Recap: Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger, Episode 5 – Targeted, the International Police

The Lups are tracking serial robber and murderer Bundoruto Pegi who is able to quickly evade capture. Suddenly, Destra emerges from a portal, much to the surprise of the Lups who are even more shocked that he has two safes.

Kairi is eager to engage, but Tooma says they should just wait and watch. He’s got a bad feeling about this new guy whom Kogure hasn’t even informed them of. Bundoruto Pegi hops away and the Lups follow.

Meanwhile, Commander Hilltop has just gotten off a plane with some very precious cargo. But on the way back to HQ, his police car is stopped by Bundoruto Pegi.

Bundoruto yanks Commander Hilltop out of the car and grabs the suitcase which he opens to find two Collection pieces. The Lups quickly morph and battle Bundoruto. Commander Hilltop calls Jim Carter to alert the Pats.

Down in the underworld, Goche questions Destra contacting Bundoruto and wonders what he is up to. Destra says he would never betray the boss. But Goche says it doesn’t make sense for Destra to be going behind the boss’ back when he isn’t even interested in the gems.

Kairi is able to grab one of the Collection pieces from the case when the Pats arrive and orders the Gangler to freeze.

Kairi tosses a card at Bundoruto and tells Tooma and Umika they should get out of here before things get too heated. They all escape. Back at the bistro, Kairi tells Tooma and Umika about the card which tells Bundoruto to meet at an abandoned factory at 3pm. Kairi hopes it will be a good, hidden place to meet without the police on their tail.

Still, they wonder why the cops have two Collection pieces and how the Ganglers knew about them.

Over at HQ, Commander Hilltop explains he was bringing over VS vehicles from the main HQ. Jim Carter shows them more information on the Collection pieces which turn into a bike and helicopter. HQ had been secretly investigating the Lupin Collection for a long time now. And once the Ganglers and LupinRangers appeared, HQ sent over the VS changers. Commander Hilltop adds that they don’t know where these things come from yet, but they know if they fall into the wrong hands, it could mean the end of the world.

Meanwhile, Destra tells Goche that despite being all part of the Lupin Collection, human and Gangler treasures are different. And that bothers Destra, thus he is investigating on his own without Dogranio’s knowledge. Goche says she is surprised he was able to find out what the police were doing. But Destra has a source.

Bundoruto is at the factory, waiting for the Lups. But it is the Pats who appear instead.

Turns out, Commander Hilltop had a tracking device inside the case the whole time. The Pats morph. But Bundoruto calls out the Podamans who pop out, surrounding the Pats.

The Pats battle the Podamans as the Lups arrive, again surprised the cops have arrived before them. The Lups morph and join in.

Both Keiichiro and Kairi take on Bundoruto. They manage to shoot the case out of his hands. That gives Keiichiro a chance to grab the remaining Collection piece.

Kairi challenges Keiichiro to a duel to see who will get both pieces. Keiichiro accepts. Kairi tells Sakuya and Tsukasa to go after Bundoruto while Kairi tells Tooma and Umika to retrieve Bundoruto’s piece.

Kairi insists all these pieces they are using are property of Arsene Lupin anyway, including the VS changers the cops use. But Keiichiro says they are property of the Global Police for justice. They battle around the factory.

Kairi attacks Keiichiro from below and they descend into the factory’s basement. Kairi says it’ll be the Lups who defeat the Ganglers so Keiichiro should hand over all their Collection pieces. But Keiichiro says Kairi and his friends all chose the wrong path the moment they decided to become phantom thieves.

That makes Kairi think of the day his brother became shattered ice.

Kairi says they have no other choice than to be thieves. “I don’t care what you think!”

Kairi is upset and he takes it out on Keiichiro. Keiichiro decides to insert his Collection piece in his VS changer and a helicopter appears. Kairi does the same with his piece and a motorcycle appears.

Meanwhile, Destra makes an appearance and thinks Bundoruto is doing a poor job. The Lups and Pats are shocked as Destra Maggio introduces himself.

Destra decides to give them a little taste of the Ganglers as Bundoruto hops away.

Good Striker appears as Keiichiro and Kairi try to outdo each other with their new toys. Neither have any idea how much Destra is tossing the others around. Just then, Kairi manages to tie up Keiichiro’s helicopter, spin it around and hurl Keiichiro out.

Kairi now has the Collection piece and he drives off. But Destra materializes an embiggened Golam and orders him to take the piece from Kairi.

Good Striker wants to work with the Pats this time. Keiichiro is a little distracted. But Tsukasa snaps him out of it long enough for them to combine into PatKaiser. They deliver a Bullet Strike to finish off Golam.

Back at the bistro, Umika and Tooma tell Kairi about getting owned by Bundoruto. They have the two pieces, but they let Bundoruto get away. Kairi says they should call it day for now and he leaves.

Turns out Keiichiro’s words hit a nerve for Kairi. Back at HQ, Keiichiro is upset at being one-upped by the red thief.

Episode Thoughts

It was an okay episode. It was another very Lup-focused ep. And thinking about it, it would make sense the LupinRangers are top billing when they’re dealing with items from “Lupin” Collection. But still, making the Pats seem incompetent and lacking just to prop up how “cool” the Lups are is not something I’m a fan of.

Anyway, we’ll see how the next episode goes since it appears to be a Keiichiro-focus. Maybe.

It was nice to see Commander Hilltop actually involved and out in the field. He seems to probably know more than he lets on. I doubt he’s only been leaving HQ just to buy snacks.

It was also good to see Destra out of the Underworld too. Sometimes it gets annoying to see the villain generals or the big bad never set foot outside of their lairs and such. So seeing Destra engage with the Lups and Pats was good.

Overall, I still have problems with the balance between the Lups and Pats. But we’ll see how things play out. It might all be plot-driven.