Red Sentai Isekai Ep 4 Review: Bond Forged Through Hate
In ep 4 of Super Sentai Deca…I mean Red Sentai Isekai, we continued from the last ep where Red got his butts handed to him. The hero Lowji refused to help our poor Senshi, so it was thanks to the townspeople that Red was able to get away. And the party regrouped to plan a counterattack. However, before defeating external enemy, they must first conquer the internal conflict between Red and Lowji – who just can’t seem to get along.
This episode also mark the debut of Tenri Nikaido – the 6th Senshi of Kizuna Five. She was Kizuna Silver, and if you want to learn more about her, there’s more in the manga, since I reckon the anime won’t have all the details. But she did reveal something very crucial in regards to Red in this episode. He strongly believes in bonds, especially those that are forged between people, but also because of that immensely strong belief, he became reliant on it. The more bonds he has, the stronger and confident he felt, but without them, he will become lonely and weakened. And of course, it is human nature that sometimes bonds can be broken, and you can’t form bonds with everyone you meet if you are not compatible. And also, if you think Nikaido’s voice is similar, it is because it’s MAO – Gokai Yellow, aka the poster girl for non-Tokusatsu Tokusatsu media.
It’s nice to see some weakness in the main character. It is also a very common thing in Super Sentai, where each Senshi will have their own struggle to overcome – and Togo – being the Red Senshi – has the one that is most relevant to the team’s theme. And in this episode, we can see his party trying to help him overcome that as well – except Lowji – which is another character that has significant relevance in this ep.
It’s nice to see some weakness in the main character. It is also a very common thing in Super Sentai, where each Senshi will have their own struggle to overcome – and Togo – being the Red Senshi – has the one that is most relevant to the team’s theme. And in this episode, we can see his party trying to help him overcome that as well – except Lowji – which is another character that has significant relevance in this ep.
We get to see Lowji’s background in this episode. He initially started out as a normal swordsman with no mana – which is seen as a massive disadvantage in this world. He reminds of of Rygart from Break Blade – a magicless man in a magical world, somehow became a knight that protect an entire country by possessing the ancient “Blade”. Lowji was recruited by princess Teltina – who saw his potential to wield the Royal Holy Sword. And since then, Lowji vowed to become Teltina’s sole protector that will shield her from any harm. Well, he’s also kinda obsessed with her – wanting her to need him more than anything. And to do that, he is prepared to do anything to “remove” any obstacle and currently, Red is that obstacle. A hero from another world with crazy abilities unseen anywhere in the world, with the same no-mana quirk as Lowji, so he’s afraid Red might be able to replace him and wield the Holy Sword. And for that, he stole Togo’s henshin device – the Bansou Plate.
Without the Plate, Togo was unable to transform into Kizuna Red, and the attack plan fell apart. Togo was flung down a river. I like that even in such a serious moment, they found a way to slip in some comic relief and kinda alleviate the seriousness of the scene. Well, it took away the pressure somewhat, but I guess this is still early in the series so there’s no need for the heavy atmosphere…yet. If you read the manga, you know it will get much crazier later on. Anyway, with Togo falling into the river after suffering a devastating blow, Yidhra quickly jumped in to save him. She was able to bring him ashort and wake him up. And we get a bit of Togo x Yidhra moment here where she basically said she performed mouth-to-mouth to save him because he wasn’t breathing, but Togo – in his “obliviousness”(?) mindset, brushed it off and quickly returned to the battle. Well, he has proven to be a very “dense” man up until now, however…
Without the Plate, Togo was unable to transform into Kizuna Red, and the attack plan fell apart. Togo was flung down a river. I like that even in such a serious moment, they found a way to slip in some comic relief and kinda alleviate the seriousness of the scene. Well, it took away the pressure somewhat, but I guess this is still early in the series so there’s no need for the heavy atmosphere…yet. If you read the manga, you know it will get much crazier later on. Anyway, with Togo falling into the river after suffering a devastating blow, Yidhra quickly jumped in to save him. She was able to bring him ashort and wake him up. And we get a bit of Togo x Yidhra moment here where she basically said she performed mouth-to-mouth to save him because he wasn’t breathing, but Togo – in his “obliviousness”(?) mindset, brushed it off and quickly returned to the battle. Well, he has proven to be a very “dense” man up until now, however…
Back to the battle, I really like the fact that we can see Lowji utilizing his Holy Sword to a great degree. It’s basically the Xross Saber from Kamen Rider Saber – where it can morph into different forms and wield different elemental powers. It can use fire, water, earth, wind, light and darkness. The sword’s form is also named after the Seven Deadly Sins – which is a pretty funky thing considering it’s the sword of a Hero, but the names are pretty cool though. Out of all the forms in this episode, I like the Dragwrath the most simply because it’s a mini Zankantou Type-0 with a thruster on the back of the blade. The 4 basic element: Fire, Water, Earth and Wind – aside from having the sins’ names, also has mythical beasts associated with that element. We got Dragwrath is Dragon and Wrath, Envyndyne is Undyne and Envy, Slothgnome is Gnome and Sloth, and finally Glutsylph is Sylph and Gluttony.
One thing I find a bit lacking in the series is the combat animation. It is very basic and a bit static. The frames don’t look dynamic and the human proportion is very…restrictive. It does have some great Kizuna Kaiser scenes, but yeah in recent 2 episodes the combat have been quite lackluster. Lowji’s Holy Sword looks great but doesn’t really “wow” me in motion. But the final hit against the Lord was pretty badass, and the usual combo we see in Sentai battle where each person attack after each other.
This episode did a pretty good job of establishing Lowji’s character as well as give Red’s character more context. As these two will be the main combatants for the series, it is important to explore their relationship. And we also get other interactions with the girls as well. We got Red x Yidhra, Yidhra x Teltina as well as Red x Teltina tidbits that make them feel much more relatable. The 4 core characters are established very well now. So we can expect a more gripping narrative going forward. However, I really wish they improve upon the combat animations more. It doesn’t need to be Demon Slayer tier but a bit more exaggerated style would really benefit the series.
=Aaron=
One thing I find a bit lacking in the series is the combat animation. It is very basic and a bit static. The frames don’t look dynamic and the human proportion is very…restrictive. It does have some great Kizuna Kaiser scenes, but yeah in recent 2 episodes the combat have been quite lackluster. Lowji’s Holy Sword looks great but doesn’t really “wow” me in motion. But the final hit against the Lord was pretty badass, and the usual combo we see in Sentai battle where each person attack after each other.
This episode did a pretty good job of establishing Lowji’s character as well as give Red’s character more context. As these two will be the main combatants for the series, it is important to explore their relationship. And we also get other interactions with the girls as well. We got Red x Yidhra, Yidhra x Teltina as well as Red x Teltina tidbits that make them feel much more relatable. The 4 core characters are established very well now. So we can expect a more gripping narrative going forward. However, I really wish they improve upon the combat animations more. It doesn’t need to be Demon Slayer tier but a bit more exaggerated style would really benefit the series.
=Aaron=
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