King-Ohger 15: A Visit To Suzume And More...

 

This week gets rather awkward and interesting. There seem to be some Easter eggs here and there. Provided, several shows (and a movie) hit a major anniversary whether it's Japanese Spider-Man's 45th anniversary, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' 30th anniversary or the 25th anniversary of Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog and the film called The Man in the Iron Mask. Okay, you know how I love to do forced comparisons. This episode can come out awkward with some more background development. 

We see the Kingdom of Toufu in its development. We first see Kaguragi visit a fortune teller to tell him what could happen. We also get to see the history of Toufu - complete with mouth-watering tofu of course! Is it me or has food porn been a staple in many shows these days? Jeramie also talks about some history such as how Kaguragi led a rebellion against an unseen previous lord. We also know that Racules is a brat with no respect for his elders. Was Racules really born with a devil seed or what?

I think court drama here goes on with Racules. We heard Racules' intent was to exterminate the Bugnarok. Apparently, Racules has an image to maintain for now. This also has the matter of Suzume who's in Shugoddam. Though, the whole screenshot here spoiled what it was and it gets awkward.

This episode goes for some typical Saturday Morning Cartoon humor. Ah, those days when we woke up to watch cartoons on Saturdays and back to reality on Mondays. Gira does have his crazy antics (as always). There are times Gira does get annoying with his lapsing into the "Evil King" persona. Gira is made to look like a "taxi". Racules' Fat Boy is too stupid to think it's a taxi. I was laughing also when Gira scares Suzume awake.

I wonder if Suzume's reaction towards Racules here is meant for laughs. More often than not, Racules seems to be becoming a Butt-Monkey like General Miwa was in Tossho Daimos. Racules is prone to making really idiotic decisions. Jeramie does have the right to boggle at Suzume hugging Racules. I wonder how long Gira can pretend to be dead though. 

I was wondering about another possible easter egg. The orphans Gira took care of are now playing King-Ohger again. An "evil queen" is being made. Speaking of which, Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog had Queen Maeve as an evil queen. Was that another intentional Easter Egg? 

This episode features what might be blatant recycling by Toei Ltd. The recycling may be why Toei never had problems with letting Saban Entertainment use Super Sentai fight footage as long as he pays the royalties. Baejim really looks like a fusion of a Kamen Rider (and it almost resembles Kamen Rider Black who's actually based on a grasshopper) or Kamen Rider Black Sun. Oh, Toei what have you done? I hope there'll be more Easter eggs like this. Maybe, make some monsters based on the Orphnochs or any older ideas. Speaking of which, Kamen Rider Faiz is also celebrating its 20th year. Was this meant to throw back on that show too? 

The meeting of the kings tends to be more focused on psychological battles. Yanma is aware of how douchy Racules is. Though Racules doesn't seem to have the same levels of douche (yet) as Masato in Faiz. I kinda want to see Kohei Murakami guest-star soon in this show as either a Bugnarok or maybe as the previous king of Shugoddam. Maybe, anybody from Kamen Rider Faiz can guest-star in a future episode for this reason. 

It was hard not to think of Leopardon while this took place. God Tarantula becomes Tarantula Knight. I watched a few episodes of the Japanese Spider-Man. The battles between Leopardon and the giant monster tend to be rather short. This one manages to go with CGI and some amazing stunts. Speaking of stunts - I'm amazed at how Gira does get a bit of unmorphed fight scene before morphing. Now, if only we saw more of Kaguragi doing so. 

Here's a bit of something probably worth noting. Remember the proverb of the spider and the fly? The MOTW happens to be a fly-based monster. I could also remember the cartoon short from Fleischer Studios called "Cobweb Hotel". I guess releasing God Tarantula's form as Leopardon ahem Tarantula Knight made some sense. Sure, it'd be cool if God Tarantula ate Baejim though Super Sentai's violence has been reduced to near PG-7 levels. I also feel that the humanoid form was a bit overdue. I wonder if we'll see Shinji Todo as a guest star soon? I kind of want to see Shinji guest as Jeramie's father in a later flashback. That'd be very funny especially since Shinji starred as the main hero of Japanese Spider-Man before he became a fan-favorite villain actor. 

Apparently, there's something going on. It seems that Suzume may actually be pretending to be a Racules fangirl or IS SHE A FANGIRL? Suzume is willing to get her hands dirty to protect Toufu. Right now, it's hard to determine what's going on. Is Suzume only pretending to be enamored with that idiot Racules or not? 

Meanwhile, it seems that Racules may be having his Hero Wannabee tendencies going on. Racules wants to face off against Desnarak VIII HIMSELF. I do have a feeling that either Racules is putting on an act OR he simply wants to be the sole hero of Chikyu. I could imagine Racules might probably start doing more reckless stuff. Things could get intense considering both sides of the coin. 

The next episode would start to explore the Wrath of the Gods phenomenon. Was it really manmade? Who was this mysterious killer that used venom to kill Himeno's parents? Rita's ascent into power is explained. I wonder if we'll get several Mighty Morphin' Easter eggs since it's going to be a Rita-focused episode? Next week, we'll have Rei Yoshi who acted as Rinna Sawagami from Kamen Rider Drive play the previous ruler of Gokkan. The names of Himeno's parents haven't been given. I can just WMG that she might be named after any character played by the late Soga Machiko. Rita Kaniska seems to get headaches so easily too. 

At this point, I wonder if we'll see more Kamen Rider alumni do some guesting every now and then?