Recap: Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger, Episode 16 – The Magnet’s Already at its Limit!

Stacey can’t stop thinking about how Grandma Yacchan reminds him so much of his dear mother.

Barashitara is annoyed how Bokkowaus treats Gege so well even though he failed just as bad as he and Ijirude have. Gege asks for another Tojiru Gear to try out and Bokkowaus has no problem ordering Ijirude to hand one over.

In the city, Kaito introduces Zyuran to Mr. Tako and they both realize they lived in neighboring districts in Kikaitopia. All of a sudden, their bodies turn to magnets and attract items around them. The same happens to Gaon, Magine, Vroom and everyone else in the city.

The Zenkaigers find Magnet World and try to henshin. Their Geartlingers get stuck to their magnetic bodies. But once they are able to henshin, the magnetic pull is difficult to maneuver for them and they get themselves buried under metal towers.

Zox arrives and is able to blast them out of the pile of metal towers. But they just attract the debris anyway.

The Zenkaigers manage to safely get themselves back to the shop, even as they continue to attract things to their bodies. But they are shocked to find Stacey sitting at the counter about to enjoy some ice cream.

Grandma Yacchan is surprised they know “Satoshi.” The Zenkaigers protest, but Stacey insists his name is Satoshi. He says he was just passing by and Grandma Yacchan says she invited him in for a treat since he looked so down.

Stacey thanks her for the treat, but he can’t really eat it without a spoon since it is stuck on the Zenkaigers. Grandma Yacchan heads to the kitchen to find something else.

With Grandma Yacchan out of the room, the adversaries confront each other. The Zenkaigers are suspicious of Stacey’s appearance here. But the magnetism seems to grow stronger for the Kikainoids and not for Kaito. The Kikainoids decide to leave the shop, otherwise they might damage it if the keep attracting things.

While Kaito follows them out, Zox watches Stacey and Grandma Yacchan inside and smiles.

Satoshi helps Grandma Yacchan clean up the magnet-induced mess at the shop. He happily smiles as she thanks him for the help. She tells him to come by again soon.

Kaito arrives just as Stacey leaves, but Stacey is in no mood to talk. Kaito asks Stacey to help with his friends who are in trouble.

Magine gets left behind when she is exhausted by having to carry all the huge things on her body. Vroom gets pinned in between a truck and car. Just then, the Goldtsuiker ship gets dragged toward Zyuran and Gaon as well and they have to run away from it. Zox arrives and acknowledges that things are getting serious.

Kaito catches up to Stacey and again begs him to help. Kaito says it doesn’t matter who he needs to ask to get help for his friends. Zox appears and says Stacey should help since Grandma Yacchan would be sad knowing the nice Satoshi is trying to kill her grandson and friends.

Over at the Palace, Gege receives an update from Magnet World and leaves. That allows Stacey to come in and tell Magnet World that the Zenkaigers seem to have found a way around his power. Stacey tells him the Zenkaigers’ location on the mountain and Magnet World hurries over.

Kaito (with Secchan stuck to him) and Zox are there waiting and they henshin to first battle the just arrived Kudakks. Kaito is unable to overcome the magnetism and gets buried under more things.

But Zyuran and Gaon are able to effectively lure the ship to Magnet World. Fearing he will get crushed under the ship, he lowers the magnetic pull which then frees them all up from the magnetism.

Secchan suggests Kaito use the Fiveman gear which gives him Five Red’s physics knowledge. With it, Kaito suggests heat is Magnet World’s weakness. Zox uphenshins to Shinken Form and Zyuran has some firepower as well which he shares with Gaon. The three of them are able to counter Magnet World’s power. Kaito delivers the finisher and that releases everyone around Tokyo from the magnetic pull.

Stacey watches from a cliff and believes his help has been good enough

A Kudaitest steps on the Magnet World Gear for Dai Magnet World. Ricky calls his brother for them to form Tsukai-Oh Ricky. But Dai Magnet World easily sends them flying.

Magine and Vroom arrive and the four Kikainoids henshin. They embiggen, but before they can combine, Dai Magnet World uses magnetism to block the gattai. The Zenkaigers are able to figure out they can use their negative polarity against Dai Magnet World. And Kaito tells them to go full power, which allows the Kikainoids to finish Dai Magnet World off for good.

Ijirude and Barashitara tease Gege about failing once again. But Gege points out that Bokkowaus is in a much happier mood now. He tells them not to worry and says Ijirude and Barashitara can continue to enact their plans and he’ll be there to pick up the slack.

Gege turns to Stacey and says his secret is safe with him, for now.

Back at the shop, the Kikainoids are exhausted from their long, heavy day. Kaito finishes cleaning up. But Grandma Yacchan has a question about Satoshi. She noticed how they were acting toward each other earlier and asks if something is up. Kaito admits they got into a big fight before, but promises to give Satoshi a big Kaito special sundae next time he visits.

Episode Thoughts

A nice episode. I enjoyed this one. Of course, most especially because we got more Stacey focus and development which is great.

They moved much faster than I thought they would. Which is a good and bad thing. Good thing because Stacey seeing his mother in Grandma Yacchan is one of the most intriguing plots on this season so far. So getting more of that story is very good. It’s also bad though because if they’re moving this fast, then I don’t necessarily have high hopes of some big satisfying revelation. I don’t know why. I guess I just equate a slowburn with bigger bombshell and a fast pace with disappointment. Lol

Anyway, they made it clear that Grandma Yacchan reminds Stacey… er, Satoshi of his mother. Do I really think she is his mother? I don’t think so. Perhaps a parallel world version? Maybe there’s another Grandma Yacchan somewhere and Stacey is the alternate universe version of Kaito’s father. Could be something like that.

I would love it if Grandma Yacchan is keeping secrets from Kaito too though. It would be a refreshing change of pace.

I could go on, but there’s definitely a lot of possibilities with Stacey after these two episodes. But even more, it could very well intertwine with the Goshikida Family drama as well. For as goofy as the season has been so far, there’s a lot of good, dramatic foundation for some nice story in the future. If they pursue them.

It was wonderful to see Satoshi smiling with Grandma Yacchan. Seeing that side of Stacey alongside his usual sharp and nasty attitude was great. And I think these two episodes have done very well to add to Stacey’s character.

Another character that’s made big strides lately is Gege. I can see Gege ending up as the final boss. That would be very interesting to see. It’s easy to forget that Gege is not the same size as Yacchan. He’s actually human-sized and huge for a bird, even a mechanical one. That alone signals something big is in store for him and I look forward to seeing what happens.

One thing I’m enjoying this season is the world building. That is, just having a recurring cast of characters that fill out this Zenkaiger world. Like in this episode, it is Mr. Tako again. Building up this world of recurring characters is a positive thing. It prevents the season from being claustrophobic. There’s a tendency to keep our team in a bubble that is they can leave only when there’s some victim of the week.

But having them interact with regular people from time to time is very nice.

The rest of the episode was solid. The MOTW plot was fine. But the Satoshi moments of the episode were my favorite and makes me hopeful and optimistic about what could be ahead.

Overall, a good, enjoyable and solid episode.