Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger 15 – Fight or Flight?

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In this episode, the 2nd Dethgalien player who wants to become a general, Huntelder steps in and promises that he can hunt 1,000 people in just one day. Meanwhile, Tusk and Leo are in a fight because Tusk wants to think things through while Leo just wants to go with what's in front of him.

This is yet another great character driven episode, I mean, if the episode starts with two characters fighting over laundry, which escalated with Leo saying that everything is a fight for him, you know that this episode will feature a lot of great character moments. For starters, we have a sniper who never misses, making this a really good setup to what will happen next. Because of Huntelder's abilities, he can turn those he shot into dolls. Yes, the concept sounds dumb in paper, but the way they executed it was really great. 

I loved that they still feel the sense of bloodlust around them and all they see are dolls lying on the floor not dead bodies. Not only it kinda eases their guard for a bit, but it also subverts a trope involving dead bodies piling up with a sight of dolls pilling up. The best part about it is that they didn't realized it until Sela gets shot by Huntelder and becomes a doll. As expected, their next move involves Yamato looking for the sniper but before they even got a chance to use it to their advantage, Yamato has to save Amu from the sniper's bullet. 

This is when the episode starts to become really great. The fact that the episode took out two of the strongest members of the team out of the picture gives this sense of dread to those who survived. To make it worse, Yamato and Sela are the only ones who have the advantage when it comes to searching for the sniper. With Sela's hearing and Yamato's improved sight, this episode will be over before it even reaches its halfway point! Them out of the pictures made Tusk more cautious and contrasting it is Leo who just wants to defeat the sniper as soon as possible. 

This kind of contrast is basically the continuation of the conflict established earlier in the episode. Tusk and Leo thinking of ways to stop the sniper at this point of the episode further establishes how they fight. Leo will just charge towards the enemy while Tusk will think of a strategy in beating the enemy before making a move. This is nice and all, but the previous episodes didn't established Tusk being the thinker type in battle. He just rushes for the most part without a strategy. Granted, the closest thing we got about it is with the stuff involving the old man and his book store, but for the rest of the series, it feels kinda sketchy.

​While they are thinking about their next move, Mario arrives and noticed the Yamato and Sela dolls, giving us the much needed levity to this really intense situation. Okay, he went a bit hardcore at one point, but it was a funny scene given the fact that he is unaware that the dolls he was holding are actually Yamato and Sela's bodies. At the end, they went with a bit of both as they went out in the field with barely a strategy in mind and their instincts at watch for the sniper. 

Not surprisingly, the plan had a casualty, this time, with Amu. Even if that's the case, they finally discovered the sniper's hiding place, but because they were running too fast, Huntelder had enough time to find a different hiding spot. So yeah, they failed to stop the sniper, and now they are on a run away from him. What comes next is Tusk realizing that his methods only brought more harm than good to everyone. Much to my surprise, Leo actually makes a valid point that Tusk's methods aren't entirely wrong; it's just that the situation doesn't demand it. 

​I mean, I was expecting that this will escalate into a fight, but nope, it actually turned out into them realizing their mistakes with their methods and deciding that since they are the only ones left, they should at least die trying. It's a really great scene, which eventually led to Tusk discovering their next course of action, and boy, their plan was seriously great. The best part about said plan is that they implied that they will do it this plan prior to the commercial break. It also helps that we got a close-up of Tusk and Leo, giving this illusion that both of them were trying to escape. 

So when the sniper hits the both of them from a distance, it gives this illusion that both Zyuohgers were turned into dolls. What's more is that they gave the viewers enough time for this event to sink in to the heads before they reveal the twist that the "Leo" the sniper shot was actually a mannequin that they found in the place that they were hiding earlier in the episode. The reveal was well made, and thanks to this trick, they were able to save everyone and of course, it is time for the team battle. 

​To be honest, there is nothing much to say about both the standard team battle and the giant battle. It's what you expect; they defeat Huntelder in both regular and giant forms. What's important is the aftermath, the episode ends and Tusk and Leo gained a newfound respect for each other. As for the humans that were turned into dolls earlier in the episode, since they were left in Yamato's place of course, they ended up crowding the house and since Mario is in the house for hours, he is surprised with the strangers that popped up out of nowhere! It was a funny scene and a fun way to end the episode.