Satoru Akashi: On Fire For Heroic Adventures

I have to be rude not to give him a spotlight. So where do I start? For some, this guy Satoru Akashi served as a refresher of the typical Sentai red ranger leader than the not-so-typical red ranger leader. I thought this guy also deserved a spotlight although I find Inou Masumi and Eiji Takaoka more interesting than he was. He was known as the "immortal fang" because of the many times he had cheated on death or does he? Well, he was also calmer and more organized than anybody, but also a sneaky guy.

What was fun to watch was his catchphrase "attack" and how he springs the team into action. He also had a rivalry with Inou Masumi who wanted to exceed him, although he paid little attention to it. He had trust and confidence in every team member. He is also being admired by Sakura Nishihori but he seems oblivious to her feelings. Maybe just maybe, he's not willing to fall in love again after he had lost what might be his first love (my speculation only) in a mining accident, fearing he would lose her.

So he ended up in a long and severe instinctive rivalry with Ryuon, whom he had marked quite a number of times. He was an adventurer at heart while Ryuon was a dark adventurer, more wicked than Gaja IMO and it was a clash of their personalities that came. I think his rivalry with Ryuon was developed because he was disgusted by Ryuon's cold-blooded behavior and low regard for life, almost the same way Ryu Tendo is disgusted with Radiguet. He was caught in this rivalry throughout the series especially when he discovered Ryuon's true identity as well as in the earlier episodes, the novels he was reading were based on Ryuon's lost manuscripts.

Eventually he revealed that he still believed in the inner goodness that Ryuon might have left, even if Ryuon might be Boukenger's biggest SOB. My favorite moment of his was when he removed the Golden Sword and developed a bond with the golden majin Zubaan, who later would also develop a bond with Natsuki Mamiya. He had the pure desire that allowed him to pull Zubaan off from the rock and with his new weapon, pull him from the toughest situations. He also revealed his self-sacrificing nature many times especially when he made a fatal decision to blow up the Siren Builder along with the Homolculus when the Questers were overpowering them. However Eiji Takaoka's return saved his life.

Towards the final battle, he ended up fighting his last battle with Ryuon which he tried to reach out to whatever humanity was left in Ryuon. This placed him in a difficult situation especially when he was trapped with a now human Ryuon in the about to explode Precious warehouse. It wasn't revealed that he survived (as he was helped by Zubaan) until Task 48. In the end, he wanted to go to space to find Precious, still oblivious of Sakura Nishihori's feelings for him. I wonder if he was still in love with Eve? You decide. Hee hee.

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