[Androzani84]

Scroll 28: Hurrier and Counterattack

And we’re back, with a sequel to episode 15 (which so far, has been the worst episode I’ve come across). Will this be better? Let’s find out.

We open with Senpuujin in battle with Sargain’s Megatagame Mk II (already?), thinking that this one will be easy to defeat, given how much of a pushover the last one was (nice to see Miyashita and I are once more on the same page).



However, Gouraijin isn’t here, because Isshu is on the ground, wondering where “Anijan” is at a time like this.



(Given that the lack of Isshu piloting Gouraijin alone was a major gripe I had with episode 15, it’s nice to see they explained why that didn’t happen. Still slightly disappointed though)

It turns out that Ikkou is at a cabin in the woods, wearing nothing on his upper body, not even his Gourai Changer, doing… something with someone unseen (well, I’ve seen enough hentai to know where this is going).



Tenkuujin joins the battle, warning the Hurricanegers to be wary, since this Megatagame is an upgrade from the first one. Sure enough, when Senpuujin hurries up, Megatagame Mk II follows suit with its own Hurrier Mode.



And unlike Senpuujin, Sargain’s Hurrier Mode doesn’t have a time limit: he can change between the two forms at will (though the patent for this is pending). Senpuujin gets wrecked, Tenkuujin and the Hurricanegers barely escape with their lives and Ikkou only now receives Isshu’s call for help. As Isshu calls out Ikkou on his recent mysterious disappearances (aren’t they employed now? What does their foreman think of the absences Ikkou takes?), Oboro tells them in no uncertain terms that they’ll need Gouraijin to beat Megatagame Mk II. At the Centipede, while Furabijo and Wendinu think the new Megatagame is an undisputed success, Satarakura points out that the Gouraigers haven’t been defeated by it, to which Manmarva makes his point to Tau Zant, who uses his one line of the episode (seriously, he’s been getting less and less dialogue as of late) to tell him to carry on as usual.



Isshu follows his brother to the cabin, where we learn he’s been working with an old teacher by the name of Yusaku Ramon (played by Toshiya Fuji, better known as Gaku Hoshikawa/FiveRed from Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman, who was also incidentally a teacher) to try and remove the scorpion egg from Ikkou’s heart.



But as it turns out, they’ve only been able to slow it down. Ramon suggests that Ikkou tells his brother about what they’ve been doing, revealing that he knew the latter was here the whole time. Isshu says that he wants to be an equal partner during this, to which Manmarva enters with an entourage of Magerappas, offering to put an egg in his heart so they’ll both go to hell (I’m not sure that’s what he meant). Ramon remains behind while the brothers escape, beating up the brothers with a mix of martial arts amid mist dispelling powers (how he has these is sadly, never explained). But Manmarva simply beats him up and continues on his way.

Meanwhile, Megatagame Mk II reappears, with Senpuujin having conveniently just been repaired (so, the damage wasn’t that bad, considering Gouraijin’s damage took more than 3 days to fully repair), but managing to struggle. In the woods, Ramon is found by Shurikenger, who asks if he’s associated with the Kasumi Bros.



Speaking of whom, they manage to come to a river, where they think they’re safe. Unfortunately, Manmarva returns and blasts Ikkou with his dark energy, then revealing what the blast does.







But before he can do anything else, Ramon seemingly returns and beats up the Magerappas. This time, Manmarva chooses to withdraw, having already done what he set out to do. Ramon gives the brothers some advice.



He explains that there’s a temple there where they can learn Qipong to help remove the egg. Ikkou refuses, instead choosing to stay and fight, even though that would limit his time. The Kasumi Bros then receive Oboro’s SOS and leave, at which point it turns out that Ramon has been replaced by Shurikenger (and in case you don’t believe he’s FiveRed… then I can’t help you, since he doesn’t do the pose), working with the real Ramon.

Gouraijin appears in the battle with Megatagame Mk II, saving Senpuujin. Sargain shifts to Megatagame Mk II Hurrier to continue the fight. Yosuke suggests they combine, summoning FuraiHead… which is promptly grabbed by Megatagame MK II Hurrier (nice display of genre savvy, Sargain).



But as all seems lost, Shurikenger shows up in Tenkuujin with Karakuri Ball 12: Catch Spider. After using it to throw Megatagame Mk II Hurrier onto its back, he then uses it to grab Karakuri Ball 07 and use it as a mace (okay, this is one of the most epic uses of a mundane object as a weapon I’ve seen).



With 07 back in hand, Ikkou summons 08, allowing for Furaimaru to be formed. After apologising for that bit of weirdness, Furaimaru combines the two into GouraiSenpuujin, which shrugs off Megatagame Mk II Hurrier’s attacks, before destroying it. However, Sargain survives, swearing vengeance (hopefully, the next Megatagame isn’t made of explosive materials. Oh who am I kidding? You know it will be).

Back at the cabin, Ramon tries the ritual again, only to find that Manmarva’s spirit wave has not only sped up the egg’s hatching, he’s also made slowing it down impossible (just how powerful was that energy?) and now Ikkou’s only hope is to go to Tibet. But as he once more refuses, Manmarva predicts that KabutoRaiger will die on the next full moon (which going by the shape of the moon in this episode, isn’t too far away). As the Jakanja celebrate this, Manmarva foresees himself exploding (well I didn’t need prediction powers to know that was coming) as the episode ends. Next time: Kouta becomes leader of the Hurricanegers (for some reason) and Yosuke isn’t happy. This and more on “Scroll 29: Lingering Summer Heat and Stamps”.

Final thoughts: Well, this was mostly a bleak episode. But it did give us a good look at Ikkou, who was mostly flat when he first appeared. Plus, it gave the Megatagame a better showing than the last time, so there’s that. Overall I don’t think this arc with the scorpion egg is particularly unwelcome here.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 29: Lingering Summer Heat and Stamp

This episode introduces our final new writer for this series: Shin Yoshida. If you’re a purely Tokusatsu person, I don’t expect you to have heard of him, since this and 3 other Hurricaneger episodes are his sole contribution to the genre. He’s mostly known for his work in the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, having written the Waking the Dragons and Millennium World arcs of Duel Monsters, the infamous Season 4 of GX, everything after the Fortune Cup in 5Ds, the entirety of ZEXAL (anime and manga), the manga for Arc-V and the entirety of VRAINS. He’s fairly controversial among the crowd that insists everything should be dark and gritty, but ZEXAL is the most popular Yu-Gi-Oh series in Japan, and I’ve seen it has more fans than detractors (it’s just that Yu-Gi-Oh’s detractors can be REALLY vocal). Will this episode follow suit? Let’s find out.

The episode opens with Kouta suffering under the heavy sun, while the rest of Ninja Base tries to alleviate this by making curry (If you ask me, that’ll just make things worse). Hamster Headmaster thinks that with the Kamen Ninjas and Karakuri Giants Jakanja is throwing at them (even though they only sent out two of the latter), the Hurricanegers need a leader (then what’s Yosuke been doing for 28 episodes). After Kouta stops everyone from turning the curry into a spicy disaster, Hamster Headmaster decides to make him the leader. Yosuke gets dejected and leaves. Elsewhere, Jakanja had summoned Lingering Summer Heat Ninja Bero-Tan (who I will refer to as the Licker).



Licker’s special ability activates. For everyone he takes down, he gains a stamp counter. Yosuke shows up and, motivated by a traffic light laughing at him (specifically, the yellow light) and he fact that he should be leader because he’s in the centre, decides to fight him alone, summoning Sky Ninja HurricaneRed. Unfortunately, Nanami and Kouta caught wind of Licker on the monitors, summoning Water Ninja HurricaneBlue and Land Ninja HurricaneYellow to join the duel. But when Licker proves immune to the Quake Gadget, Yosuke and Kouta argue over who deserves to be leader, much to Nanami’s concern (maybe SHE should be leader. Just saying). Luckily for them, since there are three Ninja Hurricane monsters on the field, Ikkou can summon Horn Ninja KabutoRaiger to the field, with Isshu being able to summon Fang Ninja KuwagaRaiger to join him. But then Manmarva triggers his trap, Curse of the Space Scorpion, which cuts KabutoRaiger’s ATK points in half so he can attack. After warning that Ikkou will die on the next full moon, Manmarva leaves with Licker. Isshu sees Yosuke and Kouta still arguing, and leaves in disgust with Ikkou (and hats all they do in this episode). As Nanami drags the two boys kicking and screaming back to Ninja Base, Shurikenger looks on.

Hamster Headmaster and Oboro try to teach the boys that while one arrow can break easily, three arrows are unbreakable… only for the three arrows to break easier than the one (Oops). Yosuke suggests that a single arrow made of steel wouldn’t break easily and vows to be the steel arrow, to which Kouta insists he’ll be an arrow stronger than steel (they’re both taking this metaphor a tad too literally). We then cut to two near identical scenes where the two try and fail to destroy a scarecrow after destroying one easily, before the other appears to throw them a torn scroll with a new move on it.

At the Centipede, we see that Satarakura has Licker and the other 3 Spears writing his postcards (including to one guy named after producer Hideaki Tsukada). It turns out that he’s converting Licker’s stamp counters into letter counters. And once Licker amasses enough of both, he’ll unleash a fireball that will reduce the Earth’s LP to 0, while delivering all of Satarakura’s postcards to their recipients (hey Satarakura, Emperor Exhaus from Carranger called, even he thinks your plan is dumb). The Hurricanegers arrive to where Licker is preparing to unleash his load. Yosuke activates the spell Hayate Style Technique - Sky Slash, while Kouta follows suit with the Hayate Style Technique - Earth Slash. Oboro realises that Hamster Headmaster tore the two apart so they’d become stronger (to which he basically says “sure, whatever”). But it turns out Licker survived both hits, causing the two to argue again over who failed to kill him.



As Nanami gets frustrated again, Licker takes the opportunity to capture her.



As the two react in horror to this, Shurikenger appears to give the lesson HH and Oboro failed to give earlier: the Hurricanegers can’t function without teamwork (it helps that he isn’t trying to use cheap arrows to make his point. He just explains the gravity of the situation). As the two apologise, they decide to combine the two attacks and hit Licker at the same time.



This works, destroying Licker. Shurikenger then reveals that the two torn scrolls are actually one that he ripped in half and disguised himself as Kouta and Yosuke in order to teach them a lesson. As they’re talking, Satarakura activates the spell “Giant Mask”, which not only resurrects Licker from the GY, but also doubles his ATK points. Yosuke, Nanami and Kouta summon Shinobi Machines Hurricane Hawk, Hurricane Dolphin and Hurricane Leon, using them to Link Summon Karakuri Giant Senpuujin. This trigger’s Licker’s Trap, Tongue of Constraint, tying them up. This is resolved when Shurikenger summons Tenkuujin, using its special ability to negate the last Trap that was played. Oboro then reveals she’s completed a new Karakuri Ball, which Kouta and Nanami both suggest she give to their leader, Yosuke. Touched by their faith in him (where was this faith when this whole mess started?), Yosuke equips Senpuujin with Karakuri Ball 13: Karakuri Stamp (a candy toy that made its way into the show. It comes in red, as seen here, or in green and has seven stamps).



The Stamps effect is that when a monster equipped with it battles, the attack is negated, and the opposing monster loses all counters placed on it (so, would the people trapped in stamps have died if Licker hadn’t been made a giant? That’s pretty grim). Shurikenger then activates Tenkuujin’s other effect: since Senpuujin is on the field and Hurricane Dolphin is in the GY, he can banish the latter to equip Tenkuujin onto the former. TenkuuSenpuujin destroys Licker for good and we end the episode with our trio eating curry with Oboro and Hamster Headmaster. Next time: Furabijo quits Jakanja and joins a reluctant Nanami as an idol group. This and more on Scroll 30: Idol and Friendship.

Final thoughts: I’m… not quite sure what to say about this episode. It’s fairly decent as a stand-alone episode, but it’s not got that great a premise.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 30: Idol and Friendship

And here we are, with another Arakawa episode. Let’s see if he can deliver this time (because up to now, he’s been probably the least impressive of the show’s writers. Yes, even compared to Yoshida’s efforts in the last post).

We begin with Furabijo failing Sargain for Megatagame Mk II’s failure, Satarakura for Licker’s failure and Wendinu and Manmarva because she thinks their performances have been lousy (she clearly hasn’t been watching Manmarva’s efforts to kill KabutoRaiger). She then insists she’ll make up for all their failures (again, KabutoRaiger isn’t dying of his own accord) with her own plan, revealing Bishoujo Ninja Furabijennu, a puppet made with her traits, all amplified to 300%. (And the voice of Emi Shinohara, better known as the voice behind Sailor Jupiter)



As Manmarva expresses disgust that Sargain would build such a thing, wondering just what dirt Furabijo has on him, our First Spear sends out Furabijennu to perform the “Greatest Earth Corruption Plan in the Universe” (which, as the narrator points out, isn’t actually explained in any detail). As Furabijennu shows up to a factory, she faces down the Gouraigers and beats them up easily (and Manmarva wasn’t even doing his thing, so she managed to beat both Ikkou and Isshu in a straight fight). The Hurricanegers only show up as she’s finished beating up Shurikenger (which considering this is his one appearance in the episode, is kind of disappointing). But luckily, Furabijo calls Furabijennu back to the Centipede, since she’s used up 75% of her power (what kind of batteries does she use?). As Furabijo has all but Manmarva doing her bidding (he leaves this episode to prepare for the next one), Furabijennu returns and is fitted with a recharger, which will take 2 weeks to repower her (again, what batteries did Sargain use to build this puppet?). The other three then decide they’ve had enough and decide they’d rather have Furabijennu as their First Spear.







And so, by overwhelming majority, Furabijo is voted out in favour of her robot double (there’s an anti-automation message there, somewhere). At Ninja Base, Nanami ducks out of the search to attend a campaign signing (wow, she’s gone up in the world. From doing kindergarten performances to releasing an album). Back at the Centipede, Furabijennu is giving Sargain a sauna treatment (pictured below, in a picture that shows off what kind of computer I use to get these screenshots), Wendinu a massage and Satarakura help with his jokes (What does a mountain made of blankets weigh? A few-tons). She then states internally her desire to get rid of them all and become leader of Jakanja “because my ambitions are 300 times greater than Furabijo’s”. (What’s a good Sentai villain group without backstabbing?)



As Nanami signs autographs (turns out, there’s a large market for Enka songs), Furabijo appears and transforms into a civilian guise to explain her situation. After Hase-san determines that the new girl is a friend of Nana-chan’s, he decides to recruit her as an idol.



Thus, Hase-san proposes putting the two together as an idol unit, known as “Bishoujo Girl 7”. With some persuasion from Hamster Headmaster (who suggests that it’s a good idea to keep an eye on Furabijo), Nanami and Furabijo rehears their debut single “Shiawase Shaking Hands” (which sounds a lot like one of KR Gaim’s transformation sounds), a peppy song about friendship across barriers written specifically for this episode.

After deciding that Furabijo is on the up and up, Nanami speaks with her as a friend. Furabijo reveals that she was kicked out of Space Ninja School for constantly getting zeroes (I’m sensing a Freudian excuse here).



After that, she was inducted into Jakanja because Tau Zant thought she had the perfect look to be the First Dark Spear (Now I’m interested in the backstories of the other Spears. Was Sargain discriminated against due to his small stature? Did Satarakura need an outlet for his bad jokes? These are the things I want to know). And to commemorate her redemption, Nanami takes her into Ninja Base, where she shares with Oboro the plans for a controller that will shut down Furabijennu, who will be fully recharged in two days (They set up this whole campaign in 12 days?). After another montage set to the song (I’m not posting the video again), we cut to the Bishoujo Girls 7 in bed together (Make your own interpretations about that. I prefer to think Nanami is too poor to afford a second bed).



Furabijo is worried about Furabijennu showing up, so she leaves in the middle of the night to grab the completed remote and confront the recharged Furabijennu at Toei’s Edo set (because Arakawa was in a period where he tried to fit it into Sentai once a season. The only reason he didn’t in Go-Onger was because Junki Takegami beat him to it by making it the setting for the movie), with Yosuke and Kouta watching. After a short fight, Furabijo attaches the remote to Furabijennu… who is reprogrammed to serve her and attacks the onlookers. Furabijo then states that she was merely acting nice in order to fool HurricaneBlue into helping her build the remote and in actuality, she cares about nothing other than suffering, which she demonstrates by tearing the campaign poster in half. Unfortunately for her, Nanami heard everything from Ninja Base and promptly shows up, dressed in a kimono, wielding a sword and a parasol with the Water Ninja crest on them (how did she make the sword brand so quickly? The parasol, she uses for the roll call, but the sword confuses me) and speaking like a Jidai Geki hero (uh, heroine), as her Enka song, “Shinobi Koi” plays in the background (and I’ll share the lyric video again for your consideration).

After Nanami swiftly deals with the Magerappas, she then transforms into HurricaneBlue, with the faceplate retracted (I can see why PR didn’t use much footage from this episode) and engages in a sword duel with Furabijennu, defeating her in one stroke (are the heroes getting stronger, or are the villains getting weaker? You decide).





After some begging, Furabijo gets Wendinu to send a Copy Giant, while the Hurricanegers wake Oboro up to send the Shinobi Machines (with both stock footage clips getting skipped). Oboro then sends Nanami the Shinobi Medal for Karakuri Ball 14: Pitatto Hitode, which Senpuujin uses to kill Furabijennu with the Kyukuku Ougi: Starlight Knee Drop. (Is it just me, or have the Karakuri Ball debuts gotten more anticlimactic since Shurikenger showed up?)





Back at the Centipede, Tau Zant deducts 300 points from Furabijo, much to everyone else’s (except Manmarva) glee. But Furabijo then tries to salvage this by stating she knows where the Hurricanegers’ base is. (Should’ve hit her with the Kuroko-bots before she left for the Centipede)



They then hand Furabijo the missile system and she fires… on the Centipede (I can see why she flunked out of Space Ninja School).



Instead of showing us the aftermath of this, the episode ends with Nanami looking at the torn poster the next day, crying. Next time, a close to death Ikkou fights Yosuke and a trio of werewolf monsters appear. This and more on Scroll 31: Meteor Shower and Three Wolves.

Final thoughts: I thought this was a fairly good episode about not fully trusting everyone and being cautious. Also, Furabijennu is incredibly cuter than she has any right to be (I think it’s the voice) and Nanami has taken the title of second most badass person in this show. (The first is Shurikenger)

[dreamcastegirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

Scroll 30: Idol and Friendship

This is the best sentai episode ever made, and anyone who tells me my reading of the episode is wrong, I refuse to pay heed to. I absolutely love everything about this episode, and I can't even begin to tell you how much the story caused my heart to swell.

Wait, I'm biased, you say? What do you mean I'm biased?

[Androzani84]

Scroll 31: Meteor and Three Wolves

Well, here we are again. Another three part turning point that resolves an arc building up for 10 episodes. Will it live up to the “island battles” three-parter? Let’s find out.

The episode opens with meteors headed towards Earth, as Tau Zant receives a vision of a face and a voice (the real big bad of this series? Let’s see).





Elsewhere, Ikkou and Manmarva are in battle, a battle which ends with the latter’s victory and the former’s apparent death (man, they’re wasting no time this week).





Thankfully, it turns out to be a nightmare Ikkou was having (and don’t let the bad exposure detract from how literally and figuratively dark this episode is).



Back at the Centipede, Manmarva notices the full moon in the sky and looks over a strange cocoon (if I learned anything from Lost Galaxy, it’s never ignore a strange cocoon). He once more mentions how “traitors will be punished”





In the main room, Tau Zant gives Satarakura full permission to begin his plan. The latter complies, calling out his trump cards, the Ninja Wolves Fangarou (Make your own Garo joke, I know next to nothing about the franchise).







Satarakura explains that he saved these three from the forced extinction of their species (making me wonder who carried out this extinction) and created a special whistle that allows him to command them.



Elsewhere, Yosuke is called out to the middle of a quarry in the dead of night by Ikkou for one reason.





As Isshu wakes up to find himself alone, Ikkou defeats Yosuke with the Ikazuchi Style’s best move, the Kabuto Raigekiha. Yosuke brushes off Ikkou’s vague excuse of “there isn’t much time left” and leaves, asking why he isn’t teaching his brother this. A question that answers itself when Isshu shows up.



As the two brothers leave, Shurikenger looks on (probably wondering what disguise he can take on to fix this problem).



The next day, the three Fangarou appear in the city, devouring the shadows of the people.



Oboro and Hamster Headmaster notice this and call in the Hurricanegers, with Yosuke arriving late due to the lack of sleep he got. They soon find that the city is empty, with Shurikenger appearing overhead in Tenkuujin (that’s our mecha action for this episode). He leads the trio to the woods, where they find the people… who have now become feral (apparently, losing your shadow turns you feral. Good to know).





The Fangarou then appear, have a brief fight with the Hurricanegers and Shurikenger, and then return to the city. The Hurricanegers and Shurikenger give chase, eventually joined by the Gouraigers (with Ikkou having talked Isshu into accepting his death), but all of them run foul of the Seven Spears, with Satarakura choosing to face Yosuke, Wendinu choosing to face Kouta, Nanami taking the choice away from Furabijo (apparently, she’s still annoyed about the last episode) and Sargain going to Shurikenger through a mixture of default, Manmarva already being assigned to deal with the Gouraigers and Sargain wanting to test Shurikenger’s mettle. (And it turns out that Wendinu can actually fight without using green screen. Who knew).









Manmarva easily overpowers Isshu and then pursues Ikkou to Ikazuchi Village (I’ve no idea if there’s any connection to Ikazuchi Valley, but it looks just as desolate).



Yosuke sees Isshu leaving and follows him, which leaves the others so outmatched they have to withdraw. After knocking Isshu down. Yosuke learns about the Scorpion Egg implanted in Ikkou’s heart. Yosuke refuses to allow Ikkou to die and follows him. At a news studio, a reporter comments on the mysterious disappearances, having missed the Wolves turning everyone savage. Really missing them, since one of them decided to make the studio its next target.



At Ikazuchi Village, Manmarva has defeated Ikkou and is prepared to watch the end of the show.



But then, Yosuke and Isshu appear, with the former taking up the fight. After he fails to defeat Manmarva with his own moves, Ikkou suggests he use the Kabuto Raigekiha, to which Yosuke kicks up some dust so he can comply.





But even defeating Manmarva soon proves hollow, as Ikkou’s baby hatches from its egg and gives daddy a hug.



Manmarva then backs out of taking custody of the child.



As Yosuke begs Ikkou not to die, because he really wants to see him do the Kabuto Raigekiha, the meteors fall to Earth and Hamster Headmaster receives a call from Master Gozen as the episode ends on a cliffhanger.





Final thoughts: Like the last three parter, I’m reserving full judgement for the end of the story. For now, the episode did have some good, horrific imagery and there’s a nice display that there’s an air of hopelessness, especially since Yosuke was only able to beat Manmarva by borrowing a move from Ikkou.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 32:The Grim Reaper and the Final Secret

Here we are again, with part two of this arc. Let’s find out what happens?

Continuing from where last episode left off, Hamster Headmaster learns from Gozen that the meteor shower is a message from the Evil Will and that it’s the same one Ikki Kasumi saw on the Egypt soundstage back in episode 18 (like that wasn’t obvious). As Hamster Headmaster wonders if Jakanja are serving the Evil Will (again, it really should be obvious based on the name alone). Shurikenger is forced to leave Nanami and Kouta to deal with the Fangarou while he translates THIS prophecy (evidently, the “same darkness/same parents” prophecy is off the table).



Luckily, the two find help when Yosuke and Isshu appear to fend off the Fangarou with them. But they realise soemthing’s wrong when Ikkou isn’t with the, (did they learn about the whole Scorpion thing offscreen?)



Satarakura appears and laughs at them over Ikkou’s death (what a dick), before stating the others will be joining him. At a hospital, Ikkou is looked over by a doctor who’s in on the whole “Ninja” thing. The Hurricanegers (and Isshu) escape the fight when they’re losing and visit Ikkou on his deathbed. As Yosuke walks by the doctor’s office, he overhears something useful.









Unfortunately, Ikkou’s body is so weak that the antidote might kill him before it saves him. Yosuke thus rushes out to the middle of nowhere to demand Manmarva face him, which the latter does. The others quickly note his absence (and Hamster Headmaster realised that he overheard his talk with Doctor Nameless) and pursue him. As Yosuke gloats to Manmarva that putting a scorpion egg in him would take too long, Manmarva simply cuts out the middle man and sends a scorpion to poison him directly.



The others quickly appear to save him and Yosuke heads to the hospital, while they head to the city to face the Fangarou (what’ve they been doing for the last few in-universe hours?). Meanwhile, Shurikenger translates the prophecy.

“When the human beasts roam the city, the gateway to the Final Secret will be unlocked”

Shurikenger: The city? Not the forest?

At the hospital, Yosuke enters, begging them to put the serum in him to make an antidote. Despite some hesitation from the doctor, the procedure is successful in creating an antidote that destroys the scorpion egg completely (what was in that antidote? Acid?).



In the city, Nanami, Kouta and Isshu fight the Fangarou once more and figure out their weakness: they like to attack as a pack, like regular wolves. As they exploit this, Ikkou wakes up in the hospital, finding that Yosuke risked his life to save his, much to his lament.





Satarakura tries to get the Fangarou to change their fighting style, but it just makes them fight each other (the dogs of war, they are not). The three heroes take advantage of the chaos and hit the three wolves, causing them to dissolve into light.



Satarakura vows that this is not over and leaves. In the forest, the affected people get up and leave.



The others return to the hospital to see Yosuke is now on his deathbed. As they plead for him to recover, he flatlines (as dramatic as this is, do you really expect it to stick?)



In the city, the affected people turn out to have become werewolves, who proceed to bite other people to make more werewolves.



Shurikenger realised that this is what the prophecy was referring to... and then he discovers that there’s more to the prophecy. As Wendinu notes that Satarakura’s plan to turn everyone into werewolves until Earth is corrupted is no fun without the Fangarou, Satarakura blows on his whistle, reassembling the light particles as the Giant Beast Fangerus, as the planet begins to be corrupted and the rest of the prophecy is revealed.









At the hospital, Yosuke makes a full recovery… and he’s hungry. Ikkou on the other hand, is glad that he’s alive. (As much as I called it, this is a genuinely heartwarming moment. I’m not made of stone)



As Shurikenger observes Fangerus, he realises he should hurry up work on the secret weapon. The Hurricanegers and Gouraigers return to the city, summoning their Shinobi Machines, which catches the attention of Jakanja, with Manmarva in particular reacting to a certain presence.



The episode ends with Senpuujin and Gouraijin facing down Fangerus, ready to take it down. Next time, as the fight seems almost hopeless, Shurikenger reveals his hand. This and more on “Scroll 33: Mammoth and Six Ninjas”.

Final thoughts: Again, I’m saving the full judgement for the end of the three-parter. But I am glad they didn’t just end the scorpion plotline with an anti-climax where they just wish the scorpion away. They had to work hard and almost suffer another tragedy to achieve this happy ending.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 33: Mammoth and Six Ninjas

Here we are, at the conclusion to this arc. Unlike the last three-parter, Miyashita decided to entrust the conclusion to this third of the season (officially, the actual conclusion is next episode) to Maekawa. I can’t think why, but Maekawa’s been consistently my favourite writer on this show, so let’s see if he can deliver.

The episode begins where the last one left off, with Ikkou rubbing his survival in Manmarva’s face. Yosuke then invites him out for ramen, an offer which he accepts. As Manmarva leaves in annoyance that he was tricked by HurricaneRed (so, KabutoRaiger’s survival was the fault of the guy who would’ve been responsible for his death. Irony right there), while Satarakura states that he can defeat the heroes with his wolves. As Fangerus overpowers both Senpuujin and Gouraijin, they combine into GouraiSenpuujin and blast it with the Rolling Thunder Hurricane. However, Fangerus survives the explosion unscathed.



As Satarakura rubs his victory in the heroes’ faces, the flute he uses to control the Fangarou breaks (Jesus, there’s stupidity and then there’s this).



With the flute destroyed, the Fangarou split back into three and depart to their own devices.



Shurikenger regroups with the 5 on the ground and explains the Evil Will’s prophecy, while Tau Zant explains the same thing to the Spears. Isshu summarises that the prophecy is entirely dependent on “those wolves” (to be fair, no-one’s actually named them in scenes featuring the heroes) and to prevent the Final Secret from appearing, they need to destroy them. But there’s nothing to help the heroes defeat them… except for an escape clause in the prophecy: if the conditions aren’t met quickly enough, then the Jakanja’s greatest enemy will appear. Nanami correctly surmises that the Jakanja’s greatest enemy is their ally, to which Shurikenger has a request in order to summon it.



Despite Kouta pointing out they can’t Shinobi Change without their Medals, Yosuke convinces everyone to give them up. They then move on to rescuing people who haven’t become werewolves from the mob, during which Yosuke finds that his boss has become one (is that justice, or gross overcompensation? You decide) and ties her up (I bet he’s been wanting to do that for a while)





In his chamber, Manmarva reasons that since KabutoRaiger’s death didn’t come true, then that means his death might not happen… and then more of the vision is revealed, showing that he’s going to die at KabutoRaiger’s hand (Death by irony right there).



Elsewhere, Satarakura has fixed his flute, using it to call the Fangarou back to him.



He then has them recombine into Fangerus, knocking Tenkuujin out of the sky. Fortunately, Shurikenger survives.



He transforms into Fire Mode and runs off into the woods. Back in the city, the heroes see Fangerus approaching and decide to face it. Despite being warned that they can’t combine, they summon the Shinobi Machines to hold it off, leading to some of the most awesome shots in the show.







As the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers hold off Fangerus with their individual moves, Shurikenger enters the cave where he and Gozen are working on their new Karakuri Mecha.





He then inserts the six Shinobi Medals (including his own never-before seen one), opening the alcove to reveal the newest addition to the Hurricaneger arsenal, the Ninjamisen, which he inserts his Shuriken’s Bat into and begins playing (and despite the name, it sounds like a guitar). Elsewhere, the Sky Ninja, Water Ninja, Land Ninja, Horn Ninja, Fang Ninja and Heavenly Ninja insignias are printed onto a wheel as Karakuri Balls 01, 03, 02, 04, 11 and 12 are loaded.







As the legendary heirs and the Kasumi Bros start to lose, Shurikenger appears in his regular mode, playing the Ninjamisen to summon the new Karakuri Mecha, Revolver Mammoth, which causes Tau Zant to realise they’re too late.

The buildings retract into the ground, providing the Mammoth with a pathway (man, how much blasting and construction does that entail? And how many people are in on this to avoid problems?) and attacks Fangerus.



Oboro then checks their ancient records, finding Revolver Mammoth is indeed in there. Hamster Headmaster recognises this as the work of Master Gozen.



Shurikenger then finishes his epic rock solo and restores everyone’s Shinobi Medals to them, allowing them to Shinobi Change and combine into GouraiSenpuujin again.



Shurikenger then has Revolver Mammoth deploy Karakuri Balls 01, 02 and 03, allowing GouraiSenpuujin to dual wield the Sword Slasher and the Goat Hammer (it would’ve been cooler if it was wielding the Sword Slasher and the Plant Axe, but whatever).





After doing some damage to Fangerus through this, GouraiSenpuujin then combines with Revolver Mammoth to form Revolver GouraiSenpuujin.



They then load all the Karakuri Balls (even ones they don’t actually have) and send them rolling at Fangerus as they perform the Hissatsu Kyukyuku Ougi: Thunder Hurricane Strike, which involves firing lasers at the enemy after the ball attack.





As Fangerus is defeated, the werewolves turn back into humans and Satarakura gets failed.

Manmarva: So not even Fangerus could defeat KabutoRaiger.

Back in the city, we get a comedic scene where Yosuke tries to con a raise out of his boss in exchange for untying her… during which Isshu notices Ikkou is missing. Turns out he’s facing Manmarva at the beach at sunset, with the two engaged in a sword duel, which ends quickly with Ikkou slashing Manmarva twice with the Kabuto Raigekiha (nicely bookending this trilogy, I might add).





Manmarva: The prophecy came true after all. But…

And then he explodes.



The episode, and this arc, ends with Ikkou joining the others in eating ramen at a stand. Next time: Wendinu takes over the episode and a school. This and more on Scroll 34: Mushroom and 100 Points.

Final thoughts: This three-parter, throughout its run, hasn’t disappointed me. A lot of the arcs got some satisfying conclusions. Even Manmarva’s low key death fits his character more than a big spectacular death in the limelight would have. He’s not a major threat to everyone, just Ikkou. So it’s fitting that Ikkou takes him down alone.

[Androzani84]

Scroll 34: Mushrooms and 100 Points

This episode is Maekawa’s second episode in a row (he can finally join the club that Miyashita, Sakai and Arakawa are in with this show). Aside from that, I regret to say that from next week, there may be some delay to me posting reviews (after episode 37, if you’re wondering), because I’m moving house. But the thread will remain open during the hiatus for anyone who wants to drop in and share their thoughts. That said, on with the review.

We begin where last episode left off, with the Jakanja witnessing Ikkou’s defeat of Manmarva. While Tau Zant decides to punish Satarakura (even though, as he points out, Satarakura had nothing to do with Manmarva’s death). Wendinu on the other hand, is absolutely furious and vows revenge.



Wendinu: Sargain, the puppet, if you please.

Sargain (literally scared naked): Yes, ma’am.

At Ninja Base, Oboro wonders how Shurikenger built Revolver Mammoth, while Hamster Headmaster wonders how long he can keep Master Gozen a secret from the others. Back with the heroes, Yosuke light-heartedly calls out Ikkou for defeating Manmarva on his own. But the others are too upset, counting down how many they’ve got left to kill.

Nanami: We’ve only got 4 more Spears left to defeat.

Isshu: Five. Remember, there are SEVEN Spears, including one who hasn’t shown up yet.

Ikkou: And Tau Zant.

Kouta: But it won’t be easy, especially since we’ve killed two of Jakanja’s commanders. They’ll be on alert.

The next day, Wendinu has taken over a cram school, along with the latest puppet, Brainwashing Ninja Jukinoko (Who I will nickname Motorboard Mushroom, or MM for short) and discusses the plan to brainwash the children.





Wendinu then goes around various places, adopting a variety of disguises in order to persuade parents to send their children to the “Wendy Cram School”





At the Centipede, Sargain is embarrassed, but reluctant to actually take over the plan. Satarakura tries to start his own plan, only to be told he’s been grounded. When he tries to force the issue, Furabijo gags him.



Wendinu’s Sishi-Henge spree takes her to a supermarket, where she ends up attracting the attention of real cashier Hashimoto (played by Yoshihiro Masujima, better known as Naoki Dumon/Blue Race in Gekisou Sentai Carranger).





She tries to recruit him to work at her school, only for him to be scared by a monster… at which point MM appears, offering to take over the job of handing out fliers. Predictably, this just causes panic and Wendinu beats him up for it. The Hurricanegers then show up to see this, with Yosuke and Kouta thinking that the pretty woman who beat up the monster is a friend of Shurikenger (come on, really?). It takes Nanami (who I remind you, has probably seen one of the Jakanja naked) to point out that it’s Wendinu, at which point the two make their exit… but not without picking up fliers for the cram school.

The next day, as the students March into the cram school, Hashimoto shows up (wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, for some reason) and takes over the reception area, where Wendinu was getting a massage. MM then zaps the children with his spores (which the sun informs me are “not photons”. Good to know), making them susceptible to brainwashing. As the Hurricanegers sneak into the school, they overhear a physics lesson involving magnifying glasses (which have the Jakanja logo on them. Hooray for corporate branding). Since the classroom doors are electrified (but not to lethal levels, apparently), Hashimoto shows them a way into the Japanese class through the boiler room. In the class, Wendinu is teaching the kids theat the Hurricanegers are the enemies of the people, the Gouraigers are the messengers of the devil (which isn’t too far off from how they were introduced) and that Shurikenger is the origin of all evil (At least she doesn’t use doctored footage like that one episode of Sun Vulcan). The Hurricanegers break into the classroom and Shinobi Change, but Wendinu deploys the kids to strangle them. (But only Nanami appears to be in any actual danger from this).



Just when all hope seems lost…

Hashimoto (making a finger pistol motion): Hold up.

Wendinu wonders what he’s doing… until he pulls out the Shuriken Ball (and if you’re not convinced he’s Blue Racer, he does the Carranger/Turbo pose)



Shurikenger reveals that he knocked out the real Hashimoto and took his place to investigate, which makes Wendinu mad (again). Elsewhere, the cram school physics class attack the Kasumi Bros with their magnifying glasses, which have lasers built in (I have to wonder if anyone actually invented something like this in real life). They reunite with the other heroes and Shinobi Change into the Gouraigers, but he kids manage to overwhelm the 6… until they do the spare costume trick. After which a combination of KabutoRaiger’s Raigeki-zan, Shurikenger using the Ninjamisen as a gun (yes, it can do that as well as summon a giant robot mammoth) and the Hurricanegers using the Sonic Gadget defeats MM. This makes Wendinu so mad she freakishly deforms (seriously, what the hell)?) before returning to her normal appearance… as a giant.





Tau Zant explains that his is what happens when Wendinu gets too stressed and that the last time she did this, she destroyed a whole planet (in the midst of this, Satarakura tries to mime his scheme, only for Furabijo to borrow a move from Shurikenger). Sure enough, Giant!Wendinu manages to hand both Senpuujin and Gouraijin their asses, before proceeding to corrupt the Earth… which gets interrupted when she sees Hashimoto, causing her to shrink back to normal.



After Hashimoto runs away in fear, calling Wendinu a monster (which causes me to wonder what was the joke the last time he did this), she looks in the mirror and reveals she’s vain… and, you know, summons a Copy Giant to grow MM. MM proceeds to hand GouraiSenpuujin its ass, but loses when Shurikenger allows them to become Revolver GouraiSenpuujin. As Furabijo fails Wendinu and Sargain laments the waste of a perfectly good puppet, Tau Zant says something ominous.

Tau Zant: Don’t you think now is the time… Manmarva?

In Manmarva’s chamber, the cocoon he prepared earlier hatches to reveal an exact copy of Floaty-Head, as the episode ends.





Next time: Ninja shamisen lessons! This and more on Scroll 35: Sparkle and Shamisen.

Final thoughts: This was a pretty average episode. Nothing really bad, but nothing really good either.

[Androzani84]

An announcement
Post haste, I will be discontinuing the thread
Reality has intruded upon my time to work on it
I am very sad to do this
Life gets in the way

Furthermore, all photos I
Originally took for later episodes will be put up to
Observe on my Instagram feed. I will put up a
Link very
Soon.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

An announcement
Post haste, I will be discontinuing the thread
Reality has intruded upon my time to work on it
I am very sad to do this
Life gets in the way

Furthermore, all photos I
Originally took for later episodes will be put up to
Observe on my Instagram feed. I will put up a
Link very
Soon.

...

Well played.