Anime Review: Yoroi Shinden Samurai Trooper ep 2 – Transformation
Episode 2 of Shin Samurai Trooper finally show us some Trooper action. And it was really well done – although a bit short. However, one cannot ignore the awkward character development – especially from the main character. And also Ryuusei – when he keeps waving a massive death flag on his head.
For Gai – we finally “learn” who he is and what his “motivation” is. But it’s kinda awkward. In the first episode, he was gleefully slashing everything in his way, basically being the Demon Army’s vanguard, with zero hesitation whatsoever (he was even humming his favorite song). But in this ep, he basically became humanity’s ally, wanting to kill off his fellow Demon Warrior as well as his father – the Demon Lord Ramaga. The heel-face turn and “ally of justice” sentiment seems to come out of nowhere as a plot device. And we are to accept him as a “hero” now. He basically showed empathy when a human died, and despite his former comrade’s action even though he committed similar deeds before. It feels a bit…forced but let’s see where this take them.
We also get to welcome the 2nd Trooper – Kaito of the Blue Sky. His name is Uesugi which is an obvious reference to Uesugi Kenshin. All the Troopers are Sengoku era’s reference. And that also made me more scared for Ryuusei, cause his name is Oda. And we all know how Nobunaga turns out. Kaito was a very straightforward guy, and I really like his refusal to work with Gai due to principle. However, he knows when to ask for help and set aside his differences. However, when the Puppet rise up, he just left his grandma there and run out lol.
The Armor-up scene in this episode is very nice. We get a quick one at the start when Ryuusei transform into the Flash Armor. And a very elaborate transformation by our protagonist Gai near the end. The artistic band and the fire effects look very cool. The entire sequence is an almost 1-to-1 HD/3DCG upgrade of the original transformation. The fighting in this episode was decent, but quite short. Hopefully there will be more extended fight sequences in the future.
This episode has some humor to it, which I think is a bit hit-or-miss. But more hit though. Mirei is another “cute-girl-who-also-happen-to-be-a-mechanic”. A genius young girl who also “happen” to be good with extremely advance machinery – now where have I seen that trope before.
Either way, we get the “last” of the Trooper – well, supposedly, cause we got five now. Yamato Houjou is joining the band. If you think that name is familiar, it because it is. Yamato is Musashi’s older brother who he admired. And they are also a reference to the Houjou clan of the Sengoku era. The series is chugging along nicely, however the pacing is mismatched with the character development. I wish Gai had more time to flesh out his motivation and change of attitude. But still, the quality was nice to watch.
=Aaron=
This episode has some humor to it, which I think is a bit hit-or-miss. But more hit though. Mirei is another “cute-girl-who-also-happen-to-be-a-mechanic”. A genius young girl who also “happen” to be good with extremely advance machinery – now where have I seen that trope before.
Either way, we get the “last” of the Trooper – well, supposedly, cause we got five now. Yamato Houjou is joining the band. If you think that name is familiar, it because it is. Yamato is Musashi’s older brother who he admired. And they are also a reference to the Houjou clan of the Sengoku era. The series is chugging along nicely, however the pacing is mismatched with the character development. I wish Gai had more time to flesh out his motivation and change of attitude. But still, the quality was nice to watch.
=Aaron=
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