REVIEW: Zyuohger 23
This week’s episode features a new villain and a spark of romance, and one of these excited me much more than the other. Let’s see if you can figure out which I preferred by the end of this review!
As the last episode before the summer movie premieres, this is a great example of Zyuohger at its best: with a fun, surprising fight, juicy Dethgalien drama, and deeper character interaction. It is also a nice diversion from the past few weeks of TheWorld domination, but I’m still enjoying Misao’s struggles to fit in with the group. The Dethgaliens’ internal issues reach a low point, with Master Ginis growing incredibly bored of Earthlings and Kubar and Azald’s lackluster players. But with the entry of a new alien rival, Bangray, the blood game promises to once again pick up steam.
Remember a couple months ago when Jagd’s former minions competed to be the third team leader? I was incredibly excited by this prospect until I saw them both fail. Neither were as powerful as Kubar or Azald, so neither deserved to be team leaders. However, it made me wish for a good third leader to appear. I was giddy when Bangray was recruited by Ginis, but I also wonder how long he will last. The fact that he is a solo Megabeast Hunter and doesn't seem suited to be a minion makes me think that his personal motives will conflict with what Ginis wants. This possibility has some great potential.
On the Zyuohgers’ side of things, we were shown a few hints at a future romance. I am not disappointed by the budding romance between Yamato and Amu, but I am disappointed that the hints shown in the third episode were ignored in the next nineteen episodes. I’m not asking for much here: as much as I loved Jetman, I don’t need my Super Sentai to be romantic. However, their interactions would feel less wooden if there was any tension or awkwardness implied at any point within the last, say, five months. I don’t expect nor do I want it to be as obvious as Yamato blatantly flirting with her. This would be incredibly out of character for him anyway, and his mixture of cute and aloof is why I like him and what sets him apart from Leo and Misao. Early on I had the feeling that he and Amu would develop feelings for each other, but after weeks of nothing I dismissed the possibility. Given the character and relationship developments shown in the past few months, the more developed potential couples I could see would be Yamato and Sela or even Misao and Tusk! That’s how little interaction Yamato and Amu has had in comparison to almost everyone else.
Aside from new characters and new romance, there were a few other notable points in this episode. First is the mysterious reappearance of forgettable player Noborizon, who the Zyuohgers most definitely killed weeks ago. Also mysterious is how Noborizon appears, although the next episode is going to show us in the most heartbreaking manner possible how exactly Bangray did it.
This was a great episode of Zyuohger because it surprised me and surpassed by usual expectations for the show. If it can make me take its attempts at romance more seriously in future episodes I will be even more impressed.
