The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World

Episode 5

Episode 5 of The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World has a big bombastic fight, but perhaps even bigger implications for the world itself.

First off, the great battle sequence with Abudabi. The best thing is that it is all very much in keeping with tokusatsu tropes and norms. Abudabi is a giant grinning jester of vaguely eldritch power lashing out with exploding hands, serrated blades, and gnashing mystical teeth - all couched within the thematics of an evil French clown. This is precisely the sort of themed villain that the tokusatsu greats were built upon. His powers are nebulous, his attitude is irritating, and this combination pushes our heroes to become their best selves to save the day.

When Togo becomes his best self, that of course means a cracked visor. Yes, folks, we get some visor damage in this fight sequence which means things are immediately more hype than usual. A full shattered visor is not in effect, so we've still got room to grow, but plenty of cracked visor shots let us know that this is a serious encounter. Lowji and Teltina also get chances to show their growth and power, with the latter absorbing evil magic to save the townsfolk while the former joins in on sacrificial team attacks for reasons he can't describe. Spoiler alert: that's because he's starting to believe in the power of friendship due to prolonged exposure to a Red Ranger.

Lastly, the world is starting to open up in new and tantalizing ways. We get introduced to Yihdra's old frenemies in the form of a new group of mages. Additionally, Abudabi references “otherworlders” in the plural meaning that Togo is not alone and implying he has rather direct experience fighting them. One of the attacks used in this episode name-drops Cthulhu, which is kind of amazing in and of itself, but also makes one wonder if there are further eldritch powers at play.

Rating: