Turboranger Episode 24

Like the previous, a fun little summer vacation adventure, lighter, kid-friendly...but it's better than the previous episode. I like it because it's just fun, action-heavy, and Namegawa Island looked like a cool, fun little place. (It's easy to say that this episode is a commercial for Namegawa Island, but they work the resort into the episode well by having the five Turboranger there on break and participating in numerous activities unique to the place. This certainly shows the resort off better than the Flashman episode set there.) Namegawa Island is a now-defunct resort that tried to replicate a tropical island experience. Playing a big part in this episode is the Polynesian dance troupe that often performed there.

Reida discovers that a coconut with a sealed Bouma-Beast has washed up on the shore of the island; the Bouma-Beast is awakened by the rhythm caused by the nearby Polynesian dancers and Reida is able to successfully break the seal. This Bouma-Beast has an entire clan similar to him sealed off in coconuts on a southern island that he and Reida want to revive. To do so, they trap vacationers into totem poles and kidnap the resort's women dancers to perform in a ritual that will awaken his comrades. (The dancing ritual makes me think of that one episode of Maskman.)

Thrown into the mix is a subplot about a kid who's vacationing with his parents, where they're teaching him how to swim; the kid's parents are among those whose essence is absorbed to be ritualistically sacrificed via the totem poles, and he's the one responsible for getting this crucial info to the Turboranger. Most of the episode is a lot of cool fight scenes -- the full Bouma forces are on the island to attack, which I don't think has happened since the premiere episode.

At one point, when the Turboranger are being prevented from reaching the site of the ritual and putting an end to it, they're motivated to keep fighting by the remaining male Polynesian dancers doing a dance which honors heroes. This is something that probably gets laughed at by Turboranger detractors, but I think it's a pretty creative and neat way to work in this dance act, as well as the activities that you yourself could go see at Namegawa Island. By having one set of dancers kidnapped by the Bouma and others showing up to encourage the Turboranger, they're worked into the narrative, so it's more than just an advertisement. Some shows don't bother to make that effort. (Flashman, I'm looking at you!) Even the Bouma-Beast is worked into the locale, by being tropical-oriented, with the strange masks and totem poles and stuff.

A big and entertaining episode that actually manages to feel big thanks to the location choice. I could easily picture this episode passing as one of the Sentai theatrical movies.

One random things I want to point out...

The Bouma-Beast is voiced by the always bizarre Kaoru Shinoda. This is one of the rare cases where his weirdo voice works, though, because Yashinomi-Bouma is a freak. And with Seiichi Hirai voicing Jinba, Turboranger has both Winspector's Bikel and Walter!