Turboranger Episode 32

This episode picks up where the last one left off, with Yamimaru and Kirika storming the Bouma Castle. They cut through Uras and are stopped by Zuruten, who don't want to let stinky, impure half-Bouma amongst their ranks. They reply by clotheslining him with the red thread of fate. They make their way to Ragon, who similarly looks down on Nagare Bouma and thinks they're incapable. Yamimaru promises to do something only the Nagare Bouma can, which is to revive the monstrous giant Bouma Bat Dragras. This impresses Ragon, who says as much -- if they can truly revive that creature, he'll consider making them a part of his forces.

There's a scene where Riki and the others are at Sayoko's (abandoned) home, when Riki fills them in on what happened there. They're in a disbelief and shock and are actually kind of creeped out to be there. (Also: I bet this is the first they're hearing that the two skull monsters they killed yesterday were Sayoko's parents...!) This scene's filmed with a quiet restraint by director Takao Nagaishi, giving it an uneasiness and solemnity. Riki finds a baseball on display in one of the rooms -- a baseball, a game-winning home-run hit he made in their first year of high-school, which Sayoko caught. A delighted Sayoko even had her crush autograph the ball. Riki desperately wants to believe the good in her, but this episode reinforces his doubts...

The majority of the episode is Sayoko capturing people to perform a dance ritual to resurrect the Dragras beast. The Dragras beast sleeps within the Bouma-Beast Mirror Bouma, so all of the victims are pulled into the mirror realm. The Dragras creature feeds on youthful life energy, so it's mostly teens she captures. (One being the volleyball team from school, in an act of revenge.) The Turboranger are also captured, but try to endure the agony of resisting Kirika's command to dance for the Dragras. (Kinohara really goes for it in this scene, making Haruna look as if her brain is going to split from the pain of resisting.) Yamimaru and Kirika lead the dancers, in another scene that I'm sure is mocked.

People who think Basco or Enter is cool like to ridicule characters who are actually cool, like Yamimaru, and would point to this and be like "Meh, it's goofy that he dances!" Well, at least he's not dancing in ending credits with the team! It's a strange choice for Yamimaru, but I buy it here. He's meant to be invigorated by Kirika. He feels confident and that he's coming into his own. He enjoys being with Kirika. So I can actually picture himself just going along with it for her, to help her. And they're both supposed to be young, too. (Once they successfully awaken the Dragras, Ragon comments on this, remarking what a terrifying force youth is, and youth is exactly what he's been looking for -- 20,000 years is still young to the Bouma. Reida, Jarmine, Jinba, they were all older than that. So this arc has literally been out-with-the-old-in-with-the-young. The narrator ends this episode saying something like a new chapter, a battle between youth has begun, a kind of precursor to the way Kakuranger's second half is referred to as the "Fierce Battle of Youth.")

The Dragras is a pretty cool thing for our two new, dangerous villains to get. (In another similarity to Changeman, it's reminiscent of Ahames' two-headed dragon Jangeran.) A giant monstrous bat creature, but it also has a mechanical armament. The teens who were kidnapped collapse after the creature is called, with Kirika commanding it to eat their remains. (Our heroes protect them, helping them to consciousness and safety.) Again, Riki is confronted by how cruel Kirika seems to have become, not able to reconcile the image with the sweet, kind girl who awkwardly asked him for an autograph, which he was embarrassed yet thrilled to do. He kept the ball from when he was at her house and removes it from his jacket. "It's really over, Sayoko Tsukikage. Our youth is over. Take this as a sign we've cut ties," he says, throwing the ball at her as she rides behind Yamimaru on the Dragras. She falls from the creature and it loses its pace, Kirika's errant sword shattering the mirror realm and freeing those it held prisoner.

It's interesting to note that Riki refers to her by her birth name this one last time before "cutting ties." Earlier he had called Kirika by her real name and she showed anger at him, insisting her name is Kirika. But right after that scene where he throws the baseball at her, where he's basically giving up on her, he begins to refer to her as Kirika. I also like that there's a moment in the battle when Yamimaru takes the time to just proudly look on Kirika as she's kicking ass. The episode ends with Riki angrily watching the two Nagare Bouma soar away on the Dragras, the narrator promising a new battle of youth beginning. A good episode for the Riki and Sayoko bits, his letting go of her, any feelings of nicety and friendship thrown along with that pitch.

And I should mention, finally, Masako Morishita as Sayoko/Kirika. She's a great addition to the show, and I like that, even though he's been around a lot longer, she's really equal to Yamimaru. It's Yamimaru and Kirika, Kirika and Yamimaru that's in charge of things, not just one or the other. Morishita -- who, it's funny to note, is one of the only actual teenagers in the show -- gives a good performance, making you feel sympathetic for Sayoko, yet she's still able to go for it and be villainous and cruel as Kirika. You can kind of understand Kirika's motivation, that she's making up for years of being mistreated. Kirika's a good villain, but she still has that sympathetic side to her character that doesn't detract from the danger she poses. And I feel like she's almost more likable than Morishita's other famous Sentai role, Kujaku, who's supposed to be practically holy. Funny that both characters basically learn that, maybe, it's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate. (Ozzy Osbourne!)