Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: Episode Two

We're now two episodes into Gokaiger, and already we have some awesome fanart. This week, we get a glimpse into Captain Marvelous' past as the Gokaigers go searching for someone in black. If you'd like to see this subbed yourself, Over-Time remains both super fast and awesome. Pretty sure those guys have a hyper zecter. Anyway, on to the episode!

The Gokaigers are checking up on the Zangyack fleet and wondering about the fate of Earth. Luca (Yellow) and Joe (Blue), however, are more concerned about finding treasure, at least on the surface. Navi, their mechanical parrot, tells them to be on the lookout for a person dressed in black.

I got the impression that I might wind up finding Navi more annoying than cute, but watching this a second time around, I have to say that they're growing on me. The "flap flap" thing made me smile. Apparently, Navi once belonged to Aka Red, whose name amuses me since it translates to "Red Red".

In spite of the vagueness of the tip, the Gokaigers head out. We get a nice introduction of the show's premise before the theme song this time around.

Once the theme song is over with, they quickly learn that black is a more popular color then they initially though. C'mon guys, you're pirates! You must be used to seeing people in black.




Poor Don. ; ; He's kind of grabby with Luca in this episode, though, I have to say.

Apparently, the Gokaigers are celebrities! They are approached by a kid who claims to have info on the greatest treasure in the universe. Also, he really wants to take Captain Marvelous' picture. Who doesn't, kid, who doesn't? Plus, he's wearing Black. This looks promising.

Captain Marvelous gets posing while the kid tells them how awesome they are. Like the other civilians on this planet, he has a strong knowledge of Super Sentai. The Gokaigers, however, seem pretty clueless. The kid has a very specific pose in mind for Marvelous. Apparently, he's been dreaming of this moment since the crew first dropped their anchors. No, wait!

It's actually a ploy to steal one of their keys. Marvelous roughs him up a bit, but seems pretty chill about the whole thing until he realized the kid actually grabbed a key while he was doing the roughing up. He proceeds to make the best face ever.

The Shinkenger key has been stolen! Not to be outdone by Marvelous' spectacular facial expressions, Joe (Blue) has a sick burn waiting.

Marvelous proclaims he is going to track the brat down and keehaul him, a phrase which I need to start using already. Ahim (Pink) doesn't appreciate the awesomeness and chases after Marvelous to stop him.

She drives me crazy too, Marvelous.

Back at the villain's headquarters, Oiles Gil is not particularly pleased to learn the Gokaigers have escaped. He calls for a Force Commander to take them out, already.

Really like the design on this guy. His head has a cephalopod look to it, and he's the perfect guy for a group of pirates to go up against. Hope they keep this up. He heads to Earth to do some damage.

While Marvelous and Ahim are on the hunt, the other Gokaigers discuss what happened. Joe and Luca think that the Captain actually liked that the kid pulled off stealing from him, and that he reminded him of the way he was when he was younger. They seem to know Marvelous a lot better than Don does. Wonder if that's just due to his general social awkwardness or if it'll be a plot point later.

Marvelous and Ahim quickly track the kid down, and Marvelous does indeed seem a little amused by the whole thing. In spite of this, the kid has no intention of returning the key. He actually seems pretty knowledgeable about the keys, saying that they were created on Earth. Since the Gokaigers have no plans to protect Earth, he doesn't think they should have them.

Here comes some backstory! We learn that Marvelous got the keys from a man who saved his life, and that he made a promise to the man. We also get to see the scene in flashback. A considerably less marvelous looking Marvelous is taking on Zangyack forces, but is clearly fighting a losing battle.

He is saved in the nick of time by someone who looks like Aka Red. He gives Marvelous a chest full of keys and instructs him to find the greatest treasure in the universe. He then jumps into battle, presumably sacrificing himself so that Marvelous can escape.

The kid was saved in a similar manner- his grandfather sacrificed himself for him during the Legendary War. Marvelous obviously sees a lot of himself in this kid, and it's fun to imagine him being so emotional and passionate. Zangyack forces show up, and the kid rushes off to fight them.




The rest of the crew notice the forces and head off to find the others. Don gets thwacked in the face. When will he learn?

Our baddie of the week gets straight to business. I kind of like his lack of a plan here. Just jumping in and blowing things up isn't too bad a strategy.

Marvelous offers the kid his Mobirate. He tells him that if he can defeat the baddie, he can have the key. If he's unable to do it, he'll give it back. Ahim protests, but her annoyingness can't ruin the moment, and the kid accepts and transforms.

Seeing Shinken Red two weeks in a row is a little disappointing, but the kid is totally different in the suit than Marvelous was, which I appreciate. Obviously, we know the kid isn't going to succeed here, but he's pretty fearless and kicks a surprising amount of butt. I'm glad they let him do that instead of just having him learn the error of his ways via getting destroyed.

Once the general has proved too much for one badass kid to handle, Marvelous steps in to reclaim his item. He encourages the kid in his own way, and he really reminds me of Tsukasa here. It's a neat little scene. I especially like Joe patting him on the head as they walk away.

And with that out of the way, it's once again time for our reluctant heroes to protect Earth! Gokai Change!




Marvelous once again proves his awesomeness before telling his team to make a show of it. Time for some fight gifs.












Gokai Green, your adorableness knows no bounds. 

The team does a Final Wave, but it isn't enough to take out the general. It's time for another approach. Gokai Change! Dekaranger! Really liked seeing the different ways each character shoots.

Looks like the lighting fast transformations will indeed be the norm, because before you know it, they've transformed again, this time into the Hurricangers!

But then, they do something new and exciting, which each character transforming into a different red. It's really neat to see how a female Geki and Magi red would look, and this is perfect for an episode that (presumably) featured Aka Red. Hope they do some nice mix and match combos in the future! Unfortunately, we don't get to see that much fighting here, which is a shame, because I think the mix of powers would be really fun to watch. 

And with that, the general is presumably defeated. Or is he? 

Insarn, an awesome looking villain who reminds me a little of Dayu, has created a gun controlled cannon that can bring back baddies and make them huge. FROM SPACE.

Time to bring out the Gokai Galleon! As a 555 fan, I get way more excited over things being summoned with a cell phone than I probably should. 




After a little cannon fire, we get to see GokaiOh combine! The hat is my favorite part. 





The battle begins anew, and it's a good mix of the fluid, CG heavy stuff we saw last week and more traditional stuff. Just going by my experience with other toku shows, I think we'll see less of this as the show progresses, but it's a pretty interesting style. 



The newly huge baddie threatens to tear them to shreds. Luca doesn't seem too concerned.

The team prepares their final attack. Let's go!



And what an awesome final attack it is! It's called the Gokai Star Burst. Cannons were a given with GokaiOh, but seeing the balls go up was so much fun. GokaiOh has such a cocky face.

The day is once again saved. Captain Marvelous majestically rides off into the sunset while the rest of the Gokaigers have fun messing with Ahim's head. They decide that the tip about the person in black must've been false, while Navi nervously tries to suggest that it still could be true.

Looks like Navi was right! The episode closes on Magi Red, who is wearing a long black cloak. They got the original actor back, which I appreciate even if I haven't seen Magiranger.






Apparently Gokaiger is going to have a different ending theme with every episode, each one referencing various Super Sentai series. This one was a mash-up of a bunch of Heisei era themes. It's a really neat idea and I wish I could fully appreciate it.

Next week, we get to see the series in full Decade mode as they head to the world of Magiranger. Can't wait!