REVIEW: Zyuohger 20
- Jul 7, 2016
- 3 min read
Last week I complained about Zyuohger’s pacing, arguing that TheWorld became a good guy way too quickly. Thankfully, this week showed that TheWorld won’t transition to a Zyuohger won’t be that easy. The difficulties are both mental and social - Misao is still dealing with his brainwashing and torture at the hands of Genis. He is also very, very different from the rest of the gang. This is evident within the first few minutes of the episode, in which Misao displays a comical level of guilt about the Zyumans trapped in his body…and Leo makes fun of him.
Misao has three possible ways to handle his self-imposed guilt: he can give himself up to the Dethgaliens, he can run away, or he can join the Zyuohgers. Of these three, the only option he won’t consider is joining the Zyuohgers. He obviously does join them, but by the end of the episode it is apparent that he still isn’t truly part of the group.
I like Misao. He does a great job of straddling the line between obnoxious sad sack and an unsure, self-conscious individual. Misao’s final decision was great; instead of him just jumping into the fray dressed as TheWorld, he is shown in a struggle with the delusions in his mind. During the fight scenes, he alternates between cocky and self-conscious, single-handedly crushing an enemy in one shot, and then curling up in the corner in another.
The ending was precious: Misao is excited about the prospect of having friends and atoning for his supposed sins. As someone who struggles with anxiety, I found him to be a pretty relatable. The gang’s reactions to him cover a spectrum that I’ve found true in real life: Leo is hurtful and calls him “mentally weak,” Amu just “doesn’t get it” but isn’t mean to him, and Yamato understands Misao’s feelings and reaches out to him.
The award for best fight scene of the episode goes to Yamato and Misao versus Azald and Kubar. At this point, TheWorld is still stronger than Zyuoh Eagle, but they’re given equal coverage and seem to already fight well together. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Azald and Kubar show that deathly rivals don’t make the best tag team. They are easily defeated after Kubar uses Azald as a living shield. Kubar does make a logical point by saying that Azald is immortal, so it seemed like a win-win situation. Azald doesn’t agree. This reminder that Azald is immortal reignites my curiosity as to how he will be defeated – because of course at some point he will be.
My main issue with the episode with everything involving Bowlingen. I forgot he was alive, the Zyuohgers forgot he was alive, and honestly he should have been dead. However, he served as a convenient but bizarre display of TheWorld’s loyalty: TheWorld shows that he can defeat Bowlingen single-handedly using Tousai Zyuoh. This is another point of curiosity for me: is this strength imbalance going to be a consistent thing? At this point, Yamato would have to absorb the powers of a third Zyuman (and acquire his own personal mecha) for this to even out, right? Yamato will always be the heart of the team, but with Misao simultaneously being so physically strong and mentally weak I see the balance of the team changing in all sorts of directions. But this is a good thing. Maybe this swift change to the group dynamics is exactly what Zyuohger needed.
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