REVIEW: Zyuohger 19
Zyuohger has returned after a week-long hiatus, leaving me with two questions: “Why are things moving this quickly?” and “Where did that panda come from?” Well, it actually also left me with a third question: “How can I love and hate this episode at the same time?” Because while a lot of excellent things happen this week (especially involving the increased in-fighting among the bad guys), this episode has left me pessimistic about the show’s long-term pacing.
I know that, considering I honestly enjoy watching Zyuohger, I certainly complain a lot about it: mainly that the filler episodes aren’t great, the characters can be one-dimensional, the half-hearted searches for the King’s Credential and Bird Person are boring, and the pacing is way too quick. But I think my latter argument about pacing is my most valid. We are only on episode 19 and I’m not sure what direction the writers are taking at this point.
The search for the Eagle Zyuman has taken a backseat to the arrival of Zyuoh TheWorld, whose main purposes in life are to beat the crap out of Yamato and to jump into fights when the other Deathgalien players start to lose. After their fight in the river, Yamato finds out that there is an innocent human under the mask, and that he is mentally struggling to escape Master Genis’ clutches. Once Naria sees TheWorld's breakdown, she takes him away with a disturbing mention that he has a few bugs that need fixed. I must admit that this story line has been delightfully creepy. The scene is which Genis “fixes his bugs” is terrifying, and honestly one of the best glimpses we’ve been shown of his evilness.
If we’ve learned anything about Yamato this season it is that he has no human friends and that he is incredibly stubborn. Much of this episode involves him getting pummeled by TheWorld as he tries to help him break the Deathgaliens’ spell. His stubbornness works, but way too quickly in my opinion.
I really feel like this is some weak writing: it is disappointing enough that Misao/TheWorld breaks the spell so easily, but the worst part about this is that he is only used effectively against the Zyuohgers once. This was an opportunity to give the gang some real trouble, but all he does is beat them up a couple times and then cry. I’m not sure if the Deathgaliens even have any plans to recapture him; Naria barely tried before she was told to retreat.
At the very least, it doesn’t seem like Misao is going to become a Zyuohger right away. He has some mental anguish to deal with first, and from the the previews it seems like he’ll also have a confrontation with Azald soon. This possibility excites me because fights involving the Team Leaders usually include higher stakes, and Azald holds a lot of resentment toward TheWorld.
My other issue with this episode were the fights between the Zyuohgers, the silly Bowling Ball monster, and TheWorld. There was no point for Bowlingen’s appearance: even he displays displeasure at TheWorld showing up to his fight almost as soon as it began. The best part about the first fight is that it shows that the other Zyuohgers can easily pick up the slack when Yamato is busy trying to touch lives – Amu’s quick save right before TheWorld finished off Yamato was especially impressive.
Later, when they pull out their mecha, the Zyuoghers once again appear to be outmatched by Tousai Zyuoh. But then Cube Bear inexplicably turns into Cube Panda and messes up TheWorld. And by inexplicable, I mean that when Amu asks how that’s even possible, Leo responds with, “Maybe that’s how Cube Bear hangs tough.” I’m sorry, Leo, but that’s not even close to an answer. Cube Panda is certainly cool, but all Yamato probably had to do was yell something like, “I believe in you!” and TheWorld would have just crumbled and gave up without a fight.
But instead of doing that, Yamato picks the cooler route by leaving Wild Zyuoh King, jumping into Tousai Zyuoh, and pummeling TheWorld in his cockpit. That scene was also too quick, but so good. I always enjoy cockpit fights in my Super Sentai.
Maybe I’m being too critical of Zyuohger. I mean, it is a lot of fun to watch, and just because I have no clue where the story is headed doesn’t mean that the writers don’t. However, I hope that the direction that they have chosen doesn’t lead to a lackluster ending.
