RETRO-SCRUTINY: SEASON PREMIRE: GALACTIC SMASH PARTS 1 & 2

Hello and welcome to Season Four of Retro-Scrutiny! Just like the last three seasons, I am your host, Kendall!

(And I am her co-host, Alexia! It’s wonderful to be back in action. And speaking of action, that’s exactly what we’re beginning with on this new season of Super Robot Monkey Team! And what better way to start off with a drinking game!) 

Same rules as always?

(Of course! One shot for every game reference. Now, let’s start off with Galactic Smash: Space Attack and battle through Game Over.) 

OVERVIEW

A girl holding a strange crystal is being chased by guards with laser guns down a hallway. Using her laser whip to close a door and get some distance, she heads to the flight deck and steals a ship as more guards arrive and follow. She engages a warp drive of some sort before asking the crystal who in the universe can help her. It gives her an image of the Super Robot.

The team is going over Jinmay’s transmission again when they get the new girl’s message. They go to help her and find her camouflaged in an asteroid field. They take her in with less than stellar results, as she is disappointed that her heroes are a group of monkeys and a kid.

(Well, boohoo for her.) 

She explains about the Varkon Commodore, a madman who’s destroyed hundreds of populated planes, including her home planet. She finally introduces herself as Olliana and the machine she attacked them over is an oracular device (Take your first shot.), which allows the wielder to cheat their own future, allowing anyone to win in any given combat situation. It’s the key to the Commodore’s power.

(It’s the equivalent of a deus ex machina is what she’s saying.) 

Otto decides to test it out and discovers he’s going to get eaten by a big purple monster in order to defeat it.

(Wait, what?) 

Chiro sees the Torso Tank blow up a tower with a person inside of it (What?) and Sparks sees  Varkon Drone Fighters attack the Robot just before they arrive to attack the Robot.

They found her with the homing beacon hidden on her ship. Otto looks for it while the others fight lines of drones (Take a shot.). After locating it and a holographic device, they send it into the asteroid field, where the Varkons follow and destroy themselves. The Varkons are desperate for the cheating machine as they need it to destroy Shuggazoom.

Enemies invade the Robot and the Hyper Force splits up to deal with them. Nova, Sparks and Otto take on a giant segmented bug monster (Shot?). Gibson and Antauri fight a more human like creature that regenerates and Chiro and Olliana battle a floating sphere with a face and a mouthful of machine turrets before regrouping.

Antauri: Possession of this cheating machine gives one enormous power. Why does the Commodore use this power to destroy inhabited planets?

Olliana: He doesn’t care whether they’re inhabited or not. All he cares about is how many planets he’s destroyed. And he talks about being Top Five all the time.

(Sounds like there’s a bunch of freak jobs competing for the title.)

But the key to defeating his next attack is the holographic device on her ship.

(The same one Otto is using on Chiro?)

Yes, that one. After a bit of goofing around (Three shots everybody.), Otto tells them that if he tweaks the holograph to a high pitch frequency, it emits a noise that knocks out any holographic disguise. In doing so, he reveals the fleet of enemy ships hiding as asteroids.

(Nice job, Otto.) 

The ships attack, blasting the Robot apart and flinging Olliana’s ship, Chiro, and Otto into space.The boys crawl into the ship and head back to their captured friends. As they enter the enemy ship, guards arrive. Otto has the idea to disguise Chiro as one of the guards and have him pretend to have captured the little green monkey.

Otto is escorted to where the others are as Chiro follows a group with Olliana. The two end up face to face with the Commodore. The exchange goes like this:

Commodore: Olliana… from Arcadia, wasn’t it? Soliders, that was a really satisfying Galactic Smash! Put us in the Top Five.

Olliana: Galactic smash? Is that what you call it?

Commodore: All the players call it Galactic Smash, all across the cosmos. Destroy as many planets as possible to get the high score! You can’t even begin to imagine how much fun it is.

Olliana: Fun? You did all this as part of a game? Destroying my world and everything I ever loved just to raise your score?

Commodore: Yes, and it isn’t easy my dear. Sometimes I have to use this little cheating machine. Please don’t tell the other players- it’s considered unethical. But it was all worth it. Now I am ranked number two. And I’m ready to go for the number one high score. Thanks to you.

He tells her she led them to their next target and helped them capture its only defense force as the soldiers cheer.

Otto is thrown into a maze and meets up with the monster from his prediction. He tries to escape the giant purple monster by flying only to learn there’s a force field at the top. He escapes by clinging to a wall before calling for his teammates. They don’t answer.

(No time to dwell on it though- a guy on an energy motorcycle starts attacking him! Take a shot. Actually, take two if you’ve figured out Otto’s situation.) 

Otto runs away from the thing’s attacks using his Razor Chariot and gets away using the walls and ceiling.

The Commodore begins another round of Galactic Smash, targeting Shuggazoom. Olliana asks why he’s doing this and he gives the obvious answer: Extra Lives.

(Dude, there has to be an easier way… Oh, and take a shot.) 

Olliana uses her hair to smack the guards holding her (How does that work?) and rushes the Commodore. He traps her in a giant arcade cabinet and tries to blast her one life away (Take a shot.). Chiro reveals himself to the Commodore by rescuing her. Before they escape, they take one of the Commodore’s lives and the cheating machine.

The Commodore regenerates with three lives left (Shot.). He decides to take care of their intruders and sends a giant robot after them.

In the maze, Sparks and the rest of the missing monkeys are being hunted by blue robot creatures with tentacles (Don’t know the reference myself, but if you do, then take a shot.). One almost takes out Gibson until Otto takes it out from behind.

(YAY! Everyone’s back together. Oh, and a stranger comes along and stops to tell them to never stop moving before Otto’s monster comes up from behind and eats him. Irony, how cruel is thy.) 

They run and reach a dead end. They can’t hurt it from the outside, so now it’s time for Otto to use what he learned from the cheating machine. He jumps into the mouth of the monster and the thing ends up exploding into pieces with him inside.

(NOOO!) 

The team laments for a second before Otto appears before them smiling.

(YAAAH!) 

The energy barrier is suddenly deactivated- apparently the monster was the one causing it- and they call their leader, who tells them to get to the docking bay.

Olliana and Chiro get chased by patrol bots as the Commodore tries to get rid of them. Unfortunately, the two of them are decent players.

(Speaking of them, they end up surrounded by patrol bots who snatch the cheating machine. But they get rescued by the monkeys. Oh, and take a shot if you recognize that sound that tennis ball is making.) 

The Commodore ends up getting into an unwanted conversation with the number one player, Maurice before activating the Planet Pulverizer. He preps it and his fighter drones for the attack.

(Take a shot for Maurice. Just Maurice.) 

The team reaches the Robot parts and start their counterattack. Chiro and Olliana go after the Commodore and take another two of his lives. The rest of the team take on the first fleet. The Commodore manages to knock the Torso Tank out of the sky as the Planet Pulverizer perps for the attack. Chiro races up the side of the machine and blasts the Commodore’s command center, taking his last life.

(GAME OVER! And with that, the entire fleet of hips explode. Oh, and take a shot.) 

Later, Olliana informs them from her own ship’s video chat that a handful of her people survived and that they will be searching to a new home world. She says her goodbyes and the episode ends with her ship flying into space.

And that was Galactic Smash! This season started off pretty good, if you asked me. But we’ll discuss that later. For now, let’s take a look at our…

NEW CHARACTER(S):

OLLIANA (Tara Strong):

She’s okay, I guess. There isn’t much to her. Her planet gets destroyed and she’s already on the run when we meet her. She isn’t the most grateful of saved people when the team meets her. But she does manage to hold her own and doesn’t look helpless when standing with the Hyperforce. But she had next to no personality and that makes her a bit unremarkable. While Tara Strong is usually known for ability to voice some of the world’s cutest characters, she does manage to make an impressive teenaged voice come out of her mouth.

THE COMMODORE (Arthur Burghardt):

Part evil dictator, part hardcore gamer, part mustache twirling villain, and part loser. This guy would be so much more fun if there was more screen time given to him. Even if he does look like he spends all his time in his mother’s basement.

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):

1. How did Galactic Smash first start?

1. How did the Hyperforce not notice it before?

1. Who is the Commodore?

FINAL OPINIONS:

This season premeir wasted no time in getting us back into the action, I have to say, this episode was a lot of fun to watch. The one-shot characters don’t feel annoying or useless, the writing is decent, and the action is fast paced and constant.

(This episode is full of references to video games. Some are obvious, some are a bit more subtle, and there’s at least one you’re going to have to guess at. In fact, if this episode isn’t based on some sort of video game, then I’m going to be disappointed. Anyone want to tell me which kind it is?) 

And with that, gentle viewers, we welcome you back to Retro-Scrutiny. We are very excited to be back at work. Thank you again for hanging with us. This is Kendall, signing out.

(And this is Alexia, hoping to see you all again. I hope you all were drinking safely.)  

RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG SEASON THREE FINALE

Greetings and salutations to all of you who have joined us once again for another episode of Retro-Scrutiny. I am your host, Kendall, alongside my cohort, Alexia.

(Hi everybody! Thanks for joining us today, because we have a huge episode for you all. It’s that time again, ladies and gents. The season finale. Unlike the last time, we only have two episodes to mash together this time. But that means the episode is coming to you quicker than before! Hurray! Right?)

Right! This season has had its ups and downs (And all arounds!), but it will all come to a head in this one episode of ours. This episode, we’re going through a Wormhole to get through the rest of the season.

(We’re also gonna play another round of our favorite drinking game. Same rules as always. Watch the episode and take a shot every time someone in the episodes says Nova’s name. You’re gonna have to keep track of that yourself, since I’ll be busy.)

OVERVIEW

The episode begins with Chiro talking to himself, questioning his role as the Chosen One. Antauri pulls him out of his thoughts via radio. The team is preparing an attack on the Skeleton King Worm. The plan? Operation Burn the Worm.

(Sometime between the last episode and now, the Super Robot and it’s crew found the Worm’s location and have caught up to it, because they’re literally on the thing’s tail now. They have to destroy all of the worm- using a fifteen megaton blast using plasma charges set to go off all at once- or the head will just grow itself a new body.)

And they have to do this before it reaches another populated solar system.

(Yep. No biggie.)

Before they can launch the charges, Nova spots a crashed ship and what looks like survivors. Sparks offers himself and Nova to be the ones to go grab their boots and rescue them. Nova is upset that Sparks called her a ‘coward’ earlier and blows him off when he tries to tell her something.

The two of them make their way to the small, incredibly emaciated crew and try to rescue them.

It is then discovered that all of the crew are ZOMBIES!

(WHAT!? How the heck did that happen!?)

Apparently the corrupting influence of the Worm’s energies have converted them into undead entities. Which is why when the rest of the team comes to rescue them, it’s okay for Gibson to stab one straight through the chest.

(Oh. Okay)

The team can’t manage to hurt them regularly until Chiro discovers the weak spot-  the facemasks. During the fight, a stray attack blasts the crashed ship, causing an explosion that knocks the team and the zombies away. The zombies get blown off of the Worm.

(Bye zombies!)

The Skeleton King Head learn of them and has the Worm open up a wormhole.

The pushing wind pushes Sparks and Nova away from the rest of the team. Sparks manages to grab onto the flag one of the zombies planted into the worm with his tail and grabs Nova.

She slips, but he grabs her boot.

Then her foot slips out the boot.

(WHAT!?!)

Nova flies off of the Worm, screaming as she is sucked into the wormhole, leaving a visibly distraught Sparks.

Antauri, using some hand grapples and hidden spider legs, drags the team back to the Robot.

Once inside, Sparks argues about going back out to look for Nova. The fight is unresolved as the Worm has reached the end of the wormhole and the Robot is bucked off before it disappears into another self-made tunnel.

Gibson gets the Robot in gear again, but discovers that they’re in the same location as before. The planets outside are actually atomic structures. They’ve shrunken down to atomic size. Trapped in the Microcosm.

Chiro suggest reversing the process by opening up another wormhole.

Gibson: “Chiro, you make it sound so easy. why don’t we simply take the risk of flying into a nucleus, hoping the nonlocality of its core electrons will *poof* transport us back home?

Otto: “Sounds like a brilliant plan to me! I guess that’s why you’re a genius and I just fix stuff.”

Gibson: “Normally I wouldn’t disagree with you Otto, but I was joking.”

Sparks tries to go and look for Nova, but gets stopped by Antauri. The alarm goes off, informing the team of multiple intruder alerts in almost every sector. Purple and black wisp-like creatures float in and start messing with the controls.

They’re negatively charged quarks, and the team can’t fight them because they’ll absorb their positive energy.

(What about Chiro? Can’t he do something about them?)

The quarks start feeding on the positive energy of the Robot’s neutron generator, draining it until Sparks draws their attention. They decide to use Gibson’s plan (What plan? The one to- oh.) and push themselves into a nucleus.

(And as luck would have it, the plan works. Sort of. They ended up increasing in size so dramatically that now they’re in the Macrocosm and giving the phrase “Bigger than life” a whole new meaning.)

Sparks tries calling out for Nova, and gets a return call from a voice. The Voice and the Robot talk, before the voice introduces itself as the Being, the Sentient. A part of all things in the Macrocosm, as are all sentient entities.

It tells the Robot that they must all return to help restore balance to their universe. The Robot makes a head gesture before the Being tells it that ‘they are not ready. Their destinies too must be fulfilled.’

Before the Being sends them on their way, Sparks asks about Nova and if it can get her back for them. The Being answers with “I…like Nova.” before the Robot flies them back to their universe, and they’re now standing on the Worm. And there are no signs of Nova.

They destroy the Worm- FOR NOVA!

There are five more charges that need to be set and one of them needs to be placed directly atop the Worm’s head. It has to be a manual job, since the Robot might get spotted. Chiro volunteers.

The boy ends up planting the charge, but before he can set it, the Skeleton King Head spots him and attacks. After blasting at each other and tapping into his Inner Primate, Chiro sets the charge and begins running back to the Robot, but is interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Skeleton King Droid!

(Where did THAT come from?!)

It blasts the Robot off the Worm, forcing Chiro to jump for it, latching on to the leg. Suddenly, the Worm shifts, knocking the Droid off. The Worm turns around and opens its mouth.

The episode ends with our heroes trapped inside the Belly of the Beast.

Chiro wakes up and finds he’s disconnected from the rest of his team. As he discovers where he is, the monkey boys wake up and find that the Robot needs fixing and they’re now down two teammates. Otto states that the auto-repair will take long enough for them to find Chiro. Antauri states that he can’t feel Chiro’s presence.

(Sorry Antauri, but Chiro’s got main character immunity. He’s fine, so go take their moon buggy and go find him already. He’s freaking out about now. There’s some weird stuff down here.)

As the monkey boys drive along, Otto admits to Antauri that he’s scared they’ll lose Nova and Chiro like they thought they lost him. They reach some sort of spacecraft. Sparks says he saw something moving in the doorway. Calling for Chiro, they instead find more zombies from earlier. They end up blowing them and the buggy up.

Antauri senses that the Worm is preparing another attack. He orders the other three to go back to the Robot and find Chiro while he goes and destroys the Skeleton King Head.

Chiro finds himself in another area and notices a small figure flitting around. He ends up confronting it and finds it to be Mandarin!

(Whoa! Wait a minute! He was eaten before the season began- how has he not been digested yet? Oh, and the Droid is still functioning and after them.)

Mandarin goes after Chiro with the intent of tearing him apart, but Chiro throws him into some…acid?… and drops something hanging on the ceiling on his head.

(Then he turns around and finds out he missed.)

Mandarin tries flinging Chiro into the acid waters, but he is saved by something surrounded in flames. The fireball lands behind Mandarin, revealing itself to be NOVA!

(WHOO! And it looks like she took a detour at the Macrocosm before arriving to kick some butt and find the rest of the team.)

Antauri, meanwhile, discovers that the Worm has reached another inhabited planet, but can’t call for help since he’s being attacked by creatures that come out of the Worm’s skin and the signal can’t get through.

The boys, meanwhile, are back at the Robot and discover that two large objects are coming directly at them- one in the air and one on land. The one in the air reaches them first, smashing through the Robot’s Hyper-armor and revealing itself to be the Droid. It attacks and chases them before knocking out Otto and Gibson. Sparks magnetizes it, causing it to be temporarily buried. It breaks out in time for Chiro and Nova to knock it into a wall.

(Unfortunately, it’s not done yet. It blasts Nova, causing her to shrink. It then knocks out Sparks, so Chiro unleashes his Inner Primate to fight it. Then the Super Robot learns that Chiro is in trouble and helps out, throwing the ruined Droid at Mandarin’s feet.)

Antauri, who has been fighting off the Skeleton King Head, finally beheads it. The Worm is still going to attack the planet. And the team learns they have less than thirty seconds to escape before the charges go off. The Super Robot takes off- grabbing Antauri while it’s at it- and the team watches at the attack dissipates as the Worm is blown to bits. The planet Earth is saved.

The team rejoices since they can now return to Shuggazoom. Sparks takes the time to tell Nova something.

Sparks: “Nova… Y’know I almost lost you for a second there.”

Nova: “It’s a miracle I made it.”

Sparks: “Nova, I just wanted to say, I’m glad I have you. As my friend.”

(AWW YEAH, HUG IT OUT!)

The festivities are interrupted when Gibson announces they received a message from Jinmay during the several days they were stuck inside of the Worm.

Jinmay: “Monkey team, we need your help back on – Shuggazoom. Something terrible has- I don’t know what to do.”

Antauri and Chiro order a course for Shuggazoom and the episode ends with the Skeleton King Head being picked up from space by Mandarin, who flew to safety in the ruined Droid. He laughs maniacally before blasting off.

And that was the end of Season Three. It feels like we just went through a  dozen roller coasters’ worth of excitement. But as always, let’s get some things out of the way.

Since there were no new characters, we can skip over to the

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S)

1. What happened to Nova while she was in the Wormhole?
2. How did Mandarin manage to survive?
3. Was the Being supposed to be some sort of Higher Power?
4. What happened on Shuggazoom?
5. What is Mandarin planning to do with the Skeleton King’s Head?
6. How did Nova end up inside of the Worm?

FINAL OPINIONS

This two-parter was big and action packed and exciting and probably the best in the season. The team had really good ideas throughout the episodes, the characters were all competent and good, the action was fast paced and fun to watch, and there were even a few good twists thrown in.

(Wormhole is the slow build up to the true action. It has its fun teasing us with what’s to come by having our heroes go through one quick little adventure away from their adventure before getting to Belly of the Beast, where the stakes are high and the results are grand.)

Unlike the last season finale, there isn’t an overlying theme to really be found. I don’t have a problem with this.

(Neither do I, but I do have my grievances. These two episodes are so good that they just bring up all the problems I have with the rest of the season to the forefront. But that’s something for a later post…)

Finally, I love the surprise of seeing Mandarin still alive. The first time I saw that, it blew my mind. I mean, I was twelve, but that was still amazing. Especially since I had forgotten about him. It had been months since he ended up as worm food and with his new claw, I almost didn’t recognise him.

(I know! That was so cool!)

And that’s all we have for this episode of Retro-Scrutiny. Yes boys and girls, it has been three seasons of action adventure, colors, fighting, quips, giant monster battles, space travel, and decisions good and bad.

(Kendall and I promise to have the Season Three Breakdown up and ready before the end of the week- Saturday- but that means we’ll also be taking our usual break from Retro-Scrutiny. We have mid-terms and projects and all sorts of free time that never feels like enough time. But let us worry about that.)

Saying goodbye to you and to the season, this is Kendall and Alexia, wishing you all a good day, a good night, and a thank you for sticking with us for this long. Until next time…

(Oh, yeah. Don’t forget to tell us how many times Nova’s name was said in the episodes. And I hope everyone was drinking water.)

RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG EPISODE THIRTY-SEVEN: Prototype

Hello and welcome back to Retro-Scrutiny. My name is Kendall and I know, for all of you who missed our update post, this episode came out surprisingly fast for you guys.

(Hey everyone, Alexia here! We figured that since the last episode was kind of short and easy, this one would be better for everyone. And boy is it!)

It’s got action, new characters, action, backstory, and did we mention action?

(I think we did!)

Alright then, let’s check out the episode Prototype and see stuff explode.

OVERVIEW

Antauri narrates that the planets in the section of space they’re in have all fallen to the Skeleton King Worm’s passage, each one virtually laid to waste in this corrupted zone. Gibson is trying to calculate the SKW’s present location. Chiro says that is they do that, they can launch a sneak attack coming out of Hyper Boost Warp. They prep the Warp, but the Robot suddenly takes control and veers off course. It takes them to Tabiri Takala in the Corrupted Zone, a planet once rich in metals.

(As they land, the Plot Alarm warns them of something approaching them fast. Strange, since Gibson states there are no biological entities on the planet.)

Out of the ground pops ANOTHER SUPER ROBOT!

(Gasp! Intruder! Faker!)

But it’s not after the Team, but a smaller robot zipping through the air. The small robot turns himself into a slingshot and shoots himself through his enemy’s mouth. It gets blasted down, so the team intervene. Slingshot reappears for another headshot, followed by a Lasertron Fury.

Slingshot flies off with the Team following inside of a building.

Suddenly the lights change and a giant jar containing a brain appears before them.

(Um, okay. Explanation please!)

The Brain knows the Super Robot- calls it the prototype-because it is one of its creators. He accuses them of being the ones who stole it, but they admit that most of them just woke up in it one day and Chiro stumbled upon it by accident.

The Brain introduces itself as Dr. Takeuchi. He mentally controls the planet’s robots- except for one. The Prometheus Five. A menace.

The three scientists- himself, Dr. Maezono, and a third one who looks strangely familiar- spent fifteen years building the Prometheus prototype. Then one of the scientist mysteriously disappeared, as did the Super Robot.

(Spoilers- it was the Alchemist.)

Professor Maezono and Takeuchi worked on, the models becoming more compact and deadly before finally they created the Prometheus Five, the deadliest fighting robot in the universe.

(This is all fine and dandy, but I still want to know how he became a brain in a jar.)

The Prometheus Five malfunctioned during an experiment and caused an explosion that destroyed the lab, Takeuchi’s body, and killed Maezono. Now it attacks anything that comes near it.

(It didn’t attack them. I smell something suspicious…)

The team go after the Prometheus Five, who ends up shutting off the Super Robot’s weapons.

The two robots then have a private conversation before the Prometheus Five gets inside the Robot’s brain. Things get temporarily psychedelic before they all fly off to some sort of junkyard. Slingshot leaves his prototype’s brain before telling the team to get out so they could talk.

(Is it just me or does that voice sound familiar?)

He explains that he couldn’t form a connection with the monkeys earlier, so he and the Robot mind merged to speak to one another. Slingshot tells them that Takeuchi was the one who died in the explosion. Maezono had tried to place his evil consciousness into his body for evil purposes.

(Quick question: Why?)

Takeuchi tried stopping him, but Maezono’s brain caused a power surge that blew everything up. Slingshot was flung out of the lab and ever since then, he’s been fighting in the name of Takeuchi.

Maezono sends a prototype army after the team. Slingshot and the Super Robot handle the giant robots while the team goes after the mad doctor.

After some action sequences, the Super Robot rescues his owners from being zapped and wrecks some computers. Slingshot confronts the brain heap, but Maezono escapes with the Super Robot allowing him, much to Slingshot’s fury.

Later, Slingshot declines the offer of joining the team since Maezono is still out there and needs to be stopped. The episode ends with Chiro telling the fighting robot that he and his prototype make a good team. In return, he is told that the Robot says he’s already a part of a good team.

And that was the episode- quite a biggie if I say so myself. But let’s wait a moment so we can go over the…

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):
1. How long ago was the Robot created?
2. Did the power surge give Slingshot his free will or was that programmed into him at some point?
3. Why didn’t Maezono just build another body for himself?
4. Why did Takeuchi and Maezono try to create the ultimate fighting robot in the first place?
5. Why did Maezono turn evil?

NEW CHARACTER(S):

Prometheus Five/ Slingshot (Scott Menville): Yes, they voice actors for Beast Boy and Robin of the Teen Titans animated show are in this episode. And I’m pretty sure this show came out first.

(Slingshot is loyal and brave, but a bit of a jerk. I feel like this is a Robin prototype and I actually wish we would see more of this character, just so we could see two fighting robots team up again. His design is just lovely in my eyes, by the way.)

FINAL OPINIONS:

This episode was a lot of fun compared to the last two we’ve seen. As we stated earlier, this episode had action and backstory, but it also has a good science fiction element to it.

(I think getting the backstory for the Super Robot was a good idea, since that was one something I’ve been waiting for since ‘Ghost in the Machinder’ brought it up. And now we know that the Super Robot is a big brother, a victim of kidnapping, and has approximately three fathers. How lucky is he? Well, okay, getting kidnapped sucks, but it was by one of his dads and for a good cause, so I consider that luck.)

The episode has good action and I think the Slingshot is a good character, even if his evil creator needs a bit of work. This episode really makes me want to learn more about the rest of the team now.

(Hey, there’s still an entire season left. We might just get that.)

Yeah. But not today, because we have come to the end of our show. Thank you all for joining us on this special double-feature. We hoped you enjoyed it.

(The next time we meet, we’re gonna be checking out the last two episodes of Season Three! Whoo!)

Yes we will. But that’s for next week. Until then, I am Kendall, wishing you all a good day.

(And I am Alexia,wishing that all of you will join us next week for the Season Finale. Bye!)

RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG EPISODE THIRTY SIX: Big Lug

(Hello and welcome back to Retro-Scrutiny, where a girl and a hedgehog talk about cartoon robot monkeys in space. My name is Alexia and I am not human.)

And my name is Kendall. I am human, but that’s besides the point. We’re here to talk about this episode because the last episode…uh, happened. Right?

(Yeah, let’s go with that.)

But this episode, something BIG has to happen. I can tell since the word ‘big’ is in the episode title. So let’s join up with our heroes and find out just what the heck a Big Lug is.

OVERVIEW

The episode begins with the Super Robot on he move, as usual. Inside, however, the team is worrying about running out of fuel. They get a message from the plot, informing them about something called ‘The Lug’. A ‘large craft‘ suddenly comes flying towards them, forcing the Super Robot to tilt its head in order to dodge. They watch as the bus lands at the intergalactic truck stop that’s conveniently behind them.

(And there’s a store! They can buy a bunch of snacks!)

The team run inside and quickly unleash their inner tourist and become immersed in the junk food and trinkets the store has to offer.

• Sparks goes after junk food, then he and Chiro take to a Sun Riders pinball machine
• Antauri and Gibson get distracted by cheap trinkets, like soda hats and flashlight pens
• Nova indulges in her girly side and goes for the oversized plush toys

Otto, who stayed behind to refuel, is confronted by two pill bug aliens who try to steal the Robot. He ends up scaring them off with an energy saw.

(That seemed kind of pointless.)

Irate from not getting to play pinball, Chiro gets distracted by the chance to see The Lug.

The Lug is a huge bipedal creature with some sort of box attached to its head locked up in a shock cage.

Two punk kids assault the Lug with nachos and tease it before Chiro scares them away.

He calls Antauri and tells him about the creature and how they should free it. Unfortunately, the silver simian is no help. And neither is Gibson.

The bug duo from earlier arrive and attack the Lug, so Chiro kicks them into the electric fence.

(That cannot smell good…)

After they run off (AGAIN!), Chiro promises the Lug that he will help it. Then the Pill Bug Bros. reappear to double team our boy hero, but they end up calling for their momma. In the insuring fight, Chiro accidentally lures all three into the electric cage and damaging it. Then the three flee.

(Their involvement was completely necessary…)

Chiro gets the Lug to flee, only for it to start running amok. He tells his calling team to wait for him as he deals with something.

(He had better hurry- Sparks bought the pinball machine!)

The Lug starts wrecking things and ends up angering a biker gang before Chiro tries to calm it down.

It goes well, but ends with Chiro getting kicked off the platform. The Lug chases him to one of the store owners who uses some sort of mid-tech double barreled shotgun to turn the Lug into a human.

Ex-Lug: I came looking for work, but the Cravens had no customers. I had the bright idea, “Hey you ought to have something here people want to see.”

Chiro: So they turned you into a Lug?!

Ex-Lug: It was great for business, but they treated me like an animal. I haven’t worn pants in months.”

He runs off as Chiro offers to take him somewhere safe. The three Craven brothers arrive and use their shape shifting shotgun on the boy hero. Chiro wakes up to the sight of the two punk kids from earlier and their stupid, rude tourist parents and discovers he’s a Lug in the cage from before.

(The monkey team finally join the plot and go looking for their leader. They are pointed to the room where Chiro is being held.)

Antauri gathers that Chiro is inside the creature, leading Otto to think it ate their leader. After some more miscommunication and a brief fight, Chiro Lug finds the transformation gun and uses it on the monkeys.

(Why didn’t they just dodge? They were flying earlier!)

The Robot Monkey Lump now understands and turns their leader back to normal before they all go after the Craven brothers. Said brothers are packing their pickup for…

(The dump? A quick escape? I don’t know, but the Lump drags them back down. And with that many arms, nothing good can come for those three.)

There is a cut to the Hyperforce talking to the former Lug, who now runs the business and three new Lugs.

(He’s doing well for himself.)

The episode ends with the monkeys apologizing for goofing off while Chiro was trying to right a wrong, but Chiro is too busy finally playing pinball.

And that was the episode. We have some thoughts on it, but first we need to take a look at some…

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:

1. Why didnt the Lug’s family come look for him?
2. How does the team have money?
3. Why did the ex-Lug take over the business?

NEW CHARACTERS:
The Craven Brothers: (Space rednecks. That’s it. They don’t have any real characteristics other than their accents. In fact, I don’t even think I could call them proper antagonists.)

FINAL OPINION:
I think I knew this episode was weird. It was then and it is now. I don’t entirely know why someone would let their superhero team spend their entire adventure stuck at a gas station, but using the sideshow attraction was a good idea on their part.

The main meat of the episode is Chiro, who manages to bounce between being a normal teenager and superhero flawlessly. He’s quick to take action and does his best to help the Lug.

(The rest of the team, however, are a different story entirely. They spend most of the episode either offscreen or being distracted bunt he stuff in the store or cheating at pinball. The episode also has a bunch of extraneous characters that weren’t necessary. They couldn’t have been around for a laugh- they weren’t funny.)

If there is something that surprised us, it’s the very subtle message about animal cruelty this episode contains. I never noticed until Alexia pointed it out to me.

And with that, our show is over. That was something bland if you ask me. But hopefully next time, there’ll be more action and excitement and less tourists. Until then, I’m Kendall, wishing you all a good day.

(And I’m Alexia and I just want to say that the Beef Jerky Guy was easily my favorite part of the episode for me. Okay, goodbye!)

RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG EPISODE THIRTY-FIVE: Meet the Wigglenog

Greetings, one and all, to Retro-Scrutiny. My name is Kendall Charleswell and I am your host this evening.

 

(And I am Alexia Erizo, joining in today as Kendall’s co-host. Glad to see you’re back, Kendall.)

Thanks for taking over the last time, Alexia.

 

(Thanks for not leaving footprints on the ceiling anytime this week.)

No problem. Now, the last time we saw the monkey team, they were escaping a mutated monster world after fighting for their freedom. This time around, they’ll be escaping form a different kind of threat. It’s time for everybody to Meet the Wigglenog.

OVERVIEW

The episode begins with Gibson, Otto, and Chiro wearing chest gear and hauling around strange guns while looking for something.

 

(What are they looking for?)

The others, of course. Nova pops out of nowhere to shoot Otto with her own gun and take him out of the game. Yep, they’re playing laser tag. The game ends after Antauri cheats to take out the rest of Chiro’s team.

 

(Apparently, they’ve been playing this game for a while, since Antauri’s team has won a total of 346 times. No wonder Chiro’s bored. He wants some excitement!

 

And that’s when they’re invaded by random gun-toting soldier men.)

Chiro asks all the appropriate questions, such as, “Who are you?” and “What do you want?” and only gets the commander of the squad to say “The question is, ‘What do YOU want, Chiro?’”

 

(The team evades enemy fire and their toy blasters turn real. They still fight with their powers, because those aren’t broken or anything, so why not?)

After defeating the goons, said goons disappear in puffs of smoke. The leader avoids interrogation by turning into a squirrel. Otto chases after it and Antauri and Nova chase after him. The rest get locked in the room, but escape through a vent.

Otto and the others follow the squirrel, who is chewing wires (Bad squirrel! You don’t know what those do!) and get attacked by its exploding acorns. After tossing them around, the squirrel turns into a window, closes the blinds on itself, and disappears.

 

(A lot of things disappear in this episode, don’t they? Meanwhile, the boys have reached the Observation Deck and discover they’re trapped in a vast space anomaly. Sparks, however, gets distracted by a mermaid and ends up following it to the main room. This episode is getting weird…)

The mermaid tells him he can have anything he wants as long as he wishes for it before the rest of the team arrives. The mermaid then transforms into the Wigglenog, the most powerful nog in the galaxy.

It is here to grant the team three wishes- well, two since Chiro unknowingly already used their first wish.

The Wigglenog explains the rules of wishing: They can wish for anything except for more wishes and they cannot wish for the Nog to get hurt.

 

(While they team tries to decide what to do with their wishes, Gibson accidentally wishes that Otto wasn’t ‘such a colossal dunderhead’, causing the green monkey’s brain to grow comically out of his head and making Gibson feel stupid.)

The Wigglenog tries to get to Sparks and Chiro, using their desires against them, only for Antauri to bring them back to reality. The team decide to get rid of the space genie and Sparks breaks the rules by wishing for a giant anti-Wigglenog bazooka. That backfires and the Wigglenog is free to rule the cosmos.

The team attacks, but it doesn’t do a lick of good. Otto ends up deflecting to the Wigglenog’s side and is supersized in order to destroy his ex-teammates in ridiculous ways.

After being granted one free wish to finish the team, Otto wishes that they had never fallen into the space prison in the first place.

 

(GO OTTO! The Wigglenog is forced to grant the wish, rewinding the entire episode back to the end of the laser tag game. Right before Chiro can wish for something exciting to happen, Otto stops him, saying he has a weird feeling something crazy was about to happen.)

The episode ends with a the Wigglenog in his space prison, yelling and complaining at the Super Robot as it flies away in the opposite direction.

NEW CHARACTER(S):

THE WIGGLENOG (John Kassir): A crossbreed between Genie from Aladdin and Norm from the Fairy Oddparents, this…creature is fast paced, a bit annoying, and fun to watch as he spins circles around the team. He’s not very detailed, but he’s good for what we got.

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):

1.  What other Nogs are there?
2. Why does the Wigglenog want to rule the universe?
3. Who put the Wigglenog in his space prison?
4. Does the Wigglenog remember that his plan was reversed entirely or is he mad because he the team was so close to releasing him again?

FINAL OPINIONS:

This episode is a weird sort of filler episode. The animation and humor are fairly decent, as always. But the plot is ridiculous and it ultimately means nothing in the grand scheme of the season. In fact, this episode basically didn’t happen and works in an alternate reality now.

(Stories with genies and magical wish granters are nothing new, especially since most of them have the same sort of wishing rules. But it’s the wish granter that’s usually the interesting part of the episode and the Wigglenog, as entertaining as he is, isn’t fleshed out outside of ‘this episode’s bad guy’, making him the biggest disappointment of the episode.

Other than that, we learn that Antauri cheats at games and we rehash some of Otto’s feelings about being ‘the dumb monkey’. That’s it.

No seriously, that’s it for this episode of Retro-Scrutiny.) 

Thank you all for being here today. Its always a pleasure. Tune in next time for more multicolored monkey madness with your favorite duo of Kendall and Alexia.

(Goodnight everybody!)

RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG EPISODE THIRTY-FOUR: Monster Battle Club Now

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, put your hands together for your host for today’s show- the one and only, Alexia Erizo! Yes viewers, it is I, Alexia, here to welcome you to and through this week’s episode of Retro-Scrutiny. Now, I know what you may be wondering. ‘Where’s Kendall?’ Well don’t fret, she’s just out enjoying the fact that she’s finally twenty-one. She’s probably skipping the classroom for the barroom.

Last time, we were all seeing in shades of lovely blue. But it’s time to go back to our familiar white and orange and see how much trouble he can land himself into this time as he joins the Monster Battle Club Now!

OVERVIEW

The episode begins in the training room with Chiro snubbing his need for training while taking down all of his teammates attacks. As he does this, Nova explains that Master Offay will teach him the same skills she has. Of course, Chiro is cocky until Antauri calls him defenseless and bowls him over like Antauri does.

As they reach the planet Garaxia, they see it has been tie dyed with the Skeleton King’s energy. The team lands and explores a bit before they start feeling strangely ill. They spot the inhabitants-turned-zombies of the planet before the sickness causes them all to fall down in a heap.

The team wakes in a strange room and notice that Chiro is getting weird colored spots on his face.

Gibson scans his leader and explains that the longer they stay on the planet, the more permanent the changes. And they only have four hours. Maybe less.

Guards pull them out of the room and take them to a boxing arena. Inside, a huge crowd is watching one fighter- some weirdo with a golden finger-kick to stuffing out of another anthro dog weirdo.

Nova comments that this arena was the same one she trained in years ago with Master Offay.

The team is informed that the only way to leave the planet is to fight for their lives or be destroyed.

And while the monkeys know that’s a stupid choice, it doesn’t stop Chiro from jumping in the ring and acting stupid.

His first fight doesn’t go as planned, however, and he gets tossed out of the ring. Chiro tells his team that the transformation is making him vicious and overconfident. Suddenly, an old man with a walking stick appears. This is Master Offay, one of the greatest warriors in the galaxy. He’s taught the best of the best, like Nova. The planet has changed his appearance as well, but Chiro still asks for his training.

After a training montage, the team returns to the ring, with Chiro rocking his new grungy teenage Frankenstein sort of look.

Otto, Sparks, and Gibson go in search for an escape route while Antauri and Nova stay with the teacher and student duo. Chiro’s rematch with the land shark grants him his first victory, though Nova notices he’s getting more vicious. 

As a montage of Chiro’s battles plays out, the boys find a dungeon slash prison cell. Otto accidentally frees one of the inmates. After he gets his shackles off, the giant thanks them and explains that everyone is being held and forced to fight for the warlord.

He takes them to the warlord’s inner sanctum to show off the mounted heads on the wall and let Gibson discover the warlord’s identity.

Chiro finally fights Korgon the Great, aka Goldfinger I described earlier. He wins and demands his and the team’s freedom, only to learn there is still one more opponent, the warlord himself, Offay.

Offay- suddenly a lit less wrinkled-has been ‘endlessly looking for a worthy opponent, but only finds weaklings.’ The monkey team regroups just in time and attacks, but they get knocked around easily- Nova, Antauri, and Chiro included.

It isn’t until Chiro uses his training and the Inner Primate against his master that he manages to win. 

In a spot of good sportsmanship, Chiro reaches out his hand to Offay, who bows his head.

Chiro is the new master of the dojo and his first order of business is to demand that everyone get as far from the planet as possible.

The episode ends with Chiro sitting in Antauri’s room with him and Nova. He’s back to normal and happy about it, but does lament the loss of his crazy fighting moves and extra power.

Antauri gladly tells him that he had faith in him because he had ‘what no other monster fighter had.’ What was it? His humanity.

NEW CHARACTER(S):
MASTER OFFAY (Mako): Kendall and I once labeled Antauri as the wise, strict old teacher. We were wrong. Offay is old and does well in his role of the old teacher. No surprise, considering he’s voiced by Mako. The twist with him being evil was well done, in my opinion anyway.

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):

1. How long was Garaxia under the influence of the Skeleton King’s energy?
2. Did the King’s energy turn Offay bad?
3. Who else has he trained? 
4. Will we learn anymore back story for the Hyper Force?

FINAL OPINIONS:
This episode reminds me of The Karate Kid- just a bit. Most of the team is sidelined; Chiro is once again the star of the show, but Nova gets a bit of backstory to go along with Antauri. Chiro’s monster form is just lovely to look at. The main villain is decent.

Chiro’s attitude during the episode is a bit weird. The beginning where he seems to fully love rolling around in the fact that his skills are already impressive is quickly dealt with and the other times it seems as if its his transformation talking. And I absolutely agree that it’s his mutation. The whole point of it is to make him seem stupid and aggressive. Though why it only affects the monkeys when thy first arrive is never explained.

The action is good and so is the writing, but this episode is still fluff and filler. For crying out loud, there are two and a half montages in this episode! I don’t care how much fun they were to watch, they were still montages. This episode does nothing for the majority of the season’s plot, so skipping it is an option.

And with that said, this particular episode has come to its conclusion. I want to say thank you to all who stopped by and I hope you’ll all come back next week. Until then, my name is Alexia Erizo, wishing you all a lovely day.

And Kendall, I want to wish you a Happy 21st Birthday. Please don’t go too crazy without me.

RETRO-SCRUTINY: SRMTHFG EPISODE THIRTY-THREE: Brothers in Arms

Hello there gentle viewers and lady listeners. It is I, Kendall, here to welcome you all back to Retro-Scrutiny.

(Greeting one and all, it’s me, Alexia! It’s time to meet back up with the Hyperforce for more space insanity. For the last few episodes, we’ve been checking out Chiro and seeing him fight and flirt and flip through the air.)

But now, let’s check out another color in the rainbow. Goodbye orange, it’s time for a little blue in our lives. This episode is all for Gibson and his Brothers in Arms.

OVERVIEW

The episode begins with Gibson giving a lecture on wormholes to his team, who are in various stages of boredom.

(I can see why Chiro chose to bail out of the Robot in the last episode…)

It all comes to a halt once Sparks interrupts, sparking the others to join in and escape. Antauri and the Plot Alarm go off just as the team is attacked by ANOTHER SUPER ROBOT!

(Where did THAT come from?)

This one looks pretty cool though…

(BLASPHEMY!)

The Robot ends the wailing session by putting a shield and a counterattack, prompting the rest of the team to help it out.

(Good for you, Super Robot.)

Sparks and Gibson disengage to fight, as does the other robot. After getting one of them off Sparks’ tail, Gibson is chased into some asteroid rings and lose his team’s signal. He lures the other into a trap and blasts it! Unfortunately, the other ship ends up ramming into him and they both crash.

(Once the rest of the Hyperforce realizes they can’t find Gibson, they go on an all-out attack. Lasers and missiles from everywhere!)

Gibson himself has landed… somewhere, much to his dismay. He finds the other ship abandoned, he tries to call for help, but gets blasted by his opponent. He retaliates by burying him under some rocks and killing his homing beacon.

(And then his ear gets shot off! Ouch!)

The blue monkey shoots the blaster out of the other’s hand and gets tackled down the cliff for it. When they reach the bottom, Gibson decides to try smashing the other guy’s face with a large rock!

(Go Gibson!)

The other’s helmet opens before the smashing, revealing a blue frog! The first thing he says to Gibson:

Frogman: “Hey, you busted my helmet! Now how am I supposed to breathe?”

Gibson: ‘You are breathing.”

Frogman: (breathes) “Oh yeah. Garr.”

Gibson takes the frogman prisoner.

Cut back to the Super Robot, which is doing well, despite the need for repairs. The Hyperforce is on the search for Gibson…

(…who’s not getting along with his new buddy, Suupa. They momentarily almost blow themselves up with some of the explosive gel lying around. Then they have a geek moment before deciding to complain about each other’s eating habits.)

Back with the two teams, Chiro and the monkeys discover that it was all just a big misunderstanding before ‘some familiar looking ugly’ arrives to crash the party. The other team tries to fight the Droid, but gets blown up from the inside. The monkeys take them in, decide that the droid must have destroyed itself, and continue their search for Gibson.

(Of course, the Droid is still active, but that’s fine…)

Gibson and Suupa bond over being science officers, act mean to one another, and fight for their lives from some alien worm things.

They decide to work together to leave their cozy little rock.

One construction montage later, they fix Gibson’s ship, only to encounter the Skeleton King Droid, which injures Suupa’s leg and causes Gibson’s drill to malfunction. He sets it to self-destruct and throws it at the Droid’s feet.

The two are cornered, but the Super Robot appears and they recognize the TV Monster before shooting at it. The Droid tries cutting them in half, but the blue team-now joined by Sparks- go on the defensive to force it into a large chunk of the explosive gel and let it get blown up.

The monkeys help the frogs fix Suupa’s ship. Chiro apologizes for the misunderstanding and the other leader is a cryptic weirdo. Gibson and Suupa say their farewells before the Frog Team departs. The episode ends with the Skeleton King Droid shown still functional.

NEW CHARACTER(S):

SUUPA (Aaron Ruell): I think Suupa is a teenager. And I think it’s all in his voice. Mr. Ruell does a fine job making his sound like a fifteen year old. As for the character himself, we’ve gathered that he’s had some form of military training, he’s young, and he’s okay. But we would like to know a bit more about him and his team.

(And we’re only not talking about his team because Suupa is the only one of them with some definite personality.)

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):

1. Who are the Super Robot Frog Force?
2. Who did they confuse the Hyperforce for?
3. How did the Droid survive an explosion like that?
4. Are these filler episodes ever going to stop?

FINAL OPINIONS:

This episode was…there. It’s not a bad episode, but like the previous two, it’s not important to the plot and just kind of fills space. The Frog Force is supposed to be similar to the Monkey Team and I can see the resemblances, but they don’t stick out. Suupa is the most interesting, but he also comes off as a brat when paired up with Gibson. The action and writing is fine, but we don’t see much of the battle between the two Robots. Disappointing.

(The real treat is Gibson, who’s finally gotten his own episode. He had like, one, in the first season and that one was shared with Chiro and his fuzzy blue pet. This time, most of the episode is dedicated to seeing him deal with problems all on his own. And to our surprise, he’s actually pretty good at it. He doesn’t freak out, does what he can to send signals to his team, deals with other trapped scientist, and only lost an ear.)

The rest of the team was just sort of… there. Befitting of the rest of the episode, huh?

And that’s all we have for this episode of Retro-Scrutiny. Thank you all for tuning in and listening to us prattle on and on. My name is Kendall and this is goodnight.

(And my name is Alexia, saying “Thank you” and “Happy 10^th birthday, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!”)

RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG EPISODE THIRTY-TWO: Girl Trouble

Greetings to you all and welcome back to Retro-Scrutiny! I am your host, Kendall.

(Hello viewers, both old and new! My name is Alexia.)

Today well, we’re still in space if that’s anything interesting. And we’re going to be meeting a few new faces this episode and see just how much our boy hero can goof up. There’s no time to waste- let’s see how much Girl Trouble Chiro can get into in a half hour long episode.

OVERVIEW

The episode begins with Chiro joyriding around in an orange Space Cruiser through an asteroid ring. Nova calls, telling him that they know he snuck and speed out and that he has to get back for training and his lessons.

(In his defense, if I had lessons with Gibson, I’d run away too.)

He’s interrupted by a signal from a space station. He goes to investigate and finds two girls being chased by a one-eyed alien with tentacles for arms. Chiro tries fighting it, but fails and gets dragged out of the fight by the girls. The three then make their escape.

The girls introduce themselves as sisters Surthanna- the pink one- and Korlianna- the blue one. They tell Chiro they were enslaved by the monster, forced to work constantly and obey its every command. Chiro tries to take them to the Super Robot just in time to get a call from Antauri. He is then ‘talked’ into acting big in front of the girls and they run off.

(Oh boy… I can see where this is headed. Of course, the monkey team isn’t stupid. They follow the course of Chiro’s last transmission and end up at the station. They meet the girls’ father, Ciracus, who explains that his daughters left with ‘some young kid’, confusing the team.)

They check Chiro’s location and take Ciracus with them after a short debate. In private, Ciracus contacts other aliens to find the girls.

Speaking of the girls, they and their boy chauffeur are at a nearby space fast food place. They eat and listen to music before Chiro starts thinking of heading back to the Super Robot, but the girls question his ‘manliness’.

(Then they get captured by more aliens. Wonderful. Chiro goes back and forth rescuing them with his fighting skills and fast food flinging before there’s a cruiser chase through the pipes they escape through.)

Grateful for the adventure-and since Chiro seems to decide he wants to take them wherever they want to go- they attempt to kiss him, but are interrupted by the Super Robot’s tractor beam.

The monkeys tell Chiro about how they know about the girls and show him Ciracus. The girls freak out at the sight of him and he ends up transforming into the alien from before in front of the entire team.

The team attacks (Because really, what else are they supposed to do?), but get their butts kicked. The girls try to get Chiro to escape as everyone else is busy, but he denies them. Rushing inside of the Robot, he takes on Ciracus by himself, but the other aliens start to arrive. Before Chiro can activate the Robot’s outer defenses, Ciracus questions why he won’t let him take his daughters home- he misses them.

The team is caught between confused and embarrassed at the revelation of what’s been going on as the girls get lectured on worrying their mother and attacking their other family members.

Chiro asks why they ran away from home. They’re metamorphs who wanted to go out, have some fun, and test out their powers. Their dad just wanted to keep them safe. After a transformation and a family hug, the girls apologize to Chiro. They give him kisses before saying goodbye.

As they leave, their dad doubles their chores for running off, prompting them to scream for help and that ‘they’re being oppressed’ as they family drives away.

(Brats. They got off easy.)

Chiro apologizes to his team and they forgive him with a bit of teasing. He doesn’t get a lecture, but the episode ends with some of Antauri’s wise words:

“The female species is one of the greatest mysteries of the universe.”

And that’s the episode. It was…quite the episode. I know I have plenty to say about it and Alexia probably has more. But before we do, let’s get some formalities out of the way.

NEW CHARACTER(S):

SURTHANNA, CIRACUS, AND KORLIANNA:

The girls are just TERRIBLE! They’re manipulative and lying girls who ran away from home because… I have no idea. They were bored? The answer they do give us is weak anyway, so maybe?

(They ran away, lied to a fourteen year old boy, knowingly attacked and had their family be attacked and tried to talk Chiro out of helping his teammates. They’re just spoiled and rotten and bratty.)

Ciracus, on the other hand, isn’t any better. He wins points for honestly being worried and just wanting his daughters back, but he didn’t tell any of the Hyperforce that he had an alternate form. Nor did he tell his relatives to not grab the girls in their alien forms as to not get attacked. Those points lesson because of this. But really, he himself is not too interesting.

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):

1.       What exactly led the girls to running away?

FINAL OPINIONS:

(This episode straddles the line between average and bad. It’s got action and some decent humor, but where it fails, it fails hard!)

The real purpose of the episode seems to be character development for our main protagonist. Chiro takes a step back from being a good boy hero to being a stupid teenage boy. He takes the opportunity to be a normal kid and shirk his responsibilities, ignoring what the chunk of head meat kept warm in his skull is telling him- that if a monster is after two defenseless girls, he should take them back to the safest place possible. Where is that? The Super Robot that’s equipped with all sorts of defenses and missiles and a giant chest laser!

Also, doesn’t is seem weird to him that these girls don’t look abused? I don’t know how long he thought they were in captivity, but they look pretty healthy, well-dressed, clean and willful for them to have been caught long. And if they were captive, wouldn’t contacting their family be first on their minds? Why doesn’t he think about that?

(This episode is some sort of homage to the series premier. Chiro meets someone(s) his age and of opposite sex and gets distracted from his team and duties. It actually also reminds me a bit of the last episode. Chiro meets someone(s) who needs help from a horde of monsters and he protects them. The difference lies within the girls- Jinmay is a cute girl who is introduced by being bullied, isn’t using Chiro for his powers or resources, doesn’t know she’s a robot until it’s too late, and doesn’t want to hurt the people who care for her.

Nekeeta is an adorable cat-lady introduced being attacked by a giant monster. She does use Chiro’s abilities, but she has a good reason to do so. She and her people truly need the help. 

Surthanna and Korlianna are introduced as two cute teenage girls being chased by an alien, but they know that alien is their father. They use Chiro to leave home and end up willingly letting him hurt their relatives. And they don’t tell their newfound friend that they actually aren’t as cute as they appear to be. That’s the problem- we’re stuck focusing on two very bad one-shot characters!)

The rest of the team is just sort of shoehorned in because Chiro can’t be a whole team by himself. And they only start being important when they get attacked. And at the end of it all, what have we learned? GIRLS ARE WEIRD. That’s it.

(And I already knew that! Thanks for pointing that out, Antauri! Hey, should we girls be insulted about that statement?)

The final thing we can say about this episode is that it is completely unnecessary and you wouldn’t be missing a thing if you decided to skip it .

(And that is it for this episode of Retro-Scrutiny. We would like to thank you all for tuning in and hopefully not skipping out on any of the episodes. I mean, that would just be rude. And until next time, I am Alexia, saying goodbye.)

And I am Kendall, also wishing you a good day, a wonderful weekend , and a busy interlude until the next episode.

SO, I’VE BEEN AVOIDING THIS…

There’s something I’ve been shying away from talking about since the first season of Retro-Scrutiny. Fans of the show (this and the cartoon) may know what I’m talking about. There may be some of you who do know what I’m talking about, but don’t want me to address it and for this, I’m sorry but I just need to say my piece. But for those of you who haven’t noticed it, let me spell it out for you.

SPOVA. There, I said it. That one word- the two person pairing that is so prominent among the fan base of the cartoon. The romantic duo of SPRX-77 and Nova.

I don’t see it.

I get it from a romantic perspective- Sparks has made flirty and cute comments to Nova before and she’s responded to his actions in a number of ways- annoyance, anger, playfulness, ignoring him completely. The fans of the show call them cute- and I agree. They seem to be the pair that always ends up interacting the most- actually, I think Sparks is the closest on the team to Nova. And there probably the best of friends. But in love? No way. Sparks may be somewhat romantically interested in Nova, whether those feeling are romantically returned is a completely different topic.

Some may see them as the show’s version of soul mates, but I can easily see them as nothing past a platonic pairing. Maybe things will change as time passes. But for now, no. 

RETRO-SCRUTINY SRMTHFG EPISODE THIRTY-ONE: The Stranded Seven

Hello and welcome once again to Retro-Scrutiny. I am one of your hosts, Kendall.

(And I’m your other host, Alexia. Today, we will be continuing our journey with the Hyperforce. Last time, we met up with sentient computers bent on the destruction of organic life. This time, we’ll be changing things up as we join up with The Stranded Seven.)

OVERVIEW

The Super Robot is flying through space (That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). It reaches a planet that’s had recent contact with Skeleton King. They head towards it and are attacked by a swarm of huge bugs (Ick!) that rip their engines off and they crash.

Using what’s left of the Robot’s power, they use the reflector shields to turn themselves into a giant bug zapper. The Robot falls, wrecked with pieces scattered across the countryside.

The team splits up for recovery/repair. Chiro finds an engine before discovering an anthropomorphic cat woman in danger of one of the large bugs. He and the other monkeys arrive to run it off before going after the woman.

They chase her to a village where they are surrounded by other anthropomorphic cats- and these ones are mad.

The woman, Nekeeta, defends them from attack (And takes a liking to Chiro.). She hears that they arrived on a mission and assumes it is to help her people from the Mantidons.

(As this is going on, Nova gains an attraction to Nekeeta’s brother, Tiqudo, and Otto befriends a kitten.)

The Kathurians want the Hyperforce gone, but Nekeeta urges them to talk to the Village Elder, Po, for counsel. Po says that they can’t place their fate in the hands of strangers. But they can offer them a meal for protecting one of their own.

(As dinner is being enjoyed by only Otto and the Kathurians, the team is informed that their village is raided for energy sources, leaving them to starve. And while Nekeeta and Tiqudo want to fight, Po argues that their years of peace have left them domesticated.)

Later that night, the team discuss what to do. Otto and Nova want to stay and help, but Antauri, Gibson, and Sparks want to go back to their original mission.

Chiro informs Nekeeta that they can’t help just in time for a trio of Mantidons  to arrive and force them to hide. Their red leader attacks Po and Nekeeta before the Hyperforce steps in. Gibson discovers their weak spots are their torsos, but before they can finish the leader, it drains their transformers and  Antauri.

 

(NOOOOO!)

The leader retreats when the rest of the village stands up to it.

(Punk!)

It starts looking grim for the team. There are at least twenty Mantidons arriving, they’re don’t have their powers and one of their strongest is out of commission for the time being. Sparks, who left to gather some of the remaining energy cells from the Robot, informs them that the bugs have scavenged them all. This leaves them with only one option.

The Kathurians are busy debating whether they should fight their oppressors or leave for the mountains when Chiro arrives and rallies up the Kathurians into battle with a speech.

(A training montage passes before the Mantidons invade and the village goes on the attack. The attack goes in their favor, with Otto and Gibson showing off their weapons, Nova saving Sparks’ tail and even Antauri helping out.)

The leader goes after Chiro, who ends up stabbing it in the sternum with the sword he was handed, destroying it and winning the battle.

Flash forward to later: the Super Robot and Antauri are repaired and fully functional. Gibson informs the team that after studying the corpses of their enemies, it appears as though the Mantidons were once regular insects that were mutated into large, aggressive monsters by the Skeleton King’s energy. This only reaffirms the team’s goal to defeat their adversary.

The episode ends with the team saying their goodbyes to their new friends, Chiro thanking Nekeeta “for reminding them of what really matters” before they blast off in the Super Robot.

(Okay, so we got through the episode. But now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty thought provoking parts of the show. Let’s start  by discussing our…)

NEW CHARACTER(S):

THE KATHURIANS: We’re mostly going over Nekeeta, since she’s the most prominent of them. She, along with her brother, is apparently the only one who wants to defend her home from things that they use to regularly squish and swat at. She’s nice enough, but that’s about the extent of her character.

(But that’s not bad, seeing as she’s meant to be a one shot character, anyway. She could’ve been annoying and unlikable. She actually reminds me of Jinmay- cute and nice but boring, and interested in Chiro)

UNANSWERED QUESTION(S):

1. How long have the Kathurians been a peaceful kind?
2. How long ago were the Mantidons mutated?
3. Did Chiro get to keep the sword and armor?
4. When did the Hyper Force loose sight of what really mattered?

FINAL OPINIONS:

This episode is an obvious homage to one of two movies:  The Japanese movie Seven Samurai or it’s American remake, The Magnificent Seven. There are elements of both mixed into the episode, though never seeing either movie, I couldn’t tell you what came from where.

(The episode has good action and humor, but the main strength is in the main cast of characters. Most of it is centered on Chiro’s friendship with Nekeeta, who apparently helps him rediscover himself or something. But there’s the monkeys themselves: Nova’s attraction to Tiqudo is nice, since we don’t see her get to act all girly. Plus, Sparks’ resounding jealousy of the attention he’s not getting from his closest girl- seriously, he’s the only one who even notices she’s attracted to him!- is fun to watch. We learn more about the downsides of being Jesus Monkey. And of course, Otto is just really cute.)

On the downside, this episode can easily be skipped. It gives us a bit of character development for some of the team, but doesn’t add to the plot of the overall story. Plus, since it’s a throwaway episode, not much is going to stick with the main cast. It’s good filler, but that’s all it is.

Speaking of ‘that’s all it is’, that’s it for this episode of Retro-Scrutiny. Thank you all for joining us, because it’s been a pleasure to (hopefully) entertain you all. We hope to see you all again really soon. Until then, this is Kendall, signing out.

(And this is Alexia, saying ‘Farewell, my darlings!’)