resop2 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:02 pm
This was a filler episode to the max.
As utterly strange as it is to call an episode with a new robo introduction
filler, I actually have to agree with this.
The A plot is Tsubasa's adventure, where he learns nothing, remembers nothing, and there are no consequences in the end. For what should have been a character focus episode (since we're doing a block of those), it's a letdown. I
think there was supposed to be a point here about him learning to trust other people? But since he couldn't reach them, it comes off more as subverting the trope than advancing the character. 23 episodes in and he's still the dude pining for another man's wife and whom has no idea who his teammates are or why he's doing any of this.
Meanwhile, things are getting crazy in Jirou-land. I rather enjoyed his little B plot of going home to visit his friends and how, while they think he's daffy, they admire him for chasing his dream. After the last Jirou focus episode had the girl flake out, this puts his old friends in a better light. And I love the zinger of him blowing the girl's mind in the end by transforming as he left, proving he wasn't daffy after all.
And then we get to the fighting. Jirou splits into his good and bad halves for reasons? And they each have their own copies of his weapon and can transform on their own? Even for a series that's been playing things fast and loose, it really doesn't make any sense. And the compositing to have both Jirous together was surprisingly poorly done; Sentai's done the same trick better before.
Side note: kudos to Jirou's actor for his Torabolt voice. That has to be hell on his throat, but it sounds distinct and evil
But it was certainly interesting seeing both versions of Jirou fight at once. And they got to fight the MOTW this time! There's a long(ish) take of about 8 seconds of very busy fight choreography with all 3 of them that was really well done (especially Torabolt going over the halberd), so kudos for that. DonBrothers hasn't really done much in the way of big set piece fights thus far (it's clear that Toei is cutting back on the action sequences for this one), so it's nice to see something that's not a couple of quick strikes and then a cut.
The real stand-out here, however, was the mecha fight. And for the first time all season, Toei delivers the goods with a fight that lives up to what a robo/6th introduction fight should be. Ignoring for the moment that Jirou is fighting alongside himself, it was a very good fight that didn't excessively rely on CGI. It was kinetic and it's clear that the Toradragon suit is light/flexible enough to move around in, so there was plenty of physical contact between the two combatants. The bits of wire-fu were an extra nice touch, as well.
I'm not sold on the robo design itself, mostly because of the silly shoulder pieces. Purple and gold is also a very weird color combination. Still, it fits with the series.
Also, if you watch the Anon subs, watch out for a typo at 08:34: "You have to admit that Jirou-kun is the only one who
haven't given up on his childhood dream."
takenoko wrote: ↑Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:15 pm
lol, why do the girls go from "this weird obvious not dog is cute" to throwing rocks at Tsubasa?
The whole logic of the situation is weird. He's obviously not an actual dog.
Suddenly Jirou has a Robotarou form. Also, the DaiRanger change didn't showcase any DaiRanger attacks or moves... I hate that Jirou's tiger form is purple, there's already a purple ranger!
What I don't understand is why Torabolt is silver in color but his mecha is purple. Unlike the golden dragon, it doesn't even match the ranger using it. I'm hoping this isn't just a coincidence and there's a reason Robobolt is the same color as Murasame. But the utter randomness and sudden appearances of things like rangers and power-ups in this series is starting to shake my faith in Toei's/Inoue's long-term planning.
Gotta admit, pretty good melee from the two martial arts sentai
Was it? They only fought for 13 seconds before Jirou showed up.
They could have used a cool ancient china or cyberpunk night city look for the background. Why this weird Arizona desert looking place?
I have to agree with you there. They were obviously going for a setting that strongly contrasted against the normal cyberpunk setting used for robo fights. But the change seems arbitrary, and nothing about it feels like it matches Jirou's themes.
takenoko wrote: ↑Sat Aug 06, 2022 11:01 pm
Lunagel wrote: ↑Sat Aug 06, 2022 10:49 pm
Maybe cause Jan was always super loud?
Yeah that's kind of what I was wondering too. Kind of meta...
Wasn't one of Jan's special abilities that he could hear trouble (zowazowa) before it arrived? It's still a very weak connection, but if they're not going meta, then that might be it?
HowlingSnail wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 11:08 am
They really didn't think this gimmick through. Limiting them to colours means they have to keep making up excuses to keep one of them away for any teams that don't fit their exact colour scheme. They really should have done the Gokaiger thing of matching up counterparts.
At this point I'm forced to agree. Limiting team transformations in such a fashion is creating really convoluted setups in order to get rid of a DonBro to make the rest of the lineup work. While it does set gimmick apart from Gokaiger, the lack of flexibility is hurting the storytelling, especially with this week's A plot.
Rider Cure Man wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 5:56 pm
I feel like this plot is at a Standstill since Episode 18
Don Murasame is still mysterious
Nouto are at this point comic relief and Anti-Heroes
Jyuto have done jack shit and are basically MIA
and Tsubasa still hasn't releveled himself to the team
We're in a stretch of character focus episodes, so the fact that the big plot points aren't moving forward is not entirely unexpected. Most Sentai series have a block of character focus episodes around episode 20 or so, so in a sense we were due. But the lack of traditional storytelling means that this series suffers from a lack of plot/arc resolutions to begin with, so the entire aimless wandering impression is being exacerbated.
the end bit with Tsubasa turning back while eating the dog food only a few seconds later to continue while the little girl go's back to petting him reluctantly was pretty funny to me
Statistically speaking, that's the only time in your life you're going to get to pet a 6 foot tall TV star, little girl. So enjoy it while it lasts!