Recap: Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger, Episode 21 – Kishiryu of Light and Dark

Melto shows Koh news of all marine life disappearing from Tokyo Bay. Ui shows them news of people coming back from the dead.

Just then, a woman walks into the lab with a bag of groceries. Ui is shocked because this woman is… her mother. Who passed away from illness years ago.

Mama Yuiko says she is going to cook Ui’s favorite Hamburg steak for dinner. She turns to Koh and Melto, saying she hopes Ui hasn’t been too much trouble for them. They say of course she hasn’t and bow in greeting, while also unsure how to react to the situation.

Meanwhile, Asuna is on her way home from the grocery store too when she drops an apple and it rolls away. She chases after it, but it is caught by… Master Pink! Also alive and well.

On the other side of town, Canalo and Mosa Rex are investigating a crash site thinking it could be related to the Kishiryu that was taken to space by the Druidons. Mosa Rex senses great energy that could also be cause of all the strange things happening, like living things disappearing and dead things reappearing.

Just then, Canalo hears a roar. He runs over and finds a dark Kishiryu rampaging in the forest! It opens up a black hole and Canalo henshins to avoid being sucked in. The Kishiryu eats the black hole up and hops away.

Elsewhere, Bamba explains to Towa that Gaisorg was an armor created to resist the Druidons, but has since gained its own consciousness. Towa tells Bamba about Gaisorg knowing them and saying things their Master said.

Towa asks Bamba who could be under the mask. Before Bamba can say what he thinks, they are shocked to see thousands of glowing things floating down from the sky.

One of those things is Tankjo who appears, alive and well, in front of Kureon. Kureon happily runs over and hugs Tankjo.

Bamba and Towa find them and they quickly morph. Kureon whispers something to Tankjo before Bamba and Towa engage him.

Tankjo kicks dirt into their face and shoots his balls at them. Bamba and Towa slice them in half before they can explode. Bamba prepares a shot to fire at Tankjo, but it is interrupted by explosions right at their faces.

Tankjo commends Kureon for his good plan. Bamba and Towa take the opportunity to retreat.

Back at Chez Tatsui, Papa Naohisa, Mama Yuiko and Ui sit at the table and enjoy some Hamburg steak dinner. Papa Naohisa is very emotional as he eats, knowing it really is his wife’s cooking.

Koh and Melto just stand and watch the family, still unable to process what is happening.

Just then, Asuna comes running in with Master Pink right behind her. Master Pink says Koh and Melto look well. The two boys are even more speechless now.

Master Pink turns and is shocked by who she sees. She approaches Papa Naohisa, calling him “Seto.” Papa Naohisa says he’s “Tatsui.”

Master Pink apologizes and says she’s mistook her for someone else.

Koh, Melto and Asuna accompany Master Pink out where she excitedly drinks boba for the first time. She points out that they were usually forbidden to eat outside food, though the Elder secretly ate hamburgers all the time.

Koh asks Master Pink how she came back to life. She jokes about really wanting to taste grocery store samples, but they ask her to please be serious. She says she doesn’t know.

They tell Master Pink about the marine life disappearing. But Canalo pops in and reports Mosa Rex discovered cows, pigs and all sorts of animals have vanished as well.

Canalo’s report is interrupted when he is immediately smitten by Master Pink. He offers her a rose and she offers they go for some tea. Asuna is not a fan of her teammate dating her Master.

Anyway, Melto believes the animal life being taken is related to the dead regaining their life. But before they can hash out the theory, Bamba and Towa call to tell them about Tankjo.

The Ryusoulgers, minus Canalo, meet up downtown to face off against Tankjo.

Nearby, Master Pink pins Canalo against a pillar and reaches into his pants.

Canalo is surprised, believing Master Pink wants them to hook up here in broad daylight. But she is only reaching into his pants to grab KurayamiSoul. She asks where he got this dark Ryusoul.

Meanwhile, Tankjo is able to counter all the Ryusoulgers’ attacks. He shoots his balls at them, but they slice them in half again. They try fighting off the Drunns, but as soon as they try to attack, more explosions.

The Ryusoulgers don’t understand what’s going on. Melto realizes gas is being emitted from the balls. Tankjo explains the gas is made of volcanic energy. Any spark will ignite the gas. And since there are balls all over Tokyo with the gas spreading fast, the city will burn to the ground with even a tiny spark.

The Ryusoulgers try different Souls to try and blow the gas away. But nothing works.

Kureon strikes a match to blow the entire city of Tokyo up. But Master Pink arrives and blows the match out with her sword.

Canalo shows the others KurayamiSoul and activates it, giving him a new armor. Canalo says KurayamiSoul can absorb anything you want it to. He fires and it sucks up all the gas.

Tankjo embiggens himself. Canalo calls on Mosa Rex and Shadow Raptor to combine into Kishiryu Neptune ShadowRaptor. The others hop into KishiryuOh Five Knights.

Koh uses PukuPukuSoul, which they used against Tankjo when they defeated him the first time. But this time, Koh uses it to inflate the buildings around Tankjo, blocking his sightline and allowing Canalo to deliver a blackhole attack from above.

Tankjo is killed a second time.

They reconvene on a rooftop where they get a perfect view of the destruction they have left behind. Most of Tokyo is burning.

Koh laments the fact that they were not powerful enough to defeat Tankjo before it reached this point and millions of people were killed.

Master Pink says it’s alright. She calls on ShadowRaptor to summon ShineRaptor.

ShineRaptor appears and a rainbow colored beam flows out of its mouth and over the destruction. The buildings are suddenly rebuilt and good as new, as if nothing has happened.

Master Pink says ShineRaptor and ShadowRaptor are the light and dark in one Kishiryu.

Asuna asks how she knows that. Master Pink says Seto told her.

But who the hell is Seto? Lucky for them, the mysterious hooded man approaches them and slowly uncovers his face.

They are shocked to see Seto’s face.

Koh calls him Papa Naohisa. But the man says his name is Seto and he lives in the gap between light and dark.

Episode Thoughts

Well that was very interesting! Obviously the story wasn’t wrapped up in this episode as it will continue next week. And I quite like that. So far, the season may feel like it lacks an overarching plotline and has focused more on standalone episodes. So it’s refreshing when they at least make you feel like there’s a continuing story from episode to episode.

And another thing I liked about this episode is that it continued the recent weeks of being a little more serious and grounded. The episodes have been a little more balanced in terms of the dramatic and the slapstick. And the characters have been more balanced with their personalities as well. Seems as if everything is calming down and hopefully settling into the tone it will carry for the rest of the season.

The main idea of the episode was the taking away and giving back of life. Most importantly, having Mama Yuiko and Master Pink coming back from the dead as a way to bring that main idea closer to home for our characters.

No MOTW or victim of the week, so all the focus was on our main characters which was great.

First with Ui’s mother. I think Ui’s reactions to her mother coming back to life were good. It was believable and avoided making Ui turn back into a comic relief character even in such a dramatic moment. It was a good contrast to that little bit at the beginning with her and the phone in Koh and Melto’s face.

On the other hand, I feel like there was a missed opportunity with Papa Naohisa’s reaction to his wife. We didn’t see his first reaction to seeing her again. But we did see him getting emotional at the familiar dinner. So I guess since we saw Ui’s initial shock, it would’ve been repetitive to get Papa Naohisa’s reaction. Especially if (we assume) these resurrections are only temporary anyway.

At the same time, perhaps Papa Naohisa’s reaction could play into whatever connection he may have with Seto.

I don’t remember where, but a week or two ago, I seemed to have stumbled upon a spoiler or tease of some sort regarding Seto. Or just seeing Seto was the name of the hooded person (and not the Elder). Whatever it was, while I gasped when Master Pink called Papa Naohisa “Seto,” I also wasn’t that surprised. Unfortunately. (Hmph. I really need to keep being careful about toku spoilers!)

Still, the story regarding Seto and what possible connection he and Papa Naohisa might have is still interesting. Papa Naohisa has shown a great knowledge of the Kishiryu and the Ryusoul Tribe. He’s had moments where something’s off with him too. It’s usually passed off as comic relief, but it looks like there’s really something there. I hope it’s a really nice twist. I have set high expectations for that.

Master Pink obviously won’t be sticking around for very long. Her presence here seems to merely be a source of information for the new Kishiryu and to tee up the Seto reveal. So I’m a little sad this wasn’t the Asuna focus episode I was expecting.

Instead, Master Pink was more involved with Canalo than Asuna even. I can’t believe the show really implied Canalo was ready to hook up with Master Pink out in the open in broad daylight. And that she was reaching around in his pants. That has to be one of the most suggestive scenes I’ve ever seen on toku! Though nothing will ever top Chase being seduced into having sex in the bloody (literally) Drive Saga Kamen Rider Chaser movie. Yikes lol.

Anyway, speaking of implications. How about the implication that thousands (and more) people were injured or killed once Koh inflated those buildings, not to mention the explosion killing Tankjo of course. I kinda wish the other Ryusoulgers felt a little remorse like Koh did at the end there.

But I guess this is also part of ShineRaptor being able to possibly bring people back to life?

If that’s the case, what happens next week? I assume Master Pink and Mama Yuiko don’t stay alive. And that they were brought to life somehow using ShineRaptor’s power? (Unless it was a Minosaur that did it.) So if they don’t stay alive, does that mean the rest of Tokyo that died in the balloon buildings and explosions don’t stay alive either? And what’s to stop them from wanting to bring the other Masters back to life too. Hmm… I feel like this is all too dark for Ryusoulger to actually ever touch upon.

But then again, we’ve had multiple episodes devoted to characters attempting to commit suicide. So who knows with this season? lol

Anyway, this was a very interesting episode that introduced a few interesting concepts and new plot twists. Let’s see how it all plays out moving forward.