Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger 16 – Zyuman Hunt

​In this episode, Naria and one of players Mantaur kidnap beings they suspect as Zyuman; it just so happens that one of those victims is Yamato's Uncle Mario. Can Yamato find him and the rest of the victims? Also, what is Genis' plan for the abducted Zyumans?

​Not surprising, the plot involving the need for new generals was just there to pad out the series, and for what it is worth, it did its purpose to pad out the series and give some character development for the other heroes. That being said, this episode revealed more information about Yamato and his relationship with his uncle and why the heck he is not living with his parents. To be honest, I never cared for Mario. All I see is that he is that goofy uncle who is just there to provide comic relief, even though Leo is enough to fill in that role. This episode actually made me care for the guy. 

For all of his goofiness, he was there when Yamato had fights with his dad, revealing that there might be a rift between father and son. This is a rather interesting reveal considering that you can just assume that Yamato is living with his uncle because his parents died, but nope, turns out that there is a possibility that his parents are still alive and he is just staying with his uncle because he is not in good terms with his dad. For a guy who I see is the only responsible adult to a group of Zyumans, Yamato has some issues. Hopefully the series will bring this up in a later episode.

More on Yamato's relationship with his uncle, for the first time, we actually see him act brashly because his uncle was abducted by the Dethgalien. So yeah, this episode pretty much peels out more layers out of Yamato's character, making him quite an interesting hero. He is family centric and if his line about Mario is an indication, he sees him as his only real family and he will do everything to save him. After he was calmed down thanks to the Zyumans who reminded him that there are also worried about Mario, Yamato devised a plan. 

Yamato's plan is easily the most obvious plan that they can come up with. I mean, they tried searching where the Dethgalien are hiding the alleged Zyumans and didn't get any results; the only option left is to bait them with a Zyuman. At first, I was expecting that the Zyumans in their Zyuman form will serve as bait, but nope, we got Yamato dressed up in a chicken costume. It doesn't make sense at first, but then I remembered that the Dethgalien saw them in their Zyuman forms and when Mantaur, the player of this episode had a chance to grab them and he didn't take it, Yamato is the only option left for this plan. 

​It was fun seeing Yamato act like a chicken and if there is one thing that scene showed us is how his uncle influenced him in acting like an animal. It also helps that he is a zoologist, I am not sure if acting like the animals they are studying is part of the job, but what the heck, it helped him in this one. As expected, the Dethgalien took the bait and Yamato is now in the place where they are hiding the alleged Zyumans. 

Speaking of the alleged Zyumans, much to my surprise, we didn't see any Zyumans taken by Naria when they were scanning if the beings Mantaur caught are actually Zyumans. To be honest, it will add more impact to the story if they actually developed this part of the episode. I mean, if we meet one of the Zyumans prior to Genis doing his thing at the end of the episode, it actually make me care more about their fates before Yamato swoops in and saves them. Heck, with that material, they can make this a two-parter. We can have that Mario and Yamato stuff and the more build up to the next arc. Even if that is the case, we got is already good, I just thing that they can make this episode even better by adding in the elements I mentioned.

​Back to the episode, because Mantaur got mostly humans, and since Naria is still following the rules of the Blood Game, it is no surprise that what they will do next is to kill the humans. Seeing Mario stand up and deliver one badass line was cool, but man, him wearing that cow costume while saying it made it less cool. I get where they are coming from, especially that prior to Mario saying it, we got Mantaur comment that humans are just inferior beings. If Mario just removed the cow helmet and then deliver the line, the scene might have worked better in my opinion. 

While this is all happening, Yamato is watching and before his uncle will get killed by the Dethgalien, he swoops in to save everyone as Zyuoh Eagle. It's a really cool scene and though the scene hints that Mario might have figured out that his nephew is Zyuoh Eagle, the end of the episode revealed that he is still oblivious to the fact. I mean, they already have the momentum to go with the reveal, but the episode didn't go with it. Even if that is the case, this is still a really great episode, and unlike the previous two episodes wherein the fights with the Dethgalien felt a bit generic, they went creative with this one. 

​Mantaur being a teleporter made the fight really interesting to watch. How can our heroes fight a guy who disappears and reappears? The way the resolved this issue was brilliant and yes, the guy was defeated, and we got the giant battle. The giant battle itself was really great and it is nice seeing Zyuoh King and Zyuoh Wild together rather than they keep on spamming Wild Zyuoh King. The way they used Zyuoh King in this episode was really great thanks to the fact that the player uses a rapier as his primary weapon. It also highlights Yamato's Eagle abilities as well, which is great. 

At the end, Wild Zyuoh King does the finisher and the player is defeated. With Mario still oblivious that his nephew is Zyuoh Eagle, let's go back to Naria and Genis wherein we learned why Naria kidnapped Zyumans. As it turns out, she was successful with it, and was able to capture a rhinoceros, crocodile, and wolf Zyumans, as well as one human who is said to be compatible with what they are planning, and if the preview for the next episode is an indication, they were successful with it. 

​What we just witnessed is the birth of Zyuoh The World, and boy, I loved that we barely got a look at the zyumans they captured as well as Zyuoh The World's face. It adds this sense of intrigue to the character, making me more excited about his debut in the next episode. Hopefully his debut is as good as what they are hyping it up to be.