King-Ohger 49: Okay Toei, How Much Did You Spend For This Big Reunion?

The budget of King-Ohger felt like a huge anniversary. I can't imagine how much money Toei had spent last December 2023 to wrap things up? Heck, the show's way too flashy from the start. I even felt that the post-Gokaiger anniversaries such as Doubotsu Sentai Zyuohger and Kikou Sentai Zenkaiger. Yeah, those two series were written by Junko Komura. This episode gets rather tense and rather crowded. It's almost like Avengers Assemble or Mortal Kombat Armageddon. 

Everything continues from the previous episode where Gira sees Dugdead seemingly winning. It's a dark spot. The monarchs try to get everyone to evacuate only to see the the whole plan fail. Mass destruction? Check. Really dark atmosphere? Check! A failed evacuation of refugees just adds to the dark atmosphere. Call me crazy but I'm actually enjoying this. It's been some time since we've got civilians getting into this predicament AND then pulling something bigger. I guess filming such scenes costs a lot of money so it's understandable. It's always cheaper to film more personal hero vs. villain battles. But yeah, Toei's giving it a huge shot. I'm afraid the budget for the upcoming Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger might be lower because of that!

Racules tries to rally the people to rally to save the kings. Just thinking of every Walking Spoiler moment - I still believe that Racules went evil but still retained some humanity along the way. Racules ends up becoming a Virtuous Character Copy of Captain Ryuuya from Mirai Sentai Timeranger in every way. No, I kinda want to even mention Captain Alex Drake from Power Rangers Time Force ever since his redemption episode. The last Alex did in Time Force was to simply allow the other Time Force Rangers to finish the job. I guess the concept was revisited and Racules was allowed to take that role. I think Racules' status has been partly trying to make him as complicated as possible. Unlike Alex, I'm glad that the crew allowed Racules to be in the battle front than simply allow the others to return to the past. I felt that Alex was supposed to really go to the battlefronts in the finale but was cut out due to time constraints. 

The royal treasures are returned along with the Founder's Crown. I can't resist mentioning the Corona Aurora from Power Rangers Operation Overdrive because of its connection to the other treasures. The jewels are given back to the monarchs. Unfortunately, the plot of the Corona Aurora was rushed because of the BAD SCHEDULING by Disney. It's good to revisit concepts that weren't executed well. Just think that Toei did revisit some concepts done by Kamen Rider BLACK RX. BLACK RX wasn't popular (but I still enjoy it) and we know how the Kamen Rider franchise went on a hiatus except for some films. BLACK RX did introduce new concepts that were better done during the great Kamen Rider Kuuga reboot. Some new ideas tend to fail only due to execution. I think that's what happened with the Corona Aurora. Great idea but Disney really failed big time to flesh it out!

I dunno if this was meant to be played for laughs or what. I guess there's really no time to set a camp. Yanma and his fellow scientists try to find a substitute for immortality. They're actually trying to get rid of an IMMORTAL foe like Dugdead. Sure, it's very easy to assume that Super Sentai is part of some expansive universe and say, "Why not get the Gekirangers to teach them the technique that sealed Long?" In my case, I'm glad that newer Super Sentai entries are becoming more and more distant from the 1970s up to the 2000s. Hopefully, Super Sentai will become more distant from older stuff and Toei will stop being so Japanese-exclusive too. Dugdead does bring back the defeated generals to life. That would be a very serious problem. 

I usually tend to ignore Super Sentai short films. However, I really needed to watch the movie. It was time for the return of several movie characters. It was nice to see Desnarak VIII return from the dead along with the others. Boshimar also makes a return which was needed. Boshimar's now an angry ghost especially with the murder that happened. More of the real Boshimar is shown. Devonica shows up along with other dead characters. Seeing Karas and Iroki is one. Himeno's parents showing up is another. Jeramie's mother too. 

The two previous sovereigns reach their successors. I really still feel the burden of Iroki. Hopefully, the finale will vindicate Iroki and convince her what she did was foolish. Karas also borrows the sword from Rita. Both Iroki and Karas talk about their obstinate successors. It gets really tense like a TV drama. I love how they morph and start kicking ass. The battle gets heavier. 

Duigdead ain't too happy at the big budget Toei's thrown against his face. Not only are the people of Chikyu rallying but MAKING HIM LOOK BAD. Well, it's the finale after all and Dugdead can't expect anything less than his defeat. 

The monarchs are given some food to energize for the final battle. It does make sense to get that huge crowd. Many times, rangers tend to get into what I'd call, "WUT? ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN STILL FIGHT?" moments. Okay, it's not so realistic and we need several degrees of suspension of disbelief. However, I think seeing the monarchs getting fed so they fight better is good. Everyone defied the order to leave and we're getting this scene. The people are fighting to buy the monarchs time!

Reinol Husty, the founder of the Kingdom of Shugoddom, returns. Decades of deceit and betrayal are about to end at last! Right now, I even want to pretend that Maeve from Mystic Knights may have been an ancestor to the Husties (via Rohan) and that Dugdead manipulated the battle after all. I even want to pretend Dugdead secretly caused every conflict in Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. It's disappointing that Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog ended with a cliffhanger. Nemain could've been a powerful foe but remained a Sequel Hook. I'd love to imagine that Nemain and Midler probably got murdered by Dugdead after that. Again, that's impossible but I'd love to pretend it happened! I always felt ending in Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog was really as much left hanging. It feels as bummer as a lot of 1990s TV shows that didn't give the show any further continuation. Fortunately, some people are learning from those experiences and decide to end a show as it should end!

Reinol unleashes a deadly wave and Racules tells everyone to get down. I wonder why Causus doesn't show up. The final battle is one big crowded are. I enjoy the more personal ranger vs. villain battles. However, a huge crowd can also be fun. This is a battle we're talking about! I think King-Ohger's huge budget beats a lot of its so-called predecessors like Saban's Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog and Kamen Rider Saber. Saber had a more personal battle. Not so with this show. I guess Toei was revisiting Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog more than once and "fix it". Saber was kind of messy but I'm glad that the show ended without a Sequel Hook. So yeah, I could say that Nemain's bloodline led to the creation of Megiddo in Saber. Meanwhile, I imagine that Dugdead secretly set up the Husty family because they carried the bloodline of Maeve via Rohan. I even want to pretend Rohan is the father of Reinol too.  

Right now, I wonder if we'll get an Ultraman Tiga type of finale? Sure, I haven't been watching Ultraman series (and I don't intend to get back to it since I'm enjoying other stuff now). However, I still can't get over that moment when Ultraman Tiga turned into stone and the children of the world cheered up on him. Will the same miracle happen in King-Ohger and destroy Dugdead in the same way? Maybe, we'll see the Founder's Crown and the other jewels get their power realized only through that? Hmmmm... the big massive crowd is more than ready to beat Dugdead once and for all. 

I guess this show will probably do Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog the justice it never got. I feel that the show got canceled because of the lack of interest. In this case, I hear King-Ohger had become what Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog could've been. Saber didn't do so well but at least it did reach its full-year goal even with the initial backlash. I can't wait to see the finale!