Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Turboranger Episode 23


A Fujii script that is a little disappointing, especially for this to be the one following episode 22. It works well enough for what it is -- which is a light, kid-friendly adventure. It's a throwback to the days when toku regularly did spooky standalone episodes for the summer -- more appropriate here than in a lot of other shows, given Turboranger's supernatural themes -- while also doubling as a change-of-view, "vacation" type of episode.

Haruna accompanies a very late Shunsuke on a train ride to the town holding his gymnastics training camp. A close-knit place, the town policeman's kid daughter is wandering through the forest, looking for flowers, when she picks up something that catches her eye -- she doesn't know it, but it's a fairy wing which was placed atop of the tree where this episode's Bouma-Beast, Ghost Bouma, is sealed. Once the wing is removed, the seal weakens, and Zuruten is able to come along and free Ghost Bouma. Ghost Bouma then goes around, turning everyone in town into ghosts. (Disappointingly, he doesn't, like, remove their spirits, but hits them with a beam and turns them into ghosts, like they're cosplaying or something.) The girl's father falls victim and she escapes multiple times thanks to the powers of the fairy wing she still carries. Lucky for her -- and a good thing they were running late to the gym -- she runs into Shunsuke and Haruna, who get to saving the day by defeating Ghost Bouma and returning the townspeople to normal.

Ghost Bouma has a really awesome design, especially when he's just been freed, and he's leg-less and floating. I like the way Fujii ties the fairies into the episode, letting this fallen fairy's wing be the trump card. And there's a funny scene when Riki and the others are searching the ghost-filled town for Zuruten and Ghost Bouma disguised as ghosts themselves -- reminiscent of Shaun of the Dead, when the gang try to get past all of the zombies by imitating them.

One complaint I have about the episode, though, is that when Haruna, the girl and Shunsuke are surrounded by ghosts, Haruna is legitimately scared, screaming her head off and eventually fainting. Really? After all of the stuff she's been through with the Bouma? It makes her look a little weak. Maybe you can chalk it up to she wasn't expecting the situation AND the environment, as it was happening when the three of them were alone in the forest -- maybe it was all just overwhelming, but...I think if anyone's fainting in that situation, it's Shunsuke. C'mon. But he keeps his cool. Maybe someone on the staff just liked having Haruna spooked, because Kinohara's always gone nuts with her voiceovers -- like when Pink Turbo's being injured, she'll let out crazy, horror-movie-level screams. So that scream's put to use in this episode.

2 comments:

  1. Ghost Bomã always has her hands extended and fingers down too it's great

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  2. This one is decent enough. A bit disappointing after the previous episode (and relative to other ghost episodes, like the Changeman, Liveman, and GoGoV ones), but still good. The child actor delivers her lines well enough while having good chemistry with her father, Shunsuke, and Haruna. I'm not keen on the "ghost cosplay" idea, but I do like the lighter tone after the last episode was so heavy. Soul-ripping is a little much after a gang story. It does lead to the funny image of the cast dressed up as the ghost people (some Samurai Cop-level wigs there).

    I'm not fond of Haruna being as out-of-character as she is here. Shunsuke being freaked out would be within his character and could be a nice reversal of the typical gender roles in this situation. Watching this one, I do wonder how it would have played out in a two-heroine show.

    Kinohara's screams are some the best in Sentai, really reaching a high, piercing pitch with plenty of gusto (diaphragm, not head/throat voice). She and Black Mask are probably my favorite toku screamers.

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