Recap: Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, Episode 35 – The Secret of the Universe’s No.1 Idol

The Kyurangers are watching a live broadcast of Hoshi Minato, the most popular idol in the galaxy. Hammie seems especially interested, but is hesitant to say she is a fan of his.

“Minaty” plays to the huge crowd and asks them “Do you want me to unleash your emotions?” Naga recognizes that as the phrase Akyanba used to manipulate him. Raptor says there are reports that Minaty’s fans get very violent at concerts.

Garu remembers Minaty was the celebrity face of Jark Matter’s Space Dragon Palace.

The Kyurangers think Jark Matter is using Minaty’s popularity to manipulate people. But Hammie is not so quick to judge him and says he is not that kind of person.

Commander Ronpo suggests they make a quick detour to check this out. Raptor finds Minaty is on Planet Peacock in the Pavo System for a new Jark Matter-produced TV show finding the galaxy’s next big idol star.

Hammie, Lucky and Naga pose as a rookie idol group managed by Spada with Tsurugi as the company CEO. They plan on using the Kenbikyo Kyutama to get into Minaty to see if there is a MicroTsuyoindaver living inside him like Naga before.

They manage to get into the TV station, but Akyanba is already making preparations knowing the Kyurangers are on the planet.

While walking through the halls, they run into Minaty who is flanked by Tsuyoindaver bodyguards and a very strict manager who forces them to step aside and out of the way of the big star.

Thinking of their next move, Naga notes that Minaty was very calm, unlike when he and other people were under Akyanba’s control. Maybe Akyanba is not behind this. Commander Ronpo suggests they use the Eridanus Kyutama which reveals a person’s true nature in a reflection. But it can only be used when no one else is around.

Just then, a Tsuyoindaver and Indavers spot them. They all morph, except Hammie who is conflicted. She runs off.

Naga finds Hammie in a dressing room. She apologizes for not fighting alongside them. Naga says he just doesn’t want a repeat of what happened to him and apologizes if he said anything to hurt her. Hammie says it’s okay because she also said things to hurt him. It was her words that drove Naga towards Akyanba’s manipulation, after all.

Hammie says she is just feeling a little emotional now. Naga asks why she feels emotional about someone who is not her friend.

Hammie explains that she isn’t necessarily a fan of Minaty. She recounts her travels alone after what happened on her home planet.

She ended up on Planet Zakiise where she encounters Minaty before he was famous. He was alone in a back alley singing a song. He told her that he sings even alone because of his hope that one day he’ll be able to sing for everyone in the galaxy. That inspired her to keep going in life, to have hope again. Naga is moved by Hammie’s experience.

Hammie says she doesn’t believe Minaty is willingly working for Jark Matter. Naga says he believes her.

They head to the auditions. Hammie, Lucky and Naga step on stage and introduce themselves as Triple Q. Hammie says they will be performing one of Minaty’s songs. Turns out it’s the song that gave Hammie hope before he had become famous.

The audience loves the song. But Minaty doesn’t seem to recognize it.

Before they are yanked off the stage, Hammie speaks up. She explains how the song helped give her hope and how Minaty was able to move forward with his own hope too. It’s impossible he would forget that.

The strict manager orders the Tsuyo/Indavers to take them away. But out of nowhere, Balance’s voice is heard announcing the Kyurangers’ presence. Turns out Balance and Raptor had disguised themselves in a monkey and bunny suit to sneak into the studio. They morph and take on the Indavers. The others usher the audience to safety.

Hammie uses the Eridanus Kyutama and shoots at Minaty and his manager. Turns out the manager is Akyanba and on Minaty’s shoulder is Don Armage?!

Hammie concludes Don Armage has possessed Minaty. She shoots at them, Akyanba returns to her true form and Don Armage hops off Minaty’s shoulder and back to normal size.

Don Armage gives Akyanba an ultimatum. She better take care of the Kyurangers or she’s done.

The Kyurangers morph.

Don Armage embiggens himself. Lucky and Tsurugi hop into Orion Battler and Gigant Houou to take him on. They believe if they can defeat Don Armage here, they won’t need to visit his HQ.

The others focus on taking care of the Tsuyoindavers before focusing on Akyanba. Naga, especially, has a score to settle with her. She taunts Naga about his emotions, but Hammie and Balance come to his defense.

Naga says Akyanba has taught him at least one emotion: anger. He is angry over Akyanba’s manipulating people and for stepping all over Hammie’s emotions.

Naga goes Dark and unleashes attack after attack at her. The others are there with the assist to completely wreck Akyanba. Together, they deliver a finishing All Star Crash at her with Naga finishing her off with a Metal Orphiuchus Impact.

Akyanba asks if Naga is happy that she was able to help him unleash his emotions. Naga says no, he is feeling sadness right now.

Akyanba explodes.

Meanwhile, as Lucky and Tsurugi try to finish off Don Armage, Don Armage drops a bombshell: There are countless Don Armages. Even if one is destroyed, he will live on.

Lucky and Tsurugi finish off this version of Don Armage for good.

Later, Minaty thanks Hammie for saving him and promises to continue and make music.

Minaty leaves. Naga approaches Hammie and says he feels like he can move forward even without emotions. Hammie corrects him, saying he does have emotions. That he felt concerned about her is proof his emotions are developing little by little.

The Kyurangers head back to the Orion II to eat some lunch.

Episode Thoughts

I really like this episode. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I thought it was going to be another filler. And it certainly started out that way, but things really started coming together in the middle of the episode.

This was a good character episode for both Hammie and Naga. Maybe Hammie a little more. Of course we got a little more backstory for her from the time that she had to go alone. I actually almost forgot that she had to travel the galaxy by herself, after what happened on her home planet. I don’t know why I originally thought that Minato was going to be in the Summer movie or something. That’s why they had that special ending with the remixed theme.

But I like how they connected him to the overall world building I guess all of the season. And of course it’s always great to see Matsumoto Hiroya again.

The way they were able to connect a lot of different plot threads whether it was Hammie’s past or Naga and Akyanba’s history, it was a really good flow.

I assume this is Akyanba’s last episode. And I think she definitely had a better, more fulfilling end than Kukuruga. It was definitely good to have Naga basically dealing the final blow to her considering what he went through. But it was also a good way to continue and add to Naga’s season-long arc of learning and understanding emotions.

I really liked the way those final scenes especially between Naga and Hammie played out. I always mention how the show has really been able to really play around with the unique and different relationships the Kyurangers have with each other. And this episode was a way to explore the Naga and Hammie relationship again as well. Definitely drew upon the episodes and their story that we had the last couple of weeks especially during Naga’s arc.

Meanwhile we learned that there are many countless Don Armages is in the Galaxy. That’s definitely an interesting concept. We’ll see how they expand on it but there’s definitely a lot of potential there. On one hand in might be Oh it’s just prolonging the final battle. But depending on how it develops in the next few weeks, it might be a really unique way to take on the big bad of the season.

Elsewhere I really enjoyed seeing Balance and Raptor just pop out of nowhere. I honestly didn’t ever expect that they were those two random monkey and bunny costumed people who walked by. lol

I would also like to assume that Minato’s color scheme of gold and yellow is a nice Easter egg for Sentai fans and fans of Matsumoto Hiroya.

I was a little disappointed we didn’t get to see Commander Ronpo, Stinger, Kotaro, Champ and Garu fall over when the Orion Battler stood up like we did the last 2 weeks. Come to think of it the guys left on the ship basically disappeared after that one check-in scene. It would have been nice to have them do that fall over gag at least during the mecha battle just to remember that they’re there.

Overall I really enjoyed this episode. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it actually delivered very well.

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