Back again with more dinosaur fury. Last episode revealed the black Kishiryu beast for Bamba and now is the time to give it a proper introduction to the season. Click "read more" for my full coverage of this episode.
Analysis
On an oddly rare note, the episode begins with the theme song. Normally there is a little bit of the episode first. After the opening, Bamba is using a KotaiSoul on Ui. A spell that brings back her memory of creating the Minusaur.
A flashback reveals that it was Kleon (also translated as Creon) who created the Minusaur from her by asking for her autograph then shooting some green slime in her mouth during a freakout. Gross.
Now, Kleon is the main target of the Ryusoulgers, so, they split up and look for him. Interesting to see the rangers trying to make the first move. The episode directly cuts to Towa who was busy helping an abandoned dog with a girl named Sanae. See the title card. Bamba runs by and sees/hears the conversation.
Is that a real issue in Japan? Animal racism.
Towa is caught up on the situation when coincidentally, Kleon appears right next to where they are looking for the next Minusaur target.
Lame.
Bamba stops Towa from calling Koh and the others then rushing in for the attack. He lands a good punch of Kleon before he summons Drunn Soldiers. Towa calls the others anyway then joins in the fight and the two of them easily defeat the Drunn Soldiers.
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| Slow motion walk away |
Kleon is cornered and begs for a timeout but the rangers aren't listening. At this point, Tankjou shows up to save Kleon. Bamba and Towa power up to their forms with armor on the right arm and begin battle with Tankjou. The other 3 rangers show up in mid attack combo. Now, Tankjou finds himself on the losing end of this battle.
Coincidentally, an earthquake happens at this moment which allows Tankjou do a power up. He summons balls, shoots them into the ground to create something that covers him in red.
Yup, that just happened.
Tankjou then fires a huge laser out of his chests that brings all the rangers down. He then explains that he acquired the power of the Earth and is strong enough to crush all life. Koh rushes to his feat trembling and gives a speech about how all life matters which reminds Towa of the dog. Now, Koh henshins and attempts to fight Tankjou while the others are still down.
The dog thing is part of a subplot where Towa has to re-think his and Bamba's motto. Those two believed in sacrificing the life of one to save the lives of many but Koh believes in going the extra mile to save everyone which Towa is starting to believe too.
Koh puts up a desperate struggle against a clearly stronger opponent using multiple Ryusouls in a pretty cool one on one fight and even manages to trip Tankjou up a couple times. Bamba and Towa manage to stand up next and are about to join in the fight when Kleon sends a wolf/rat looking Minusaur to stop them.
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| Towa got bit. |
Tankjou does not appreciate the help and leaves. Towa is bleeding from the bite but doesn't think it is a big deal; Bamba is concerned. Melto tells Koh not to fight with anger the way he did but Koh is still furious that Tankjou killed his master.
A couple cutaways later, we learn that being bitten by this Minusaur will poison and kill someone in 2 days and that the Minusaur came from Towa's friend Sanae from her negative feelings towards those who abandoned animals. Really not Towa's day. Bamba moves in to kill Sanae but Towa stops him. However, before much can be sait, Towa begins to feel the pain of the poison.
It is supposed to be shocking that Towa would go against their former beliefs but I am more shocked that none of the other Rangers said or did anything when Bamba made his move.
Back at Ui's place, the Ryusoulgers regroup and look at Sanae and Towa. Towa pleads with Bamba not to hurt Sanae because of his poison and explains that he finally also believes what Koh was saying about how every life matters. Bamba rushes off frustrated and Koh chases after him.
This is an especially hard choice for Bamba because not only is he being told to change his beliefs but put his little brother's life, Towa, on the line.
Out on a rooftop, Bamba asks Koh about his master. After a brief reminisce, Bamba tells Koh that kindness can be weakness like when Master Red died protecting Koh. Harsh. Bamba then uses a Ryusoul to scan the city and finds the Minusaur. Now, the rangers minus Towa deploy.
Once the 4 of them arrive on the scene, the Minusaur is missing but Bamba uses another Ryusoul to sniff him out. Also, they are greeted with a giant Tankjou. Now the battle is split, Bamba is going after the Minusaur while Koh, Melto, and Asuna enter a giant battle.
Elsewhere, Kleon plans to use the Minusaur to poison a water plant's filters. This plan involves mass genocide, but it is still explained like it is nothing.
Bamba shows up to save the series stop the Minusaur just in time/ The Minusaur tries to bite Bamba but another Ryusoul armor form makes him chip his teeth instead.
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| KataSoul |
I said it before I'll say it again, those Ryusouls reek of plot convenience. Also, I didn't show them all but that arm piece had a good few different color forms. Talk about overly doing the toys.
Cutting back to the giant battle, the Ryusoulgers are losing. Koh almost loses his cool again, but a comment from Melto reminds him of a training session with Master Red. I really wish they gave the masters names. It was a simple lesson; you can't grow stronger by wanted to defeat your enemies only by wanting to protect the ones you love.
I'm getting some Shonen Jump flashbacks.
This same principle can apply to Bamba who is fighting to save his brother Towa. At least that is what is implied as the episode cuts back to him to deliver a finishing blow to the Minusaur.
One threat eliminated, Kleon whines like a baby and leaves, now we go back to the giant battle. The Ryusoulgers are down and about to take another Earthquake powered laser blaster when Milneedle appears to help out. We finally get back to the last episodes teaser.
Milneedle fires his spikes and naturally comes with his own combination form.
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| Kishiryuu-Oh Milneedle |
Both blue and pink had to be detached to make room for this one. Really not a fan of these lego like designs. Take note, it was really only implied they were losing before black joined the fight they barely showed any of the giant fight.
After combining, it is now sunset somehow and the battle resumes. Kishiryuu-Oh Milneedle excels at punches, blocks, and can still shoot spikes. They finish off Tankjou with a new finisher called Needle Crusher that is basically just a series of fast punches. Tankjou goes boom.
Don't get too shocked that they would kill off Tankjou so soon, he appears back at the Minusaurs' hideout injured but alive. How?
Back at Ui's place, Towa is still suffering from the poison and Sanae has not recovered either. The episode ends with Towa passing out possibly dead and the screen going black & white. Cliffhanger.
Final Thoughts
This episode was really good, but had some problems. The ever present seemingly endless supply of context sensitive Ryu-souls keep appearing for plot convenience. There were a couple moments of characters acting odd like how no one but Towa stopped Bamba from killing Sanae and how Bamba let Kleon leave after defeating the Minusaur despite spending the first chunk of the episode hunting him. Also, how did Tankjou live when he clearly exploded?
Regardless of those issues, there was still a lot of good in this episode. The action was constant and enjoyable, a lot of plotlines for character development were put into motion, and the dark cliffhanger ending definitely made me want to watch episode 6 and reminded me of the older dark seasons. Overall, I feel like this episode showed this season leaning more and more towards the good and hope it continues that. 4/5
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