REVIEW: Zyuohger 8
This week’s episode focuses on Leo and his special power: being REALLY LOUD. It opens with the gang still handing out flyers for the missing Zyuoh Cube. Really? I thought they had stopped that tactic after the third episode. Amu once again does not care, and buys dessert instead. Meanwhile, Leo is trying but he is growing bored. Team parent Tusk chastises him for not taking their search seriously. Leo’s response to this is to wander off in search of something more entertaining.
Leo quickly finds a new adventure in a young man wearing headphones, jamming to music. Leo has never seen headphones before (how long have they been on Earth now?) but he’s very excited so he steals the headphones from the man and asks him, “What are these?” Now, I’ve met some weird people at the bus stop but this human, Daisuke, has inadvertently found himself in a world of weird.
Daisuke is a musician, and Leo loves his music! In fact, Leo loves his music so much that he has to yell really loud about it. Daisuke tells him that he has a big audition tomorrow, and now I’ve figured out the rest of the plot.
This episode is weak, because it is more predictable than usual and it plays like a bad after-school special. It promises just a single twist, which proves to be incredibly disappointing. This twist is connected to our Monster of the Week, Yabiker, who is a motorcycle monster who is…REALLY, REALLY LOUD.
Yabiker rides into a group of pedestrians and lays on his horn, the sound of which drives people mad and makes them yell, “Bwananana-nananana!” Team Leader Azald thinks this is a grand tactic. I think he’s getting desperate, while Ginis thinks this display is “delightfully comical.”
Leo hears the chaos, and runs toward it – while wearing Daisuke’s headphones. Daisuke chases after him, becomes the victim of Yabiker’s horn, goes mad, and punches Leo in the face. The other Zyuohgers appear, unprepared for the enemy. Sela, with her super hearing, quickly goes mad, doing a weird dance and punching Yamato. While wearing his new friend’s headphones, Leo is able to scare off Yabiker, bringing everyone back to normal.
Except Daisuke, that is. The musician who really needs his hands to play guitar for his big audition tomorrow seriously injured them by wildly punching a stone pillar several times. Daisuke is devastated and Leo is full of guilt.
Yabiker returns to space, upset that he was so easily defeated by the daring tactic of covering one’s ears. The worst Monster of the Week so far, he promises that he will make some upgrades. You know, I think my disappointment stems from the fact that a motorcycle-themed monster sounds cool on paper but Yabiker is not. He’s fast but this isn’t really utilized. I’d imagine that a cooler motorcycle-related power could have been given to him, but at least his loudness makes him a good match for the focal character of this episode, Leo.
Back at Atelier Mori, the gang equip themselves with headphones in preparation for their next encounter with Yabiker. However, they try to convince Sela that the headphones won’t be enough for her sensitive hearing, and that she should stay home. Amu is perhaps a little too blunt about this.
Sela isn’t having any of it. She wants revenge, and she is stubborn in the best ways. Plus, she ends up having the last laugh at their final battle.
That night, Leo hangs out with Daisuke. He tries to convince him to go to the audition, even though he can barely hold or play his guitar. Daisuke goes from being on the verge of tears to yelling at Leo, blaming him for ruining everything for him. Leo, in his charming straightforward fashion, says Daisuke is correct. Leo then gets himself so worked up that he turns into his Zyuman form right in front of the poor guy! I have a feeling that Daisuke will be avoiding bus stops for a while. I have to give kudos to the actor playing Daisuke for his strong “WTF?!” performance in this scene.
On the day of the big audition, Yabiker returns to Earth, with his upgraded power: the power of being EVEN LOUDER than before. Wow. Azald couldn’t have given him some poisonous exhaust fumes, or anything involving flames? Before he is able to unleash his ultra-loudness into the world, he is stopped by the Zyuohgers (sans Leo.) This time they are prepared, with Sela being super-prepared with headphones, a couple scarves and a helmet on top of her helmet. In other news, I love Sela even more than I did before.
Yabiker unleashes his new, terrible sound…and everyone but Sela goes mad. Sela is left confused between an evil motorcycle and her friends, who are hitting each other with their Zyuoh Busters in sword mode.
In another part of town, Leo senses the Deathgalien but seeks to first wish Daisuke luck on his audition. He is pleased to see that his friend has decided to try out; he was swayed by Leo’s logic that if a lion likes his music, then everyone will. Daisuke has apparently accepted that Leo is not human. In fact his reaction to it is to simply ask Leo if he can touch his tail, which seems a little rude honestly.
Back to the battle, Sela finds herself overwhelmed. Thankfully, Leo has finished his bro bonding time and is ready to kick some mechanical butt. While Daisuke is auditioning with a guitar pick taped to his hand, Leo is putting on his friend’s headphones and challenging Yabiker. Without transforming, Leo attacks Yabiker and surprises him by cancelling out his terrible noise with Leo’s own terrible noise. Leo then punches him in the face, causing motor oil to fly everywhere.
Leo finally transforms and thrashed Yabiker horn with his claws. With the horn broken, the other Zyuohgers are released from his maddening spell. Together they make quick work of Yabiker, with an interesting finishing move in which the Leo uses his own finishing attack next to the others while they are in formation. In fact, the battle showcases Leo’s fighting abilities, which are admittedly quite good. In the fourth episode, his moves while fighting against and later alongside Sela were superior to hers, and he seems to uses his claw attacks more often than Amu.
Naria gives Yabiker a Continue, and suddenly the battle becomes unbalanced. Yabiker’s power increase is great, but in comparison to past Monsters of the Week it is unusual. Yabiker didn’t stand a chance against Leo earlier, but now the Zyuohgers are somehow so lacking that they have to use both Zords to defeat him. On the plus side, we have the chance to see ZyuohKing and ZyuohWild fight together for the first time.
And it is awesome. Cube Gorilla, Elephant and Tiger first transform into ZyuohWild but struggle against Yabiker’s speed (which is finally utilized!) Leo beckons Yamato to switch to ZyuohKing, which Yamato does by changing to Zyuoh Eagle and summoning Cube Eagle. He, Cube Lion and Shark combine into ZyuohKing while Tusk and Amu man ZyuohWild. They complete a double finish with Wild Cannon Beam and Zyuoh Slash, destroying Yabiker. This is by far the best part of the episode.
The episode ends with Leo following up with Daisuke: how did his audition go? Well, he failed: the whole broken hand thing turned out to be a hindrance for the guitarist. However, the music agency wants him to return in the future. He is excited to have something to work towards, and he thanks Leo for his (loud) support. Leo’s response? Express his happiness by being REALLY LOUD, hurting Daisuke’s and Sela’s ears in the process.
Okay, upon my first viewing I was disappointed with this episode. While watching it for the second time, I found Leo more endearing. I enjoyed seeing both megazords fight, but I wish their combo fighting debut would have been against a more worthy opponent. The preview for the next episode is very ambiguous, with references to beauty and nightmares. Sela is also shown crying, which means she probably also kicks some butt. I am looking forward to what I hope is a better villain than Yabiker!
