Tribes: Training de Osaru

De Osaru is something all the characters repeat over and over this episode that is apparently nonsense that means nothing, so I have no idea how it would be localized.

Plot Synopsis
Zack has found a spot for everyone to go on vacation at that has something to do with ancient cultures and invites everyone to go. It's the ancient tribes of the ninja, and Geo doesn't seem to think that he'll find anything related to Mu there, but I guess he figures "what the hell," since he gets to be with his friends.

They all arrive and meet the instructor of the Ninja tribe, Jackie Hanzou. Jackie offers to train them all in the art of the ninja, and as a prize, he'll offer them a spring roll scroll. I haven't a clue if most people would consider this a good prize or not to tell the truth. Everyone signs up, and as part of their training, they must either catch Jackie Hanzou, or hit him with a shruiken. They all chase him through the forest in all kinds of silly ways, and Hanzou uses some pretty ridiculous techniques to evade them. Before the conclusion of the training however, Sonia and Cancer have to leave to meet Sonia's manager.

No one has successfully completed the training at the end of the day, and suddenly Hyde and Rich Dotcom show up. Both of them are interested in the Ninja training, as someone who completes it will be the new owner of the land. Just then, Geo gets a call from Dr. Orihime, telling him she thinks an OOPArt is in the area. The episode ends with Hyde and Rich Dotcom going through the same hell of training Geo and his friends just went through.

Critique
This episode is just a wee bit too silly for my tastes. While I don't mind off the wall humor, this episode feels like it's trying too hard, and everyone saying "de Osaru" at the end of every sentence gets really annoying really fast. I really don't think this episode does anything for Star Force, and I just found the humor to be really bland. Sonia is also getting a bit more insane each episode, as she threatens to decapitate Cancer, in a pretty serious manner.

On the plus side for this episode, it's kind of interesting seeing everyone in Ninja costumes, although none of them look as interesting as MegaMan's Ninja Transformation. I also thought that Geo's ninja name was interesting, at least with his Japanese name, which roughly translates to Shooting Star Subaru. Still, those are tiny pieces of a really mediocre episode, and I'm afraid this is the first episode of Tribes I'm going to have to rate a thumbs down.

Rating: Thumbs down.