Changeman Episodes 30-33

 

8/24, Episode 30 -- "Run! Pegasus!"

This is a really good and sad episode that I can't stand to see people dismiss or make fun of. Those people are either heartless bastards or not animal lovers. I'm an animal person, and this episode is one of the few tokusatsu episodes I can think of that could almost make me cry. Yuuma saves the horse Pegasus from being put down, and the episode ends with Pegasus giving his life to save the day. I'm sure some could spin this as being that Pegasus was spared a rather indecent death and gained a nobler one, but...that doesn't make it any less sad. People like to laugh at this episode, mock the horse grabbing the bomb, but I guess they didn't pay attention and realize that Yuuma's desperation led the Earth Force into invigorating Pegasus (the horse) into helping. (My brother even laughs at this episode, and he's a fan of Magiranger, for crying out loud.)

Shiro Izumi gives a really good performance in this episode, as he bonds with the horse and then is near tears, panic and then rage at Pegasus' fate. Without his performance here and the use of a lot of composer Tatsumi Yano's strongest background pieces, I don't think the episode would work as well as it does, it just all comes together for great dramatic effect. There's something just extra sad about the pendant Yuuma had given Pegasus surviving the explosion.

The Space Beast Soldier this week, Derikaru, actually brings a lot of destruction. He's basically sending EMPs throughout Japan and screwing with any machinery and technology which includes the Change Suits. For as much as people like to poke fun at Sentai teams for their spandex, it's important to remember the way these suits ARE supposed to be made of a complex, kinda futuristic technology and scientific whatnot and stuff. We've seen time and again that Sentai suits are supposed to be metallic-like. Anyway, wonky Changeman powers means there's a lot of awesome, awesome out of suit action in this episode, but there's already so many awesome out of suit fights in this show, you kind of take it for granted. There's one out of suit fight early on (before the Changeman team are even affected by Derikaru's attack) that's really cool, but unfortunately ruined by the song "Wakasa de Changeman" playing. (That's the one weak song on anotherwise excellent soundtrack, in my opinion.)

 

8/31, Episode 31 -- "Reveal It! Bazuu's Secret"

This episode's a bit of a weird one. It's our first piece of evidence that something is up with Bazuu, that he's hiding a secret identity, but the way they chose to play it out as being revealed by a message recorded long ago by a prophetic Japanese Space Moses who chooses to place this message within a doll and just randomly launch it out into space and this doll is currently in the clutches of a little girl and...what the huh?

The best part of the episode -- other than some cool action scenes, of course -- is the chase for the doll. Sayaka's pretty much after it because it means so much to the girl whose family it's been part of for generations. (Sayaka's actually in disagreement with the rest of the Changeman team, who want it to find out Bazuu's secret and any weakpoints that can be found in that knowledge.) Giluke, the Space Beast Soldier and the adjutants want to find the doll and simply protect Bazuu's secret. Ahames is against everyone else, wanting to find out Bazuu's secret to use to her own advantage. So, all that stuff's cool, in my opinion, but the episode focuses just a little too much on the girl's love for the doll instead of the chase for it or the power plays in motion. And it's one creepy-ass doll, so you wonder why this girl even likes the damn thing.

Of course, the secret doesn't get revealed. The recording begins, but the Space Beast Soldier destroys it while everyone else was all captivated and paying attention to the beginning of the message. Because it's only episode 31, and because this episode wasn't written by main writer Soda, of course we're not going to find out Bazuu's secret. But the thought is sent out there for every character and the viewers, as Japanese Space Moses sent out the doll: there's more to Bazuu than we know. You can question the wisdom of sending such an urgent message by such a slow, confusing method, but I guess maybe it's supposed to be like a space-aged message in a bottle. Perhaps you can tie that into Changeman's war theme, since there are stories of soldiers who would send information regarding their enemies via bottle.

By the way, the Space Beast Soldier for this episode, Zorubasu, is the only Space Beast Soldier to not be designed by Yutaka Izubuchi. (Zorubasu is designed by Masahiro Kanda.)

9/7, Episode 32 -- "Nana! A Dangerous Reunion"

This is the first part of a two-parter, which eventually snowballs into a three-parter, so it's really the beginning of a five-parter. I don't think a Sentai show prior to Changeman risked doing that in anything other than maybe the episodes leading into the finale. But it's the beginning of an important shift in the show, which will shape the remainder of the series. There's a lot going down in the episode, it's packed, but it goes at a great pace.

Poor Nana is back, happily living with a family that was kind enough to take her in, before Gozma comes back to ruin her life. In one of those weird, Star Trek-y "aliens and their weird biology" bits of info, the Gozma are aware of the fact that Nana, typical to the girls her age on her homeworld, is about to undergo a change in which she'll emit a powerful force called the Rigeru Aura. Whoever finds themself in the path of this aura will be bestowed powers, so Giluke is eager to be that person... 

His problem? Ahames, who's tenacious and has just been waiting for a chance like this. She comes out guns blazing, revealing her new ride, the two-headed dragon Jangeran, and three nasty Space Beast Soldiers she's been hanging on to. And she doesn't hold back, she really takes it outside and shows them what it's like. One Jangeran head breathes fire, the other ice (take that, Targaryens!), which she unleashes on everyone, all while beaning everyone with falling boulders. This is when she shows her true colors, and Giluke seems genuinely dismayed by the betrayal. No monster grows giant in this episode, no -- the Changeman summon Shuttlebase and then Change Robo just to fight Ahames atop of Jangeran, that's what a menace she's being...

Which brings me to her three Space Beast Soldiers, who are usually just referred to as "Ahames' Three Warriors." (I'm assuming there's a pun in their name -- they're referred to as the "SanJuuShi/三獣士," as in "Three Beast Warriors," whic is meant to rhyme with "Sanjuushi/三銃士," the Japanese title for The Three Musketeers.) They're meant to be cool, dangerous, nearly invincible, and they ARE a huge pain the ass for our heroes, but they always just seemed a tad too cutesy in design and voice-actor portrayal for me. You gotta get used to 'em, though, because they'll be hanging around for a while. (Sad thing is, Izubuchi's sketches for the three of them are pretty awesome. The female, Jera, who's the goofiest looking suit of the bunch, actually looks creepy and sort of Noh-like in the drawing.)

One of my favorite bits of this episode, though, is what a hilariously cruel insult comic Bazuu is being towards Giluke. When Giluke's laying out his plan for obtaining the Rigeru powers, Bazuu just keeps slamming him. "Yeah, you need 'em. That's the only hope you have for victory, Giluke, you loser. Try not to mess this up, even though you probably will."

This episode also marks the debut of Nana's pet, Kuuku, who arrives to protect her and lead Tsurugi to her. Kukku ends up being more than a cute little Pokemon pal, though...

The episode ends with Nana hiding in a cave from her pursuers, her index finger beginning to glow. (An homage to E.T.?) Is this the beginning of the Rigeru Aura phase? Will it be Giluke or Ahames who succeeds? Tune in next week, same Change time, same Change channel!

 

9/14, Episode 33 -- "The End of Giluke?!"

Picking right up where the previous episode left us, with everyone -- Changeman, Gozma, Ahames, the Tamura family -- in search of Nana. The Gozma sneakily follow Kuuku, and the Tamura family manages to briefly cross paths with them. I like that, when Gozma injure Kuuku, the Tamura mother grabs Kuuku to guard the little creature. We don't exactly get to spend a lot of time with the Tamuras, but they're obviously just an ordinary, working class family who have a lot of love for the strange girl they took in, and have absolutely no problem hearing that she's not of Earth. No melodramatic freak-outs from the parents or their boys -- they just want her back and safe. They're so surprisingly OK with it all that I still kind of don't understand why Nana doesn't approach them once she's aged...I think they would have understood and let her still live with them.

Aged as a result of emitting the Rigeru Aura. Who wins? Giluke has her cornered and is THIS close, until Ahames comes along and attacks him with Jangeran. Here's something that's always bothered me -- in the last episode, Ahames arrives, showing off Jangeran and her Three Officers, while also switching into her new silver outfit. OK, why did the show make that decision? Shouldn't they have saved the new design for once she received the Aura's superpowers? Oh, well. Ahames bathes in the Aura and flies away, unconscious, on the back of Jangeran, which is cool, despite the shaky special effect.

Seeing his last chance at survival soaring away, having been stabbed in the back, Giluke goes for broke and decides to take on the Changeman. Poor guy thinks Bazuu will forgive him if he kills the Changeman right then and there. He gives 'em a fight -- nice to see the show remembering Mermaid and Phoenix's Double Aurora Shooting move -- and even withstands a blast of the Power Bazooka. As he begins to stagger, Bazuu beams him from Earth and throws him into the circling limbo that is "the graveyard of space." R.I.P. Giluke. You were a loyal officer, and Bazuu was unnecessarily harsh to you, but Ahames is playing the game of thrones, and in the next episode gets promoted to Giluke's title of General.