#ysdst

THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES FREAKING DROPPED.

AUGHHHH RYUUUUUUUU NOOOO!!! NOO!!!!!!!

I'm a mess.

AND USING SAMURAI HEART as the episode's insert song?! FUJITA THAT WAS DIABOLICAL!

But also THAT PLOT TWIST?! WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS GOING ON!?

Don't tell me Seiji and the other from the OG team are also going to be villains? Please, I need them to be ok. (Seeing present day Ryo in the flashback was amazing. I was reduced to giggles. And it,s his original VA! I'm so happy he was a mentor to Ryuusei!!) But how did Ryo become the demon king?! And if he's Gai's father, who's the mother?! WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE OG 5 Samurai Troopers GOT TRAPPED?!

EDIT: Furthermore! If the OG 5 Troopers were trapped in the demon world, then how does Gai even work when he's 14 years old. what is happening. Is it just the demon king body hopping?

Also, WHERE IS YURI!? NASTE WHERE IS YOUR BROTHER?! I need him barreling into the plot like yesterday on the white tiger or on a motorbike screaming the original OP.

Anyways---I'm 3 for 3 for charismatic handsome brother figures get killed (or "killed") by the narrative this season in three different series. Hopefully Ryuusei will haunt the narrative like Asuka does in Digimon Beatbreak :')

So it seems like DST created a system wherein they could recruit many people to be ready to be armor bearers at once? Or at least have back-ups? Basically people can try out and they'll get into the program based on certain considerations. That could mean that even for folks who don't pass, DST has their records and can call them up if the worst happens, as in this case, where any of the chosen members die. Based on the weird age focus, I'm guessing that's why someone else bears the green armor initially and not Ryusei: he's too old. And it might be why Shion isn't wearing it either (at least initially). And it might be why the original generation of armor bearers in the first show aren't seemingly involved with this part of DST (though maybe they're busy elsewhere and not like... dead). Though there's no comment on like... post-activation cut-off. Or what happened to the new armors in the Message OVA. Maybe they're still using those, but DST was created because, as shown here, five people, even with superpowers, are really insufficient to help protect even one metropolis from a demon invasion. (Though if so, it begs the question what the original five are up to, assuming they're all alive)

I also find the idea that the Weapon-gear can be changed out between folks using different armors fascinating. Rather than having the gems they used to use, they just have golden bracelets that I guess resonate with their virtue to give them the right armor. The bracelet thing is I think decently common in tokusatsu, though I don't know how common the "no matter who's wearing it, it'll give them what they need/what they can use" vibe is (rather than the gems in the original show, which were never explored in the anime and seemed to specifically belong to specific people, they weren't interchangeable; most shows that do this concept tend to focus on how uniquely designed the thing is for a specific character, rather than just being sort of a weaponized mood ring).

Musashi's first team are really a bag of dicks huh lol The show team really want you to not be sad when Gai murders them.

So Gai sings while he kills people, that's... well. He's a character, certainly! Honestly, though, it's something I've been into for years, so it's really fun seeing Gai creepily singing with no music playing as he moves forward to you know... get rid of the Troopers. It's dark and ominous and just really fun to play with for an antagonist. It also vaguely reminds me of those reboot movies and whatnot that would play spooky covers of like Disney songs to creep people out. It works well! I wonder if music was his comfort. Does this mean he has a demonic CD player? We know some of the characters have guns, but how technologically advanced is the Demon World? Or did whoever get him the CD also get him something to play it on? Or does he play it with magic?

I find it interesting that Saizo and Nezu are sort of Gai's bodyguards? At least in the moment. And I'm wondering why he's considered the "prince"... Because he can bear the red armor, and, I assume, whatever form the Shiroi Kikotei takes now? Is he actually related to Ramaga, because we don't really know if Youja can have kids. I assume it's again a situation like the original antagonists: humans who either made deals with Ramaga or were captured as children and brainwashed (Gai's apparent plot seems to mirror Kayura's in particular, including the fact that the ruler has a group of elite fighters, which the Special maybe kidnapped and brainwashed one isn't part of). So are Saizo's actions done out of hatred, wanting to be rid of Gai for good, or wanting him to be free? Or just wanting to see how he does in a difficult situation?

I think Gai's murder spree is also really great messy angst fodder. Presumably at some point he'll realize murder bad and want to make up for how much he's done or something, and that's a really painful journey to go on, especially after he's just sort of casually killed so many, including people who are on the side he will presumably be on. Ryo's conflict was often about overcoming failure, self-esteem issues, and hopelessness, which I loved. Gai's will seemingly be redemption and self-discovery (maybe the latter, more likely the former).

It's intriguing that the initial five can't summon their regular yoroi/Armor-gear and are just stuck in the Under-gear. Understandable for the four dead ones who are assholes who clearly don't care about anyone, but they had to be able to put on the armors somehow. And Musashi is, I'm guessing, too afraid to properly summon his.

I was really wondering if the woman with short red/brown hair in the OP was either Nasti herself or her daughter, and I'm so delighted she's back. She looks great for ~55! And she's still got the Inochi no Magatama/Jewel of Life for safe-keeping (or something similar since the color change is weird and the name is entirely different). I wonder what happened with Jun... I never liked him, but he had to grow up at some point, hopefully. Or maybe he died, I don't know.

No offense, Nasti, but being able to fight demons is not the same as "rescue operations". Izumo may be a leader of some weird nationalist party, but he does have a point about how literal children are not trained in actual search and rescue disaster ops. Or at least these aren't. As shown by Musashi, who at least cares but also is clearly untrained and is also not Spider-man in that iconic scene.

I'm fascinated by how Gai is surviving getting shot straight through the chest. Anime magic healing for the win.

I dig the dynamics between the Braves. It's a choice to have such a large cast (I guess so if any of them fail, Ramaga has more to rely on), and I think it's handled decently for an opening episode.

It's interesting that after Ramaga says, "None escape my grasp", that Sasuke's eyes twitch. This to me implies either kidnap or maybe Sasuke and/or others wanted to escape out of whatever arrangement they have with Ramaga. Or maybe Gai, potentially the youngest, is someone they want to help? Maybe Sasuke's hoping Gai stays out of things? Or Sasuke doesn't care about Gai at all and is just maneuvering to unseat Ramaga and doesn't like Ramaga's desperate control...

It seems like Ryusei at least can activate the Armor-gear, or hypothetically knows how to, or at least the five "current" armor bearers here think he knows how. Which again makes me wonder why Ryusei is not wearing it now. Is he just a back-up, like with earlier when he saved Musashi, training a new generation in the hope of unlocking more armor bearers so they have more people to rely on in an emergency like this?

"The demon has awoken!" made me laugh so hard.

Mirei freeing Gai to feed him is a choice lol Maybe this is why Mirei later puts a shock collar on him: that's what you get for abusing Mirei's compassion! I'm also hoping the series doesn't start shipping them... If she's new Nasti, just let her be new Nasti and not be in that kind of relationship with any of the guys.

I am very intrigued by Gai and his backstory. Honestly loving all of it. It's got great layers and intrigue to it. No wonder so many of the previews talk about the other guys not trusting him: he worked with the demons and murdered a lot of people, including his predecessors (except Musashi, because he was hungry). He certainly does not seem to like his former comrades. Not enough to call them nakama, anyway, and even to get mad about someone making the assumption they are his nakama. Maybe this isn't the first time Saizo's (or someone else in the group) nearly killed him.

I really love the animation in this. This has a budget and a dedicated staff. Ryusei's fight during the retreat is amazing, and even his fight with Gai is great. Everyone moves wonderfully. The fights in YST were good, generally, yes. They were eye-catching and just neat. But the show was well... from the 80s, and they reused a lot of animation. They probably do something similar in this that I can't see, but every moment feels fresh. It looks fluid and beautiful. Even Wataru crawling away looks good. YST was one of my first fandoms and will always be a comfort show, doom and all, but this looks beautiful in a way YST just did not.

It is interesting how the show plays around with the idea of the guys in armor being sort of like actors or for a manufactured J-pop band: they're there to fill in the role and collect a paycheck, they're not there because they're passionate about what they're doing. The original five in the first series cared about things, and that's a big reason they were so strong. These don't. Except Musashi and Ryusei, seemingly.

Young Yamato with tiny Musashi are so cute T-T I'm excited to learn more of their story.

Anything is possible, and I get the heavy framing (e.g., that Yamato says a hero would probably have "warm" hands, that Gai is the red armor bearer with the same virtue, and is being paralleled/superimposed over this person, that it's all framed as a sort of hand-up to the next generation shot), but I'm skeptical on this being Ryo:

He'd probably be in his late 40s at this point, and this person could be in the right age range, while the hair looks vaguely right (especially considering Nasti's makeover).

The hairline sort of works, and Ryo liked being out in nature in general, so it makes sense why he's dressed like he is and where he is (or maybe he was on a field trip with Byakuen, who knows?). Though visually the mysterious rescuer also just looks a little like Touma. They both have thick, dark middle bangs. The outfit also isn't a giveaway unless there's some extra art floating around somewhere with either of them in this costume (Ryo obviously wore yellow and blue a few times in official art). And the hair is a little too dark to be Shin... though that's also possible. They don't really look like Shuu or Seiji (too dark to be blonde, and the bangs are wrong for Shuu).

I think one theory a while back was that the new guys were the literal next generation, with all or at least some being the children of the previous generation or whatever. I don't really think Gai is related to Ryo, either, though it might explain why Gai has that CD. Maybe he was another child Ryo found or something, or he really just has no connection and people with a good connection to the red armor are just special or something. Though clearly you have shitty duds like Wataru (which might just be symbolic for how like... the concept of righteousness can go very wrong, if you're extremely self-righteous, though I know the interpretation of the virtue in Japan is very much not whatever is in the English).

It'd be funny if the rescuer was Jun, though, and none of the original Troopers. Jun would love being considered a hero.

All the cast are really interesting. It's a great set-up. I don't need Ryo to be in the story exactly because I like all the new cast we've seen, but I wouldn't mind him popping in at some point, so long as he's not like... dead. I would prefer him (and Byakuen) to not be dead.

It does still raise the question of: does Ryusei die, or does he just get injured and Shion has to take over? Does Gai hurt him? Or does something that happens to Ryusei trigger Gai's righteousness? It'll be interesting to see...

In this shot from one of the preview trailers, Shion is clearly called in to help or something (the whole set-up for the story at this point is clearly an all hands on deck situation, with so many dead), and someone else is in the green armor. Given no one in this generation (that we know of, potentially including Ryusei at the point of episode 1) can activate the Armor-gear, and how agile Ryusei is with the Under-gear and sword in episode 1 and what we see of him in the OP, it seems likely Ryusei is the one in the armor here. And given how apparently rare is it is for this to happen, something bad must happen to require Shion stepping up to replace him.

Or maybe Shion is even stronger with it than Ryusei is and Ryusei steps down for him. I find it interesting that in this world where characters generally seem to have some color relation on their bodies to their particular armor (even Shion seems to have green eyes) that Ryusei stands out as not having anything that's part of his actual body that's green (like Manabu). His hair is brown and orange - not even the red streaks Wataru got. His eyes are red. Obviously this could be just be because he's not going to end up permanently in the armor (whereas Manabu died in his). But maybe the issue is he really was an imperfect fit for it, and that's why he doesn't stay in it? This could explain why he's not on the team with Musashi, despite clearly having ability, and not just for team-training purposes. Maybe his resonance with his virtue isn't as strong for some reason. It's partially interesting because, personality-wise, he seems to be a mix of Shuu and Touma more than Seiji. Could be interesting backstory there.

And the full opening rather than the largely covered one this episode.

Overall, a really great episode! Despite my worries about the 3D, it generally looks great, everyone does a decent job, even as they chase those mysterious microwaves, and I'm excited for the next episode! And we already have new promotional art for the physical release, featuring Gai and Kaito:

Other thoughts:

Episode 1 (you are here), Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12

Fanfics if you'd like them: Turnabout (set after Episode 1), One Little Did (set after Episode 2), Came this far (set after Episode 3), a Ryusei/Shion Valentine's Day fluff fic, and another Ryusei/Shion university AU inspired by Macross Frontier.