REVIEW: Zyuohger 26
Compared to the past several great episodes, this week’s adventure was simply okay. That’s not a terrible thing, nor is it surprising: after so much development through so many consecutive episodes, I’ve expected things to slow down. I’ve also expected more filler. What is surprising is that this isn’t a filler episode; most Super Sentai wedding episodes feature just another Monster of the Week. But this week’s monster was the villain Bangray, and while he does target a wedding, his true target is Yamato.
Speaking of whom, Yamato actually has a friend! (And in the opening scene, the other Zyuohgers look as surprised as I did.) This friend is about to get married and has been trying to contact Yamato for some time. It seems that Yamato had plenty of friends in college, but then chose to fly off the radar after graduation. Maybe Yamato isn’t a loner after all – maybe he’s a hipster who shuns social media and cell phones. Either way, this episode addresses the fact that Yamato can and has actually formed bonds with other humans, so I count it as a decent character development.
This week, the Dethgaliens take a backseat to Bangray’s sadistic vendetta against Yamato. Bangray doesn’t seek to physically hurt him; rather, he knows that psychological damage will last much longer. While it is apparent that Bangray is on Earth to find someone else, he is having a good time breaking down Yamato in the meantime. Luckily for Yamato, he has friends in the other Zyuohgers. In a very sweet scene, the Zyuohgers sans Yamato get their asses kicked by Bangray while trying to stop him from crashing the wedding. The most surprising part of this was how easily Bangray crushed Zyuoh TheWorld, who has been the indestructible, sobbing show-stealer since his debut with the team. I know that Bangray is supposed to be Yamato’s enemy, but Misao has been arguably more powerful than Yamato this whole time.
Yamato's fight against Bangray is incredibly satisfying, though. Yamato gives him a good enough whipping with the EagRiser that Bangray has to retreat, relying on a memory-stolen monster to finish the job. Bangray's power was a smart idea by the writers: the studio has saved money on monster suits and the audience has been saved from watching the boring, failed plots of new monsters.
I appreciated the ending, in which Yamato’s friend acknowledges that Yamato is Zyuoh Eagle/Gorilla. I mean, Uncle Mori probably knows the truth by now, but it was refreshing to show that a regular person can, you know, generate a correct conclusion using context clues. The final minutes of the episode are even better, bringing the return of the best Zyuman on the show: Larri! And as it turns out, he knows the Birdman, Bard. I am excited that both have returned and hopefully we’ll find out more about Bard’s motives soon.
This week’s episode was a good mix of filler and ongoing story. While not as fun or as moving as other recent episodes, it was a good spotlight episode for Yamato and a great time to bring back Bard and Larri. Yamato may have at least one human friend (other than Misao), but he does not have a friend in Bangray. I have to wonder how long Bangray will last. Given the show’s current momentum, I’m sure I’ll find out soon.
