Bird Songs

 

I've gone over this through the course of my Jetman episode breakdowns, but it's something I've wanted to gather in one post. I see a lot of complaints -- A LOT -- about Jetman's love triangle. I've read it called not only one of the worst romances in Sentai, not only one of the worst romances in toku, but somehow one of the worst romances in ANY media. (Watch more stuff, people!) It's also INFURIATING when someone will say "Yeah, the forced drama in Jetman was cheesy, and that's why I like it." If you're a "fan" like this, just know that I think YOU'RE cheesy.

Look, I know Jetman's become popular to dump on. Hey, I can understand wanting to take things down a peg. But people have lost their minds in their Jetman hatred. The show was a smash and is a fan favorite for a reason, and maybe it's hard for the younger generation of viewers to keep in mind how fresh and different its approach was at the time.

We had never seen toku heroes who could have such self-centered motivations. And we never saw heroes who had a real animosity towards one another, this being most represented by the love triangle of Ryu, Kaori and Gai. The love triangle was main writer Toshiki Inoue's primary focus of the show, and he really had it worked out. If you look at the episodes he wrote, it's a really solid, layered, well-constructed arc. It builds onto itself, it has a logical progression and pace, there are character payoffs, it's consistent and probably the most serialized a Sentai storyline has been. (Everybody complains about one-off "fillers," yet they also hate this super-serialized storyline. Go figure.) Take away any of the episodes Inoue wrote, and you're missing a lot. The triangle also ends by about episode 30, so that's 21 drama-free episodes for you complainers!

I think a lot of people project what they feel are the "right" views of something onto the show. They're judging a 20+ year old work from another country with modern, Western viewpoints. So they warp or misread what the Gai character is all about. People act like he's just some sort of sleaze who's humping the leg of any female character who walks by on screen, who is constantly tormenting a supposedly oh-so-timid and frightened Kaori. That's not even close to what the show is presenting.

Gai is supposed to be a hoodlum, yes. He's a womanizer. He's a passionate guy, he's upfront about what he thinks, what he wants -- there's no bullshitting with him. For what a rough thug he's supposed to be, he's also supposed to be quite charming. He knows what he wants and will do whatever he can to get it, but he does have principles and a strong moral code. He's a cynical guy, but a guy who can still find things to enjoy in life, whether it's women or music or even just booze. He has a dark outlook on life, but still wants to enjoy life on his terms.

Gai is NOT some sociopath, psychotic, homicidal, depraved, soulless piece of shit criminal. I'm so tired of people patting themselves on the back for thinking they're so cool or in or PC for "calling out" Gai's behavior as being so awful and reprehensible and what a terribly sexist stalker he is. "OMG, he doesn't get the hint that Kaori's not interested, but he keeps after her, he's practically a rapist!" Well, you can say that about Kaori in regards to Ryu, too. And you'd be wrong in both cases.

Gai is no different than Captain Kirk or James Bond or Batman or Wolverine or Tony Stark or Tyrion Lannister or Don Draper or Barney Stinson or...I could keep going. Why do those characters get such worship, but Gai's the one you have a problem with? And I know some of you will say "OMG, he's a superhero from an LOL KIDSBOP, he can't be compared to dramatic characters from Game of Thrones or Mad Men or some sitcom," but...hey, that's why it was a different approach for a toku at the time! That's why Gai was so refreshing and why people liked him. We didn't see a character like that before Jetman, and try as they might, we haven't seen one since. There's more to Gai than being the cool ladies' man, there's a lot of subtleties to the character that's in the writing, but also a lot of it due to actor Toshihide Wakamatsu. In the hands of a lesser performer, Gai COULD be obnoxious, and that could have influenced the way he was written, but Wakamatsu's, thankfully, a talented performer.

They obviously want Gai to be smooth -- and yet dangerous -- like James Bond, but Inoue loving his grey characters, wanted to put Gai on the other side of the law. It works to Jetman's premise that, in dealing with four people who aren't meant to be the heroes, who are chosen at random, that the writers made one of them be a rebellious thug who plays by his own rules. He's a lone wolf, so I can't exactly imagine him joining the yakuza or anything. And since he does have morals and a line he won't cross, I don't even think he can really be called an "antihero." (Even though I've referred to him as such in the past.) He's a reluctant hero. Gai's also just rock 'n roll -- live fast, have fun, and know that such a lifestyle's gonna quickly catch up.

All that said, onto the triangle. While there's obviously a component to Gai who enjoys the pursuing of women, I never felt like it was completely meaningless to him. I think he's genuinely interested in the women he goes after, I don't think he just rushes towards every woman he sees. And while I think that maybe his initial interest in Kaori was a way to prove that he could attract any woman he wanted, even someone so far from his social stratosphere, I think that was only briefly -- I think he quickly and genuinely fell for Kaori, in a way that she wasn't looking for. That doesn't mean the old "she wasn't interested, Gai's a creep for not backing off!" I meant that Gai really wanted to protect and coddle her, and that's not what she wanted or what she sought by being a Jetman. And that's what draws her to Ryu, is that he DOESN'T baby her. He was really harsh with her when she was suffering psychosomatic symptoms, he treated her as an actual person, an equal, and not some porcelain figure protected by her wealth and status, not someone to be treated special because of her beauty.

Gai's care for Kaori is genuine, and one of the first indicators that there's more to him than meets the eye. He seriously puts his ass in the line of danger for Kaori again and again, and some heartless punk isn't going to bother doing that after a certain point in the hopes that this unbreakable woman will sleep with him. Gai had no shortage of women for that. He sees something special in Kaori, and just can't understand what she sees in Ryu. Ryu and Gai are just two personality types that clash. From Gai's perspective, Ryu is just a big dumb Boy Scout who probably doesn't even believe half of the bullshit speeches he makes. He thinks Ryu's a dork -- the guy walks into a small, dark jazz bar and orders milk, for cryin' out loud! He thinks Ryu's a big bore who doesn't even notice Kaori or would even let himself be with her if he did. He doesn't think Ryu cares about Kaori, especially not the way he does, and just finds it infuriating the way Kaori shuts him out as she pines for Ryu.

Little does Gai know the pain that Ryu is in. But Ryu is a professional and, sticking to his word, wants to keep his private life private, as he feels a soldier and hero should. The four others are all in his care, and it's his job to whip them into shape and keep the team going. Kaori's just a fellow soldier, he doesn't see her the way she sees him. And he won't, because he just lost the love of his life in Vyram's invasion. The love who, by the way, would be in Kaori's position on the team, so that has to be a torturous reminder to him. So, he's really cut himself off in that way of thinking and feeling and just keeping his mind on the job. So, it's an unignorable big splash of cold water in his face when Kaori makes such a big deal about his birthday in episode 13. He realizes the way Kaori feels, and tries to be quick and to the point about it -- he appreciates her gestures, but it's inappropriate and no, thanks. It's the straightfoward, honest and logical reply from a guy like Ryu. There, he let her know...

And here's more proof that Gai cares about Kaori as a person and not a conquest -- he gets mad at Ryu on her behalf about his reaction! If Gai was really such a one-track thinker, he could and WOULD have taken easy advantage of that situation. He does catch up to a crying Kaori and try to tell her to forget Ryu and pay attention to him, the one who ACTUALLY notices her, and forces a kiss on her, and she slaps him. This has become a "controversial" scene in the English-speaking fandom, that he forces a kiss on her, but...the way the scene plays, I think it's just supposed to be emotions running wild. I think he's trying to show her how assertive he is compared to the seemingly oblivious and uncaring Ryu. She slaps him and that's that. He doesn't keep trying or anything. Geez.

And this is the episode that begins with Gai accusing Ryu of being some unfeeling robot who's never loved, and that visibly affects Ryu and brings all of the stuff with Rie to the surface, so he's certainly within rights to just firmly let Kaori know to keep it professional. Again, the guy's in pain and mourning. (He didn't even really have time to mourn -- Odagiri punches him and tells him to get over it, ASAP.) Gai and viewers have it wrong that he's a dummy with blinders on for the sake of perpetuating drama.

When the dust settles from this situation, a frustrated Gai just needs to know -- does Kaori see anything in him or not. So he pulls her away from the others while shopping, confronting her in an elevator, in another scene that the English-speaking fandom overreacts about. Kaori's obviously not threatened by him in this situation, just kinda startled and thinks it's awkward. By this point, we've seen Gai take beatings from Grey as Grey pursued him and wheelchair-bound Kaori, we've seen Gai plead with Maria to return the captured Kaori, Gai went and fought Camera Jigen on his own to get Kaori back. He's made it clear how he feels about Kaori, Ryu's made it just as clear. Kaori's never said squat about Gai, so he just wants to hear her say something, anything, even if it's that she hates him. He feels like he's just stuck in limbo.

And he still doesn't even really get what he's after, because Kaori soon rushes off and the team encounters Juza; the episode ends with him taking a hit for Kaori, the one that causes painful crystals to burst through his skin, which will end up killing him! Here he technically gives his life for Kaori. And here's where some of Gai's armor chips away, because he's initially distant with Kaori, not wanting her pity, but he eventually breaks down and just says he's scared and you know, a guy like Gai, he doesn't want anyone to see him in a state like he's in -- in pain and frightened.

And I think -- other than the fact that a string of episodes written by the sub-writers follows this arc -- once Gai's saved and they deal with Juuza, Gai probably keeps quiet and keeps his distance for a while. His pining for Kaori goes on the back burner as he lets things try to get back to normal, but it's something that's going to rear its head in. It's always in the background, which leads Ryu to confront Gai...

Ryu's a character who's in pain. The biggest love of his love was taken from him, and he wasn't allowed to mourn her. He had to keep pressing forward and slap on a professional face for the sake of this team of amateurs he had to lead into battle. He's not a superman, he has his own emotions and feelings, but he gets by the best he can, and he can't let go of Rie. For the sake of the team's efficiency, he decides its best that everyone puts their cards on the table -- for Ryu, he's not interested in Kaori. He knows Gai is, and he urges him to pursue that if he's serious and cares about her. Ryu's being completely honest and straightforward, but this all rubs Gai the wrong way. He doesn't think Ryu's being caring enough of Kaori, he thinks Ryu's just playacting at being the nice, stand-up leader he claims to be. Gai even gets a dig in that he thinks Ryu's never loved anyone before, which hurts him, since Rie's often on his mind.

Ryu doesn't get through to Gai, so he tries Kaori. Maybe his method is extreme, but I think he felt the need to convey his intent by whatever means he could. Words weren't getting through to these two. And not only does Ryu have to keep the professional front up, but I feel like he's kind of a private person on top of it. Like, it's not right or professional for the Jetman members to know any business of his personal life, as the one pro there, as their leader. He's a military soldier, he can't afford to show any cracks. Some viewers criticize him for seeming hypocritical in that he lectures others on separating their professional and personal lives, when his private life is very tied up into his professional one, but I feel like the point is that Ryu IS flawed, he doesn't have all of the answers. But that's what's expected of him, so he tries, and tries his best.

At the start of the show, Ryu's shown to be a bit of a hotshot and risk taker; he endangers himself in order to put a stop to that rampaging android. He's in a relationship with a co-worker, which isn't exactly professional, and he knows it, because he brings up his concern to Odagiri if the two becoming Jetman will mean they'll have to break up. While Ryu IS a good and talented soldier, there's a lot he buries for the sake of putting up that professional front and...well, soldiering on. He might be the only qualified one on the team, but he's having to make adjustments, as well. Just because he was a Sky Force officer and chosen to be Red Hawk didn't mean they still weren't going to train and grow more into their roles -- he's thrown into things as quickly as Gai and the others.

So, as drastic as Ryu taking Kaori to Rie's grave is, I think it's a kind of big move for someone who wants to keep his personal life to himself to open up like that in such a big way. And since Kaori wasn't listening to him, it's the big bucket of cold water required to get her to listen. He wasn't trying to be malicious, he just thought that would get through. "You think I'm a coldhearted guy, that I'm ignoring you? No. If you want to know, here's where the body of my true love should lie, she only just died a few months ago, so...let me be. Let me grieve."

Kaori's right to be upset by that display, as she storms off home by foot and ignores Ryu, but...I also think she should have been able to sense Ryu's mood on the drive to the cemetery! She was so wrapped up in thinking it was a date and that he was taking her to meet his parents, that she should have paid more attention to Ryu's demeanor and felt the mood. Ryu's move was the best option! She really wouldn't have listened otherwise.

(And for everyone saying what a stalking, creepy harasser Gai supposedly is, they seem to forget the sweet scene where he's trying to console Kaori later that evening. She's still upset and talking about Ryu, but Gai's there for her. And when she admits that maybe she might have been better off falling for Gai, before leaving, he just smiles and says he'll win her over yet. There's nothing nasty or creepy or manipulative or anything about him here. He's genuine. He offers her words of encouragement and lets her go on her way. There's growth from the pushy guy/Gai who would have made some upsetting remark or gotten frustrated with her.)

And guess what? You might think Ryu's a jerk for the way he went about breaking the news of his heartbreak, but it still doesn't quite get through to Kaori! She's more upset than she was before, but she decides to make her next play getting Ryu to get over Rie. And while I think that's pretty cold and disrespectful to Ryu and what he felt like he had with Rie, it's at least an honest and believable reaction, and interesting in the way that the show doesn't always want to paint the heroes in the best light. (It's a bold choice. I noted in my series coverage that it's a Kaori moment I don't like, but I do still consider myself a fan of the character.) She's upset and not exactly happy with herself for going about it this way, but she wants to make it known that she's not a quitter and she wasn't broken by Ryu's revelation. Ryu just kind of throws his hands in the air at that point, wanting to move on. He ends up further agitating Gai by regifting Kaori's concert ticket to him, but honestly hopes it's the thing that can get the two to spend some time together and maybe have something spark.

I think the motivations here are solid. Ryu just wants to move on from this hindrance, Gai's frustrated and feels like Ryu's just careless and patronizing to both him and Kaori. There's been so many times in this show where feelings bubble up, but are cut off or held back, that it finally explodes and becomes an ugly fight between Ryu, Gai and even Raita. And before any of it can even be resolved -- and maybe that's for the best, because the fight was brutal and with no end in sight -- the Vyram attacks. And from then, they get pulled into the intense battle with Semimaru, and I feel like their seeing the Dimensians all get killed is what gets them to once again dial back their own resentments or unhappiness with one another. It shakes them out of their selfishness for a time. The Dimensians were a happy, functional team, showing a better Jetman in that Rei and Kanna were a happy couple and that even goofy young Dan had their love and respect. They had things worked out, but look what happened to them -- what chance do the Jetman have against the Vyram when they're at each other's throats all of the time? So, I think that causes things to blow over for a while...

The next events mark a big, big turn in The Triangle, and effect the rest of the series...

It all starts when Gai helps Kaori pull an all-nighter as she [TECHS THE TECH] on her mechas. Genuinely appreciative, she tries to make it up to Gai by treating him to a relaxing lunch in a beautiful location. (By a fountain at the Kawaguchi Green Center -- a lovely looking place that I've always enjoyed seeing in Super Sentai, even when I was a kid.) Kaori uses the opportunity to try to crack through some of Gai's armor, recognizing that he's a better person than he lets on, than he'd like people to perceive him. But this is cut short by an attack from Radeige, before the Majin Muu arrives and kidnaps Kaori -- he senses she's the true warrior he seeks in order to resurrect his comrades via blood sacrifice.

A panicked and upset Gai tracks down the Majin's cave; Kaori's been placed in a chamber, ready to be sacrificed. Gai offers his own blood instead, taking a straight razor and slashing his hand with it. The Majin's comrades pick up the scent of his blood and begin to drain Gai. He falls to his knees, shaking, he's turning pale...Kaori witnesses this through tears. It doesn't look good for him, this could very well be the time he dies. And it makes Kaori think of all of the other times he endangered himself for her sake. Emotions are running high, and she tells Gai that she's his. He gives her a smile, but is still incredibly weak.

Some critics think Kaori is just telling Gai what he wants to hear here, to encourage him. But I think with what Kaori was preparing to say at their lunch, I think she WAS going to bring up the idea of maybe trying to start something with him. But, of course, it didn't go the way she planned it would -- I always imagined she was going to try to feel him out and confirm he was genuine in his love for her -- and it all ended up happening in a really fraught situation...

But it happens. From here, Gai and Kaori -- Gaori -- are a couple. The triangle is over, people, and the relationship between Gai, Kaori and Ryu takes a new, interesting, surprising direction from here on.

Gai and Kaori, now an item, are just trying to enjoy themselves. For Gai, he bared his feelings for her. He placed himself in danger. This isn't early Gai, the thug, the James Bond type who could easily charm a woman he wants by just words or attention; he was intrigued by Kaori. He began to care and love her. His love for her was genuine. Maybe, unlike his past flings, it was the first meaningful relationship for him. So Gai just wants to make the most of it, even if it means they run late for Jetman briefings and business. After one too many lectures by Odagiri and Ryu, Gai storms off, dragging Kaori with him. In an angry outburst, he hands his Cross Changer over to a worried Raita. (Note that Kaori keeps hers.) Gai and Kaori ride off, cutting ties with Jetman, leaving Jetman to be a Sunvulcan/Liveman style of the classic Red, Blue and Yellow line-up.

And something funny happens on the way to Gai and Kaori's leave of absence. The Majin are different opponents for the Jetman -- and the Vyram! Not being prepared to face such adversaries, an attack causes Maria to revert to Rie. Ryu's not prepared for this, it really throws him. But there she is. And while Ryu noticed the resemblance early on, he dismissed that Rie could be the coldhearted Maria. But I also think that he's the kind of guy who just sees things logically -- what are the odds that Rie survived and became this Maria foe? It doesn't make sense, so he doesn't think about it. (Or maybe even buries the possibility because it's just too out there and too much to contemplate.) But there's the solid proof and confirmation -- Maria is Rie, and Rie is alive. Any of Ryu's most absolutely far-fetched hopes and dreams are actually real. The only woman he's ever loved is alive! Here's the chance to find happiness again, to get back to a sense of normalcy. But before he has time to deal with her, he puts aside his own needs and is off to fight as a Jetman. And before he can get back to her, Radeige finds her and transforms her back to Maria...

Having had that chance to reconnect with Rie and missed it, having that hope grabbed away as she's turned back to Maria, it completely breaks Ryu. He withdraws into himself, he falls into a deep, deep depression. He isolates himself, he practically goes catatonic. I think of two things here. I think of the Joy Division lyrics "Just for one moment/I thought I'd found my way/Destiny unfolded/I watched it slip away." (That whole song, "Twenty Four Hours" probably fits Ryu's mindframe well in this section of the show.) The other thing I think of -- to lower the bar from Joy Division -- is Spider-man 2, when a downtrodden Peter, having been so selfless and sacrificed so much as a hero, sees his personal life in shambles and is just like "Is this it? Am I not supposed to be happy? Am I not supposed to have what I want and need?" I think some of Gai's way of thinking creeps into Ryu's head.

A big point of Ryu/Red Hawk versus Gai/Black Condor comes down to Inoue's examining the motivations, beliefs and philosophies of a hero. It's a clash of personalities. Ryu is the traditional hero -- selfless. Bound by honor, duty. He cares about others and puts their safety and happiness above his own. As a soldier, he's most likely been trained to see beyond himself and focus on what needs done, and the tools required to get it done. This is what bugs him about the drama Gai stirs up, and why the set-up of the show is interesting in that the Red is the one guy who's supposed to be there, but the other four are just average folks who really need guidance and who don't have the training, so they're not going by the book and, initially, aren't even that good on the field. Ryu has his hands full, and he does a pretty damn good job of being the driving force of the team and look how well he whips everyone into shape! They become such good heroes, and a lot of it is because they look to Ryu. He has the heart and compassion and belief in others that most classic superheroes have and require, even if he himself is traumatized. That's the thing -- he's that classic superhero, and he's every bit the brave, good, decent guy the show says he is, but he's not invulnerable or perfect. He has his own faults, that's what Inoue does and likes to write, that's what makes characters like Ryu interesting.

And then you have Gai. You can't be more opposite. It's the difference between Cyclops and Wolverine, isn't it? One's the one who gets dismissed as being a square, order-following soldier, the other's the rule-breaking, pissed off, booze-guzzling troublemaker. Gai looks out for number one. He's selfish, but he's not uncaring. He has a desire to help people, he'll fight when he sees something he knows is wrong. He thinks there's more to being a hero than just the standard speechifying of "protecting justice!" Gai presents this slightly more realistic take and I'll just quote what I said about him one time at HJU.

I says:

"I also think Gai was supposed to be a more 'realistic' tokusatsu hero. As selfless as we think a superhero should be, here's Gai who says no, a hero needs to take care of themselves or else they can't take care of anyone. Here's Gai, who wanted to hang on to what was seen as just selfish behavior because he was afraid of losing himself to the demands of being a Jetman. Here's Gai, who knows it takes more than just repeating 'We're soldiers, we protect the world' to actually protect the world."

Gai's someone who's probably only ever fought for personal reasons. Being in a street brawl defending yourself or a principle or someone else's honor is quite different from what a soldier like Ryu experiences. Ryu can separate himself from his work, Gai can't...but here's a situation that makes it impossible for Ryu to place that divider any longer. It's the confirmation that not only is his long lost love alive, she was taken by the villains and he's been fighting her all along. Ryu can't take this, so he shuts down. And I feel like this coinciding with Gai's leave of absence from the team is Inoue's comparing and contrasting the two's differences, with Ryu taking on a Gai kind of thinking and reaching that whole Spider-man 2 bit I mentioned. His world, what he knew, and the rules that got him through it are upside down.

While Gai initially calls Ryu on what he sees as hypocrisy -- "A soldier's not supposed to let their personal life interfere" -- seeing Ryu in such a state really shakes him. While I think the show goes a little too far in having Ryu imagine he sees Rie next to him, it's probably the kind of thing that caused Gai to stop in his tracks and see the trouble his teammate's in. It's bonkers. He thinks Ryu's a lot of things, but bonkers ain't one of 'em. Gai doesn't know what to make of it, he wants Ryu to snap out of it. It even looks like Gai's about to strike him, but seeing a tearful Ryu look over at what he thinks is Rie stops him -- it's a sad sight, and he hugs him instead. Gai knows that the only person who can save Ryu from such trouble is only Ryu himself, so he lets him know that he'll give him the time to recover and resume his Jetman duties in his place. Gai, being a passionate person, knows the human spirit. He knows Ryu needs to cope, grieve, heal. He allows him the time that Odagiri and The Rulebook didn't allow him. He knows that Ryu is strong enough to overcome this ordeal; he returns the faith in Ryu that Ryu always had in Gai, which Gai is proving by setting off to help his teammates in the absence of their leader.

The Gai who was once at his throat, who's made clear that he thinks little of him, the selfish one, the hedonist who ran off because he was tired of being lectured...he ends up showing mercy and compassion. He does the right thing and steps up in the stead of his pained comrade. That has to be a "Holy shit, things must be looking bad if GAI is that worried" moment of self-realization for Ryu. Gai cares about him. And rather than retreat into delusions or thoughts of the past, he doesn't bury it any longer. His next encounter with Maria isn't denial, but a vow to save her, before he embraces her and goes off to help his friends. So, at this point, Ryu is healed of some of his trauma and heartbreak, Gai and Kaori have decided to date, and for the first time there's true harmony amongst the team. Gai notes that it feels like the true beginning for them.

For the next several episodes, we're shown glimpses of Gai and Kaori being close to one another. In the episodes where Odagiri takes the team for R&R to Yamada Ranch, Kaori notes that it would be nice to return there, just the two of them. (When Gai is later showing two women golfers some stances, Ako tries to get Kaori to admit she's angry at the display. While she's visibly bothered, Gai doesn't make a big deal about it. Fans make a big deal out of this scene, too, and it's not like he saw them and pursued them. They asked him! And he doesn't give a shit once Hirose comes along and steals them, either.)

There are several episodes where the two are supposed to be dating, it's just a given. And when it's put in the forefront again, it's the signs that it wasn't meant to last. Kaori trying to teach Gai proper dinner etiquette doesn't go well. The final straw, though, is when Gai is having a meal with Kaori's parents. Her parents are snobbish, constantly quizzing Gai on his place in society, his pedigree, his WORTH. That's when it finally sinks in to Gai. He excuses himself and leaves. Kaori's such a sweet, nice character. She's worried about Gai fitting in with her circle, hence the etiquette lessons, but she's still open minded, she knows Gai's actual worth, and expects her parents and their world and her circle will understand. Gai knows she's wrong, that they won't, and he rides off.

Kaori mentions to Ako that they're having trouble, knowing it's looking bad. Gai has gone about his business, going over his thoughts, and just knows it's not working and realizes a person can't just change -- he and Kaori could have made it work, but he's just not a part of her world. He can't be, he doesn't want to be. In his head, love should be enough, but that's not the real world, is it? And Kaori's the rare kindhearted, open-minded and understanding type of person in that world, who knows that worth goes beyond the monetary or materialistic, and she's trying her damnedest to make an effort. She thinks she has a chance at getting her parents to accept Gai once she can explain the extraordinary circumstances that brought them together, but she also can't have Gai completely change who he is, it's not right. She has to know it's a losing battle. KAORI NEVER CAVED IN OUT OF GAI'S PERSISTENCE! She appreciated how much she apparently meant to Gai, and felt like she should see if there was anything there. She gave him a chance. It ends up not working between them...

The next we see of them, Gai is entering the command center of Skycamp and catches Kaori's glance. They smile to each other and then get about their business. Coming after the scenes where they each, separately, realize the romance isn't looking good, it's plain that this is acknowledgement that the two have broken things off mutually, off-screen. It's such a nice, subtle way to address it, especially for how explosive the feelings and beginnings of this romance were, just how boldly the show depicted them. It's an interesting storytelling and stylistic choice. The exchange says, without words, "We gave it a shot. Can't ask more than that, but let's not make it weird so we can stay friends." And they don't let it affect their friendship or teamwork, and things remain harmonious for the Jetman from here through the finale.

I also like the growth of Ryu and Gai by this point. Gai, originally so dismissive of the type of person he thought Ryu was. He thought he was just an empty-headed, yes-man soldier who followed instructions and didn't have a thought or feeling of his own and was an android and big old nerd. However, he respected Ryu as a fighter, in combat, and so was willing to follow his orders when it came time to fight Vyram. (Which is another criticism I see of the show: "Gai hates Ryu but always falls in line for henshin scenes and attacks!") And here's the cool thing about Ryu: Gai had always misunderstood Ryu and had him pegged wrong from the start. Ryu, on the other hand, knew what Gai was like underneath -- that he was a good person. He had a soldier's intuition and a confidence in Gai, a respect for Gai, even if that respect wasn't shown towards him.

So in the Veronica two-parter, it's really interesting to see how far the two have come, how much Gai has evolved. Compare it to the Camera Jigen episodes, when Gai is so lost and unable to calm himself about Kaori's being taken that he's NO help to Ryu in the building of Fire Bazooka. With Veronica, the two are working together nonstop, with Gai even risking himself to hold together some of the mecha's faulty wiring in order for Ryu to finish the fight. They're in the trenches together, as they've been many times before. Ryu's turned them into good soldiers, and they've not only become good soldiers and heroes, but friends. Has a toku show ever shown a journey like Gai's? Not even the one from a thug to a hero, but someone who starts the show so antagonistic, hating our lead hero so much, and ending up best of friends?

The door is then open for Kaori to pursue Ryu. I think that scene in the penultimate episode between the two in the shack is well shot and acted. I'll admit I do think it could have used a tweak in the dialogue, but overall it's still emotionally honest and believable as a first step in getting the two together. People have a problem with how quickly it goes from Ryu-still-being-hung-up-on-Rie to his marrying Kaori, but take into account that the finale makes a THREE YEAR time jump, and that Inoue purposely avoids showing the two together in order to keep the groom's identity mysterious. He doesn't say right off that the wedding is between Ryu Tendo and Kaori Rokumeikan, the characters don't say anything until the reveal.

I find the show's romance is all done in a believable way that takes its time. It rewards your viewing patience, but it's all done at a believably steady pace. Nothing is rushed or unearned. There's growth and payoff. It works.

Look, it's OK if you don't like Jetman, if it's not your thing or if Toshiki Inoue's style isn't to your liking. But stop trying to act like it's poorly made or misconstrue its intentions or warp what it does to fit your modern senses and act like you're the one on the pedestal instead of this show. Jetman's a giant for a reason. Its flair for drama and the romantic clashing was a draw, and was INOUE'S WHOLE INTENT BEHIND THIS DAMN SHOW! It's supposed to be big and explosive and dramatic and messy and ugly and complicated! We've never seen heroes act this way in a toku before! (And as hard as they've tried, they haven't come close since, either.)

One more thing. Something I've always wanted to note, but it couldn't quite fit in anywhere here, is the way Gai acts around Odagiri. For all of his problems with authority, he always listens to her. He never smack talks her, he doesn't give her grief, he doesn't hit on her, he always shows her attention and respect. (I recall one episode where he practically stands at attention as she enters, as if he's an actual soldier.) If he was really the misogynistic monster modern fans paint him to be, I don't think this would be the case.

Jetman's Excellent Adventures & Series Wrap-up

TOEI TV HERO ZUKAN VOL. 2 -- CHOJIN SENTAI JETMAN

Toei released this in late '93, almost two full years after the series concluded. I have no idea why. (Promote VHS releases? Really no idea.) It's an hour-long clip show, basically, but it's shocking that they got Kotaro Tanaka and Rika Kishida to film new scenes as Mr. and Mrs. Tendo. (Looks like the new segments are filmed on video, though.) It's also shocking that Inoue wrote this thing and oversaw it.

The new bits are nice; some vegetables from Raita's farm are delivered to the Tendos along with a letter announcing Satsuki's pregnancy. This gets Ryu and Kaori to reminisce about their Jetman experience, kicking off the mostly clip show which highlights every Jetman move, weapon, mecha move, weapon, villain, EACH INDIVIDUAL MONSTER OF THE WEEK and the key story points of the series. This thing covers everything.

The flashbacks are interrupted by the cries of a baby -- Ryu and Kaori's infant, Gai. Thus ends this special, with Ryu and Kaori taking lil' Gai out in his stroller.

Overall, not much to say about this thing. The new material here is very, very brief, but I think an interesting and nice epilogue or coda to the series. Until Gokaiger, anyway.

CHOJIN SENTAI JETMAN: TOKI O KAKETE

A graphic novel released in 1996, it -- along with Toshiki Inoue's novelizations -- is among one of the first original story works for a Sentai geared towards the older fans. It's a follow-up to the series, set a few years after the finale, another idea that was simply unheard-of at the time. (Really, with the versus movies and various crossovers they've made in the modern era, I don't think the young ones understand how rare it once was to ever see your favorite toku hero once their series ends.)

As far as I know, Inoue had no involvement with it (hence some of the inconsistencies, like the Tendous having a baby girl and not a boy). Publications like Toei Hero Max, when they had a big Jetman retrospective, would mention the manga, but highlight Inoue's novelizations more. So, I ignored this thing for all this time, because I wasn't really interested if Inoue didn't have a say. To me, it's basically glorified fan-fiction...

And that's exactly how it ends up reading. (I caved and read this bastard for these posts.) Too much of it is callbacks and references and cute little nods that are meant to be what I refer to as fan-nip. Everything is a little too cutesy and on the nose. Ryu and Kaori have a daughter (the manga creator admits to ignoring Inoue's Toei Hero Zukan) named AYA, you know, after Aya Odagiri. Raita and Satsuki are expecting a son they plan to name Gai. Radeige's spirit returns to possess Toranza's paralyzed body. Gai's replacement, Jeff, is an amazing Gary Stu who saves the day again and again and goes on to become everybody's favorite. When things look bleak, the characters are bailed out by the ghosts of Gai and Rie. The Neo-Jetman even make appearances.

It all just tries so hard to make you go "Yay! So-and-so is back! Hey, that's a reference! Hey! I remember that from the show!" So, it's basically as bad as any piece of entertainment from Hollywood from the past decade. It's like J.J. Abrams wrote this sucker.

Speaking of writers, I have to wonder if Naruhisa Arakawa worked on this. Radeige kidnaps infant Aya, forces her to grow and makes her his "daughter" who fights by his side. There's always been comparisons between Jetman and Abaranger, and this really reminded me of the way Dezumozoria uses Mahoro's infant to grow and act as his offspring and messenger.

The drawings are lazy and impossible to decipher at times. The story makes the mistake of sidelining Kaori, leaving her at home to play the role of worried wife. Seriously, I'd expect it if this was a live-action movie made 10 years after the fact and Rika Kishida was busy or retired or something, but it's a damn comic -- why isn't she given anything to do, why isn't she still on the team?! I mean, Lil' Aya is kidnapped and she's just going to do nothing?

The only thing that really got me to read this was finding that Toranza was involved. Like I said previously, I think it would have been awesome if Gokaiger had picked up this thread and brought Toranza back. Radeige's spirit -- since he was shown to be into sorcery, since he did threaten to curse people -- possessing Toranza's body is one of the manga's better ideas. (Imagine if Gokaiger had used this comic as a source: it would mean Hirose playing Radeige!) It unfortunately leads to nothing but predictable turns, like trying to recreate the "what's my muthafuckin' name" bit from the show, which they should have left alone.

As for Gai's replacement? Ugh. They want Jeff Kenzaki (Kenjacky!) to be cool -- he's a rock 'n roller, man! From America, FUCK, YEAH! -- but at the same time, he's depicted as being a bit of a goofball, totally fanboying over Ako. (Who, remember, is an idol now.) I guess maybe Ako could be more power-pop, someone like Nanase Aikawa (who for some inexplicable reason once had a bosozoku following) -- that fits her character more -- and less what you really think of when you hear "idol," but, still...the point stands that Jeff's not cool, he's not funny. He also dies about 200 times in this story but manages to keep coming back, because he's the totally awesomer replacement of the awesome Gai, and don't you forget it! Everybody pretty much dies over and over again but inexplicably returns, because they now possess the power of being cartoons, so the action has to go over-the-top and everybody has to get impaled on something at least once. Stupid.

It was long and dull and, in the end, pointless. I'd like to cut it slack since, as I said, a Sentai follow-up was something new, but it was just a wasted opportunity. It feels like they did it for the sake of doing it and not out of a genuine attempt to follow-up on a show people really loved and wanted more of. I'm just going to go back to ignoring this thing.

GOKAIGER 28

Inoue returns to Sentai after an eleven-year absence with an episode that not only resurrects his most popular character, but is also an unsubtle critique of Gokaiger's characters and premise.

This episode's significant. A lot of what Gokaiger did goes really unappreciated; it was ambitious. This episode landed on Jetman's 20th anniversary. Nobody -- NOBODY -- in 1991/1992 would have ever expected to see a Sentai show that brought back old characters, and certainly nobody would have expected to ever see Gai Yuuki again. He died. It was a controversial ending, but one that you know the showmakers stuck by. It was thrilling to see even just the opening credits of this episode, seeing the names "Yuuki Gai - Wakamatsu Toshihide." It's a bold and ambitious episode that the other anniversary shows were either too safe (Mebius), too disrespectful (Decade) or too unceremonious (Gaoranger, Boukenger) to ever even consider attempting.

Nobody would have ever imagined that one day we'd see an adventure where Gai Yuuki comes down from Heaven to protect his old teammates and guide the latest Sentai team. He instantly one-ups each of the Gokaiger -- not Luka, really, which is interesting. She knows what he's up to. It's a little reminiscent of the way Toranza showed up and anonymously one-upped each guy on the Jetman team. I love that Gai criticizes the modern-era Reds.

I love that his whole purpose for this ghostly journey is to prevent the Gokaiger from disturbing the other Jetman members. It highlights Gokaiger's premise; the Gokaiger tend to be pushy, acting as if they're owed the Great Powers. One can imagine the rude or disruptive ways they'd approach one of the Jetman, a team with a tragic past that should be handled delicately. (It also makes you wonder if fighting alongside Black Condor in the Great Legend War opened old wounds between the Jetman team; another case supporting my old claim that Toei missed out on having cool comics or novels further detailing the old heroes' participation in the Legendary War. It could have been Sentai's version of Kamen Rider Spirits.)

Most of the other Sentai Legends awarded the Gokaiger their team's Great Power by being won over by an action of the Gokaiger, but here Gai makes the Gokaiger learn a lesson on their own before he deems them worthy. His role here's like a quirky martial-arts master who uses unconventional methods to steer his students, to the student's frustration.

It also seems to be the first episode in which Marvelous displays fear and doesn't have the answers, Inoue bringing some of his usual taste for showing a hero's flaws. Marvelous up until that point had been over-confident, so it was nice to see him in a different way.

The villain of the week Inoue creates, a bounty hunter, suffers from a weak design, but I like that he, too, makes a comment on basically how sucky the Zangyaku villains are. (Because they are. They've always been the worst part of Gokaiger.) Living only for combat and cash, the bounty hunter challenges each Zangyaku member to a challenge, which none of them accept. He scoffs. Point made. (The bounty hunter is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita -- Kiva's Kivat III, bringing another Inoue connection.)

It's also the rare Gokaiger episode that let the past hero transform, and here they actually got back the original Black Condor suit-actor, Naoki Oofuji, which is awesome.

All in all, a strong episode which is a balm on Jetman's own finale, addressing the loss of this fan favorite character and the impact it had on his surviving friends, giving the scenario its moment to let you take it in and spend one last moment with Gai. (The Jetman finale reserving his death for the final scene doesn't leave time to let it sink in and have it make in impact on you OR the characters.) Put simply: the episode gives you CLOSURE that the series lacked. 
_____

And that wraps that up! How did I feel about Jetman this go-around? Well, it helped to rewatch it in the same year as a show as soulless and vapid and pointless and plotless and villain-less and mindless and stake-free and such silly fluff as Kyuranger. (Jetman's about something. Man, remember when tokusatsu was ABOUT stuff?!?! Not just bad attempts at lulz and shilling shitty gimmicks?) The beginning of this rewatch was a bit of a rocky start, because I just kept thinking of all my fanboy wishes and recasts and hang-ups I've always thought would improve the show. Once I tried to let that go and just enjoy the show for what it is, I was able to sail more smoothly.

Of the three performers I've always had an issue with... I still stand by my casting of Hiroshi Watari as Red. While Tanaka does manage to have good moments, for the most part he's still weak and doesn't tap into the full range of the character. As for Raita, we needed someone FAR more good-natured and likable than Tomihisa Naruse. (Jou Onodera? I don't know, I haven't cast my ideal Raita yet.) Daisuke Tachi...he'll improve later on, by the time Toranza shows up, so I don't know if Hirose brought out the best in his co-stars, but for the most part, Tachi's just going through the motions or will be too forcibly over-the-top for the way Radeige was written, and clashes with the style of the show. It seems to me like he's very much in the mindset of "Uh-oh, this is a kid's show. I can't be scary!" So he plays what's meant to be such a vicious, atrocious character -- a malevolent monster who thinks he's a god -- like it's Dick Dastardly. When I think of the subtlety a Kenichi Endo or the menace a Shunsuke Kudo or the layers Jun Yoshida could have brought to the role...! Tachi just didn't work out as what Inoue wanted Radeige to be.

(Never thought I'd come through this rewatch liking Tanaka more than those other two.)

There's so much that I do love about Jetman, and I think it could have been one of the best pieces of superhero fiction if there were changes in certain areas, but there IS still so much I love about it. In terms of the writing, Toshiki Inoue brought his unique style and gave us a Sentai show that went further, pushed boundaries and was pretty special. It's a show with a legacy. And it's important to remember that, it's something a lot of fans have forgotten. They've taken for granted the doors Jetman opened. (Hirohisa Soda made it possible; he paved the road, built the vehicle and dropped Jetman off at the door, which Jetman then kicked down.)

Like, I can't imagine Toei being bold enough to do what they did with those initial Heisei Rider shows if the Jetman approach hadn't been so successful. (And it's no coincidence that Inoue was a big architect of the Heisei Rider shows. For all of his stumbling in his later career, he always wanted these shows to be more character driven, more dramatic and more unique than the mere toy commercial or disposable kids fluff they were often perceived as. Too bad that the people in charge now are those very same dismissive trolls Inoue rebelled against, and have actually turned these shows into mindless toy commercials. Bad commercials at that.)

Jetman 51

EPISODE 51

The entire A-Part is a mecha battle! Nooooooooooooooooo! I really don't like the finales that devote so much time to mecha battles. And with a show like Jetman, the final fight needed to be smaller and personal. Mecha battles are always just so easy to tune out, so impersonal. And I hate when head villains are basically reduced to monsters of the week, which is basically what happens here.

The funny thing is just how fast the Jetman burn through their mecha. Jet Icarus is losing arms, Jet Garuda's getting a hole punched into it. When things look desperate, Odagiri -- in the cockpit of Great Icarus with the team -- calls out Tetra Boy. Shuh! Like that's going to do anything. Why's this show so gung-ho for Tetra Boy?!?! Only...Tetra Boy manages to land a blow on Ragem's back, which has been the only thing in battle to hurt it. So...Bandai gets its way. They've finally made Tetra Boy do something as important as they seem to think he is. That's messed up. Tetra Boy! C'mon! The "Boy" mechas are a joke! Oh, well, at least Tetra Boy gets his arms pulled off. Inoue and his thing against arms...

Ragem's back wound is the one nice, personal detail of this battle. It's the wound Rie gave Radeige. Rie didn't die for nothing. Ryu sees this as an opportunity to kill Radeige, he takes Jet Garuda on his own to restrain him, ordering the others in Jet Icarus to stab through Radeige/Ragem, which will also put him at risk. I always wondered if Ryu was just ready to heroically sacrifice himself here or if there was a part of him motivated by the idea of taking this as a way to rejoin Rie. Radeige/Ragem is a weasel to the end, latching on to the Jet Garuda as he collapses and explodes in death. Ryu transforms at the last minute. Victory is won. Or is it? Radeige's last words are that his soul will forever haunt the Jetman. And that's kind of made me take a different view of what happens...

In the B-Part. Jetman wanted to be a different show, and it was certainly different to dedicate the entire second half to non-action -- all character stuff, all denouement, the glimpse of their lives after the battle. This just wasn't the way things were done at the time, but again is something that's been made more common thanks to Jetman doing it first. (I'm not going to credit Jetman with everything; I don't think Jetman would exist or would have been allowed the freedom to do things like this if it wasn't for what Hirohisa Soda accomplished with the franchise in the '80s, pushing Sentai further and further, appealing to viewers of all ages.)

Kaori's getting married. It's saved as a big reveal who Kaori is marrying, I guess it's meant as a shock that it's Ryu. (It wasn't a given that the shed scene in the previous episode was the first step in making them a couple.) It might feel fast, but there IS supposed to be a three-year time jump. That's easy to forget in these 20 minute episodes, especially these last couple that are trying to cover so much ground.

And I'd like to use this time to point out that KOTARO TANAKA AND RIKA KISHIDA DID NOT GET MARRIED IN REAL LIFE. It's a rumor that only exists in the English-speaking fandom. Go Google it in Google Japan. I'll wait. Zero results, right? That's because the Japanese version of this rumor is that he married Sayuri Uchida, which is also false.

Anyway, Raita's been reunited with Satsuki, and they're a couple, in a nice callback to episode 9; he's still hard at work in his fields. Ako's become an idol. Seriously?! C'mon! I don't see Ako being an idol at all. I think they should have brought back her chorus pal Kyoko (from episode 15) and made HER an idol, with Ako as her manager. I could easily imagine Ako being a big-mouthed manager who knew how to navigate the murky world of showbiz and would put people in their place with her attitude. They're all at the wedding, even Odagiri. Everyone notices Gai's absence. (You know who else is absent? Kaori's butler! Where'd the hell he disappear to in this series? It's really weird he wouldn't be at her wedding, considering how close he was to her.)

Anyway, we all know what happens with Gai here. It's pretty much the number one thing associated with Jetman. Gai's running late to the wedding, stopping off to buy flowers. He makes the mistake of stopping a purse snatcher and is fatally stabbed. I've covered this turn of events many, many times. You know I'm not a fan of it, for many reasons. First -- REMEMBER WHEN THE JETMAN HAD BIRDONIC POWERS OUT OF SUIT?!?! Yeah, why should you when the writers don't. Gai once punched a goon down an alleyway. He crushed his sax while playing it. Ako used the abilities to make money at gym class, jumping heights that would make a kaizo ningen worry. But a little switchblade is going to fatally wound Gai? HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. That blade should have curled up, like when Moe tries to stab Curly in the noggin in an old Three Stooges short.

I've long tried to rationalize why Inoue felt like he had to kill Gai. To match the way his counterpart ends up in Gatchaman? To contrast the way a reformed thug like Gai gets killed by the type of person he could have ended up being, if not for Jetman and the friends he made? To show that the world still has plenty of earthly threats for our heroes, even after they've devoted time and blood fighting supervillains?

In all of the times I've watched this show, I never paid attention to Radeige's final words. Is it because they just seem like generic villain taunts? Is it because it comes at the end of a mecha-fest that makes me sleepy? "My soul will forever haunt you." And then it hit me: maybe Gai's senseless death is part of a curse placed on the team by Radeige. There's the irony in the type of person who kills Gai. The fact that it will ruin what should be the happiest day of Ryu and Kaori's lives. (And Gai was enjoying himself, too.) That Gai made so much progress, benefited so much from the Jetman, truly making friends -- and he's taken from them in such a fast, cruel way, on such a day, a day that seems to be reuniting them for the first time since their victory against Vyram. (And, hey, Radeige is meant to be a vampire, and we saw him in episode 28 practicing occult rituals. I've also always wondered if the white mask covering his left eye is meant to evoke the Phantom of the Opera. All meaning: Radeige's meant to be supernatural character out of gothic horror.)

That, to me, would make sense in terms of what a despicable, soulless, cruel, conniving monster Radeige was supposed to be, and it would also take away some of the sting of what I've always seen as characters behaving stupidly. Like...I've always thought "Geez, why doesn't Gai just get his dumb ass to a hospital? I'm sure his friends would rather he survive than die at their reception." But if this was part of Radeige's curse, then his making it to the wedding is kind of a victory over Radeige's final revenge. He gets to see his friends one last time, let them know what they mean to him and that he loves them, thanks them, and is genuinely happy for them and at peace with himself for maybe the first time in his life. Maybe Radeige's Curse intended he die on the street, looking like he avoided the wedding out of spite or residual jealousy, driving a wedge into the team once more. But Gai beat it.

It's still a downer, and a tryhard way to end your show for the sake of a shock, but I thought the idea of Radeige haunting them was interesting to think about. (In all of my years in the fandom talking about Jetman, I don't think I've seen anyone bring this theory up. So it's mine! And in the event I'm forgetting something, I'll require time-stamped, photographic evidence to prove otherwise! It's mine, I tell ya!)

The wedding is packed with JAC people; I typically spot Shoji Hachisuka (Blue Swallow), Hirofumi Ishigaki (Yellow Owl), Hiroshi Maeda (Red Hawk sub) and Chie Tanabe (Kaori and Ako stunt-double). (And this is after Gai is murdered by Naoki "Black Condor" Oofuji.) The biggest part is given to Kazuo Niibori as the priest marrying Ryu and Kaori. Jetman is Niibori's swan song (sorry) as Red, so it's nice he's given a role that gets him some notice. The show is again breaking ground by having an actual wedding between heroes. I always saw Niibori's retirement as a performer as the same kind of End of Era feel that Jetman has as a whole. (I often joke that he got out when the going was good, since some crazy Reds are around the corner. While I know Niibori likes playing comedic roles, I still can't picture him as, say, Red Racer.)

One really nice touch that I've always liked is Rie's role in this episode. It's been the only time I've liked Kokoro wa Tamago -- that intro is good, anyway. Ryu just glances into the distance and Rie appears. She smiles, nodding in approval as the intro to Kokoro wa Tamago begins and she fades. It kicks off the nostalgic clipdown ED credits, which end with a newly recreated version of the eyecatch, which is pretty cool. (And leaves you on a happier note since Gai's there.)

But that's not all of Jetman! My next post covers their further adventures and a wrap-up.

Jetman 50

This is actually Tomihisa Naruse, Sayuri Uchida, Kotaro Tanaka, Rika Kishida and Toshihide Wakamatsu in suit.

EPISODE 50

A standout episode, which when you see the Maria two-parter sandwiched between it and Toranza's final episode, makes you realize how lesser those episodes feel.

A heartbroken and lost Ryu decides to act alone and seek out Radeige, wanting to kill him even if it costs him his own life. Radeige, I suppose, is supposed to be mourning Maria, as well -- he sits on his throne, holding a flower which he turns into a never-ending rain of petals, before hearing and answering Red Hawk's challenge.

Grey, I take it to mean is also heartbroken over losing Maria, and decides to seek a duel to the death with rival Gai -- the human version of Grey, really, a man passionate about music, alcohol and women, who both end up finding their hearts over the course of the series. They share some of the same qualities, so it's great that the various writers picked up on Grey and Gai's rivalry and helped lead it to this conclusion.

Amemiya returns to direct the final two episodes, so we get some interesting shots (the already mentioned rain of petals; the aerial crane shot of when Grey dies) and contributions. When Amemiya's directed episodes of the series, you can spot his attention to detail. Mecha battles will have more elaborate models and shots; battles will have interesting and unique angles. Here, in Black Condor's final fight with Grey, we get the debut of the hero's broken helmet, which many shows go on to copy.

While Gai's off fighting Grey, the others seek out Ryu before he gets himself killed. Ryu abandoning his team, deciding to settle things on his own is so unlike their usually dependable leader, who's always been there for them, so it's nice to see the others come to rally around him and save HIM. Taking a page from the Gai Playbook, Kaori takes a dangerous hit for Ryu's sake. He manages to set aside his hunger for revenge long enough to get her to safety...LEAVING AKO AND RAITA TO FIGHT RADEIGE! That's crazy! Ako and Raita!

Ryu gets Kaori to an abandoned shed in a scene that's filmed really nicely, but...I've always had a problem with it. This is the scene where Kaori's meant to finally get Ryu over Rie and begin to see her. It should be such a stirring and powerful scene where so many threads of the show's storylines join and tie up, but...the writing lets me down. Rika Kishida does a great job here; Ryu's still kind of blinded by rage, so he's still and quiet, so Kotaro Tanaka's not doing anything to tank it, either. It's the writing...

Kaori's truly sad to see Ryu sink to such a low. And she tells him that Rie would be sad to see him like that, and that breaks through to him. She tells him that Ryu, fighting on his own for revenge, isn't the person and hero that Rie fell in love with, and that all five of them need to work together or they won't win. She then brings up Rie's final words to Ryu in the last episode, in which Rie begged Ryu to forget her and wipe away any trace of her from his heart.

This scene is filmed well, with Kaori beginning Rie's quote, while the camera pans across a sullen Ryu, looking downward, and it becomes Rie to finish her line. I think what bugs me so much about this scene is that it's Kaori speaking to Ryu just as much as Rie; what she describes as what Rie feels is how Kaori feels. Rie's last words to Ryu are very similar to Kaori's exact words from way back in episode 22 -- after being shown Rie's grave, she shows up the next day and thoughtlessly vowed she'd rid Ryu's heart of the memory of Rie. That was such a low, petty point for Kaori, just so very callous, and I don't like that Rie's actual final words are so similar, and that Kaori's using them here to make her point.

And I feel like the lines being so close is intentional. There's meant to be a lot of different layers to this scene. Kaori is in the position of the team that was meant for Rie; her words echo Rie's. He's beginning to let Rie go and see Kaori, the scene ending with him embracing the image of Rie before he snaps to and realizes it's Kaori. I love the filming of this scene, the idea behind it, the emotions behind it, the way the scene begins. But I think they just needed to change Rie's final words, I think it was a mistake. To me, it ends up playing like Kaori being a little manipulative, and that's not what it's supposed to be at all. She's laying it all out for Ryu and telling him that they need him in the here and now, SHE needs him in the here and now, as the hero and good guy he's always been. And that makes him snap out of it.

Ryu and Kaori return to Ako and Raita, who are still battling Radeige while those two have been off chatting. Having defeated Grey, Gai joins them, and we get one last epic transformation sequence. (When they pose in this scene, it's actually the actors in-suit. There's often such a big deal made about that scene in Dairanger, with the actors doing their roll call out of suit. It's awesome -- it was one of my Toku Moments of Awesometicity on YouTube -- and subsequent shows aped it to lesser effect. Dairanger is credited with doing the first out of suit roll call, but Jetman basically did it first, it's just that the actors are actually in suit here.) We get a brief little fight with Radeige, set to the opening theme, in which the Jetman join together as a fire bird in attack. Radeige reveals his super-duper monster form, Ragem, going giant and leaving us on a cliffhanger that's kind of a bummer, because all signs point to a mecha-heavy finale. Uh-oh.

Random note: When Grey dies, he just loses power and shuts off. No disintegrating, no explosion. I feel like Skynet might find him.

Jetman 48-49

EPISODES 48 & 49

If, in early 1991, you had polled 50 Jetman fans and asked them where they thought the Maria story would end up, not a single one of them -- not even if you were asking Toshiki Inoue himself -- would ever guess "B-Movie vampire schlock." And if anyone did guess it, they were either insane or a prototype for the internet troll.

I talked about these episodes in a previous post of most disappointing Sentai villain demises. I think the evidence is clear that Inoue never had an idea of how to handle Maria/Rie. Maria's the only Vyram member whose send-off isn't given a touch of grandness or uniqueness; she accepts Radeige's offer to give her power, and he turns her into a vampire in the hope of her going full monster and becoming his.

OK, here's about a hundred problems with this scenario. It makes Maria look stupid to accept Radeige's help. Remember how competitive the Vyram are with each other? Remember how nasty Radeige is, the levels he'll stoop? None of these guys liked each other. Here's another problem: I take it we're to assume Radeige has feelings for Maria -- the Kaori of the Vyram side, just everybody loves her -- and wants to turn her into a creature like him, so she has no choice but to be with Radeige. (I sadly never really realized Radeige's a vampiric creature, but the evidence is there; from the usage of his blood to the dime-store plastic vampire teeth he dons when monstering out.)

THE SHOW HAS NEVER INDICATED THAT RADEIGE CARED FOR MARIA! Radeige gave Grey a dirty look 70 episodes ago, and THAT'S IT. Radeige obviously only cares about Radeige. Other than when Torazna was around, he treated his cohorts with disdain. I know Inoue likes to leave some things up in the air, to make them mysterious, so maybe you're meant to question if there's more to Radeige (especially if you consider how different he was when he lost his memory), but...it's such an important detail to the character, such an important component of the storyline, that I think it needed to be MUCH clearer and definitively stated.

I've always read people say Radeige loved Maria, creating a love triangle within the Vyram that mirrored the one within the Jetman team, but I thought those people were crazy and really reading into it something that wasn't there. While I think a lot of those people are just shippers, something IS supposed to be there. It's just extremely vague and poorly done. If Radeige is a vampire, you could have made this some kind of sick, Gothic love story. But there's nothing there. In fact, with the way Radeige despises humans, it never made sense to me he even grabbed Rie in order to turn her into Maria. So, it makes even less sense that he'd love her. Inoue probably thinks this makes Radeige seem complicated, but it's really just sloppy writing.

The whole thing with Maria being a vampire, stumbling around and sucking the blood of a bunch of random dudes is the weakest part of this two-parter. She eventually turns Ryu into a vampire, and it's just kinda silly to me. It's meant to be shocking to see the reliable Red of our show turned into a monster, only being freed by Kaori's love and devotion to him, but it all just seems like padding. Like a way to avoid a genuine final confrontation with her.

The best parts of these two-parters is the sliver of episode remaining after the vampire nonsense. A healed Ryu confronts Maria, in one last attempt to reach out to Rie, and kisses her. While this was probably pretty shocking at the time -- I can't recall any toku show prior to Jetman showing an on-the-lips kiss that wasn't comedic -- it's marred and made laughable by the fact that Kotaro Tanaka can barely make contact with Maho Maruyama because all of the vampire make-up and prosthetics.

Maria reverts to Rie, but we know it's not going to be a happy ending here. For the entire series, Ryu has vowed to save Rie, but we know Toshiki Inoue better. Rie feels too burdened by her sins, so she makes a the decision to attack Radeige, guaranteeing her death. (She feigns that she's still on Radeige's side and then stabs him in the back -- literally, too.) Radeige cuts her down, and in her final moments, she tries to cut Ryu loose, before being whisked away by Grey. This pretty much destroys Ryu, in a display of raw emotion so upsetting that Gai commands the other Jetman to leave him be and not even witness it. Can our Red, our trustworthy leader, be dumped on any more? This is the good stuff. Why we couldn't have more of this instead of silly shit with vampires...I dunno. Tanaka does a good job here, and Maruyama's at her best as Rie, rather than Maria.

Rie's final words to Ryu are a request that he forget her and move on. She tells him to erase all traces of her in his heart; this is pretty damn close to the phrasing Kaori uses in episode 22, but I'll talk more about this in the next episode.

Rie dies in Grey's arms and he cries, his tears transferring and scattering her into the sea. An interesting stylistic choice. It's a little sad that, outside of Toranza, Grey's stuff with Maria is the strongest portion of the Vyram side -- considering he's, you know, a robot, and that Rie's presence as Maria DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE! Grey has a couple of good moments in these episodes; one when he approaches Maria to let her know Radeige's just using her. (She doesn't care. Why?!?!) Another when he approaches the Jetman and asks them to help Maria.

The episode ends with a scene, a vision of a cheerful Rie in a park, running towards the camera in joy, her image fading in and out before finally settling on a fade out. A nice, stylish choice by director Masao Minowa in his last Jetman outing.

Jetman 46-47

EPISODE 46

Ugh, this one. I know it's the typical lighthearted-one-before-the-heavy-wrap-up installments, but it's just really out of place with the episodes surrounding it. Or maybe it's the choice to center it on Raita. It's a ridiculous episode, but not as bad as a Megumi-befriends-Butchy lighthearted-one-before-the-heavy-wrap-up installment.

It's a great idea to have a monster that plucks a childhood fear from the hero to terrorize him, but Toranza's finding the Tomato King plan so amusing is what's worst. Toranza's been nothing but cruel. The Tomato King plan is so absurd, it's even worse than the ant-people plan -- you know, the one that Toran was mocked for, the one that led to his ousting?

The episode has at least one laugh, which is when the Tomato King is stalking and mirroring Raita's movements. I wonder who the suit actor is. The Tomato King design, by the way, is as dumb as this episode, looking like something from Goranger. (Pumpkin Kamen.)

On the bright side, Ako's featured a lot in this episode, deciding to try to inspire Raita by making him believe an unwell plant of his is actually beginning to grow tomatoes. (She tied a tomato to it, but it's a nice sentiment. If it had genuinely been growing, that would have been a stirring moment, especially for a dedicated farmer like Raita -- who, like all good farmers, sees what he grows as his children -- but it's a mood that Jetman's just too damn cynical for.)

Raita overcomes his fear of the Tomato King with Ako's inspiration, and by pigging out on tomatoes in a segment that goes on far too long. All in all, it's an episode memorable only to Naruhisa Arakawa, who eventually pretty much steals it for Gingaman's 21st episode.

Random note: As someone who's not a tomato fan, the scenes of Raita chomping into tomato after tomato -- and washing it down with glasses of tomato juice -- really grosses me out.

EPISODE 47

They're writing Toranza off already?! Well, I guess that's what happens after you come up with the Tomato King plan. This episode is mainly Toranza stalking each Jetman member, attempting to turn them into a framed stone carving of their helmets for him to display. (Remember when MMPR was a juggernaut, so it had every type of merchandise you could think of? Well, remember the smelly soap that was shaped like the Zyuranger helmets? That's what Toranza's little trophies remind me of.)

The most important part of this episode is supposed to be the disguised Radeige saving Ryu and assisting him in fighting Toranza. My problem with this is...they don't explain what's happened to Radeige that he's in human form, which works in favor of his plan. After the Veronica incident, he was seen weakly stumbling around city streets. In the previous episode, he cringes while giving off lightning and turns into a human form. We're not told why. I guess we're to assume his powers are a little haywire after absorbing Veronica's energy to escape, but...shouldn't that give him MORE power? And he seems to be in control of his power just fine when it comes time to dramatically reveal who he is to Red Hawk and Toranza as they battle.

This episode basically makes you choose whether you're Team Radeige or Team Toranza. When Radeige's getting his final revenge on Toranza -- trapping him when he's down, after he's received critical wounds in battle with Red Hawk, Radeige stabbing him through the hand and then reversing the "say my name" routine Toranza pulled on him in 37 -- you're obviously meant to feel a bit of glee on Radeige's behalf. But this is Radeige we're talking about! Remember what he's done throughout the show.

I'm Team Toranza, not only because he's Hirose, but because he stirred up the Vyram side of the show. The Vyram Trio became more united against him, he brought a clear and tangible bitter history between the villains, he brought the sense of leadership and a formidable factor of a main villain, with the means and agenda that the Vyram often felt lacking. It's always shocking to realize Hirose/Toranza is in only ten episodes of the show.

And, of course, the battle with Radeige and Red Hawk leaves Toranza in a shattered mental state. Like what Juuza once did to him, Radeige finds the biggest way to insult Toranza, the proud warrior with extrasensory powers, is to leave him losing his mind, letting him live out his life as a power-less human. A Sentai villain ending up a drooling, catatonic mental patient was certainly a different way to write off a character. It's like Jason Voorhees, though -- I feel like Toranza's still out there. He was so powerful, I always thought there was a chance he'd recover over time. Gokaiger missed an opportunity to bring him and Hirose out of retirement. (I know, I know -- the manga brings back Toranza. More on that later!)

I feel like I should call attention to Hirose's performance in this episode: from his casually taunting Ryu at Rie's (and Ryu's!) grave; to the wicked glee of his pursuing the Jetman individually; to the absolute rage he shows Red Hawk once Hawk strikes him with Bringer Sword; to the pathetic, frantic and pained reaction during his final meeting with Radeige and, finally, the catatonic Toranza. Hirose runs the gamut here, and it's a great final performance seeing off his last, true Sentai villain.

Random note: Gotta love Radeige's line to Toranza; "You're like a shooting star; no matter how brightly you shine, you're destined to fall."

Random note 2: It's quick, but the final battle between Red Hawk and Toranza's pretty cool. (It's Hirose's revenge for not getting a good send-off in Liveman!) Hawk's flying around blasting him, he's stabbing him through the gut, he uses Toranza as a human body shield. At one point he's fending off Radeige and Toranza at the same time. (And people think that sword fight between Shinken Red, Juzo and that random monster is cool. Pfffffffft.)

Jetman 44-45

EPISODES 44 & 45

Episodes mainly about mecha. You know what a mecha fan I am. I'm guessing the reason these episodes were even made was because of the nefarious scheme they talked about in Akibaranger, of having a couple of mecha-heavy episodes in December to try one last time to sell the toys for Christmas. (Side note here: Akibaranger jokingly talks about a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff. People take the show seriously, but...it's a comedy, so take the things heard there with a big ol' grain of salt.)

It's funny to think, in his quest to build the best robot, that Toranza made G2 as a contender. How do you go from G2 to what he finally ends up with, Veronica? Veronica is the one design Keita Amemiya contributes to the series, so it's one of the rare good designs Vyram sees. While the show doesn't exactly say how Toranza came upon creating it, it's obviously bio-mechanical and more of a monster than a robot, so it doesn't quite feel like "Ooh, the Vyram have their own mecha!" Veronica has organic parts, most notably the living interior where Toranza evilly places humans to feed the robot their life energy. A well-designed monster cyborg. Whatever, the show don't explain its origins, but it's neat.

The character bits in the first part take a back seat to the mecha action, but what we get is pretty crucial: Kaori reveals to Ako that her recent dates with Gai have been duds, while Gai is seen with two women at a pool, his thoughts far away and on Kaori, before he declares aloud that he just can't change who he is. (The scene with Gai features a very cool, alternate instrumental of his theme song, Honoo no Condor, which sounds like something from Thunderball-era Bond.) Later when they meet at Skycamp, they give each other a smiling acknowledgement...

It's pretty clear that they've decided, off screen, to break up. Things had been looking bad these past few episodes. I feel like the look they give each other says "Well, we gave it a shot. Can't ask for more than that. And let's not let it be weird." Would it have been nice for the show to do something a little more, something more concrete? Possibly. But I think it's interesting they chose to avoid a prolonged dramatic scene of a break-up. Here is just a simple look, you can gather where they're at with their feelings, and they need to just keep moving. It's extremely subtle, especially considering the explosive way things have played out on the show.

Part 2 has Raita, Kaori and Ako captured by Toranza, to be used as human batteries in Veronica. It ends up being a nice parallel to episode 14, when it was left to Ryu and Gai to save the three of them when they were captured by Camera Jigen. We see just how much Gai has grown, and how far he and Ryu have come. They're working well together on their own, with Gai even willing to be injured to try and fix a part on Jet Icarus mid-battle, as long as it ensured staying in the fight. He's come a long way from the stubborn guy who couldn't let go of his own priorities and who was zero help whatsoever back in 14 in terms of helping Ryu build Fire Bazooka. There's a bond between them now, they're friends, equals, brothers in arms, culminating in them buying each other a drink after their victory. (The series could have ended like this and made a lot of people happier.)

On the villain side, Radeige's arrogance gets in the way of Toranza's plan, and he sabotages Veronica by placing an explosive in the driver's seat. (The explosive is a repaint of the left-hand side of Liveman's Twin Brace!) When Toranza beats the crap out of Radeige as a result, he then places Radeige in one of the power slots to provide Veronica energy. Radeige eventually pulls a move where he vanishes -- leaving only his armor -- draining all of Veronica's power, before returning, freeing himself, and then freeing Raita.

The freeing Raita part bugs me. "I won't let Toranza kill you, Jetman -- I wanna kill you one day!" is one of those lame, Wolzard School of Wussy G-Rated Villain Cop-outs. Would it have been so hard for Radeige's motivation in freeing the Jetman to just be the ruining of Toranza's plan? It accomplishes the same thing, but doesn't make Radeige seem dumb for the sake of a silly plot contrivance. If he had just freed them, silently, before going on his way, it leaves something to the imagination and packs more of punch -- and would certainly confuse the hell out of our heroes.

That said, feast your eyes on the miniature work in this episode! Obviously Amemiya's contribution, his eye to detail. He wanted to show off his creation, Veronica, and do it in style.

Jetman 42-43

EPISODE 42

Inoue returns with an episode as unconventional as 22. This one doesn't have a monster of the week, or a monster attack, and it's focused on Grey. Toranza's attempting to build an amazing robot, somehow building G2, the most pathetic and sad-sack robot you've ever seen. It's a robotic version of Trash Jigen. Toranza's disappointed with his creation, discarding it as a robot that the Grinham grunts can train on. G2 escapes the Vyram one day, after too many beatings...

What I find strange about this episode is that there's no real reason why Grey decides to pop up at Kaori's house and attack her and Gai. The Vyram three were like "We gotta get the Jetman before Toranza does," but it's not like they made any plans. It's just so random and strange to see Grey pop up and attack the two as they leave the house. This leads to a chase, where Maria jumps in and assists Grey, before being severely injured.

Despite this wonky set-up to get Maria injured, Grey pulls her to safety within a cave, and from there the rest of the episode is pretty good. While it's clearly a soundstage, director Masao Minowa makes good use of the set, creating atmosphere with dark lighting and a nice heavy rainfall the characters are caught in.

When the wounded and cold Maria rejects Grey -- he's a machine that can't provide her warmth -- it's here when it hits Grey just what is he, and what he can't be to Maria. So when Ryu finds the both of them, he's willing to let his opponent stay behind to offer Maria the comfort he can't. To make matters worse for Grey, the cutesy, pathetic G2 is stalking him, desperately seeking his friendship, acting as a constant reminder of what Grey is -- a machine. And no matter how advanced a machine can be -- and Grey's fairly advanced -- machines are just used. So, he's unnecessarily cruel to G2 in an unknowingly hypocritical way.

G2 puts itself in danger to save Grey from a Jetman attack, eventually being pinned by boulders before shutting down and exploding. (Grey hears G2's playing of a leaf; mimicking what it witnessed Maria doing, to Grey's satisfaction. He pretends to not know what the sound is.) A sad end for a sad character. The episode ends on a freeze frame of G2 exploding; not quite as strong as Inoue's Ohranger episode with Bara Revenger falling into pieces, but close.

The design of G2's pretty good in conveying how pitiful it is, but the suit acting is good (making G2 seem extremely small) and voice-actress Akiko Muta gives the character some sweetness. She also voiced the similarly sorrowful Bega Baby in Liveman. Sad that she's so sympathetic in these small one-off roles, but so damned annoying as Dairanger's recurring Denwa Sensei.

On another note: in this episode, there's a brief scene of Kaori and Gai having dinner at her house, with her futile efforts to get him to use proper table manners. It's the first crack in their relationship...one that's kind of an easy fix, if Gai wasn't such a stubborn bastard. C'mon, Gai. Kaori's putting in all of the effort so far.

EPISODE 43

Come along and ride on a Fantastic Voyage...

I think this is basically Inoue's attempt at doing a "light" episode before the finale. (Which obviously wasn't good enough for Toei, since we have that terrible, hideous Tomato King episode coming up which truly meets that criteria.) I think his thinking behind this episode was basically just let's give Odagiri something to do, and let's do something with mecha that's never been done before in a Sentai...

Which would be have Jet Icarus shrink down and enter Odagiri's body to combat the Jigen-Juu which invades her. And, yeah, that's something that hasn't been done with a mecha in a Sentai before...

UNLESS you count the Change Robo diving into Star King Bazuu/Gozma Star's body in the Changeman finale. First you stole the Earth Defense Force commander, actor Asao Wakamatsu, in the first episode; then you stole the idea of the Senshi Dan backing up the power-less heroes with the Neo-Jetman; now you're taking from Changeman's finale, Jetman! I see you! You're caught!

Once Odagiri's infected, she begins acting crazy, but nobody cares to question why she wants to take their weapons all of a sudden or why she's smacking Gai and Kaori for being late (when it wasn't the first time Gai was late) or why she's going to crazy methods to "train" them. They really don't question her until Radeige shows up during the "training." I think a lot of Odagiri's actions here are supposed to be amusing, even funny, but it doesn't quite work for me.

Once the Jetman learn of their problem, they decide to solve it by pulling a Fantastic Voyage. The show's depiction of Jet Icarus within Odagiri is...strange. I won't knock the show for its lava-lamp-as-the-bloodstream effects, or the bubble-wrap tissue lining, or the weird-green-Scope-for-digestive-acid effect. I could make fun of those really obvious, money-saving effects, but I won't.

The Jetman manage to grab ahold of the monster in the nick of time (oh, yeah, they're on a time limit) and exit through Odagiri's tears. Odagiri shows up in Jet Garuda to exact her revenge, in a moment that's meant to be simultaneously bad-ass and funny, but again doesn't work either way for me. But again, I think this episode IS meant to be seriocomic -- the episode begins with Raita ribbing Odagiri for not having a boyfriend, with the episode's threat being introduced via an anonymously-sent bouquet of flowers -- and it's a choice of tone I find baffling.

On another note: This episode features a brief scene of Gai having dinner with Kaori and her parents. You know he's ready to bail as soon as they ask him about his education. But then they proceed to ask him what he does, who his parents are, trying to guess at what high-ranking position he holds (read: how much money he has) to have won over Kaori. Her father scolds him for how he guzzles his wine instead of savoring it. He eventually does excuse himself, ditching the whole thing in what Wakamatsu plays as rage and insult.

It's at once sad and naive that Kaori thinks her parents will come around to be understanding -- especially, she thinks, if they know the unique circumstances in which the two met. You know the type of judgmental, materialistic, unchanging, elitist, snobby people they are. Gai knows. So he splits. More cracks in their relationship, ones that WON'T be able to be smoothed over. (I don't really picture her parents being thrilled with someone like Ryu, either. Their ideal would be that annoying and vile Nobuhiko Akizuki-looking sonuva from episode 4 -- which would be a loveless union in which only bank accounts and image would benefit.)

Jetman 40-41

EPISODE 40

In this one, Radeige reads some Superman comics and takes a gambit on there being some space rock that acts as the Jetman's Kryptonite. Since the others hate Toranza, they back Radeige on his mission. He succeeds in finding this mysterious, never-really-explained Anti-Birdonic Birdonite, making an ugly monster-of-the-week from it. The monster proceeds to really kick the Jetman's ass, and they have to be bailed out by...the Neo-Jetman!

One-upping the Dimensians two-parter by Inoue, sub-writer Araki brings us this two-parter with the Neo-Jetman, a really cool concept that FINALLY makes the Sky Force seem like an organization and not just Odagiri operating on her own in an office like a lone nutter. Really, thus far, the Sky Force has seemed like Blue Swat. Remember how the entire Blue Swat organization was wiped out in the first episode, so the remaining few started up their own, independent organization? That's not what was supposed to happen to the Sky Force, but that's how it's felt. (Only the Sky Ship was destroyed. Which, yes, was a big deal, in that it watched over the Earth. But that wasn't the entire organization.)

The Neo-Jetman show up and instantly upstage the Jetman, since the Birdonite doesn't work on them. They're cocky bastards, commanded by an even cockier commander, and it's their hubris that does them in. (Gotta love when the by-the-book, straight-laced Ryu eventually has enough of the commander and decks him.)

BTW, a good name for the Neo-Jetman would have been JAC Dengeki Tai, since all five of them are played by Japan Action Club actors. We have Geki (Yuuta Mochizuki) in the leader role, of course; Blue Swat's Mr. J (Ryuji Kasahara) as the Condor-ish cool one; Gator/Magu/Kiba Ranger suit-actor Minoru Watanabe as the short one; Ninja Blue suit actor Takeshi Miyazaki as the one you don't remember; and Toku Legend Miyuki Nagato as the bad-ass female member. (In a perfect world, Nagato would have gotten the chance to play a character like Black Condor, or a Kamen Rider.)

EPISODE 41

What I like most about this episode is the way it shows how far the five Jetman have come. Anybody who says they aren't good heroes needs to rewatch this episode. Because they put their necks out there, powerless. They show the Neo-Jetman what true heroism is. It's quite a sight to see Kaori, Raita, Ako and (especially) Gai just dive past the Neo-Jetman to take on the monster that's ready to break into the Skycamp's command center. The timid rich girl, the pacifist farmer, the loner thug, the high-schooler who initially wanted paid for her time -- all showing up professional soldiers.

Ryu's impressive here, too, beginning the episode by fighting unconsciousness in order to get one last attack from Jet Garuda in, successfully defeating the monster before falling to exhaustion. Unfortunately for them, Toranza revives the monster...

But the biggest enemy in the episode isn't exactly Toranza or the monster, but the Neo-Jetman's commander, Ichijou. He's a terrible, terrible man. And he flat out admits that what's driving him is that he's still bitter that Odagiri was chosen to lead the Jetman over him, even though he's clearly insane and should have been discharged years ago. (And actor Hideaki Tezuka plays him to the hilt. You really hate this character.) He not only lies about the Jetman's ability to regain their powers, he's not only a complete asshole to Odagiri, he not only puts his Neo-Jetman team at continuous risk, but he's also a complete hypocrite and coward.

Lucky for everyone, the Neo-Jetman played by Geki is the one who begins to see Ichijo for the person he is, and he drops the Neo-Jetman cockiness in order to mend the relationship between the old team and new. When the monster attacks the base and Odagiri, overriding Ichijo's orders, tells the Neo-Jetman to retreat, Tezuka seals all exits, so the monster doesn't reach him. This is when OUR Jetman team arrive, these "mere civilians" impressing the trained-soldier Neo-Jetman with their courage. The Neo-Jetman end up sacrificing their own power in order to return the Jetman's powers. Our heroes even arrive in the nick of time to save Ichijo as the monster manages to break into the command room, giving us a cool transformation-at-HQ scene. (If Inoue wrote these episodes, he'd probably have Ichijo be killed by the monster.)

These two episodes are packed, and just hit you non-stop, but I think it should have been prolonged for at least another episode. When the Jetman lose their powers, there was a missed opportunity to show the team contemplating their next move -- certainly a return to normalcy would have appealed to characters like Ako or Gai, and that would have been interesting to explore.

Random note: After Ichijo gives the powerless Jetman team the boot, taking the Cross Changers away, Ako saves the day by swiping the Corresponder portion of the brace in order to keep in touch with Odagiri. Without this, the Jetman wouldn't have arrived in time to save Odagiri and the Neo-Jetman in the Skycamp attack. Remember this the next time you call Ako useless.