King-Ohger 27: The Self-Proclaimed King Of The Universe Arrives

It's been two years since the Bugnarok vs. Human conflict ended. What happens next is the arrival of the dreaded Galactainsect King, DugDEAD Dujardin. The surname Dujardin means "from the garden". For some science trivia - maybe some will remember Felix Dujardin the French biologist and cytologist. I think DugDEAD (I'll refer to him as such for punny reasons) is given the Dujardin surname to make him an irony. Dujardin discovered how complex the human cell can be. 

The beginning reveals that the Bugnarok Kingdom has been subdued. What truly gets menacing is how Kamejin survived an ULTRAZORD battle of all things. We did have an incident when Dai Satan escaped when Kyukyoku Daizyujin was formed in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. Col. Major Zydos of the Gorma also survived being crushed by the Heavenly Armor Chi Palace in Gosei Sentai Dairanger. It's sad to see Jeramie who just begun the peace treaty - get crushed. 

Something must have happened to get the other monarchs to be displaced. Most of them are just not cut out to be kings. The situation is rather awkward because some people are better servants than better rulers. They're all looking for Jeramie unaware that he's been beaten. A lot of things become so uncertain to the kingdoms. Speaking of which, this is really getting on a more serious theme after mostly lighter and softer episodes. 

The next event has Dugdead Dujardin showing up. I guess this is where the irony of his name is. Biology is the study of life. With Dugdead around - studying biology in school becomes meaningless. It's because chances are that he'll destroy any specimen before biologists can start to study them. Gira mentions the Fury of the Gods from 15 years ago. It looks like the mysterious man in the cloak who murdered Himeno's parents may be uncovered. I have a feeling that it's one of the five. My WMG is that it's either Dugdead or Kamejim. Kamejim did pretend to be Boshimar. Kamejim would later manipulate the war between humans and Bugnaroks. 

Kamejim shows up but is he going to be like Brajira in Tensou Sentai Goseiger or was he a plant all along? Did Dugdead also plant Kamejim to corrupt Racules (who I hope returns to get expanded upon) and did he also kill more people? My theory is that Kamejim wasn't allowed to let Desnarak VIII know that the former was disguised as Boshimar. It's because that would jeopardize Dugdead's plans. I do suspect that Racules was just an unwitting tool since the guy is freaking stupid. Maybe, Racules was used to help achieve the true purpose of Dugdead. 

Dugdead isn't too pleased that Gira and Jeramie aren't fighting. I feel that Kamejim was the one who instilled the hatred inside Desnarak VIII and Racules. Dugdead reveals some of the planets he destroyed through his deadly game. I'm reminded of the Deathgaliens in Doubotsu Sentai Zyuohger except I'm now finding that show a beautiful watchable mess. I think Ginis from Zyuohger was still interesting and maybe Dugdead is meant to be Ginis 2.0. If so, I hope that Dugdead himself proves to be a big threat. How can you defeat a being with that kind of power? I bet even the Ultrazord won't work!

It's also the 25th anniversary of Power Rangers in Space. Before the Dark Specter came - we had characters like Star King Bazoo from Dengeki Sentai Changeman and Emperor Exhaus from Gekisou Sentai Carranger. The last time we had a Dark Specter-type character was Don Armage in Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger which was on the 20th anniversary of Denji Sentai Megaranger instead. It seems that Dugdead has been manipulating events from BTS like the Dark Specter. I could consider that an Easter Egg since the Galacta Insects might be a United Alliance of Evil in its own right. I may consider Space to be an overrated mess. However, Toei has every reason to honor it because that series renewed interest in Power Rangers and that means more royalties from whoever co-holds the brand name for years to come. 

I find some rather weird what might be Easter eggs. Correct me if I'm not wrong but I think that GORMA the Dubious. The Gorma were the main antagonists in Dairanger and it's the 30th anniversary. We have Hirubil the Enticing which almost looks like something straight out of Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger. Minongan's design almost resembles that of a Debo Monster. Each of the Galactainsect Generals (including Kamejim) has conquered a SPECIFIC KINGDOM. 

Fortunately, the previous rulers managed to stage a return. Yanma defeats Gorma. Is it me or is Yanma's personality close to that of Shoji from Dairanger? Both Yanma and Shoji have a similar hairstyle. Himeno returns to reclaim the throne from Hirubill. Quite interestingly, I feel that Kaguragi (and So Kaku looks like Yoshi Sudarso) defeating Minongan seems to invoke Power Rangers Dino Charge subtly. Rita shakes off Kamejim but she doesn't get a headache this time. 

Dugdead and his four minions escape for now. In fiction, there are times when a threatening new villain is forced to retreat because he or she let his guard down. This seems to be the case with Dugdead and the other new villains. The Galacta Insects let their guard down and forget what skills they have in their disposal. It's a typical blunder in battle and I think this was meant to add realism. Then again, I do feel that they retreated because they were collecting data.

I guess these data would show what happened to the other rulers. I guess these were arranged by Dugdead himself. Yanma is allegedly guilty of monopolizing power. Meanwhile, it seems Himeno's charge was exaggerated. It seems to be a reference to Kagaku Sentai Dynaman since it had its 40th anniversary this year. Kaguragi may have weaponized the tiller system to prevent invasion. I can't be sure about Rita. 

Next week will be a classic switcheroo episode. Some Super Sentai seasons had body swap episodes like in Chikyu Sentai Fiveman and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers had an episode where Billy and Kimberly switched bodies. This time, the kings are given all body swaps which might become hilarious. Is this episode really meant to throw back to all those instances I mentioned? Maybe yes, maybe no. What's interesting is that Billy is returning for Power Rangers Cosmic Fury AND it seems that the rulers are going to space any time soon. I may be skipping Cosmic Fury but I can't deny Power Rangers is Toei's ticket to America. 

What's also interesting is that this episode was aired on September 3. The whole episode was probably dedicated to Thuy Trang's memory. This episode is darker than usual. Years ago, Power Rangers Time Force dedicated an episode to her in "Circuit Unsure". The events in this episode also show the uncertainty of the future two years after the first half was concluded. Not to mention, 10 years ago, we also had Mika Koizumi as a ghost in the finale of Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger. Toei may have dedicated this episode to Trang given the airdate.