Flashman Episode 29

Wanda's time to power-up. The titles for the forms that Wanda and Neferu get are called the "Phantom Beast Soldiers." Keflen begins this episode by noting Garus' death; he says loss of life is essential to all of his experiments, many lifeforms are sacrificed for the sake of his creating new ones, and he's learned of yet another new life form: the Phantom Beast Soldiers.

There's probably a TV Magazine that explains it more, but the show only briefly suggests that Keflen has made a kind of supernatural discovery, and that's what's really the factor of these "phantom" forms. Keflen's phrasing, asking Wanda and Neferu which one is willing to "give their life," also makes me think that they actually have to DIE to obtain this power-up and these supernatural abilities, and I think that's pretty interesting, combining science with the supernatural. Wanda's the one who volunteers, and his screams as he's being worked on by Keflen are proof enough that the procedure is painful and, yeah, probably deadly, and it's enough to make Neferu cover her ears and shout out his name in concern.

(I really like how Hirose plays this scene; he goes from being legitimately terrified by the idea of undergoing whatever crazy experiment he knows Keflen's planning, and he doesn't want to be as weak as Garus, but he has faith in Keflen and quickly summons the courage to volunteer. The way he enters what I call the "Test Tube" -- where the monsters of the weak typically appear once they're created -- is pretty cool, too. He's just still and prepared...until the pain hits.)

As Magu examines Jin for possibilities of why his power went on the fritz in the previous episode, Wanda leads an attack for the sole purpose of calling out the Flashman. Wanting to prevent more destruction, the Flashman comply, meeting Wanda where he transforms into the hideous monster, his Phantom form, Wandala. The henshin sequence is the beginning of what will be many crazy henshin sequences for Hirose, in which he makes his mad expressions and ghoulish growls, transforming into a usually crazily-costumed character. In this sequence, they have Wanda's pompadour scattering all over the place in what must have been the origin of my family nicknaming Wanda, and subsequently Beauty Beast Kemp, as "cotton candy-head." As in "Hey, this actor looks familiar. Do I know him?" "Yeah, it's Cotton Candy-head."

The Wandala design is pretty cool and creepy and I like it, even though it's no substitute for Hirose. It's a scary look, and Hirose gives a menacing, growling voice performance, and I love the added touch that Wandala's eyes are able to light up. This dude needs an official figure.

With Wandala's new form comes new abilities, the biggest being the ability to stop time for three seconds. He can move independently and is able to strike, and being one bad sonuvabitch, three seconds is enough for him to cause major, major damage, so holster those jokes about three seconds being useless. (I've always wondered if there was a significance to that particular time limit, some kind of mythology I'm not aware of or something.) Wandala freezes time to attack the Flashman just as Dr. Tokimura is firing up his newly rebuilt time-machine, ready to go into the past and search for answers again!

This is what a well-oiled, fast-paced, jam-packed show Flashman is -- this is the first time we see the Tokimuras since their first appearance TWENTY EPISODES AGO! And it doesn't feel that long ago at all. Flashman's done a great job of just throwing great episode after episode at you that you haven't had the chance to stop and realize that the Tokimuras haven't been seen since their debut.

Wandala's Time Stop is noticed by Tokimura in his machine, just as the machine malfunctions and explodes, sending him to the hospital. Tokimura's family eventually notifies the Flashman via Magu in a panic, while the Flashman are all on the run after being pwned by Wandala. The news of the seriously wounded Professor Tokimura hits Bun the hardest, and he makes it his mission to make it to the hospital to see him just in case he doesn't pull through. (The Flashman had been successful in hiding from Mess after taking such a beating; Bun hitching a ride to the hospital gets noticed immediately by the newest Beast Soldier. Also: Blue Flash's powers went on the fritz during battle the same way Jin's did. Not a good time to disobey orders, Bun! But you can't fault him for it.)

The scene of a dirtied and hurt Bun making his way to Tokimura's hospital room is well done by all the actors, and it's a scene that always made me believe that Bun was originally intended to be the real Tokimura. I noted before that the daughters take an instant liking and acceptance to Bun, and here everyone's noting how much like a son Bun seems. Not only that, but Bun's sad speech -- about how he spent his time on the harsh Blue Star just wanting to return to Earth and find his father -- ends with tears that waken the professor, the first time he becomes conscious since his injury. But the clincher? When Bun leaves on Flashman business, the half out-of-it Tokimura father reaches for Bun, his hand up in the air, the shot recalling the flashback we see of when the Tokimura child was abducted and he reached upward for his child before losing consciousness. C'mon. That says to me they were beginning to lay down the resolution of this story, that the choice was Bun. (Kaori's actress even says in one of the book's interviews that she was certain Bun would be the real sibling.)

A favorite moment of mine is when Wanda's attacking the hospital, trash-talking the Flashman, pointing out that he knows there's something going on with their wonky powers -- the way Tarumi plays Jin here is great, he's REALLY just pissed and fed up with Wanda.

So, a turnaround from the last episode, in that the stakes are high, our heroes are really feeling the pressure, and we have more emotionally resonant, deeper content.