Episode 4 (Battle Ends) Review + Miniseries Overall
Nice to see Luka back, with her new hair cut!
It’s only been few months since we saw her with her Raptor 283 in Space Squad.
Great job destroying the shield generator.
So apparently, Rita wasn’t related to Bandora’s gang (Grifforzer and Lamy daughter) after all and THANK GOD for that! Even though Bandora’s gang were evil, I really didn’t want Rita to be related to them, since she’s too horrible for that. lol
As for Rita’s motivation, I felt it was very weak and somewhat pathetic and it makes me hate her character even more; despite miniseries, she is still one of the weakest female supporting/villain I have seen so far (including Power Rangers). I don’t blame the actress though. Then again, it was already established she’s a serial killer from beginning so can’t complain too much.
I really hope she doesn’t meet Tsukasa/Decade in any future Sentai/Kamen Rider crossover movie… I don’t want to see THAT happen.
As for Nemesis REAL guardian, I’m surprised Rita didn’t kill him/her, but rather send it to end of the universe, which I guess it’s a homage to Bandora’s gang exile. I wonder how long they’re going to leave that plot thread; maybe it would solve in another miniseries or Ryusoulger VS movie with Patorangee/Lupinranger? Or maybe we have to wait another 500 years. lol
The highlight of the episode is a final battle with Dai-Satan, an ultimate villain from Zyuranger.
The ONLY thing I like about Rita is when she summons Dai-Satan, which is clearly homage to Bandora’s; throwing staff, ground rift, and EXPLOSION!
As for Dai-Satan’s design, as much as it was nice to see rest of his body for first time, I kind of wished they kept face similar to original, rather than using full mask.
I still love this design.
I like that Yamato takes the lead of the team, where Marvelous passes the torches of leadership (FINALLY!).
It was nice to see a team power-up with their respective series, including power-up that was used only on Special DVD (Gokai Red Gold Mode).
Nice to see ToQ-5 use her Hyper Form (without joined with ToQ-3) and using Daikaiten Cannon.
As for final attack to defeat Dai-Satan, aside from Gokai Galleon ramming, it was surprising that they used Goranger Storm (Goranger finishing move) like attack, Super Sentai Special Storm… just roll out of my tongue. lol
After Dai-Satan defeat, we get the weakest part of the episode.
Rita wore Gaisorg armor and attempt to destroy the team and suddenly… Ryusoulger Green/Black Sibling arrived, just in time.
I’m not a fan of their suit design and I really don’t like their power-up mode; too bulky and cumbersome (I still prefer Kyoryuger Armed On, which was more simplistic).
I kind of wished it happened before Dai-Satan fight, since seeing scrawny woman wearing evil armor AFTER the massive battle, makes it underwhelming IMO.
Bit disappointed Rita didn’t die by armor’s explosion; though I’m curious who picked the armor after.
I’m kind of curious how rangers got back home at the end; I guess Marvelous gave them ride in Gokai Galleon.
I’m curious what’s Yamato going to do with that tiny piece of meteor. Is he going to use to bring back that kid? Who’s going to grant a wish? Way to resolve thing guys.
Master Red picks up T-Rex Ryusoul at the end and that’s where the series ends… I guess Ryusoulger sidequest was pilot or “Episode 0” of the series.
Finale was just as I expected; not great or terrible, just fair.
Not the best episode of the miniseries, but it was somewhat underwhelming (though, I was kind of expecting that).
Rating: 5/10.
Overall, this miniseries was just OK.
Despite Toei originally DID NOT plan to make this special and turned out to be rushed production, I fairly enjoyed this special for what it was.
I kind of wished Toei did this during Zyuohger (Spring 2016 movie) or Kyuranger vs. Zyuohger movie that never happened, because you can clearly tell that some of the plot were meant for either of those; I guess this special meant to make up for that, especially since Yamato was the focus.
I personally think it would have worked better as direct-to-video or YouTube/Streaming Service exclusive special, rather than airing on TV.
Despite the title, there really wasn’t the battle between the teams; if this was weekly YouTube/Streaming Service Special, it would have been nice to see deleted/unseen/uncut battle, 1 match a week. Since there are 32 teams, there will be Match 16->8 (Best 16)->4(Quarter)->2(Semi)->1(Final) = 31 weeks of battle, which fills out most of the year.
As I said before and I say it again, I HATE Rita “The Serial Killer”. Never liked her character and probably never will if she appeared in any future movie/crossover special. I don’t blame the actor, Nana Asakawa, since she was just paid to do whatever director/producer told her to; not her fault.
I just think she was mis-casted; she should have been casted someone older (21~27) IMO.
Her character sounded interesting on paper, but terrible on execution.
She’s probably the WORST female villain in Sentai/Tokusatsu.
The best thing about the miniseries was Gaisorg.
While he may not be the most original villain in Sentai/Tokusatsu franchise, he was very menacing. I’m looking forward to see him in Ryusoulger.
As for Ryusoulger Green/Black sidequest thing, I kind of wished Toei didn’t do that and just have all 5 rangers at the end/final episode as a cameo, similar to VS movies. Granted, they only did that at the end of each episode, rather than pause the main event and shoehorn in at the middle which I’m glad they didn’t do it, but it was still annoying. I understand Toei are desperately promoting Ryusoulger, since it might be their “last chance” for Sentai survival but still. I’m still going to see the series though, despite my low expectation, which I will discuss in Ryusoulger thread.
As for writing, I felt it was mediocre; not great nor terrible.
I haven’t been too impressed with Naruhisa Arakawa’s work in past decade or so; it’s not Arakawa’s weakest work, but FAR from best.
The biggest weakness of Arakawa is that he’s not really good at writing a villain and Rita is undoubtedly the WORST villain Arakawa EVER wrote.
Upon watching the series, I cannot help but wished that it was written by Kento Shimoyama.
Despite Shimoyama is not good at writing main series (Ninninger, Kamen Rider Zi-O), he is good at writing crossover and spin-off series, so I really think the miniseries would have been much better had he wrote it.
While I wasn’t too positive that Koichi Sakamoto was directing, the action and choreography wasn’t too bad, just mediocre.
Much like Arakawa, I haven’t been too impressed with his work for past decade, but I thought he did an OK/acceptable job here; I think it helps because it was miniseries instead of full year long series. Not his worst, but FAR from best.
From scale of 1 to 10, I give this miniseries a 5.
It’s not the best crossover special, but not the worst.
It’s probably on the middle, if I rank EVERY crossover special; which I have yet to see all of it.
Despite that, I’m still looking forward to see “Director Cut (1 part instead of 4)” Blu-ray, with whatever additional footage, which might fix some of the problem I had, though I wouldn’t hold my breath for that.
Long Live Super Sentai.
Good Luck Ryusoulger!
