For this episode of Kyoryuger we finally get another Ian focus episode as he finds out who the really killed his friend Shiro in the past. Will Ian go back to being his vengeful like his first focus episode or will he go beyond that?
The first thing I have to complain about is how this even becomes an Ian focused episode. At first Candy was working on one of her plans which was have a treasure monster lure people out. These people were then happy to dig for treasure cause it would feed their desires, so Kyoryuger steps into OOO territory interesting. Then Aigaron shows up and just came because he loves treasure, but in reality there wasn't any treasure at all. Then comes the first fight and it quickly changes focus to Ian's part of the story with the death of his friend Shiro. I mean we don't even get any other scene on this plan that Candy had except for her being at the base covered in dirt. I guess defeating the monster freed the people, but again we don't even get a scene of those people running away. Basically a part of the episode could have been a whole episode, but it is quickly thrown out the window for an Ian episode.
Heck Candy doesn't even fight still
Now for Ian and his part of the episode hits me in negative and positive ways. First thing is that it's great to finally get another episode for him. He was very ignored in the series as the other members have been getting more screen time. Ian has little moments here and there, but his character is really staying in one spot while the others keep moving on. It's sad because he has probably a good connection with the overall plot of the series which circulates around the jewel that Aigaron stole. As for Ian in the past as I said before he's probably my least favorite since he didn't get much development in the past. He just seemed like a watered down version of Gai Yuuki (Black Condor). All I am saying is that there should be more focus of Ian since I will say he has good potential to be a much better character and this episode did show that potential off, but there were also somethings that bothered me.
I will get the bad news out of the way first since I do feel more positive about Ian now. The first thing I have to mention is that having this episode focus on his revenge seemed repetitive. It really played out like his last focus episode and even the other characters mention this. Ian acts without thinking again and this then gets the team in trouble. It's a repeated message that Ian has to learn again as I mentioned in my Go-busters review it's not good to have repeated messages. It makes a hero look bad cause they forget things that should have learned from their experiences. Ian even grabs a strong battery and tries using it without thinking like he did with the Kentrospiker battery. Also one other thing I have to bring up is when he finds out Aigaron was the killer. He goes back to that flashback where Shiro was killed and now we learn that he clearly saw Agiaron's face. So this part of the episode felt very repetitive, but the episode does save itself from this issue.
The thing here is that Ian and many others were noticing what was happening. King had the team try to stop him because he knew Ian going crazy means things will go bad. Of course they do as King, Amy, and Ucchi get got underneath of a giant tablet that could easily crush them if they stop holding it. Then we see Souji giving Ian a speech about doing the right thing and saying it like how King would. Then later on we see Ian start to act differently as he then focuses more on saving his friends than revenge. So it's a good callback episode in some ways as Ian gets the lesson stuck in his head this time and plans to actually be a hero. I will say though there could have been different ways of doing this. I think Ian should have been shocked no doubt, but be frozen in a way. This would be him thinking of getting revenge or focusing on saving King who was at the time being held by Agiaron. This would then lead to the same issue later on as the MOTW or Agiaron gets the first attack and Ian acts on hesitation then. This would have him think he was acting on vengeance, but Souji would tell him differently. Either way though this episode did improve Ian's character which he needed that a whole lot.
Now onto the villains as this was a very lacking aspect. I mean we didn't learn all that too much with Agiaron except that we know he was actually Shiro's murderer. Some could have seen that already, but it was confirmed since we didn't know when he gave his cape to his Debos monster before or after the murder until now though. Then his motif for getting that stone is pathetic since he is just a monster that loves treasure. I was hoping that he was saving that jewel for some sort of plan where he would use that, but nope he just loves treasures so much he would kill for them. I have to say though when did he get so good in combat? I mean he defeated King very easily in this episode where many times before it was King who kept defeating him. I can see why Ian lost because he was just going crazy and not thinking so he left himself open. Again the villains aren't much still where even Dogold recently wasn't that good so I am hoping for a new villain or for one of them to step their game up.
Now onto the MOTW which was again very disappointing since his motif was wasted. He's a treasure monster and all we had from him was a coin bomb attack and tablets he used for to smash foes or to defend himself. I mean his design went for it as it's over the top. He even made gold puns and yet the most he did was use old tablets. I think this would have fitted better with a Sphinx like monster or something that fits the idea of old tablets. I mean since the whole digging for treasure plot point was mostly forgotten this monster could have been changed easily. So yea this monster was wasted completely since mostly his motif was wasted.
So onto the action of the episode then. As I said before with the MOTW he was just defending himself with a tablet. It's not even a shield or anything he just holds it up and it looks silly then. I guess they couldn't find room to put a shield on his arm. I will say though one thing easily got used very well. This was the new battery Ian tried to use in this episode. It seems it acts like another Armed On weapon as Ian finds out thanks to his Armed On reacting with the battery. This then gives us an awesome new weapon, the Deinosgrander! They are two crocodile claw weapons and not only they were used to fight, but Ian uses them to save his friends. His actual true purpose for the weapon was to save the three trapped underground. Then when they were used in the fight they are awesome! First the weapon looks great as they actually work along with the gun. When he fires he has the claws around them to make a spinning attack which makes the digging ability. They even use the spin move for another use, Ian holds onto Agairon and he makes him spin until he is sent flying. So far it's my favorite weapon of the series as it's very creative and the show already uses it more than one would think for the reveal fight. Ian even uses it along side with the Kentrospiker that's how great it is already it can work side by side with the finisher weapon.
We even get a new song along with this new weapon which is Black's character song. I am actually very happy with this song. It's a great action theme that starts out slow, but easily picks the pace up. Also Ian has a pretty nice voice. The episode uses it well because the slow part starts when Ian is putting the battery in and then the fast pace comes in when he is flying and spinning in the air. Too bad it only lasted for that scene as we get the opening theme again later on..... I already complained about this in the last episode review, but I just have to bring it up again. Why can't they use something else? I mean they have
Tatakae Kyoryuger, use it! Oh well at least we got a new song in the series as it fits the action mood of Black's dynamic victory well.
There were still some bad parts about the action though. First we had Torin in the fray again, but he really did nothing this time. He just faced Lucky for a little moment as it tries to be funny for a quick moment. It really just made me sigh because we could have had Torin be awesome again. Then there was the mecha fight. I have seen quick fights in this series before, but at least they had a hit on the monster before going to the finisher. This fight was just dodging giant tablets and then when the team have a close save they just go right to Ptrea Kyoryujin and use the finishing move. I mean it was nice to see Ptreagordon be used like this, but at least get some hits on the monster before the finisher, it makes the fight really anti-climatic.
Overall this episode did get a lot better in the second half, but that isn't saying much since the beginning could have been redirected as a whole other episode. Even with an awesome weapon reveal with a nice song that was really the only moment that made me go crazy since this was along with Ian realizing saving his friends were more important. The build up was very poor as it was a repeated message and the episode felt like it was copying Ian's last focus episode. Also the villains were poorly used as the MOTW could have had some more attacks at least. I mean the Ian parts of the episode were the only shining moments as everything else felt average or bad. I would give this episode a D.
Next Time: Kyoryu Grey appears to be a "balanced" character.
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