#also just what was Don pickpocketing from other kids that he was practicing a lot before he tried it on Isabella for her room key

[truthbeetoldmedia]

iZombie 5x11 "Bye, Zombies" Review

It feels like I’ve been waiting for this episode the entire series, in more ways than one. Buckle in, there is so much to discuss!

The episode opens with Liv tending to all the Freylich brain kids at the headquarters, and she gives a quick rundown of events via voiceover. I wish this narrative device was used more consistently this season. I have a love-hate relationship with voiceover, I think it can often tip into cheesy and unnecessary. On iZombie, however, the use of voiceover was crucial in the early seasons. If Liv is on a different brain every week, her personality and character development can get lost in the mix. Her voiceover bookended the episodes and was a good way to touch base with her, and to make sure the audience still had access to inside her head. Liv sums up the events that have happened thus far, and how stressful things have been. But her hope remains in the cure; it’s the only thing they have to look forward to. 

This hope becomes complicated fairly quickly. Liv walks in on an upset Ravi, who tells her that the CDC has decided to use the uptiopium for treatments, rather than a cure. Charlie has been kicked off the project, and it’s been moved to a high security building. Ravi points out there’s more money in treatments than cures, and the CDC doesn’t actually have any interest in being helpful to the suffering people of New Seattle. It’s a good call back to Ravi’s fraught relationship with his old employer, the CDC. He was fired for taking biological warfare too seriously, and it seems he finds himself back at square one with them. He and Liv decide the only thing to do now is to pull off an Oceans 11-esque heist. Obviously the only answer! They gather with Clive, Peyton, and Major to tell them the plan. If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, this show is always at its strongest when it trusts its five main players to drive the story, and let them drive it together. Getting the entire gang involved is part of what made this episode so great. 

It turns out there can be advantages to being zombies — they don’t actually have to learn any heist skills overnight, they can just consume them. They order a ninja and acrobat from Don E (who is in a really foul mood due to Darcy’s death) and Clive thinks of some old petty criminals he knew back in the day. At first, Clive doesn’t plan on going with them. He gives an emotional goodbye to Liv and Ravi, including hugs, and maybe there were a few tears involved. But Bozzio tells him to get his butt out there, and to save the world for their daughter. “You’re the Clooney,” she reminds him. How are they going to pull this off without him? Clive finally steps through the closet of the Renegade quarters, and it’s one of my favorite moments of the whole series. Everything is coming together for one last adventure, and it was an immensely satisfying scene. 

In order to get the pickpocket brain Clive recommended, Major and Liv dig up his grave together. It’s difficult to write this scene objectively, without taking into account the uproar in the Veronica Mars fandom this week. A shocking twist at the end of the new revival season regarding the show’s main couple has left many fans feeling betrayed, confused, and frustrated. Rob Thomas, the showrunner for both Veronica Mars and iZombie, has expressed multiple times that he’s not interested in writing main female characters with boyfriends or writing couples with happily-ever-afters. He didn’t see a way that he could incorporate hard-hitting detective stories and a healthy romance into the same show. 

I have only seen a few episodes of Veronica Mars, but I’ve seen every episode of iZombie, and several things about this show now make sense. I now understand why all of Liv’s boyfriends have been killed off and then never mentioned again. I now understand why when Clive and Bozzio finally got together, Bozzio got pregnant and practically dropped off the face of the earth. It makes me wonder if romance between Ravi and Liv was never explored because the showrunner believed it meant he had to eventually axe one of them, and didn’t want to do that. And most of all, it makes sense why Liv and Major haven’t had any significant progress in their relationship in several seasons. 

Rob Thomas has basically admitted that he doesn’t know how to successfully juggle murder and love on his shows, and he has no interest in finding out. So the timing for this Major and Liv scene is terrible, in more ways than one. Not only do I wish I could have enjoyed it without the baggage of another show hanging over it, but I really think it should have happened sooner in the series. Regardless, now we know why it didn’t. 

The scene itself is actually incredibly sweet. “I’m really glad we’re at this place in our relationship,” Major says. “We can dig up graves without having to talk.” The two of them reminisce on their relationship over the entire series — from how they used to be engaged to wed in a pre-zombie world, to how they’ve both done things that hurt the other, and how they’ve wound up here. “We’ve both done a lot of well-intentioned crap to each other. But here we are, still here,” Major says. He gives her a heartfelt pep talk, telling her that he believes she’s the only one that can pull this off. And pull this off, she must. The fate of the world depends on it. Not only is this a commentary on their deep friendship, but also on who they are as characters. They both have gone through immense changes throughout the series, but it feels like the core of who they are is still there. Major and Liv are both good people, with a capital G. A war-torn, zombie world has tried to change that, but it never succeeded. I’m forever grateful for this show for giving me these two. Major tells Liv she’s a badass, and she kisses him, right in the middle of the grave. Within the world of iZombie, it felt true to the show, and something I’ve been waiting on for so long! 

It means, however, that I’m incredibly worried about Major’s life. The tension between humans and zombies is finally at a breaking point. His Fillmore Grave squad tells him that zombies are riding in the streets, provoking humans and wanting to start a war. Major takes a team out to hopefully quell the riots. “They want to start a war, let’s not give them the satisfaction,” he says. He and his team ride out, but while Major is giving orders, a huge explosion hits their van. My heart skipped a bit, because I really thought Major might have been taken out in this moment. He crawls out of the van, bleeding and confused. Enzo rolls up in a Fillmore Graves van, and the final stand that we always knew was coming finally happened. Enzo convinces all of Major’s men to betray him, leaving Major standing alone. Fillmore Graves has never believed in Major, never totally committed to him as a leader. I’ve never felt the show built a convincing argument as to why Chase Graves inspired so many more followers than Major and that Major was a bad leader. Major has tried to keep the peace in New Seattle for as long as he’s been in charge, but his zombies are out for brains. He escapes by the skin of his teeth, and Enzo goes on TV letting everyone know that he’s the new sheriff in town, and humans had better hide. Dolly and her people watch from their fish food truck, and she gives the go ahead to retaliate and recruit. 

Meanwhile, Blaine discovers that Ravi has stolen his Freylich brains. He tells his smuggler that if he sees Ravi, shoot to kill. This season has really doubled down on Blaine being evil, with no interest in redeeming him. This episode sees him doing some truly unforgivable acts. While Liv is gone, she asks Peyton to housesit at the Renegade quarters. Because Blaine is the worst, he and Don E “follow Ravi’s favorite thing” to lead them to where the Freylich brain kids are hiding out. He and Don E muscle themselves in, and Peyton emotionally begs Blaine to leave them alone. It’s hard not to imagine a season that had gone all in as Blaine as the Big Bad of the entire series. If they had whittled down on nuclear threats and off-shoot human supremacist gangs, and beefed up even more on Blaine’s goal of taking control of New Seattle, I wonder if the season would have been stronger. Thankfully, the show did cut back on forcing real world political parallels that it didn’t have the range for, as I was afraid it would be the main focus of the season, but I think a centered focus on Blaine would have made everything much more focused. This scene, for example, was absolutely terrifying. Both Aly Michalka’s emotional performance and David Anders cold brutality elevated the tension in this moment, and left the fate of both Peyton and the Freylich brain kids in the balance. I’m holding out hope that this will be the moment that our dark horse player, Don E, will emerge as an unlikely hero of this series, but we are going to have to wait until the finale to find out. 

In Atlanta, Clive, Liv, and Ravi actually pull off the heist. Despite Liv on pickpocket brain having the stickiest fingers ever, Ravi being incredibly unpleasant on Russian hacker brain, and Clive getting momentarily distracted by busting some serious moves on the dance floor, they manage to hit their mark, Gladys from HR. For the second half of the heist, Liv and Ravi switch to the ninja and acrobat brains, and sneak into the high security building. Clive saunters passed a guard that thinks all black people look the same, and helps Charlie smuggle in too. For a moment, it seems like the CDC has caught on to our heroes. Saxon rushes in and opens the vault to make sure the uptiopium was still there. Unfortunately for him, he fell right into their trap. Liv points a gun at Saxon and smugly tells him they knew they wouldn’t be able to get into the vault, so they tipped him off so he could do it for them. Saxon tries to bargain with Ravi, and to apologize for how the CDC has treated him, but Ravi is done standing by. No one knows better than Ravi the importance of this cure. Not only is he a man of science, he’s watched his loved ones deal with the zombie virus for several years. He’s had a front row seat to Liv and Major’s trials and watched Peyton buckle under the pressure of being New Seattle’s mayor. He watched Isobel pass away, and then when he tried to avenge her by ethically pursuing a cure, he kept losing to Blaine and the CDC. Well, not anymore. After five seasons of setbacks, there’s no way Ravi’s going to let go of the cure that easily. Ravi rages out. He knocks out Saxon, and Liv grabs the uptiopium. There’s just one more piece they needed for the cure — the Max Rager from Fillmore Graves. Liv calls Major, and he reassures her not to worry about it. When the camera cuts to him, we see him hiding out in the waterfront, injured and alone. 

There is a lot of things to wrap up next week, but I thought this penultimate episode was exciting, character-driven, and showcased elements of the show that made me love it so much. Next week, I’ll see you back in New Seattle, for one final time. 

Stray Thoughts: 

“You’re not that great with boyfriends, are you?” Don E tells Liv, which is the first time all season anyone has mentioned that Liv’s boyfriends have short lifespans on this show. 

“His hair makes me so angry!” 

Clive mentions that if Liv eats the pickpocket brain, to “get ready for visions of me rockin’ a mustache” and I’m so mad the show didn’t make good on this promise. 

“What are you going to do without me?” Liv asks Clive, pointing out that she’s no use as a police partner without her visions. What’s their relationship going to look like when Liv is no longer a zombie?

Peyton tells Liv that she’s probably going to marry Ravi. Pavi forever. 

“We are in the south now, you don’t put stolen jewelry in a black man’s pocket.” I squeaked at this line! Between the racist janitor and this line, Clive was really coming for Atlanta in this episode. 

I thought it was a hilarious gag to have someone remember Ravi from his CDC days, even if it was a one night stand that didn’t really reflect well on his character

Haley’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝🐝.5

The series finale of iZombie airs Thursday, August 1 at 9/8c on the CW.

[furederiko]

Advance Notice: Behold, for this is my first monthly review for "Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger"...

I had planned on publishing a First Impression post when this show premiered on February 11th, 2018, but I ended up scrapping that idea due to several reasons. I figured I should just go ahead with the review for the first episode having seen it with subs, but another hurdle came barging on my way (forcing me to be off the grid for a brief amount of time prior to my latest post) to the point that now I practically have watched 3 subbed episodes already. LOL. So as you can see, I've finally decided to just convert it into a monthly review (consisting of episode 1 to 3 that aired Sunday, February 25th) for the series anyway. Not unlike what I did with "Kamen Rider Build", of course. But there's a catch! Since I don't want my efforts for the First Impression to go to waste, I'm going to start with them first before heading directly to my Overall thoughts on each episode. Okay then, here goes...

First Impression

NOTE: Another reminder before I start. This list was written as soon as I finished watching the first episode. It contained my personal notes and INITIAL reactions to the story, theme, and also characters, some of most definitely have more or less evolved since then. So if it might sound a bit outdated, that's just the way it is. Can't help it, these were from three weeks ago... XD - Phantom Thief? More like... burglar. I'm talking about the premiere's opening sequence, that is. While it was designed to be cinematic, to me it also felt like a missed opportunity. The writer for this episode (was it lead writer Junko Komura?) probably forgot or got him/herself confused on the basic rule of a 'Kaitou'/Phantom Thieves. What made a Phantom Thief different than regular thieves or pickpockets, was in their modus operand of sending/handing out notice way ahead of their operation in order to challenge the owner of the item. Hence why it is called ADVANCE NOTICE. Moreso, they would infiltrate the target location meticulously and secretly using tricks and deceits while naturally avoiding to cause too much of a fuzz as much as possible. Those are the basics of a Phantom Thief. If you're uninformed and curious to see how this plays out, look no further than towards the many Kaitou Kid-centered story arcs in "Meitantei Conan", or the children show "Mysterious Joker". Even the heist aspect of Marvel Studios' "Ant-Man" fit in perfectly in this method. - This show DID capture the extravagant and stylish flairs of Phantom Thieves in this opening sequence. It was undoubtedly a flashy scene. But the biggest issue here was they did NOT give off an advance notice to the Casino boss, who was, in fact, the first Gangler or MotW of the show. A missed opportunity, because they could have easily inserted that bit in a quick dialogue or two. Breaking and entering, proceeded by shooting randomly at things to retrieve their target was clearly NOT the style of a Phantom Thief. Nope, this was plain robbery or burglary at play. Huge difference, right there! LOL. Handing out a calling card afterward would be considered pretty much useless because it could no longer count as an 'Advance' notice (get it?). The later mission of the episode was better, as it required a good amount of sneaking and sleuthing. No sign of advance notice though, so what a shame *sigh*. Even if this show hasn't managed to get the thieving part correctly, it was pretty apparent that the source of inspiration for the Lupinrangers was the iconic series "Lupin the 3rd". At the very least, I'm instantly reminded of that series every time they got out in action, both in or out of suit. - Oh yeah, there's another missed potential regarding that opening sequence. In this case, it's a bit technical. Debuting the theme song of "Lupinranger VS Patranger" in the first episode sounds natural, right? Well, that should've been the case. Yet when it was played WITHOUT having the Patranger around... it bugged me big time. I personally think they should have either: used the Lupinranger-only version in that scene. Especially because the Patrangers didn't even have the ability to transform until the closing scene. Or...; rewrote the scene and have it showcase both teams at the same time, fully in costume. I know the Lupinranger is first-billed, but if I were this episode's writer, I would totally use the theme song during an actual kerfuffle between the two teams. For example, in that brief part before the episode wrapped? Heck, the episode could've started with that before going into flashback mode or some sort. It would have made a major difference if you ask me... - Characters!!! I know I should never judge a book by its cover, but seriously, Kairi Yano (LupinRed) is unappealing and squeaky. No wonder some folks were surprised that his actor Asahi Itou could be appointed as Red. Plus, it's clear he still needs to improve his acting skill, with all those constant unnerving glares. Touma Yoimachi (LupinBlue) is the usual cool type, who this time gets mixed up with the chef trope. Think of it like Kyuranger's Stinger and Spada in one body. For some reason, Shougo Hama reminded me of Kamen Rider Ibuki or Mamoru Chiba from the live action "Sailor Moon" series. I think Umika Hayami (LupinYellow) is the most likable member of the Lupinranger, albeit being the usual bumbling 'my pace' girl. It felt that graduated Morning Musume member Haruka Kudo's deep affection to tokusatsu really showed, as she looked the most comfortable in her shoes. Their names combine into 'Kai-To-u'. - Keiichirou Asaka (Patren 1-gou) is undoubtedly the better Red for me so far. I sensed that Kousei Yuuki was also more convincing as an actor than Asahi. Unfortunately, Keiichirou is also the loud brash stereotype (kind of reminds you of Go Yellow, huh?), so he and his mysterious endless rage and anger will either impress you or grate on your nerves. The same couldn't be said about the other Patranger members. Sakuya Hikawa (Patren 2-gou) and Tsukasa Myoujin (Patren 3-gou) are nothing more than... generic stereotypes in the premiere. For now at least. Which was disappointing, because Ryo Yokoyama and Kazusa Okuyama (who somehow reminded me of Red Racer and Go-On Silver) could only do so much with the limited materials they were given. These two are likely the lesser important characters (Super Sentai always have ones), which says a lot about the Patranger's position. None of these three managed to... grab my attention, because aside from a stubborn hot-blooded Keiichirou, the other two could be considered as bland. Just like the Lupinranger, their names combined into 'Kei-Sa-Tsu'. - Youichi Nukumizu's Kogure and Ike Nwala's Commisioner Hilltop are the show's MVP for me thus far. In Kogure's case, the air of mystery and elusiveness easily stole my attention and made me want to see more. I think he could work as a secret big boss vibe pulling the strings behind the scene, though it would likely end up as some kind of Alfred Pennyworth scenario instead. Likewise, Hilltop showed hints of eccentric personality due to his Japan Culture-obsessed hobby (mirroring "Sakura Taisen V"'s Sunnyside). I can't help but wonder if he's meant to be the Jim Gordon of the show? It also helped that he joined the limited list of foreign actors who played a crucial role in a tokusatsu show. I hope these two will have bigger and more important roles in the future... as suggested by that recent rumor. Sadly, I couldn't praise the same about Jim Carter (voiced by Rie Kugimiya), the Global Police's mascot robot. I disliked its design, and see no actual use of it. Not to mention that name. Why TOEI, just why? - Comparing these two teams have always been an ordeal since I saw their first images. Each one has their pros and cons that sort of balanced my impression on them. I liked the Patranger cast better, but those suit design totally threw me off the table. I dig the style of the Lupinranger suit, but feel mixed about its actors. It's clear however, that the Lupinranger was put center front in the premiere (as evident by the flashy top-hatted transformation sequence and cool silhouetted roll call), to the point that the Patranger was basically just... there. Thus it felt somewhat premature and unfair to compare them due to the state they are right now. Not surprisingly, the scene in the Bistrot Jurer was executed better than the one in the GSPO's Tactical Unit Operations Room. The latter just looked more... fake somehow *sigh*. - Speaking of suits, Patranger likely had inspirations from "KyuKyu Sentai GoGoFive", "Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger", with a hint of "Go Go Sentai Boukenger". Sadly, these are not as good as those three. The Lupinranger ones are clearly a "Mirai Sentai Timeranger" nod, complete with that giant hands of clock-shaped swords that reminded me of the Vector Swords. Still, they should've gone with a long coat tail like in the transformation sequence (Zyuoh Whale and Draco Commander style). That would've made for a more elegant look. - I'm not that fond of the design for the show's main antagonist (a mixture of dinosaur and... guns?). Not the grenade-inspired but watermelon-looking Destora Mazzio (voiced by Pokemon's Brock himself, Yuuji Ueda), and particularly the hideous Goshu Ru Medu (voiced by "K-ON!"'s Ayana Taketatsu). Perhaps it's the way that every Gangler needs to include a safety box on their body that made them look... I don't know, silly? On the bright side, it does have this interesting mafia family style that would provide great potentials assuming it's explored properly. Cues from "The Godfather" movies can be felt from their so-called leader Dogranio Yabun (voiced by Mitsuru Miyamoto), as well as an obvious nod to Don Dolnero of Timeranger. In the case of those Lupin Collection, I'm sure Super Sentai fans would easily be reminded of Boukenger's Precious. - Neat camera works for the action scenes. Some... inventive movements that involved plenty of 360 shots taken from kinetic angles. Unfortunately, they would work much better in a fast-paced viewing. When you slowed the sequence down, it's more than obvious that the transitions between the different cameras (the regular huge and docked one, and possibly a drone/hand-held for the moving parts) aren't exactly as smooth. The switching was more than apparent, because there's an easily noticeable fluctuation in video quality. Not to mention, it did feel confusing to see after repeated viewings. - Last but not least, the absence of an ending sequence could be a make or break situation for the show. Many audience particularly Japanese kids genuinely loved an ending song that they could dance along with. I know that this one felt more mature already without one, but is that really a good thing? We'll just have to wait and see...

01 - "Here Comes the Flashy Burglar / Off-Beat Arrested Development"

Overall: I admit, after seeing this episode again with English subtitle, it was better than my first initial watch. Unfortunately, many of its issues (that I have pointed out above) are hard to overlook and still render my overall judgment. This was meant to be a groundbreaking series that actually features two existing Super Sentai teams at once, yet in my opinion, it ended up feeling more or less like your standard Super Sentai show. It didn't feel that much 'different', despite being taunted/promoted as such. Same old, same old. Most of that is likely due to the fact that the Patranger didn't have equal footing in it when they really SHOULD. Everything this police unit does (always-late appearance, bland characters, unimpressive significance, etc) didn't account much, giving off a distracting vibe that they were merely a set of supporting characters in a Lupinranger show. Seriously, they didn't even have a proper transformation scene and roll call because of how heavily Lupinranger-focused this has been. I'm not fond of police-themed Sentai, to begin with, hence why I already liked it less than other Super Sentai fans. Not saying this debut episode was bad, but more like... not my cup of tea? Didn't win me over? I do get why many are loving it though. This was a breeze of fresh air, especially when compared to the recent WEAK (I'm being NICE here) seasons of "Power Rangers" adaptations. Still, in my opinion, it's a pretty standard premiere, heavy on expositions, and due to its minor flaws, wasn't really on par with previous Super Sentai premiere episodes. On the bright side, if the show's future development is consistent with a recent rumor flying around the internet, then they will be enough to keep me watching this show. Here's hoping...

02 - "Frozen Back-Story / Fudging-Sweaty Fusion"

Overall: If I have to choose one word to describe this episode, that would be easy: HECTIC. Yes, as fittingly represented by the official opening sequence that... in my honest opinion, could have used better editing. The action parts felt busy and rushed, to the point that when it slowed down for the dramatic parts, the episode became uneven. I have this feeling that the debut of the vaguely disturbing Patren Union (defying all kinds of real life logic) was meant to put or even push the Patranger into the spotlight. Heck, they finally got their own flas... er generic roll call now (it still looks bland compared to the thieves no matter how you put it... *sigh*). Unfortunately, it's the drama part that pretty much stole every attention and became the major highlight of this episode. And sadly, it was particularly shining a light towards the Lupinranger... all over again. Yes, Kairi, Touma, and Umika remained to be the first-billed characters, as the show decided to reveal their real motives/goal to collect the Lupin Collection. Which was emotional and VERY personal at best. Hence our supposedly good officers were still being relegated as second fiddle, showing that the show hasn't managed to divide the focus evenly between the two teams. But hey, the Patranger also helped debuted the sentient-chatterbox Good Striker/Goody (voiced by legendary Virgo Shaka himself, Yuuji Mitsuya), right? Only to jumpstart the arrival of Lupin Kaizer when the Collection Piece combined with the Lupinranger's Dial Fighters instead. And while the show's first mecha (which didn't look as good as its design, I can't tell why) dealt with the Gangler in a flashy way, Keichirou, Sakuya, and Tsukasa only stared blankly into the night sky. Oh Patranger, I feel truly sorry for you... Ignoring the fact that it's still an uneven affair, it's indeed a much better episode than the first. It's not perfect by all means, and probably could do with better editing, but that genuinely intriguing backstory honestly did much of the heavy lifting. It's probably the show's best episode so far, though I'm hoping it's not the extent that this show has to offer.

03 - "Fiance on Ice / A Sticky Reinforcement"

Overall: LOL, did anyone actually expect some secret identities to be exposed, just 3 episodes in? That's NOT how Super Sentai works, especially in a full-year extended version of a Versus movie like this. So in that sense, what a pointless cliffhanger that was at the end of episode 2, huh? This intro scene basically answered one lingering concern I had since episode 1. Remember how Keiichirou and Kairi had a civilian stand-off about that newspaper ball in the park early on? If Keiichirou has good photographic memory and critical analysis skill as a competent police officer, he would've instantly recognized Kairi in Jurer. Not just that, he should also recognize LupinRed's voice coming from his mouth. But noooope, that did NOT happen. Frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about this. I just hope this didn't simply mean that Kei, as well as Sakuya and Tsukasa, are being written off as a bit... slow. That would be a disaster! How could one root for them if they are so unreliable? We got more insight into Touma's character concerning his fiance Aya. Not much of a surprise, because the previous episode had openly shown the identities of the frozen closed ones *sigh*. His character now reminds me of Joe Gibken from "Kaizoku Sentai Go-kaiger", who so happens to be sharing a similar cool-blue stereotype. But I'm not sure why there's something off with Touma that I couldn't really put into words. A relentless darkness that is rubbing me the wrong way. Which is strange, because Joe is my favorite Go-kaiger. It felt like Sakuya was probably meant to be the 2nd focus here, or at least meant to have his share of the spotlight. But since the execution was still uneven, still favoring heavily on the Lupinranger side, inevitably the rookie member of the Global Police ended up being eclipsed by both Touma and also Kairi. On the bright side, him showing instant attraction to Umika at the end implied that he's destined to be the awkward but likable goofball of the series. Assuming this angle will be explored in the future, of course. I might be wrong in this, but it felt like the Patranger has gotten the short end of the stick... again. Three times in a row! I mean, when the whole episode established that the Lupinranger will now be using the Patranger as tools to do their bidding, that... kind of says A LOT, right? The thieves (true to their namesake) kept on stealing attention from the public servant (fittingly so), always acting one step ahead of them. And their version of Good Striker's Finishing Move wasn't even better (lamer IMO) than Union to begin with. Even Kogure singlehandedly stole the scenes with his elusive appearances and mysterious relationship with Goody! Marvel Studios carefully constructed a story that enabled "Captain America: Civil War" audience to be divided between the two conflicting teams, but there's none of that here. For the time being, the Patranger only feels more and more like an afterthought, a lesser team that probably shouldn't even get a mention in the title. I don't think that's fair... Oh well, at least their Pat Kaizer debut was great. I can't say why, but it honestly looked much better in action. That's a hugely pleasant surprise! Was it because Lupin Kaizer's battle relied too heavily on CG to showcase its fluid movement? Not really, because Pat Kaizer also had its fair share of CG. Because the battle took place in the daylight? Regardless, the combined Trigger Machines was sturdy and strong. And though I could do without that pink pole stick, this mecha looked impressive overall and just more fun to see in motion. Next Episode: A Closed Room Case...

Episode 1 Score: 7,2 out of 10 Episode 2 Score: 7,8 out of 10 Episode 3 Score: 7,4 out of 10

All images are screen captured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.