King-Ohger 45 discussion post

[takenoko]

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Ratings for last episode: 3.63 out of 5 (8 votes)

Lord Bee looks so weird in a cgi empty room

Will we ever get a backstory for Morphonya?

Wow they can fit bee sister in the cage too

Is burnt bee supposed to look like an oni?

Okaythe baby thing is getting lame. Not only because it's a repeat thing, but also because it's stupid

Oh yes, Racles' famous kuwagon impression

What are they looking at? Is NKsopa still electrified?

What song is this?

That's some CGI looking ice there

Wait, let's have a few more scenes of Racles doing the up up with Gira

Okay, let's talk about the episode. On paper, it's what I want. More time with the outliers, some time away from the primary color trio and Racles. We even get a little Morphonya backstory. Combining these stories didn't quite work as well as combining the powers

I think the problem is that Morphonya is an interesting character, and probably should have been the main focus of the episode. Suzume is also an interesting character, but despite all her scheming, all she really wants to do is get married. So not even to make it a feminist thing, it's just kind of boring as a motivation

It's also a weird swap of characters? Suzume should have been having meaningful talk with her husband, instead she's talking to Rita for some reason? Not a bad episode, but it's a real monkey paw way of having your wish granted

Also, political marriages are a big thing in these Game of Throne type dramas. If lord bee dies, Suzume can still succeed him. It's not like she can't be the successor just because she's married

I guess next week with have Himeno and Jeremie pairing off?

[Yaiba]

A catchy insert song.

Kind of nice to have some time with the two adults of the team, addressing Kaguragi and Rita suppressed emotions. They're also the only two who thought about successors even before Raclus mentioned it. I agree this should have been two separate episodes so they have more time to dive deeper into more the relationships between all the characters.

Kaguragi's fire and Rita's ice cancelled out the self burning and freezing. What is Gira's crown's power and how does it work with Yanma's lighting? It's so Gira can punch him in the face when needed?

Kaguragi turned into a typical red oni lol

As soon as Minongan died, Geroujiimu popped right back out after disappearing for so long. Did they only have the budget to pay Seki Tomokazu to act for one character

I'm so glad the baby thing didn't take up the bulk of the episode.

[ViRGE]

I liked this episode. But it does get dragged down a bit by indulging itself in some of King-Ohger's bad habits.

It's been a while since the retainers/assistants/aides/minions have received much of a focus. After they tried to kill their masters a good 15 or so episodes ago, that's kind of been it. So it's good to get some of them squared away before the series moves into its endgame. And especially in this case, for all the screen time that Suzume and Morphonya have received, they've mostly been playing straight-man to whatever antics are going on, or are being used to move the plot forward (e.g. Suzume delivering important intel).

This episode ends up being a bit heavy-handed to get there, though. On top of de-aging a bunch of people again, it's yet another flashback-focused episode. Every series is going to have its flashbacks and secrets, but King-Ohger in particular has a very hard time telling its story in the present time. So very often when we get a major piece of lore, it's something that happened in the past that the rest of the characters (and the audience) are only finally being informed of in the present. It's not a massive faux pas, but it's certainly become ingrained as a tradition for this series.

I don't believe we've previously been told that Morphonya is a child of criminals, but I am in no way surprised by it. Gokkan's whole thing is that it's effectively a Siberian penal colony, so unless you're the ruler, you probably aren't big on being there. Which means if you are there, you have to be! Though while this does give her a backstory, I'm not sure it informs us of much? Her reversion seems to have been un-learning 10 or so years of empathy, rather than anything crime related. Either way, it's good that she and Rita finally had their heart-to-hear (or equivalent thereof, at least).

Suzume's story is weirder. We already knew her backstory, so her 10 year gap is the time she's been hanging out with Racles. I think Takenoko hit it on the nose, here: the schemer who really just wants to be a wife is a boring story. Not that everything needs to be overly dramatic or convoluted, but she's been such an oddball, enigmatic character so far that it's just kind of a letdown to find out that there isn't some big plan she's working on. It's sweet, but it's empty calories, narratively-speaking.

Otherwise, Rita and Kaguragi are sort of in the back seat for this episode. They're the focus Ohgers, but they've already had plenty of plot development, and thus the fewest unresolved plot threads at this point. Nothing here about their motivations treads new ground as a result. But it's still important that they've finally had their conversations with Morphonya/Suzume, albeit in a roundabout way that is truly fitting for a Kaguragi episode.

I still find the whole King's Symbol plot to be a mess on multiple levels - it still feels tacked-on - but I will give the writers some credit here for making each ruler's super secret power something antithetical to their kingdom. Kaguragi and fire is inspired, and while Rita's ice powers were divulged half a series ago, I can work with this quasi-retcon. Especially as the series finally delivers on a way for her to use said power without sacrificing herself. (As an aside, I still have no idea what Gira's power is supposed to be)

And finally, the rest of the Ohgers get whammied yet again to keep them out of the story. I really should go back and count up the number of times that Yanma in particular has been brainwashed, incapacitated, de-aged, or otherwise tied up to keep him out of a story. Everyone who isn't Gira gets plenty of that treatment (and here he gets it himself for once), but I feel like he gets it the most.

Wow they can fit bee sister in the cage too

I actually kind of feel bad for the actors on that one. They fit, but that is not a big cage. So it's a tight fit.

What are they looking at? Is NKsopa still electrified?

That's the stock background for Ishabana; NKsopa normally delivers electricity to all of the other kingdoms. It's a nice touch thematically, but for better or worse, it always looks a bit out of place.

Also, political marriages are a big thing in these Game of Throne type dramas. If lord bee dies, Suzume can still succeed him. It's not like she can't be the successor just because she's married

I think it's because she hasn't (and wouldn't) be around to learn from him as his successor. But I agree it's not the strongest plot point.

I guess next week with have Himeno and Jeremie pairing off?

As expected. Both of them have a major bone to pick with Grodie.

What is Gira's crown's power and how does it work with Yanma's lighting? It's so Gira can punch him in the face when needed?

I can just imagine the meeting with the actors: "You get power over electricity. And you get the power to punch people in the face!"

I'm so glad the baby thing didn't take up the bulk of the episode.

Ditto. Besides being redundant, the pacifiers were kind of creepy, especially with Yanma. Meanwhile, I don't even know what to say about that bit at the end, with Himeno coming-to with a strange object in her mouth, all while looking up wide-eyed at a grinning Jeremie.

[takenoko]

>Suzume's story is weirder. We already knew her backstory, so her 10 year gap is the time she's been hanging out with Racles. I think Takenoko hit it on the nose, here: the schemer who really just wants to be a wife is a boring story. Not that everything needs to be overly dramatic or convoluted, but she's been such an oddball, enigmatic character so far that it's just kind of a letdown to find out that there isn't some big plan she's working on. It's sweet, but it's empty calories, narratively-speaking.

It's even weirder because on paper she is pretty interesting. When she shows up as a support character, she's often the one doing the scheming for her brother. And here... she even tries to assassinate Racles right off the bat. But no, deep down, all she wants to do is be a bride

[Phoenix512]

I think you guys are missing a key thing about Suzume wanting to be a bride. She would be easily a bride to some random political marriage but she doesn't want to be a bride in sake of being a bride. She wants to be a bride to the person she loves. If you consider how both her and Kaguragi weren't part of the lineage of Tofu royalty, she might be able to be a bride to the person she loves. But since Kaguragi ended up becoming Tofu's king, Suzume's chances of being a bride to the person she loves drop dramatically. I think initially Suzume wanted to kill Racles so she can continue to find a person she can love while following Kaguragi's orders. Obviously she change over time and became the person who we see now.

[Lunagel]

I think you guys are missing a key thing about Suzume wanting to be a bride. She would be easily a bride to some random political marriage but she doesn't want to be a bride in sake of being a bride. She wants to be a bride to the person she loves. If you consider how both her and Kaguragi weren't part of the lineage of Tofu royalty, she might be able to be a bride to the person she loves. But since Kaguragi ended up becoming Tofu's king, Suzume's chances of being a bride to the person she loves drop dramatically. I think initially Suzume wanted to kill Racles so she can continue to find a person she can love while following Kaguragi's orders. Obviously she change over time and became the person who we see now.

I definitely didn't consider that angle but I have to wonder if you're giving the writers too much credit XD

It is however, a point to consider that the word she used 嫁 (yome), while it does mean "bride", it also means "wife". It's an affectionate term when used referring to your own wife. So it's not just that she wants to get married, she wants a marriage of love.

[takenoko]

Well no, I don't dislike Suzume's story about being a bride because it was bad story telling. With Rita, her memory reset created a conflict for Rita. Should they kill the monster and risk dooming her friend to being the world's biggest cop?

With Suzume, what is the main conflict of her losing her memories? She doesn't remember falling in love with Racles, but that gets fixed if they just get rid of Minongan. Is the conflict Tofu king wanting his sister back or letting her go to be with Racles? If this were a plot point, it wasn't clear to me. This is in addition to Suzume being kind of a fun schemer, but not really doing any scheming here (aside from trying to kill Racles). We don't learn that much about her character's personality or what she wants (besides wanting to get married). So that's why this was a disappointing Suzume episode for me

[SVNBob]

[Kaguragi and Rita]'re also the only two who thought about successors even before Raclus mentioned it.

Well, Yanma kinda has. He's set up N'kosopa as being a technocracy with the "best hacker" as the President, with everyone able to challenge for the right to be the President at any time via a hack battle. And the whole country knows those rules. All he has to do is tell his people that they need to do a tournament or something to see who would be his successor, and they'd just roll with it until someone was declared the winner.

But I'm pretty sure he also knows exactly who the real #2 hacker is, and would thus be his successor.