Ep. 20: The Lost Forest

The Lost Forest is the twentieth episode of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. It is a tribute to Seijuu Sentai Gingaman.

Synopsis
The next of Navi's clues leads the Gokaigers into the Ginga Forest, home of the Gingamen, and into another clash with Basco ta Jolokia. Elsewhere, Gai encounters Hyuuga who demands the Gokai Cellular from him.

Plot
Navi's latest clue tells the Gokaigers to look for a lost forest, which Gai immediately identifies as the home of the Gingamen. Doc, however, is worried, as Gai explains that the Gingamen protected Earth from a band of space pirates during their time. The Gokaigers land on a forest, where an injured Hyuuga suddenly bursts into the scene out of nowhere, followed by Basco and Sari. Excited to see one of his past heroes, Gai approaches Hyuuga and introduces himself, asking him to sign his Seijuu Sentai Gingaman storybook. Basco unleashes DekaMaster, Wolzard Fire and MagiMother to battle the Gokaigers, who tell Gai to take Hyuuga to a safer place. GokaiRed attempts to advance toward Basco, but Sally blocks his attacks, while the revived extra warriors easily defeat the other four Gokaigers - sending them crashing into a river.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Gai tends to Hyuuga's wounded arm and talks about himself idolizing all of the past Super Sentai groups and becoming a Gokaiger. Hyuuga then asks him to borrow his Gokai Cellular. The other Gokaigers wake up on the shore and meet Ryouma; as a show of thanks, Doc gives Ryouma his box of donuts. Meanwhile, despite a long hesitation, Gai offers to lend Hyuuga his GokaiCellular, but they are ambushed by Basco, who uses his trumpet to take away Hyuuga's powers. GokaiRed intervenes to stop Basco, who then unleashes Black Knight to battle him.

During the fight, GokaiRed is attacked by the other three extra warriors. Hyuuga attempts to grab the Gokai Cellular lying on the ground, but Gai stops him and recovers it before all of the Gokaigers regroup. The main five Gokaigers change into the Gingamen while GokaiSilver enters Gold Mode and defeats Black Knight with the Gokai Legend Dream. DekaMaster, Wolzard Fire and MagiMother are then eliminated by the Final Wave Gokai Blast; their Ranger Keys, however, are recovered by Sally, who unleashes the Moondroid Tsukki. ShinkenGokaiOh and GouJyuJin arrive on the scene to engage the Moondroid in battle and finish it off with the Gokai Samurai Slash and the Goujyu Triple Drill Dream. Later, Hyuuga hands Gai his Black Knight Ranger Key, telling him he has earned it. Both Hyuuga and Ryouma watch as the GokaiGalleon departs for its next journey.

Cast

 * Ryota Ozawa as Captain Marvelous (Gokai Red)
 * Yuuki Yamada as Joe Gibken (Gokai Blue)
 * Mao Ichimichi as Luka Millfy (Gokai Yellow)
 * Kazuki Shimizu as Don Dogoier (Gokai Green)
 * Yui Koike as Ahim de Famille (Gokai Pink)
 * Jun Ikeda as Gai Ikari (Gokai Silver)
 * Yukari Tamura as Navi (voice)
 * Kei Hosogai as Basco ta Jolokia
 * Toru Omura as Sally
 * Kazuki Maehara as Ryouma (GingaRed†)
 * Teruaki Ogawa as Hyuuga (Black Knight†)

Gokai Changes

 * Gokai Changes in The Lost Forest:
 * Gokai Red - GingaRed
 * Gokai Blue - GingaBlue
 * Gokai Yellow - GingaYellow
 * Gokai Green - GingaGreen
 * Gokai Pink - GingaPink
 * Gokai Silver - Gold Mode

Ranger Key Summons

 * With his Extra Ranger/Bangai Hero Ranger Keys, Basco summons manifestations of Extra Rangers/Bangai Heroes to fight against the Gokaigers:
 * Gokai Red - DekaMaster
 * Gokai Blue, Gokai Yellow - MagiMother
 * Gokai Green, Gokai Pink - Wolzard Fire
 * Gokai Silver - Black Knight

Elements/Homages to Gingaman

 * The title of this episode is similar to a Gingaman title: two nouns separated by a connector of "no", with the first noun modifying the second. (for example: the first episode title was "Densetsu no Yaiba", or "The Legendary Blades", with "Yaiba" or "Blades" being the main noun and "Densetsu" explaining what they are, "legendary")
 * When Gai envisions Hyuuga becoming GokaiSilver, his rollcall is "GokaiSilver~Hyuuga!", keeping with the rollcall of himself as the Black Knight and the Gingamen, who stated both their designation and their first name, while the Gokaigers merely state their designation.
 * One of the main factors of this episode is the factor that the Gokaiger are "space pirates"; the Space Pirates Balban were the main villains of Gingaman, leading to some intended antagonism to the point of Don wanting to be courteous to them.
 * Basco's choice of Pseudo-Lifeform, Moondroid Tsukki, likewise emphasizes the enemy of the Gingaman being from space antagonizing the protectors of Earth.
 * Don's choice of "peace offering" to the Gingaman were donuts; donuts were the favorite food of Hikaru (GingaYellow), but Ryouma did accept them graciously in the episode.

Trivia

 * This is the first tribute episode in which a non-Red Sentai Warrior gets a Legend Shift of their former Ranger identity. In this case, Hyuuga.
 * The Black Knight Key is the first Extra Ranger/Bangai Hero Ranger Key the Gokaigers obtain.
 * Though Hyuuga's request was just a test for Gai, had Hyuuga became GokaiSilver, he would've been the first warrior to use two different ranger powers full time, which has happened many times in Power Rangers.
 * With this episode, all 7 of the Super Sentai teams with an Extra Ranger/Bangai Hero have had their Greater Power unlocked (the Boukenger's Greater Power was already unlocked during the events of Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Great Battle).
 * Kazuki Maehara, who played Ryouma, initially declined to appear in a tribute episode because he wanted to put that part of the career behind himself. Other members of the cast and crew convinced him to appear, though as a result, he had limited screentime. Ironically, a similar situation occured with Danny Slavin, who played Ryouma's counterpart in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, with his return in Forever Red.
 * This is the first time in the TV series that the Gokaiger did not use a Greater Power the episode they received it.