Shinkalion Change the World Ep 7 & 8 Review: Ultra Genius

After establishing the main trio, we’re continuing to expand the driver roster – this time with the younger Ten Urutora (yes that’s his name) – a middle schooler who is the driver of one of my favorite Shinkalion – the N700S Nozomi. And in one sentence, this arc can be summed up as “suffering from success”.

We started the episode with an Unknown that got its butts kicked super easily by a Shinkalion that is using the same Trailer equipment as the E5 Hayabusa. The blue and white Shinkalion is the N700S Nozomi – piloted by a young boy. He was introduced as Ten Urutora (probably a pun of Tensai Ultra – which means Ultra Genius). And Ten is exactly that, his skills is superb despite his young age. His aptitude is the highest among all current Drivers. Of course that sent Ryota into a jealousy frenzy, since he is the “senpai”. And he is quite eager to meet this newly-joined pilot.

At first, Ten is shown to be a shy and reserved boy, with very thoughtful behavior. He’s also very polite and shown to respect Taisei and the team. Even during training, his score is around 50% compared to others. However, it is obviously a ruse as viewers can feel something isn’t right with Ten’s behavior. You can say his actions outside of the Shinkalion contrast his demeanor inside of it, especially at the start. Honestly, with his name like that, viewers with keen Japanese knowledge might have guessed what secret he is harboring.

Things quickly came to light after an encounter with Ten’s friend and Akane noticed the awkwardness in Ten’s behavior and words. One of the things I like about Akane is he’s quite honest and straightforward, and also very observant – which suits his position as the sharpshooter. This is also quite similar to the previous E6 pilots. And it seems we’re following a “pattern” for some of the pilots here. And Ten is just like the pilots of previous N700s, in that he has amazing fighting instinct. I reckon he could even take all three of the main trio by himself. But that also marks his “suffering from success” issue. Due to being too good, he can lose touch with his surrounding people and will cause others to alienate him. To avoid that, he restraints himself on purpose but with Akane’s keen eyes, he spotted that almost straight away, and that opened another can of worms.

If others knew Ten was holding back for their sake, they’ll feel a bit…insulted maybe? or maybe even inadequate. At least that’s how Ten’s friends were feeling, but not Taisei. Ryota also quickly came on board since he’s a dunce and didn’t really get it, but they showed that they didn’t care about Ten’s superior or inferior complex, they just want to be friends and fight side-by-side. This also remind me a lot about other geniuses that separate themselves from others like Kira Yamato from Gundam Seed or Sui Kaburagi from Fafner. Prodigies are often socially awkward, and Ten is not to the point of Sheldon Cooper, but he’s just a bit too naive.
Thankfully, Ten has realized what he needs to do, as well as everyone’s feelings for him. He rallied and joined his comrades in the fight. Although the N700S is known for using fists in melee-combat, Ten opted for equipment like Taisei – the sword and shield. To be honest, the action in CTW still isn’t as good as the original series. The battle choreograph before the finishing move is still a bit sluggish and naive. I guess it’s still the beginning and I hope we get more exciting combat later on. Furthermore, I love the finishing moves as well as the brief Dynamic kill animation, but it’s still not the same as the original series. Why is it so hard to make it like the og? It was so much better than. I missed it in Z, and I still miss it very much in CTW. But still, the combo in ep 8 battle is very cool!

Overall, Ten is a great addition to the cast. He’s not overpowered, he’s good but he’s got some awkward moments. And he’s not a 100% goody-two-shoes like he initially seemed. It’s great that he has grown as a person and started reaching out to build meaningful relationships on his own without worrying about his “complex”.

The next pilot is the girl that pilot the “fisticuff” E5 Dozer Form. And she’s as young as Ten so that’s going to be a very interesting arc. A young, ferocious girl that really lay the beatdown on kaijus would be great to see!

Aaron
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