A standout episode, an action-fest culminating in one of the more unique battle scenes of the franchise, an episode in which our heroes are barely victorious. Director Takao Nagaishi amps up the tension and drama.
The episode begins with a battle between the Turboranger and the Nagare Bouma already in progress. It's implied they've been battling for quite a while, and that it's "the last battle." (The battle is nicely staged on a beach shore, with nothing to interrupt the battle but crashing waves.) Both sides look to be exhausted and all fighters are taking hits -- Nagare Bouma included, when they've been rarely seen to take hits. I love this idea of being thrown into this critical battle in the midst of it; that they're all so worn out and beaten down, there's such a desperation to the fight, the sense that something WILL be lost by the end of the battle. It reminds me of the way that one Kuuga episode opens from Godai's POV after an intense battle with Daguba that happened off-screen. They didn't have to show you either of these brutal fights in their entirety, just glimpses, and it's in the way they're depicting the aftermath of these struggles, the pain and exhaustion, that you can just feel how brutal it's been for our heroes.
The episode makes no secret that Ragon's keeping tabs on this battle through the latest Bouma-Beast, One-Eyed Bouma. He urges the fight to go on, part of his plan...
At one point in the battle, the Turboranger are attacked and Pink reverts to being Haruna. (You know a battle's bad in a toku when a hero gets knocked out of their suit, that's Toku 101.) Haruna is so beat-down and desperate and past the point of exhaustion that she simply just begs everyone to stop fighting, but it falls on deaf ears. She sees her comrades being badly beaten and even recognizes her opponents are really her peers, letting herself imagine a what-if scenario if they were all just ordinary high-schoolers and actual friends. (Sidenote: the only Turboranger episodes available for a long time back in the day were the ones officially released on VHS. Remember, Toei only released 35 of 51 episodes on VHS, not the entire series. This episode was one of the ones released, and I remember watching it and being confused by Haruna's fantasy where Hikaru and Sayoko are good, happy and friendly with the five. I thought this was a flashback to one of the missing episodes, so I was like "That's damn weird that they were friends at one point! When was this? Yamimaru was beating them up since his first episode! Kirika went bad in her first episode. When were they friends? What is this? What could that episode have been about?!" Confusing.)
Just then, as if an answer to Haruna's prayers, a mysterious doorway appears on the beach. Shiron identifies it as a Fairy Gate, which should lead to the Land of Fairies. Shiron talks of a jewel, the Love Jewel that can be found there, a source of peace and love that can calm anyone who sees its light, making them lose feelings of hatred. So, this Changeman fan basically sums it up as Meruru-seijin Sakura in jewel form. This is music to Haruna's ears, which is probably why Shiron mentioned it, and she immediately makes way towards the gate, quick to dismiss Red when he warns it's suspicious and could be a trap. She enters the gate and vanishes, the four others and the Nagare Bouma soon following.
We're at the end of the show, which means we're at the point where Toei is like "Fuck you, we're giving all of your money to the new show." Turboranger didn't have that much money to begin with! So the depiction of the Land of Fairies...isn't what it could be. It's all the same sound stage redressed. Just lots of colors and flowers and nature-y stuff, like...if the Makuu Space of Gavan was designed by Bob Ross. The Turbo guys hold back the Nagare Bouma as Haruna searches about for the Love Jewel, which she eventually finds in an area that looks like it jumped out of The Adventures of Link. The Love Jewel is...a clear jewel. Shaped like a heart. (Subtle!) By this point, the Turbo guys and the Nagare Bouma have fought so much, they've reverted back to their ordinary selves. Haruna is overjoyed, though, standing before Nagareboshi and Sayoko, holding the Love Jewel and hoping it works its magic. And then...
Whammy-blammy, wowee-zowee, you just got Prank'd! The joint explodes and they all find themselves back on the beach. Not only that, but the Love Jewel turns to sand and dissolves, which looks like it causes Haruna's actual heart to turn to sand and dissolve, too. Soon, standing before them is a familiar face...kinda. They recognize the voice, but the face has had work -- it's Ragon, now in the new form of Neo-Ragon, back from the dead, assholes! They've all been playing right in his hands; the Fairy Gate, the trip to the Land of Fairies, all of that was an illusion created by One-Eyed Bouma. It's implied that Neo-Ragon kept them fighting for so long, and especially wanted them to fight so long that both sides exhausted their power. (He mocks the Nagare Bouma for not realizing that they COULD lose power.) I imagine that mimicking the Land of Fairies, using one of the fairy civilization's legends and giving Haruna such hope, only to shatter it is just further icing on the cake that is Neo-Ragon's revenge. (It's seriously cruel.) He sends them an attack that scatters them all before leaving to reclaim the Bouma Castle, ordering One-Eyed Bouma, Zuruten and the Ura patrol to continue the battle.
Haruna apologizes to all of them for putting all of her hopes on the Love Jewel, dragging them all on a quest borne of her desperation; Riki doesn't blame her for it. Taking everything that's happened to heart, feeling like it's personal and wanting restitution, she requests that they pool their remaining power and transfer it to her to fight. Her kindness was preyed upon, her hope crushed, and she needs to show why that was a mistake. (She wanted to stop the fight peacefully and with love; I feel like this episode is conveying that she realizes that sometimes, unfortunately, the only answer is to fight. It hurts when an ideal is cracked. It's a hard lesson, one that puts you on the path of becoming an adult.) After some brief hesitation from Daichi, Youhei and Shunsuke, they agree to, sending the power from their Turbo Braces into Haruna's, Haruna alone transforming to take on the monster. How unique is this? How many times have you seen this play out in a toku? The heroes gave all of their remaining power to just one member, the heroine at that. That's the confidence they have in Haruna, and that's the confidence Super Sentai has in a female character that other toku franchises lack.
And even while Pink Turbo struggles briefly, it's depicted in a way that plays more like she's just broken down. She's devastated, she's been crushed, having that hope taken away from her. Riki tells her that the real Love Jewel is within her, her own heart. (So, I think her lesson is, even in a world where there's fairy magic, she can't rely on a magical shortcut through an obstacle.) She eventually finds it in herself to take down the Bouma-Beast on her own (!) and having to pilot the Turbo Rugger on her own (!) -- again, how unique is this? (The four untransformed guys eventually show up in the Turbo Rugger cockpit to encourage her, which is a move they must regret once they're shaken around in the Screw Rugger Kick finisher move. That maneuver looks dangerous enough when they're all transformed!) I can't think of many other Sentai shows other than Turboranger that have frequently had one hero taking down a monster of the week on their own; Turboranger likes to do a lot of things differently and introduces new ideas to the franchise and isn't appreciated for it.
It's not a happy victory, but a bitter one and they barely scrape by. The five heroes barely have the strength to return to the control center of the Turbo Builder, and when they do, they're shocked by what they see. Or don't see, I should say: they're unable to see or hear Shiron, only realizing her presence as she brings them bandages -- they only see floating bandages, which Shiron drops in shock. Our heroes are past their limit, but their biggest fight is still ahead of them. Turboranger has liked to show our heroes taking their lumps; and that's good, because our teenage heroes shouldn't know how to do everything, and it's a big metaphor for growing up.
It's great to bring Ragon back into the mix -- the show would have had a huge hole in it if he had really stayed dead -- but I don't like Neo-Ragon's design as much as Original Recipe Ragon. It's like they got a little too caught up in making him "super" that they forgot to keep it all that Ragon-like. They lose what made him such a creepy, memorable villain. It's all so...smooth, shiny and stream-lined. If not for Takebe and Kusaka, it would hardly seem like the same character. And even though the original Ragon was technically a rubber mask, with an unmovable mouth, it's more noticeable with Neo-Ragon; it seems like a Halloween mask, with the constantly-open, slack jaw throwing off the look. (And why didn't they make Kusaka's eyes visible again?!) It's a good main villain design, don't get me wrong -- it's pretty damn cool when you really look it over. And good, suited villains are hard to pull off. Look at how the suit-only villains of modern shows often just look like ordinary monsters of the week, their designs are such an afterthought and unimaginative. So, Neo-Ragon is still a great design, I just don't like it as much as the old Ragon design, and don't feel like it's as unique. (Man, does GoGoFive really want Zylpheeza to look like Neo-Ragon.)
And now for some slight criticism... Remember the Bouma Castle's Life Jewel that was so important in episode 39? And this episode focuses on the Fairy Love Jewel. I feel like there was a missed opportunity to have this elaborate ruse be a cover for Ragon's wanting to retrieve the Life Jewel. They could have had it that Ragon needs the Life Jewel to conduct a ritual to return, a ritual requiring a sacrifice of hope or something. One-Eyed Bouma sets up the illusion which gets enemies to retake the Life Jewel for him, all while playing into the ritual. So, the whole illusion would play into his return, not just his act of revenge? (I guess it's colder that he sets them on this journey purely for revenge, though.)
It’s been a while since I’ve commented (life got in the way a little), so here are some thoughts on the episodes I missed:
ReplyDelete40: While I like the idea behind the villain’s plot, something about the execution really feels “off.” Baby Kirika, the visual of Kirika driving a big moving truck, and the broadening of the plan are all problems for me. It feels simultaneously big/expensive and cheap. Asakura and Morishita/Tanaka get some good action bits, and I like the idea of Youhei being an artist (maybe more development on that would’ve been a nice quirk).
41: I feel like this is something Soda wrote as a response to the critics of the Tora Volta episode. It’s like “You want an annoyingly flamboyant/bombastic character in a ‘fluff’ episode? Well, here you go!” There are some good ideas here (humans sealing Bouma and Daichi being the one to pursue this option, hinting at Ragon’s rebirth), but the execution is way off. It doesn’t help that the monster’s designs are both terrible (with the second one looking oddly like Sam the Eagle). Also, “Kokoro yo Shinayaka Ni Mae” makes its only appearance in the show, as a brief instrumental bit.
42: Now we’re talking! I love the pacing and action in this one, highlighting all of the different aspects of what makes Turbo such a fantastic show (Shiron/Ohmura, Riki/Satou, the team dynamic, the blend of fantasy and sci-fi, etc.).
I’m not sure if I entirely agree with your assessment of Riki as a character. While Satou is fantastic in the role and really deserves more credit, the character doesn’t have as much of an arc as the reds before him (Tsurugi, Takeru, Yuusuke) or after (Sasuke, Ryouma, Matoi). While his arc is a bit more subtle (understanding Yamaguchi’s feelings towards her students, trying to redeem the Nagare Bouma - especially Sayako, and become a better combat strategist - a bit of his baseball background paying off), a more opaque character progression would put him on the top level. Something like him coming to terms with his flaws/past - maybe he was a former delinquent, developing romantic feelings for another character, or seeing things more from the Nagare Bouma’s perspectives would be welcome. Satou is certainly on the same acting level as Kurata, and I wish Turbo/a Gokaiger tribute episode (maybe about Joe/Baizorg’s relationship or concerning growing up) would have explored Satou’s abilities more.
I LOVE your idea of Shiron being a sixth warrior for the show. The suit design (especially the wings), reasoning behind the concept, and the time limit are all fantastic.
43: Even though Gunman Bouma doesn’t fit with the show’s general aesthetic, I still like him. He’s got a bit of Grey in him, what with his cool demeanor and smoking habit.
DeleteI really like Kobayashi in this one. He really makes the character sympathetic, especially when it could turn into another Cup Noodle Creeper situation. The episode does a good job of making the show’s universe feel larger, as all sorts of people can interact with/believe in the fairies and help the team. Asakura also shines in this one, really showing Youhei’s strengths in this one and the difference between the physical power of the suits and the emotional maturity needed to be an effective warrior.
We get to see Daichi’s rage again, which the show really should have used a little more (it makes for a good twist on the red-second in command dynamic).
44: Minowa and Watanabe craft an atmospheric and tense one here. The production design and action are all fantastic, especially when one considers its place in the show (lower budget). Morishita rocks that heavy outfit pretty well. I wish she was wearing slightly heavier makeup to accentuate the difference between base and armored forms, but that’s a minor complaint.
It’s a good exploration of the “arrogance of youth” theme you mentioned a few recaps ago. It’s a good like at Kirika/Sayako’s identity crisis and struggle to find where she stands (Riki and Yamimaru act as good counterpoints to her two sides). Morishita and Satou are fantastic here, with the material playing to their strengths as actors. Matsumoto and Tanaka also turn in good performances.
Maybe it’s just me, but I sense a little bit of guilt whenever Riki interacts with Sayako. Maybe he feels partially responsible for her turn towards the Bouma. It’s a subtle dynamic that I like.
45: Episode 33 is my least favorite entry into the show, but this one comes close. It’s got the crappy kid actor, the plot feels like a 10-20 doldrums episode (except Turbo was way better in that part of the show), and the plot is far too small-scale. The Ragon bit feels like a cheap way to heighten the stakes, which would be higher if the kid was more likable.
DeleteProto-Fiveman is the best way to describe it, but I’d argue that it has a bit more of a “bad Zyuranger” or “non-Inoue Jetman” bent. Asakura still does a decent job with the script, even if I’m just imagining him cringing between takes. Stamp Bouma’s design and the action scenes are also pretty good here.
46: It’s nice to see Haruna in the spotlight again, especially in an episode that highlights the peer conflict aspect of the show. Kinohara is at her best here, really capturing the emotional weariness of her character, her resolve in opposing One-Eyed Bouma and her unwavering kindness. Her power-up at the end is a fantastic moment of growth for the character, in a bit that feels like a perfect analogy for the harsh lessons of growing up. The compassion from her earlier episodes led her down this route, and she strives to ameliorate the situation. The whole cast really steps up for this one, selling the drama of the situation.
Both the monster and the Fairy realm look fantastic for the budget. I like Neo-Ragon’s design, as a sleeker suit that’s better for fighting (regaining youth?). The original, while menacing, really wasn’t that efficient for combat scenes. The action here keeps up with the high standard of the show’s second half. It pays off on the “arrogance of youth” theme, with Haruna’s decision and Yamimaru & Kirika’s final shot together (which gets a good callback in the finale).
I’m sure if this episode was in almost any other show, it wouldn’t have the heroine leading the team. It’d have the now-overdone unsuited roll call, and we’d lose a fantastic moment for an oft-neglected (yet amazing) female warrior.