Kamen Rider Black RX Episodes 33-34

EPISODE 33

Road trip!

This episode and the next marks the show's "vacation" episode(s). Well, it's not much of a vacation, as Koutarou's investigating a mission given to him by a dying scientist and Reiko's there for work, but you know what I mean. It's thin on story, but since they're trying to play up the scenery and locations unique to the different filming venues, they want it to come across as more of a spectacle, and coming off of the past two boring episodes, it reallllllly helps.

With plans for something called Crisis Land, the Crisis plan to blow up the Seto-Ohashi. Now, the Seto-Ohashi was newly completed by the time this episode aired, after long planning, so they had to be happy to be able to film there and show it off (with it being the backdrop of the final big battle), as well as the Takamatsu setting. So, while this episode has a lot of the familiar ingredients of the similar "vacation" episodes of toku, there is at least one new and unique element on display here, and the showiness, the spectacle, all makes it seem bigger, and I'm surprised it wasn't just made RX's movie for the year. It's really weird to me that Liveman didn't get a movie because, I assume, Black got two. Cut to '89 when RX didn't get a theatrical short, but Turboranger (a show that wasn't as popular as Liveman) did.

Now, Crisis Land...all along I've been making my dumb little jokes about what the Crisis call their realm. It's really named "Kai-Makai," which is basically like "Strange Hell," but rather than typing that again and again, I've been doing dumb stuff like saying "Crisisvania" or whatever. I've used "Crisisland," not remembering this episode and Jackie's talks of planning a "Crisis Land," so...yeah. I really didn't remember much of this show. But I didn't realize that was my memory trying to do me a solid.

Random notes on a random show:

1) It's really weird to see General Jacko out and about. I don't think he's been seen outside of the Crisis ship since the premiere. But what's even funnier is that he's walking around with his staff officers, and since the production wants to be showing off Takamatsu, it looks like he's walking around taking in the sights. Like...here's Jark and his generals visiting the aquarium! I guess that's Crisis' speed.

2) ♪RIDER YOU ARE THE FIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTER♪

3) "Kai-Makai" is also a phrase which means "the state when one watches Kamen Rider Black RX."

4) At one point, Bio Rider saves a guy played by Jiro Okamoto. SO WHO'S IN BIO RIDER'S SUIT?!?! Tokio "Shadow Moon" Iwata has long been credited as a secondary suit-actor for RX's alternate forms, so I guess he's in the Bio Rider suit here. It's kind of weird to see that young Jiro Okamoto kinda reminds me of the Dasmader actor. Man, imagine if it was just Okamoto playing that character. That would be cool!

5) Racing the clock to stop Crisis, Koutarou approaches a helicopter pilot and gives him his credentials as pilot for the Sahara company, requesting the use of this guy's helicopter. And the guy allows it! The scene's presented like Koutarou's a cop commandeering a vehicle, but Koutarou's just an ordinary citizen! It's nice of the show to remember that Koutarou started this series as Kamen Pilot, I guess, and it at least leads into one of the traditions of the vacation episode -- sweet helicopter action. But it's weird nonetheless.

EPISODE 34

Continuing RX's journey on Shikoku. It begins with Koutarou and Reiko chilling and taking in some sights. It would get old going with Reiko anywhere, with her constantly snapping pictures of everything that surrounds her. Who does she even work for?! A crummy magazine? A legit paper? Is she just a photographer or more of a photojournalist? The show doesn't care about Reiko as much as it pretends to, so you never know.

It's another episode light on plot, and while they're still filming in Takamatsu, they're not showing off as many places, not making up for a light plot with visuals or spectacle. This one definitely seems more like a commercial. (Shop smart, shop Marunaka mart!)

Kenji Ohba guests stars as a father (who works at a Marunaka) whose kid (the son of a man who works at Marunaka) is taken by Crisis. His kid, for some reason, has been trying to develop extrasensory powers (which he tests at Marunaka), which his dad (employee of the month at Marunaka) laughs off. (Where was Kenji Ohba to tell Kyoko Matoba she was outta her mind?) But I guess the kid DOES have something, because Crisis kidnaps him and other kids for their plan, which is to...get them to psychically lift the entire island of Shikoku and have it become Crisis' latest weapon? EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!?!

It's really weird that Kenji Ohba began the '80s playing three heroes and ends them playing an ordinary dad. I thought it was a weird disappointment when Miyuki Nagato played a mother in Turboranger, but this is just as bad. Ohba's such a pro, though, that he really keeps his character in mind -- it's Kenji Ohba, you know he can jump over a wall like it's nothing, but here he awkwardly climbs up, knowing he's just playing a regular guy.

Random notes:

1) For Amemiya being the monster designer of this show, I have to say that I'm not really fond of a lot of the villains or monsters in this show. But the design of this crazy monster of the week delivers -- a six-armed, three-faced demon.

2) The monster of the week has a human disguise, played by Toshimichi Takahashi. Takahashi played the Terminator knock-off early in the series, and he's the suit-actor for General Jark, while providing the voice of Gatezone. It's really weird to use him in these little roles, IMO.

3) When the monster's disguised as Takahashi, he's always around a gorgeous woman...who ends up being Dasmader in disguise. HUH?!!? That's weird, and might've weirded out a couple of kids. Why they decided to have Dasmader disguise himself as a woman is a mystery. A bigger mystery? I can't find out a damn thing about the actress who plays this role, Yuyako Takagishi. Google her name and you only get, like, five results, all about RX. Her name sounds like a stagename, too, so that's not helping. Who is she?! (I'm guessing a local talent?)