Our feature character this week is Dragon Kid. As per usual, the hero-centric episode adds little to advance the plot. Although I feel that this is one of the weaker episodes of the series, I still enjoyed it nonetheless.
Quick random note: Up until this post, I've been referring to the characters by their hero names. I'm going to use their real names from now on, unless they're actually suited up and doing hero stuff. I don't why I didn't do this earlier.
So, Kotetsu is tasked with babysitting the mayor's baby because of the kidnappings that have been occurring recently. Predictably, the psychic NEXT baby only takes a liking to the tomboy Pao-Lin, who was earlier criticized for not being feminine enough. The other heroes, bar Antonio, find out that Kotetsu has a nine-year-old daughter and that his wife passed away five years ago due to an illness. After listening to the drama CD that surfaced, I hope to see some flashbacks of Kotetsu's wife in future episodes.
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| Let's toss babies! |
Judging by Karina's reaction, it seems to confirm my suspicions about her feelings towards Kotetsu. I'm pretty sure it's just a teenage crush that won't be reciprocated, because the series seems to be selling Kotetsu as a father figure to the younger heroes.
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| Some fanservice. |
It is nice to see Barnaby warm up to Kotetsu and care about his injury. He even shares the information that he has gathered on Ouroboros so far, perhaps showing that he's willing to work with Kotetsu on such a personal issue. I'm sure this pleases the abundant fujoshi that follow the show. With regards to appreciating parents' gifts, it's not a subject that I feel too strongly about because I'm pretty close to mine, geographically speaking. I can understand why Barnaby and Kotetsu would feel that way though.
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| How does it smell, Kotetsu? |
Our less-than-competent criminals of the week are three sisters armed with tasers and NEXT-powered olfactory senses, smelling money, lies, danger respectively. They kidnap both the mayor's baby and Pao-Lin in an attempt to score some ransom money. Kotetsu and Barnaby arrive, but Pao-Lin is more than enough to make quick work of them. I guess the important part is Barnaby's sudden launch through the ceiling, which further accentuates his frustration of not remembering the face of the guy who murdered his parents.
This weird guy gets a couple of seconds post-credits, who seems to be hinted as Barnaby's parents' murderer - or, at least, has something to do with Ouroboros. Character episodes are nice and all, but I really prefer the ones that have been Ouroboros/Lunatic themed. The next episode looks to be the latter, so I hope this week passes by quickly.
-Bern
-Bern
