Going along with what Takenoko has already said, this episode really was all over the place. The A-plot falls flat on its face (more in a second), and in the meantime we have those cringe-worthy skits that add nothing to the story. But then we shift to the final act of the episode where it focuses on the series' lore, and it suddenly gets amazing.
As far as the A-plot goes, it could have been good. A ganglar that's
actually good? How do the Don and his flunkies enforce loyalty to the gang? Or if it was a trap, have it matter; have it be more devious. Instead this episode doesn't go either direction. The MOTW isn't really good, but his situation also doesn't appear to be a trap. The only reason he even reverted to evil was because the collection piece was removed. Everything in the episode corroborates his story that Gauche was stripping safes off of ganglars, and that he bolted for his own safety. But since he turns evil once the piece is removed (and by him no less), he's not a sympathetic character. He's neither a detestable character though, since we hardly get to know the evil version.
Meanwhile for the Pats' involvement in the story, I submit that any time your source of character conflict is when one friend/ally is withholding important information until the end, and for no good reason, then you have written a shitty story. I can think of no reason why Noel would need to withhold that information from Tsukasa. Sharing it doesn't compromise him in any way, and meanwhile
not sharing it makes him look bad. Had Tsukasa been informed earlier, they could have used that fact to their advantage. Instead Noel's actions just served to bring another safe to Gauche. So the entire character conflict was artificial.
And I really wish this had been a better A-plot, because it had all the makings for a good Tsukasa story. Why is she a good person? How does she rise above it all when her core beliefs are challenged? Instead she becomes chummy with the MOTW for flaky reasons, and there's little time to wrap-up her story at the end after the MOTW turns evil. In particular the conflict with Noel is ended, but not resolved. So what could have been a good character focus episode eventually sublimated into nothing. And to add insult to injury entirely too much time was spent on the stupid police skits when it could have been spent on making the A-plot deeper. Plus it just further reinforces that the Pats are the series' comedy relief. Which is incredibly schizophrenic considering how seriously the actual dramatic elements were being taken.
But once all that is done, we're suddenly focusing on lore. And things become awesome! Ganglerstein looks like a true Frankenstein's Monster; a mishmash of parts that don't belong together. And the more safes a monster is made out of, the more dangerous they are. Plus there's a collection piece that counters Good Striker, the good guys' ace in the hole! Gauche isn't screwing around and things are getting serious. (Except then PatRed charges in like an idiot, because he can never be the smart one)
I have no idea what went on behind the scenes at Toei. I think it's clear that this episode was always meant to be a two-parter, so it's not the case of trying to force together unconnected episodes. But everything in this episode before Ganglerstein was a waste of time. Functionally speaking, I'm not sure it does much more than serving as a teaser for next week's episode.
takenoko wrote: ↑Sat Sep 08, 2018 11:53 pm
The shot of the LupinRangers flying in and watching the mecha battle was cool
Agreed. I had that same thought before even seeing the comments. That entire scene, as brief as it was, was executed fantastically. Toei's VFX department did an amazing job compositing that scene; it really does look like the camera is with the Lupins on the side of a building, watching this giant fight from waist-high as spectators. Off the top of my head I cannot think of any previous scene that came this close to integrating the two sizes so well.
Lunagel wrote: ↑Wed Sep 12, 2018 5:16 pm
Okay, this episode has a lot to unpack so let's explaining!
The first sketch with Sakuya was spoofing old Japanese cop dramas. Not any one in particular, just the stereotype.
Hilltop = Robocop.
Jim Carter = Beverly Hills Cop
The detective who loves his wife = Columbo
The dirty magnum investigator = Dirty Harry
Detective who loves tea = Aibou (possibly Poirot?)
Katsudon is a common trope in Japanese cop dramas. No one really knows where it originated but the guy they're interrogating always gets a bowl of katsudon to eat.
Thanks for the breakdown, Luna. I had picked out most of those, but I didn't realize the wife bit was a Columbo reference. (Also, is it bad that I kind of want to get arrested so that I can have some authentic katsudon? :p )
Catastrophe wrote: ↑Thu Sep 13, 2018 4:49 am
Noel is such a shit character. He sees the safe flash and works out what collection piece it is and doesn't say anything. This episode would have been so much better if he was wrong and he learned a lesson for being a smug prick all the time.
He really is. He's been here 11 episodes and he causes more problems than he solves. The frustrating part is that I'm not sure if this is some master plan by the writers - to have him fall so that he can grow as a person - or that they are purposely writing what's essentially a 4th antagonist ranger for the Pats.