[DreamSword]

Episode 1: Very Ordinary Bread Girl

DS: Hello everyone! I'm DreamSword!

Androzani: I am Androzani84.

En-chan: And I'm Enchilada645!

DS: And we're gonna be talking about the third season of Y'all Rangers: Dogengers High School!

But before we get to that, Androzani, you're the newcomer here. Please tell us about yourself and how you're the biggest Dogengers fan ever.

Androzani: Well, outside of this one season, my knowledge of Dogengers is limited. I've seen one episode each from the following two seasons and none from the previous two (I know them mostly because they're the only two wikis acknowledge to exist).

But I do have some production info for this season, most notably the director changing over from Fumie Arakawa to Nobuhiro Suzumura, who those who read Fish Sandwich's review of Kuuga will note as the source of his production facts for that show.

DS: Mkay. It'll be interesting to hear the perspective of a newcomer to the show in practically every regard then.

So before we get into the meat of this thing, I gotta say, boy, this episode sure made me nostalgic.

You all remember growing up in your high school days, right? Praying to the God of Toast, making plans with your friends, getting shaken down by thugs, planning the school festival, resurrecting a samurai with your tears...

Just your average day in Detroit, really.

En-chan: Sounds about right.

Androzani: In my high school, there were only 4 students in my year, one of whom was a year younger and I only interacted with her in Mathematics.

I spent so long in our student lounge (formerly a teacher's lounge) that I started not even coming in until I had a lesson scheduled.

DS: And when you did, you ran out in a hurry with toast in your mouth. Yeah, we can all relate.

Especially Mako, our shiny, new, totally average girl protag!

En-chan: Yep, our very average protag!

Androzani: So average that she's surrounded by the main reason I watched this series in particular: a cast full of veterans from Sentai and Rider.

In this episode alone, Mako's mother Miko is Houka from Magiranger, the homeroom teacher is Hojo from Agito and the ghost sword guy (Name forthcoming) is the Hanzaki Megido from Saber.

En-chan: Speaking of cast though, you can really tell this show got a budget upgrade given we seem to just have an actual side cast this time around.

DS: Not to mention the absolute onslaught of cameos from other local heroes right at the start.

And like, what I really liked about this episode was that alongside the parody of high school girl cliches, we just had an average episode of Dogengers just kinda happening in the background the entire time.

Androzani: And at the tail end, she gets an empty sword sheath to transform from ordinary girl Mako to superheroine... MAKO.

DS: Who I'm guessing is also a local hero given the branding on the back of her jacket, not to mention her family's' company being mentioned multiple times.

En-chan: If I recall correctly that is indeed the case. She even has a couple of alt modes for CM purposes that we don't see in this show too from what I remember digging up on her when I first saw High School.

DS: And while Mako is certainly likable in her own right during this debut... man, Yabai Kamen just steals the show every time, doesn't he?

Him robbing the bank was just a fantastic sequence all around.

En-chan: It's honestly nice to see him back in his villain role, especially after Nice Buddy.

DS: It was also nice to see him getting launched into space via fireball. That gag had me rolling.

Androzani: I can't speak much about him right now, but I did like the speaker guy trying his best to be evil by doing petty crime on a massive (read: corporate) scale.

DS: Was not expecting him to actually be human, that's for sure.

En-chan: Oh yeah.

Shaberryman was definitely the highlight for me in terms of villains this episode though.

DS: Pro tip: Always keep track of your wallet, kids.

En-chan: Or else you'll get kidnapped by your local villain syndicate.

Androzani: On the plus side, you get supepowers out of the bargain

DS: I will say that when it came to the climax of the episode, I actually wasn't expecting Mako herself to transform. I figured the samurai guy was gonna do all of the fighting instead. So that was a pleasant surprise.

En-chan: It is nice to see a Toku Series with a transforming female lead, that's for sure.

Androzani: And her poor friend was left bored to sleep waiting for her.

DS: I mean, Ryoko is a real pal though; basically carrying the work. I guess the group project tropes extend to even when the group is only two people.

Also, the cameo from Great-2 was fun.

En-chan: Great-2's just trying his best. Even if he got the wrong house... and someone decided to steal his delivery despite it being said wrong house.

DS: Pizza was the real hero in the end. Just like in real life.

The only other thing I wanna note about the episode is actually the way it opens.

Like, why did it open like this was an episode of Kamen Rider W?? I mean, I welcome it, but...

En-chan: Gotta get that exposition through somehow!

Androzani: And give Seki his narration paycheque in addition to his Yabai Kamen paycheque

DS: Wait, it's the same dude?

Androzani: According to the Japanese wikipedia, it is.

DS: Dang, that voice filter puts in work.

Was there anything else about the episode that especially stood out to you guys?

Androzani: As someone who was watching this alongside Avataro Sentai Donbrothers, I noticed the unintentional similarity of the two shows having a high school girl as the lead, but take it in opposite directions. I have a meme for it, but not anywhere I can access it right now. Maybe by the finale.

En-chan: I really dig MAKO's design, there's just something about it that hits all the right notes for me.

DS: It's a nice suit for sure. I especially like the hood, even if it's not really used.

Overall, this was a pretty fun intro episode, and I'm curious to see the character work that'll happen going forward.

[DreamSword]

Episode 2: In Charge of Planning

DS: My boy is back! And he still has the Buddy Blaster from season 2!

En-chan: I'm honestly glad he kept it as a sidearm because it's so cool.

Androzani: I mean, he seems cool. But given I'm not familiar with the other series, I can't invest much in this guy.

DS: All you need to know is that he's the best. And that's despite the fact that the wardrobe department decided to make him wear a hoodie that makes him look sweaty in half the shots of this episode.

Speaking of being sweaty though, this episode is about Mako getting her start as a hero. And in a series of events that reminded me alot of certain early episodes of Legend Heroes and Gaim, actually.

Androzani: And we have a name for the talking sheath now: Kireko.

En-chan: I'm unfamiliar with Legend Heroes, but I did get heavy early Gaim vibes for sure.

Because let's be real, if you got to transform into a cool looking hero? You'd probably do the same.

DS: Listen.

Anyways, I was actually surprised that Jiro/Rookie came in this early, given how he was handled in Nice Buddy. But since it seems like he's being used as a vehicle to get Mako introduced to the other Dogengers, I suppose it makes sense.

En-chan: Considering his role as protagonist in the prior series, it does make sense he's the first to meet the new girl.

And it's also adorable how he realizes "Oh I'm the Senpai now" when getting to know her.

DS: And yet he's still called Rookie. Hilarious.

Androzani: Gotta preserve that branding.

DS: But yeah, turns out that the Ghost Samurai is Kireko, and he doesn't remember anything else about himself. As such, most of the episode is more about how Mako's' character arc isn't anywhere near over yet, and we get a better idea of the supporting cast too. I like the angle they took with everything, all things considered.

Androzani: We also get the OP and ED introduced in this episode. The former being very "teenage girl" coded in terms of lyrics, and the latter following the modern standard of it being a dancing theme.

DS: Both sequences really made me want a crossover with Gotchard. And I haven't even seen that show yet.

En-chan: They do give similar vibes, so I can see why.

DS: That said, the songs themselves didn't really nab me as much as previous ones did. But I'm sure they'll grow on me over time.

En-chan: I do appreciate the intentional references to the various characters in the ED though.

Androzani: I don't have much reference for Dogengers' traditional fare, so... I do like them as songs.

DS: But how did you guys feel about the angle with Mako in this one? I thought that them pointing out that "average" is relative was pretty smart. And it definitely tied into Mako's' own insecurities pretty well. You can tell that Yabai Kamen really hit her in the soul without even trying when the two fought.

Androzani: It seemed like an interesting angle to take.

En-chan: I did like how they ended up going about it.

She changed yeah, but she's still really fresh in a bigger brand new world. And said world isn't pulling any punches given Yabai Kamen was on his A-Game during their first scuffle.

DS: Oh yeah. It was so nice to see Yabai Kamen as a legit threat again after his showing in season 2.

Androzani: I have a joke related to that I stole from someone else, but I can't share it until the endgame.

DS: Speaking of character dynamics compared to the previous season though. It was pretty fun to see that Great-2 now just kinda pals around with everyone else.

En-chan: Dude has a spot at the dinner table now... even if he's more concerned about trying to figure out poses.

DS: Listen, it's arguably the most important part of being a toku hero.

En-chan: So true.

DS: The only other thing that stood out to me on this one was a certain bit when Mako was practicing her powers. Wherein she lets out an energy wave that slices up a nearly radio antennae. Could be a one off gag, sure, but hey, maybe it'll lead somewhere.

Androzani84: As for me, I wonder how she figured out how to transform back between defeating her starter villain and coming home.

DS: Well, I mean, apparently all you gotta do is wave the sheath, so it wouldn't be too difficult to figure out, I imagine.

Actually, I slightly take back what I said earlier. One other thing: Daisuke, the dude she has a crush on. It's a very quick scene, but I liked that they showed how MAKO's' words actually had an effect on him. Mako probably doesn't realize it yet, but she's already started becoming a hero in her own right, transformation aside. And it was nice to see.

Androzani: Though we are doing the "loves my alter ego" thing as a trade off (Though without the "likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman" part that's become more prominent lately).

DS: I'm sure it'll work out.

En-chan: Knowing Dogengers, it probably will.

DS: Was there any other bits that stood out to you guys?

Androzani84: Can't say there are any in this episode.

En-chan: I did like towards the end where it's pretty much all but said that we'll be using the cultural festival plotline as a way to introduce Mako to the rest of our past heroes.

Androzani84: And it's not a high school show unless there's a culture fesitval episode

DS: And if SSSS.Gridman is anything to go by, there's sure to be crossdressing involved.

Androzani: Wait, that's not what I--

DS: But there you have it. A rather straightforward episode that kicks us off into the main plot while be a fun ride in its own right. See you next time!

[DreamSword]

Episode 3: In Charge of Cooking

DS: If you don't take a pinky promise seriously, are you even real, bro?

En-chan: Pinky promises are the most important promises.

Androzani: I mean... I'm not sure they're a thing where I'm from.

DS: The UK isn't real. Noted.

Anyhow, I see now that High School is set to following the same sort of formula that got established back in season 1 of Dogengers. Only now we're following MAKO instead of Rookie.

En-chan: Pretty much.

We've got our Cultural Festival as the backdrop as each bit of it is going to lead into a spotlight focus with our colorful cast of heroes.

DS: I feel like I'm kinda repeating myself here, but I'm once again surprised at the order we're going in, given how Great-2 was arguably the main character of Nice Buddy.

And man, what a great follow-up we've got with him here. It was so cool(and humorous) to see both the show and the cast acknowledge that none of the Dogengers are aware of what exactly happened towards the end of last season.

As far as they know, Great is still the same dude they beefed with for an entire season!

En-chan: It's a real good follow-up.

And we get some nice moments from Great-2 here as well, since despite his season being done, he still has plenty of growing to do. But I am glad to see he's putting in a good effort!

DS: Oh yeah, I was overall real happy with his showing here. From how he's still coming into his own as a hero, to how we get to see exactly how Yabai Kamen ended up in a fireball, haha.

En-chan: I was not expecting us to see how that confrontation ended up, that's for sure.

DS: Sadly there were no energy pizzas this time around. But a duct-taped cannon? Yeah, I'll take it.

But what about the Mako angle in all of this? While it's given a little less focus than what Great-2 is, I did dig how exactly she went about passing off Kireko as a mascot, along with making him okay'd by the school.

Extra fees. The bane of any official.

En-chan: It's a pretty clever way to just get Kireko to be around at all times without any issue.

I also love how the entire class just immediately bought that he was a Hollywood Star.

Androzani: And despite being a 400 year old ghost, he did the Japanese idea of a stereotypical American accent pretty well.

DS: I mean with how he looks, I wouldn't be surprised if he was actually a kabuki actor in his past life or something.

While Mako and Great-2 are tied together from the start due to Great's' work, I did like how the two's' arcs got tied together via the acknowledgment that both of them are new to the whole hero thing.

Androzani: It was a good sentiment.

En-chan: It was honestly nice to see them become buddies at the climax of the episode.

DS: Speaking of them becoming Nice Buddies... boy, I was happy to see that Maid Butler still has it in terms of being able to throw down.

Androzani: Especially since he's still using last year's suit. In any other show, he be there to job in order to sell both the new heroes and new villains.

DS: We did get a glimpse of a new villain, actually. That took me a bit by surprise, as brief as it was.

En-chan: Oh yeah, that delivery guy one, right?

Which reminds me, it's amusing how one of Yabai Kamen's attempts at keeping the money flowing is merch sales.

Androzani: It's why he keeps getting new forms.

DS: Except where Jisariz is concerned. Onore Dec--Jizariz!!

On another note, with the slow build up around Daisuke, I do wonder if he's gonna get a focus episode or if he's gonna end up being very much the Fuji-P of this show. (Pretty Cure character, for those unaware.)

Androzani: I am keeping mum about that, both due to spoilers and my own dodgy memory.

En-chan: Even then, I feel like Daisuke has a leg up on Fuji-P for me because I like... actually feel kind of invested in him by comparison.

DS: Haha, I feel you there. He's atleast got somewhat of an arc going for him, unlike Fuji.

Androzani: I can name three love interests from Precure shows that actually do stuff.

DS: Do it, you won't.

Androzani: Coco from Yes and GoGo, Seiji from HaCha and Satoru from Wonderful.

DS: ...Well okay then.

Were there any other specific bits you guys wanted to note from this episode?

Androzani: No. I do remember having something for next time though.

En-chan: What is it about shows and making the food look incredible?

That pizza at the end looked real good.

DS: Note to self: Try Pizza Cooc if I ever visit Japan.

With that said, this was a fun episode that brought back the season 1 formula while also serving common beats you'd see in season 2, and I felt it rather worked. Till next time, Pizza Buddies!

[DreamSword]

Episode 4: In Charge of Gas Cans

Androzani: On this episode, Mega Yellow/that one policewoman from Kuuga guest stars, the sponsor captions have something I want to talk about, and Mako teams with the unholy love child of Sun Vulcan and the Rescue Police Metal Heroes.

DS: I'm glad you got something out of this, because I'll be real, I didn't really care for the episode overall.

En-chan: Ah, not really your speed?

DS: Like, it's not god awful or anything; I get the general idea that it's gunning for, I just felt it wasn't executed particularly great.

Androzani: I personally love when the bully for the main character gets some depth. (One thing that gives Hibiki 2 the edge over Hibiki 1 for me is that Kiriya actually has some attempt at depth, while the cartoon bully in three episodes of the first half patently exists to make Asumu's life miserable and never gets any comeuppance.)

DS: So ignoring your completely wrong opinion on Hibiki, that's kinda the thing with me? The way the episode is framed, you'd think Akine is alot bigger than what she actually is.

Throughout the three episodes she's been around, I never saw her as that? Just like, slightly stuck up and that's it.

And like, she barely existed besides that.

So then this episode comes in and goes "DON'T YOU WANNA KNOW WHY SHE'S SO MEAN!?"

And my response was "She's mean?"

En-chan: I get that yeah.

Though even with her being stuck up, there did seem to be some kind of beef between her and Mako (at least as far as Episode 1 presented it to me) that this episode did address.

Androzani: It's also something Japanese media loves to comment on: Overbearing parents pushing their kids to be better at the expense of letting them live their lives.

DS: Yeah, I got that part. And the message is a good one, sure. But it's centered around a character that I kinda never fully acknowledged and the uh, "solution" this episodes provides, while sounding good on paper, isn't great in the context of the show.

Mako's' "We're friends and I'm here to support you!" is nice and all, but then I end up wondering "Why would you even consider her a friend to begin with?"

Is this like Fourze where "Friend" and "Acquaintance" are used interchangeably?

I dunno, it all just fell really flat for me on an emotional level.

En-chan: Yeah that's fair.

But Yamashiron is still the bestest boy.

DS: Oh absolutely. He's 100% pure(gas).

Androzani: Sadly, with him around, all Kireko has to do this time is play the protective big brother when the blue guy decides to be a playboy

DS: Which uh, that was certainly a choice, yeah.

En-chan: Felt like they were leaning into Den-O on that one, not gonna lie.

DS: I will atleast say that, compared to Yamashiron episodes of the past, it was nice to see that Redron by himself plays the center role for most of the episode. That was a unique spin on things.

Androzani: And he was gracious enough to have a gas company uniform sized for a short teenage girl on him.

En-chan: Honestly that does make me curious.

Did they split up at all for Nice Buddy? Cause I don't think they did.

DS: I could be getting the details between seasons 1 and 2 mixed up, but I believe they did. Albeit briefly.

(Editor's Note: They do. Episode 8 of NB.)

All that being said, I wanna actually note something about the ending of each episode so far that was highlighted here.

I like how they show a specific part of the festival poster that keys the viewer in on how each hero is contributing to the overall project. With it being the gas cans here. I think that's a rather neat touch.

En-chan: It is a nice touch.

Though I'll admit now, they probably went with the Akine plot because there was only so much they could do for a Yamashiron and gas can related plot? And he didn't really need the same kind of follow up that Great-2 needed.

DS: Yeah, and I mean Redron, Blueron, and Orangeron do have the whole Friendship thing going for them, it's just that it doesn't really apply as strongly to Akine and Mako to me. I think the angle of "We were off to a rocky start, but there's no reason we can't be friends now." would've worked much better.

En-chan: Yeah, cause even though I did enjoy this episode it did feel weird flipflopping between "Okay are they friends or are they classmates?" when it came to some of the dialogue.

So that proposed angle probably would've ended up helping more.

DS: I will say that in terms of the overarching themes/plot that High School is going for, it was nice to see this episode be the first real step into "there's nothing really wrong with being ordinary" that we only got minor hints at in previous episodes.

En-chan: Yeah, that was nice.

DS: But yeah, me being a grumpy old man aside, were there any other bits you guys enjoyed out of this one?

Androzani: Well as mentioned at the start:

The sponsor captions this time stood out. The first one disparaging what Shaberryman's done with his life made me laugh, since Shaberryman's VA is the writer and producer for the show, so he's essentially going "I've lowered myself to this?". And the second one is essentially Akine getting the "Animal House" ending, where a caption explains what happened to her later.

I got invested in this show for Ayumi Beppu and Eri Tanaka, and the latter is primarily in this episode.

En-chan: I did enjoy that even after getting exploded last episode, Maid Bulter still got Yabai Kamen that food he wanted.

DS: Maid Butler and Androzani both are nothing if not loyal to their cause.

Actually, hmm... Androzani DOES hand deliver any trivia we need...

Tune in next time. Because for now, I've got my eyes on you, Androzani...

Androzani: Let's hope it doesn't take as long as real life forced us to take for this episode.

DS: AND HE'S EVEN META ABOUT IT. I KNEW IT--

[DreamSword]

Episode 5: In Charge of Teaching

DS: I won't lie, I made this gif solely for meme edit potential.

Androzani: When your epic final showdown gets mixed up in a kendo class.

DS: Which actually brings us to what I think was the main idea of the episode? Communication. Cue the Ultraman Blazar theme.

En-chan: Yeah, communication does feel like the main idea they're trying to present here.

DS: And as far as that goes, I felt the episode did it well enough. Although I kinda felt like "insecurity" should've maybe taken the reigns as the big idea given the whole deal with Ryoko in this one.

Androzani: When your best friend turns into a samurai magical girl, insecurity is a logical reaction.

DS: While I would've maybe liked a few hints here and there about it in previous episodes, I did atleast appreciate the episode attempting to give the best friend character an arc of her own. And in isolation, it worked out well enough I think.

En-chan: Yeah, it definitely happens suddenly.

But also I think it works out given all the other things we have to keep track of as we continue on through.

Androzani: It easily could've been buried within the plot of Fukuocalibur's epic final duel, so I'm glad it got some limelight

DS: Speaking of that uh, subplot, I guess you'd call it: The way that the final conversations that each pair has in the climax of the episode are edited together brings about some rather interesting implications about Shuraomaru; intentional or not.

And on the note of Fukuokalibur's' epic rivalry, this episode was surprisingly light on the humor. Pretty much everything is played straight here, with only a small sprinkling of comedic beats. Interesting direction, given the usual Dogengers fare.

Androzani: Even the scene at the Dogengers' equivalent to the Hall of Justice seems rather middle of the road in tone.

En-chan: It's definitely a lot more restrained on the insanity than prior episodes.

But I think that works to its benefit.

Which is especially nice because I always like it when Shuraomaru takes the spotlight and this gives him a rather unique one to boot due to the tone the episode goes for.

DS: For sure. And I suppose it would be alot better than, say, an MCU approach to this whole thing. Ryoko's' concerns are a very serious subject matter, so it was nice to see it treated with some dignity.

En-chan: Yeah.

It was also nice (while played a bit comedically) to see both Fukuokalibur and Mako just consistently ignore Shuraomaru because of Ryoko who ended up getting knocked out for a good while. Really shows where their hearts are in the heat of the moment.

Androzani: And according to the end card, Fukuocalibur will be providing swords for the culture festival.

DS: Swords for what? To cut the pizza with?

En-chan: Clearly more training from hell.

DS: "If we have to suffer through it then so do all of you!"

But you know, despite how much of a sucker I usually am for friendship tropes, to be honest, the most captivating thing to me in this episode was actually the set design.

There's a good handful of easter eggs in the background of this one. Like in the Dogengers' apartment you can see the Buddy Blasters on a shelf, for example.

Androzani: Talking of which, Ohgaman aside, they seem remarkably reluctant to hear Jiro out on bringing a girl into their group

DS: It's mainly KitaQman, who's usually the stick in the mud of the group when it comes to these things. Though given how their latest recruit has been turning out, I don't entirely blame him, really.

En-chan: Plus considering they're all living together... and also have a mini-version of their giant mecha now around...

I think adding one more person's going to make things a bit too cramped (which is saying a lot considering where their base is).

DS: Yeah, that really shocked me. Shrinking down the mech has some really weird implications, given how that thing even functions.

Androzani: I mean, how often do giant monsters appear in Fukuoka of the Dogengers-verse?

DS: Not as often as the average Power Rangers episode, but more often than you'd like.

Anyway, I felt the episode was overall fine as it was. Not a super notable one to me, but did what it wanted to do well enough. The only other thing I wanna note is this: Man, Yabai Kamen is eating like a king this season, ain't he?

En-chan: After how he was treated last season?

He deserves it 100%

DS: I don't disagree.

Androzani: How does he eat with his mask on?

DS: Very carefully.

Were there any other bits you guys wanted to highlight?

Androzani: I missed it in the first episode, but the kendo teacher is played by Kazuki Yao, most famous for being the first voice of Franky from One Piece, but within Tokusatsu, he's known for Ninjaman from Kakuranger and Doctor Z from Akibaranger.

En-chan: Having not seen either Toku he's been in, I recognize him mostly as Franky due to whatever One Piece clips I end up seeing via osmosis.

DS: If Kakuranger is involved, then we need a Christmas episode. Dogengers Christmas would be amazing.

Androzani: As far as I know, the only special I can find is Episode of I-Doll, which I think is a spin-off for next season.

DS: It was the epilogue for season 1, actually.

En-chan: They should put their funds together, skip a year, and release a Winter Movie for Dogengers which is just a Christmas Special.

DS: I 1000% agree on this. I'd donate to the Kickstarter/IndieGoGo/whatever for it, too!

Men, we have a new mission! To whatever company feeds the Dogengers their ideas!

Androzani: That would be the real life version of the Secret Society of Darkness (Known as AHK).

DS: Sounds like something only a member of their group would know... ANDROZANI. YOU WON'T GET AWAY THIS TIME!

[DreamSword]

Episode 6: In Charge of Sanitation

DS: When you're getting your ass beat in the QRTs.

En-chan: Thankfully that has not happened to me.

Androzani: This week on Dogengers, Ohgaman proves himself the Superman of the Dogengers once more, we get focus on the teacher played by Houjou, and Kamen Rider Ibuki cameos.

DS: Wait, that student who was an old man was Ibuki? I knew I recognized him from somewhere!

But yeah, it was pretty funny when we had the flashback of the officer as a student and they didn't even try to make him look any younger, haha.

En-chan: The magic of Toku! (I love Kamen Rider Saber)

Androzani: At least the teacher has his hair dyed.

DS: But yeah, overall I felt this episode worked well enough, even if I was kinda confused as to what exactly it was getting at, if anything.

Androzani: Well I felt they gave the teacher more depth than the standard one dimensional sadist teachers in school shows tend to be. Given how many school set Toku put more focus on the students, it's a refreshing change when the teacher gets their limelight.

En-chan: It is nice to see him a bit more highlighted since he's been a part of the supporting cast.

Plus we get Ohgaman flying solo and not with Rookie or the others, which was fun to see.

DS: Ohgaman was for sure as fun as always. Loved how he did the classic "milk bar" joke with the teacher. Dude was even nice enough to pay the bill.

Androzani: Bzzz bzzzz bzzzz bzzz (Also, we got the debut of Bincho Fire and his incomprehensible customer service.)

DS: It is cool to see how they've been incorporating more local heroes without them being directly a part of the Dogengers themselves. Like the cop one we saw a few episodes ago. Heck, I'm still waiting for a follow up with one certain hero. Given he's in the ending credits though, I'm sure we'll see him soon enough.

En-chan: Speaking of the ending credits and Bincho Fire, the dude's singing voice is incredible.

Androzani: Damnit, I was going to bring that up in the other thoughts.

DS: Clearly all of the beeping is his vocal exorcises.

But yeah, the overall lesson of this one seems to be "slow and steady wins the race" which I mean, sure I guess? Though I don't really think it fit either MAKO or the teacher perfectly, given their situations.

En-chan: Yeah.

Though I'll give Ohgaman credit, he is so far like the only Dogenger to give actual combat advice for Mako to try out (unless we count the training from hell by Fukuokalibur).

Androzani: He's not just the Superman of this thing, he's the Captain America.

DS: True, even if Ohgaman seems to have kinda forgotten that the primary reason his tactic works is because he's got an insane defense stat.

But speaking of Ohgaman, not only do we get it established that Jiro works for Ohga Pharmacy now(which makes sense), but that surprisingly, COVID is canon to the Dogengers universe. I guess that background poster last episode wasn't just for show. (edited)

En-chan: Considering how down to earth Dogengers is as a program, it makes sense that they'd be on top of that kind of thing and just keeping that awareness of COVID in general.

Androzani: It's more acknowledgement than the Big 3 gave it (The closest being Ultraman Z having a "Social Distance" joke in their mid-season clip show).

DS: I mean, I suppose it's nice in its own way, though it'll definitely date the show in the future. Man, Dogengers as a time capsule. What a thought.

En-chan: An incredible thought.

DS: The only other thing that super stood out to me with this one was actually the ending, which is not only funny in its own right(a broken window is no issue, but the festival banner? OHNO.) but it's also the first time we've ever gotten a direct hook into next episode, which was neat to see.

En-chan: It certainly shows how much the villains are trying to get things done.

First they gang up on Mako and now they're just barging into her school while class is in session.

DS: Which I mean, that's just rude, really.

Androzani: I'd make a "remember when these guys were dangerous" joke, but let's face it. AHK aren't that dangerous unless it's a finale.

DS: Uh, don't you mean the SSoD?

Androzani: Okay, but mine is what their website uses.

DS: Aight. So, did anything else super stand out to you guys on this one?

Androzani: One wonders how much work it took for Bincho Fire's assistant to learn his language.

DS: Probably part of the training manual.

En-chan: Not much really, other than I like how communal the heroes and villains are, what with the SSoD just chilling at Bincho Fire's establishment every now and again.

DS: Hey, a good place to eat is a good place to eat.

But alright then. With that, we'll see you all next time, when, both to highlight El Brave as well as to demonstrate everything we've learned from the heroes so far, I will be performing the Canadian Destroyer on En-chan. Look forward to it!

En-chan: Hooray-wait what?

[DreamSword]

Episode 7: In Charge of Construction

DS: En-chan "convincing" people to watch Dogengers.

En-chan: Yeah, this is accurate.

Androzani: Why does the Shadow look so sexy in this shot?

DS: ANYWAY. This episode, while not super crazy, went alot of places I wasn't exactly expecting.

Androzani: We had a Drive moment, with Mako outing herself as the superhero to her classmates (Except Daisuke, because drama).

DS: True, but it wasn't just that. There was alot of things in the way this episode's' plot was structured that surprised me. Like how El Brave plays a supporter in this one, with the lead being the shakedown guy from episode 1 of all people.

En-chan: Yeah, we had seen him a couple of times before, but I was honestly surprised the first time around when we ended up getting a focus episode on him.

But it does end up lending towards the "people can change" theme that's prevalent.

DS: And speaking of El Brave helping Tetsu out, I did rather like that little callback they did to season 1 with him("tiptoes") showing that he's retained his character development.

Androzani: And I'm pretty sure this time that Tetsu is Taiga from Ex-Aid.

En-chan: Yep, that's him alright.

DS: I won't lie, I didn't recognize him at all.

En-chan: It was mostly the voice for me that helped out.

Androzani: I mean, I thought the teacher was Oosugi from Fourze, because I recognized him, but I didn't recall from where.

DS: That said, fun little reference they did with both his roles there. Since Tetsu and Taiga are both guys who seemed destined for greatness only to fall from grace.

Speaking of being a literal shadow of your former self though, this is also the first time that Uzagi got separated from her Shadow, which made for a very interesting dynamic in its own right.

En-chan: We usually don't see them split up for too long, and if they do it's for a fight.

It was honestly fun to see Shadow on its own. And it was nice how El Brave just immediately went to help Shadow out after realizing it was separated from Uzagi.

DS: Of all the characters in Dogengers, Shadow was the last one I ever expected to get actual character development. But here we are.

Androzani: Speaking of characters, we get another new guy, who somehow has no knowledge of the super powers situation in Fukuoka beyond "There's a team of them."

DS: Who dat?

En-chan: I believe he's referring to Koujin Ex, who we saw cameo in Nice Buddy.

In which he gets a more prominent appearance here in this episode.

DS: Ah yeah, I've been waiting for him, actually. Given the stinger at the end of season 2, I was thinking he might be important here in season 3. And yeah, there's still time. But I guess his partnership with Great must not have gotten very far, huh?

En-chan: Either that or the writing room forgot that they were supposed to be partners.

DS: If the latter, then we can thoroughly blame Shaberryman for all of this.

Androzani: I assume the change in directors between seasons led to some plans being changed.

DS: On the note of connections to previous seasons though, I was not expecting them to talk about the Golden Seal from season 1. Turns out it came from Koujin's' neck of the woods.

Androzani: And he has a clue to another plot mcguffin, with something related to Kireko being at the Fukuoka Museum.

En-chan: Indeed, the plot's thickening as we start getting into the back half of this season.

DS: But obviously the much more important plot is the Culture Festival, and by the looks of things, everything's all set for it... would be a shame if some local hero who's also an internet influencer had something to say about it.

Overall though, yeah, I liked this one. Mako taking a backseat for once was a surprise, and I did like the character development we got out of the major players here. It's simple, sure, but it was nice to see.

En-chan: It was rather nice.

Also it looks like we can add El Brave to the list of people that give Mako actual combat advice.

DS: Suplex.

What other highlights did you guys have for this episode? Was it the kale juice? I bet it was the kale juice.

Androzani: For me, it's the switch to the second verse of the theme, with even more lyrics about high school cliches

En-chan: I enjoy how Yabai Kamen, while enjoying good food, is also aware that they're trying to butter him up. And also remembers the pecking order once he realizes Ohgaman's involved.

DS: Gonna need alotta kale juice for that matchup.

But alright, with that out of the way, I'm looking forward to where we go from here, since alot of pieces are now in play. Will KitaQman's' car get blown up again? Will Kireko growl at Daisuke some more? I sure hope so!

Androzani: And will Koujin Ex see the literal writing on the wall for his new "friends"?

DS: And will En-chan ever finish Doki Doki Pretty Cure? THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!

En-chan: Well I'll have you know... I've been watching a couple episodes the past few days.

So perhaps!

[DreamSword]

Episode 8: In Charge of Promotion

DS: So hey question, was this episode written by Inoue?

Androzani: Not as far as I can tell.

En-chan: Yeah, I'm pretty sure it wasn't.

DS: I ask because it features both food and misunderstandings. All it needed was water and we'd've been set.

En-chan: Sadly I do not think our local heroes have the budget for drenching their outfits in rivers full of water.

Androzani: My first impression of the fictional KitaQMan, knowing that a) he doesn't have an IRL secret identity and b) he crowdfunded the destruction of his car to get a new vehicle, is that he's a guy with no sense of personal boundaries who's all about advertising.

DS: You're not far off.

Speaking of internet presence though, I just wanna say, this episode was a bit of a slip in terms of the usual quality subs that GaGaGa tends to do for Dogengers. There were a handful of untranslated lines in this one, ontop of some weird word choices at times.

En-chan: Yeah, even the opening and ending sponsor bits weren't translated either.

Androzani: Not to mention they didn't translate the sponsor section gags. Thankfully, Google Translate was my friend there.

DS: But, that aside, this episode actually reminded me alot of Nice Buddy, in that it lured me into a false sense of security before sucker punching me when I least expected it.

En-chan: I'm assuming you're referring to our ending, given the choice of gif for today.

Androzani: One minute, it's a funny dating episode, the next it's Mako formally joining the Dogengers. (When are Bincho Fire and Koujin Ex getting their memberships?)

DS: Koujin Ex is a bit tied up at the moment.

But yeah, that ending though. It's surprising how I'm actually kinda into this, given the trend my reviews usually have of me not being invested in the romances at all.

En-chan: I suppose it's because we've got a new wrinkle in the idea of "changing" that this season's set us on.

And that's an identity crisis as a result!

DS: What also helped was that despite the more downtrodden turn at the end, this episode was surprisingly funny! I actually laughed quite a bit during this one.

Androzani: The teacher gets a sneeze cut when Ohgaman recalls him because, unlike the other regulars, he's not doing anything this week.

En-chan: What probably helps the humor is that we've not only got KitaQMan as the headliner this week, but we've got the rest of the core Dogengers as well showing up for some fun.

Androzani: And what do you know, the robot's still useful at small size.

DS: For sure. Although personally, my favorite bit was towards the beginning, with the girls resetting to neutral instantly when Daisuke came back into the room.

Androzani: "Crap, it's a boy. Back to tsundere mode."

En-chan: I enjoyed where both Akine and Ryoko immediately just went to keep Kireko from mugging Daisuke.

DS: "I have to take a nap!"

Friggen mood, right there.

But yeah, similar to El Brave's' episode, while this is the "KitaQman" episode, he's really only there to move everyone else along, rather than being the center focus. And I think they made it work rather well, all things considered.

Androzani: Especially since we get a lengthy fight set to the theme song out of it.

En-chan: Considering how KitaQman is, it does end up lending to his strengths I feel.

DS: Him being a troll just comes natural. Must be due to all the social media he consumes. And I mean, when it comes to advertising, he was right, technically speaking.

Androzani: I still have to question him knowing Mako well enough from, I presume following her Twitter, to intrude on her morning jog.

DS: I mean, maybe it's different nowadays, but back in my day, when computers were just freshly sprouting, teens were absolutely posting literally everything about themselves on socials.

En-chan: I'll be honest.

Considering the amount of posts I see urging younger people to not post everything about themselves online, I'd say it's very prevalent nowadays still.

DS: Makes sense. Take that advice, kids.

But yeah, the main plot of this episode is that Mako and Daisuke finally go on a date and... man, is this gonna be the second dating episode that ends up being my favorite for the toku shows I've reviewed? And for two shows that are on very opposite sides of the spectrum, too.

Androzani: I know my favourite for High School is the next one we're reviewing.

DS: Speaking of favorites, now that you've been introduced to them all... Androzani! Who is your favorite Dogenger so far?

Androzani: If we're sticking to existing members, I'll go with Aoron.

DS: Blueron is a very specific pick but I'll allow it.

And now you En-chan! Who is your fave?

En-chan: Oh this is hard... they're all so great in their own ways...

If I had to pick one over the other though... Fukuokalibur.

DS: En-chan likes them good bois, I see.

But yeah this episode was just fun all around, and probably the first from this season that I was super into from start to finish.

Were there any other highlights for you guys?

Androzani: Well I've already mentioned the fight, so I'll say the big moment where Mako meets the Dogengers again and calls back to everyone focused on in their previous focused episodes.

En-chan: Despite being part of a villainous organization, Shaberryman still takes the time out of his day to help people take photos.

DS: I mean he is a cameraman.

But okay then. With that done, we hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we did. Tune in next time where, following KitaQman's' example, we will bury ourselves in thousands upon thousands of selfies, all tagged with stuff like #fyp and #algorithm, because the kids do that nowadays, right? Right?

[Sunred]

Quick question to those who are watching or watched this show. Has Dogengers ever convinced you to consider going on a trip to Fukuoka? It being the setting and all.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Quick question to those who are watching or watched this show. Has Dogengers ever convinced you to consider going on a trip to Fukuoka? It being the setting and all.

Oh yeah! At the very least, try mentaiko for sure. This show truly loves its hometown and knows how to make people interested in it.