Ep. 44: A Lovely Christmas Eve

A Lovely Christmas Eve is the forty-fourth episode of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. It is both the Christmas episode of the series and the tribute to Battle Fever J.



Synopsis
Gai gets Luka interested in Christmas just as Bibaboo of the Imperial Guard is sent to Earth, using his powers to turn those he attacks into dolls.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * Ryota Ozawa as Captain Marvelous (GokaiRed)
 * Yuuki Yamada as Joe Gibken (GokaiBlue)
 * Mao Ichimichi as Luka Millfy (GokaiYellow)
 * Kazuki Shimizu as Don Dogoier (GokaiGreen)
 * Yui Koike as Ahim de Famille (GokaiPink)
 * Jun Ikeda as Gai Ikari (GokaiSilver)
 * Yukari Tamura as Navi (voice)
 * Kenji Ohba as Shirou Akebono (Battle Kenya†)

Episode info

 * Writer: Junko Kōmura
 * Director: Tarou Sakamoto
 * Original airdate: December 25, 2011

Trivia

 * Gokai Changes in A Lovely Christmas Eve:
 * GokaiRed - NinjaRed, GaoYellow, Battle Japan
 * GokaiBlue - NinjaBlue, TigerRanger, Battle France
 * GokaiYellow - NinjaYellow, BoukenYellow, Battle Cossack, MagiMother
 * GokaiGreen - NinjaBlack, HurricaneYellow, Battle Kenya
 * GokaiPink - NinjaWhite, GoseiYellow, Miss America
 * GokaiSilver - KirinRanger, GokaiChristmas (Unique transformation)
 * Shirou Akebono will later appear in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie, along with Kenji Ohba's other two major roles, Daigorou Oume (DenziBlue) and Retsu Ichijouji (Space Sheriff Gavan).
 * In the all yelAll_Yellow_Gokai_Change!.jpg Gokai Change, the Yellow Rangers the Gokaigers change into are the same gender as themselves (Luka and Ahim change into Yellow Rangers that were originally female and Marvelous, Joe, Don and Gai change into Yellow Rangers that were originally male).
 * With this episode, all 10 of the Extra Ranger/Bangai Hero Ranger Keys have been used by the Gokaigers at least once. This also means that every single Ranger Key has been used at least once.
 * This is the first time Gai transforms into a Ranger that is part of the core team rather than a Sixth Ranger or a Bangai Hero.

Elements/Homages to Battle Fever J

 * Both Christmas and BFJ share a similarity in having origins in foreign ideas and concepts that were ultimately adopted within Japanese culture. Christmas came with the arrival of Portugese missionaries to Japan in the 17th century before it evolved into a modern secular holiday celebrated prior to the major New Years celebration. Likewise, BFJ came about due to the collaboration between Toei and the US' Marvel Comics, leading to a sentai which initially was to be a series based around comic book hero Captain America yet evolved into the series that revived interest in Super Sentai beyond it's original concepts in Goranger and J.A.K.Q..
 * The sudden replacement of Luka in this episode as GokaiYellow connects with BFJ having two cast replacements, the most of any Sentai series. Further, both cast replacements connect with Luka being the victim, being Miss America (the only female of the cast, going from Diane Martin to Maria Nagisa) and Battle Cossack (Luka's BFJ equivalent, going from Kensaku Shiraishi to Makoto Jin).
 * It also connects with the fact that, of the four remaining cast replacements in Super Sentai, three of them were also Yellow: Daita Ooiwa being replaced by Daigorou Kumano in Goranger (Daigorou gets by Daita 13 episodes later) and Mika Koizumi being replaced by Jun Yabuki in Bioman.
 * The last one was in Sun Vulcan, with Ryuuske Oowashi being replaced by Takayuki Hiba as the Red VulEagle. Takeru Shiba was replaced as team leader by Karou Shiba, but did not entirely leave Shinkenger.