#I am so lucky you did get lucky in love though Herakles ... we can always return to one another though ...

[breitzbachbea]

Will have to rewrite this part a bit for overall structual tension reasons, but new goal of my GreSic OS is now to make people who read Irish Problems and Italian Affairs and who will read The Amulet go fucking insane over SicIre and TurGre.

[furederiko]

Countdown Counter: 11. Kyuranger 38 is a martial art fan-service fest! And a story of a Commander and his hesitation regarding his chain of command...

- The downside of having a large team is that every now and then, several members would be eclipsed by the others. Such is the case for Commander Xiao who unfortunately happens to be NOT Red, thus his leadership is being overshadowed by both Reds. Tsurugi is calling the shots to the operation, and Lucky gets to lead one Away Team. Xiao (and his rigged Kyulette) is definitely ignored! - There are some neat little things in the opening scene. Though it's disappointing that all of them are seemingly male, we get to see the 4 Barrier-breaking Sages in Tsurugi's story. I don't know about you, but I would love to see more of the 88 Warriors of the past, like these guys and also Kuervo whom we'll see more in the episode. And then there's that bit with Lucky taking off his new white royalty coat, and exchanges it with the usual Rebellion jacket. He might be a King he says, but when he heads out for mission, he's a regular Kyuranger like everyone else. No special treatment. Nice excus... I mean attention to details! - The team is split in two as they head towards different directions. Tsurugi, Garu, Naga, Hammy, Raptor, and a slumped Xiao head to the Yin-Yang landscape of Planet Atchaalk in the Cepheus System, while Lucky and the others depart to play video game Planet Ghem in the Perseus System. The latter team immediately runs into a newly upgraded Mecha-Madako. She's now the Menaster of the system and is exclusively tasked to stop their mission. Hmmm... first Akyanba, now Madako, Toku designers sure are obsessed with mechanical boobs, huh? - Team Tsurugi arrives at the Kyulin Temple. In the past, Tsurugi and Kuervo had to overcome the Nine Trials of Cepheus before they could gain the trust and assistance of its warrior. This time around, the Kyurangers need to defeat Menaster Deathgong, if they ever want to move ahead to locate the Constellation's power. Let the trials begin!!! Fun fact: Setting for Kyulin Temple is a commonly used Chinese-themed location in Tokusatsu. In Super Sentai alone, it has been used plenty of times, most notably in the wushu-themed "Engine Sentai Go-onger vs Juuken Sentai Gekiranger". Then again, I think pretty much every scenes involving Gekiranger's Rin JuuKen practitioners were filmed here! As for the 'Trials', it's obviously just another playful use of the number 9, and doesn't have anything to do with mythology. In the Greek stories, it's Herakles who had to undergo 12 Labors, and none of those was even related to King Cepheus. Sure, the demi-God hero DO know of a King by the same name, but he's a completely different person unrelated to this Constellation. - 1st Trial - 'Hellish Chamber'. The team needs to defeat 99 Indavers in just one minute. Phoenix Soldier takes care of this in a zippy, by Phoenix End-ing more than 1/3 of the army. Gotta love Garu's reaction to being outmatched by Hammy. LOL. Draco Commander's back gets in the way, so he only gets 5 Indavers. Ouch! Tsurugi tells Xiao to don't mind that, because Kuervo also scored the same number back then. Team encounters the first crossroads, so they pair up and split into three groups to take on challenges in separate paths. - 2nd Trial - 'Muscle Building Chamber'. Basically, they need to perform 9999 sit-ups. Tsurugi gets to deliver another sweaty shirtless fan-service scene, while Raptor... cheers. Yep, lately the extra member seems to be in charge of shirtless fan-service spree, and Tsurugi firmly joins Zyuohger's Misao and ToQger's Akira in this category. To be honest, what he's doing is a little cheating, because a proper sit-up requires to lean a liiiitle bit lower. This is more in the line of abs-crunching. But I guess there's no definite rule for this trial, and it's still a demanding task nonetheless. Hold on... I wonder why Raptor doesn't take this challenge instead? She's an android, so doing repetitions like this shouldn't be 'exhausting' for her, right? - 3rd Trial - 'Kitchen Chamber'. Hammy and Garu are tasked for a cook-off and impress the Indaver-judges. This one is another cheat, because they immediately contact Spada for clue despite being star systems away. Hammy whips up the Pisces Kyu Globe, and the two serves... fresh SUSHI to win the trial. For the record, making Sushi isn't as 'easy' as this episode suggests. But it's reasonably quick, and can be done by people with limited cooking skill and utensil knowledge. So uhm... you get the point. LOL. - 4th Trial - 'Game Chamber'. Red Light, Green Light. I'm personally not familiar with this game (we don't actually play it in my country... but I'm an introvert, so who am I to say XD), but once again, the team has an upper hand in Naga's ability. Xiao and his weak back might not be up for this posing game, but that's not a problem for Naga's freeze glare. - 5th Trial - 'Dance Chamber'. The title says it all, as the team unites for a quick rock n' roll... I mean Kyulette the Chance 'Just Dance' session. Daang, I wish this scene is muuuch longer. Seriously producers, we need a Kyuranger Musical!!! - 6th Trial - 'Resilience Chamber'. Hammy partners up with Raptor for... a nice hot spring bathhouse challenge! Yep, we finally get the ladies moment, and it's totally fan-service. Aaaawwww.... *v*. But really, I wish this scene plays out muuuuuch longer too. Not because I'm pervy or anything, but because we rarely see the female members in this show hug... I mean hang around casually like this. I could be mistaken or anything, but we haven't had that annual girl-power trope episode so far, have we? By the way, I'm surprised that Raptor can endure this challenge without getting... rusty. Oh well, carry on! - 7th Trial - 'Funny Face Chamber'. Garu and Naga engage in a staring fight against the Indavers, a challenge that even yours truly would lose pretty instantly. It's a nice callback to the fact that neither of them knew the Indavers are wearing masks! Naga is hilarious, and it's even moreso because he doesn't realize it. LOL. - 8th Trial - 'Shooting Chamber'. Tsurugi steals Xiao's thunder all over again, by blasting all the targets away... with his SHIELD-BLADE. I did NOT know his armaments can do that. Even Deathgong sees Tsurugi as the only major threat of this group, a premature assumption that would backfire very harshly. - Before they head to the last one, Xiao and Tsurugi have a sweet heart to heart moment that pretty much serves as the highlight of this episode (at least for me). Ignoring how or where Tsurugi can even obtain those canned coffee, it's a surprisingly stark metaphor to real life situation. In all honesty, Xiao is like an old man whom his family slowly ignores the more they grow up, while Tsurugi is that hip trendy outsider who just recently becomes a new addition to the pack. This sweet intimate moment gives Xiao a chance to reflect on his limitations, but also allows Tsurugi to prove his kindness and wisdom. "You assembled the brightest stars in the universe into a single team", he praises. To which he also reminds Xiao that the Commander has his own way of handling thing. As in, everyone has their own role and place in the world. That's a strong message right there! - 9th Trial - ''Infighting Chamber'. Expecting a Jark Matter MotW to play fair and square would be a fever dream. Deathgong has captured Garu, Naga, Hammy, and Raptor as soon as they completed their challenges, and now pits them against the Cold-Sleep Duo. This is where the Menaster learns that underestimating Xiao becomes his fatal error. True to his words, Xiao knows each and every Kyuranger thoroughly (most of them at least... am I right, Naga?). It doesn't take long for him to realize that the seemingly-controlled Kyurangers attacking them are nothing but FAKES. This is how he's be superior than Tsurugi, because he has the power of perceptive! Aside from spending more time with the team to know that their reaction feels off, of course. LOL. - Freed from Deathgong's clutches through Xiao's signature sleazy trick, the four Kyurangers get to perform wushu-style attacks against the Indavers! Aquila Pink uses #81 Grus, Chamaeleon Green uses #85 Lynx, Ophiucus Silver uses #65 Hydrus, and Lupus Blue gets to shuffle (to genuine hilarious effect) both #52 Canis Majorand #66 Canis Minor Kyu Globe. Totally neat! Too bad Tsurugi doesn't get a part. He could've used the Bird of Paradise or Peacock constellations, if you ask me *grins*. - Draco Commander closes the curtain with a flashy end though. In a neat wushu-showdown serving as a cool homage to "Gosei Sentai Dairanger", Draco Commander utilizes his 'RyuKenpou' and blasts Deathgong to defeat with a Kameham... er, Dragon Ba... I mean, Energy Ball! - A fun trick is also utilized in the mecha battle. Ryutei-Oh has always been limited as a three-people robot. By borrowing Phoenix Voyager's rocket booster components (that form the hands of Kyutamajin), Draco Commander turns it into a FIVE-people combo. While benching out Phoenix Soldier on the ground as a cheerleader passive spectator. LOL. It's a nice change of pace that probably only toy collectors are aware of. I do hope we'll get to see this form more often, but that likely won't be the case and just a one-off thing. - On the other planet, Mecha-Madako uses a special controller to trigger Champ's malfunction. A not-so-mysterious person handed it to her earlier. Things are only starting to get serious there, but that will be our story for next week. On the bright side, the Kyulin Temple's Head Monk (at least, he looks like one?) is freed. As a token of gratitude, he grants the Constellation System's power to create the #54 Cepheus Kyu Globe. That means TWO down, and two more to go...

Overall: This episode was Goofy Fun! I'm a little disappointed, because I was expecting it to be 'crazier' and MORE comedic. But overall, it had truly fine fan-service heavy moments that once again, would've been even awesome had they played out a little bit longer. Garu and Naga were the MVPs, they stole the scenes and made me LOLed real hard. The warm interchange between Xiao and Tsurugi also worked in favor of elevating this rather hectic episode into a different level. Yep, this was a fantastic focus episode for Xiao, that smartfully harkened back to his early dilemma in the series. Being a hero is what Xiao had always wanted, so it's only natural that he started recognizing his own limitations and doubted if he's even right for the job. I think we can all safely say that this was a nice wrap to Xiao's personal arc. Next week: Fight on R.P.G. Knights, and reclaim your Champ!!!

Episode 38 Score: 7,8 out of 10

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