Recap: Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, Episode 33 – Launch! Battle Orion Ship!

Kyuranger 33

The Kyurangers are trying to think of what to do next. Lucky suggests they steal a Moraimarz to get themselves to the Southern Cross area to look for Don Armage’s hideout. Out of nowhere, Eris pops in and says there’s no need for that.

Eris jumps Lucky and announces to everyone that she has a message from Sho-sama. Stinger realizes Commander Ronpo replaced Orion so it was he who gave the Ryukotsu Kyutama to Eris.

Eris has never heard of Orion, but she’s in love with Lucky now.

Anyway, Commander Ronpo told Eris to give them the Yagi Kyutama with a message from him in the event something happened to The Orion.

Kyuranger 33

Commander Ronpo tells the Kyurangers that he has prepared the Battle Orion Ship for them. He gives them the location. Tsurugi remembers Orion created a space battle ship as an anti-Jark Matter weapon in the past.

Meawhile, Daikaan Magera goes to Kukuruga and offers his services to kill the Kyurangers so he can become Vice-Shogun.

Back on Earth, Lucky and Tsurugi arrive at the location Commander Ronpo sent and it is the site they buried Orion at in the past. They rejoin the others as they have found a passage underground. But instead of the ship, they find Kukuruga, Magera and Indavers.

Kyuranger 33

Lucky, Tsurugi, Hammie, Spada, Naga and Balance fight them off while the others continue looking for the battleship.

Hammie, Spada and Balance take on Magera, but Magera is able to use his twist power to twist their personalities into strange versions of themselves who do the opposite of whatever they’re told.

Kyuranger 33

First example is Hammie, Spada and Balance revealing to Kukuruga and Magera that they are here to look for the battleship. The two Jark Matter leave with that important information.

Raptor calls them to say they have found the battleship. Naga puts Hammie, Spada and Balance to sleep to stop their countering personalities so they can hurry down to the battleship.

They make their way inside the ship and find the bridge is exactly like The Orion’s. Except right in the middle of the bridge is a cold sleep device. Lucky, Kotaro and Garu press the button and inside is Commander Ronpo.

Kyuranger 33

Commander Ronpo happily greets everyone and the Kyurangers are happy to see him back.

Kyuranger 33

Commander Ronpo explains what happened in the past. After spreading the legend of the Kyurangers, he also fought in another dimension and fought against a giant beast before finding the Battle Orion Ship. Even back then, he knew Don Armage survived their battle.

Just then, Kukuruga has Moraimarz attack where the Battle Orion Ship is. Commander Ronpo breaks the news that he was not able to find the Orion Kyutama, so they cannot power up the Battle Orion Ship.

Lucky and Tsurugi head out as do the just awakened Spada, Hammie and Balance. Naga follows just before the door to the bridge closes and shuts.

Tsurugi hops in Gigant Houou to take on the Moraimarz robos. Lucky, Naga, Hammie, Spada and Balance morph to take on Kukuruga and Magera.

Kyuranger 33

Kukuruga drives Lucky to the site of Orion’s grave and forces him to demorph before he can use the Saiko Kyutama.

The Kyurangers are all struggling, but they don’t give up. Lucky grabs Orion’s mallet and says that they will continue fighting, especially in the name of all those who have fallen before them. Kukuruga tells Lucky to go to hell and fires at him.

Lucky blocks the attack with the mallet and sends it back to Kukuruga.

Kyuranger 33

Orion speaks to Lucky and tells him to take the Saiko Kyutama in hand. Lucky touches it and he is transported to a white place where he meets face to face with Orion.

Orion tells Lucky to carry his will into the future by mastering this new power.

Kyuranger 33

The Orion Kyutama appears in Lucky’s hand. He locks it into his Seiza Blaster and the Orion Voyager appears. It flies straight to the Battle Orion Ship and powers it up. Raptor takes the controls and launches the Battle Orion Ship out of the ground and into the sky.

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Commander Ronpo puts on goggles and tells Raptor to fire Kyu Energy at the Big Moraimarz. A bright nuclear blast eviscerates the Moraimarz.

Back down on Earth, Magera forces Hammie, Spada, Balance and Naga to demorph. Lucky arrives and gets them all going again. They morph, roll call and take on Magera.

Raptor pilots the Battle Orion Ship over to help Tsurugi. Together, they finish off the remaining Moraimarz robos.

The Earthbound team finish off Magera’s first life and he embiggens.

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Lucky morphs to Orion and hops into Orion Voyager and initiates docking with Battle Orion Ship.

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The battleship transforms into a robo: Orion Battler.

Orion’s spirit is in the Battler as Lucky takes on Magera’s powerful attacks. Ultimately, Orion’s power is stronger and with a Orion Dynamic Strike, Magera is done.

Kyuranger 33

Back on the nuOrion-gou, Commander Ronpo says the original Orion-gou was so memorable, he recreated the bridge exactly. The Kyurangers are sprucing the bridge up, happy to have a new ship to call home.

But Stinger has a question for Commander Ronpo. Where the hell is Champ?! Did something happen in the past?

Commander Ronpo says that Champ was going to go see Doctor Anton after he put him to sleep.

Kyuranger 33

Elsehwere in the galaxy, it appears Champ has been captured by Akyanba and Kukuruga.

Episode Thoughts

Very interesting episode. I’m not really sure how I ultimately feel about it. The episode itself felt a little messy and rushed and unfocused. Like, the main purpose of the episode was to introduce the battleship. But everything else felt very disjointed and that’s not a description I’ve used for Kyuranger even once this season.

Finding the battleship/Orion Battler was very deus ex machina I thought. I expected finding the ship to be a little more challenging and maybe an episode or two-worth of adventure at least. Maybe even tied into Commander Ronpo and Champ’s return in a different way. But everything about the ship and Commander Ronpo in the sleep capsule felt too convenient. And dare I say lazy?

Using the deep sleep to get himself back to the future like Tsurugi is clever on Commander Ronpo’s part, but he was gone for all of one episode really. So there wasn’t much impact in his popping up like this, even in an amusing, fun sort of way.

In him returning and in finding the battleship, a major weapon in the ultimate fight against Jark Matter, I feel like this episode lacked emotional depth. Whether it was in the dramatic and heartwarming sense or in the fun, hilarious and adventurous sense.

Orion Battler’s debut fell flat for me. And I’m pretty sad about that.

Commander Ronpo saying, at the end, that he modeled the bridge exactly like the original Orion-gou’s bridge because of the memories would’ve been very touching. That is, if my initial reaction when they first entered it hadn’t been “They’re using the exact same set, what a cop out. =/”

Lucky suggesting they steal a Moraimarz to use to fly to Don Armage is actually a great story idea that could easily be one or two episodes worth of material. I think them embarking on that mission, failing and then learning about the Battle Orion Ship would’ve helped make Orion Battler’s debut more impactful and epic even.

Then there was the side plot of Magera twisting around Hammie, Spada and Balance’s personalities. There’s definitely a whole episode worth of story there (it’s basically an annual Sentai staple having a body switching episode of some sort). But instead, it was shoehorned in with everything else that was going on.

There were a few things I really enjoyed though. Orion Battler’s theme music is very fun. twistedHammie slapping Magera was funny. The Orion Battler/Magera battle was freshly choreographed and in a fresh setting. And everyone in the bridge falling over when Orion Battler stood up was very funny.

But the most glaring thing I did not enjoy this episode was “Where’s Champ?!”

Like, as soon as Commander Ronpo popped up, the next question should’ve been “Where the hell is Champ?” But he was basically an afterthought.

I get wanting the cliffhanger of Champ being captured. But it was really out of character for them that not a single person wondered where he was immediately. At the very least pardner Stinger and Kotaro. A perfect opportunity for them to ask would’ve been when Commander Ronpo was telling his story. And if they didn’t get the chance because they were interrupted by the attack, why did no one ask before they started fooling around and decorating the bridge?

I think they could’ve easily brought Champ up earlier in the episode and still have done that cliffhanger.

The show has built up and developed their bonds, something I’ve mentioned as one of my favorite aspects of the season. So for them to completely forget about one of their comrades, their family?! That’s absurd.

I have great hope and confidence in Kyuranger finishing strong, but there’s still a lingering anxiousness too. They’ve raised expectations very much with how amazing the story has been so far. But this episode, while okay and fun at times, wasn’t as tight as the season has been normally. And that really helped to fuel my anxiousness when previously, the show didn’t give me a tangible reason to feel that way. =(

Lucky’s Lucky of the Week

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