REVIEW: Zyuohger 25
Zyuohger’s good streak continues with a Leo and Misao episode! In the first couple episodes, Leo was my favorite male character. But my enthusiasm for him quickly wilted as I found his loud, rude nature less endearing and more obnoxious. My impression of him grew even worse after Misao’s arrival, as Leo hurts and mocks him constantly. This ticked me off immensely because I can relate to Misao’s lack of confidence. I also hate it because Leo, in his typical Leo-style, would of course pick the easy target. But in this episode Misao proves that he is not always a pushover.
As much as I enjoyed Misao and Tusk’s interactions in their episode a few weeks ago, I liked the ending of this one better. It shows that you don’t, can’t, and shouldn’t be friends with everyone. There are going to be people who will rub you the wrong way, and will be totally unforgiving about this. After camera-themed player Shashinger captures the rest of the gang, Misao snaps at Leo, admitting that he hates Leo just as much as Leo hates him. Ultimately the two find some level of respect through (aggressive) teamwork, but they will probably never find any common ground beyond wanting to save the Earth. It almost seems that by the end of the episode they will be friends, with them fishing together much like Misao and Tusk did. But this fishing trip ends in a fist fight in a river, which to me is the much more fun and realistic ending.
On the other end of things, Bangray continues to be a great addition to the show, serving as a catalyst for the Dethgaliens’ and Kubar’s ongoing storylines. In fact, in this episode we learn more about Kubar than we have in the past several months. There is a ton of tension and a dash of mystery, with Bangray revealing that, while attacking Kubar in the previous episode, he had seen the memories of who had destroyed Kubar’s home planet. Combine that mention with the fact that the Dethgaliens call Genis their “owner” and Kubar’s tense final scene alongside Genis, and it reveals that the Dethgaliens probably all have their own tragic backstory.
The only issue I had with this episode was the Monster of the Week: who uses disposable cameras anymore? I feel like this is a worn out gimmick from past seasons and it should have been left in the 90’s. However, this was probably because he was inspired by past Sentai monsters. The only realistic part of the gimmick was that Misao fell for the trick. Oh, and that Leo and Misao would use the goofiest tactic ever to defeat him…after messing up the first attempt.
I hope you, my lovely reader, are not growing sick of these increasingly positive reviews. I could and have tried to find issues with Zyuohger. I have indeed found many issues with the show, but it has still kept my attention. Not only that, but my excitement for the show has grown as the weeks have passed. It feels like Zyuohger is going somewhere great – and while I could be terribly wrong and hate this show by wintertime, it has kept my interest much longer than Ninninger and a few other recent Super Sentai series have. As an “anniversary” season, Zyuohger is reaching my expectations.
