The brilliance of "Kaitou Sentai LupinRanger VS Keisatsu Sentai PatRanger"

[starseerdrgn]

So, even if you're not a tokusatsu fan like myself, you've likely heard of the Power Rangers series outside of Japan. Well, it's based off of the Super Sentai multiseries of Japanese television. And right now, the current season is titled "Kaitou Sentai LupinRanger VS Keisatsu Sentai PatRanger". This season marks the first time there are literally two teams three of rangers that are against each other the entire time (at least so far).

First, you have the Phantom Thieves, the LupinRangers, who are based on the fictional gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Without spoiling anything, they're pretty much turned into thieves out of necessity, much like fictional depictions of Robin Hood, but they're damn good at what they do, being flashy but honorable. They're also some of the most well-covered characters in the show so far.

Then you have the Global Police, the PatoRangers (Patrol Rangers), who are based on the fictional Inspector Ganimard, the expert investigator regarding Arsène Lupin. They've shown themselves to be…a little confusing, but also somewhat one-dimensional at times. They're definitely very deep characters, but they don't show it very often.

And here's where the brilliance begins. The LupinRangers are after pieces of Arsène Lupin's collection (Lupin Collection) that have unique powers and properties, almost all held by the Ganglar (monsters of the week). The PatRangers are after the Ganglar, but also after the LupinRangers as well. And the two teams often have to work together while still fighting each other. In many cases, one team will defeat the monster-of-the-week in the foot battle, while the other will deal with the revived monster in a battle with a giant mecha.

And to help facilitate this dynamic is Goody Striker, a living piece of the Lupin Collection that acts as the core of the giant mecha, and the only way either team can form it. He'll pick one side or the other if he has a "good feeling" about them. He also acts as one of the foot-battle finishing powers, forming Patran Ugo (all three PatRangers in a shared body) for the Patrangers, and making shadow clones of LupinRed for the LupinRangers to bolster their numbers (in a way).

This "three-way war" dynamic has made for one of the most action-packed Super Sentai seasons that I've ever watched, and the battles are both interesting and fun to watch. And the underlying mysteries in the show—including the insane number of background cameos that even fans have been missing—is always great to see.

The dynamics of the two teams is also felt in the show's opening. Two sets of lyrics are sung at the same time, a female singing the PatRanger side, and a male singing the LupinRanger side, with both singing similar lyrics at key places in the melody, as if working together, just like the two teams in the show!

LupinRanger Vs PatRanger has officially tied as my favorite Super Sentai of all time, with the other being Zyuuden Sentai Kyoryuuger. I'm looking forward to the fansub for this week's episode just thinking about this.