The first part of this episode felt almost like someone accidentally stole the script from a different show? Spada was great, if still somewhat rebellious. Shou's backstory was fantastic, and surprisingly dark. The sequence with Shou knocking Lucky out is possibly one of Kyuuranger's strongest moments yet. I don't remember any humor getting in the way of the drama, and like the first part, it brought up an interesting conflict of obedience versus conscience.
That said, it seemed to have fallen apart after that; much of this is that they never really resolve the conflict of ideals, but as well, they simply lose the humanity of the situation. Possibly the biggest example of this was treating Maadakko's apparent death like a typical MotW's. How does anyone feel about this? Does Shou feel like he's enacting revenge for the death of his superior a la Inigo Montoya, or perhaps regret that it didn't have to have ended with more death (such as in Ex-Aid)? Does Ikaagen feel any sorrow for the loss of his comrade, even if he suspects he can regenerate her?
Perhaps one of Kyuuranger's biggest weaknesses as a whole seems to be that they're trying to make a potentially quite dark series geared towards a really young audience, and they're not sure what to do with the darkness other than to throw in dark tropes--Earth is completely enslaved, one ranger's the last of his kind, one character's superior had been killed saving him. While these aren't bad in and of themselves, it seems like they're being picked and chosen to throw into an episode; I'm hoping they can figure out what to do with their ideas.
Lucky's by Lucky for this episode (I've decided not to count the times he says his name from now on): 6 English, 7 Both
Advanced LuckyCount Breakdown:
“Yossha Lucky”’s: -- - 4
“Lucky!”’s, “Luck”’s: 2
In Japanese: -- - -- - - 1
I think my having so much trouble keeping up with the weekly episodes means that this show isn't for me. This episode was definitely better, and I'll certainly keep watching until the end of the Earth liberation/secret arc for the sake of counting Lucky's catchphrases, but I'm hoping this pulls a serious U-turn.
Watching:
Kamen Rider Kuuga, Gotchard
Watched:
KR W, Gaim, Ghost - Build, Geats
Ultraman '66, Leo, Great, Nexus - U7X, Ginga - Blazar
Donbrothers
GS Sho, HwTM, Dogengers S1-4