In this episode, Joe remembers his senior, Kaoru Shiba makes her dramatic return and wants the Shinkenger Ranger Keys! What’s more, for the first time, the Gokaigers transforms into the Zyurangers… and get’s beaten and later does a Night Flight reference.
If there is one thing I noticed in this episode is the amount of out of suit action fight scenes, which is really good! Asides from that, I love how well choreographed Joe and Kaoru’s duel. They were able to highlight each other’s sword techniques and making them look like they are even in the battlefield, also Kaoru’s solo fight with an army of Gormins was splendid. If there is one thing I can sum up with the fights in this episode is that, it is eye-popping and makes me want to finish Shinkenger.
As for the in-suit fights, it felt a bit Power Ranger-esque due to the amount of explosions, the Disney wire-fu and the nostalgia with the Zyuranger suits. Seriously, I was actually thinking that I am seeing the MMPR suits in battle and not the Zyuranger suits in battle! Wait, did I just say Disney wire-fu? Guess that this episode was directed by Koichi Sakamoto then!
If there is one thing I can complain in this episode is the lack of Shinkenger focus and they are more focused on Joe’s story. Considering that this is the first part of the two-parter Shinkenger arc, I can let it pass for now. Now back to Joe focus in this episode, it was really good. Joe was I guess, the very first Ranger in this series that was given this kind of treatment. Compared to Luka’s focus last time, they went a bit in-depth about his character and not just give him random flashbacks.
Since I haven’t finished Shinkenger yet (along with Fiveman, Jetman, Dekaranger and Magiranger which I started for some time and end up not finishing it), I will just talk about her in this episode. Kaoru is a badass, she was able to beat Marvelous that caused our Marvelous captain to try cheating! Also, her sword duel with Joe proves how great she is along with the scene in the Gokai Galleon that shows her honor and morale as a samurai. Another thing that I noticed about Kaoru, compared to the previous Reds that appeared and introduced themselves as the red of their team, the ShinkenRed face didn't appear in front of her, could it be that Takeru might appear at the end?
Overall, it was a good opener for a two-parter, they were able to established two things in this episode and that is, this is a Joe focus arc and a Shinkenger arc but sadly, they weren't able to give the proper balance between the two elements and made Joe's past with his senior, Cid the highlight in this episode. Asides from the Joe x Shinkenger focus, this episode also marks Toiles Gils first appearance outside the Gigant Horse, and gives me more reasons to hate the guy asides that his new Action Commander is quite competent that he even single-handedly beat the Gokaigers but decided to fallback due to Gils being shot by Marvelous... and along with his bratty prince attitude.
If there is one thing I noticed in this episode is the amount of out of suit action fight scenes, which is really good! Asides from that, I love how well choreographed Joe and Kaoru’s duel. They were able to highlight each other’s sword techniques and making them look like they are even in the battlefield, also Kaoru’s solo fight with an army of Gormins was splendid. If there is one thing I can sum up with the fights in this episode is that, it is eye-popping and makes me want to finish Shinkenger.
As for the in-suit fights, it felt a bit Power Ranger-esque due to the amount of explosions, the Disney wire-fu and the nostalgia with the Zyuranger suits. Seriously, I was actually thinking that I am seeing the MMPR suits in battle and not the Zyuranger suits in battle! Wait, did I just say Disney wire-fu? Guess that this episode was directed by Koichi Sakamoto then!
If there is one thing I can complain in this episode is the lack of Shinkenger focus and they are more focused on Joe’s story. Considering that this is the first part of the two-parter Shinkenger arc, I can let it pass for now. Now back to Joe focus in this episode, it was really good. Joe was I guess, the very first Ranger in this series that was given this kind of treatment. Compared to Luka’s focus last time, they went a bit in-depth about his character and not just give him random flashbacks.
Since I haven’t finished Shinkenger yet (along with Fiveman, Jetman, Dekaranger and Magiranger which I started for some time and end up not finishing it), I will just talk about her in this episode. Kaoru is a badass, she was able to beat Marvelous that caused our Marvelous captain to try cheating! Also, her sword duel with Joe proves how great she is along with the scene in the Gokai Galleon that shows her honor and morale as a samurai. Another thing that I noticed about Kaoru, compared to the previous Reds that appeared and introduced themselves as the red of their team, the ShinkenRed face didn't appear in front of her, could it be that Takeru might appear at the end?
Overall, it was a good opener for a two-parter, they were able to established two things in this episode and that is, this is a Joe focus arc and a Shinkenger arc but sadly, they weren't able to give the proper balance between the two elements and made Joe's past with his senior, Cid the highlight in this episode. Asides from the Joe x Shinkenger focus, this episode also marks Toiles Gils first appearance outside the Gigant Horse, and gives me more reasons to hate the guy asides that his new Action Commander is quite competent that he even single-handedly beat the Gokaigers but decided to fallback due to Gils being shot by Marvelous... and along with his bratty prince attitude.
