man. as much as i love the yin yang episodes as they are. & as much as i love woody as a character & the dynamic he brings to the psych universe. still wish that woody had been mr yin

Simon Vs Fan Fic: Chapter 4 - Trust your Gut

I landed early and Leah was there to pick my tired butt up from the trip (I can never sleep on planes). I told her it had to happen in Shady Creek and she was on board with it and that made me feel better. Our first day back was filled with catching up in between first day boring syllabus reviews in classes.

Freshman are forced to live on campus their first year and I had an interesting, but forgettable roommate. I have friends in the theatre department here, but starting sophomore year, Leah and I lived together in a nice (and affordable) apartment. Mom and Dad helped us with the rent, Dad being happy that it was the last year he had to pay. People kept telling us we were crazy to live with a friend, but since we’ve been friends for so long and Leah is…well Leah, who always spoke her mind, we never had any issues.

Luckily for both of us, we are great cooks at exceedingly different aspects. I am a stovetop master and handle dinners and savory breakfasts and Leah is a baking champion and handles sweet breakfasts and lunches. Yin-Yang of food: I wake up to waffles and Leah comes home to stir-fry. It’s a match made in love handles.

Ever since my best friend in the department caught on, Ian would come over from time to time to eat both breakfast and dinner, and we swore lunch because our peanut butter would mysteriously be consumed at a fast rate. Ian’s a diamond in the rough in the sense that is he one of the only straight men in the theatre department. This makes him a perfect ladies man because everyone assumes he’s gay when we go out together, girls talk to us, I tell him ‘Oh, my boyfriend’s calling me,’ and that opens the conversation to his heterosexuality and he leaves me with a wink and a finger gun.  I’d give it the ‘ol Leah exhale if Ian and I hadn’t perfected it so much.

Outside of that aspect of Ian, he’s a great actor and has, on the hateful occasions, defended me against some drunk country boys at the city bars. Leah calls me his ward and Bram found it too funny. It’s not that funny, but Ian is a guy I know I’ll be friends with for the rest of my life.

“Aaaaaaaaayooooooooo Si-Si,” Ian yelled as he busted in the door and bear hugged me.

“Ugh, I regret it giving him a key already,” Leah said, not standing from the dinner table.

“What’s on the menu tonight?”

“Chicken BLT with pesto mayo and rice.”

Ian glanced over at Leah, “The TA checks musta kicked in with a two course meal, Le Burke.”

Leah and I both paid equally for the food, but Leah was the one who did the shopping. Because she loved it. Also, she actually doesn’t mind Ian’s nickname for her because he gives it a French pronunciation. Also, and she’ll never admit this because it’s against everything she believes, but she maaaaaay have a slight crush on him.

“It’s our last year Ian, may as well live it up, right?”

We all ate and caught up from the summer. Leah regaled us of her TA duties by day, and wine-infused studying by summer night, I bragged about Bram & I’s historic Splash Pad attendance since Bram saw my minute abs I formed junior year and wanted to show me off, and Ian explained his summer back in South Dakota camping every weekend with his high school buddies.

“Dude, have you ever seen the stars without light pollution?” Ian asked, in a serious tone.

“Yes, Ian, Si and I have the capability of turning our head up.” Leah said sarcastically.

“Yeah, but when you did, were you within or outside of the yellow light of the city.”

“Come on, Ian, Midwest dudes aren’t the only dudes who can see stars,” I validate. It reminded me of when Bram and I took a trip this summer with Nick & Abby to an AirBnB beach house. All days were spent as a group, but once the sun finally set, it was hard to not sneak into our bedrooms at opposite ends of the house and do what couples do. I try not to tell Leah about too much as she gets mad FOMO (fear of missing out).

“Okay, so you know what that looks like when the sky comes to life and you see the billions of other starts that you normally can’t see and all it took was unplugging and going out on your adventure.”

“But you don’t need just to see stars to feel that way, Ian,” Leah claims.

“Okay Le Burke, fine, but we all have that place we can go that makes us emotionally unpack, and not in the lets talk about our feelings way, but in the I feel less pressure from society and what it expects of me way. Where’s that for you?” Ian points at her.

“My bedroom.” Leah states.

“Your bedroom? Really?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”

“I dunno, seems trapped to me.” Ian answers, helping himself to the last BLT.

“You’re an extrovert, I’m an introvert, I don’t see a cramped room, I see a space in the entire universe that is built specifically for me and my liking and it relaxes me!”

Ian took a big bite and replied with a mouth full, “You know what, you got a point Le Burke.”

“Enough time around me, you’ll find I always know what I’m talking about.”

“What about you, Simon?” Ian asked.

I hadn’t been listening the conversation. When Ian asked about the place where we can emotionally unpack, all I could think about was that night on the Ferris wheel with soft eyes Bram Greenfeld in his strong arms next to his soccer calves. Though many people were around us, that little carriage built for two felt the most weight lifting experience.

“Si? Earth-to-Si,” Leah said in a robot voice.

“The ring,” I start. “Would it be tacky to get a ring that looks like a ferris wheel?”

“I didn’t take you for the man jewelry type, Si” Ian laughed, taking another bite that was probably a bit too big.

“A ferris wheel would just look like a merry-go-round on its side and I don’t think that’s cute.” Leah replied. “Besides, it would be a statement engagement ring and Bram isn’t really a statement jewelry person.”

“Engagement ring?” Ian muffled out of his mouth. “Are you proposing to Bram?”

“Oh, shit. Yes, Ian, I’m proposing to Bram in January.”

Ian spit out the food onto his plate to the lament of Leah and powered over to me to give me another bear hug.

“Fuck yeah Si! That’s so fuckin’ cool congratulations!”

Ian is obsessed with Bram. On the occasions Bram visited me up here, Ian steals him away so they can talk about soccer. Bram loves it because it’s hard to talk soccer in Baltimore, so I usually have to peel Ian off of Bram. Ian always asks Bram jokingly if he has a sister and Bram always lets him know she’s only five.

He finally let me go and went back to his spit out food and put it back in his mouth to finish.

“Are you fucking serious Ian?!” Leah screamed.

“I don’t want to waste food on such a beautiful evening. We have to celebrate.”

Celebrating turned into shots and beers and the rest of the night we spent talking about the show line up for our senior year and which roles we’d want verses the one we may be assigned. Leah explained her classes and we got into brief sociology based debates. Around one A.M., Ian was asleep on the couch and Leah and I were in my room, head to head, just like in high school.

“So I was thinking and you’re right, I think the ferris wheel ring maybe too much.”

“Maybe a little.” Leah replied in a slight slur. “It could have been worse, you could have suggested an Oreo ring.”

She’s right, unfortunately. We both laughed a drunken laugh.

“Know of any cool ring shops in New Haven?” I ask. “I wanna start looking.”

“Si, don’t rush this. Let the ring find you. The one ring-”

“TO RULE THEM ALL!” We both finish.

“When I brought it up to Dad, he just said ‘do you trust me’ and so I don’t know if he’s helping me or not.” I explain.

“Maybe trust your Dad. You’ll be proposing in Shady C anyway, take a chance on your Jack Spier.”

We both chuckle and talk a few more minutes until Leah goes to bed and I’m left staring at my ceiling. I grabbed my laptop and began some drunken Google searching for engagement ring ideas and of course they’re all the most un-Bram like options.

But…like what could I get Bram that will scream us, but at the same time be elegant and show how much I love him? I am leaning towards no stone…I think Bram and I are simple folk with simple tastes. Bram tastes like…no, focus, get my hand out of my pants.

Should I put the ring in a sleeve of Oreos and have him open it? I mean, it know how tacky it sounds because it’s so tacky, but would Bram like how tacky it is and just think it’s cute? Where is the tipping point!?

Bzzz

Bram I hope you had a good first day! I’m assuming Ian’s passed out already? ;)

And just like that, my ring anxiety began to dissolve.

                                                                                               I did and he is!                                                             For a bro, he’s not much of a drinker

. .. … If you talk about soccer, he’ll drink you under the table. He runs on pure adrenaline when you bring up Argentina.

                                                           You know I tried, and it didn’t work                             I think I’m missing the Bram-factor in my conversation

. .. … I’m missing the Simon-Spier.

                                                           Strange, I thought you had my heart                                         Be sure you don’t lose it, it’s the only one I have

. .. … I keep it in the space mine was because you seem have taken mine.

                                                                                                                 <3              Above is evidence I have yours, show me mine so I know it’s safe

. .. … <3 It isn’t going anywhere. Oh, also, I almost forgot. Mom is going to be in New Haven guest lecturing for the...ugh, Women Sexual Studies Class.

Holy shit, this is perfect. I was going to call her but this is a thousand times better. In person, somehow, seems easier because I can see her reactions. Bram’s Mom and I get along great…I think. She allows me to call her by her first name, Tracy, so that’s a start. I just don’t think we’ve ever really had a chance to talk about anything but Bram, so our relationship is just a little one-note, but think we’re both okay talking about Bram that much.

                        Even after four years, Ms Every Time Including Oral strikes again!                                               That’s great, I’ll call her tomorrow to get the details.                                                                                                 I’ll make her dinner.                                             Remind me, her favorite dish is baked salmon right?

. .. … Yes. Simon, you’re too kind. You don’t even like salmon.

                                                                                               Yeah, but I love you.

. .. … <<33 That’s your big heart, still with me. I love you more.

                                                                                                             Impossible.

I fall asleep and wake up to my alarm and more textual love from Bram. I roll out of bed, shower, and get Ian’s ass up for class. Leah already had an egg bake on the table with a note that said ‘Warm me for a minute in the microwave nerds.’ Ian stuffs an extra large portion in his mouth and straps on his bag. I pull us out the door and we jump into Ian’s beat-up Buick to Acting IV.

At lunch I call Tracy and she let’s me know she’ll be here Thursday night for a full day of lectures on Friday. She sounded excited to be asked to lecture and hopefully a good mood enough to hear me wanting to marry her son.

Tuesday comes and goes (for dinner it was just Leah and me and I made us homemade pizza with a cauliflower crust and actually. Actually it wasn’t half bad. Normal crust is always better, but it wasn’t bad).

Wednesday night Leah and I are in the library, me searching for monologues and she posting up to help the Intro to Sociology class students write a big surprise essay assigned by a notoriously hard professor.

“I hope the sociology professors see the irony in making me slave away helping their students cause they’re too lazy.” Leah scoffs, chewing a big piece of pink bubblegum.

“Isn’t that the gig of a Teacher’s Assistant?” I’m burning through stacks of books I stole from the shelves and have a few to photocopy of already earmarked monologues from actor’s past.

“Be on the right side of history, Simon. I’m supposed to assist the teacher, not the student. I got the salmon, by the way, I pulled it from the freezer this morning.”

I gave her a puppy dog smile and head tilt. “This is why you’re the Queen.”

“Damn straight. Know what you’re going to say?”

“No,” I reply. “But I’ve landed the best people in my life by going in without a plan…pretty much my entire life is that.”

“I’m not here to be your English professor, Google how to set up a works cited page!” Leah shouts at a baby freshman. He runs off and frantically types away at his laptop. “Trust your gut, Si, trust your gut. All of it except the part that thought a ferris wheel ring, though, throw that part in the trash.”

I scanned copies of the chosen monologues to work on and we went home. Abby and Nick Skyped us and we all caught up since leaving each other this summer. We planned trips and talked about classes and how Abby and Nick saw Benedict Cumberbatch walking in New York. I fell asleep that night as a usually do, texting Bram, and woke up Thursday morning to cook Leah and I omelets. The rest of the day flew by because before I knew it I was back at home prepping dinner.

I tidied up the apartment as Leah left to study at the library again. She was worried the students would still be there and ask her for helps so she, honest to God, wore a wig to throw them off. I chuckled as she sashayed out the door. Even though I don’t like to eat salmon, I’m a natural when it comes to cooking it and I had all the food ready as soon as Tracy knocked at the door. We hugged and exchanged kisses on the cheek as she presented a bottle of red wine. Then she flew past me into the kitchen and she checked the salmon.

After a deep inhale, she smiled. “Simon, I must say you know how to season.”

“Practice makes perfect, Tracy.”

We made small talk about her trip up here, which evolved into her career taking off. That quickly transitioned into the points she was covering in her lecture during the classes until we both finished eating, but she saw me playing with remnants of potatoes with my fork.

“So, Simon, what are your plans after college?”

“Oh, you know,” I started. “Bram and I were talking of living in New York for awhile. Professors here have some connections to companies there and if I pay my cards right I can get some steady work right away. Bram said he’d love to write for the New York Times, so it’s a perfect move. He mentioned a professor there is on the staff and wrote him a great letter of recommendation, so that’s exciting. Hoping to focus on having fun this year too before we have to be full-fledged adults.”

“Sure sounds like the planning part of Bram rubbed off on you. He gets that from me, trust me.”

“Yeah, Bram is, the greatest, Tracy. I actually wanted to talk to you about Bram.”

I swallowed hard and set my fork down. I was still formulating the words, so I covered myself quickly and picked up the bottle of wine. I got the nerves I felt right before an audition. This audition, however, I couldn’t afford to screw up.

“Refill?”

Tracy nodded with a raised eyebrow and I topped off her glass.

“Seems you want me a little buzzed for this, Simon.”

The audition started. “Oh, no, no, not buzzed. It is custom to have a drink if you’re celebrating something.”

“Oh? What are celebrating tonight?”

Bram…Bram…Bram. Saying his name calmed my nerves. Picturing his lips and remembering his scent centered me.

“Tracy. I am so madly…deeply…overwhelmingly in love with Abraham. My life has been nothing like I could have imagined it or deserved it and it is because of him. I want to always be with him and, because of that, I wanted to make you aware of my intentions. Tracy, my intentions are to ask your son to marry me and before I do, I wanted to ask for your blessing as his mother.”

Tracy tilted her head in the way Bram does and covered her mouth with her right hand. A loud inhale through her nose told me she had an emotional reaction to the news, and I was hoping it was tears of joy. She dropped her hand and a large smile crossed her face (Bram got his smile from her. Definetely).

“Simon Spier. The fact that you...that you gave my son the courage…that you make my son happy…that you cooked me dinner and asked me…I see the way you look at my son and I see the way my son looks at you and even Elijah and I never looked at each other they way you both do. My goal as a mom was to give Abraham a great life and a better one than mine and it looks like this will be just another strong foundation to that claim.”

Tracy put her hand onto mind and squeezed it.

“Simon, you absolutely have my blessing.”

YES, YES,YES! With tears in both our eyes, we hug each other. I pour the last of the wine between our glasses and we chees to me, to Bram, and to us.

“Thank you, Simon. I know you didn’t have to do this, or ask, and it means a lot to me that you did.” Then she became serious for a minute. “Do you intend on asking my ex-husband?”

Is that…a trick question?! Audition not over.

“Yes,” I start wearily. “I wanted to be sure I can tell Bram both of his parents gave me their blessing. I wanted to be sure that you both know how much I intend to love and care for your son. I’m not sure I can fully explain or find the right metaphors to show to what capacity I care for him, but I will spend the rest of my life trying to perfect it into a simple phrase that, when I figure it out, I will tell you.”

Tracy smiled and burst into a happy, crying laughter.

“Simon, since the moment we met, I never had a doubt that you would marry my son. I’m so happy and excited for both of you.”

A tear dropped down my face. What an enormous compliment from a mother to another about her son. I smiled and went on to explain to her when I was planning on proposing.

“Of course, how perfect! Do you have a ring?”

“Funny story, Tracy. Dad said that he’d help me with that, and I’m going to put my bet that he will deliver. After twenty-one years, he has yet to let me down.”

“Wonderful, I can’t wait to see it.”

“Yes, so I was still arranging how I wanted to propose and one scenario has me doing in front of my parents and you and Elijah.”

“Such an old soul in a young man. Why so formal?”

That’s a good question. Maybe…maybe it’s because Bram and my middle school and high school experience wasn’t conventional. And that maybe there is a comfort in being a part of a conventional process. Plus, it’s respectful and is bound to earn me brownie points with the possible new in-laws.

“I trust my gut, Tracy. My gut told me formal.”

“Trust your gut, Simon. It’s made all sorts of great decisions. But I have one, very important question for you.”

I clear my throat. “Uh, yes, of course.”

“Do we have more wine?”

We laugh and Tracy explains it’s getting late and excuses herself back to her hotel room.

When I check my phone, I have a few missed texts from Bram.

Hey! I hope Mom is going easy on you. Be careful, she will try to judge how you seasoned the fish, but I’m confident you’ll pass. I taught you well. I can see you both eating the food right now and I’m super jealous I can’t be there. Well, not super jealous if Mom talks about her lecture, which she will. Text me when you can! I know you’re being courteous and won’t check your phone while she’s there. I’m so confident in that fact that I’m going to send you a picture.

Below that text was a well-curated picture of Bram’s nether region.

                                                                                                Bram! Scandalous! Though you were right, Tracy just left. We finished a bottle of wine, sorry I got her tipsy! You’re right, she did talk about her lecture, but it’s focused on female anatomy, something we needn’t worry. I love you Bram. I love you so much. And that picture, you better be careful or it may start something.

 . .. … Start something, huh? I’m not afraid. Show me what you got! ;)

You can imagine what the rest of the night turned into.

Countdown Counter: 11. Kyuranger 38 is a martial art fan-service fest! And a story of a Commander and his hesitation regarding his chain of command...

- The downside of having a large team is that every now and then, several members would be eclipsed by the others. Such is the case for Commander Xiao who unfortunately happens to be NOT Red, thus his leadership is being overshadowed by both Reds. Tsurugi is calling the shots to the operation, and Lucky gets to lead one Away Team. Xiao (and his rigged Kyulette) is definitely ignored! - There are some neat little things in the opening scene. Though it's disappointing that all of them are seemingly male, we get to see the 4 Barrier-breaking Sages in Tsurugi's story. I don't know about you, but I would love to see more of the 88 Warriors of the past, like these guys and also Kuervo whom we'll see more in the episode. And then there's that bit with Lucky taking off his new white royalty coat, and exchanges it with the usual Rebellion jacket. He might be a King he says, but when he heads out for mission, he's a regular Kyuranger like everyone else. No special treatment. Nice excus... I mean attention to details! - The team is split in two as they head towards different directions. Tsurugi, Garu, Naga, Hammy, Raptor, and a slumped Xiao head to the Yin-Yang landscape of Planet Atchaalk in the Cepheus System, while Lucky and the others depart to play video game Planet Ghem in the Perseus System. The latter team immediately runs into a newly upgraded Mecha-Madako. She's now the Menaster of the system and is exclusively tasked to stop their mission. Hmmm... first Akyanba, now Madako, Toku designers sure are obsessed with mechanical boobs, huh? - Team Tsurugi arrives at the Kyulin Temple. In the past, Tsurugi and Kuervo had to overcome the Nine Trials of Cepheus before they could gain the trust and assistance of its warrior. This time around, the Kyurangers need to defeat Menaster Deathgong, if they ever want to move ahead to locate the Constellation's power. Let the trials begin!!! Fun fact: Setting for Kyulin Temple is a commonly used Chinese-themed location in Tokusatsu. In Super Sentai alone, it has been used plenty of times, most notably in the wushu-themed "Engine Sentai Go-onger vs Juuken Sentai Gekiranger". Then again, I think pretty much every scenes involving Gekiranger's Rin JuuKen practitioners were filmed here! As for the 'Trials', it's obviously just another playful use of the number 9, and doesn't have anything to do with mythology. In the Greek stories, it's Herakles who had to undergo 12 Labors, and none of those was even related to King Cepheus. Sure, the demi-God hero DO know of a King by the same name, but he's a completely different person unrelated to this Constellation. - 1st Trial - 'Hellish Chamber'. The team needs to defeat 99 Indavers in just one minute. Phoenix Soldier takes care of this in a zippy, by Phoenix End-ing more than 1/3 of the army. Gotta love Garu's reaction to being outmatched by Hammy. LOL. Draco Commander's back gets in the way, so he only gets 5 Indavers. Ouch! Tsurugi tells Xiao to don't mind that, because Kuervo also scored the same number back then. Team encounters the first crossroads, so they pair up and split into three groups to take on challenges in separate paths. - 2nd Trial - 'Muscle Building Chamber'. Basically, they need to perform 9999 sit-ups. Tsurugi gets to deliver another sweaty shirtless fan-service scene, while Raptor... cheers. Yep, lately the extra member seems to be in charge of shirtless fan-service spree, and Tsurugi firmly joins Zyuohger's Misao and ToQger's Akira in this category. To be honest, what he's doing is a little cheating, because a proper sit-up requires to lean a liiiitle bit lower. This is more in the line of abs-crunching. But I guess there's no definite rule for this trial, and it's still a demanding task nonetheless. Hold on... I wonder why Raptor doesn't take this challenge instead? She's an android, so doing repetitions like this shouldn't be 'exhausting' for her, right? - 3rd Trial - 'Kitchen Chamber'. Hammy and Garu are tasked for a cook-off and impress the Indaver-judges. This one is another cheat, because they immediately contact Spada for clue despite being star systems away. Hammy whips up the Pisces Kyu Globe, and the two serves... fresh SUSHI to win the trial. For the record, making Sushi isn't as 'easy' as this episode suggests. But it's reasonably quick, and can be done by people with limited cooking skill and utensil knowledge. So uhm... you get the point. LOL. - 4th Trial - 'Game Chamber'. Red Light, Green Light. I'm personally not familiar with this game (we don't actually play it in my country... but I'm an introvert, so who am I to say XD), but once again, the team has an upper hand in Naga's ability. Xiao and his weak back might not be up for this posing game, but that's not a problem for Naga's freeze glare. - 5th Trial - 'Dance Chamber'. The title says it all, as the team unites for a quick rock n' roll... I mean Kyulette the Chance 'Just Dance' session. Daang, I wish this scene is muuuch longer. Seriously producers, we need a Kyuranger Musical!!! - 6th Trial - 'Resilience Chamber'. Hammy partners up with Raptor for... a nice hot spring bathhouse challenge! Yep, we finally get the ladies moment, and it's totally fan-service. Aaaawwww.... *v*. But really, I wish this scene plays out muuuuuch longer too. Not because I'm pervy or anything, but because we rarely see the female members in this show hug... I mean hang around casually like this. I could be mistaken or anything, but we haven't had that annual girl-power trope episode so far, have we? By the way, I'm surprised that Raptor can endure this challenge without getting... rusty. Oh well, carry on! - 7th Trial - 'Funny Face Chamber'. Garu and Naga engage in a staring fight against the Indavers, a challenge that even yours truly would lose pretty instantly. It's a nice callback to the fact that neither of them knew the Indavers are wearing masks! Naga is hilarious, and it's even moreso because he doesn't realize it. LOL. - 8th Trial - 'Shooting Chamber'. Tsurugi steals Xiao's thunder all over again, by blasting all the targets away... with his SHIELD-BLADE. I did NOT know his armaments can do that. Even Deathgong sees Tsurugi as the only major threat of this group, a premature assumption that would backfire very harshly. - Before they head to the last one, Xiao and Tsurugi have a sweet heart to heart moment that pretty much serves as the highlight of this episode (at least for me). Ignoring how or where Tsurugi can even obtain those canned coffee, it's a surprisingly stark metaphor to real life situation. In all honesty, Xiao is like an old man whom his family slowly ignores the more they grow up, while Tsurugi is that hip trendy outsider who just recently becomes a new addition to the pack. This sweet intimate moment gives Xiao a chance to reflect on his limitations, but also allows Tsurugi to prove his kindness and wisdom. "You assembled the brightest stars in the universe into a single team", he praises. To which he also reminds Xiao that the Commander has his own way of handling thing. As in, everyone has their own role and place in the world. That's a strong message right there! - 9th Trial - ''Infighting Chamber'. Expecting a Jark Matter MotW to play fair and square would be a fever dream. Deathgong has captured Garu, Naga, Hammy, and Raptor as soon as they completed their challenges, and now pits them against the Cold-Sleep Duo. This is where the Menaster learns that underestimating Xiao becomes his fatal error. True to his words, Xiao knows each and every Kyuranger thoroughly (most of them at least... am I right, Naga?). It doesn't take long for him to realize that the seemingly-controlled Kyurangers attacking them are nothing but FAKES. This is how he's be superior than Tsurugi, because he has the power of perceptive! Aside from spending more time with the team to know that their reaction feels off, of course. LOL. - Freed from Deathgong's clutches through Xiao's signature sleazy trick, the four Kyurangers get to perform wushu-style attacks against the Indavers! Aquila Pink uses #81 Grus, Chamaeleon Green uses #85 Lynx, Ophiucus Silver uses #65 Hydrus, and Lupus Blue gets to shuffle (to genuine hilarious effect) both #52 Canis Majorand #66 Canis Minor Kyu Globe. Totally neat! Too bad Tsurugi doesn't get a part. He could've used the Bird of Paradise or Peacock constellations, if you ask me *grins*. - Draco Commander closes the curtain with a flashy end though. In a neat wushu-showdown serving as a cool homage to "Gosei Sentai Dairanger", Draco Commander utilizes his 'RyuKenpou' and blasts Deathgong to defeat with a Kameham... er, Dragon Ba... I mean, Energy Ball! - A fun trick is also utilized in the mecha battle. Ryutei-Oh has always been limited as a three-people robot. By borrowing Phoenix Voyager's rocket booster components (that form the hands of Kyutamajin), Draco Commander turns it into a FIVE-people combo. While benching out Phoenix Soldier on the ground as a cheerleader passive spectator. LOL. It's a nice change of pace that probably only toy collectors are aware of. I do hope we'll get to see this form more often, but that likely won't be the case and just a one-off thing. - On the other planet, Mecha-Madako uses a special controller to trigger Champ's malfunction. A not-so-mysterious person handed it to her earlier. Things are only starting to get serious there, but that will be our story for next week. On the bright side, the Kyulin Temple's Head Monk (at least, he looks like one?) is freed. As a token of gratitude, he grants the Constellation System's power to create the #54 Cepheus Kyu Globe. That means TWO down, and two more to go...

Overall: This episode was Goofy Fun! I'm a little disappointed, because I was expecting it to be 'crazier' and MORE comedic. But overall, it had truly fine fan-service heavy moments that once again, would've been even awesome had they played out a little bit longer. Garu and Naga were the MVPs, they stole the scenes and made me LOLed real hard. The warm interchange between Xiao and Tsurugi also worked in favor of elevating this rather hectic episode into a different level. Yep, this was a fantastic focus episode for Xiao, that smartfully harkened back to his early dilemma in the series. Being a hero is what Xiao had always wanted, so it's only natural that he started recognizing his own limitations and doubted if he's even right for the job. I think we can all safely say that this was a nice wrap to Xiao's personal arc. Next week: Fight on R.P.G. Knights, and reclaim your Champ!!!

Episode 38 Score: 7,8 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: November 22nd, 2017 - Version 3.06. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.