Flashman Episodes 12 & 13 (Don't Fnck With Hirose)

I find these episodes interesting because they're not really a two-parter in the standard sense, but 13's definitely a reaction to the events in 12. Each episode could be watched independently and nothing would be lost -- in fact, I was missing episode 13 for quite a while -- but when taken together, they become stronger and more meaningful. There's not a cliffhanger to tie episodes together, but it's more of a serialization, in a way.

The first episode is basically Wanda drunk on his own abilities, eventually getting pwned by Red Flash, and then getting his revenge in the second episode.

These episodes aren't just good for the action, but I also like the way they incorporate some of Jin's trauma into the first part, as well as getting to know Wanda a little more. The Mess lieutenants, I'll call them, they're all business, all evildoing. They lack the shades of grey that Soda liked to give most of his villains, so they might not seem as layered, but I still think they work surprisingly well, and you feel like you can figure out what they're all about regardless. It makes sense that they're just loyal and are mainly about the job, when they've been created to be that way. But A LOT of what really helps is the acting. Sayoko Hagiwara, Yutaka Hirose, Miyuki Nagato -- they're all great performers who are taking things seriously and aren't afraid to just go for it. (In a good way, not in some hammy they-don't-care way.)

People might ask why I'm so hard on modern shows' villains or don't think Rio or Enter or Basco's as cool as people pretend they are, but...sorry, I was spoiled by Hirohisa Soda villains. Not only that, but spoiled by great villain actors like Munemaru Kouda, Shohei Yamamoto, Fukumi Kuroda, Kouji Shimizu, Hagiwara, Hirose, Jouji Nakata, Yoshinori Okamoto...

I think Yutaka Hirose's Wanda is the first truly well done villain of his type in toku. Wanda's a lot like Dynaman's Megiddo, to use one example -- the young, pompous, egotistical, vain, but proud warrior. Now, most actors tend to make characters like that weak, whiny, prissy, a clownish joke. That's how Kenju Hayashi portrayed Megiddo, but add on top of that that Hayashi seems like he's not taking the role seriously. His performance is damn close to some over-acting silent film villain, and he doesn't appreciate a lot of the good writing going into his character, and it makes the great turns that character takes in the later part of the series suffer. Some nincompoops like to dismiss Hirose as being "over-the-top" or "hammy" or "campy," but they're wrong. He's energetic, and he's giving it his all. He's one of, if not the, best villain performer in toku history, one of the most memorable, he made a lasting mark, and I think the franchise is the better for his involvement.

I truly believe that Hirose is the only performer in the world, from any point in time, who could have pulled off Kemp's Beauty Beast form. Most performers would get an outfit and name like that and really goof it up, but not Hirose -- he retains Kemp's dangerousness, rage, competence, confidence, and makes the character remain a threat. I think Hirose's being an action actor helps make it easier for him to remain menacing and imposing despite some of the wild designs he's given, but he's also a good actor, you can tell he's committed and having a ball, but still taking everything seriously enough to make his characters believable, make them seem real and not cartoonish. I think that's a big task, and you can point to a lot of people who can't quite pull it off, and certainly not many who do it with the ease and success of Hirose, who's just a natural. (IMO, Hirose and Hiroshi Miyauchi are at the top of the mountain in terms of being great toku actors who were born for this stuff.) The world of Super Sentai is richer for having Hirose in it, and it burns my bacon that wise-ass modern fans just like to laugh at him or treat his characters like some camp joke. (People like to make gay jokes about Beauty Beast Kemp. Kemp's only gay in that he loves himself. The whole point of the character is that he's a vain egomaniac! I always think of the Sex Pistols song "No Feelings" when thinking of this aspect of Kemp's character.)

In part one, Wanda's enjoying a lot of new powers, like teleportation, telekinesis, more strength than he usually has. He makes mincemeat of the Flashman, and makes Red Flash retreat when he senses a weak spot -- three nasty scars from where an Alien Hunter grabbed him as a kid, scars that Wanda takes advantage of by having them cause Jin immense pain. There's kind of a point/counterpoint between Jin and Wanda in this episode, it's about self-acceptance; Jin has to accept the pain of his past and keep in mind the past training his unique experience brought him, while Wanda ultimately loses the day because he ends up becoming utterly repulsed to discover just what he's made from. His new powers are a temporary perk of the five creatures he consists of having their biorhythm in synch -- which happens once every 50 years, so Wanda's at least 50 years old! -- and Keflen seems all too happy to rob Wanda of the high he's on by revealing what he's made of. What's interesting is that the Beast Soldier of the week, who works in synch with Wanda himself, is also made of the same creatures. The design is obviously very Wanda-like, but it's not just a simple rehash. But it's interesting to me that it's basically a mirror and reminder to Wanda of how he could have really been.

In the final fight, Red Flash actually cuts off one of Wanda's wings! That's another thing reminiscent of Megidoo, where Dyna Red cut one of his tails off in the first episode. It's kinda like Flashman wants to do the Megiddo situation but well. The episode ends with Wanda standing atop a mountain, overseeing a celebrating Flashman team, just filled with rage and vowing revenge on Jin. Some toku shows will have an episode like this, and an ending like this, and take a while -- or never -- to deliver on it. Not Flashman -- the very next episode will be Wanda's revenge. Wanda's revenge is to send Ulk and Kiruto to attack Jin -- getting his blood on their claws, which they provide to Keflen to make a Beast Soldier from Jin's genes that's able to match Jin's movements.

This is a great plan for Wanda, and his revenge comes from the fact that neither Jin/Red Flash nor the Beast Soldier will ever get the upper hand, and both will fight until they drop dead of exhaustion -- we see Jin and the monster fight day and night! Neither has a chance of winning. (But what does win the day? Teamwork. Yellow Flash offers to basically be used as a stool, allowing Red Flash to jump off of her in mid-flight to get a higher point of attack on the mimicking monster. It's the kind of desperate but quick thinking move a ninja would pull. I also like the touch of having the enlarged monster still being able to predict Jin's moves, so he lets Green and Blue pilot the Flash King in order to win.)

While episode 12 was written by main writer Hirohisa Soda, episode 13 is written by Kunio Fujii. So, I kinda feel like that that's an indication that maybe it wasn't planned for it to match 12 or be a direct follow-up, but that it was a happy accident that, with a couple of tweaks, worked in the show's favor. I think the original scenario was to just have a monster that uses Jin's genes, and that Wanda was going to be the one overseeing the plan, but that a few bits were added to have it play directly off of the previous one, and it just served in making stronger episodes.

Minoru Yamada directed both 12 and 13 and there's a lot of great shots in both episodes, and a surprising amount of night shooting. (I love the beginning of 12, with Wanda at Tokyo Tower at night, and the scene of Jin fighting the Beast Soldier with his DNA at night is AWESOME, especially with the way they have the lights behind Red Flash's goggles blinking.)

Episode 12 is the debut of Wanda's Killer Saber. If you're going to be a good rival to Kazuo Niibori, you best load up on swords.

It's awesome to know that Niibori probably looks this pissed behind the mask during each sword fight scene.