SD Gundam Force - When Swords Clash (V.7)

Rating:
Summary: The calm before the storm
Review: The time for the final battle between Bakunetsumaru and Ashuramaru has arrived. Watched over by the mysterious Daishogun of Perfect Virtue, the two Mushas battle to the death. After this fated battle, Lord Tallgeese returns to gain revenge for his past humiliation. With two new minions aiding him, the time will come for Fenn to prove he is the spirit which will save Lacroa...

Events carry on from last time. With both Bakunetsumaru and Ashuramaru healed up, the two meet once again to fight their final battle. Whilst the members of the Gundam Force are content to respect Baku's pride and watch from the sidelines, Ashura gets no such respect and it isn't long before Zapper and a squad of Zakos show up to try and 'help out'. However, the honour of the battle is kept when the mysterious Daishogun appears. A powerful Musha Gundam who can bend reality, not even the other Musha Gundams are quite sure who he is as a Daishogun of any kind has not existed in Ark for years. Creating a fighting ground based on their culture, the Daishogun makes sure none will interfere with this one-on-one battle.
The episode is a much better resolution than that which we got for the Lacroa arc. We get a decent amount of drama, more good comedy and some interesting developments to get us thinking.

The next episode is a more quite affair. The Daishogun is briefly staying in Neotopia and Baku is eager make his stay comfortable. This turns the lives of Zero and Fenn upside down, as both are finally pushed out of the spotlight whilst people pay more attention to the Mushas. At the same time, a Pawn Leo has arrived from Ark looking for the Spirit Egg for his master and Captain is expecting a mysterious upgrade.
I'd say this sets a good example of filler eps, but I'm not quite sure it could be called filler to begin with. We get certain developments mixed in with one of the show's finest hours in the comedy front. It's also nice to finally see Baku get some respect instead of being the butt of all the jokes.

The final episode of the disc finally wraps up the Spirit Egg story which has been running for a while now. Tallgeese is still eager to gain the item for himself and has arrived in Neotopia to do so. He's also brought some friends- the evil knights Mercurius and Vayeate, based on the Wing mecha of the same name. With their combined evil magic, the Gundam Force face their deadliest threat yet. Fenn is present at the battle and when Tallgeese resorts to using his Griffin, the white puffball reveals some tricks of his own...
Not a bad episode, but for me it's probably my least favourite on the disc. It's great to see Tallgeese again as his dialogue drips with over-the-top evil and pokes fun at many villainous cliches. Zero's new form is also pretty slick.

The quality of the show continues to increase, both the episodes themselves and the included Zako Zako Hours (which I found to be laugh out loud funny this time).