Changeman Episode 48

 

1/8, Episode 48 -- "Pirate Buuba's Storm of Love"

I have to say, this is probably the one Changeman episode I'm most unfamiliar with. I didn't have it on any of my tapes from Japan, no doubt due to this episode airing on an off-day (the eighth of January, which was a WEDNESDAY, not the show's usual Saturday airday). So I guess we missed recording it. And, remember kids, there was a point in the fandom where it was rare for every episode of a series to be found. Downloads weren't common, there wasn't a YouTube, a lot of the shows weren't officially on tape or DVD or even LD! And the VHS sellers/traders often only had chunks of a show, older shows rarely being complete. This episode pretty much wasn't made available until Toei Channel first aired Changeman in 2003 or 2004, so it was around that time I first got to see it.

And being a big Buuba fan, this episode doesn't disappoint. It's a quiet, moody episode, with an ominous, gray cloud hanging over it. There's a lot of low camera angles by director Nagaishi and a soundtrack filled with classical music and the darker Changeman compositions that's come to accompany Super Giluke since his debut. If the past couple of episodes have been too subtle, this is definitely the one where you see the endgame in place. A lot of shows -- Bioman, I'm looking at you -- just hit the end of the series and go "Oh, well, time to kill some villains and move on," and do it all in a rather unremarkable, anticlimactic way. With the introduction of Super Giluke, Changeman feels like it's coming to a conclusion in a more natural way, and is paving the way for a bigger payoff, a grander finale. Super Giluke has returned from the grave, he has new powers, including the ability to create Space Beast Soldiers. Giluke returns with a renewed energy and urgency...and a taste for revenge. Super Giluke doesn't waste any time, he wants to further Bazuu's agenda, and realizes it's time to stop using pawns and put the higher pieces into action. And I think there's a part of Giluke who enjoys inflicting pain on the other Gozma members out of revenge for the way he was betrayed (by Ahames) and abandoned (by Buuba and Shiima).

This is a bit of an atypical episode in that there's no mention of what the typical "plan of the week" is on Gozma's part. It simply begins with Super Giluke beginning to transform Buuba, against his will, into a Space Beast Soldier. From there, it's about Buuba's willpower in resisting the transformation and his being rescued by his pirate girlfriend, Jiiru, whose love, dedication and arrival reignites Buuba's sense of self and his rebellious pirate spirit, and what it was like to be free as a pirate sailing the sea of stars before Bazuu got him in his grasp. I personally think this episode gives a glimpse of the reasoning behind Buuba's actions in episode 52.

I love the staging of the Buuba and Giluke stand-offs throughout the episode; in the initial battle, Giluke is getting the upperhand, and as if Buuba didn't have enough on his plate, he's actually spared by Change Dragon! Tsurugi knows an unfair fight when he sees one (and the threat level of Buuba as a Space Beast Soldier), so he places himself between the two Gozma soldiers when Giluke attacks, which sends a wounded Buuba and Tsurugi flying off into another location. Tsurugi takes a beating in this episode as he's then attacked by the monster Bubuka, who abducts Buuba and reunites him with Jiiru. (And then Jiiru, taking pity on Buuba, decides to fight his fights for him and takes on Tsurugi, Tsurugi taking even MORE hits.)

The emotional center of this episode is when a critically wounded Jiiru reveals that all she wanted to do was come get Buuba, take him away from Gozma, and just live out their lives together. Tsurugi helps a stubborn Buuba see just how much Jiiru loves him. It's staged and performed in an interesting way unlike most of the modern toku shows. There's a lot times in a tokusatsu show where the hero will help the villain for no real other reason than that's the way the show wants that hero to be seen. And a lot of times, it can come across as the hero being incredibly naive or foolish, and it's detrimental to the episode, show or character. Sometimes this scenario plays as a hero being manipulative or selfish in trying to get a villain to do what they want them to. Buuba and Tsurugi are enemies, but Tsurugi sees how genuine Jiiru is and wants to help because of her, because while it WOULD greatly help to have Buuba out of the picture, I think the Changeman here would rather have Buuba out of the picture by going off, happily ever after with his love rather than adding more names to Gozma's death toll. It has an emotional strength and honesty, and it doesn't seem naive or goody-goody here, is my point. Nowadays, Buuba would be posing with the Changeman, and everybody would have a laugh when Yuuma would call him Buuba-chan or something and Buuba would be added to the dancing credits. There's no happy end here for Buuba or Jiiru, and the show recognizes the power of that, and the Changeman heroes recognize the weight and tragedy of it and Tsurugi even pities Buuba.

Because this really is the point when Buuba has enough. A big cheat in this episode is when Buuba, past the limit of his anger, is ready to take on Super Giluke, and they're charging at each other...only to be separated by Bazuu! Damn it, that's so frustrating! But just another sign of this show's strengths that you even care about that, a Buuba and Giluke clash. Shouhei Yamamoto is again just really wicked and imposing in this episode, Giluke was really going to mess Buuba up. And when Giluke finally does come close to transforming Buuba, Jiiru pays with her life in attacking Giluke to spare Buuba. I love the way Buuba ends this episode, wrapping Jiiru in the flag bearing his pirate gang's symbol, which she had held onto for however long it took her to find Buuba, a nice, trademark Nagaishi shot of Buuba appearing over a horizon, carrying the wrapped Jiiru. Jiiru lost her life, but in the end, she just might have saved Shiima's, which I'll talk about a bit more in episode 52.

A nice detail in this episode is when they have a flashback to Buuba and his pirate crew rampaging in space and the production remembered to include episode 29's Gigara. (Remember that dude, who because he was Buuba's old pirate bud was able to synchronize an attack with him?) It's a nice detail like that that makes a difference, hauling out a monster from nearly 20 episodes ago. Too bad this episode's monster, Bubuka, ended up being a traitorous bastard, siding with Giluke. Points to Buuba for at least crushing him with the rubble of Jiiru's crashed spaceship.

Next week, Super Giluke once again tries this turn-a-Gozma-member-into-a-Space-Beast-Soldier thing...with a bit more success.