Kamen Rider Ryuki Episodes 7 & 8

EPISODES 7 & 8

The debut of the third regular Rider, and the debut in this series of Toshiki Inoue as secondary writer. And, boy, is Kitaoka an Inoue character.

I remember when I first saw Zolda teased at the end of episode 6, I made the first of what would be many similar complaints about a lot of the designs for subsequent Heisei Riders -- he looked too much like a Metal Hero. He really looks like he should be an extra hero with Solbrain or Exceedraft, doesn't he? But I like the detail of the helmet with the blinking lights and that little track that turns on the side, I think that's pretty cool.

I've always liked the character of Shuuichi Kitaoka. He's a narcissist, he's self-serving, he's greedy, he's immoral. His soul is mildewed. But you can kind of understand where he's coming from. The type of person he is, knowing that he's dying, his focus is on getting the most he can out of life, at whatever cost. And look at the way Shinji gets easily swept into his world -- and look also at the way Shuuichi seems to enjoy bringing Shinji into his world. Kitaoka might be a slimeball, but he does seem to be at times personable. (Narcissists can be charming.) Granted, your in into his world is probably to appeal to his ego -- as Shinji does by claiming to want to do an article about him -- but he still seems like he has some light within him. (And the show goes a little overboard with that, but more on that as it develops.)

So he's interesting in that you never know how to feel about him. There are times when he's really devious and villainous and you hate his guts, but there's also a lot I find to like in the character and understand or sympathize with. (Which maybe makes me the bastard everyone says I am, I dunno.) It's also fascinating that this type of character is made to be the third lead in the show. As in...his Deck comes in the set with Ryuki and Knight's, the more heroic guys. It's hard to imagine kids buying that initial V-Buckle set being like, "I get to be Kitaoka, whoo! Masato, you get to play Goro-chan -- come shave my face and fetch me a brandy!"

Faking us out by making us think Goro is a Rider is one of the only times this show succeeds in such a fake-out. Because he's obviously a hooligan, we're shown the scenes of him watching Kitaoka on TV with an inscrutable look. We spend the rest of that episode as other hoods chase Kitaoka and give him a beating, so he could have been with those guys. But the shock...he shows up to save Kitaoka. The show's always mysterious with Goro -- what exactly his background is, why he's apparently so skilled as a manservant. Even before I read it, I knew actor Tomohisa Yuge obviously had to have auditioned to be a Rider in this show, so I wonder how he felt getting this weird role instead. Goro has his moments, and we'll see there's more to him than meets the eye, but...he's obviously here for the Akiba Yellow segment of the fandom to draw comics of him and Kitaoka. The show pushes things far with these two, but it's always seemed to me like a one-sided thing -- Goro's in love with Kitaoka, but Kitaoka's straight and just a bastard and what he loves is how devoted Goro is to him, and so he likes tormenting Goro by leaving him hanging. Goro's a rare person who loves Kitaoka genuinely with the added bonus of being the skilled bodyguard Kitaoka needs with how many people he ends up pissing off.

Inoue also brings some of the quirky comedy he can be known for with these episodes, beginning with the funny sequence of Shinji dreaming the ORE Journal office (and his temporary home) is on fire as he sleepwalk-extinguishes it. (Kanji Tsuda's reaction and the way Ryuta Tasaki direct the scene of the co-workers discovering Shinji's handiwork are hilarious.)

This quirkiness can also be seen in the bizarre subplot of Shinji and Reiko investigating the funky critters found by an old man -- some viewers might think this storyline goes too far in kookiness, but I think it works with the kind of sensationalist tabloid work that Shinji wants to do clashing with the level of journalistic integrity Reiko would like the ORE Journal to have. (The fact that Daisuke sends them on this mission should tell you, Reiko...Daisuke will print whatever sells and you're with the wrong paper!) It's a sidestep that leads Reiko onto the REAL story, turning into an investigation of the nearby pharmaceutical plant that's TURNING THE SKY NEON, which puts her and Shinji onto the path of Kitaoka. Turns out this scoop is a big zilch, as it's apparently not causing any harm. OK, but why is the sky turning into the time vortexes seen in Timeranger?! There's a cover-up and even Reiko's on the take!

The old man who's lying and painting crayfish gold and glueing hair on frogs always cracked me up. It's a bit sad that he craves the attention this story, being told in an online rag like ORE Journal, would bring him, and he's a bit of a shit for killing so many creatures in his attempts to make these freakish finds, but the actor's just so funny and likable. It's always nice to see Ben Hiura pop up in something.

Speaking of quirkiness, this episode marks the debut of Sanako Kanzaki. I've often said that she's my favorite "kooky elder" of Kamen Rider. Showa shows had the reliable Tachibana, Heisei shows get eccentric characters who you don't know what to make of. I've always loved how Kazue Tsunogae plays this character -- she's hilarious, she's at times over-the-top, but she's never cartoonish or grating. She plays it at a perfect pitch and knows when to dial it back and can also be dramatic when it calls for it. So many performances in Rider now are at 11 just the entire time and it's brutal and gets tiresome. (I'm looking at you, Ghost cast.) Sanako might be a kook, but she calls things as she sees 'em and is finally someone who's positive about our main hero, Shinji. Maybe it's meant to be humorous that the crackpot is defending him, I dunno, but I see it as she's the elder, she knows what she's talking about -- her intuition is never wrong, after all.

Sanako has the idea of having Shinji and Ren move in to one of the rooms above the teahouse. It's a real sitcom arrangement, but I guess it's convenient for the writers. The funny thing is, Shinji now has to work at the Atori. He still works at ORE Journal, in addition to being a Kamen Rider. Toku shows have a hard time juggling jobs for heroes, so they tend to just have the job exist in a magical bubble that doesn't need attention paid to it, but...Ryuki does a surprisingly breezy job of showing Shinji do it all. Where's he find the time, man?

Heroism Watch: An F+ this go around, as nobody makes it to the scene in time to save anyone. Even poor old Ben Hiura gets slice and diced by the zebra Mirror Monster! Inoue's obviously like "You want to see people get saved, go watch an old Rescue 911. I'm trying to write something interesting here."