We just get the show back to normal, and here's another goofy one to set it back! I guess they felt the need to focus on Megumi since she's new, and since she's comedic relief all you can really do is a goofy one. This might be my least favorite episode, though. It's just silly and disposable for the most part...
Megumi sees Shinji exit a mirror and then spends the episode trailing him and trying to solve how he does it. She comes to the conclusion it's a magic trick by demonstrating how she thinks he accomplished it at the ORE Journal offices. The worst part of this is Megumi's mirror-based prop finally causes things to fall into place for Reiko, and she realizes mirrors are the common link between all of the disappearances. And if Reiko needs a freakin' magic show from Megumi to help crack the case then she's really just the terrible reporter that ORE Journal deserves. But the show pretends like she's good and it's a shame they didn't want to put more effort in writing her so that she COULD be good.
The only real thing this episode has going for it happens towards the end; Kanzaki pops up and talks with Kitaoka, asking him how long he has left to live and telling him that death's all there is for a Rider who doesn't fight. (They film him freakishly, he ends up just gliding out of Kitaoka's place like a spirit.) He then appears in Eri's room and increases her heart-rate, Ren discovering the doctors now only give her days to live. Yui's starting to fade away like the Riders when they're in the Mirror World for too long! Asakura's lurking near Kitaoka's! There's gonna be a showdown! There's a real attempt at making these scenes just seem so big and building towards an event and climax, and it riles you up, but then you're like "Oh, this is just episode 33. We're in for more wheel-spinning and repetition because there's 17 more episodes." At the time Ryuki aired, that wasn't really my thought. You believe in the show, you're expecting more Riders, so you think there's going to be some resolution to the character dynamics and then some new characters will come on and create new ones.
Odin's just been teased, they're saving him for later, so we haven't really had a new Rider for a while. It was ten episodes ago that Raia died! We've been dealing with the four regulars since then, so it feels like the show could use some kind of shake-up. Now, knowing where the show goes? We only get Tiger and Imperer and they're certainly not the shake-up the show could have used. You're supposed to include the Alternatives in there, but...nothing about any of these characters feels long term. Scissors, you had no idea he wasn't going to make it past two episodes. Raia tried to be integrated amongst the regulars as if he was a regular. Gai didn't last long, but was tied into some important events. I feel like it's so late in the game that the writers don't even pretend like Tiger or Imperer or Alternative are going to matter -- they're handled in a way that feels more cannon fodder-like, because they know they're sticking with the four regulars. So, when Tiger's teased at the end of this episode -- and after you remember that the dreadful 13 Riders Special falls after this episode -- you come back and it's that waste of time horseshit with the three Tiger Decks and you're just like...ugh. Not interested. Maybe you should have been a 30 episode show, Ryuki.
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