Recap: Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger, Episode 23 – Shugoddam’s Moving Castle

Yanma thinks there has to be something that can be done about the castle. Douga leads them all to the secret lab where they find an unconscious Kofuki on the floor. Hymeno sees he is malnourished and uses her power to inject some temporary energy into him. But she warns he’ll feel like crap for a week.

Anyway, Kofuki explains that the castle is actually King CaucasusKabuto which can transform into a giant robo. But it is unfortunately impossible now even with modern technology. The Ohger Crown Lance is supposed to be what activates its transformation, but the castle is so old that they don’t have what they need to repair it.

Yanma disagrees. The ShuGods were also created 2000 years ago. Gira immediately runs out to ask them for help and they sit on the castle to give it some of their self-service powers. Kofuki shows them the castle’s core, but when he turns it on, gears all over the castle fall off. He thinks the gears are too old and worn out.

Yanma says this is a job for an industrialized country like N’Kosopa. He calls his peoples in and their quick analysis immediately results in a list of exactly what they need for the repairs. Yanma tells Gira to mobilize the Shugoddamians to gather the needed materials.

But Yanma says simply asking the people will spur a revolt. So he suggests Gira must have a firm hand in order to relay the gravity of this emergency.

Gira wakes up all of Shugoddam in the middle of the night with his maniacal cackles and tells them they will all die if they don’t listen to him and gather as many gears and scrap metal as they can before morning.

Kaguragi, Hymeno and Rita go out to protect the peoples from Kamejim and Sanagims trying to hinder the mobilization effort.

Back inside, Gira is itching to go out and help, but Yanma says he is needed here to move the palace. Yanma adds that a king’s job includes just watching his peoples even in times of crisis.

As Daigorg continues to grow, Jerami uses his webbing to quickly place the new gears in place. They’ve now collected all the needed parts except the one small gear needed for the core. Conveniently, Boone has just the gear they need and he runs to the castle while being protected by Douga and the royal guards.

Boone, however, is met at the palace gates by Kamejim who knocks the small gear out of his hands. Thankfully, Jerami catches it and sends the gear directly to the core using a string of webbing. As Jerami engages Kamejim, the general orders Daigorg to act.

Gira, however, henshins to King and inserts the Lance. The castle begins to move once again. But this time, its transformation is able to proceed. Yanma yells at his peoples to run from the moving castle as the ShuGods also quickly fly away.

Gira is overwhelmed as the countless moving parts of the castle are set into place to finally form King CaucasusKabuto.

Once complete, Gira laughs maniacally and guides King CaucasusKabuto into battle against Daigorg who is absolutely no match for them. Gira uses CaucasusKabuto Axe to deliver a King CaucasusKabuto Finish at Daigorg who is sliced in half and is destroyed for good.

Shugoddamians cheer Gira’s win. Jerami smiles that he’s got the Souls back in his hand as well.

The Shugoddamians take offense to Gira calling them gears. But he hurries down to explain that without them, King CaucasusKabuto could not be possible.

Now that Shugoddam is in peace, Gira’s coronation takes place as he officially takes the throne.

Episode Thoughts

A good episode. Even if I, as much as I force myself to, still can’t shake off the feeling of wondering how the show can possibly maintain this pace for the next 30 episodes. I mean, having the big castle turn out to be a robo feels like a final third kind of reveal. Like, the kind of power that they stumble upon or earn after a few months of struggling. Or when facing a truly powerful foe.

The scene of King CaucasusKabuto’s awakening was absolutely amazing. But it’s something you would expect much later in the season. Of course, I understand Toei and Bandai want to sell toys nao. But I’m only coming from a story perspective. So I would’ve preferred seeing King CaucasusKabuto pop up later on as an exciting climax for maybe a long arc. Not simply another stop on this fast moving Shinkansen that is King-Ohger.

For me, it just raises expectations that the show will need to continue to top itself week after week. And that’s a tall order, even for the most top-level Kobayashi-piloted toku ships. 🤭 But I also know the show can still be great even if they don’t manage to top every other thing they do. So we’ll see.

I dunno. It will also feel awkward to have King CaucasusKabuto stomping all over Shinganshina Distri… I mean, Shugoddam every other week like that. It’s so huge. I can’t imagine it will get called to battle very often.

Anyway, I also enjoyed Yanma’s mini-lesson to Gira about what it takes to be king. I’m sure Gira will continue to need such advice moving forward. And I guess that’s also one thing the show can focus on each week aside from the main plot threads. That is if the show slows down enough to allow for such traditional filler-type episodes of Evil King Gira getting king lessons from the other Ohgers.

I’m glad I watched two of the Secrets of Racules episodes so I at least know who Kofuki is and what the lab is all about lol Otherwise, I’d be whining about this random thing popping up again lol

And omg, I’m a horrible person because Gira’s two friends, the kids, really annoy me so much. I have no idea why. Like, we don’t need your commentary every other minute, thank you. Lolol My goodness, what’s wrong with me. lol

But I guess if that’s all I can seriously complain about, then that means everything else is fine. Which is a very good thing. It’s still an enjoyable season. And lots of refreshing things to enjoy. But that lingering cloud on the horizon is going to be something I can’t look away from, no matter how much I try to force myself to. huhu

Out of Studio Locations of the Week

A whole month with none! huhuhu