Recap: No.1 Sentai Gozyuger, Episode 20 – Serious About Gyaru! Oto Changed Her Character!?

Sumino is walking along and is reminded of her little sister Oto as she sees a pair of sisters. Just then, she hears a commotion and finds a NoWan Gyaru No.1 strolling about. The guys arrive as well. But the NoWan shoots her beam and catches Rikuo and Kinjiro.

The boys are shocked to see they are now dressed in the most gyaru of clothes.

But suddenly, a pair of young ladies come running in with a curtain backdrop and nobori to announce the arrival of Lady Oto-pun, the princess of gyaru.

Lady Oto-pun henshins to Shinken Red and introduces herself as Ichikawa Oto… Sumino’s sister?!

Lady Oto takes a selfie with her kuroko besties before the NoWan sends Aryees after her. Oto paints a blue squiggly line and sends it toward the Aryees, making them feel freezing. Her Ring’s power allows for such changes based on colors.

Once Oto finishes the Aryees off, the NoWan leaves. The Gozyus dehenshin and they are surprised to see Rikuo and Kinjiro still in their most gyaru outfits.

Sumino, however, approaches Oto and seeing three moles on her neck, confirms this is her sister. She hugs her, but Oto does not know who she is and says she doesn’t have a sister. Sumino says she has been searching for her. But Oto insists she’s got the wrong girl.

Oto turns her attention to the boys and wants to teach them the best gyaru so they can better fight the NoWan. Sumino does not understand what’s going on.

Meanwhile, Bouquet presents two new Rings to TegaJune who asks Fire Candle where are his Rings. Fire Candle thinks about all the times he’s lost so far and decides he has to do something differently. He needs more power. And he knows just where to get it.

At the café, Sumino tries to get Oto to snap out of whatever is going on now. But Rikuo and Kinjiro try to calm her down and see that Oto having a Ring and becoming a gyaru has made her forget herself.

Oto doesn’t know what they’re talking about. But instead wants to train them better in gyaru.

First, Oto gives them a history lesson on gyaru and says that while they might all look different, they are all the same in their core. Gyaru believe in being true to yourself. Hoeru likes that and thinks it’s very deep.

Next lesson is how to write like a gyaru. Rikuo has trouble writing with his long nails.

After that is gyaru speech. Oto teaches them some gyaru slang. Ryugi and Kinjiro easily employ the gyaru words in their own favorite lines.

Sumino, however, thinks this is a waste of time. As the kuroko besties give the boys nail and makeup tips, Sumino confronts Oto, asking where has she been this whole time.

Oto says she does not need to know what she does. Sumino cries, saying this is not her Oto. She wants her family back. Rikuo wants to comfort Sumino, but Kinjiro says to just let her sort out her feelings for now.

Oto comes to give everyone some refreshments. She almost drops her Ring and says that it helped her wake up after falling into a coma after an accident as a kid. If she takes it off, she will return to how she once was.

Ryugi says that must be difficult for her. But Oto says nope, she’s enjoying herself quite a bit now.

Listening from outside, Sumino thinks back to a time at the park. Oto had fallen off the bars, but assured her big sister that she was okay and can always enjoy herself when she’s around.

Rikuo comes out with a water for Sumino and says Oto is a good kid. She can bring joy to people around her. Sumino agrees. Oto hasn’t changed. She is just upset at the grey-eyed man taking Oto away from her.

Rikuo is taken aback at the mention of that man. Sumino thought she had shared that story with them about how her sister was kidnapped by the man. While she can’t get back that time, she knows what she can do now.

Later, the NoWan gyarus more people downtown.

Oto leads the boys, now all four them in gyaru looks, as they henshin.

The battle begins. First, the NoWan beats Rikuo, Ryugi and Kinjiro in a texting battle. Mashiro arrives and the NoWan asks him to first do a gyaru pose. But his pose is quite cold and the NoWan kicks him to the ground.

Hoeru charges toward the NoWan who thinks they can be good friends in time. But the NoWan doesn’t like Hoeru’s non-gyaru way of speaking so she shoves him out of the way.

The NoWan’s boyfriend Surf Mega arrives in a Dress Guard while Aryees are summoned to take them on.

Just then, Sumino arrives in the most gyaru outfit ever. She tells Oto that she learned from her how to enjoy the moment. That’s why she will become a gyaru so she can get to know this side of her.

The NoWan thinks Sumino is doing too much, but Sumino says that does not matter. She is enjoying the moment. This triggers Oto, saying that being true to yourself is so gyaru.

Sumino henshins and she and Oto take on the NoWan while the others finish the Aryees. Hoeru and Mashiro hop into Tega Sword WhiteBurn to take on the boyfriend. They finish him off with a WhiteBurn TegaSword Heartbreaker.

Sumino and Oto work together as gyaru besties to finish the NoWan off with a Finish Finger Unicorn. Sumino saves the human inside before the NoWan explodes.

Both Sumino and Oto are declared winners of the gyaru battle. Sumino welcomes Oto back, but Oto just says they might get along after all.

Just then, Fire Candle appears. Sumino shields Oto as he jumps down. But he knocks her out of the way and slashes at Oto, forcing her to dehenshin.

Fire Candle takes the Shinkenger Ring, believing it is perfect for him. Sumino says Oto needs that Ring. But Fire Candle does not care. He takes the Ring and henshins to Shinken Red.

Episode Thoughts

Oh! What a big development at the end! I never thought of it of course, but Shinken Red actually does suit Fire Candle well. He’d absolutely work well with the Rekka Daizantou for example.

Also the fact that he takes over as the rightful Shinken Red from Oto is of course a hilarious nod to Shinkenger. Finally a past season reference I can understand! Lol

Anyway, we’ll see next week how Fire Candle uses his new power and if it lasts beyond next week too. That would be interesting.

But the biggest part of the episode was of course Sumino’s sister coming back. Again, the show really just speeding through the Gozyus’ backstories and loved ones. Lol An interesting choice. But it’s been okay so far. Though I’ll admit that I’m disappointed such stories can’t be a bit bigger than they’ve been.

Seems like the only season-long plot thread with regards to backstory will be Hoeru and Kuon.

But I guess Sumino and Oto’s story will carry over a little bit considering it seems to also tie in to whatever secret Rikuo might be keeping too. So I will assume Oto won’t just be one/two and done like Mine or Shoko. We’ll see! Again, considering Sumino’s been looking for her sister for years and is actually quite a big part of her character and how she’s gotten to where she is now, just wrapping it up with “Oto has her own life now” would be disappointing.

Anyway, the gyaru lesson was hilarious at least, especially the guys being quite immersed and interested in the class. Another thing I was disappointed in though was the guys in the gyaru outfits. I thought I’d be more amused than I was. They were funny. But I thought they’d do more gags with them dressed up like that. Oh well. lol

Overall, this was a fine episode. Not the most excited about it. I was maybe expecting a bit more from all parts of it. But the ending certainly upped the ante a lot.