Changeman Episodes 17-20

 

5/25, Episode 17 -- "The Mysterious Ghostship in Nagasaki"

Enter the Amazo Queen. The show won't be the same. She brings new threats and in-fighting amongst the Gozma and spices things up in a big way. We heard about her way back in episode 6 and she lives up to the hype, causing trouble in her very first scene. She gives Hayate such a bad beating he uses up his entire Earth Defense Force first aid kit!

She begins still a Gozma renegade, but with her own Space Beast Soldier and gang of Hidora soldiers. She sets a trap for the Changeman all the way in Nagasaki, which they fall into. She bests Buuba and Shiima right off the bat. You know she's going to be an interesting character.

Producer Takeyuki Suzuki has said he credits Ahames for making Changeman what it is. He credits the character for being juicy, but also credits actress Fukumi Kuroda for what she did with the role. Suzuki, after seeing Kuroda's performances in plays and dramas, really pursued her for the part. She's not quite the typical performer for tokusatsu -- she didn't have a past in tokusatsu and wasn't an idol -- and someone like her could have easily turned it down, but she said she was intrigued by the character and liked the Yutaka Izubuchi sketches of Ahames that Suzuki showed her. Kuroda's another case of just the right people being chosen for this show. Suzuki had the idea of having a tough, serious female villain lead, and felt Kuroda had a great aura and really gave off the impression of a queen. His excitement about the character and her performer is one of the reasons he made her introduction a two-part episode set in Nagasaki -- a location in which action director Junji Yamaoka takes full advantage of with some nicely choreographed battle scenes.

On another note, I think it's funny that the four Changeman fly commercial to Nagasaki when Hayate doesn't check in. You'd think they'd have gone in Shuttlebase or their mecha to cut down on the time, but...gotta plug TDA!

Tsurugi Bad-Assery Update: When Ahames binds him with chains, he breaks free with the power of rage and bad-assery. Eat that, Superman!

 

6/1, Episode 18 -- "A Challenge From Ahames!"

Ahames' all around pwning of Changeman and even Gozma continues. Even Buuba's kind of peeing his pants when he's caught by her. I've always wondered just what she did when she rebelled against Bazuu, because he is PISSED at her. I'm thinking Giluke did a lot of groveling and Ahames just ain't going to stoop that low.

Bazuu will forgive her on the condition she defeats Changeman, and that's where her focus lies for a large number of episodes, not just this one. Even later on, she's coming up with some neat ways to get rid of them, but that's getting ahead of myself.

The majority of this episode is mainly action oriented, Yamaoka again showcasing the special locations they're shooting at. I like the mini-missions the Changeman are given this episode; Tsurugi and Hayate sneaking around to find Ahames' spaceship in order to destroy the warp energy it's giving off to power the ghostship, and Yuuma and Mai racing in a speedboat, tracking Ahames' ghostship. The fight with the Hidoras between Yuuma and Mai on the speedboat is one of my favorites and a highlight of the episode, a bit of dangerous looking action that has a great Yuuma gag. (When Yuuma headbutts a Hidora, who falls from the boat -- like I said, dangerous looking action -- and then holds his noggin in pain.)

 

 6/8, Episode 19 -- "Bet on Sayaka!" airs

The episode that launched a thousand shippers. (Funny how this one episode pretty much is the only thing the Tsurugi/Sayaka fans have to support their claim. More on that in a second...)

Ahames continuing kicking ass by enlisting a hitman Space Beast Soldier to take care of the Changeman. Not just any hitman, but a dude who can manipulate Earth's gravity and fly, which leaves the Changeman needing a new invention. Unfortunately, Sayaka's Anti-Gravity Belts aren't up to the task at first and nearly do a better job of killing the Changeman than the Gozma have thus far in the series. While everyone else on the team insults and abandons her, Tsurugi sticks by her, pushing himself to the brink as she performs test flight after test flight until finally succeeding and killing the number one space killer. I think Dragon and Jiigu's aerial battle is pretty cool; the two suit actors aren't as limited by the wirework as you'd think.

One bit I like about this episode is its picking up from Ahames' first two. She's on the receiving end of Bazuu's wrath for the Nagasaki failure, but she holds her own. But what I like the most is the way Giluke sticks up for her. They were accomplices in betraying Bazuu, and Ahames could very well jeopardize Giluke's standing with Gozma, but he puts himself on the line for her. I've always liked how actor Shouhei Yamamoto tries to make Giluke honorable and show care for his comrades. (It's something I've seen him do in even a couple of yakuza roles.) Unfortunately for Giluke, backing and trusting Ahames comes back to bite him.

Sayaka's science team is filled with Changeman suit actors, by the way. The bespectacled one is Tsutomu "Pegasus" Kitagawa, while you can also spot Masato "Mermaid" Akada and Kouji "Griffin" Matoba assisting her. Since Kitagawa's character is "Officer Kitagawa" (or "Kitagawa-kun," as Sayaka calls him), this has led some Japanese fans to just refer to the other JAC cameos as "Officer Akada" and "Officer Matoba," which I find funny.)

Tsurugi bad-ass moment of the week: The way he keeps going at it during Sayaka's test runs of the belt. I really like the bit where the narrator mentions that Tsurugi is thankful for the Change Suit hiding from Sayaka the amount of pain he's in.

As for the Tsurugi/Sayaka romance debate, this episode is main piece of evidence. Not only their awkward moment in the episode's final scene -- in which the two get teased by the others -- but fans have long talked about that little night stroll the two took at the start of the episode. Some think they were just patrolling, others think it was their personal time. (Well, when the Changeman usually patrol, they're usually on their own...in vehicles.) But the Changeman Perfect Manual -- the book released in 1986 covering all things Changeman, and was for the adult fans -- outright refers to that scene as being a date.

 

 6/15, Episode 20 -- "Great Counterattack! Giluke"

A mixed episode for me. While it's a big, big deal that Giluke makes his first appearance on the battlefield, I've always questioned why it had to happen in a pretty average Yuuma-centered episode. (The preview for the episode is a mean trick, even, focusing exclusively on the Giluke-related part with NO mention of the whole Yuuma helping kids find their teacher dilemma.)

I won't say it's a bad episode, because it's not, really, but it definitely feels like the result of some last minute tinkering. Like this Yuuma/teacher/piranha plot was going to be its own episode and Giluke's big debut was going to be its own thing, but for convenience -- and because the Yuuma side of it couldn't sustain a whole episode -- it was mashed together. Everything on the Giluke side is good and cool and works; everything on Yuuma and the kids' and teacher's side seems a bit like an afterthought. (Even IF the teacher is played by Gavan's Kyoko Nashiro, who I like, but is kind of wasted here.) We learn that Bazuu's given both of his traitors a time limit -- he'll accept only one of them, the first one to be successful. So, for as much as Giluke wants to work alongside Ahames again, she's more ambitious, and this starts to put a wedge between them.

Poor Yuuma, though. Just like episode 11, he's in the wrong place at the wrong time, stumbling across Gozma's cave hideout only to find Giluke in his way. Yuuma wasn't ready to take on Buuba in 11, so he sure as hell ain't ready to take on Giluke! You know who's going down in that first fight.

Oh, and THE CAR appears again.