Flashman Episode 4

EPISODE 4

An attempt at a lighter, more purely comedic episode. I think this episode is basically the answer to two questions somebody at Toei had. Those being:

1) Hey, that Kihachiro Uemura kid can walk while doing a handstand. Can you work that into an episode somehow?

2) Say, do the Flashman even need Magu?

And the answer to both of those questions should've been no. Because what we're given is a pretty silly episode in which the latest Beast Soldier causes Dai's vision to be flipped upside-down -- requiring him to do a walking handstand in order to see properly -- and a chance for Magu to act like a malfunctioning nut because he wants to prove how big his robot balls are.

It's not like Magu's annoying or anything; I think voice-actress Hiroko Maruyama does a decent job, and I think Izubuchi's design is great and the suit-makers did a pretty nice job of bringing it to life -- it's a detailed piece that money went into, actually seeming machine-like, computer-y -- robotic. (Unlike Peebo, who looked like it was BMX gear dipped in glitter.) I just always found Magu pretty unnecessary. I don't think he contributes anything that couldn't have been done by, say, Jin or Sara going through computer banks. Fiveman might have really wished it was Flashman, but the one area it might beat Flashman is that Arthur-G6 was certainly more important and valuable to the show.

And this episode doesn't make a good case for Magu. Not able to fight because of his condition, Dai's "trained" by Magu, who mistakenly must have been programmed with the Chief Ibuki disc, because he really throws everything at Dai, who can't do crap while on his hands. When Magu chews out Dai for not making much effort, considering all the Flashman have endured and learned on the Flash planets, it makes Jin remember his samurai-esque training on the Flash planet, when sandstorms would be so bad, he had no choice but to fight blindfolded, learning how to "see" with his mind and senses. This gets Jin to decide that this is the best plan of attack -- if they wear a special visor covering their eyes, the four won't risk being harmed in the same way as Dai, and Dai's messed up vision shouldn't matter if blindfolded.

When everything works out for the Flashman, Magu's depressed that he didn't help, but Jin's quick to correct him that, if it wasn't for Magu's speech about their training on Flash, he wouldn't have remembered that particular method of fighting. So, it WAS Magu who saved the day, but...meh. I felt like Jin would have eventually thought of it.

It's an episode that's meant to give Magu a purpose while also showing off the unique abilities of Mess's creations and the Flashman's individual abilities and what they learned growing up on the Flash planets, but it could have been accomplished it better. It's an entertaining enough episode, just not really essential. It's one that's purely for the youngsters, as they're the ones who will worry most about the idea of Magu leaving the team.

I do like the scenes of Jin's training on Flash Star. Any scenes detailing their lives or training on the Flash planets is great to see and a plus.

And the monster of the week has a cool design, but it's Izubuchi, what else do you expect? But I would like to use this space to talk about Mess's Beast Soldiers. They're some of the best monster of the week designs, in my opinion. They all have cool or creative or interesting designs, and mostly all of them are really well-crafted suits. Most of these monsters are meant to be hybrids of an alien lifeform along with a lifeform of Earth's, and it's easy to spot which Earth lifeform a lot of these monsters are based on. But what's great, what's smart about Izubuchi's approach to these designs, is that he still manages to make them truly unique creatures that you wouldn't see elsewhere. I can picture other shows just, you know, having a monster that's just about as regular of an elephant as you can make it, but here it's so much more inventive -- go take a look at episode 1's The Balaboss. And the monster of this episode is obviously based on a tortoise, but...well, look at what happens when you put the assignment in the hands of someone of Izubuchi's high caliber.

Something I really like about the Beast Soldiers, that I've seen some criticism for, is that they don't speak. And I think they might be among the first monsters of the week to not speak, at least in Toei's hero shows. (Meaning: the giant alien monsters in Ultraman seldom speak.) And if not in Toei's hero shows, then at least Sentai. Silent monsters became more common, especially amongst Kamen Rider, in later entries, entries that tried to be more grounded or "realistic." And I think it's the same thinking behind the Beast Soldiers never speaking -- they really just do come across as bestial. They seem like real beasts created by mad scientists, and their silence is a great way to separate them from the more successful experiments, their superiors like Neferu, Wanda, Ulk and Kiruto. (You were doomed from the start, Garus.)

Some people think these types of more animalistic monsters lack personality or charm of monsters who do talk, but I think it all depends in how they're used. For me, it works in Flashman, the way this show depicts these beasts who were spliced together to make new lifeforms whose abilities can be used. And with Izubuchi's awesome designs, most of them are massive and formidable and still make awful growling and roaring noises that result in some scary monsters for our heroes to face.