EPISODE 29
Ugh. Not a lot to say about this episode than "ugh." I never considered Uehara a comedic writer, so it's odd to me that he comes into Ohranger trying to yuk it up so much. Keep in mind that Ohranger is Uehara's return to Sentai after 14 years. He's probably the most respected writer in toku history. You think he'd be aiming higher than this, trying to prove himself, trying to be like "I'm back, baby, and I'm gonna save this franchise!"
I don't understand Uehara's obsession with villains starting dance classes that end up mind controlling people or whatever, but he brings it to Ohranger after it being a part of so many of his Metal Heroes. He also brings back Shoichiro Akaboshi's annoying robot-obsessed Professor Henna character from 25. Juri gets pulled into this dumbness after her nephew takes the class...and it's sad that here's an episode with an Ohranger having some personal involvement -- and it's in this stale, forgettable Goof Fest.
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| I make the EXACT same face as Juri whenever Shoichiro Akaboshi pops up in something. |
There's really just nothing to say about this episode. I did notice that the action director was Jun Murakami. It's not the first Ohranger episode he does, but you really miss Yamaoka when you have a stinker nothing episode like this, because he would at least given you some good action. It doesn't help that it looks like Toei's trying to save some money here; there's a cheapness to this episode. So it sucks when there's an episode hindered by cheapness of both the monetary kind and of the imagination -- that usually makes for weak episodes.
Famous Face of Sentai Past: Mikiko Miki, aka Jetman's Odagiri and Kou's mom from Dairanger. It's funny; I remember someone back in the day insisting that Miki played Oh Yellow, and here's an episode where Miki pops up as Oh Yellow's sister. So I guess that's some spot-on casting.
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EPISODE 30
As I rewatched this episode, I just kept thinking of how great Carranger is, how it came along and was such an all-around breath of fresh air that makes generic, pointless episodes like this one look like the empty relic it is. Episodes like this just say "We're not even trying." There's a difference in doing something as a throwback because it's the anniversary and having a writer who's set in his ways not really giving a damn, and the latter is how these past two scripts of Uehara's have felt.
The plot's a Go-onger plot played straight, as the monster of the week puts everyone to sleep and the day is saved by Dorin and her watermelon-looking Pokemon. I think at this point Uehara is just trying to see how stupid of material he can turn in before getting in trouble. (And I think that answer is one more script; after the next episode, Uehara's next -- and final -- script isn't until 43.)
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| Dorin's Pokemon, Suikachuu. |
Henna returns in this episode, also. I actually like the idea of him getting Baranoia scraps and rebuilding it into something, but...that goes nowhere. Now, if this had been a serious Machine Beast, but it was destroyed, and the inept Henna found it and rebuilt it and it became the stupidly cutesy thing that puts everything to sleep? That makes sense! That would be comedic! I'd cut the stupidity of this episode major slack! But that was already the too-cute robot's purpose, so it's just more of Baranoia's looking dumb and...meh.
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EPISODE 31
Uehara's third winner in a row. Can you imagine being an Ohranger fan in '95 and tuning in for three consecutive weeks of this quality of stuff? (Actually, looking at the airdates, there was a delay between 30 and 31. So four weeks! That's enough to break a show.)
To be honest, this episode isn't as bad as I remembered it -- Kaoru Shinoda's funny as the monster, there's the amusing scene of the Ohranger trying to flush the monster out -- but it just feels like a writer on fumes. They're reusing one of the ugly monsters from the movie, they bring back the Costanzas to yuk it up, the villain plan of the super diet water seems like an afterthought...
And is that Ryou's outfit Goro's wearing at the end? The show's trying to save money in more ways than just hauling out an old monster suit.
Oh, and have fun with this episode, Shout Factory viewers who don't get to see the movie to know the references! (You ain't missing nothing if you miss the movie; I think the connection to the awful movie is the main reason I remember this episode as being worse than it actually is.)
Familiar Voice of Sentai Past: Kaoru Shinoda, aka Okerampa and Tottopatto. Shinoda gets to be seen this time as the monster's human form, too!
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