Ep. 23: People's Lives are the Future of the Earth

People's Lives are the Future of the Earth is the twenty-third episode of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. It is a tribute episode to Kyukyu Sentai GoGo-V.

Synopsis
When Navi's Treasure Navigate hints mentions an "act of mercy", the GokaiGalleon Crew proceeds to help people out. But as Basco attempts to beat their shipmates in obtaining a Sentai team's greater power, Luka and Ahim cross paths with an EMT who is more than she appears.

Plot
As Gai noticed how Luka is treating Ahim like a little sister, Captain Marvelous arrives as Navi's Treasure Navigate hints that the Gokaigers must help others to meet someone. With Gai unable to decipher which Sentai team the fortune relates to, the Gokai Galleon crew resolve to help people out at the nearest town. As Captain Marvelous copes with helping old people up the steps and Joe and Doc deal with a transvestite after they give back a ring that he dropped on the sidewalk, Luka and Ahim are in a park where they meet a pregnant woman and her daughter Miku. When Miku expressees her joy that she's going to be a sister, Luka thinks about her own little sister Fia, who unfortanutely died. Then, all of a sudden, the woman goes into labor, but an EMT arrives to get her to the hospital via taxi. By then, Gormin arrive as the girls assume their Gokaiger forms to hold them off using the power of their color-respective Fiveman and Magiranger Keys.

Soon after, Luka and Ahim visit the woman at the hospital, where she tells them that the delivery will be soon while learning that the EMT is actually Matsuri Tatsumi of the GoGo-V Sentai team. After reporting to their crewmates, the girls arrive as Matsuri is attacked by Gormin while she is getting an injured boy into the ambulance. Covering her, the girls are attacked by Rio, Mele and Zubaan. Basco appears and reveals the Gormin attacks are his doing so he can get the GoGo-V team's greater power. Realizing that she was the target on the prior attack on the taxi, Matsuri offers herself to ensure the boy's safe passage, but is pushed back into the ambulance by Luka and Ahim. Motivated by the memory of her younger sister Fia, Luka tells Matsuri that making sure the boy gets medical attention in time should be her only concern as she intends to cover their escape. But Ahim refuses to let her do this and suggests a different plan where she uses Magi Pink's Maagi Majiro spell to assume Matsuri's form and trick Basco into letting the real one go. Though the plan succeeds, the two are unable to contend with the three extra warriors.

Luckily, the other Gokaigers arrive in time and take out the Gormin with Gokai Silver battling Zubaan while the others assume the forms of the Kyukyu Sentai GoGo-V team to overpower the Rinjūken users. After the three Sentai warriors are defeated, Sally taking the Ranger Keys back, then Basco unleashes the Fireroid Meran to deal with the Gokaigers as he takes his leave. When Magi Gokaioh's fire attack only makes Meran stronger, the Gokaigers use the GoGo-V Keys' greater power to cool the Fireroid down before weakening him with Gokai Prominence so GouJyuJin can destroy the monster. Luka and Ahim return to the hospital to see that the boy has recovered from his injuries while the woman has successfully given birth to a baby girl. Luka points out that Ahim is one step closer to becoming a real pirate while Gai notices that the girls' sisterly roles have reversed.

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 Oruma as Sally
 * Kayoko Shibata as Matsuri Tatsumi (GoPink†)
 * Fuu Konishi as Miku
 * Ayumi Yamaguchi as Miku's mother

Gokai Changes

 * Gokai Changes in People's Lives Are the Future of Earth:
 * Gokai Red - GoRed
 * Gokai Blue - GoBlue
 * Gokai Yellow - FiveYellow, MagiYellow, GoYellow
 * Gokai Green - GoGreen
 * Gokai Pink - FivePink, MagiPink (twice), GoPink
 * Gokai Silver - Gold Mode
 * All three Gokai Changes in this episode are tied to sibling based teams: while the main focus is on the Tatsumi family, the other two major changes by Luka and Ahim are as members of the Hoshikawa and Ozu families.
 * This episode marks the only time a Gokaiger uses the same Ranger Key more than once in an episode. In this case, Ahim uses the MagiPink key twice.

Ranger Key Summons
Like Basco's previous appearance, with his Extra Ranger/Bangai Hero Keys, he summons manifestations to fight against the Gokaigers:
 * Gokai Red, Gokai Blue, Gokai Green - Black Lion Rio
 * Gokai Yellow, Gokai Pink - Confrontation Beast Chameleon-Fist Mele
 * Gokai Silver - Great Sword Man Zubaan

Elements/Homages to GoGo-V

 * The title of the episode infers to GoGo-V and their mission both as heroes and as rescue workers.
 * Also, the title is a part of the GoGo-V roll call.
 * When Gai realizes GoGo-V was the target, he salutes, which is done by the team during their roll-calls.
 * When the Gokaigers change into GoGo-V, their untransformed faces can be seen through their visors. The roll-calls in the original GoGo-V featured a closeup shot of their helmets with their faces visible through the visor.

Trivia

 * Coincidentially, GoGoV's tribute episode is Gokaiger's 23rd episode and it itself is the 23rd installment of the Super Sentai series.
 * This is the first tribute episode to not feature the Red Ranger of the dedicated Sentai team (unless you count the two-part Shinkenger tribute, which featured Kaoru instead of Takeru or the appearance of Mikoto and Naoto (not the main Red Ranger) when Gai receives his power, which precedes proper Abaranger and Timeranger tributes. Ironically, neither feature the main Red Ranger of either team either).
 * This is also the first tribute episode since Changing Courage into Magic where the Gokaigers announce the name of the Sentai team the episode is centered around after transforming into them.
 * Although it isn't explicitly stated, it was presumably Damaras who provided Basco with Gormin.
 * In the scene where the GoGo-V keys glow, it is actually the Boukenger keys glowing.