Toshiki Inoue's first script for the series -- and his first toku script, period! It involves what goes on to be one of his favorite scenarios in that one of our heroes falls for a character who's a pesky ne'er-do-well. In this case, it's a sukeban that Bun gets involved with. They're initially at each other's throats and challenge each other, but once they're on the run from Mess, they start to take a liking to one another. This episode works better than the similar episodes Inoue wrote for Liveman and Turboranger, and a lot of that's probably thanks to the performances, the characters' ages and the situation they're put in.
When Bun is patrolling on his motorcycle, he makes the mistake of riding into sukeban Yuki's turf, and soon finds himself challenged by her and her bike gang. Bun manages to win thanks to using some of those abilities he developed growing up on Blue Star. And meanwhile, as he's screwing around with these biker punks, Neferu stands on a nearby building, wielding a gun, ready to assassinate Bun! When the biker gang get in the way, preventing her from taking a nice, clean, fatal shot, Neferu pretty much snaps and devotes the rest of the episode to tracking down Bun and killing him. We don't get an explanation of why she's so damned determined to do Bun in, in this episode, but Neferu probably has her reasons...
That's one of the great things about the Mess actors; when you really look at the characters, you realize that the show holds its cards close to its chest -- they want their villains to be sort of mysterious, so you don't find out a whole hell of a lot about them. But all of the actors just dig in and relish their roles. I always said that it feels to me like all of the actors have a secret about their characters that only they know. The Mess villains just feel like they have so much more life and presence and a shared history and closeness to one another, and I think A LOT of that is do to the actors...
And I feel like that's especially true of Neferu, who I think the show likes to keep as an enigma, they like her being an unpredictable spark. But Hagiwara brings SO much to the role -- whether she was rebelling after playing a couple of heroines or whatever the reason, she just really hits the ground running and isn't afraid to be as evil and nasty as Neferu needs to be. It's also surprising to me how tough and formidable Hagiwara is able to make Neferu when she's still pretty young, she's about 23 for most of Flashman's run. But you never doubt Neferu's capability or power -- she plays her with a conviction and a confidence and makes Neferu STRONG. Neferu can and will beat you the hell up, and probably take great delight in doing so. When we first see Neferu in action, she stabs a guy through the throat with her baton, and then smirks as she looks down at his corpse! And people wonder why I never thought Mele was cool.
But I like that the character is also the spy of Mess; as noted, she's a master of disguise, and she's often in charge of the plans that require her and Ulk and Kiruto to infiltrate an area. She's a formidable warrior, dangerous, but by being a spy, there's still kind of an unpredictability to the character in that she's honorable, but...she'll do what needs to be done to win. If that involves kidnapping some kids, she'll do it. If that involves faking her own death, she'll do it. (Spoiler alert.) If that involves trying to gun down Bun from across the city, she has no problem with that.
So, Bun bests Yuki's gang and Yuki's after him, wanting to settle the score. Yuki's got a rep to protect, she's a gang leader! She goes into a monologue about how she was orphaned, raised by the streets, the only lullabies she ever heard were the roar of engines! Bun takes pity on her, locking onto the part about her being an orphan, but before anything can happen, Neferu strikes, and the episode becomes about Bun and Yuki on the run from Neferu and the latest Beast Soldier.
Like Bun's previous outing, this one also takes place largely at Korakuen Amusement Park, strangely, but the show manages to still convey the sense of an intense pursuit as Bun and Yuki try their best to make a getaway or hide out in corners of the park, only to quickly be found. Director Takao Nagaishi gives this episode a quick pace that helps further convey intensity and propulsive action despite what you'd think of as a limited setting. Credit also to action director Junji Yamaoka, who's making the most of the setting and throwing all he can at Bun, which Yasuhiro Ishiwata just takes, because he always likes to dive into action scenes. Bun uses his Blue Star acquired climbing skills to make a lot of his getaways with Yuki, and at one point, the two find themselves in danger of being run over by a roller-coaster-riding Neferu! (Further credit to Hagiwara for just seeming chill standing in this front roller coaster car.)
Every now and then Bun and Yuki will find a spot where they can relax and talk and they get to start to liking one another; Yuki's eventually kidnapped and used as bait to lure Bun into a trap, but Yuki overhears the monster's weakness while in captivity and eventually gets Bun the info they need to destroy it. Being so impressed with Bun and how he handled the situation and stepped up to fight, no matter how badly he was hurt, leads Yuki to abandon her sukeban ways and just resume her normal life... It turns out she was a bullshitter; she ain't no orphan, she's a rich girl, whose parents are alive and well! This could have been annoying, but since this episode's meant to be a breezy action romance, and since Yuki's so young, I think it manages to work as the fun little episode and scenario it's supposed to. Ishiwata and guest Chiharu Shukuri play well against each other and make it work. We never see Yuki again, but I feel like it's basically what happened to the flower shop girl from Dai's episode -- the Flashman know they have no time for romance. They got work to do!
So, Bun uses a lot of the powers he acquired on Blue Star in this episode. And I never realized it for quite a while, but...this is pretty much the last time the series ever really puts to full use any of those superpowers the Flashman have which are independent of their transforming abilities. That was one of the things that made them unique! And it's another tie to Superman, the idea that they developed abilities by being raised on a planet that wasn't their own. Flashman was the first show to have the heroes have powers on their own, powers that had nothing to do with their transforming. The closest would probably be Bioman, who had some briefly utilized perks of having Bio Particles, like communicating with animals. Sentai then got into giving the heroes Aura Power or magic or whatever, and I understand that the Power Rangers franchise got a bit crazy in the Disney years by giving the heroes superpowers while they were unmorphed, but Flashman was pretty much the first. And they had traditional superhero super-powers, like super-strength, speed, levitating/flying. And so many of these early episodes highlighted their abilities, it was yet another of the show's many quirks...but the show starts to dial it down.
Neferu Disguise Watch: She dresses as some Duran Duran fangirl when she's out to assassinate Bun. A totally inconspicuous disguise for an assassin! I guess the thinking behind this outfit is that she WANTS to be seen, because then that means it will be more people for her to kill, and that would make her day.
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