Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Ronin Warriors Part 8 Episodes 36-39

 
Ryo and Rowen have successfully rescued Cye, Sage and Kento from Talpa’s castle.  Reunited, the Ronin Warrirors stand together as Talpa’s final plan to conquer the Human World begins to take its final form.  Meanwhile, Anubis confronts his destiny as he learns the true origins of Kayura and the role she must play in this final battle. At last, the nine armors are brought together but will it be for salvation or destruction?  This is it, the last stand of the Ronin Warriors.  Who will live and who will die to protect the world from the Darkness of Talpa and his Dynasty?

I’ve gotta admit, the flaws of Ronin Warriors have always been at the back of my mind and ive never really addressed all of them: from the lack of backstory and character development of the main characters to the simplistic dialogue of the villains from time to time to the fact that the second half of the series has had the Ronin Warriors themselves feeling less and less competent in their own series.  But you know what?  Despite the flaws, Ronin Warriors pulled off an impressive final battle and gave the spotlight to characters who deserved the best out of the grand finale.

Given all the love I feel Anubis has gotten from this series, it makes sense that his final battle would be so epic, awesome and heartbreaking.  The man finally found his mission, his purpose left to him by the Ancient One and he owned up to that mission with all of his heart and soul.  No longer a mad man possessed by evil, he was now a full fledged good guy who gave his life to save the Ancient One’s true successor, Kayura and give the guys a fighting chance to stop Talpa once and for all.  He even transferred his armor to Kayura, replacing her nigh armorless look.  I was with Yuli running into the river after Anubis died, I was on the verge of tears. 

With all the love given to Anubis, is it wrong Ryo and the gang spent a good chunk of the finale captured…AGAIN!!!???  The first half of this series showed all five Ronin at their most brash but also their most intelligent when facing the Dark Warlords.  Actually, both sides made crazy judgement calls in battle but made equally good decisions.  Since the boys started getting captured a couple sets ago, it’s like the Ronin Warriors werent get a solid win in or at least act like they were getting stronger, smarter and more confident in their ability to fight the good fight.  It irks me that 3/5s of the team were relegated to mere cameos for the better part of ten episodes and Ryo and Rowen lucked their way into victories after being treated as punching bags for the majority of this second half.

That all being said, the final battle finally brought back that more confident and self assured five manned team we saw at the end of the first half of the series.  And even better, Talpa was animated far, far better than he was last time in battle.  His showdowns with both Kayura and Ryo were well choreographed, allowing the Dark Lord to show what he’s really capable of with a sword besides lumbering about as a giant.  Everything culminated in one last showdown on Earth with all five Ronin Warriors holding their own against Talpa until Ryo had to make the ultimate sacrifice to give the team the opening to win.  Finally, after almost 20 episodes of being tossed around like ragdolls more often than not, the Ronin Warriors were allowed to have their time to shine and bring down the big bad once and for all.  Ryo busting out of Talpa’s armor still clad in the Inferno Armor was just icing on the cake.  Like most other action Anime, Ronin Warriors does end pretty abruptly.  The bad guy is dead, the armors can be retired, Kayrua and the Warlords head back to the Netherworld to rebuild it…and everyone plays baseball with the weapon that helped save the world…so standard stuff.  But then again this isn’t the end is it?  We’ll get there but for here…eh it’s serviceable and about on par with everything Ronin Warriors has done so far. 

Ok so…how was it?  Well Ronin Warriors is still one helluva fun nostalgia trip for anyone who was a fan of them during their Toonami days.  Even if their quality of character development or combat efficiency wavers constantly, Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento and Rowen all still ooze coolness both in and out of their sweet armor.  Mia, Yuli and White Blaze all succeed in elevating their characters past supporting roles and sometimes overshadowed the core heroes themselves.  Anubis stole the show, along with his fellow Dark Warlords from time to time and definitely Kayura.  And Talpa managed to be an imposing villain, though most times he did that best as a severed ghostly head.  The action was excellent, better than I expected and remained consistently good across every episode.  Some villains of the week later on got more and more disappointing after a strong set of opening foes.  And I still haven’t forgotten the lack of backstory for the Ancient One and how he met Ryo and the others and gave them their armor.  Sure he got his own flashback episode but that doesn’t excuse one very vital piece of information to complete this saga. I’d say the first half of Ronin Warriors was stronger overall with a good balance of battle chess and solid action, while the second half floundered a bit by reducing the effectiveness of the Ronin Warriors themselves, though the supporting cast benefited from better stories and character arcs.  All in all, this is a flawed 80’s action Anime…but it is still freaking awesome to watch when you don’t put too much thought into it.

Nostalgia goggles aren’t gonna blind me on this one.  I’m giving Ronin Warriors an 8/10.  Great action, slick Armor designs from the house of Mecha, Studio Sunrise, and a pretty fast paced and enjoyable plot keep things rolling until the end.  Prepare to scratch your head at some pretty glaring problems…and then remember its an 80’s action Anime and you should just relax and “let them fight.”

But like I said, the story isn’t over yet.  We’ve got three sequel OVAs to get through and they’ll be our closing chapters of this summers Extended Series Review.  The Ronin Warriors will be back on Friday with Ronin Warriors: Gaiden.  Cant wait to see what’s next for this band of multi color armored bad asses.  See ya then.

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