It occurs to me that I once said Warumono-san was basically my doppelgänger. And then, last week, I called him “kind of an anti-social Winnie-the-Pooh”. I didn’t really think about the implications of that – and frankly I prefer not to think about them now. But I can say that even though this was a very good episode and probably a necessary one (and wholly adapted from the manga) I missed the General this week. I enjoy the Rangers a lot, but things just aren’t the same without him.
You knew something was different when the episode opened with the ED (and yes, it closed with the OP). This was bass-ackwards week – the Rangers even got the eyecatches. Almost every episode has revolved around a holiday at least indirectly, and this time we got two – the eternally joined at the hip Valentine’s Day and White Day. Pink and Blue are so totally into each other it’s beyond obvious, though she does undeniably have a schoolgirl crush on Warumono-san. She’s not too tsundere with others but with Blue Pink is off the charts (one piece of chocolate, LOL).
Pink shops for everyone (but Blue), so of course in March they all have to shop for her. Red gets lost at the mall, naturally. Then we get a segment told from Blue’s perspective, which peels back some of the layers of mystery surrounding the Rangers. They do have families – Blue does, at least – but they’re taken away from them when they’re identified as Rangers. The Ranger “gene” isn’t passed genetically – parentage has nothing to do with it. When the old ranger dies, a new one is born (or powered up, I’m not clear which) to take their place. And they live or lived at a kind of secret complex with a bunch of scientists and the like. And Blue has a stomach problem which plays up whenever he gets anxious.
It seems that Black was the last survivor of the previous generation (ouch), and it thus fell on him to search out their successors. Red was the hardest to find – presumably lost – but the transition was toughest on Green. Mugi and Sora were taken in when they were too young to understand why their parents were not there (I’d kinda like to know that too). Also, they gattai into one Ranger whenever they power up, and could do so from toddlerhood. Black’s role as a parent in all this is pretty clear-cut – he’s the oldest and the most experienced, and the responsibility falls on him. And he’s better at it than he thinks he is.
It was interesting looking at the Rangers’ dynamic, no question. Things are complicated between Blue and Pink, and there is a sibling vibe there for sure – but this 1000% goes deeper that. They resonate, all right. Still, I would have been happier if this had been half an episode, because it’s with the General that this series achieves its highest comic and emotional heights. It seems very much as if there are no real bad guys in this story, which is going to be an interesting thing when the times comes to bring it to a close (which we’ll almost certainly never see in anime form). Next week the starting lineup returns, along with the sakura spirit, and I suspect Kyuujitsu’s more poetical side.
Collectr
March 11, 2024 at 10:04 pmI liked the episode. i almost didn’t watch this show, because the one-joke nature of Red in the opening episode didn’t work for me. Here, we see that the one-joke characterization of Blue (stomach issues), Pink (mahou shoujo fixation), Red (no sense of direction) are not, in fact, the whole story, or even a major part of it. The Rangers, like the General, are locked into a system that doesn’t work for them and traps them in a role. The General would rather pet cats, watch pandas, interact with children. Pink would rather be a magigirl. The twins would like to be with their parents. Blue would rather be with his family. And so on. But they all try to make the best of it: the General by maximizing his days off, the Rangers by becoming a found-family, bickering and all. The show is better if the Rangers are real characters rather than running gags.
Guardian Enzo
March 11, 2024 at 10:07 pmThat’s why I said “probably necessary”.
Nicc
March 13, 2024 at 6:21 amThe only thing missing from Warumono-san is saying, “Oh, bother.” For this one, Warumono-san didn’t just take the day off, he took the entire episode off. I got a feeling that something was up when the ED and OP were flipped. This episode was all about the Rangers as we get a closer look at who they are.
It starts with Ranger Pink doing some shopping for Valentine’s Day. She gets something for everybody in the household, though Blue will have to settle with one piece of chocolate. I mean, even a fun-sized candy bar would’ve been better. She even doubles-back to make sure Blue thanked her. One of these days, somebody may pull a Sein on them. Fast-forward to White Day (Which means Hinamatsuri was skipped, darn. I was hoping to see an imagine spot from Warumono-san with the dolls replaced with pandas) and now it’s everybody else’s turn to return the favor and that’s when we get into the flashbacks.
How the Rangers are formed isn’t what I expected. First, it’s suggested that there are Rangers of other colors out there. They pass down their powers to others when they die. Right, genetics have nothing to do with it. Then, they have to find the successors of those Rangers and also any new ones. It was mentioned that Ranger Red may not have been born yet. They also retain their pre-Ranger identity and can see their families. They still go to school and otherwise have normal lives when not Rangering. They also official names and so they’re actually Ranger Twilight Black, Ranger Sunrise Blue, Ranger Daybreak Pink and the twins are Ranger Aurora Green.
Speaking of the kiddos, they came later on. Their parents are gone and they became the successors of Ranger Aurora Green. Their powers are split in between the two of them and they combine into one Ranger. I got the feeling that was the case from how the OP showed them. Ranger Black really is like the dad to the team and Blue and Pink treat Green like their own little siblings. While he’s the adult of the group, it seems that the leadership role is destined for Ranger Red when found. My guess that he was trying to find them and he got lost on the way to Rangers HQ… I’m thinking that Red may be the best candidate to find new Rangers as he’s bound to just accidentally stumble onto them.
“Hey guys, I found some new Rangers! This is Ranger Ashen Gray, this is Ranger Violent Violet and this is Ranger Annoying Orange!”
There’s no mention about how the previous generation of the Rangers died, leaving Black as the only one from that group. He held no animosity towards the General in the previous episode. It does seem to be a complicated relationship. In the next episode, Warumono-san goes for second round of hanami and the spirit of the cherry blossom returns. There’s also the spirit from a neighboring tree this time. And, there’s something about a robotic cat. Was it a visitor from another planet who was stranded here? This would be a great opportunity for him to keep a pet cat.
Guardian Enzo
March 13, 2024 at 8:15 amAs I understand these things, Red is the de facto leader of a super sentai group.