Recap / Mashin Sentai Kiramager Ep 13 The Great Underground War

The Great Underground War

Original Airdate: July 5, 2020
Written by: Naruhisa Arakawa
Directed by: Hiroyuki Kato

Summary:

Takamichi is revealed to be Mabushina's older brother, but she strongly rejects him due to his previous actions and his obsessive treasure hunting. As the others go fend off an unknown tentacle beast, Juru tries to deduce why Takamichi is so hesistant on working with the team.

Tropes specific to this episode:

• Armor-Piercing Question: Juru asks if Takamichi actually likes treasure hunting before promptly insisting that he actually likes saving people above the practice.
• Bait-and-Switch: In the previous episode, Muryou reacts with what looks like Tranquil Fury upon seeing Takamichi's return; understandable, given that he was Oradin's friend. It's revealed here in actual context, he is troubled over the completion of Mashin Drilljan for Takamichi being overdue.
• Big Damn Heroes: Takamichi pulls this twice in order, saving two civilians in the process before scurrying off into god-knows-where.
• Big "WHAT?!": The Kiramagers pull this off once again at The Reveal that Muryo is Takamichi's younger brother. To make this even more hilarious, there are close ups of their faces when they do it, allowing them to truly pull off some epic "WTF" faces. Sayo subverts this by the end by somehow incorporating the "eh" with her catchphrase.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Takamichi does this near the end of the episode by saying "see you next week" when he's signing off, not so subtly addressing the audience.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: There's a poster that reads "Perfect Performance And Physical" behind Takamichi, which spells out "PPAP" if you only take the capital letters.
• Hidden Depths: Juru immediately sees right through Takamichi's bluff and insists that he actually likes saving people, rather than treasure hunting. Takamichi promptly denies the accusation.
• Luke, You Are My Father: Near the end of the episode, Muryou addresses Takamichi as his brother, revealing their kinship.
• Mood Whiplash: The ending has a fairly serious mood as Takamichi declares that he won't be a part of the Kiramagers...then Muryo calls him "nii-nii" out of nowhere. What follows must be seen to be believed.
• Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The episode title is a reference to the movie The Terror Beneath the Sea. ^note  Kaitei Daisensou ^note  The episode title in Japanese is "Chitei Dai Sensō".
• Punch a Wall: When Juru calls out Takamichi for lying, Takamichi puts his fist on the desk, ominously telling him it's none of his concern.
• The Reveal:
  • Takamichi is actually Oradin's adopted son, only being turned into half-Crytalian after an incident with a Monstone.
  • The book Takamichi carries was Oradin's guide to where the Kiramai Stones are located on Earth. Problem is, the locations are written in riddles that refer to said location.
  • Takamichi is Muryo's older brother, thus being 47 years old. Cue the Big "WHAT?!" from the core five.
• Shout-Out:
  • Two extras are named "Kotaro" and "Minami" respectively.
  • In the scene where Juru is holding out his hand, there is a poster behind Takamichi that reads "Perfect Performance And Physical" aka "PPAP". It gets even funnier with The Reveal that Takamichi is actually Muryo's older brother.