REVIEW: Zyuohger 9
Can I call this a Groundhog Day episode if the characters are trapped in the same dream rather than the same day? Oh well, I’m going to do it anyway, and Sela is this episode’s Bill Murray.
The episode opens in the heat of battle against an already giant Deathgalien. ZyuohKing slashes monster Hanayaida to bits, and then the gang heads home. Sela mysteriously asks to use Yamato’s desk while the others plan lunch, but then they sense a Deathgalien…Hanayaida, whom they fight again with the exact same moves and dialogue before returning home and repeating it all over again.
Kubar is pleased with Hanayaida’s tactics: our Monster of the Week sprayed “nightmare perfume” on the Zyuohgers during battle, causing them to fall asleep. He has also knocked out most of the pedestrians in the area as well, to give him time and space to grow a massive, evil carnivorous plant that will consume all of the sleeping humans. The speculative scene depicting the plants destruction was actually pretty jarring, considering this is a children’s show. I usually prefer Azald’s monsters, but Kubar impressed me here: he was the first of the two to think, “Hey, if we just stealthily drug the Zyuohgers, we can destroy the world while they aren’t looking.” Seems simple enough, but of course Yamato and the gang figure it out.
Well, actually Sela is the first to figure it out, having heard someone screaming for help in the real world. They quickly sense the Deathgalien’s presence, and when they run out to fight it Sela is also the first to notice that he is very, very familiar. She quickly convinces Yamato that this is more than déjà vu, but Leo…well, he’s just excited to fight. When she and Yamato predict Hanayaida’s last words, the gang is convinced, and starts working on a way to escape the illusion.
One thing that I’ve come to appreciate about Zyuohger is that is has already shown a variety of ways to execute the typical Super Sentai story line, jumping in at various point in the action while not being afraid to look back or ahead. I suppose they’ve had forty years to perfect and experiment with the genre, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Zyuohger surprises me nearly every week.
The Zyuohgers try to pinpoint the moment when they were trapped within the illusion, prompting Yamato to remember a personal conversation between him and Sela that morning. He woke up to find her crying in the living room, looking at a hologram of her family. (Her little shark brother wears a baseball cap…it is beyond adorable.) Today was a special day for her family, and she hoped to return to Zyuland in time for it. Yamato is supportive, and suggests that she write letters to her family. He also promises not to tell anyone, a promise that he breaks when he retells this story in front of everyone.
Because of this revelation, Yamato is able to wake himself and the others up. Well, Tusk takes a little time to get as awake at the others; his heightened sense of smell is once again his downfall. While they finish connecting the pieces, Hanayaida’s Canibuli Bulb is almost ready…but there is a cube-shaped plot device stuck in its roots. I believe in the following shot that Sela hearing the cube underground is what she heard begging for help in her dream.
Sela’s hearing leads the gang to Hanayaida’s hideout, just in time for the Canibuli Bulb to bloom. They luck is running out, but right before they are eaten by evil plant, a deus ex machina in the form of Cube Mole breaks free from the plant’s roots and destroys everything Hanayaida has created. The Zyuohgers crush Hanayaida and Kubar’s dreams, and further crush giant Hanayaida in battle in the form of ZyuohWild.
Cube Mole isn’t as weird as Cube Giraffe – in fact, his drill/their new move Zyuoh Break certainly comes in handy and makes more sense than a giraffe turning into a gun.
Following the battle, the Zyumans reminisce about their families and their distant homeland. Yamato cheers them up by promising that they will return home soon. But then the conversation gets weird when Sela asks Yamato about his parents. The conclusion is open-ended as Yamato and Uncle Mori both dodge the question.
As much as I like the writers opening this new mystery, the previews for the next episode excite me more because of Master Ginis’ grand debut on Earth – a debut that is happening much earlier than I had expected! Speaking of premature debuts, next episode will provide us with the first non-flashback appearance of a certain Bird Person…
