They find the Gouraigers and pull them out, driving them to safety.





Once they’re safe, Nanami and Kouta join Yosuke in Senpuujin, while Ikkou and Isshu form Gouraijin. Then Tenkuujin appears as Oboro sends all three Mecha a Shinobi Medal, which they use.



Shurikenger deploys Karakuri Ball 15: TriTsuno, Yosuke deploys Karakuri Ball 16: TriKanmuri and Ikkou gets 17: TriTsume.







The three Balls combine to form Tri-Condor, which Shurikenger identifies as coming from space (they could’ve come up with a better way to reference the movie than that).





And since the rest of the fight isn’t that original, I’m just going to quote from my review of the movie, with the pictures changed.

Quote:

And so Senpuujin, Gouraijin and Tenkuujin use the Tricondor to do a Ginga Choetsu Sanjin Gattai (Galaxy Transcendent Three-god combination), forming TenraiSenpuujin.

Quote:

The heroes are all teleported into one cockpit.

Quote:

Clonemonstrous tries to do battle, which TenraiSenpuujin blocks using the Tenkuu Shuriken as a sword.

Quote:

When Ashurasaru tries hitting them directly, they block him with the cross formation.

Quote:

They then destroy the enemy once and for all with the Zettai Kyukyoku Ougi: Ultima Storm.

As Furabijo and Wendinu mourn, Tau Zant has taken what he wants from Clonemonstrous’s brain (mostly images of destruction). The rings then dissolve from all their victims and we get one last scene, but who cares about that because ARAKAWA’S TIME ON THIS SHOW IS OVER!!!!! A full summary of what I thought of his episodes will be included here.

Next time: Isshu picks up his father’s katana, but Ikkou doesn’t want him to have it. This and more on Scroll 38: Demon Sword and Balloons. And our next time line:

Isshu: Father!!

Final thoughts: No, just no.

Final thoughts on Arakawa: In all honesty, he’s definitely he worst writer on his shows. He never fully gets any of the characters he writes for and practically makes up traits for them that are never seen outside of his episodes. Plus he seems to believe this show is operating on straight black and white morality, when the rest of the writing staff go to great lengths to show that it isn’t (the heroes have their own less than ideal quirks, while the villains do have some noble qualities). His best episode was probably episode 30 (and I’m not just saying that to please dreamcastergirl. I legitimately thought it was the closest he came to understanding the world of Hurricaneger). Well, as we leave this post behind, I’ll conclude it with this reply I got after Arakawa’s first episode, to motivate me to go on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrandComplete

Well hopefully the next eposode of Hurricanger is more to ypur speed.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 38: Demon Sword and Balloons

Well, it turns out my big move has been pushed back to next week. I shouldn’t be affected adversely, since not only am I likely to be staying somewhere I can easily set up a connection, but when I do move in, the previous owner is going to leave her network service there until we’re all set up.

But enough about my personal life. This is the second episode by Shin Yoshida, and I kind of know the plot already thanks to this fanfiction (which, incidentally, is the oldest surviving Super Sentai/Power Rangers crossover story on FF.net [though not the first to be created, if the author’s notes are any indication]) referencing events from it. Though I am still looking forward to what happens and do recommend you read that fanfic. With that, on with the review.

This episode opens with Sargain and the girls mourning Manmarva (that was four episodes ago, get over it) and noting he won’t be coming back, since he didn’t make a clone (can you imagine if he did? That would be a disastrous plot). Satarakura on the other hand, has skipped all 5 stages of grief for the one guy who was remotely supportive of him.



He then reveals the package he was waiting for has arrived, opening it to have his latest Ninja Commander come out (don’t ask how he fit in there).



The delivery, Balloon Ninja Gomi-Biron (who I will just call “Driftloon” to prevent auto correct going crazy) reveals why he chose to defy physics with his entrance.



Satarakura announces that his latest plan is going to succeed, ignoring Tau Zant saying “Soon, it will all be over”. (Gee, that probably won’t be important later). After the opening credits, we cut to Shurikenger consulting his old enemy from episode 22: maintenance.



He notes that Yosuke took a lot of damage in that last battle (even though he only wears a sling in one scene of this episode) and that TenraiSenpuujin is too powerful.



And, as if Yoshida had the same reaction to Arakawa’s script as I did, the Shinobi Medals for Tri-Condor have shattered and won’t be able to be repaired for a while (I love that the show runners introduced a powerful combination that’s immediately taken away the next episode. It’d be like Kanzaki giving Ryuki his Survive card and then immediately confiscating it since he refuses to “tatakae”).



Oboro then notes that both Senpuujin and Gouraijin were heavily damaged, so she has to begin maintenance on them.



Isshu seems peeved that she’s removing the Ikazuchi parts, and even more peeved that Ikkou is okay with it.





Isshu then turns annoyed, since he realised that only HIS parts are being removed. And then Oboro makes a suggestion.



This… this is what sends Isshu into “murder” mode.



After Kouta and Nanami intervene to prevent a bloodbath, we cut to Isshu in the ruins of Ikazuchi Valley, pondering the future.





Thunder then strikes a nearby rock, revealing something interesting.



He investigates the cave, finding a series of statues. When Isshu touches one of them, the top half falls off, perfectly cut.





He then sees something interesting in the cave.



After a flashback to his abusive childhood (remember that? It was the crux of the show’s first third), he recognises it as his father’s katana, the Kiraimaru (Demon Thunder Sword) and begins training with it.



In the city, Satarakura and Driftloon go around feeding people rice balls (I guess all the good plans have been done). The Hurricanegers and Ikkou show up, but find themselves being pelted by Driftloon’s Uchuu Ninpo: Fuusen Bakudan. When Isshu finally shows up, Yosuke calls for them to form the Victory Gadget… but Isshu refuses to contribute.



He states he doesn’t need the Hayate Style anymore. All he needs is the Ikazuchi Style(He’s basically become a less angsty version of Yaguruma from Kabuto). He then pulls out the Kiraimaru, much to the shock of both Ikkou and Satarakura.



After delivering a few powerful slashes to Driftloon, he and Satarakura withdraw. Isshu then asks Ikkou to ditch the Hayate students and help him rebuild the Ikazuchi Style… and doesn’t get the answer he expects.



But, this doesn’t deter Isshu in the slightest and he leaves.



At Ninja Base, Hamster Headmaster and Oboro surmise that Isshu is doing this because he hasn’t got over the mental scarring his father gave him. Back at the cave, Isshu begins training and gets introduced to his ghostly opponent… Ikki Kasumi.



They fight, and Thundad (a nickname I’ve wanted to use for a while, but never had a reason to use) has the advantage.



But Isshu prevails and destroys the cave with the Ikazuchi-Ryu Ougi: Kirai Bakugekiha. Elsewhere, Ikkou does some research and is horrified by what he sees.



At the Centipede, Wendinu tries to punish Driftloon for his apparent laziness by grabbing his skin… only to find that it doesn’t work, since his skin is made of rubber. Satarakura says that while he could defeat the Gouraigers through insulation alone, he chose to have some fun after seeing the katana KuwagaRaiger had, which is in a book of evil space weapons (as opposed to, evil Earth weapons?).

Back in the city, Driftloon makes all the people he force fed yesterday turn into balloons and float into the sky. He then explains his plan to nobody in particular.





The Hurricanegers and Shurikenger show up to battle, but everything they hit him with gets deflected back at them. Soon, Ikkou and Isshu arrive separately, with the latter using his new attack, which hits… the other Earth Ninjas.





Satarakura then shows up to explain why.







Isshu is understandably upset by this awful truth.



Driftloon then takes advantage of this chaos to force feed the Hurricanegers, KabutoRaiger and Shurikenger his rice balls (through their helmets, no less), causing them to inflate.





After Satarakura shoots them down with a blowpipe, he and Driftloon leave to move onto phase two of the plan. Isshu then explains why he wants to use the Kiraimaru to make things right.







Despite Ikkou’s misgivings, the Hurricanegers overlook the pain Isshu put them through and support him.







Isshu head to the coast, where he faces Driftloon. Driftloon gives himself a bad start when he beats up Isshu in the same way Ikki Kasumi always did.



As Isshu is reinvigorated, Driftloon proceeds to bombard him with his Fuusen Bakudan.



Isshu eventually gets an idea from Driftloon’s boasts and breaks the Kiraimaru in two, plunging one half into his opponent.



Then he performs the Kirai Bakugekiha and since the Kiraimaru’s “friend” (its other half) is inside Driftloon, it destroys him.



As Isshu apologises to everyone, Driftloon gets revived as a giant. As the two Karakuri Giants appear, Nanami suggests to Isshu that they combine and Oboro apologises for her earlier cracks, saying that Isshu’s parts are absolutely essential (she has put them back, right?). But even GouraiSenpuujin isn’t enough, as Driftloon traps it using… well, balloons.



Shurikenger then frees them using Revovler Mammoth and reminds us that even with Tri-Condor in the shop, they still have a way to combine the three schools into one. And thus, Driftloon is put down for good by Revolver GouraiSenpuujin. As Satarakura fumes, he realises something unnerving is happening.



Tau Zant then explains his cryptic foreshadowing from earlier, shocking everyone.



The episode then ends with Isshu thanking the others (basically saying he’s learned his lesson without actually saying he’s learned his lesson). Next time: a shark man beats up everyone (even the Jakanja), the Hurricanegers stalk a dude in a trench coat and Shurikenger kneels before someone behind a silk curtain (Master Gozen?). All this and more in “Scroll 39: The Seventh Spear and the Mysterious Stone”.

Yosuke: Next time, we’ll fight with a whoosh.

Final thoughts: This was definitely the story I needed after the last two episodes. It basically reminds us where the Gouraigers were when they first appeared and shows how far they’ve come. It also gives me ample opportunity to ignore the previous two-parter, via the Tri-Condor being benched.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 39: The Seventh Spear and the Mysterious Stone

Not much to say here. This is Miyashita’s return after 4 episodes and it features the debut of our final villain. With that said, on with the review.

The episode opens with something zooming through space, heading towards Earth.



As the Jakanja are lying around (literally, in Satarakura’s case), the something impacts the Centipede.



As everyone gets shaken by the impact, a newcomer enters the main chamber.





The 4 regulars ask who he is, to which he gives his name (a portmanteau of Sunday, dahlia and the Japanese pronunciation of “eel”), while Tau Zant says he’s been waiting for him.





(I’ll mention that Sandaaru is voiced by Shuichi Ikeda, better known as the voice behind the original Char Anzable in the Gundam series. He’s also the dub artist for Jet Li in Japan)

After the titles, the Hurricanegers are pursuing Shurikenger, who assumes a disguise (played by Shuuhei Izumi, better known as Domon/TimeYellow in Mirai Sentai Timeranger).





At Ninja Base, Oboro is giving a slideshow summarising the plot so far to Hamster Headmaster, who is feigning disinterest.











In their training sessions, the Kasumi Bros have come to the same conclusion as Oboro regarding the big mystery.



The Hurricanegers follow Shurikenger to a baseball stadium, where Yosuke reveals his theory that he is a pro baseball player, due to his HiDan Senban Knock finisher. He is dismayed to find out he’s wrong. They then pursue him to a business centre, where Kouta reveals his theory that Shurikenger is a foreign diplomat, hence his tendency to speak English. He is dismayed to find he is also wrong (“Why?”). The next stop is a guitar shop, where Nanami shares her theory that the man is a rockstar, hence the Ninjamisen (which isn’t based on a rock instrument, but whatever). She is… happy to find out she’s incorrect (because that means there’s less competition in the music world, despite their two different mediums.) (In general, this seems like some kind of commentary on fan theories that are way crazier than the truth).

At the Centipede, Furabijo, Wendinu and Sargain all attempt to defeat Sandaaru… only to end up soundly defeated. (Not sure why this scene is here. Feels pointless)

Back with the trio, they’ve chased Shurikenger to a gyoza shop… where it turns out he just wanted somewhere to eat a cheap lunch (there were food places at all of his previous stops). While eating, he receives a phone call from Master Gozen (which is partially overheard by the Hurricanegers).



Shurikenger retreats into the bathroom. The Hurricanegers go in and pull him out… only to find he’s swapped places with the real guy, 7 times ramen eating champ Teppei Sakaki. They realise he knew they were following him as he makes his getaway.



Back at the Centipede, Tau Zant has an announcement, and Sandaaru is ready to follow orders.





Sargain interjects, revealing he’s created his final, ultimate puppet (which means that he either doesn’t expect to surpass this or he intends to die before he makes another one). Everyone is annoyed by his rudeness… except Sandaaru, who says “If he has a plan, let him carry it out.” Tau Zant thus gives an annoyed Sargain permission to start the plan.

Back with the main heroes, Yosuke and Nanami are annoyed at Shurikenger… and not just for throwing them off the scent.



Their search is then disrupted by falling gold dust… which turns everyone it touches to gold (this is basically Miyashita saying “this show ain’t funny anymore. Now it’s all business).





This turns out to be the work of the newest puppet, Corrosion Ninja Fushokuruga (While the name is straight to the point with the whole “corrode Earth” plan the Jakanja have, I’m going to call him “Gabriel” to go easier on my spell checker).



The Hurricanegers Shinobi change and fight Gabriel off fairly easily, destroying him with the Triple Gadget. But if you thought his would be over that quickly, you’re wrong, as more gold dust scatters and Gabriel rebuilds himself with the aid of a light on his back.





The Gouraigers then show up and Ikkou destroys Gabriel again with the Ikazuchi-Ryu Kengi: Raigeki-Zan. Which once again, just makes things worse. Sargain then appears to explain that his is exactly what he planned. (Well duh, why else would you do it if it wasn’t?)



As the fight continues, Shurikenger appears in a void, fading back to his suited appearance (booooo).





Turns out this is the home of Master Gozen, who apparently sits on a bed with silk curtains with his face covered by a cloak (just how paranoid and rich is the guy to go to these extremes?). Shurikenger has a simple request.



Gozen wordlessly tells him not to do so yet (I guess they haven’t cast an actor to play this role? That’s the only reason I can think of why they wouldn’t have him talk). He then informs Shurikenger of a mysterious cosmic phenomenon.



(I always knew Jakanja had allied with Davros for their final plan)

We then get a visual of the planet Astram from the movie exploding(that princess and her talking bracelet? They’re dead now).



At the Centipede, Satarakura and the girls are ready to let Sargain finish off the Earth Ninjas. But Sandaaru has other ideas.



After a speech about the values of teamwork and friendship (it’s strange to see the villains preaching this), the other three become communists.



With the riffraff out of the way, Sandaaru does what he came to Earth to do.





Back with Shurikenger, he receives distressing news from Gozen and decides to rejoin the others. (And as is usual in these situations, this news is too late to do anything about it)



As Gabriel is beating up the Earth Ninjas, the other Spears appear and join the battle, to Sargain’s dismay. From the side, Sandaaru watches, the mysterious stone in hand, as Tau Zant explains the prophecy that came with the last meteor shower 4 episodes ago.









(Which reminds me, when is the new Floaty Head going to come out of his cocoon? Manmarva only took two episodes).

As our heroes are about to lose, they get saved by Tenkuujin’s Karakuri Ninpo: Tenkuu Ripper.



He then engages Gabriel with his Chou Ninpo: HiDan Senban Knock... which gets deflected back at him.



But this damages’s Gabriel’s regeneration device enough that Sargain has him withdraw. Rather than turning the tables in the hero’s favour, as you’d expect, Sandaaru decides to help his comrades, much to Shurikenger’s concern





He then attacks the Earth Ninjas with his Uchuu Ninpo: Jiyuu Saku, which captures them in his cords.



He then pulls Shurikenger towards himself to make a point, defeating him int the process. (When even the strongest member of the team is getting beaten, it’s not a good sign).



As their allies look on with shock (well, I assume Gozen is shocked, but I can’t see his face) and Tau Sant watches with glee, the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers charge into a sword fight with Sandaaru as the episode ends.



Next time: Shurikenger is torn between loyalty and friendship. This and more on “Scroll 40: Decoy and Ninja Law”.

Yosuke: Everyone. Be sure to visit our website. (That’s http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/hariken for anyone interested. The link’s probably dead now).

Hurricanegers: We’ll be waiting.

Final thoughts: Like I said, the subplot with the Hurricanegers tailing Shurikenger and ending up paying his bill was a nice bit of levity in what is otherwise a very plot-based episode. And Shurikenger is getting a chance to shine, which I like. And I’m already in love with Sandaaru, to the point I’ve been reading his dialogue with the voice of Marc Thompson (look him up). Which leads me to a question: if this show was dubbed into English, who would you cast as who?

[Androzani84]

Scroll 40: Decoy and Ninja Law

Welcome to this, the last write-up I will do at this house (though not the last to have screenshots taken at this house, that would be episode 45). The next episode I do will be a transitional one written while I’m at my grandparents’ house, before I move into my new house by the time of episode 42. With that said, let’s get on with this episode.

Last time, the final Spear, Sandaaru, showed up with a mysterious stone related to a prophecy involving “the Grieving Bow and the Raging Arrow”. Shurikenger learned that he had destroyed several planets (including the one from the movie) in order to obtain it. The Hurricanegers and Gouraigers faced one of Sargain’s puppets which had the ability to regenerate (I named him Gabriel), which was interrupted when Sandaaru and the other Spears appeared. Now, the six Earth Ninjas run into battle with Sandaaru.

Yosuke initiates a Kage no Mai… which Sandaaru handily overcomes.



The Hurricanegers get hit with Sandaaru’s Same Shuriken, which they try to escape using a vanishing act. But Sandaaru is too smart for that, using his Uchuu Ninpo: Gyoza Mei to find them and attack again.





When the Gouraigers try attacking, not only does he trick them into attacking each other, but then he uses another new technique (which I can’t remember due to distractions while I’m writing this!!).




Cue the titles, which have been updated to replace Manmarva with the new guy.





As the Earth Ninjas yell that they won’t give up, the stone Sandaaru carries with him begins to glow.



He then leaps up and uses the stone to extract their rage.



As Oboro determines the stone is extracting their life energy, Tau Zant shows some (by his standards) excitement.



After a quick decision is made, everyone pushes Shurikenger out of the field, deciding that HE alone needs to survive. This somehow causes the field to dissipate, causing Sandaaru to call it quits for now.



From his fan emerges… A DRAGON KAIJU (Okay, Sandaaru is confirmed best character), which covers the Jakanjas’ retreat.



Instead of summoning their Karakuri Giants to stop this thing, Yosuke and Ikkou decide to attack with their weapons. Predictably, they get beaten as soundly as Sandaaru beat them, before Badogi disappears. Now safe, everyone decides to ask Shurikenger some questions, which he’s hesitant to say more than this.



Yosuke surmises why expertly.





Hamster Headmaster is shocked as Master Gozen calls him… only for Oboro to pick it up and tell this guy exactly what everyone thinks of him. (For the record, we don’t see Gozen react anymore than we’ve seen him do so up to now).



Back at the Centipede, Sargain is annoyed that Sandaaru had everyone but in on his plan. But, to his anger, no-one is supporting him. Sandaaru points out that they’re all following orders here and allows Sargain to carry on his plan… with some words of encouragement, which Sargain rejects. (I love how Sandaaru is turning the Jakanja into a happy family, for the record)





Back with the heroes, after failing to get more out of Shurikenger, news reaches them of Gabriel’s return. But Hamster Headmaster has something for them to use, courtesy of Master Gozen.







As the Gouraigers hold off Gabriel, the Hurricanegers receive a gift in the form of a sealant meant to protect from the puppet’s gold dust. They then proceed to spray it from the air.





They then join the battle, beginning to spray themselves with the sealant (I had a picture, but it was terrible, so I had to delete it). But then, Shurikenger receives a message from Gozen (which is represented by this shot), which results in him not using the spray.





During the ensuing fight, the Earth Ninjas shrug off the gold dust and manage to determine the source of Gabriel’s regenerative powers: a light on the back of his chest.



But before they can make effective use of this knowledge, the sealant coats their entire suits (and I do have a picture for this) and freezes them in place.





Oboro is shocked at this, realising that this was Gozen’s plan all along… and she gave the sealant to them.



Shurikenger stands overhead, thinking about the mission he was given: wait for the sealant to freeze them, then use his Chou Ninpo: Bunshin Magyuu to hit the light, destroying it. But instead, following a montage showing them saving him earlier, followed by all 5 (yes, even the Kasumi Bros) smiling at him, he uses it to hit the Hurricanegers, wiping away the sealant.





After getting thanked for defying Gozen’s orders to help them, Shurikenger uses his Chou Ninpo: HiDan Senban Knock to hit the light on Gabriel’s back, shattering it.



With this handicap removed, The Hurricanegers and Gouraigers destroy Gabriel with the Victory Gadget. This in turn, frees everyone he turned to gold.



As everyone gets disappointed, Wendinu sends out a Copy Giant (and we get a special sequence).



The heroes summon/call for their Shinobi Machines, forming GouraiSenpuujin. But after a few minutes of having the advantage, Sandaaru reappears, sucking up more of their rage into the stone.



But after Gabriel inadvertently frees them by jumping in the way, Shurikenger summons Revolver Mammoth, which combines with GouraiSenpuujin to finish off Gabriel once and for all (evidently, his regenerative abilities weren’t restored with the Copy Giant). Hamster Headmaster is concerned about how things have developed, but Oboro is happy that Shurikenger disobeyed orders and saved them. (Which leaves me asking, was Gozen really willing to sacrifice the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers? Or would he not let any harm come to them?)



Shurikenger flies off into the sunset, calling everyone something other than “Boys and Girl”.



As everyone walks off into the sunset, Yosuke resolves a gag from last episode.



Next time: Kouta’s sister (remember her?) thinks he’s hiding something, Satarakura forms a comedy duo and Sandaaru unveils… what looks like a sand dollar (and I don’t even know what they are). This and more on “Scroll 41: Medal and Manzai”.

Satarakura: What does a mountain made of futons weigh? A few-tons. (Silence)

Final thoughts: I continue to be amazed at how much character development they give to Shurikenger, even thought they could easily use his status as a suit character as an excuse not to give him any (Power Rangers SPD and Kamen Rider Den-O being prime offenders in this regard). And I like that the plot, which wasn’t that slow, is picking up speed, which can only be good.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 41: Medal and Manzai

Well, here we are at my new house. And the place is terrible in pretty much every way (this is my THIRD attempt to write this due to the internet constantly referencing every page when I leave them). It’s the last “monster of the episode” episode and the last episode written by Naoyuki Sakai. With that said, on with the review.

The episode begins with Satarakura crashing into Sandaaru “accidentally” while practising his routine.



However, Sandaaru is as perceptive as Manmarva (I’d hope so, since they’re the same suit actor) and realised that Satarakura has stolen his stone (the one that absorbs anger). However, instead of being mad, Sandaaru has an idea.

At Ninja Base, Oboro and Shurikenger fight over repairs to the Tri-Condor (apparently, the destruction of Astram propelled it all the way to Earth), with Oboro’s insistence on doing it herself causing Shurikenger to leave in frustration. Hamster Headmaster wonders where Kouta is, to which Yosuke and Nanami explain he’s meeting his sister, Meiko (last seen leaving for Africa back in episode 4).



We then cut to Meiko in the cafe. She gets bored of waiting and decides to step out for some air. (Wait for it)



As Kouta rushes to the cafe with Meiko’s passport, he gets stopped when he sees this week’s monster, Manzai Ninja Tsukko-Minna.



The others show up as Kouta Shinobi changes, as Meiko just happens to stumble upon the scene (of course). Then Tsukko-Minna begins his comedy act (which I can’t really describe. Japanese comedy is weird), which blows everyone to the floor (literally).





Tsukko-Minna then blows the Gouraigers down, before Satarakura orders him to withdraw. As Kouta goes to meet with Meiko in the cafe, she drags him out to show him the ninjas she saw earlier (mwa mwa). As luck would have it, not only have the Kasumi Bros not left the scene yet, but they got knocked out of their Shinobi suits in the battle).



Kouta then tries to bluff his way into convincing her he does not know these guys (despite Ikkou calling him by name) and that Meiko was imagining it (which begins to fall apart when she sees the Hurricane Gyro on his arm). He thus changes the subject by handing over her passport and leaving quietly.



At Ninja Base, as Kouta explains things, Hamster Headmaster sums up the situation, while Oboro continues to be confounded by Tri-Condor’s workings (well it was built on another planet).



At the Centipede, Wendinu wonders why Satarakura didn’t kill the Gouraigers when he had the chance. He explains that he has a new plan now, to which Furabijo calls him on his bull.



Luckily, Sandaaru has inherited the position of “Satarakura’s biggest supporter” from Manmarva, telling the others to “just watch”.



Satarakura sends a YouTube poop of himself to Oboro, who directs Yosuke, Nanami, Kouta, Ikkou and Isshu to a stadium (I presume the location was included with the video), where they see a sign on the wall.



Satarakura and Tsukko-Minna appear and begin a Boke and Tsukkomi routine.





Everyone then does their role call, which is observed by a passing through Meiko.



Satars then continue their act.





As they get blown back, Meiko notices something (namely, a Hurricane Gyro) on the Yellow ninja and realises something.



As the heroes are blown back again, Meiko goes over to Kouta and begs to know the truth.



But before Kouta can say anything, they are joined by… Kouta? (I’m sure you can figure out who that’s possible)



Kouta then persuades Meiko to let herself be carried to safety on his back, almost blowing the game in the process.



With the civilians dealt with, Ikkou tells the two wannabe comedians what we’re all probably thinking.



This is exactly what Sandaaru wanted, taking the chance to absorb their anger into the stone.



They are then saved by Kouta, who tells Kouta that he got Kouta’s sister away from Kouta’s battle (I’m as confused as you are).



Kouta then pulls out the Shuriken Ball and in case you’re not convinced he’s HurricaneYellow, he does the Hurricaneger/Ninja Storm pose.



With Shurikenger in the fray, Kouta realised that Tsukko-Minna’s powers come from his hands. After shooting them out, the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers destroy an angry Tsukko-Minna with the Victory Gadget… which just plays into Sandaaru’s plans.



He now has enough anger energy collected to reveal the true form of the stone (note that unlike every other weapon name in this series, “Raging Arrow” is a translation of the Japanese “Ikari no Ya”, which means roughly the same thing)







As the heroes react in shock to this, the villains all have their own exclamations.







As the two villains leave, Tsukko-Minna is grown into a giant by a Dekkamen. Everyone summons their Karakuri Giants, and Oboro announces that she’s fixed Tri-Condor.



She sends Yosuke, Ikkou and Shurikenger new Shinobi Medals, which are used to summon Karakuri Balls 15: TriTsuno, 16: TriKanmuri and 17: TriTsume.



The three combine into the Tri-Condor, which allows Senpuujin, Gouraijin and Tenkuujin to combine into Gingachoetsu Sanjin Gattai TenraiSenpuujin.

Tsukko-Minna tries attacking with his explosive powers… which fail to so much as scratch the robot. Kouta then says what we’re all thinking.



And so, TenraiSenpuujin one-shots Tsukko-Minna with the Zettai Kyukyuku Ougi: Ultima Storm.



Later, Kouta sees Meiko off at the airport.



Meiko then gushes about her brother (aw, she’s just so cute) and lets slip that she knows he’s a Hurricaneger.



Everyone is shocked at the revelation… though it doesn’t stop Yosuke and Nanami from blocking the Kuroko-bot from doing his job.



And the episode ends with Meiko waving everyone off (and unofficially welcoming Shurikenger into the family).



Next time: everyone angsts over knowing nothing, while having to contend with both a new Megatagame (not another one) and a new puppet. This and more on Scroll 42: Armour and Raging Arrow.

Yosuke (to Shurikenger): You’re our ally, right? Please tell us!

Final thoughts: If you’d ask me which character of the day I’d like to see come back for another episode, I wouldn’t have said Meiko. But I’m amazed by how well she manages to work as a two episode character despite only being intended for one. Also, that was a pretty good debut for TenraiSenpuujin on TV and I’m looking forward to seeing where the plot with the Raging Arrow medal goes.

Final thoughts on Sakai: He does a lot of good emotional plots and I like his focus on continuity. Though the action scenes do tend to be a bit hit or miss. If I had to recommend an episode, I’d go with episode 6 for the emotion involved in it. Though I’d give episode 10 a close second, which I’ll use this quote summarise why.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

It was during this time I was rooting for the Gouraigers more than our titular heroes.
Seriously, I loved everything about them back in the days. Wine red and navy blue was definitely a nice choice to give them that darker contrast to the more brightly-colored Hurricangers to indicate they are a different team. I remember the pre-debut rumor at the time saying there will be a evil duo ranger team with unique colors for their costumes, and I was intrigued right off the bat. The end result was me just going "OHMYGODTHEYDIDIT" and just going nuts at how badass they seemed. Good times.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 42: Armour and Raging Arrow

Here we are, at what I like to call the “big Christmas sell toys fest” part of the season. As someone on Twitter put it in his tweet along of Dairanger “this is your last chance to buy toys for the current show before the new one starts”. This is also the point where the show stops pretending there’s a status quo, with later episodes basically throwing out the formula and getting really dangerous. It’s written by Atsushi Maekawa (so I know it’ll have some good dialogue, at least), so with that said, on with the review.

We begin with our heroes on the beach, discussing the recent reveal of the Ikari no Ya Medal. Isshu shoots down the idea that it’s a Shinobi Medal purely because Jakanja has it (racist, much?). Kouta then suggests that Gozen might know what it is, to which Yosuke points out the problems with that theory.





Luckily, Ikkou has a suggestion on finding him.



We then pan over to a fisherman on the rocks (played by the late Tatsuya Nomi, better known as TenGenSei Daigo/ShishiRanger from Gosei Sentai Dairanger), eavesdropping on their conversation and musing to himself. (I haven’t included his dialogue in this scene, but I’m sure you can tell who it is)





At the Centipede, Tau Zant shares the prophecy involving the Ikari no Ya and the Nageki no Yumi (Bow of Lamentation), which the others determine to be referring to “that”. Then Sandaaru points out that they still have no idea how to get the Ikari no Ya to appear from the medal.



Sargain then volunteers to handle the study of how the medal works, to which Satarakura objects. But Tau Zant and Sandaaru speak up for him.





Sargain is grateful for their faith, but insists on working this alone.



With Sargain gone off, Tau Zant then designates a new mission to Sandaaru: Find the Nageki no Yumi medal. (Like that wasn’t obvious)





On the beach, Nanami and Yosuke wonder if Shurikenger will really help them. On one hand, he’s utterly loyal to Gozen, but on the other, he defied her orders to save them two episodes ago. Then the fisherman is revealed and decides to offer his own two cents. Elsewhere, Sargain is at work.



He analyses the Ikari no Ya medal, discovering that there IS a link with the Shinobi Medals used by the Hurricanegers, Gouraigers and Shurikenger (all of which are animated using models that don’t even look like the real thing. Jakanja intel must be faulty).







As the fisherman states that Shurikenger must have a good reason for keeping things from his allies, everyone gets alerted to a disturbance at the quarry, where Satarakura appears with a simple request.



The 5 have no idea what he’s talking about, so he explains, using the Ikari no Ya medal for comparison.



He then states that the Nageki no Yumi medal is much the same, and explains the logic in asking them for it.



But the heroes still don’t know what he’s talking about… which isn’t good enough for Sandaaru. (Getting some Percy Jackson vibes with this, specifically the movie version of the first book, which is my sole exposure to that franchise)



And so, the heroes Shinobi change and a fight breaks out. Elsewhere, the fisherman ponders a familiar ball (okay, hands up who didn’t call this. Ok, now all those who aren’t aware of how this show works out your hand down).



Back with the fight, the Hurricanegers get blasted before they can even fire the Triple Gadget and the Gouraigers are barely able to fend off Satarakura borrowing a trick from Wendinu’s playbook.





But before evil can win for good (beyond getting the Nageki no Yumi medal), Shurikenger appears to catch on to the fight.



He then leaps down and pulls out his Shuriken Ball (and in case you’re not convinced he’s ShishiRanger, he does the Dairanger/Magna Defender pose).





Nanami asks why Shurikenger disguised himself as a fisherman, to which he explains he wanted to know how they really felt (okay, but how did he know they’d be there?). Yosuke then begs him to tell them everything, which he promises to do afterwards.



He then attacks the two Spears with his Miracle Senban Knock… which gets reflected back at him.



Attempts by the main five to use the Victory Gadget prove just as fruitless.



Before the fight can continue, they get interrupted when Sargain arrives in Megatagame Mk III (seriously, stop making these things).



The 6 heroes summon their respective Karakuri Giants, giving us our first shot of all three together (most battles where all of them get involved never featured them in the same shot in robot mode).



Senpuujin summons the Pitatto Hitode (which I now know roughly translates as “adhesive starfish”) and use Kyukyuku Ougi: Stardust Cracker, a new move that duplicates the original and launches the copies onto Megatagame Mk III… which do nothing but fill up a cd on its dashboard (these advanced aliens really haven’t invented USBs yet?).







Gouraijin then takes a stab with the Kabuto Spear. Literally, as they attack with Kyukyuku Ougi: Tokkan Kyōsha Zuki… which has the same result. Tenkuujin using Spin Bee for Kyukyuku Ougi: Abare Goma has the same lack of an effect. Sargain brags that this one has armour ten times stronger than the previous models (why doesn’t he just send a puppet made of that material then?), before blasting all three, with Shurikenger doing a save with his Tenkuu Shuriken.



Gouraijin then blasts back with its hip mounted cannons (a concept that will never not be hilarious to me).



The three then summon Tri-Condor, combining into TenraiSenpuujin and blasting Megatagame Mk III with the Ultima Storm… which gives Sargain the last of the data he needs.



Shurikenger, after pondering the fact there are TWO medals, takes everyone to Master Gozen’s residence on an island.





While Nanami is nervous about all this, Yosuke needs to go and take a whizz. Ikkou is not amused.



They enter the cavern and discover Master Gozen… who turns out to have fled the scene and left behind a teddy bear.







As everyone assumes they were tricked, Shurikenger notices a scroll, which her reads, coming to a realisation.







Elsewhere, Sargain launches his latest and greatest creation, Karakuri Giant Gaingain (finally, not another Megatagame).





As Hamster Headmaster apologises to an understanding Master Gozen (he’s starting to seem less bad), Gaingain makes its appearance, with everyone returning to the scene in TenraiSenpuujin. They narrowly dodge Gaingain’s Dangan Punch, before hitting back with the Karakuri Kengi: Tenrai Shippu-zan. It’s at this point that Sargain inserts the Ikari no Ya medal into a new part of the console, summoning an unnumbered Karakuri Ball.





Sargain reveals that he found out that the Ikari no Ya medal was similar to their Shinobi Medals, so he used their previous battle as an opportunity to analyse their Karakuri system so he could rip it off. Which leads to this bit of banter.

Yosuke: First Hurrier mode and now the Karakuri system. When will you stop copying other people’s ideas?

Sargain: The best ideas are always thought of by other people first. Now, come forth: one of the items that will summon “that”! Ruler of the Darkness, Ikari no Ya!

(I like that they didn’t acknowledge that Megatagame was itself ripped off from Gouraijin, basically all but saying how much the original sucked).





(If this show were made today, the Ikari no Ya would be a P-Bandai item)

The Jakanja are amazed at Sargain’s accomplishment, but none more so than Sandaaru.





TenraiSenpuujin tries defending using the Double Cross Formation… only for Gaingain to shatter it with its new weapon.



Gaingain then downs its foe with Ankokou Kyukyuku Ougi: Ganryu Giri.



The episode ends with Gaingain standing over its defeated opponent, ready for the kill.



Next time: the Hurricanegers hit Sargain with all they’ve got, Hamster Headmaster meets with the REAL Master Gozen and we get a traditional ninja battle. This and more in Scroll 43: The Super Combination and the Great Clash.

Sandaaru: Too bad for you, Sargain.

Final thoughts: A good beginning to the “last chance to buy Hurricaneger toys”. I can really buy Gaingain as a serious threat, even more so with the Ikari no Ya. And it looks like this jigsaw puzzle of a plot is about to come together and I can’t wait to see how it goes.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 43: The Super Combination and the Great Clash

Here we are,a t part two of this climactic battle. And in a reverse of the Fangarou three-parter, the conclusion to a Maekawa cliffhanger is handled by Miyashita. But this time, it’s the same director (I think), so there shouldn’t be too much of a clash in styles. With that said, on with the review.

We begin where last episode left off, but here, Shurikenger calls in Revolver Mammoth to save them from certain doom.





But it doesn’t last past the titles, as Sargain uses the Ikari no Ya to perform the Gokuro Kyogekiha, which downs Revovler Mamkoth, causing Shurikenger to invoke his deity.



TenraiSenpuujin tries to fight back with Ultima Storm, but Gaingain overpowers this, forcing them to retreat.





Sargain returns to the Centipede, where Furabijo gives him a flower. Sargain then shows off that the Ikari no Ya medal is glowing, which pleases Tau Zant.



Sargain then elaborates on this (And yes, the subbers did spell the name of the planet differently between the movie (Astram) and the show (Astrum). While different spellings are common among fans of Japanese media (dreamcastergirl’s Yodonna Redemption Arc pretty much spelled it as “Astrom”), this sub has been especially bad at consistency, given the indecision over the two Mcguffins having a definitive article and whether Jakanja are trying to corrupt, corrode or destroy Earth. Given the exact word, the second one is the only correct one).





Wendinu summarise what he’s talking about. Or rather, who.



When Satarakura points out that the Hurricanegers didn’t know anything about the Nageki no Yumi, Sandaaru points out there is likely someone above them.



At Ninja Base (and Shurikenger’s hangar), all of the Shinobi Machines are under maintenance.



Oboro states that the repairs of Revolver Mammoth have been left to “that person”, who Hamster Headmaster is currently meeting with.





Isshu and Yosuke talk about Ikari no Ya’s incredible power, before Ikkou and Nanami bring up that they mentioned another weapon by the name of Nageki no Yumi.



Elsewhere, Hamster Headmaster is shocked at what Master Gozen told him offscreen, before the latter tells us a story (and although he’s finally speaking, I cannot identify who is playing Master Gozen due to a voice modulator [sadly, I am not that one guy on RangerBoard who figured out that A-Squad Red was a girl], but he sounds like the narrator), which Hamster Headmaster comments on.





























Master Gozen then orders Mugensai to ensure that Ikari no Ya isn’t used again. Unfortunately, Sargain is preparing to use it to search for Nageki no Yumi.



While everyone else is assured of Sargain’s victory, Satarakura thinks Sandaaru should get the glory of securing the weapon and killing the heroes. In the city, Gaingain reappears and summons the Ikari no Ya.



As the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers are forced to race to the scene without their Shinobi Machines, they instead appear riding their respective ground vehicles.



After buffeting Gaingain, Sargain leaves the Karakuri Giant to face his enemies on the ground. He quickly manages to gain the upper hand, managing to deflect everything thrown his way. Tau Zant then states what Sargain must do (even though the latter can’t hear him).



As the fight continues, the Hurricanegers decide to attack with the Triple Gadget… which Sargain destroys easily with his GanryuKen (the shot, not the Triple Gadget).



Sargain then blasts everyone with his finger lasers. Fortunately, the Shinobi Machines have been repaired and make their triumphant return. Sargain returns to Gaingain, facing down Senpuujin and Gouraijin. Both robots quickly prove outmatched, until Shurikenger and Tenkuujin reappear, with the three Karakuri Ginats forming TenraiSenpuujin once more. After a sword fight, which Gaingain manages to win out in due to its speed and mastery of the Ikari no Ya, Yosuke tries calling Revolver Mammoth, only for nothing to happen. And Gaingain still has the advantage over them. Luckily, Hamster Headmaster is here to clear everything up for Oboro. (And the same footage from episode 33 of Revolver Mammoth being imprinted with the six powers (Yosuke’s wind, Nanami’s water, Kouta’s ground, Ikkou’s darkness, Isshu’s light and Shurikenger’s fire) replays here).







Oboro passes this information onto a badly losing TenraiSenpuujin.



Everyone begins to pray, which unfortunately doesn’t stop Gaingain from attacking. But a brief malfunction does just the job.





Everyone’s prayers take the form of a giant spectral Ninjamisen playing Yosuke’s version of the melody (Which is now my new favourite shot of the series).



Revolver Mammoth emerges, now with added fancy light effects. It avoids Gaingain’s attack before TenraiSenpuujin mounts it.



It then summons, Sword Slasher, Goat Crusher, Tortoise Hammer, Plant Axe, Gatling Leo, Squid Attacker, Furaimaru, Spin Bee, Kabuto Spear, Catch Spider and Pitatto Hitode all at once (the one off promo items aren’t included in this).



All these then combine to form Revolver TenraiSenpuujin as the theme song kicks in.

As this happens, Sandaaru does to his faith in Sargain what Revolver TenraiSenpuujin is about to do to Gaingain.



Sure enough, the Earth Ninjas launch the Zettai Kyukyuku Ougi: Ultima Rainbow, which annihilates Gaingain with the power of all the Karakuri Balls.





The Ikari no Ya then turns back into a medal, which Yosuke leaps out to grab.



And since I didn’t capture a photo, I’ll have Wendinu explain what happened next.



As Furabijo fails Sargain, Tau Zant realises something.





Out in the wastelands, Sargain refuses to back down until he beats the Hurricanegers and gets the medal back. So he furiously yells for them to come and face him (I doubt they can hear you).



But instead of his intended opponent, he gains Sandaaru, who wants to settle their feud.



But Sandaaru has decided Sargain is too good to die by his katana… so he blows Sargain’s GanryuKen in half and stabs him with the blade.





Sargain tries pleading for his life, pointing out he has valuable knowledge of the Karakuri system. But this doesn’t work.





After making it clear he’s never liked Sargain, Sandaaru pulls out a knife and cuts Sargain in half, tiny bug and all (um, no comment).



The episode then ends with Sandaaru turning around and walking away as Sargain’s remains explode.



Next time: The Jakanja attack the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers to avenge Sargain (evidently, they missed the last scene of this episode), Masaru Shishido (Better known as Goro Hoshino/OhRed from Choriki Sentai Ohranger) guest stars (Lets not kid ourselves, we know who he’s playing) and a surprise new combatant appears.



This and more in “Scroll 44: Master Gozen and the Misfortune Fan Beast” (with the trailer ending on Yosuke’s line for next week imposed over a shot of this woman).



Final thoughts: I loved this episode. Granted, it’s hard to make me hate a “late season sell as many toys as possible” episode (only Kiramager has done that so far) and Revolver TenraiSenpuujin is exactly the kind of final combination I expect from this show. And I like the twist that it’s Sandaaru that disposes of Sargain rather than the heroes (not least for what Power Rangers did with it). And I’ve realised, based on Master Gozen’s story, and on the number of other ninja Toei heroes (Ninja Captor, DynaBlack, Kamen Rider ZX, Yellow Mask, the cast of Jiraiya, Kakuranger, Ninninger, Kamen Rider Fuma, Kamen Riders Shinobi and Hattari and Kamen Rider Kenzan) that Hurricaneger is, if you buy into the idea of one big extended universe for Toei’s heroes (which I don’t, personally), then Hurricaneger is one of the most important series lore wise. Which makes how little attention it gets from the wider fan base startling, to say the least.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 44: Master Gozen and the Misfortune Fan-Beast

(That is the most Harry Potter title this show has had. Which is saying something, since the name of the show was derived from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone or Hari Poda to Kenja no Ishi).

Here we are, at the last big battle of the year (for the show. For us, it’s late April). Not much to say, so onto the review.

After a recap of last time, wherein Sandaaru killed Sargain for losing the Ikari no Ya medal to the Hurricanegers, we open with the funeral.



And then it turns out that Satarakura and Wendinu have their own ideas of how it happened, to which Sandaaru gives them the specifics of what happened.







Tau Zant then quells any further discussion by (rarely, for him) paying his own respects, at which point we see they sized the coffin for Sargain’s real body (which is just cute).





Tau Sant then states the consequences now that the Hurricanegers have the Ikari no Ya medal.



Sandaaru graciously accepts the task of retrieving the medal and goes over to a machine, inserting a disc Wendinu finds familiar.



Cue the titles, wherein Sargain’s replacement is introduced.





We then cut to Ninja Base, where the Hurricanegers’ sit down as Hamster Headmaster brings orders down from above: seal the Ikari no Ya medal. They then discuss what could happen if the weapon and Nageki no Yumi were brought together.





With the terrifying implications agreed upon, Kouta then asks an important question.



Hamster Headmaster explains that Master Gozen is the only one who can do it, so they have to take it to him (Let’s just hope he’s in this time). As Nanami is happy that they’re finally meeting this guy (To be honest, so am I), Yosuke suggests a plan.



But Oboro and Hamster Headmaster point out the flaw in his plan.





So instead, they go on foot, disguised as high school students (As Kouta states, disguise is a traditional Ninja art, after all).



Providing backup is Isshu disguised as a businessman and Ikkou disguised as a mall Santa (did I mention this was a Christmas episode?)





Partway through, they wonder where Shurikenger is, since he’s likely in on this too. So they accost a soba seller (played by Masaru Shishido, better known as Goro Hoshino/OhRed from Choriki Sentai Ohranger), who denies knowing them, as he takes off (Yeah, pull the other one man).





Elsewhere, Sandaaru’s machine pings, getting a lock on the Ikari no Ya medal.



Soon enough, the confused Hurricanegers are confronted by an angry Furabijo and Wendinu.





Wendinu is confused by their lack of knowledge, but Furabijo fires darts from her mouth. But Ikkou and Isshu appear to hold them off as the Gouraigers, allowing the others to keep moving. The trip then change their disguise to shoppers.



But this doesn’t help, as Satarakura’s disembodied head (ew) reattached to his body (show off) and lets them in on the secret (way to blow your good thing, genius).





But before he can do much to them, he gets knocked back by the soba seller, who reveals that they were right: he IS Shurikenger (called it).



Shurikenger (I’ll put this here: Is his disguise this week his real face, or is it another poor schmuck he stole the face of?) Shinobi changes to hold off Satarakura (and in case you’re not convinced he’s OhRed, he does the Ohranger pose [Zeo’s is less elaborate].).



As the two episode 21 debuts fight, and the Space Kunoichi have the advantage over the Gouraigers, the Hurricanegers come to a damn, that’s the halfway point of their trip.



But they get stopped by Sandaaru, who they’re forced to Shinobi change in order to fight. But Sandaaru has the upper hand, and only gets knocked back when the Ikari no Ya medal unleashes its power.





Shocked by this power, Sandaaru releases his Misfortune Fan Beast Badogi (last seen in episode 40. You didn’t really think he’d only appear for one scene, did you?). The Hurricanegers recover from the energy released and summon the Shinobi Machines to form Senpuujin.





Badogi manages to overpower the Sword Slasher, while Ikkou and Isshu are stopped from leaving their fight, as is Shurikenger. Pitatto Hitode’s Starlight Knee Drop proves just as ineffective against the dragon Kaiju, so they decide to call out Goat Crusher, Tortoise Hammer, Gatling Leo and Squid Attacker, allowing them to dual wield Goat Hammer and Gatling Attacker (and since this is the last time Goat Crusher appears, I’ll make a retraction for something I said when it first appeared. The Karakuri Balls do come with their appropriate Shinobi Medals, except the two included with the Mecha).



But neither weapon so much as scratches the monster (man, Gatling Attacker is still pretty useless after all this time). But then, as they begin to lose, Yosuke sees the cracked case for the Ikari no Ya medal and gets the idea to use it.



The summoning procedure knocks Badogi back long enough for them to equip it and turn the tide.





As the other three overcome their opponents and arrive in Gouraijin and Tenkuujin, Senpuujin begins to malfunction, attacking its allies.







Master Gozen is shocked by this display of power and comes to a decision (is that lipstick?)





Oboro analyses Senpuujin and discovers the source of the problem. (They forgot to install a surge protector)



Sandaaru observes this and remembers Gaingain’s brief loss of control from the last episode.



Badogi then takes advantage of this to reclaim the upper hand. But then a light appears in front of Senpuujin and in that light is a woman.







And if you’re wondering who this is, Shurikenger spells it out.



I’d like to point out here that I am only pretending to be unaware of the major details of the later episodes of this show (because I looked them up). I knew that Gozen would be a woman for a while. And someone else is aware of this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And our new worm, Rena, is played by Hitomi Miwa, who was previously the big good of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Hey, you're right, that's Kagura! I never recognized her actress in Kabuto before even though Kagura was one of my favorite characters in Hurricanger.

Everyone reacts to this reveal appropriately.



Even Tau Zant seems shocked (or as shocked as you can be with a sculpted face).



The woman then gives advice to the Earth Ninjas.





They take it, combining into TenraiSenpuujin, wielding the Ikari no Ya.



Badogi attacks once more, only to be defeated with two slashes with the Ikari no Ya (not a finisher, just a pair of regular slashes). Madame Gozen (which is what I’m calling her now) lands on an island nearby (even though they’re at a damn, not at sea).



Yosuke leaps down to stop Sandaaru from capturing her on Tau Zant’s orders (even though she’s capable of handling him)… which Sandaaru uses as the chance to summon another Fan Beast, Disaster Fan Beast Dezargi, a crow Kaiju who outspeeds TenraiSenpuujin and knocks the Ikari no Ya out of its hand.





The Ikari no Ya reverts to its medal form and lands in the hands of Sandaaru, who leaves Madame Gozen with a warning.





Sometime later, on a cliff, Madame Gozen formally introduces herself.



Yosuke apologises for his actions that lead to Ikari no Ya’s loss, but Madame Gozen forgives him, since he saved her (no, you did that yourself). Her forehead then glows with a mysterious light, that it apparently doesn’t take a genius to identify.



Gozen then explains her story of having the Dark Stone sealed within her.







But now, the ninjas of Earth aren’t fighting, so Gozen has a simple request.



The episode ends with everyone agreeing to this, while Gozen and Shurikenger leave to check on something. Next time: The Hurricanegers help an old priest clean Gozen’s house, while he battles a cat monster named Madogi (Another of Sandaaru’s Fan Beasts, I presume). This and more on Scroll 45: Refuge and Spring Cleaning.

Priest: Let’s go, Madogi.

Final thoughts: So this was the episode where the big good is revealed. I have to say, it’s fairly well done. And I love the ethereal music accompanying her everywhere. Kazunori Miyake, man. For the last battle of the year, it was fairly good.