7 Thoughts on Uchuu Sentai Kyuuranger Episode 28: "The BN Thieves, Disbanded..."

It didn't occur to me until I was several minutes into this episode that I realized I hadn't seen 27 yet.  I'll try to go back, but no promises!

1.) Kyu Globe Update: The Camelopardalis Kyu Globe, which allows the user to....stretch their neck to absurd proportions for the most obvious attempts at reconnaissance ever. In Japanese, this is the "Kirin" Kyu Globe, which means I'm disappointed that it doesn't allow you to stop time.

2.) The group's second run in with Dark Naga works out about as well as the first one--they get freaking stomped.  Balance doesn't even try, refusing to fight his friend in the hopes that friendship would win out.  But nope, all that earns him is a scythe in the leg and nearly being murdered.

I was hoping this wouldn't devolve into one of those times the villain had the upper hand yet left for some asinine reason and give the heroes a chance to recoup, so I was pretty happy when Naga decided "Fuck it, you guys are useless--might as well kill you now."  Fortunately, another member of Naga's homeworld arrives just in time to save them all with that whole "a look that freezes" trick.

We actually learn a lot about Naga's planet in this episode.  For one, everyone on Naga's planet looks exactly the same--androgynous in appearance, Echidna here is a woman but literally identical to our jerky former Kyuuranger.  I just assumed that was just a reference to his weird eye when they showed his people before, but it looks like they've gone with the whole "optimal appearance" thing.  They also take a dark view on anyone in their race having emotions, as seemingly Echidna has been tracking down Naga since he first left their planet with Balance.  Speaking of...

3.) This felt like something of a given.  Balance seemed like a real knob when the team first met him, abandoning the group in order to steal a treasure.  Since then he's become something of an endearing comic relief guy and my favorite member of the team, but it wasn't surprising when they revealed he just told Naga what he wanted to hear in order to escape his planet.

It'd make him look pretty bad, only Naga went from heroic savior of the universe to literally blasting apart a city block just to see the chaos, so you know...it's all relative.

 4.) If you take nothing away from this episode, make sure you know that Don Armage's second general Akyanba is a fucking boss.  Early in the episode, she tells the heroes how to undo what's been done to Naga, which is kinda like the giant red self-destruct button Dexter used to put on all his inventions.  You just knew Deedee/the heroes were gonna push it, the only question is how long will it take.

She brings it up a second time, and I'm really thinking someone gave her the Idiot Ball when suddenly Balance hits Naga with a blast from his crossbow--and takes half the hit himself--in the hopes that it'll get him back to normal.  When it doesn't, it's hilarious to hear the heroes despair and say "But you said...!" to the Akyanba.  Y'know.  The villain. Who's supposed to lie.   Seriously, what did you expect?   This swerve was not only excellently done, but welcome: this plot line needs to breathe, not get resolved in a single episode.

 5.) The modular design of the Kyuuranger's mecha is something I've been fond of since the moment I saw them swap arms and legs to give their robot different functionalities and make them more suited to the battle at hand.  But this is probably the most creative they've ever gotten--with Balance injured, Lucky uses the Gemini Kyu Globe to clone Hammy and Garu so they can create KyuRenOh Gemini, a five-part robot that's only using three different individual mecha.  

6.) Well, I guess the past team's trip didn't go as well as suspected.  Earlier in the episode, we get the confirmation that Tsurugi really did wipe out Don Armage, but before they can travel around for more information, they wind up attacked by a mysterious dark energy.  The Orion crashes on Earth, which means they're either going to re-build it without consequence next episode, or the team's about to get a new ship soon.

7.) Next Episode: Judging by the fight scenes in this preview, I guess the whole "don't change the past" stuff has gone out the window.   The team re-unites in the past, but will they discover what happened to bring Don Armage back?  More importantly, who's fighting Dark Naga and Akyanba in the present??