King-Ohger 45: Contingency Planning

King-Ohger is already in the mid-40s. I looked at the timetable. The show premiered on March 5, 2023. Now, it's late January 2024 and February 2024 will be around any time soon. There's also the news for two King-Ohger movies namely King-Ohger vs. Donbrothers (which is expected) and maybe not surprisingly, King-Ohger vs. Kyoryuger. There will be theatrical releases on April 26, 2024, at the Shinjuku Wald 9. Now, for the topic, I really am getting mentally prepared for the inevitable finale. The unusual formula and deviations of the show kept me engaged! 

The Sextet Alliance (or I prefer to call it, the Hexagon Alliance) is there. Gira seems to make a  reference Gingaman's catchphrase namely "Piercing through the Galaxy with the sharpness of blades." Some people still think Gingaman having a nature theme was just awkward. Back on topic, the quest to liberate the Universe from its self-proclaimed king Dugdead is on. Yanma does seem to throw the fourth wall saying, "That sounds like childish garbage to me." Yanma's skepticism is pretty much almost out of place. Some people who watched GoGoFive may remember the strange moment when Nagare doubled the existence of ghosts in a show that FIGHTS DEMONS. 

The destruction of both Gorma and Hirubil is on. I do feel disappointed that Gorma never grew giant. Hiribul's death by Megazord seems to be rather rushed. I can't be certain about what producer Takahito Oomori is thinking over there. A lot of villains drop harder than they do in the past. Maybe, I miss the over-the-top villain deaths way back in the 1980s to the 1990s. 

A great degree of realism is mostly required in superhero shows. Even the tamest of superhero shows would mention the possibility of not returning alive. It's typical talk but it can happen in a lot of superhero teams. Maybe, the idea was taken from Justice League or The Avengers. IRL, such talk is often said when a major battle is fought. I was reminded when COVID-19 hit and some doctors made contingency arrangements IF they didn't make it past the pandemic. I do feel this degree of realism was needed in a show where kings fight in battles. 

Right now, I can't imagine if the Boukengers were involved in measuring these. The Hazard levels of royal jewelry can go sky-high. Kaguragi gets doused in CGI flames. CGI flames do a lot of wonders since REAL FLAMES would be TOO DANGEROUS. The cast wants to make a cartoony effect, Looney Tunes style. Still, I'd prefer a short short of the fire sword with real flames as stock footage before CGI flames take over. Rita gets frozen in CGI ice. The power of fire and ice is revealed. Speaking of fire, didn't Iroki burn the castle down to get rid of the poisoned rice? If anything, Iroki may have used the medallion to end her life and destroy the poisoned rice. It's kinda disappointing Iroki wasn't mentioned in this episode!

The injuries return back to comedic levels. Kaguragi getting an afro is cartoony. I guess Super Sentai seeks not to be as serious as possible. Even attempts last 2002 and 2012 to go back to Darker and Edgier are way tolerable. Hurricanger and Go-Busters may have had hero deaths but the darker tones are nothing like the 1980s to 1990s. Racules mentions contingency planning to the heroes. Racules has been acting more like Captain Alex in Time Force with a touch of Anime-style comedic relief. Both are Virtuous Character Copies of the a**hole Captain Ryuuya from Mirai Sentai Timeranger. I guess the mandate for Lighter and Softer prevented Racules from being the intended villain he was at the beginning. 

The powers could destroy the nation. Previously, we saw Yanma unleash lightning. I remember losing a gadget due to lightning. Fire could destroy the bounty of Toufu. Ice indiscriminately hits the wicked and the innocent. I guess this is all about evoking the message once more, "With great power comes great responsibility." Jeramie is a Spider-Man Expy after all. Speaking of which, I did rewatch some episodes of Saban's Spider-Man: The Animated Series last year which will hit 30 years this 2024. 

Minongan's lasers cause a mind-regression scheme. People return back to their memories 10 years or more. Gira, Yanma, and Himeno all return to their juvenile ways. Morfonia and Suzume return to their thoughts 10 years back. Some dark secrets are revealed along the way. 

I do find the whole Racules/Suzume coupling just weird. It's revealed that the two did have a convoluted plan to get rid of Dugdead for good. However, it's revealed that Suzume wasn't exactly too keen on marrying Racules back then. I think Racules' actions are hard to talk about WITHOUT spoiling anything. It's funny to see Racules trying to catch up with Gira's childhood too. Now, I wonder if I should compare Racules to Gai from Kamen Rider Zero-One as well? 

The relationship between Kaguragi and Rita gets to this. Morfonia always wanted to go to Toufu. Rita does try to assess Suzume's mind. Rita can be too unrelenting. Sorry if I love to call Rita "she" instead of "they". I think there could be a deleted scene of Rita and Morfonia going to law school or Suzume initially rejecting the marriage proposal. It could've been cool but I guess time constraints would delete them. 

The power of fire and ice is put in balance. As a casual fan of Mortal Kombat - I'm reminded of Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion) and Kuai Liang (Sub Zero VI) after they put aside their rivalry. Kaguragi uses the fire to protect Rita. Meanwhile, Rita finally freezes Minongan. I wonder what's with the suitless victory here though? Was it to show Minogan was a weakling or what? Was it to add some realism? 

Both Suzume and Morfonia are returned to normal. Morfonia goes back to Gokkan. Suzume leaves Gokkan. I think the show's rushing things a little bit. I guess we might see BTS deleted footage. If there's a scene of Morfonia going to law school with Rita - I hope it's integrated into King-Ohger vs. Donbrothers. If not, I guess some deleted scenes are meant to be deleted. 

Next week will be about Himeno's artifact and Jeramie's artifact. Grodie started to show promise but he just got So Okay It's Average. I can't wait to see how things will wrap up. That would be episode 46. I wonder how things will go since Kamejim and Dugdead will still be around. I'm getting nervous because things feel like they're wrapped up way too fast. Then again it's already the late 40s.