Turboranger Episode 50

Zuruten thinks he's finally tracked down the site of the Big Seal, and sure enough, after a massive earthquake, the Mark of Bouma appears over the location. With a humongous explosion, a Bouma-Beast then appears...and a puzzled Zuruten is all "What's this? Where the hell are the others?!" Sorry, Zuruten, your Big Seal is in another location, because this was just the location of Bouma-Beast Seal Bouma, a big and powerful Bouma that has the ability to seal AND break seals, who vows to break the Big Seal himself. When the Bouma Castle scoops them all up, Neo-Ragon reveals that, to undo the Big Seal, a sacrifice is needed. He gives Seal Bouma an orb to be used in the ritual, which will suck out the life of the sacrifices.  When Seal Bouma asks what to sacrifice, a laughing Neo-Ragon tells him the sacrifice shall be ones who are neither human nor Bouma...

Later, Kirika's attending to Riki's wounds, as the others are all trying to recover from that earlier dust-up. Riki gives Kashim's locket to her. In just moments, Yamimaru appears, ready to take them on once more, Kirika's pleas to end his violence and hatred only further upsetting him, to the point where he backhands her. (It's a bit shocking, a little unlike Yamimaru -- who told Kirika in his dream that he's not some low-life who would cut a woman's face -- and conveys how hurt he is by Kirika abandoning him.) Before anything else happens, Zuruten and Bouma troops appear, Zuruten letting it known that he's after Yamimaru and Kirika, that they're to be sacrificed. Seal Bouma blasts his unique attack at them, which results in them being bound in chains, sealed with a plaque bearing the Mark of Bouma. Dragras appears to haul them away. The Turboranger transform to try to stop them, but are also bound by Seal Bouma's attack, Zuruten paying them no further attention.

Bound in chains, Kirika and Yamimaru are also crucified, set near a pyre. Kirika uses this time to try to get through to Yamimaru, echoing a lot of what Riki said to her in the previous episode. (Her point here is that they're being sacrificed by Neo-Ragon because of the Nagare Bouma representing a love that was thought impossible, that they're a rare and beautiful result of that love.) Yamimaru remains his pessimistic self, telling her that it's hate that's kept him alive and given him power for 20,000 years, not love, and that he's seen any other way fail. Kirika's in disbelief at his words. Meanwhile, the Turboranger -- untransformed, but still in chains -- are making their way to the site of the ritual. And they are having a tough time of it, weighed down by the chains. Riki vows not to let Kirika be killed...

They eventually make their way there and are subject to an attack by Seal Bouma. Riki jumps from the mountaintop they're on, runs on Ura shoulders (a move I've seen numerous times in Sonny Chiba ninja movies!), makes his way near Seal Bouma, karate-kicks the mystical orb, which ruins the ritual, busts Seal Bouma's seals, finally resulting in the chains falling off and freeing the seven. They make mincemeat out of Seal Bouma and Zuruten enlarges him, but things don't go the way they usually do here...

As they rush to make their way to Rugger Fighter, Yamimaru holds Red Turbo back, challenging him to a duel. Black Turbo leads the others to Rugger Fighter, where they transform into Turbo Rugger to fight the giant Seal Bouma. So, we get one of the earliest attempts of the franchise of having a ground battle taking place at the same time as a giant battle, and it's awesome. You've got a good villain like Yamimaru, you've got a great Red like Riki and you've got the awesome Kazuo Niibori in-suit as Red Turbo, so you've gotta have a cool final villain fight, man. Liveman disappointed in that area, as I've mentioned. (How, how, HOW do you botch it so bad by not having a final Niibori VS Hirose duel!?!?)

The fight's pretty dang cool, and I'm not talking about the mecha fight, who cares about that -- I'm talking about the Red VS Yamimaru showdown. Kirika warns Yamimaru that he's one of only two Nagare Bouma left in the world. He scoffs. "That means you think *I'm* the one who's going to lose here." There's cool sword moves, there's Red's yanking Yamimaru by the foot to bring him down a mountain he's falling off of, there's Kirika nervously watching, not wanting either one of them to lose, die or even just be hurt.

And despite just earlier taking orders from Neo-Ragon to capture Yamimaru and Kirika, Dragras senses Yamimaru's battle at the Bouma Castle and flies away, swooping down to attack Red. (As Yamimaru notes, the Dragras IS supposed to be a guardian of the Nagare Bouma, after all.) When Neo-Ragon growls curses at the giant beast for betraying him, Dragras turns his attention to a suicide attack on the giant Seal Bouma, which frees the chained Turbo Rugger and buys it the time it needs to win. (Before Seal Bouma explodes, he plants his key-shaped staff into the ground, which burns itself underground, towards the Big Seal, causing another massive earthquake.)

Red notes Dragras' sacrificing itself for Yamimaru, asking him why doesn't he care for his own life. Yamimaru continues to fight, a couple of bad blows exchange between the two, ending in one of the classic old chambara stand-offs, waiting to see which warrior succumbs to injury or death first. And it's...Yamimaru's sword that falls, blood running from his mouth as he falls to his knees. Yamimaru asks Red why he doesn't deliver the fatal jab. Red tells him his death would kill Kirika with sorrow, that she AND him believe in him, and basically that he needs to get his priorities straight to realize what's really important in the world...

Kirika silently thanks Red, while Yamimaru replies by laughing his ass off, calling Red a fool and saying that he'll regret this show of mercy. He then performs a ninja-like move called the Dark Hiding, vanishing before the two, leaving Kirika in a panic. (We'll learn that Yamimaru risks his life to use the move.) The episode ends with the massive earthquakes hitting Turbo Builder hard, with Dazai realizing that the Big Seal just might be located beneath the Turbo Builder itself...! A crazy little twist, but a suspenseful cliffhanger leading into the final episode.