Red Sentai Isekai Ep 12: Blackened Bond

Ep 12 of Sentai Red Isekai closed off the Sun Forest arc with an explosive battle between Kizuna Black and the Royal Demons. An intense and emotionally-charged episode with some additional original content from the studio that really elevated the series. It’s hard to believe that Satelight is doing this series AND Aquarion MoE as those two series are night-and-day. Sentai Red Isekai gave us a treat with this one, both with adapted and original content.

Kizuna Red Max Haza…I mean Kizuna Black is a force to be reckoned with. And I guess he is also more like a Kamen Rider than a Senshi with how he uses those black wired INCOM-like bandages. Those things are really amazing and remind me of Tarantula Knight backpack from King-Ohger. Although I really wish we get more “motion” scenes this fight since Kizuna Black is both superior in speed and power. Instead we get more impact-frame and still-frame. But I still think the bandages look really awesome. And they did a really good job portraying Togo’s inner turmoil. We get a flashback on why Red is so “addicted” to forging new bonds and is so frantic about losing people close to him.

Kizuna Silver – whom Togo had a crush on – was fighting alone because she told them she would die if she join them. But Togo didn’t believe in that prophecy and insisted that the future can be changed, that destiny can be forged. Nikaido eventually joined the team but the worse came to worst. Silver was struck right in front of Red’s eyes. And Togo learned that Nikaido has already seen this happened in her vision, that she was always fated to save Togo and sacrifice herself. This is also a great plot point in the future to explain for many decisions the Togo made in this season regarding personal relationship.

Vidal and Abu Dhabi got absolutely trounced this episode. They showed off a lot of power but all of them are just child’s play for Red/Black. Even in a “berserk” state, his battle instinct is still top-notch and with the black bandages, he is basically invincible with huge AoEs. He can construct drills and bandages out of thin air in a massive area. Honestly he is pretty broken by Sentai standard and has crossed into Kamen Rider territory. After kicking the Demon’s butts, Togo went berserk (duh!) and started attacking the forest. And Lowji, Amen and Yidhra have to jump in and stop him. I really like the fact that they didn’t use Yidhra’s “power of love” to awaken Togo this episode, and had to rely on Lowji’s raw power to do it.

Lowji’s Solpride – the Light Holy Sword – is pretty nice in this episode. If Red’s bandage is wired INCOMs, then Lowji’s Solpride is basically 00-QanT’s sword bits. Also maybe because it is a Light-attribute that it was effective against Kizuna Black. I really want to see the other fusions Lowji has in the next season (if any). Even so, they still struggle with Togo because Kizuna Black kicked 2 Royal Demons’ butts, and the entire team was struggling against them earlier, so Black’s power is still much stronger than what they are capable of. But Lowji was able to remove the Bansou Brace and return Togo to human form. It’s a pretty anti-climactic solution but hey, it is really in-universe for Tokusatsu.

In the end, all’s well that ends well. Togo woke up on Yidhra’s thighs (which must feel like heaven btw), and the forest didn’t suffer much damage. And we get a LOT of original Kizuna Five content this time – a bit at the start of the episode an a HUGE reveal at the end. The Aba Killer…. I mean Kizuna Killer is back…but this time, he’s Kizuna White! That’s right, the series added an all-new original development: Togo’s childhood friend and step-brother – Kiyohiro – has joined the team. Furthermore, the Kizuna Five know that Togo’s alive somewhere – because the Kizuna Beasts were summoned and transported elsewhere from the base. I think this is a very smart and reasonable addition to the series. And I think the anime is trying to give the “real world” more lore and details to make the universe richer as well. These independent scenes from the manga really give viewers something to look forward in season 2. And yes, I think we’re getting a season 2 because of the teaser of the other Royal Demons at the end, and there are so much more potential to discover.


=Aaron=
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