Paging Doctor Kakeru, Gokaiger Episode 9

Joe, Luka, and Ahim are in the crow's nest, looking for the floating island. They've circled the Earth a number of times, but nothing's come up, and of course, Marvelous won't stop. Then they notice a cloud that they passed a few times. It's stayed the same shape. So Marvelous swerves the GokaiGalleon into the cloud, much to his fellow crew members' chagrin. But when they go closer, into the center of the cloud, they see a turtle-shaped island. And the Gokaigers couldn't be happier.

Meanwhile, on the Chariot Horse, Damaras and Insarn have found the floating island too. And they are ready to find the treasure first.

The Gokaigers explore the Animarium, but before they can find their treasure, they are ambushed by Action Commander Bowser, and some Gormin and Sugormin. The Gokaigers change and fight, defeating most of the minions, however Bowser has a little trick up his sleeve. He has super speed, so the Gokaigers turn into the Turborangers to counter it. They perform the combination attack against them.

But then they hear a lion's roar. And so does a hot vet, fixing a puppy's hurt leg.

The roar belongs to GaoLion, who is not amused. Bowser orders the gormin to go after the lion, but Gaolion shoves the Gormin out of his way. Then Gaolion goes all "Get the hell off of my property." And shoves both the Gokaigers and the Zangyack off of the Animarium. Both the Gokaigers and the Gormin are falling through the sky. The hot vet goes outside his clinic to watch the commotion and HOLY CRAP, IT'S KAKERU! The Gokaigers become the Jetman so that they can fly and not plummet to their death, and Sugormin becomes a glider for Bowser to use. The Gokaigers dodge him, but he hits Ahim's leg. Ahim plummets into Doc, and Mavelous, Joe, and Luka use the Bird Blasters to shoot at Bowser, who falls.

Don and Ahim land into a bunch of boxes, while the rest land safely. Ahim struggles to walk as she has a pain in her ankle. The team realizes that GaoLion is the source of the Legendary power. Marvelous says that they should go and get him, but someone interrupts him. It's Kakeru.

Kakeru tells them that they can't go on the island if they are going to trample there just for power.

"And what if we?" asks Marvelous.

Kakeru says it won't happen for them.

Marvelous asks who Kakeru is.

Kakeru says that he's a veterinarian. Marvelous says they're pirates.

Cue Western Showdown eyes.

Joe says they really don't care what he thinks, and Luka says they have their own way of doing things. The team takes their leave when Ahim collapses in pain. Luka and Don rush to her side. Ahim tells them to go without her, or else the Zangyack will defeat them. Joe tells Don to look after her, and Marvelous, Joe, and Luka exit. Ahim struggles to get up. Kakeru immediately goes to her side.

"Are you hurt... let me see..." he pulls down her bootleg, revealing some blood on her sock. He tells Ahim he will treat her. Don says that he thought he didn't like them. Then Kakeru goes Hippocratic Oath on him.

Meanwhile, on the Chariot Horse, Damaras and Insarn find out about GaoLion as the source of power. Damaras tells him to get the Lion before the Gokaigers do, and if he refuses to be captured, to destroy him (poor GaoLion). But...

 BUSTED!!!

Back at Kakeru's clinic, Kakeru wraps a bandage around Ahim's ankle, while Don holds the puppy Kakeru was treating earlier, in his lap.

In possibly one of the cutest moments, the puppy runs to Ahim, who picks him up. I guess even in the Sentai world, Princesses are friends to all animals.

"Are you worried about me, even though you are injured too?" asks Ahim to the puppy.

Don tells Kakeru that he's not an ordinary veterinarian, since he knows about the red lion, and the legendary power.

Kakeru tells them that the red lion is GaoLion, and that he's a guardian spirit that protects all life on Earth. He says that he was his chosen warrior, GaoRed on the Gaorangers.

And cue the image flash over Kakeru.

Don and Ahim are surprised. Don concludes that that lion is the Gaoranger's power.

Don asks if they can have it.

Kakeru says he can't give it to him, because the power of the Gaorangers is GaoLion's power, and he doubts he'd share it with a bunch of treasure-hungry pirates. Ahim tells him he's mistaken.

Back on the Chariot Horse, Oiles Gil lectures Damaras about how silly he was. They'll soon rule the entire universe, so that will mean that everything in the universe will belong to the Zangyack, so its foolish to search for the power now. Damaras has this look on his face (well, you can't really see his face making expressions) that looks like he is fighting every urge to kick the boss's kid's ass. Oiles Gil tells Barizorg that there is a change in plans. "Yes boss."

The rest of the team is continuing their search for GaoLion, when they notice that the Gormin are attacking civilians.

Ahim tells Kakeru that they aren't simply in pursuit for treasure, and if they were, they would have abandoned her when she fell. Don says that they have a habit of sticking their neck out for others, and if they see something that bothers them, they'll forget about the treasure and deal with that instead. They say that if they only cared about treasure, then they wouldn't have let neither of them on the team.

Back to Marvelous, Joe, and Luka, who decide to "pay back" the gormin (really their way of saying protecting civilians). Marvelous says "Hey, treasure, we'll be back for you in a sec!" And they change and fight.

Luka says that she thought they were looking for treasure, but Bowser said there has been a change in plans. Navi alerts Doc and Ahim that the rest of the team is fighting with the Zangyack.

"Oh man, they're sticking their necks out again."

Ahim hands the cute widdle puppy back to Kakeru and thanks him. Kakeru somewhat smiles as they take their leave. Kakeru watches Doc and Ahim fight their way through the Gormin. He then watches the rest of the team fight: Marvelous fighting some Gormin and telling a civilian to run.

Marvelous throws his GokaiSabre to Joe, who uses his duel sword technique to defeat some Gormin. Some girls run up to him and thank him.

They swarm around him, and gush and flirt like he's a Beatle or something.

"Hey, studly!" shouts Luka as she throws her grappling hook at Joe, who holds up his sword while still schmoozing with the girls. Luka grabs the GokaiSabre with her grappling hook, and uses her Grappling hook/sword technique on the Gormin. Luka then throws her sword not at Bowser, but at some Gormin who are attacking some civilians.

Kakeru flashes back to what Marvelous, Joe, and Luka said to him. Kakeru says they are pretty rough around the edges. They are just down to a few Sugormin and Bowser. They fire at the Gokaigers, who block them and fire back. Joe asks Ahim if she's going to be okay, and Ahim says yes.

The Gokaigers become the Gaoranger, and get their own henshin sequence. They battle. Luka uses Gaoyellow's flight powers, and pins a Sugormin against a wall. Joe uses GaoBlue's Surging Rush attack. Doc and Ahim pair up and attack another Sugormin. Marvelous takes on Bowser. They finish up with the Gaoranger's final attack or finisher, the Hundred Beasts Sword, destroying the Sugormin who are shielding Bowser. Kakeru asks GaoLion if he saw that, and what he thinks about it. GaoLion roars in approval.

The Gokaigers defeat Bowser with the final wave, GokaiBlast. And of course Insarn revives them. The Gokaigers form GokaiOh. They are about to do the Gokai Starburst attack, but Bowser launches a claw at the clock dial thingy on Gokaioh's back, preventing them from doing this. The Gokaigers are screwed, until GaoLion roars. Their Gaoranger keys glow. Ahim says that GaoLion must have accepted them. Luka asks if the two had their own adventure again. They put in their Gaoranger keys, and the claw and the Sugormin fall off of Gokai-oh, after a burst of power. GaoLion comes off of the Animarium. GaoLion lunges at Bowser and claws him. He then looks at the Gokaigers and roar, meaning that he wants them to combine with him (how cute!) They form GaoGokaiOh. The Sugormin become motorcycles, and they fight against them, reminding me of the chariot race in Ben Hur. The Gokaigers then finish Bowser off with Gokai Animal Heart.

Kakeru looks up at his successors, and says to GaoLion that he hopes that he gets along with the pirates well, and he walks back to his practice. He looks a bit tearful.

GaoLion bids the Gokaigers farewell for now as they sail away from the Animarium. Four down, thirty to go. Joe questions what made GaoLion change his mind. Don and Ahim smile and exchange glances. Marvelous smirks and says who knows. GaoLion Roars.

Next Episode, Joe and Luka wear makeshift Gormin costumes to sneak aboard a Zangyack ship to steal a weapon--oh and they will play a card game, probably something high-stakes. We see them as BoukenBlue and BoukenYellow and, since they're playing a card game, what team is better to battle as than JAKQ. And Luka finally becomes Big One!

Great episode, though I did have a few objections (okay, one).

I wanted them to use the Gaoranger's powers more, that was my only objection-- I was pissed that Luka didn't use Gaku's wings! (I also wanted Kei Horie to appear and the hottie who plays GaoSilver, but they both have busy careers!)

I had the pleasure of watching this episode with one of my friends, and she enjoyed herself. I think ti was interesting for her to see Turboranger and Jetman especially. She then noticed that I became very excited to see the promo.

This was probably the cutest episode so far.

I liked seeing the Turboranger attack in hi-def. Also, Don could barely support Ahim when they did the Turboranger pose. His legs were trembling.

I would really like to see Joe or Luka interact with a past Sentai (together or separately). Which sentai do you think they should interact with?

I liked the use of the Gaoranger music during the fight sequence, and the sound cue that happens every time they summon a Power Animal.

Next week, so psyched!