REVIEW: Kyuranger 16
Holy shit.
HOLY SHIT.
Now that I’ve got that out of my system: holy shit, this episode turned dark.
Spoilers ahead.
Main character death is not completely unheard of in Super Sentai, and when it happens it tends to be the Black Ranger (the most infamous example being Gai/Black Condor from Jetman – though this Black Ranger/pilot death trope crosses over into anime as well, like Voltron/GoLion). I fully anticipated this episode to get dark and scary, but with the typical happy or at least neutral “we’re safe for now” endings of previous serious Kyuranger episodes. But I was impressed (though upset) that my favorite member, Champ, was blown up so brutally. To have the episode end with his mangled body on the table of their ship was jarring, especially given the bright cute color scheme of the scenery - scenery where most of the comic relief happens in the show.
Yes, Champ is a robot, so there will likely be a happy ending eventually – but I don’t know if that is 100% certain, given Lucky’s promise that if the Kyurangers have justice on their side, then Champ will be fine. This could be some dark foreshadowing of future team failures. He could return without his memories, or not at all. The brother-like bond that has slowly developed between Stinger and Champ needs some sort of conclusion, though. Stinger will greatly develop because of this experience, but it’s always a shame when character development is the result of the death of a good character.
This was of course a highlight episode for Stinger, and his actor takes advantage of it: happy acting, devastated acting, and some decent singing. Stinger often comes across as an over-dramatic Sasuke-level emo, but some scenes (particularly when he asks to be killed) were incredibly convincing and moving. His reticent loner persona also broke down easily, with the episode ending with him flipping out.
In other news, Madako’s death and subsequent resurrection brought a new, seductive personality, which I find an improvement to her last fangirl-ish one. Her fight against the Kyurangers was not particularly interesting, though. I'm starting to notice a (probably unintentional) pattern of her dying and/or coming back in episodes where much more interesting things are happening. Given that Madako is a cool villain, this is a shame. At this point in the series, I doubt she'll ever do much of consequence.
While he’s definitely going to be placed on the back burner for a bit, I am very curious about where Scorpio is headed. Will he become the main villain or will Don Armage remain the big bad? We know so little about Armage that I may be assuming that he’s weaker than he is. In fact, he seems to be the only character that the writers have made mysterious. We know at least a little bit about everyone else’s backstories and intentions but his. Will Scorpio die by the hands of the Kyurangers, Don Armage, or neither? We may find out in the next five episodes, or not until the end. For now, I’ll just keep missing Champ and enjoying the goofy filler to come.
