Recap: Nossan runs into an old friend who’s now working  in robotics, but his latest prototype is exhibiting some unusual behaviour.

Dragonzigg‘s Thoughts: This is a strong, solid episode with a nice little undercurrent of darkness to it. I do really like the fat that rather than passive victim Nakazato is actually an active participant in the evil Deboss plan, something which makes his eventual realisation and turn back to the good side that much stronger. One common criticism of Sentai is that it’s often afraid of showing actual human bad guys, but here they manage to convey some of that threat while at the same time managing a ‘redemption and forgiveness’ storyline. It’s a good compromise between the two extremes.

In addition, we also get some more teasing on Nossan’s past, especially his previous role as a high-powered executive. I really enjoyed the dynamic presented here, simple as it is. By crapping on Nossan’s current job compared to his past employment, Nakazato gets some cheap but effective heat, pitting in the audience against him even more, while Nossan gets to stand up as the hardworking grafter who doesn’t care about things like money or prestige, but only about the here and now. Simple character writing, but effective nonetheless.

I also liked the twist regarding the robot’s ultimate purpose. It seemed to me pretty obvious that the Deboss were just corrupting the robot to have it rampage and build up emotions for them to collect, but having Dogold commandeer it for his new body was unexpected and adds an exciting new wrinkle to the mythology. Dogold being repurposed as some sort of body-jumping spirit is cool and gives him a mini-arc of his own as he quests for a new permanent residence. Could he eventually end up trying to regain Utchy? I can definitely see the potential for drama down the line there.

Otherwise, this episode hummed along well without being truly outstanding, most natbly because the goofy comedy is dialed back a little from previous weeks in favour of more drama. That’s fine – you can’t be going at full tilt all the time obviously – but it does make this one feel a little subdued after the bombastic mugging of what came before. As it is though, Kyoryuger remains fine, effortless entertainment.

Random Observations

• I’d probably have enjoyed this a bit more if damn near the same plot hadn’t been used just last year in Go-Busters
• Has it actually been made clear why Nossan left his executive job? Was it to bbe closer to his family, or is there a yet-unrevealed reason?
• Looks like we’re getting a Power Rangers style battlizer next week.