Fiveman Episodes 41-44

 

EPISODE 41

I'd like to like this episode, but it's done in a really half-hearted way.

Focusing on Kazumi wanting a little more out of life and getting the Hoshikawas to realize how much they practically take advantage of her because of the mother's responsibility falling on her as the eldest is a great idea. Having her opening herself to the idea of love and being taken advantage of by the monster of the week in disguise is a great idea. Miyata, of course, is giving the performance her all: she's sweet and sympathetic, and she gets you to feel her hurt. But it's like someone stepped in and went "Whoa! This is Fiveman! We can't have drama or emotional depth! What are you thinking? Cut some of that stuff!"

First problem is that the disguised monster is played by a terrible actor. Not only is he a terrible actor, but his idea of "cool guy" is about 15 years outdated. Not only that, but he's a skeletal twerp wearing an ugly brown Steve Harvey-sized suit the entire time. Not only THAT, but his appearances are constantly accompanied by the playing of that goofy and obnoxious Southern All Stars song. Not only THAT, but the Zone are so bad at their jobs that they basically give up on their own subterfuge, which was working, because -- I don't know, the episode needed to wrap up, I guess. 

The episode *wants* to be sort of serious about Kazumi being deceived by this monster, but it's already a little goofy with the way the guest character acts and then it winds up becoming a girls-with-guns schlockfest. What was wrong with playing everything straight? And then, even though it's 40 episodes in, part of the Zone's plan is to have Kazumi spill family secrets, so they can learn weaknesses of their opponents. Wow, talk about waiting until the last minute. Doldora didn't think to do this before!? I thought she was supposed to be smart.

One of the things learned, unfortunately, is that Gaku is afraid of ghosts. Gaku gets the Garoa treatment here, meant to look foolish. Fuji's performance is so odd when they're faced with old monsters suits painted white (I mean ghosts). It's filmed in such a way that you expect it to be an act on Gaku's part, to fool Zone back or something. Nope! Gaku apparently IS afraid of ghosts, which doesn't sound very scientific to me. (Remember when he was the science teacher? The show doesn't. Remember when they were ALL teachers? The show doesn't.)

 

EPISODE 42

This episode starts out good enough -- it tricks you. It's Remi kicking ass in a kung-fu group she's teaching, and then Shubarie shows up and kicks everyone's ass in a (surprising for Fiveman) bloody way. It's like one of those '70s martial arts movies with the villain going to a dojo to kick everyone's ass in order to take over. And you're like "I wonder where this is going! I know Hayase and Uemura both trained in kung-fu, are we going to see a big bloody duel between the two!?! That would rock!"

Forget it, Jake. It's Fiveman. Of course the episode devolves into the Gingaman yoinking Fiveman's powers; Shubarie's plan, which is somehow supposed to please a very pissed off Meadow, is supposed to be the Hoshikawas being killed by the Fiveman. But the episode is more about smearing the Fiveman's name? Eh? It's like Soda forgot the point in the middle of writing the script. One of Remi's young students has unwavering faith in Five Yellow, her idol, and it turns the fight around! This scenario could have worked if the kid actor wasn't so abrasively loud. You're like "Why couldn't Shubarie have kicked her ass while he was at it and shut her up?"

 

EPISODE 43

This episode fucking sucks. It's something out of a lazier, more low rent show like Byclosser. I think you're supposed to dismiss it as a dumb Dongoros plan, but the show's used that excuse too many times at this point. So it's not getting let off this time. Even as the "goofy one before the endgame begins" it's just horrid.

The plan is to show couch potatoes non-stop footage of Zone from Fiveman reruns to recruit them as Zoneheads. The dummies again get in the way of their own plan -- if they had just aired the stuff, the couch potatoes would have just sat there and watched it. By turning TVs into cheap costumes of guys in cheap dresses with a TV on their head talking in a sexy anime voice, they creep out the couch potatoes and ruin their own plan.

And if things weren't bad enough, it's a Fumiya episode. So you got him yelling all of his lines through a wince, along with a kid screeching for help, along with the anime-voice TV not shutting up as it chases him. And all for the important message of putting down the remote and getting outside to play some baseball. (Fiveman telling you to stop watching Fiveman...maybe that IS a good message. Took 40 episodes too long to deliver it, though.)

EPISODE 44

Fiveman begins its endgame. I remember these final episodes being kinda boring and I didn't remember this episode at all...

The school the Hoshikawas taught at in the first episode has been rebuilt. They're on their way to the re-opening celebration, but get intercepted by Garoa, who's made his own mecha. That's right, while working as the custodian, he found funky areas of the Vulgyre ship and mysterious energies that he put into a Gorurin to absorb vehicles and mechanical items to create himself a mecha. He does all right for himself, destroying the Super Five Robo, trying to destroy the Magma Base, and then turning his attention to the school when he intercepts an email for the Sibling Teachers.

And I think Garoa should have been killed off in this episode. The point of humiliating a character like him is in order to have him crawl out of the pit and redeem himself; his secretly preparing a mecha and all of the damage it causes does that. When he gets too cocky and tries to attack the school, that should have ended with the Fiveman taking him down for good. (I like their sneak attack of luring him close and having Arthur pop in so they can blow up the mecha's cockpit with Earth Cannon.) We have four episodes left and there's still Billion, Doldora, Zaza, Dongoros, Shubarie, Meadow and the Vulgyre (spoiler alert) to deal with -- he could have easily been written out at this point. His little rivalry with Shubarie isn't important and goes nowhere. They've totally given up on his rivalry with Gaku. Just kill him off! Have him save some face! But the show's not done humiliating him yet...they want the audience AND Garoa to suffer for some reason.