Shuffle Kings!
- Original Airdate: September 10, 2023
Written by: Minato Takano
Directed by: Kazuya Kamihoriuchi
Summary
Jeramie: The mysterious foe, the Galactinsect King Dagded Dujardin, has made himself known.
It was revealed that he was the culprit behind the war between mankind and the Bognaarok.
Claiming that in order to clean up the universe, he has been instigating wars between races across planets, bringing about their destruction.
As Dagded revels in his carnage, Gira is enraged...
...And, as the King of Evil, swears an oath to defeat him!
It was revealed that he was the culprit behind the war between mankind and the Bognaarok.
Claiming that in order to clean up the universe, he has been instigating wars between races across planets, bringing about their destruction.
As Dagded revels in his carnage, Gira is enraged...
...And, as the King of Evil, swears an oath to defeat him!
Now that all of the kings have returned to their thrones, the six monarchs declare their opposition to the new invaders. However, something doesn't seem right with them as they have seemed to change personalities overnight! In the Galactinsects' first decisive move against the team, Goma uses his ninjutsu to swap the monarchs' souls with each other. Much confusion occurs as the six have to run each other's countries without anybody being the wiser...
Tropes
- Bait-and-Switch: A Shugoddam citizen asks Gira!Jeramie if the kingdom will be all right after the recent attacks by the Galactinsects. He worries for a moment that the Bognaarok will be blamed for the matter, until said citizen reassures him that the Bognaarok under Jeramie wouldn't do such a thing.
- Breather Episode: After last episode's introduction of the new villains, this episode deals with the shenanigans of the body-swapped kings as they're forced to run each other's kingdoms. The end of the episode rams the tone straight back into serious territory with the retainers suddenly attacking the monarchs.
- Call-Back: Gira and Jeramie discuss the monarchs' potential for Character Development due to the body-swap. Jeramie!Gira re-iterates the same idea of the rulers putting their own nations first that Douga did.
- Character Development: Discussed. Gira!Jeramie posits that the "Freaky Friday" Flip gives the rulers the chance to get to know one another better. Played perfectly straight for Hymeno and Kaguragi (who gain a newfound respect for each other) and Gira and Jeramie (who were already on great terms and compliment each other well). Averted for Rita and Yanma, who mindlessly bicker the whole episode and "unite" later to vent their frustrations on Goma rather than actually come together.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with the kings about to attack Goma... only for their retainers to appear and attack them.
- Comical Overreacting: Played straight, then Inverted. Rita!Yanma is a Suddenly Shouting mess when Yanma!Rita starts pecking at them...until they receive the Moffun plush they asked for, at which point they return to being The Stoic.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!:
- Hymeno!Kaguragi struggles a bit with Kaguragi's Super-Strength, accidentally sending a dumbbell flying into a wall and squeezing a bit too hard at the knees in succession.
- Gira!Jeramie fumbles a bit with his transformation into Spider Kumonos because of its key-operated system, compared to the simpler motions used by the OhgerCalibur and OhgerCrownLance.
- When Rita!Yanma tries to attack Goma in the same manner that they always do, they very quickly realize that his body is less than ideal for their fighting style. Naturally, Yanma!Rita gets irritated by this and attacks them.
- Deliberately Bad Example: Compared to the pairs of Gira and Jeramie and Hymeno and Kaguragi (who each adapt to one another's situations), Rita and Yanma's antics during the flip are more directly hostile. When they fight Goma later, they have no problems with Friendly Fire given how mad at each other they are.
- Flanderization: For some unexplained reason, the body-swapping exaggerates the monarchs' key personality traits to an outlandish degree. Gira!Jeramie is the exception to this, possibly due to his sheer confusion and worry over the whole ordeal.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Courtesy of Goma's soul-swapping ninjutsu, the six kings have their souls swapped in each other's bodies. In order, there's Jeramie with Gira, Rita with Yanma, and Kaguragi with Hymeno.
- Gone Horribly Right: Goma's plan to swap the monarchs with each other was meant to serve as a source of friction that would make Tikyū vulnerable. Unfortunately for him, however, he underestimated just how quickly the monarchs adapted to the situation.
- In Another Man's Shoes: One of the main subplots is that each of the kings have to rule the country of the body they are inhabiting. Kaguragi, Hymeno, Rita and Yanma all start making changes to benefit their own country. But in every case (bar Rita and Yanma who are just flat out furious at each other), they gain a better understanding of not only their neighbours but of how they themselves are seen by the populace of other countries.
- Inflating Body Gag: Sebastian becomes a human balloon after overeating due to Toufu's sudden food donation.
- Not So Stoic: Rita!Yanma loses their cool way more often as a result of the body-swap, as indicated by the plethora of Skyward Screams they release to deal with everyone's shenanigans.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Hymeno, Kaguragi, Yanma, and Rita's discovery of the body-swap is accompanied by the mysterious-sounding soundtrack most closely aligned with the series' big reveals. It eventually switches to a jaunty-sounding soundtrack that would usually play during the comical scenes.
- Sudden Downer Ending: The episode appears as though the monarchs will take Goma down... only for their retainers to appear and seemingly turn on them.
- Voices Are Not Mental: All the Kings speak with the voice of the body they’re in, in a contrast to previous "Freaky Friday" Flip episodes of Sentai, which went the other way.
