Recap: Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, Episode 46 – Between Hope and Despair

Kyuranger 46

The Kyurangers stand on a rooftop, looking at the SuperMega Moraimarz and an army of thousands of Indavers and Tsuyoindavers between them.

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Commander Ronpo says he has final orders for them all: “Don’t die.” They will all be here, together, to see the galaxy in peace.

Lucky entrusts KyuRen-Oh to Kotaro and they charge into battle.

Lucky, Tsurugi, Naga and Stinger morph as they fight their way through the army of Tsuyo/Indavers. The others all hop into their Voyagers to form RyuTei-Oh and Super KyuRen-Oh. They try to send a Super Galaxy Final Break at the SuperMega Moraimarz, but Don Armage protects it. He says they cannot destroy the SuperMega Moraimarz without killing him first.

Don Armage embiggens several Tsuyoindavers and calls to Tsurugi to hurry over to him.

Stinger and Naga stay behind to finish off the rest of the Tsuyo/Indavers while Lucky and Tsurugi hurry into the SuperMega Moraimarz.

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As they fight off even more Tsuyo/Indavers, Tsurugi reminds Lucky what they talked about yesterday.

Tsurugi thought he knew everything about Cuervo, but it seems he just doesn’t understand the hearts of others. Lucky says that’s not true and not the Tsurugi they’ve come to know.

Tsurugi asks Lucky if he will still consider him a friend after this battle. Lucky says of course they will always be friends. Tsurugi says that puts him at ease.

They charge forward and run into Don Armuervo. He is happy Tsurugi has arrived, but does not appreciate Lucky tagging along.

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Lucky says he would not let Tsurugi, his friend, come alone. Don Armuervo asks Tsurugi if he looks down on Lucky as his shield just like he did to him before. Lucky says Tsurugi never looked down on Cuervo and regretted letting him die as his shield.

Lucky tries to explain that Tsurugi saw Cuervo as his close friend. But Don Armuervo says he never considered Tsurugi a friend as friends only use each other.

Don Armuervo says he didn’t die just to be a shield. He saw it as his opportunity to get his name in the history books. Don Armuervo shoots at Lucky and forces him to demorph. As he fires a finishing shot, Tsurugi steps in front of it to shield Lucky. That forces him to demorph.

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Don Armuervo can’t believe Tsurugi would be someone else’s shield. Tsurugi says of course he will shield Lucky as he is the key to saving the galaxy.

“You always did like the cheerful ones,” Don Armuervo says, “That kind of annoys me.” He summons a huge ball that engulfs Lucky.

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Lucky wakes up on the Orion and finds everyone feeling defeated. They tell him that Tsurugi was killed by Don Armage and that it is all over. They must give up now. Don Armage has won.

Lucky can’t believe everyone’s defeatist attitude and their admitting that Don Armuervo is the true savior. The others all express their gratitude in being able to fight alongside each other. But now the Earth is getting ready to explode and the galaxy’s end is upon them.

This, of course, is all an illusion created by Don Armage. He explains to Tsurugi that he will make Lucky die in despair. Just like how the rest of the galaxy wallows in suffering. Tsurugi believes Lucky would never give up.

Don Armuervo says giving up is the only option to be saved. And becoming one with him will make him into the true savior. Tsurugi believes Cuervo would never think that way. Don Armuervo insists Cuervo and Don Armage really are one and the same.

“I see. You are not a savior,” Tsurugi says. “You are just a villain!”

Don Armuervo does not take too kindly to that and hurls fireballs at Tsurugi.

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Meanwhile, the fakeKyurangers continue to try and drive Lucky to hoplessness and despair. But he’s not giving up. He reminds them how they endured all the pain and suffering together as friends and teammates. The battles they fought weren’t pointless.

“I will believe until the very end. I believe that the galaxy will be saved!”

Lucky shoots at the exploding Earth and that is able to release him from Don Armuervo’s fantasy world. And just in time as he was about to finish off Tsurugi for good.

Don Armuervo can’t believe it. He was sure Lucky would die happily in despair. But Lucky says he would never give up as he believes they will win.

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Stinger and Naga arrive. Stinger says Don Armuervo to call his friends to help him too, but the word “friends” disgusts him. Lucky says that’s his weakness. And the fact that they have friends is what makes them stronger than him.

Lucky, Tsurugi, Naga and Stinger all morph and they charge at Don Armuervo. Lucky is able to summon all their weapons to allow Stinger and Naga to use them. Tsurugi is growing weaker, but he forges ahead. The four of them and unrelenting at Don Armage and they send him flying out of the SuperMega Moraimarz.

The Planesium begins to bubble up to Earth’s surface. It’s about to blow.

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Lucky tells the others to finish off the SuperMega Moramiarz. And using the Orion Big Bang Cannon, they send an Ultimate Galaxy at the Moraimarz to destroy it for good, without Don Armage being able to protect it.

Don Armuervo can’t believe this is happening. Lucky, Tsurugi, Naga and Stinger deliver finishers at him and it wears him down to reveal just Cuervo’s body.

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The others come running to join them. Tsurugi falls to his knees, even weaker now. But he gets up and addresses Cuervo, apologizing for not being able to see what was in his heart.

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Cuervo tells him to shut up and declares that the galaxy belongs to him. He stands up and charges toward Tsurugi. But Tsurugi pulls his sword out and slashes at Cuervo who disintegrates into sand and feathers.

“You will always be my dear friend,” Tsurugi says.

Commander Ronpo commends everyone on their good work. The galaxy has been saved.

Not so fast though. Don Armage calls them fools as he reappears above them.

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“This is where the real hell begins!”

Don Armage begins to force himself into Tsurugi. He says this was his plan all along, to get inside Tsurugi and use Houou’s power of immortality. Tsurugi says he knew this would happen. He too planned this all along. He knew that once Cuervo was defeated, Don Armage would seek out a new body.

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And his body was the best choice since he is dying anyway. They will be able to kill Don Armage by killing him. Lucky reminds Tsurugi that he promised to live. Tsurugi apologizes to everyone and says this is how he chooses to live.

“If you consider yourself a friend, then hear out my final request! If you will always be my friend…”

Lucky refuses. If Tsurugi chooses to live that way, he too can choose how to live. And Lucky chooses to never abandon his friends.

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Tsurugi calls Lucky an idiot as Don Armage completes the insertion of himself into Tsurugi’s body. He has gained a terrifying new form.

Don Armage declares himself to be both Don Armage and Tsurugi. Don Armurugi. And he has now obtained the ultimate body.

Don Armurugi whips up Earth’s Planesium and says he will use it to restore his new host’s immortality. He wants all of them to be a part of his new body. He sends a huge fireball of Planesium at them. But suddenly, Commander Ronpo steps forward to catch it and absorb it himself.

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“Lucky! You are right. Friends must not be abandoned! That’s the Kyuranger way! As long as you don’t give up, it’s not over!”

The Kyurangers can only watch as Commander Ronpo gets sucked into Don Armage with the Planesium.

“I know dying in a cool way like this isn’t my style… Forgive me, everyone!”

Don Armurugi can feel the power running through him.

“Now, the legend begins.”

Don Armurugi flies into the sky. The Kyurangers are beside themselves.

“It’s not over,” Lucky says. “It starts here. This is where it really starts! We will fight as many times as it is necessary. That’s what the ultimate saviors do!”

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Episode Thoughts

Wowowow! Alright. This is what I’ve been waiting for! So, for some reason, I thought Kyuranger was ending with Episode 47. So the buildup these last few episodes made sense and I was more than ready to dive into the final two episodes. But then I found out we’d be ending with 48, so I thought Wow! How are they going to fill all that time?

Welp, this episode certainly gave all the material needed to do so. And provided a very strong foundation for what we can expect to see.

Despair is certainly a regular theme on either Sentai or Kamen Rider. And yet it works because having hope in life is universal. Being positive of course is great for a children’s show. But just in general, the idea of never giving up and persevering is a simple, yet profound idea. It’s always a great parallel that despair and evil have. You don’t want to fall in despair just like you don’t want to be tempted into evil. So it’s really a perfect kind of hero vs villain type of story.

It definitely works here on Kyuranger because all season of course, we have seen how Lucky and the other Kyurangers have believed in themselves and each other. Later in this episode, Lucky mentions how they’ve gone through a lot of hardships and pain and suffering, yet they were able to endure it and fight through it because they had hope. Hope in each other, belief in each other and the belief that they would be able to save the galaxy. They were resolved in doing so even though there were times when Don Armage and Jark Matter would chip away at that resolve.

Lucky and Don Armage’s fantasyland, though obviously fake from the start, was still very emotional to watch. It felt like all those scenes from apocalyptic movies where everyone is resigned to the fact that they’re going to die, the Earth is going to explode and the galaxy is going to go poof. Seeing everyone so defeated and resigned to the fact that their lives were over was really affecting. Especially since we know the Kyurangers to be a happy and positive group. So even though knowing that this was all fake, it was still very jarring to see them at that way. And it was a great way to be able to highlight Lucky’s own positivity.

All season long of having people say that they believe in Lucky and trusted him I think led up to that moment of him being able to fight against Don Armage’s control. He was not about to let Don Armage force him into despair and giving up. And in turn, Lucky’s belief in himself and his friends also reflected on everyone else’s belief in each other. And that’s just great.

Now, I haven’t been completely on board with the way they introduced Cuervo as Don Armage’s vessel. But that scene of Tsurugi dealing the final slash of his sword at Cuervo even though he knows it’s his friend obviously fits well with what eventually would happen. That is Don Armage taking over Tsurugi’s body and now presenting that same Dilemma to the other Kyurangers.

Now I definitely see what is going to happen here. Don Armage restoring Houou’s immortality is going to allow Tsurugi to come back to life. And then of course that also includes Commando Ronpo who was sucked in with the Planesium as well.

And now about that. Commander Ronpo dying is certainly nothing new. He’s died at least twice already in this season and in the summer movie. And yet seeing him sacrifice himself like this here was still so shocking and sad. It’s definitely something he would do. (He’s already done it in the past even.) And then actually seeing him get sucked into Don Armage’s body with the Planesium was just so effed up I can’t even. That was tough. I mean Commando Ronpo is awesome. And you hate seeing awesome people die. Obviously. But seeing him here sacrifice himself for his team and his friends was just so affecting. I felt that.

But again, it might be predictable. But I fully expect him and Tsurugi to come back to life thanks to Don Armage restoring that immortality power. And it’s going to probably be in a way that using Houou’s Power won’t grant them immortality, only that they would be able to come back to life. And that’s great. I accept that because we don’t want them to die of course. Hee.

Seeing what Don Armage did to Tsurugi showed that Cuervo wasn’t all evil. They still kind of left that open in a way. But seeing as how you didn’t see any of Tsurugi’s personality at all when Don Armage took over his body makes me believe it was exactly the same with Cuervo. And any other person Don Armage decides to slip inside of. I honestly thought he would take a ride inside Lucky when he engulfed him into that dark Kyutama.

But all of Don Armuervo’s talk of Cuervo actually wanting power and feeling disrespected and mistreated by Tsurugi just all felt like Don Armage twisting Cuervo’s mind. It wasn’t real. It was #FakeNews basically.

Love the opening shot of that army of Indavers. So epic.
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And then this shot of the guys running:

I want to see all 12 like this sometime in the next two episodes.

But damn if this episode didn’t hit all its marks. It was just so effective. Every story beat, all the emotions; it all fit. It was pitch perfect. It really felt like this and the next two episodes truly are the culmination of the 45 episodes before it. Everything truly came to a head. Everything came together. All the puzzle pieces were put into place. The foundation that the 45 previous episodes built has made this episode (and I will confidently say, the next two episodes) work.

Lucky’s Luckys of the Week

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