REVIEW: Zyuohger 14
I was disappointed by last week’s episode and expected episode 14 to be more of the same useless searching and superficial spotlighting of different characters. While this episode does focus on Amu, the story was much better than last week’s “love triangle.” Leo’s obnoxious crushing on the parakeet-loving girl in last week’s episode was boring and made Leo increasingly unsympathetic in my eyes. But Amu’s actions in this episode made me like her even more, even if (and maybe because) the story ended on a somehwat sad note.
Amu isn’t the only character who gets some much-needed screen time: Ginis and the Dethgaliens experience some potential changes. We are introduced to two of Jagd’s minions. (Remember Jagd? He’s the Team Leader who is killed in the first episode.) These minions wish to become Team Leaders in honor of him. Master Ginis, of course, turns this into a game: whichever minion entertains him the most will become a Team Leader. This is a great prospect, considering there are only currently two team leaders. While their rivalry is great, this means that each episode involves one of only two strategy styles. A new Team Leader could spice things up.
Unfortunately, this week we were treated to the exploits of the less powerful, more annoying of the two minions: Youthief, whose only saving grace is his enhanced stealth abilities. I did find his goofiness amusing; I’m a fan of Monsters of the Week with some personality, and Youthief is full of personality. And himself. And not much else. He’d be an easy kill for the Zyuohgers normally, but they are easily duped by his silly lies and stealth power.
Amu’s story features a common trope in, well, pretty much anything and especially Japanese media: she meets a brother who is working his butt off to pay for an overseas, life-saving surgery for his sick little sister. Past episodes have left me with the impression that Amu is practical, cunning, and mainly just a fan of eating cakes and spending Yamato’s money. I’ve never thought of her to be a bad person or a bad character, but even so this episode does a good job of displaying her sympathetic side. We find that even though she swallows her feelings about missing home, she can also become very emotional and aggressive if she learns that an innocent person has been mistreated. It was also nice to see her fight so hard – I’m a fan of episodes where the most girly member gets the badass fight scene because hey, she’s capable.
Youthief is a silly monster, but Naria puts him in his place, telling him that he needs to do a better job and to steal something big for Ginis. Naria’s aggression and her obedience to Ginis are overwhelming, and I think she would be well-suited for a Team Leader position. Maybe there will be a big upset later in the series? Zyuohger has both surprised and disappointed me so much that there’s no way I can predict anything.
Youthief manipulates Fuwa (the stressed-out older brother) and bribes him to betray the Zyuohgers. Fuwa’s (and by extension, Amu’s) story is quite sad. Because he decides to do the right thing, his sister’s fate is left in the air at the end of the episode. While the sweet Amu says she’ll cheer him on, Fuwa already seems defeated, as if he knows he just lost his last chance to save his sister. I appreciate this dark, open ending in which Amu saves the day but ultimately fails Fuwa and his sister.
Next week’s episode focuses on the second, more competent of Jagd’s minions, Huntelder, who uses another stealthy tactic: sniping the Zyuohgers. It doesn’t look like next week will have a focus on any particular character, but that’s not necessary. Zyuohger is only doing an okay job at developing the gang right now, so I would much rather have a well-done, standalone episode at this point.
