Recap: Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, Episode 48 – Echo Throughout the Universe! Yosha, Lucky and Season Review

Kyuranger 48

The Kyurangers resist Don Armage’s proclamation that he is the galaxy. They charge straight at Don Armage and morph as they bombard him with attacks.

They fight in the name of their home planets and of their peoples, cutting into Don Armage and wearing him down. But he quickly heals himself and sends a huge attack at the Kyurangers, surprising even himself by his immense galactic power.

The power must come from all the living beings he’s sucked into his body from around the galaxy, all of whom will suffer inside him forever, he proclaims.

Don Armage sends another huge attack at the Kyurangers and they are forced to demorph.

Kyuranger 48

Lucky says he still believes in his luck. But Don Armage says that is pointless, especially as he is born from the most unlucky life forms in the galaxy. That is, he came to being from all the pain, sadness and suffering from all over the galaxy.

Don Armage proudly boasts the new galaxy he now rules over is full of unending lamentation and suffering. And that endless despair is what gives him endless power.

Kyuranger 48

Don Armage forces the Kyurangers to listen to the cries of despair from all the people inside him in the hopes that they too will fall to despair from failing to be the saviors of the galaxy.

The Kyurangers listen to the horrific sounds of people wishing they were dead. But Lucky wills himself to stand and lets out a Yosha Lucky! If that’s all Don Armage is after, then they can definitely counter that.

Lucky speaks with the people inside Don Armage. He gives them words of encouragement and hope, relating his own experience in overcoming his unluckiness. The others join in and explain that luck doesn’t just come to you, you can draw it to yourself. You make your own luck and work to make your hopes and dreams come true. And if you can’t on your own, you have your comrades with you to help. Overcoming painful events can open the path to the future and give you immense power.

Kyuranger 48

Hope! The best weapon against despair.

The hopeful words of the Kyurangers reach the people inside Don Armage and they reply with their words of encouragement. That breaks the feeding tube of despair Don Armage had on the Kyurangers.

The Kyurangers regain their footing and their resolve. They do a roll call and morph.

Kyuranger 48

The Kyurangers each deliver their special attacks, now powered with the hope and trust of the entire galaxy. The galaxy Don Armage ate up is now quickly leaving his person. And that weakens him, allowing the Kyurangers (including Lucky upmorphing to Orion) to deliver an All Star Galaxy Crash.

Kyuranger 48

Don Armage catches the attack and sends it flying back at the Kyurangers. But the Kyurangers hold their ground and are able to send it back at Don Armage.

A huge explosion seems to take care of Don Armage’s first life and he quickly embiggens. Super-embiggens!

Kyuranger 48

The Kyurangers hop into KyuTamaJin. But Don Armage uses all the Planesium he has to counter the Kyurangers’ attack. The Kyurangers give absolutely everything they have left.

Their grunting and heaving seems to have awoken the entire galaxy and all the constellations lend them their power. The Kyurangers and Don Armage break their counterattacks.

Kyuranger 48

That allows the Kyurangers to deliver an Ultimate All Star Break at Don Armage. And that attack causes an immense, atomic bomb-like explosion.

Kyuranger 48

Don Armage is back down to size and the last bits of the galaxy leave his super-body, everyone returning to their home planets, back to normal. Don Armage’s body is also back to normal.

Don Armage is still indignant and says he can just possess someone else. He swoops forward and decides on taking Lucky’s body. Don Armage shoots Lucky’s body into space where he will wait to die.

Kyuranger 48

Don Armage also promises the rest of the Kyurangers will die as well.

While Don Armage attacks the Kyurangers, Lucky’s body begins to disintegrate as he floats in space. But Lucky refuses to just up and die like this. Don Armage’s essence shoots through Lucky’s body again and attempts to engulf him.

Suddenly, the Kyurangers see Leo appear in the sky.

Don Armage is shocked that he is unable to control and take over Lucky’s body. Lucky says it is because he is the luckiest man in the galaxy.

Kyuranger 48

A meteor shower rains down on Earth and Lucky hitches a ride on an asteroid. He morphs as he reenters Earth’s atmosphere.

The others turn back toward Don Armage’s body and prepare an Ultimate All Star Crash. Lucky joins their attack. And the huge, immense attack rips at Don Armage, tearing him apart and destroying him for good.

Kyuranger 48

The galaxy is saved!

Kyuranger 48

Fast forward two years later. Stinger is now Commander of the Orion. He, Raptor and Kotaro are in charge of patrolling the galaxy as each constellation continues to rebuild after Don Armage’s path of destruction.

They watch a news report of Spada, described as one of the 12 saviors, opening his new restaurant today. They have to hurry to make it.

Kyuranger 48

Champ, Hammie, Naga, Balance, newly-reinstated Space Alliance President Tsurugi and now-Supreme Commander Ronpo are with Spada, enjoying a toast congratulating him on the new restaurant.

Champ updates everyone on his 99-0 record since his return to Robo Wrestling. Hammie is closer to her dream of becoming a teacher. Naga and Balance are using their BN Thieves expertise to retrieve treasure stolen by Jark Matter and returning them to their rightful owners.

Kyuranger 48 Kyuranger 48

Commander Stinger, Raptor and Kotaro arrive. Raptor seems very shy. Commander Stinger pushes her toward Spada and she shyly congratulates him. He shyly thanks her. President Daddy Tsurugi nods in approval.

Kyuranger 48

They talk about Lucky and Garu still on their journey to the ends of the galaxy, helping anyone who needs help. Spada says Lucky promised they’d be here today though.

Lucky and Garu are scooting along, but are running late since Lucky’s space scooter broke down. Lucky gives it a lucky a punch and they go zooming toward Earth.

The reporter heads inside to interview Spada and is excited to see all the Kyurangers here. But suddenly, a big explosion outside. They hurry out.

It’s only Lucky and Garu.

Kyuranger 48

The End!

Episode Thoughts

And it’s over! :'( Kyuranger has come to an end. And it was quite literally an explosive finale!

If Episode 47 took care of the emotional weight of the finale, Episode 48 was all action. Explosions, fights, even more explosions. It was just a throw down between the Kyurangers and Don Armage who just would not stay dead.

I think they could’ve extended some of the more emotional moments from last week into this episode and quickened a scene or two of the fighting while still keeping all the (literal) explosive scenes. But still, the episode definitely did not lack finale-worthy action. The idea that the Kyurangers needed to battle Don Armage like that fits with the scope of the season and Don Armage’s reach over the galaxy. He took over the entire galaxy and then ate all living beings, after all. lol

Anyway, the idea that Don Armage was made from the galaxy’s suffering and despair is actually a great, though familiar concept. But it works, especially after the Kyurangers’ big speech about making your own luck, getting off your butt and working for your dreams and having friends, family and comrades with you to help if needed.

Still, I would’ve liked more unmorphed scenes though.

Elsewhere, that was definitely the roll call I was waiting for. I loved it.

The scene right before they give it all they’ve got in Kyutama Jin where they had each of them all grunt and heave like that was funny. But at the same time, it was a great way to illustrate the power needed to defeat Don Armage for good. That atomic bomb-looking impact was insane though. Even more insane is that he still survived it. lol

I definitely was not expecting that one last stand by Don Armage though, whisking Lucky into space like that. It worked though. And for anyone who cries Red Focus again, the show did establish Lucky being special early on and continuously without shoving it down our throats. And the other Kyurangers provided equally important firepower for that final strike alongside Lucky anyway.

Lucky hitching a ride on an asteroid was a nice callback to the premiere.

I loved that they finally updated the opening narration to include all 12 Kyurangers.

The Fast Forward was alright. I think the biggest things to draw from the epilogue were Commander Stinger, Spada & Raptor shipping and Lucky & Garu shipping. Commander Stinger was definitely not something I thought about so it was fun to see. Spada & Raptor are no Tokacchi & Mio, but they’ve certainly been close all season and the show did start to heavily imply romantic feelings between them in this last arc of the season. Lucky and Garu traveling to the ends of the galaxy together is about as happy an ending for them as you’re going to get. And that’s fine.

I do think you could make a better movie of Lucky and Garu’s travels than the one they made for Stinger and Champ’s. (Still the worst thing Toei did for Kyuranger.)

Overall, for the finale, I enjoyed it very much. A few almost MaGMCMs. Not completely bawling as I wanted to. Though I took care of that already last week, as I mentioned lol But still an action-packed conclusion to this great season.


Kyuranger 48

Season Hindsight Review

I’ve made no secret of how much I quickly took to Kyuranger. The season almost immediately captured my attention (and imagination *wink*wink*) and there was never a time during the course of the season that I doubted my early proclamation of love. Maybe some times when I felt like they could’ve done things differently.
But I can confidently say Kyuranger ranks right at the top with Go-Busters and ToQger as my favorite Sentai seasons. And they all have many things in common.

All of them established strong bonds between the Rangers. Relationships that ranged from friendships to family to comrades and teammates. The strong connection the Rangers had with each other allowed us as the viewer to connect with them. And for any story, being able to connect to and relate with the characters is most important. Even when other aspects of the series are lacking, if you have strong characters with strong relationships, it makes the “Saving the world/galaxy” story a little less tired and predictable. Especially if this isn’t your first tokusatsu show. Heck, you first superhero story.
Thankfully for Kyuranger, the rest of the series was not lacking. The overall story was interesting. Don Armage and Jark Matter were legitimately ominous and threatening. Don Armage’s endgame might have come a little later than it should have, but it doesn’t lessen the fight and struggle the Kyurangers faced through the season.

With the greater arc of the galaxy being under control, it allowed for the personal stories and backstories of the Kyurangers as well as the various people and beings they met along the way. Some Kyurangers certainly got more time to flesh out a backstory than others. And the season conveniently spent too much time on Earth rather than visit other fantastical worlds. But the idea of people coping with oppression and a small group of people leading the resistance was a refreshing change of pace from recent seasons. There’s a tendency for Sentai and Kamen Rider to feel claustrophobic and limited to familiar Tokyo locations. So a season focused on the villain group taking over, or actually already have taken over Earth and other/all planets adds to the grander scope and urgency of the overall story.

But like I mentioned above, it came down to hope vs. despair. It’s a familiar theme and concept. But what made it still exciting and interesting on Kyuranger was how the Kyurangers themselves were excellent examples of hope. They weren’t just lucky, they were positive and optimistic. They believed in themselves and each other. Teamwork and working together took on an extra meaning. They were holding each other up during dark times and helped each other move forward. The strength of the characters made this possible.

And of course, being under the control of an oppressive and evil regime would drive anyone into despair. The fact that Don Armage relished in it and wanted to force more of it on the galaxy was the perfect opposite to the Kyurangers.

Some people balked at the idea of nine Rangers, let alone the eventual 12. Certainly when some seasons can barely handle six Rangers, it was a valid concern. But Kyuranger surprisingly handled the large regular cast quite well. Some characters went off on their own for one or two episodes, but most of the time, all Kyurangers were involved somehow. And it never felt crowded or overwhelming.

The highlights of the season certainly include Stinger’s dramatic arc with his brother and his eventual partnership with Champ plus being a big brother to Kotaro. Kotaro becoming a full-fledged character and Ranger was an unexpected, but pleasant surprise.

And Lucky’s luck began as a simple catchphrase, but turned into a deeper story that resonated to the end of the season. It was more than just a catchphrase. It was a rallying cry for the Kyurangers and eventually the whole galaxy.

For things the season could’ve done better. I think they could have played around with Don Armage taking over Cuervo’s body a little more. It would have helped foreshadow Don Armage’s true endgame a little more as well.

Also, a few of the Kyurangers really got shortchanged on backstory. But they were still full and distinct characters, nonetheless.

The season developed well. It’s certainly a little top heavy as the late-30s/early-40s felt a little too slow. Though it’s understandable considering the brisk and dramatic start to the season right up to the 30s.

The cast was amazing. They (including the voice actors and suit actors) really helped give each character their own style and distinct personality just thanks to their performances, even if the writing did not do them justice in terms of depth.

But the writing was mostly great as well. The story progressed well and there were many exciting and dramatic episodes as the season went by. The Kyurangers had a specific endgame and that helped a lot. Thanks to that, the show could focus on more character moments. Not full-fledged backstories, but little character moments that help flesh out each of the Kyurangers.

I think one of the best aspects of the characters is how we saw so many different dynamics and relationships between the Kyurangers. Having 12 really allowed for them to interact with each other in different combinations and pairings. And each of those interactions were different from other combos. It made each character seem like truly distinct characters.

Overall, I really truly love this season. It is by no means perfect. Of course, nothing is. But containing the things I look for in a toku show and any show in general, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and will be sad to not have the Kyurangers back every week.

All of Lucky’s (and the Kyurangers’) Luckys

4 thoughts on “Recap: Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, Episode 48 – Echo Throughout the Universe! Yosha, Lucky and Season Review

  1. I’ve been waiting for your review on this series! 😀

    Oh, man, so you really enjoyed it.

    That’s nice!

    And you rank it up there with ToQger and Go-Busters? If that’s true, then I can’t wait to finish ToQger and get a Kyuranger torrent batch!

    Oh boy! This looks like it’s gonna be a fun season!

    1. I enjoyed the season as a whole more than the final episode lol But I definitely think it was a satisfying conclusion. I think the journey to the finale was more exciting and fun, but again still a satisfying finale.

Share your thoughts!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top