Zyuohger 28: Super Sentai's 1,999th Episode, Zyuland's History And The Epic Clash Of Two Anniversary Super Sentais!

Unlike Gokaiger vs. Gavan which was a VS. Movie, we're having a two part special within the show. It just reminds me of how Power Rangers did its yearly crossover starting with Power Rangers Lost Galaxy (where last season rangers guest in the next season in two episodes of the series than have them appear in a TV movie), how Kamen Rider Decade did its crossover with Shinkenger (but the concept was followed by two VS. Movies instead which is also a good alternative) and how Gavan had a two-part crossover with Go-Busters. Which reminds me why didn't they just give Kamen Rider Ghost a two part guest role in Zyuohger if they don't want to make a movie?

During this episode, the Zyuohgers meet Captain Marvelous. As always, Marvelous retains that pirate mentality where he thinks of grabbing some great treasure. If you remembered in the finale arc of Zyuohger, the Gokaigers gave up the Triforce in Zelda ahem the Greatest Treasure of the Universe which could have erased all of the history of Super Sentai. I felt like the same sacrifice will be made in the next episode.

A bit of the history of Zyuland got featured and how it came to be. So Cetas this Zyuman (who's most likely dead considering the amount of time that may have passed, Zyuman time) has a recording showing some interesting bits and pieces that may answer the mysteries in the show. We're getting the Zyuoh Whale. The last time we saw a whale was in Go-onger though this one sort of makes more sense. A whale that can fly in Go-onger was pretty silly. In this case, we're getting a whale. From what I heard, Yamato will get the Whale power-up. Yamato does seem to be the focus of the show though red rangers that get so much attention isn't a new issue. We've had that in Maskman, Jetman, Zyuranger, Gingaman, Timeranger, Shinkenger, Kyoryuger and Ninninger since red is the star of the show. 

Bulgay can't be underestimated with his plans. I think Master Genis is just too laxed to sit down and "enjoy the game". I think Master Genis should move forward to try and get rid of Bulgay or risk getting overthrown by the new more dangerous villain. No one can laugh at the threat Bulgay brings towards the Zyuohgers and just everyone around him. It's always nice to have a dangerous Scott Evil in the mist of Dr. Evil villains with their typical use of convoluted and/or just unbelievably stupid plans. So how will Master Genis deal with Bulgay if ever we'll see a coup or something? I think it'd be a very intense battle, maybe Bulgay will temporarily take over then Master Genis will reveal himself to be not so easy to stop after all.

Gokai Red does what he does best... changing in between modes and he's using Gao Red, Geki Red, Red Buster and not surprisingly Red Hawk. He could have used Vul Eagle and draw out the katana but Red Hawk would do better. There's some aerial combat and we're seeing more of the benefits of new school special effects in the aerial battle. The whole heroes fighting each other isn't very new either. I suggest you try watching Carranger vs. Ohranger, Timeranger vs. GoGoFive and Dekaranger vs. Abaranger for other examples but these were all feature films than actual episodes. It's refreshing to actually see a VS. Battle done within two episodes every now and then.

The ToQGers make a cameo as children. Considering that this episode was written by Junko Komura, I still want to rant out, "TOEI WHY DIDN'T YOU LET HER WRITE TOQGER INSTEAD OF YASUKO KOBAYASHI?!" Good thing that Yasuko Kobayashi isn't helping out in this series. As much as she's responsible for fan favorites but give her a break. The same goes for Hirohisa Soda and Toshiki Inoue . Naruhisa Arakawa may also be heading towards Burnout Ville soon enough and may need a long break. Komura's still getting started so let's see how good she'll get with this series.

After Gokaiger, Toei simply struggled to keep Super Sentai up but there's always the maturity and decline period to get out from in every product cycle. Toei suffered from a decline period during Turboranger and Fiveman but they got back on their feet during Jetman and after Ohranger and Carranger (two series that didn't have so much good ratings but neither threatened to truly cancel Super Sentai due to the cool toys) they got back on their feet with Megaranger. In the case of post-Gokaiger, I felt like Toei really created something so spectacular for most of the fans that everyone exhausted themselves. After that, things weren't so good from Go-Busters (though I'm a fan of the series) up to Ninninger. Go-Busters had really low toy sales while its successors Kyoryuger, ToQGer and Ninninger have a lot of cool toys to offer to children and older audiences who are toy collectors.

What also appealed to me in this episode was the new Super Sentai Getter song. We had the last Super Sentai Getter song during Gokaiger and it's revived for Zyuohger. It's a nice way to pay tribute to that huge party for Super Sentai fans whether they be children, teenagers or adults. Super Sentai fans who are already parents are given the chance to dance with their children. Maybe grandpa and grandma are also in this party. I'm just crossing my fingers for the epic conclusion next week.

Next week will be an intense team-up for both Zyuohger and Gokaiger. But just for a bit of a closing note... Kamen Rider OOO had its 999th and 1000th episode in episodes 27 to 28 respectively. Carranger had the 1000th episode in episode 20 though the show didn't acknowledge it (but I might review it due to this milestone). Hmmm just a few number differences huh? Just be ready that I might actually do a massive rambling comparing how Kamen Rider's 999th and 1000th episode was done in contrast to this celebration. It's a 40th anniversary AND the 2000th episode. Also what's funny is that Kamen Rider OOO was Kamen Rider's 40th birthday AND had its 1,000th episode. I'll probably prepare a retro-review of Kamen Rider OOO's two episodes soon enough.

Sidenote, I also didn't want to write about the crossover until next week's episode. I figured out I might end up writing it in two parts. Hmmm... this has to be the longest Zyuohger update I've written. On the other hand, I hope Kamen Rider Ghost gets a good and epic ending!