Inoue's final script for the series. Ahead of his time, he again teases the idea of an additional hero to the five. This time, though, it's a new character becoming an already existing hero, which is an idea Inoue will go to town with in his Kamen Rider shows Faiz and Kiva. Through the character of weak nerd Kenichi, Inoue examines the idea of what defines a hero, particularly in a scenario like Turboranger's, where they were given their unique power by chance, when they were young. He makes the case why these particular five, and couldn't someone else who received fairy power fight if they wanted?
I like that it puts the idea out there of the possibility of more people having been covered in the light of the fairies. It's kinda like Abaranger -- you figure there's more people out there with Dino Guts, and we just ended up with who we did. Here, though, the case is made that maybe Kenichi didn't get the call, because -- even if he's been showered with the light -- his heart isn't pure and just. He wants strength and power to just boost his confidence and show off and hold it against people, and he has to learn from Youhei what it really means to be a warrior.
I gotta give credit to guest actor Hidetoshi Kobayashi, though -- the character of Kenichi could have EASILY been obnoxious or detestable, but he manages to be pretty sympathetic and you can understand why he's so driven to want to be stronger and be a hero. He's small, he's scrawny, he's spotty, he's not good at gym, constantly laughed at and ridiculed by classmates. (The only really low thing he does is dose a bento he makes for Youhei with a sleep drug in order to steal Youhei's Turbo Brace.) When Kenichi was a kid, he found Shiron sleeping in a forest, and he absorbed the fairy aura she gave off, so he's actually able to successfully transform into Blue Turbo. (His big success is stopping an ordinary burglar; he's not successful against the Bouma.) Youhei puts himself in harm's way to save Kenichi more than once, proving to Kenichi what it really takes to make a hero. (He remarks at one point that Youhei's stronger and braver as just himself than Kenichi is even as Blue Turbo.)
The Bouma-Beast this week is a little out of place, but a typical Inoue villain -- a cool, professional, cigarillo-smoking killer, Gunman Bouma. Like Inoue's bounty-hunter in the episode of Gokaiger he wrote, Gunman Bouma seems to look down on our regular villains, mouthing off or threatening them more than once. He ends up getting taken down by Kenichi, who uses his smarts to whip up an explosive bullet he sneakily puts in Gunman Bouma's ammo holster.
Inspired by Youhei's bravery and then proving himself using his own abilities, Kenichi sees and feels his worth, better understanding what it really means to be a hero and gaining new confidence. An appropriate story with a good message for the high-school Sentai.
I like that, in all five of the episodes he wrote, Inoue focused on each of the heroes. Not only does he try to make them lively and cool, but he highlights a trait of theirs -- Riki's drive, Daichi's boldness, Youhei's selflessness, Shunsuke's sense of fairness, Haruna's determination.
On a random note, I've always been curious if it's somebody different in Blue Turbo's suit when it's Kenichi transformed as Blue. If it's still Shoji Hachisuka, he really succeeds at acting differently, because Kenichi Turbo seems smaller and moves clumsier -- it kinda reminds me of when Naoko Kamio played Shinken Red in that Gokaiger where the school kid transforms with the Mobirates.
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