Turboranger Episode 41

There's an idea in this episode that I like, and would have liked to see played straight in a regular episode, but it's only a small portion of this episode, which is meant to be a kind of lighthearted romp. The Turboranger, the Nagare Bouma and the Bouma-Beast of the week are all playing each other to a ridiculous Murder by Death degree. It just doesn't work for me.

The Turboranger are still in Iyomishima when they encounter the latest Bouma Beast, Migratory Bird Bouma. He presents himself with a cool confidence of a warrior. When the Nagare Bouma show up, he kowtows to them, getting on their good side before he shows off his battle skills fighting the Turboranger. The Nagare Bouma are impressed until, suddenly, the Bouma-Beast comes across like he's all thumbs -- like a dunderhead, he ends up hurting himself in most of his attacks. The Nagare Bouma abandon him, disappointed. The monster flees, with the Turboranger in pursuit.

Daichi finds the monster, who botches yet another attack. The monster is a weeping, cowardly mess, and Daichi agrees to let him go, with the warning to never attack anyone again. So, Daichi's none too happy later on, when the Bouma-Beast is calling them out to fight once again, but the Bouma-Beast lays on the waterworks, saying he had no choice, that Yamimaru threatened him. He begs Daichi to seal him, that he can teach him the way. Riki and the others doubt this, knowing that the Bouma can only be sealed by fairies and Rakia. The Bouma-Beast claims that he knows a way that humans can do it, and that he'll teach them. Daichi goes along with it, reasoning that the ability to seal Bouma themselves would be a great asset, especially considering how the Bouma keep growing in strength.

Meanwhile, Dazai's having Shiron pore over her the magical fairy texts to research this weird-ass new opponent. There's no record of a "Migratory Bird Bouma," and the only reference to a Bouma particular to the area of Shikoku is a Bouma who enjoyed theatrics being sealed there.

The Bouma-Beast takes Daichi to a lake, where he says Daichi must strip and purify himself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. Daichi does so, even handing over his Turbo Brace. As soon as the monster has his brace, the jig is up, and Nagare Bouma arrive to congratulate Migratory Bird Bouma. The monster doesn't comply, though, announcing his own intention to fight. To the surprise of everyone, Nagare Bouma included, the Bouma-Beast reveals himself to be Actor Bouma, who lives up to his name in being a show-off and over-the-top. Joke's on him, though, because the Turboranger figured out he wasn't trustworthy, and what he offered was too good to be true, so it turns out they were one step ahead and the Turbo Brace Daichi handed over was fake.

Meh... I guess it's supposed to be a change of pace that our heroes figured out the ruse and were one step ahead when we've seen the "hero who falls for a villain/monster's words" plot played straight numerous times. And maybe it's fitting to have the pragmatic Daichi not be fooled, but I think the episode would have been better if it was just played straight. Yeah, have Daichi be the only one who believed the Bouma-Beast; being the thinker, you could imagine him seeing the logic in the idea of having a Turboranger learn to seal Bouma on their own. So, against his better judgment, maybe he could have found the idea of learning how to seal Bouma too good to pass up, while the others were skeptical. (Especially once they get the info from Shiron about the "theatrical" Bouma sealed at Shikoku.)

But having Actor Bouma pull one over on the Nagare Bouma, while they think they're pulling one over on him, while he's pulling one over on the Turboranger, while they're pulling one over on him... They don't know we know they know we know! While the episode is trying to be comedic, it comes across as even goofier than I think they intend. Especially with how they depict the monster; with the episode title, with the showy and self-impressed way he acts, with his bird-like design, it just really reminds me of Space Beast Soldier Volta from Changeman's 21st episode. I get the impression Soda really wants to recreate that character and episode, but I don't think it fits here, especially since it's not saying anything the way that Changeman episode did. (It wasn't just about a silly, egotistical monster, but about war propaganda, manipulating media coverage and celebrity shills.) If this was just the requisite random-goofy episode before the final stretch, I might cut it a little more slack. But we still end up getting one of those, a very terrible one of those, so that's not the case.

Random note: When the Turboranger defeat Actor Bouma, we're shown that he's enlarged by the remains of Ragon. DUNDUNDUNNNNNNNNH.