Gokaiger is a-go!: The Gokaiger Megareview (Gokaiger 3-10)

On to Gokaiger then! Just like in my last review for Bleach, this is a mega-review covering Gokaiger 3-10. I'm quite smitten with this series so far; the dialogue is witty and the characters are lively, Capt. Marvelous and Luka in particular.


The action is top notch as well; the rangers are constantly swapping weapons and tricking opponents to gain a strategic advantage. Luka has a fantastic flying sword style; Joe is a master dual swordsman. Ahim is a natural with dual pistols, which Doc seems to have seer luck and slight marksmanship skills on his side. Capt. Marvelous, of course, is a bad-ass. I would love to see him fight with either/both Takeru or Sosuke. That would be quite a sight to behold.

Most of the episodes up to this point have centered around Navi's predictions, and the rangers unusually end up unlocking a treasure from a past series. By Doc's count there are 34 legendary powers to retrieve, so the next several episode will most like be dedicated to that with Damaras's usurpation plan as the first half's climax; to date the team has collected four such powers.

Black Out! Gokai Pink, Yellow and Blue fighting as Go-on Black, Ninja Black and Abare Black.

[3]Doc Dogoier is pretty helpless; he's skittish, shy, too reliant on sure calculation and the easy path. If you have seen Gokaiger 2, then you are familiar with Navi's prediction about the man in black clothing. Well he's here in this episode, and his name is Kai Ozu, leader of the Magirangers.

While searching for treasure, the Gokai Galleon crash lands after colliding with a Zangyack battle cruiser commanded by Action Commander Salamandam. When Doc comes about, he and Capt. Marvelous wind up face-to-face with Kai, who goads them into chasing him in order to obtain the Magiranger Legendary Power.


Ahim, Luka and Joe get detracted by Salamandam and several Gormin but are able to easily repel them using Abare Black, Go-on Black and Ninja Black, then switching the the "all-white" combo of Big One, Gao White and White Swan. Meanwhile, Capt. Marvelous plows through Kai's challenges dragging an apprehensive Doc with him.

Eventually they make their way to a cliff, Kai waiting patiently on the other side. Marvelous takes the jump, but falls short. Faced with danger of losing one of his friends, Doc springs into action right before he (kinda) catches Kai. Impressed by his courage, Kai grants the Gokaiger's the power of the Magirangers, bestowing upon them the power of Magi Dragon, powering up Gokaioh.

[4] Action Commander Zodomas interrupts Joe and Ahim's grocery shopping excursion, and Joe instantly becomes intrigued by his unique sword technique. Joe tries his best take him on, but fails; Zodomus escapes shortly afterward as the other rangers arrive. Back on the Galleon, Joe decides to enter dedicated training to dissect and defeat Zodomus's technique. Ahim, impressed by this effort, gains courage and gives Joe her Gokai Saber for his upcoming duel with Zodamus.

Zodomus, however, refuses to fight fairly, unleashing several Sugormin on Joe right as the duel starts. While the other Gokaiger take care of the Sugormin using Gekiranger and Dekaranger powers, Joe defeats Zodamus's sword technique and defeats the Action Commander before Insarn intervenes using the Gigant Horse's growth cannons. Gokaioh use Magi Dragon to defeat Zodamus and a few Sugormin before moving on to find their next treasure.

[5] Navi indicated to the team that they will find the next treasure among cops, prompting Marvelous head right into the lion's den to look for it. After a brief scuffle, a handcuffed Marvelous desperately tries to outrun SPD chief Doggie Kruger but fails. Right as Kruger is about to take Marvelous in, they stumble upon a Zangyack plot headed by Action Commander Alienizer Buramudo.

Kruger intervenes but is injured in the process. Escaping with Marvelous, he orders him to stay put while he deals with Alienizer Buramudo; Marvelous, however, disobeys his command and saves Kruger from a near suicidal attempt. Earning Kruger's respect, he gets his Mobirates back then disrupts Alienizer Buramudo with the aid of his fellow rangers using Dekaranger powers.

DO A BARREL ROLL!!!

After Alienizer Buramudo grows, the team calls Gokaioh and unleash their newly found Dekaranger Legendary Power: the Pat Striker. DekaRed shows up to collect an injured Kruger, also shows his approval for the new team and departs as the Gokaigers fly off into the sunset.

[6] Luka, possibly (no, definitely) my favorite Gokaiger of the lot, is your classic young swashbuckler; she's silver-tongued, sly and quick, always in it to win. So when a overnight tycoon offers to hire her to be a bodyguard for his daughter and his precious golden tree.

Luka discovers that the golden tree is the source of Kozo's fortune, which his daughter Komaki Kasugi squanders. When Action Commander Nanonanoda, sent by the Zangyack Empire to steal the tree, she gleefully coerces Kozo into paying a million yen for her protection services. She easily repels Nanonanoda, then later that night we see that she is trying to earn lots of money to help atone for not being able to provide enough for her friends and family back on home planet.

What secrets are you hiding? Luka refuses to tell Joe why she's so preoccupied with money.

The next day the Gokaiger respond to a second attack by Nanonanoda, defeating them using J.A.Q.K. powers. The Kasugi mansion catches fire during the attack, so Gokai Yellow charges in to save the most valuable possession in the house. She returns with a teddy bear, a sentimental item to Komaki and her father, a symbol of days long gone while the tree melts.

Luka returns to the others who are fighting Nanonanodo, and they defeat him using a sabre-based Final Wave Attack. After Nanonanodo grows, they defeat him with a Full Burst Finisher. Kozo notices that Luka has hidden the million yen check inside the doll, but don't think that she works for free; she steals a ring that she fancied from Komaki's collection. Now that's my kinda gal!

This is why I ♥ Luka!

[7] Navi informs the team that they need to find a tiger child, but just as the gang starts their search, they are interrupted by Cosmic Kenpō Master Pachacamac XIII. Pachacamac proves to be more than Doc and Ahim can handle, and they fall off from the group. Frustrated by their inability to fight on the same level at the other Gokai rangers, Ahim and Doc run into Geki Jū Tiger-Ken master Jyan Kandou, who offers to train them.

Ahim gladly takes his offer while Doc scurries away. Back at the Galleon, he complains about his "natural" weakness compared to the "naturally" gifted Joe, Luka and Capt. Marvelous, who appear to never train at all. He quickly learns that they are always training in their own ways, then humbly return to Jyan to seek training. During their training, Pachacamac attacks in another part of town. Gokei Green and Pink arrive just in time and tell everyone to go Gekiranger form, finally dispatching the Zangyack Commander with Gokai Blast Final Wave Finish.

The ki-based Gekiranger attack, Gokai Dai Deki Deki-ken, unleashes on its foe.

After assembling Gokaioh to battle a enormous Pachacamac, Ahim and Doc suggest that they use the Gekiranger Keys for their finisher, which activates a Ki-based attack where phantom images of all the Geki mecha attack the enemy.

[8] Oiles Gils, frustrated by all of his recent defeats at the hands of the insignificant pirates, snaps at his henchmen then storms off. Isarn and Damaras plot to send out the Elder and Younger Sneak Brothers to spy on the Gokai team's motivation fro staying on Earth. The Gokaigers, however, aren't able to find treasures because Navi is missing.

Ummm . . . nevermind.

Elder Sneak Brother gathers intel while the gang search for their missing compatriot, who it turns out was actually just taking a trip to the beach. After trying him for worrying them, Navi is forced to make a forced to forecast more treasure, who reports that they should look for an island in the sky. Elder makes too much noise and is found out, flying out of the Galleon by the force of Joe's bat.

Transforming into Google V, the Gokaigers defeat both Elder and Younger Sneak Brothers before they are enlarged; they then defeat their giant forms using Deka Gokaioh.

[9] Still searching for the island in the sky, finally come across Sky Island Animarium but are immediately attacked by Gormin and Action Commander Bowser. Their battle draws the attention of Gao Lion who knocks everyone off the island. Kakeru Shishi, Gao Red, show up to tell the Gokai team that Gao lion will never accept them, but end up tending to Ahim's wounds from the previous fight.

GAORANGER! The team taps into their inner beast.

Ahim and Doc plead with and eventually win over Kakeru, and Gao Lion becomes impressed with Gokai Red, Blue and Yellow's protection of the innocent. After having her wounds dressed, Ahim brings Doc along with her to join the other Gokaiger; upon their arrival, the team goes Goaranger and defeats Bowser with the Hyakujuuken. Once he is gigantic, the team henshins with Gao Lion, creating Gao Gokaioh.

With a powerful charge, the Gokaigers defeat Bowser, saving the Mushroom Kindom . . . er, i mean the world.

[10] With five Super Sentai Legendary Powers in tow, our heroes decide to relax a bit with a game of poker. Joe gets on a winning streak, because Luka allows it, when Zangyack attack Earth. They easily defeat every unit except the Special Destruction Unit, at the request of Joe, because it would implode and destroy most of the planet. Luka suggest that she and Joe should board the Special Destruction Unit and disable the ship from the inside.

And she's a master costumer!?! What can't you do Luka?

Dragging Joe along, Luka boards the ship then dawns her home-made Gormin outfits, which apparently are good enough to get the two into the heart of the ship. Gathering everyone including Action Commander Yokubareed around a table for a poker game, Luka stacks the deck in Joe's favor, hoping to cause a distraction. Right when the Gormin get suspicious and start blatantly cheating, he draws an open-faced royal flush.

Yokubareed refuses to accept this result and orders his units to attack when Gokai Red, Green and Pink barge in guns blazing. The plan was indeed a feign for the trio to get in and neutralize the massively destructive element from the ship. Gokai Green blasts the ship as everyone leaps away, finally defeating the Gormin and Yokubareed using J.A.Q.K. and a Final Wave attack.

The Gokaigers mount GaoLion, creating the mighty Goa Goakioh. I have no idea why it's spelled here with a "-ou." Whatev.

The Gokaiger break out Gao Gokaioh and quickly dispatch their foe. Back on the Galleon, Luka reveals that she switched the decks so that he would win his last hand hand. Why? Because Luka leaves nothing to chance!

And with that, Gokaiger has been caught up! Stay tuned, as Gokaiger 11 is out now, and I have a review of that soon as well.

Reel it back in, Ichi!: the Bleach Mega Catch-up (Bleach 441-446)

So it's been a while, yea? Well, instead of boring you with a bunch of small reviews, I'm going to consolidate the reviews that I would have done for each series into a mega review for each series. Therefore this is going to be chapters 441-446 of Bleach, but I will indicate a change in chapter with a link to the chapter itself.

So without further adieu, Ikuze!

[441] We open Ichigo paying a visit to Ikami, asking her to let him take off a couple more weeks from work, presumable to train. Ikumi, with Kauru listening in from the back room, begs for Ichigo to trust her with his secret, but instead, he thanks her and bolts.


Heading to Ginjo, he begs for two things: an explanation and training. Ginjo, happy to oblige him with both, starts with the explanation, telling Ichigo that Tsukishima, Xcution's former leader and a powerful Fullbringer, helped them formulate the plan to use a shinigami to cleanse Fullbringers of their powers, but suddenly killed the shinigami and went rogue. As proof of the events, Ginjo holds up a shinigami badge. He also explains that he is behind the attacks on his comrades and reveals that the second stage of his training is nearly prepped.

Wait, what did he do . . . oh, yeah now I remember. Sorry, it been a while. X'D

Leaving, Ichigo spies his father hanging out around a street light outside Xcution's lounge. Hiding behind a wall, Ichigo observes as Isshin meets with Urahara; Isshin suggests that they should move on, just in case, and they do. (speculative comment: Is it possible that Isshin helped Urahara look into the power of Fullbringers with using Ichigo as a subject? Could his special mix of human and shinigami blood triggered his ability to master both? This would also seem to suggest that Urahara purposefully imbued Ichigo with hollow/Visored abilities, wanting to see the limits of his greatest subject to date.)

Urahara, what have you done?

Ichigo is left to ponder this trusted duo's true intentions with Ginjo's words echoing in his head, but soon decides to focus on regaining his powers first. Coming back the next day to the lounge, Ichigo sees Rurika waiting with a fish tank on a table. After allowing him to enter, we see Jackie Tristan waiting in ankle-high water with dirt underneath, and before you know it, the fight is on!

Funny story, he also has boots made for walking.

[442] Jackie activates her Fullbring "Dirty Boots" and seems to disappear right before Ichigo's eyes. Barely managing to dodge her first advance, Ichigo quickly goes on the defensive, carefully dodging and weaving away from Jackie. This fight is absolutely fantastic, and it only gets better in 443, but we will get to that later. Meanwhile, Inoue finally calls Chad to talk about the recent events and her encounter with Tsukishima.

Now you see me, . . .

She reveals that for a moment, she felt as if she knew Tsukishima from some far distant past, even going so far as to call him a friend. Chad fears the worst in Tsukishima's ability, which he believes may allow him to plant memories or project false pasts into a targets mind. Tsukishima, on the other hand, is thinking about heading directly for his target.


[443] Ichigo and Jackie are still going at it. "Dirty Boots," as the name suggests, refers to the power bonus her Fullbring provides as her boots become more and more sullied. The imperfections came come in the form or blood, dirt, mod, crap, whatever. Obvious a fish tank with plenty of available mud does not bode well for Ichigo, as Jackie announces that she plans to get more aggressive in her attacks, in order for Ichigo to evolve his Fullbring attacks. Seeing him attacking blindly, Jackie picks apart Ichigo's technique move by move, avoiding all three of his attacks before launching a counter; the attacks, however, are a feign by Ichigo, who offers up a powerful counter of his own. Jackie, seeming to have some to an understanding about Ichigo's ability, speculates that he took the brunt of all of her hits so that he could counter with even more power.

[444] Meanwhile Chad arrives to talk to Ginjo about Tsukishima's abilities and reveals to him the what Inoue confided in him. Ginjo waves off Chad's concern, saying that he know the extent of Tsukishima's abilities and Fullbring abilities never evolve. An interesting concept, that Fullbrings have a set max, like a tiered tower; however I would be far from surprised if it turned out that Tsukishima had found a way to bend that rule.

Back in the tank, during a momentary lapse in the battle, Ichigo's badge goes haywire, and dozens of black tendrils begin consume the right side of his body. Fearing the worst, Jackie calls off the training but Ichigo begs her to reconsider, saying that he has always had it this hard. They go back at it, and outside the tank, Ginjo tells Chad to see what Ishida remembers about his attack, fearing that the one who attacked them both might not be Tsukishima; all of a sudden the man of the hour cuts through the door of the lounge.

Go Tsukishima!!! Use Cut!

While everyone stands around dumbfounded, Tsukishima Cuts the tank in two, releasing Ichigo and Jackie. When the dust settles, Ichigo stands before Tsukishima half-cloaked in a Shinigami outfit produced by his Fullbring with half a zanpakuto.


[445] Chad describes his Fullbring as a "clad-type," remarking that his bankai had a similar effect, while Jackie lies bleeding on the floor. Impressed by Ichigo's progress, Tsukishima attacks using Book of the End but is blocked easily by Ichigo. Chad, wanting to protect Ichigo, blasts a hole though a wall, ejecting Tsukishima out of the lounge. Ichigo follows Chad outside and overhears him and Ginjo talking about Inoue's attacker, exciting him into a vengeful rage.

A natural Ace at Fullbringing, Ichigo knocks Tsukishima into the air, then chasing after him by Fullbringing the concrete roof and the air. Tsukishima blocks the attack; Ichigo still unstable Fullbring fractures on his left arm, allowing Tsukishima to easily kick Ichigo back to earth. Diving at a defenseless Ichigo, Tsukishima seems to have won this fight, but like lightning, Ginjo intervenes.

[446] He knocks out Ichigo, then turns to Tsukishima. They duel for a bit before Ginjo releases a massive amount of energy around his blade and strikes at Tsukishima, who predicts his attack nicking Ginjo on the forehead with his countering blow. As building crumble about them, Ichigo jumps back into the fray. Tsukishima blocks his attack, but then he notices Ichigo's Fullbring going berserk again, starting to engulf his head in darkness (are we close to seeing a Fullbring version of his sadistic side?). Knocking him back, Tsukishima seems impressed by Ichigo's current power, which apparently has been dubbed "Invaders-Must-Die."

And we can't wait to see it!

Right then, several black panels fly out from behind Ichigo's head, and start connecting together in front of Tsukishima . . .

And now we're back on track, and I have to say I'm excited for upcoming future of Bleach. Most likely in the next 5 chapters, we will see some significant changes in both Ichigo's and (given the preview text seen at the end of 446) Inoue's powers, culminating the the first of many battles with Tsukishima and his disciples. My only question is, when will Soul Society get involved? Do they even know about what is going on, or are they purposefully choosing to ignore these developments? Stay tuned and we'll find out together!

Vacation time is over!!!

Well, I guess it wasn't as much vacation time, as it was more "finish-everything-needed-to-graduate-so-that-I-go-back-to-doing-fun-stuff" . . . time. Anywho, I'm back and I have several things that I've been meaning to post, from catching up on Bleach, KR OOO & Gokaiger to coverage of the new Dr. Who season and several games that have releases recently. I have a review of the new 3DS (which is awesome btw), Hyperdimenson Neptunia, Arc Rise Fantasia, Portal 2, Dynasty Warriors 7, and Donkey Kong Country Returns [finally!].

So stay tuned over the next couple of days for these!

Yesh, even Pokemon, too!!!

So until then, enjoy this, too!