King-Ohger 37: Iroki's Rebellion

This week's episode begins another recovery from the really depressing episode 36. Some dark secrets start to show up ever since Grodie showed up. This week's episode brings a movie character named Iroki. Yes, Iroki, who's acted by Akiko Hinagata (who should be 48 by now) - the real-life wife of Kousei Amano. I think this is one of the best dramatic episodes ever that a 30+-year-old adult can enjoy and not feel like a child at all!

The beginning starts with an arson scene. What in the world is going on? Rita and Kaguragi both talk about it. The rice warehouse is burned for some reason. The food basket of Chikyu has been tainted with death. Iroki, the previous queen, is back from the realm of the dead! Oh boy, the stories of the wicked queen are about to pop out!

This scene kinda made me laugh. Sure, I've eaten some kinds of edible flowers in my salad or drank Indian rose yogurt. Flowers with wasabi? Behind the humor is the dark reality that Chikyu's food basket is tainted. Himeno's grumbling stomach does make me laugh to a certain extent. Jeramie though doesn't seem to have the need at that moment. 

Himeno, Gira, and Yanma feel down like hungry cartoon characters. I would probably say I'm heartless to be laughing here. Sure, I'd gladly offer food to the three characters if they were real characters. However, the way they dropped was pretty much like cartoon characters. Grodie then offers them food as an obvious exploitation of their weaknesses. 

A flashback showed Kaguragi was a humble farmer. He was seen at the service of Iroki years ago. Was this the wicked queen that people gossiped about? By the looks of this, I'm starting to feel that the whole episode can be unpredictable. Iroki offered Kaguragi a royal position. Suzume encouraged Kaguragi to take the position.

Another interesting flashback is the rebellion. The story of the rebellion was that Kaguragi decided to raid the palace. Kaguragi was later declared sovereign by the people who saw him as a hero. However, there's more than meets the eye. 

Meanwhile, something's about to happen. I laughed at how Grodie is dark and comical at the same time. Both Yanma and Gira start to get hungry. Meanwhile, Himeno notices the same exact scene from more than 10 years ago. Himeno saw her own parents die at Grodie's hands. 

A big huge secret gets leaked out to a few people. Iroki ate poisoned rice and ordered Kaguragi to strike her down. What was the meaning of this? Was this trying to avoid justice? A little more and the big secret is out. The big secret is that Iroki wasn't the wicked queen that people gossiped about her. Iroki was playing it safe because there was no evidence yet to convict Grodie of what he did. Maybe, it's because Iroki found out the rice was poisoned but had no evidence of the real perpetrator's identity. 

Himeno points out that the rice is poisoned! Okay, I want to smash Grodie's head for what he did! That explains why the warehouse was burned down. However, they're still too hungry to even fight Grodie. I must admire how despicable Grodie is. Grodie starts to worsen their situation one way or another. 

Grodie reveals his monster form and it's no surprise. Right now, I wonder if there will be more human forms or if Grodie will keep up his human disguise? I want to see Hilbill in a human guise soon or the other jesters. The sickle can cause temporary poisoning such as what happened to Himeno. The rangers get unmorphed as a result of Grodie's terrifying power. 

The big truth is out! Iroki never wanted the secret of the poisoned rice revealed. That was done to protect Toufu's reputation. I really wish that Iroki just got blunt with it and told the citizens. I think it's just too shameful so she chose the hara kiri way out. I guess this is to portray Asian cultures as defaulting to suppression. I wish Iroki told the people that the rice was poisoned. It'd be better if she apologized and that wouldn't hurt Toufu's reputation. Instead, Iroki took the path of Hara-Kiri to preserve Toufu's reputation as a food basket! 

I guess the people of Toufu end up making those "little white lies" to protect their reputation. Typical Asian right? I guess that explains Kaguragi's tendency to use deceitfulness to achieve the greater good. Okay, I think we have a Broken Aesop here! Maybe not, since Iroki's "little white lie" actually caused her own life. Iroki could've just admitted to the poisoned rice, issued an apology, stepped down, and made Kaguragi take her place. However, I feel the episode is probably a jab at what extent people will do to justify white lies might end up doing to themselves. Then again, without evidence to expose Grodi's crimes, I guess that's why Iroki chose the lesser of two evils. I think Iroki must've gone insane so she did what she did!

Kaguragi does a fight-off with Grodie. The other rangers are still too weak. It's a short typically suited fight scene. Sure, I'm already known to complain about how Super Sentai got toned down since 2001 BUT I think it's also for the best. Sure, there's some blood in this episode but it's been so insignificant. 

Iroki then fades away. I guess Kaguragi did strike her down off-screen. I guess the scene was cut off for a reason. Maybe, we do have a deleted scene of Kaguragi striking down Iroki but it got removed due to budgetary constraints. 

Two kingdoms were saved, and THREE MORE TO GO. I'm really wondering how Hilbill, Racules, and Gorma will be defeated. December is around the corner so I do expect some epic battles. 

Next week would have Rita Kaniska as an IDOL? Like WUT? The Galactainsects are having a talent show of all sorts. I guess actress Yuzuki Hirakawa was requesting a bigger challenge than playing a stoic. Sorry to all SJWs but I still prefer to call Rita "she" than "they". I kinda want Rita's mask to fall off though to make her big reveal like "Prince" Igam had in Hikari Sentai Maskman. After all, I think Rita IS what if Igam was a ranger instead of a villain.