This article is about an episode in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. |
Ep. 8: The Bakeneko's Shop!! (化猫ショップ!! Bakeneko Shoppu!!) is the eighth episode of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.
Synopsis[]
The Kakuranger are lured into a strange shop where they become captives of a cat Yokai who captures children to feed to other Yokai.
Plot[]
As two girls depart from a fun day at school, they hear the bawling of a cat believing it was abandoned, making them go to check on it. However without warning, a cage falls from the sky as a the bawling cat sound turns out to come from a female shopkeeper, claiming that capturing the two girls was easy before using a jutsu known as "Spirited Away" to make them vanish. The Announcer explains that the concept of "Spirited Away" is when children suddenly vanish into thin air while wondering where the Kakuranger are.
Without warning, the scene changes to Nekomaru zooming through the streets; the Kakuranger blame Saizou for being a terrible driver, but he claims this isn't his fault; even as a car stops in front of them and the van flies high into the air! Nekomaru continues to fly before landing in a more rural area; Saizou tries to apply the breaks but the van continues to zoom uncontrollably before slamming right into a monument. As the team yell at Saizou and tell him he isn't going to drive again, Tsuruhime discovers that they hit a stone with the kanji for "cat" on it, alerting the others as she reveals it's a grave that enshrines cats. The sky suddenly turns dark as a candle floats into the darkness, forcing the Kakuranger to follow as it approaches a manor where a beautiful woman is playing a koto dressed in an old-fashioned outfit. The woman offers hospitality giving the team a meal, confusing Tsuruhime in why she's doing this as the team eats their dinner admiring the taste.
As the team goes to sleep from a good meal, Seikai wakes up without warning, only to hear the woman stating ominous words about how humans abandon cats and make them suffer as she licks in a container and stating humans will pay for them. Seikai asks her where the bathroom is, but she turns around and reveals a more cat-like face, scaring him back and forcing the others up revealing that their host is a Yokai! The cat-faced woman laughs as the team falls from their knockout drug before puling out an electric guitar and forces them to dance to the "Yokai Bakeneko Rock", making them dance at her command until they fall down in exhaustion. Laughing, the woman turns into her true form as a Bakeneko; she states she'll send them to hell, but Sasuke and Tsuruhime use caltrops and shuriken to throw her off guard before transforming; NinjaRed attacking the Yokai as she asks how he didn't fall for the drug, him stating that Nekomaru realized her unearthly nature and that he and Tsuruhime faked eating her drugged food. Angered, Bakeneko tries to attack but NinjaRed throws her away as he reveals her as the one spiriting away kids before throwing shuriken into her, but she uses a substitution to appear from behind and attack him leading to him to substitute away. Bakeneko tries to distract NinjaRed throwing him down before she escapes.
Sasuke rushes to find Bakeneko, using his Doron Changer to track her down to a pet shop with a prison for the missing children in the back. Other Yokai in the shop tell her that the children look tasty as she states they reached peak ripeness and asks which they wish to eat, one of them searching around until finding a juicy boy he pays her for that she states is a good choice. As Sasuke finds the pet shop, elsewhere Tsuruhime yells at the other Kakuranger for falling for Bakeneko's trap; she asks why they fell for it so easily with Saizou and Jiraiya admitting it's because they thought she was a beautiful woman. Tsuruhime brings out some Chinese medicine she forces them to restore them from their affliction, but the trio yell about the bitterness as she forces them to partake in it until Sasuke contacts her with the news. At the shop, Bakeneko prepares the boy, stating that the specialty of children is served raw as she prepares to slice him with a meat cleaver until NinjaRed and NinjaWhite appear to stop her; Sasuke tells Tsuruhime to save the children as he beats away the other Yokai and saves the boy.
Outside, the ninja and Yokai continue their battle until Sasuke is hit by Bakeneko's flamethrowing mouth, the cat Yokai claiming he's no match for her. Tsuruhime runs with the children to save them, but they turn around having suddenly become more cat-like, biting and scratching at her until she's thrown away; she wonders what happened to them, but Bakeneko states she cast a spell on them and tells NinjaWhite she disturbed their lunchtime! As Dorodoros prepare a pot and lock the children away again, she threatens to boil the female Kakuranger, testing the heat by having a Dorodoro put it's sword in the pot having melted once emerged. Bakeneko yells at Tsuruhime, wondering why a pretty face would disrespect Yokai like her before telling her farewell and having the minions throw her down into the pot from a cliff! However, a rope suddenly grabs Tsuruhime sent by Seikai, with Saizou and Jiraiya holding the Yokai off and saving the children. Bakeneko curses them before being hit by Sasuke again, wondering how he's still alive; he states he used a "faked death" maneuver to survive her attack, making her wondering how she didn't see it prior.
As the two sides taunt each other, the Kakuranger transform, making her send the Dorodoro after them and the team attacking her minions. Sasuke faces Bakeneko, the two using high-speed combat to attack one another until the Yokai throws him down. She uses the Pale Shadow jutsu to attack them with an illusion; she declares the end until Nekomaru rams right into her, preventing her from performing the finisher as the team congratulate their van. Bakeneko states Nekomaru is a traitor to the "cat clan" before using the Yoki Cloud to grow; Sasuke and Tsuruhime use their Giant Beast Generals to fight her but are struck by her claws and fire-breathing until Red Saruder throws her down and the team fuse into Muteki Shogun, slamming her with a fist before using the Flaming Shogun Sword to finish her off; stating she'll never forgive them as she dies.
After the battle, Seikai continues to admit that Bakeneko's food was delicious and Saizou claims she was a genius cook; but Sasuke continues to think they're still being fools about it while Tsuruhime states they need to thank Nekomaru for it's action, kissing their van while the other male Kakuranger complain she isn't kissing them as she drives off with the van.
As the episode ends, the Announcer claims Bakeneko's meals were made up of millipedes, centipedes and mice, which he admits he likes eating.
Cast[]
- Sasuke (サスケ Sasuke): Teruaki Ogawa (小川 輝晃 Ogawa Teruaki)
- Tsuruhime (鶴姫 Tsuruhime): Satomi Hirose (広瀬 仁美 Hirose Satomi)
- Seikai (セイカイ Seikai): Shu Kawai (河合 秀 Kawai Shū)
- Saizou (サイゾウ Saizō): Hiroshi Tsuchida (土田 大 Tsuchida Hiroshi)
- Jiraiya (ジライヤ Jiraiya): Kane Kosugi (ケイン・コスギ Kein Kosugi)
- The Announcer: Enjoh Sanyutei (三遊亭 圓丈 San'yūtei Enjō)
Guest Cast[]
- Bakeneko (バケネコ Bakeneko): Akiko Kitayama (北山 亜紀子 Kitayama Akiko)
- Child: Juri Orimoto (折本樹里 Orimoto Jyuri), Mai Hosoya (細谷麻衣 Hosoya Mai), Mayumi Watanabe (渡辺まゆみ Watanabe Mayumi), Shun Murata (村田俊 Murata Shun), Kazuma Tawara (俵 一馬 Tawara Kazuma), Yusuke Igawa (井側裕介 Igawa Yūsuke)
Notes[]
- Viewership: 8.2%
- Eyecatch
- Featured Kakuranger (Pre-Break): NinjaRed
- Featured Kakuranger (Post-Break): NinjaRed
- The song used by Bakeneko when she hypnotizes the Kakuranger is "Nikoniko Nyannyan" by Fumie Hosokawa.
- None of the footage was used in Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers.
DVD Releases[]
- Ninja Sentai Kakuranger Volume 1 features episodes 1-11.[1]
- The complete Kakuranger series was released in North America by Shout! Factory in 2016.
References[]
Footnotes[]