Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger vs Lupinranger vs Patranger (2020)

I haven't seen Ryusoulger as of yet so I watched this movie solely for the Lupinrangers and the Patrangers. And even though they didn't interact much, I wasn't disappointed because it gave me much food for thought. Why?

Because it felt so... sad. The fun and energy of the series seemed subdued. Even the music - like when Kairi & Keiichiro met on "their" bridge - was so sad. The thieves, especially Kairi and Touma, were so... I don't know how to describe it. Like they carried the weight of the world on their shoulders, like their way of living was sucking the life out of them. Like Tsukasa mentioned, none of the Lupinrangers went home after they had been rescued. Umika at least went to college but Kairi still lived solely for stealing and Touma might have started a café but now that Tsukasa found out about it, it meant scraping it all and running again. In the series, being a thief seemed all excitement and fun but in the movie, you could see how much it was costing them, the fact that they could never go home. Not that they ever regretted their choices but... yeah.

It seemed like mainly Kairi and Keiichiro matured. Kairi was, what, 21 here in the movie? But when he talked to the Ryusoulgers, it felt as if a span of decades separated them. And Keiichiro... he was still quite excitable, sure, but what he had been through, it showed. Especially in the scene on the bridge.

I love that when they want to talk, they either go to the park where they first met or to that particular bridge and there they wait for the other to show up. One look in the middle of a fight is enough for them to communicate this, to say, "I need to talk, I'll be waiting," and the other just... gets it.

And the plot of this particular movie, the dinos trapped in the safes of that new Gangler leader, the despair of the Ryusoulgers to get them back... Kairi & Keiichiro understood it like no other. The need to save a loved one trapped like that. It was his brother for Kairi - and it was Kairi for Keiichiro! Kairi - and Touma and Umika - had also been once trapped in a Gangler's safe, the Gangler Boss Dogranio's safe, and it was Keiichiro who had to decide what was more important to him, the earth or Kairi. And he chose Kairi...

Gosh, the scene on the bridge, the way Keiichiro couldn't seem to take his eyes off Kairi. Kairi's "Don't die, Mr. Hot-headed policeman." Yeah, it was short but the actors managed to squeeze so much emotion into it, the depth of affection between Kairi & Keiichiro, their need to see each other, to talk to each other, at least for a little while, like they used to before, when the world didn't know the identity of the thieves... Yeah, these two? They are definitely not just friends.

Also, I love Kairi's new abode, the old factory. It's very chic.

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