Red Ranger Isekai Episode 9 Recap and Thoughts

In the last episode, Togo recounted his experience as Kizuna Red, battling his adoptive brother, who had become Bond Killer out of envy. Once his story ended, Yhidra, Teltina, and the other villagers were trapped inside of cards.

Recap

Many villagers are becoming trapped within playing cards, and someone was observed collecting these cards for a book. The man, known as Yuges, was only interested in female elves, so he threw away the cards containing male elves.

Togo realized that Yuges possessed a mana seed, showing that he used a Privilege Spell.

Enraged by Yuges’ capture of Teltina, Lowji attacked. Yuges warned him about endangering the hostages, but Lowji doesn’t care, knowing that the effects of Privilege Spells vanish upon the defeat of their user.

Lowji’s guard slipped when Yuges taunted him with Teltina’s card, resulting in his capture.

The captured forest elves ignited Raniya’s anger, prompting her to don her “emotional mask” before the impending fight. From his airborne vantage point, Azir observed that Raniya still used her emotional mask.

Raniya accepted that Azir was consumed by his twisted ambition. Meanwhile, Red resolved to accompany Raniya in thwarting his goal of imposing—true coexistence.

Togo and Raniya then transformed into Kizuna Red and Amen, respectively.

After the two transformed, Azir ordered Raniya to come to the Udold Ruins to settle the score. Raniya and Togo followed them using Amen’s Camel Dirtbike.

After the two transformed, Azir ordered Raniya to come to the Udold Ruins to settle the score. To Togo’s surprise, Raniya pulled out a Camel Dirtbike, which they then used to chase Azir.

When Kizuna Red and Raniya arrived at Udold Ruins, they were blocked by Gimmick, who uses “Privilege Amalgam: Chimera Circus” to turn himself into a chimera. However, Kizuna Red’s Burning Kizuna Punch and Amen’s Dirt Crusher swiftly dispatched him.

The heroes found Yuges with the hostages, all trapped inside a binder of cards. Kizuna Red attempted to attack Yuges using his Marriage Beam Gun, but ceased when Yuges threatened him with his friends.

Yuges then displayed his inappropriate behavior by licking Teltina’s card, causing Lowji to become angry.

As Kizuna Red lowered his weapon, Yuges summoned a giant bear trap on him. Yuge’s threat left Amen helpless, while Red remained trapped.

Luckily, Yhidra activated her Blasting Seal Engraving Spell, which she managed to set up on time before she got fully trapped. Although Yuges called her crazy for destroying her own card, Teltina pointed out that she was already used to explosions, thanks to Kizuna Red.

The explosion defeated Yuges, and those trapped in the cards were freed. Following her release, Teltina commanded Vrykolakas to chew the vanquished foes, with special treatment for Yuges for his offenses against her.

Vidan updated Azir that the mercenaries he’d introduced, Yuges and Gimmick, had both been defeated. Despite their defeat, Azir was thankful, as the two did their jobs well. He told Vidan that he wanted to fight Raniya at full power, without hurting the elves and damaging the forest. Azir expressed gratitude to Vidan for his help, including the mana seed gift.

Following their chat, Vidan departed for Kukja, hoping Azir would succeed.

Shortly after, Kizuna Red and Amen arrived at the ruins where Azir awaits. Azir then used his Privilege Seizure spell to summon large hands of sand to crush the Kizuna Red and Amen. The two heroes escaped on time, however, the dirtbike was crushed and turned into sand.

Azir, using his Privilege Spell, called forth Was, his sand serpent familiar. Was then summoned a quicksand tornado, trapping Lowji, Teltina, and Yhidra inside and turning them into sand. Red tried to save Yhidra, however, it was too late.

Kizuna Red, worried about his friends’ well-being, demanded to know what Azir had done to them. Azir replied that Red should join them if he wanted to know. He also explained that, in addition to turning people into sand, Was has the power to manipulate sand at will.

Was tried to turn Red into sand as Red attacked Azir. However, Red used his Bond Bind: Super Extra Layers to protect himself from being turned into sand. Red then followed up with a Burning Kizuna Punch: Turbo Smash to destroy the monster.

However, Azir quickly created another Was after the first one was defeated.

Amen responded by transforming into her Jackal Relief form. Using her finisher, Jack the Looper, Amen swiftly attacked Azir. However, Was managed to block the attack.

Using her immense speed, Amen then swiftly attacked Was, while avoiding being turned to sand.

However, as the two heroes continued their offense, Azir ordered his familiar to use Lil’abad and freeze them. The familiar then seized them while still being frozen, intending to crush their bodies. His control of the battle fueled Azir’s growing cockiness, and he questioned the true extent of their otherworldly powers.

Red was shocked when he felt that time stopped around him moments earlier. He then used Turbo Huddle: Full Throttle to free himself from the monster’s clutches.

After being freed, Kizuna Red realized that Was could not turn living things into sand. But he was shocked why Azir did not turn his gear into sand. Azir arrogantly declared his intention to get hold of their weapons.

Meanwhile, Lowji, Teltina and Yhidra found themselves in the underground section of the ruins, where they were surrounded by mummies.

At the ruins, Azir declared he cannot be defeated while he has Lil’abad, so he asked Kizuna Red and Amen to surrender to his rule.

Red then alerted Azir to the mana seed’s ability to transform him into a mana beast if he lost or overused his power. Red lowered his guard while warning Azir, allowing Azir to use Was’s quicksand to trap him underground.

Frustrated by Azir‘s actions, Amen transformed into her Sphinx relief to break free from Was.

Deep underground, Lowji used his Dragwrath sword to burn the mummies. As they burned, Kizuna Red fell down and got caught in the flames.

Red then informed his friends about Raniya’s situation and proceeded to fight the mummies.

Meanwhile, a concerned Raniya repeated Kizuna Red’s warning regarding the risks of mana seeds. Azir acknowledged the dangers but felt the risk was worth it to pursue his ideal dream.

As Azir declared how he could not be beaten, Amen tried to evade Was’s attacks but was unsuccessful as it landed a hit on her. Azir noticed that Raniya’s emotional mask has slipped off, reminding him of the time the two met. Raniya disagreed, stating that she had changed as a person because of him.

Twelve years ago, Raniya and Azir met each other in Sun Forest. During that time, Raniya wore a mask while walking around in the community. Azir tried to befriend Raniya, but she ignored him and walked away. Despite this, Azir followed her and managed to have a conversation about how the elves lost their immortality when the Demon Queen destroyed the Sacred Tree.

While walking around the neighborhood, a mask fell over Azir’s head. Noticing it was Raniya’s mask, he climbed up and return it, only to find Raniya asleep. She awoke shortly afterward, and to her shock, she saw Azir. Both of them then fell to the ground.

Azir then returned the mask to Raniya. Frightened by her anger while she wore the angry mask, Azir took it away. Raniya, when questioned by Azir about her mask-wearing, revealed it helped her to be emotionally strong, admitting to feeling weak without them.

Settling down next to Raniya, Azir said he wished to see her authentic self. He also reassured her that being anxious is her way of expressing how kind and responsible she is. He also hoped that she wouldn’t need a mask to show her emotional strength.

Azir and Raniya became close friends since.

Returning to the battle, Raniya, transformed as Amen, continued her assault on Azir’s familiar. She also informed Azir that he previously harbored no desire for dominance over others. She further stated that she supported his dream of humans and elves living together.

Yet, witnessing the corruption of Azir’s ideals, Raniya used her Spirit Coffin finisher to stop his goals. Unfortunately, Azir used Lil’abad again to stop the attack.

Kizuna Red returned with his friends, with the help of his mech, Frien-D. As they arrived in the ruins, they saw Raniya defeated. Azir then took her Amen Buckle and transformed into Amen himself.

Final Thoughts

First off, many things happened in this episode. However, some parts were sacrificed to make it happen, mainly the fights between Yuges and Gimmick. The latter the shorter end of the stick as he was swiftly defeated. To be honest, this was a letdown when I heard their battles were longer in the manga. I wished that more of their battles were shown more, especially Yuges, since he showed potential with his TCG gimmick, pun unintended.

I was honestly shocked by Azir’s abilities in this episode. While turning items to sand and quicksand trap were tame, the time stop ability was busted, not gonna lie. I wish he did not have the ability, as his familiar was already threatening without it. The time-stop felt like a way to pad out the fight longer, and it was unnecessary, as the familiar was also gigantic. The quick summoning of new familiars was already good in itself, so the time-stop was not needed.

This episode also did a great job fleshing out Raniya and Azir’s relationship, as well as why Raniya used her emotional mask. Azir and Lord Loulugart both craved power; I wonder what caused Azir’s ideals to become so distorted. I just hope Azir’s reasoning is good enough as I realized that the concept of ruling through absolute power was used twice in the show already.

Finally, I really loved the new introductions in this episode, which include the Camel Dirtbike and Jackal Relief, as well as some new Hurry Arts skills used by Kizuna Red. The best one for me was probably Jackal Relief as it was refreshing to see a speed-based ability without it being too busted, unlike most forms in Kamen Rider, such as Hyper Kabuto and Zero Two.