Hikari Sentai Maskman 16 – Kenta vs. Baraba

Baraba used the MOTW's power to grab the Maskmen's power. Lucky enough, Kenta was able to evade the MOTW's attack, only to be defeated by the powerful Baraba. To make matters worse, Kenta's teammates can't transform! Can Kenta handle this problem all by himself?

For the past few weeks, I can't help but notice that the series is slowly becoming more and more interesting. What made this episode really great aside that we met Kenta's master is how the other Maskmen handle this predicament. Instead of waiting for Kenta to defeat Baraba, the Maskmen actually trained to regain the lost Aura Power! One thing that I like about it is how Commander Sugata keeps on pushing them to meditate in the same manner how they tried their best to acquire their Aura Power for the first time. The scene is intense, and there are some moments that they look like they will quit at the end, but nope, they continue their best to harness their Aura Power.

As for Kenta, after his fight with Baraba in this episode, which is by the way, really amazing, he starts to wonder how he can beat the guy. What's admirable about it is that he didn't just stand there and wait for his teammates to recover their lost Aura Power; he actually tries to figure out a possible way to defeat Baraba. This is when a strange figure comes in and fights Kenta.

His fight with this guy is fun to watch and at the end, he figured out how to defeat Baraba thanks to this man's movements. Because of his strong punch, it cracked its mask, revealing that he is fighting his master! To be honest, I saw this twist coming for the reason that they introduce the master early in the episode and showed us how Kenta was trained. Also, Kenta is having his problem with Baraba. So yeah, it is really expected, heck, it is like a giveaway already!

Kenta's fight final fight with Baraba in this episode is quite entertaining. The fight choreography is fantastic and the way it ended is kinda cool... that is until the Maskmen arrived just in time to fight Baraba with Kenta. To be honest, I hated this kind of thing, I was expecting that this episode is giving us a proper build up for a new rivalry, but nope, it was cut short. Oh well, at least they regained their Aura Power with their own strength and not because Kenta helped them. After beating the MOTW in both regular and giant forms, our heroes decided to hang out with Kenta's master.