Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final

The fandom was a funny place in 2002. Ryuki faced a lot of criticism for being gimmicky, too talky, not Kamen Rider enough. There's even gossip that Hiroshi Fujioka spoke out against it, like he's God of Kamen Rider and it was concrete proof that Ryuki, like, totally sucked, dude. So when Episode Final news hit, you had a ton of people spreading this misinformation that Ryuki was a dismal failure and it got canceled and it was ending early with this movie. Because that always happens! Shows always get canceled and are rewarded with a big screen movie to tie everything up! But some gullible fans bought this, either not seeing the logic of what I just said or not understanding that Japan, for some reason, likes to make movies out of what-if stories/possible alternate endings.

I certainly don't understand the choice to have a show that's built upon mysteries and a "who will survive" scenario deciding to make a movie halfway into its run where it offers answers to those mysteries. It could be a cultural thing, but the way Episode Final -- and the subsequent big-screen Rider movies that offered alternate endings -- goes about it just feels cheap and gimmicky. But it's a cheap gimmick that I bought into, because Episode Final was my event movie of '02. I thought the trailers looked cool. Disappointed that most toku movies are about as meaningful as the weakest filler episode, I thought this idea of the show having its "finale" with the scope of a movie sounded cool. I just really couldn't wait to see it, I practically counted the days until its DVD release. (Nowadays, there's a lot of English-speaking fans in Japan who will see a movie on its release day and write summaries or answer questions you have. Back then you had to wait. In Episode Final's case, you just might have actually had to PAY for a summary by the one person who happened to be in Japan to see it.)

There's a lot I like about Episode Final, but it also plays fast and loose with some rules and I ultimately ended up disappointed by it initially. And I never thought Ryuki was canceled and Episode Final was it, but I DID think that Episode Final WAS going to matter to the show -- I thought the show would hit the 40s and end in a way that would have bled into where Episode Final would land, with maybe an Episode 50 epilogue to the movie. So when the show hit the endpoint and was just cherry-picking elements of Episode Final, I was left with further disappointment.

Inoue writes Episode Final -- I guess Toei trusted him with a movie more than Kobayashi at that point -- and you can tell there are things that Kobayashi probably didn't agree with in Inoue's depiction of the "end." I'm guessing she offered up some of her ideas of where she was going and Inoue put his own spin on it. In my opinion, any of the sloppiness and narrative letdown in the Ryuki series is a result of Episode Final. It was just a terrible mistake to approach the movie this way. Agito was a show that hinged on mysteries bigger than anything in Ryuki, but Project G4 was just another adventure on the side, but had a lot of nice character moments. I feel like Episode Final was an attempt to be like "See! This movie's going to MATTER! It won't feel like a random fillery episode like Project G4! It's going to be THE END of Ryuki!" So they put all of their Advent Cards on the table and what you end up with is a mess. There's no reason why this movie couldn't have just been the story of Femme and Ryuga and take away any elements of it being the "finale."

Kobayashi seems to me, judging by other works, like a writer who doesn't have much planned out. I think she improvises and makes adjustments based on what's happening with the production, and things she discovers along the way. So even if Toei asked her before the halfway point of Ryuki's production what her answers to the mysteries were or where she's headed, she might have had an idea that she would have ended up changing naturally as she kept working on the show. So to have Episode Final blow so much in terms of answers or story endpoints, so soon, I think, kind of throws her and the rest of the series off. The best decision would have been to try to just ignore Episode Final. But if it did hold SOME of her ideas, then she couldn't just abandon that. So I think the show ends up this mixture of pieces of her original intention, some of what Episode Final did, and some things that changed as a result of Episode Final. So everything ends up tangled. By making Episode Final, the entire Ryuki production shot itself in the foot. And not just with any pop gun, but with Zolda's Giga Launcher.

And not even just in terms of how the movie affects the show's ending, but I blame it for the decline in quality in Episodes 24 to 30. I mentioned how those episodes just seem weird and they mess up the flow the show had by being kind of repetitive and most of them have a lighthearted (or outright bonkers) tone to them. And those are the episodes that aired as Episode Final was being promoted. I think these episodes exist as just a restating of the show's mission and status quo and offering light, standalone-ish adventures that's welcoming to new viewers who might be interested from Episode Final. As I noted, the clip show aired the Sunday before Episode Final premiered, so...I do think they were building around it. But see what I mean that Episode Final disrupts Ryuki before it even premieres?

What I like about the movie is how dark it is. It brings back some of the boldness that the show starts losing over time, not totally pulling its punches. I think it's filmed well; it's a slick looking movie. It's only the second Heisei Rider movie, so you can tell it doesn't have the budget it would honestly like, but they do try to make a spectacle of it -- one example being getting to see Knight fly around so much. (Knight's design is never cooler than when he has the cape/wings.)

Other than being the "finale," the big selling point of this movie, obviously, was Femme, the "first" female Rider. (You know where I stand on that matter, folks. #kamenridertackle) Miho Kirishima is a total Inoue character -- we've seen him use the template quite a few times already, a no-good, young shyster woman who becomes the main hero's kind-of love interest. Miho's never really completely soared for me. The "first" female Rider deserved more development, but I think some of it is because she's such a kitbash of a character type that Inoue's used one too many times that it doesn't make this "first" female Rider all that unique. I used to put a lot of blame on actress Natsuki Katou, as well. I used to think she was a little too young to pull off the role, but there's a deeper issue than that. (Also, it's cool since Katou's a well known toku/anime/game geek, but also that she continues Ryuki's sorta-tradition of casting past toku people as Riders.)

Miho/Femme is the one area of the movie that I feel pulls its punches. They want her to be as tough and deadly as the male Riders in Kanzaki's crazy battle royale, but they show her constantly being bested. And they're too afraid to have her be the one to kill Ouja. They also make her a swan, which...could there have been a more predictable choice? (Well, I guess it does cutesily line-up: Inoue's writing for a white swan again.) We're introduced to Miho as a scammer of scammers, but not only is that softened by playing it for laughs, but we're probably also to assume that she's only even criminal in order to get the money to maintain her sister's cryogenic preservation. Aww, so she's not so bad, guys, see?!!!

And while she's "criminal," she's also filled with rage and a desire for revenge towards Asakura. And while the movie doesn't let her get her revenge, letting Asakura instead be killed by Ryuga, I like that she realizes what it was that Shinji was trying to convey to her about fighting, and that she is grateful to him, and begins a road to redemption. That's when they begin to get chummy, with hints of a romantic relationship, but it doesn't completely work for me because of how Inoue depicts Shinji. Shinji's being a klutz, acting childish, and so Inoue has Miho basically treat him like a child. It's not touching to me that her dying words are for Shinji to remember to tie his shoes, because I'm basically like "Wow. That's stupid writing." I get that she was supposed to be somewhat sassy, so it's meant to be played humorously, but it could have easily been conveyed in a better way. The way Inoue writes Shinji here really robs the story of the bittersweetness it's supposed to have. (Also: how's about Shinji realizes what happens to Miho? It's like it becomes a different movie after she dies and nobody remembers her.)

Kitaoka takes an interest in helping Miho because he knows Asakura killed her sister and he feels guilt for his brief time as Asakura's attorney. I could never figure out if this movie was trying to say that THIS was the crime Asakura was put away for, and Kitaoka was the defense attorney on THIS particular case. That would explain Kitaoka's concern, of course, but it takes away from Asakura's mystique a bit. Don't you imagine something so much bigger being the thing that gets him caught? In the director's cut of this movie, you get the scene of his targeting and attacking Miho's sister, and...it's ordinary. He kills her with a broken bottle. Like...I don't even understand what future science is required for some bottle cuts that Miho decides to Demolition Man her. I think this cryogenics company might be taking major advantage of Miho.

Hagino's performance in the movie is, of course, great. I love his introduction scene being him beating down a gang led by Yuusuke Tomoi, and I love his casual heartlessness as he makes the connection with Miho. "Oh, I remember her. She's the one whose sister I killed. Hmm. So what was I saying?"

The idea of Ryuga as being the final Rider is strange to me. (I think this is why Kobayashi has Odin show up early and be like "I'm the 13th Rider! Me! That's who! I'm the final boss! And anybody who tells you otherwise is a goddamn liar!" And Odin's cooler than Ryuga, IMO.) But it might help to explain a bit why Kanzaki keeps Shinji around. Is Ryuga something unique to the Ryuki deck? (If not, well, then why don't all of the Riders have a dark or mirror counterpart?) Is Ryuga born from Shinji's decency, unique since Shinji is the "accidental" Rider? Did Kanzaki create him to be Shinji's opposite, making the most of this "accident?" Was he born as a manifestation of Yui's unhappiness that Shinji didn't keep his childhood promise? (I thought having Shinji and Yui once meet as kids was just a little too much -- far too cutesy and hard to believe.) A dark and powerful Rider being born of Shinji would be enough reason for Shiro to keep Shinji in the game, IMO, and take away that frustrating Scott Evil question I always have of "Why doesn't Shiro just kill him when he's not looking so that his twisted Rider fight can go smoother?!"

The hero having a "mirror" version is a cute and clever idea and all, but a little boring to me. Mostly my problem is that it seems like a cheat -- you're promising 13 Riders, but we kinda only get 12, because this is just a repaint release, dammit! I like the darker Visor voice, but I have to say...it's always been weird to me that they get Jiro Okamoto to play Ryuga. I mean, I think he's pretty good. He made a great villain Rider at that point in his career. But if you're going to have a "mirror" of Ryuki, Okamoto's not a great match for Seiji Takaiwa. Why wouldn't you get Naoki Nagase, who actually doubles for Ryuki at times? (And Nagase goes on to become the "villain movie Rider" suit actor beginning with Paradise Lost. He could have had a quicker start if they listened to me!) Okamoto's performance is cool, though -- he's just a boulder of a killing machine. His work as Ryuga always reminded me of Kane Hodder's take on Jason Voorhees.

Speaking of which, I just feel like there's a dark, eerie, supernatural and horror vibe to the whole movie, which is one of the things I like about it. As I've said, I feel like there's those vibes to the ideas of the show, but they're at the edges of the show -- this movie basks in them. The movie starting out with ghost stories being told, for cryin' out loud. The numerous Shear Ghosts that pop up throughout. The depiction of Yui's mirror image making contact with Yui is done in a very supernatural way, down to Yui's having to give something in exchange for her life, which ends up being her drawings of the Mirror Monsters. There's a story there that was never told -- why did Mirror-Yui want and accept those monster drawings? And then there's that mid-credits scene of the kid versions of Shiro and Yui meeting in the Mirror World, like the Mirror World is some kind of afterlife.

This part, though, is what I feel doesn't line up with the show. We're told this happens after Shiro is sent away to America -- Yui just keeps to herself, isolated, making an imaginary friend out of her reflection as she draws monsters. One day, when she's crying in loneliness, the reflection invites her into the Mirror World, and she stays too long, and the reflection gives her her life in exchange for the drawings. This is Yui's first contact with the Mirror World. The show, at this point, hints that something related to the Mirror World happens to both Shiro and Yui, causing an explosion that kills their parents, and that this is what leads to the two being separated by their extended family. So I think Inoue is diverting a bit from what Kobayashi might have been working out there.

This movie also confirms that Shiro's basically rigged the game; whoever wins the Rider battle -- the one who emerges strongest -- will have their life and energy taken by Shiro to be given to Yui. To me, this makes sense with how we've seen Shiro behave in the series, and I imagine this is one area that was completely Kobayashi's and her actual plan. But she then ends up diverting from this in the actual show and...argh, it's a mess.

That Shiro has the game fixed was possibly an endgame of the series; the surviving Riders come together to take him down once they find out it's all for naught. It's an interesting idea, but a little wasted here. (Especially when Ren's all like "I don't care if he's lying! I can't take the risk, so I'll keep fighting!" Like, you're smarter than this, Ren.) But it doesn't make much sense to tie everything to Yui -- he didn't think the whole "let's start an anime fighting tournament so I can give Yui a new life" thing through when it took him so long to even invent the stuff and get it started. Like "Oh, Yui dies when she's 20? Well, that leaves some time. I can get the ball rolling on that Rider stuff when she's 19, that should leave enough time." Similar to Shiro's banning their cards in episode 25, it's something that sounds cool, but just doesn't make a bit of sense in the narrative as established. He takes his time creating this stuff and setting up the Rider fight, the whole point of the Rider fight is to build up energy that he can give to Yui, but he's going to wait so long that Yui's time limit is just a couple of days away, but six Riders remain? I thought Kanzaki was supposed to be smart!

I like the idea behind Kitaoka's final scene. He realizes his time's running out, so he's like "Eh, screw this Rider thing." He leaves his Deck and he just tries to go out and live the rest of his life. So...I guess he figures if Magnagiga comes trying to eat him, Goro-chan can fight him off? On one hand, it's a cool "fuck you" by the character, just flipping off his fate as a Rider AND mortal, but on the other, you're left bothered that it's ignoring the show's rules.

And, damn, how bleak is Yui's end? It was always such a gut punch to me. She's mostly just a sweet, kind, tragic character in the show. Did Inoue go too far for shock value, or is this a tragic end for a character who saw no other choice? But it's a big moment. It makes Ren break down -- he pretty much just freezes and proceeds to watch the rest of the movie in a stupor along with the audience. It causes Shiro to freak out so much he erases himself from existence and causes most of the glass and other reflective surfaces in Japan to shatter. The sight of poor Yui's corpse is enough to get Shinji to rip himself out of Ryuga. Yui's suicide is such a shock, and it's filmed in such a sad way, and Ayano Sugiyama's performance is great. (Satoshi Matsuda's good when he finds her body, too. Ren goes a little bye-bye seeing her dead, and it's obviously traumatic for him that it happens in the same room where he lost Eri. I think it's safe to say that Lab 401 is haunted.)

I always liked the end of this movie. Things have gone to shit -- whatever Shiro did, it's caused an unending swarm of Mirror Monsters to be spit out into the real world. Only Ryuki and Knight remain in the Rider battle. They both set their sights on the massive amounts of Mirror Monsters and offer each other some kind (parting?) words, before transforming and heading into the crowd as the movie ends. It's a surprisingly more heroic way for these two characters to go out than what the actual show ends up doing with them, and you can't imagine it will end pretty for them, so there's still some of that bleakness since this story was never going to have a happy ending.

So, when I can manage to overlook some flaws and inconsistencies, I'll enjoy this movie, and tend to prefer it to the show's final episodes. Sad thing is, it needed more time to develop characters and ideas and give the other regulars a little more to do. (I think more could have been done with Ren, especially with Ren and Miho since they're both fighting to save loved ones.) Sadder thing? There IS a director's cut, but the extra material is mostly stuff that deserved to be cut -- nothing that adds to the movie. (And, in fact, makes the movie worse. When I last watched the director's cut, I HATED it. It's overly long and just unnecessary -- a product they could release, so they did, not one that warranted it like Project G4.) Shougo says: Stick with the theatrical version!

This movie being an alternate finale, and the movie premiering around the time Odin debuted in the series, I was expecting a post-credits thing where you get a glimpse of Odin's staff and hear "Time Vent!" Like I said in my coverage of 28, I think the timing of that episode and this movie is to introduce the concept of alternate timelines, but I feel like if they had done something like this, it would have been a nice little detail.

Kamen Rider Ryuki Episode 28

EPISODE 28

I've always disliked this episode. Its purpose is to be a clip show, really, but it does it in a way that basically reboots and retcons everything leading up to it. You only just stumbled in the past few episodes, Ryuki, but you mostly had a good thing going -- a dumb clip show isn't the thing to risk retbooting your show with. The funny thing is, this episode thinks it's high concept. You can't be a high concept clip show, that's an oxymoron. The clip show is the lowest form of television storytelling (after reality TV) -- a money-saving technique.

The idea of Shinji getting to go back in time and try to change the fate of some Riders -- I'll admit that I think that's an interesting idea, but it's one that needed to be explored seriously. That is, plan it out. Spend the money to get all the actors you need back. Maybe Episode Final could have been this instead of an alternate finale? Don't just do something like this and wrap it in a clip show.

I still wouldn't like too many changes made to what the show's established, though. For the most part, this episode has Shinji's awareness that he's repeating history come and go, so you can just be like "Well, maybe not much ended up changing, so you can just ignore 28 for the clip show it is." But here's a huge problem...

It really screws up a lot of cool, shocking moments with the Kitaoka and Asakura storylines. And while you're not supposed to pay that much attention to this episode, and just kind of ignore it and laugh it off...it doesn't work if you take the idea of time-travel stories seriously (unlike Kobayashi, who uses it as purely as a gimmick and crutch) and you certainly can't dismiss it when it's introducing the idea of time shenanigans and altered timelines to Ryuki, which will continue to use it. It's no coincidence that this was the episode that aired nearly a week before Episode Final premiered. Episode Final doesn't come right out and say it, but its proximity to this episode's airing has always implied that it's a product of time-related shenanigans, and that's what fans have assumed all of these years.

Anyway, the jailed Shinji lets Kitaoka know he's a Rider, and lets Kitaoka know he knows about Asakura and that Asakura will be a Rider. It's unclear whether this time-rewriting Shinji ends up aware sooner than he should be that Kitaoka is Zolda, robbing us of that great two-parter when Kitaoka makes Shinji believe Goro is, but...it robs Asakura's becoming a Rider of its impact. It's a WOW moment when Asakura pulls that Deck out and shows Kitaoka and Kitaoka's taken aback, fulling realizing just how wicked Kanzaki is. But with Shinji back in time, altering things...Kitaoka is now aware Asakura will be a Rider and he doesn't care, realizing there needs to be the 13 Riders in order for the battle to take place. You can assume that moment will come in the restraunt and Kitaoka, instead of being shocked and pissed at Kanzaki for his selecting Asakura, will instead know Asakura is now a Rider and not have a reaction. That all just sucks.

And it's hard to care for what's meant to be a weighty and haunting realization of Shinji's that, no matter what he tries, he can't seem to prevent Rider fights and deaths from happening because, on one hand it's just a crummy clip show and on the other, it's pissing you off by changing so many events.

And it just brings up too many questions. Why is Shinji the only one who has moments of remembering? How is Kanzaki-from-real-time able to converse with him? Or, better yet, WHY does he? The whole point of Odin's using Time Vent is so Shiro can undo the damage caused to Yui's drawing of her and her brother, but...if he can undo an entire year, why not, oh, I don't know, prevent Shinji from becoming a Rider? Kanzaki's little Rider fight would go so much smoother without Shinji, so if Kanzaki has this kind of power...?

I can't even let myself be amused by Shinji's leaving a note to remind him where he can successfully punch Odin, which IS a funny and cool moment, but everything surrounding it is so frustrating. And then Shinji gets on his new hobbyhorse -- protecting the other Riders. And you're like "No! Don't go there Shinji, there are only moments for you to look stupid to be found there."

Time Vent should have never been an ability in this show. That should probably be the only thing this post should say. There's no point in Odin even popping up at this point. It's really only to introduce the idea of alternate timelines, which I really think is just a way for Kobayashi to be like, "Don't pay attention to Episode Final! That's not how I wanted to end this story, so...erase that shit, Time Vent!"

Kamen Rider Ryuki Episodes 26 & 27

EPISODES 26 & 27

These episodes don't have much to do with one another, but both are mainly stand-aloneish lighthearted episodes written by Kobayashi. I think these episodes are fun, and probably the furthest a show like Ryuki should go in terms of the required wacky episodes, but that doesn't stop it. (That's right -- Inoue comes along with scripts that try really hard to outdo Kobayashi's comedic sensibilities and he really misses the mark.)

Episode 26 deals with Kitaoka tricking Shinji into taking over in Goro's place, because Goro himself is filling in for an injured Kitaoka. I don't know how that's going to work out for Kitaoka -- the Goro doing his job, not the Shinji butler, we know how that's going to turn out. When did Goro get his law degree? Goro's a thug! A criminal! What the hell could he possibly be doing in Kitaoka's place? Those cases are getting thrown out, man. There's a Suits-type of spin-off in there somewhere.

Shinji knows his plan to change the Riders as people is hopeless -- I think Kobayashi's rebelling against Inoue introducing this -- but he doesn't know what else to try. So he's trying to get close to Kitaoka and figure out why he fights, getting pulled into doing shitty chores for him and taking beatings when thugs come looking for Kitaoka. He finally remembers to just stick to his original motivation -- protecting people, even if it's the criminal shitheads who just beat him up. (And he DOES manage to save that one guy in time.) And you're like "Finally! There's the Shinji I like."

The episode's funniest bit is when Ryuki's inserting Zolda's cards into his own Visor, expecting the weapons to come to him, but they still go to Zolda. I'm guessing this came about because of some internet potheads who were like "Man, what would happen if, like, Ryuki used Knight's cards, man?" Zolda's too injured to do his own card swiping and it makes you realize how much sense it makes that Zolda has all of the guns and long-distance weapons and attacks -- by being in poor health, it often saves him from having to engage in physical battles and brawls. He gets into his fair amount of brawls, but he doesn't take risks he doesn't have to.

Episode 27's the better episode, in which a kid catches Ren transforming and entering and exiting the Mirror World and follows him. The early Heisei Rider shows, especially Ryuki, faced a lot of criticism in 2002, one by Rider purists being that the shows are no longer heroic or kid-friendly. So I always saw this episode as addressing that, and kind of flipping those critics off.

The kid is energetic and wants to be a Rider, even stealing Shinji's Card Deck. Ren tries to scare him off with Dark Wing and then transforms to go off and fight the monster that's been targeting the kid. Ren, remembering when he saw episode 5 of Bioman as a boy, lets himself be beaten up by the monster to try to teach the kid a lesson. Along with Shinji's words, the boy comes to realize that being a Kamen Rider ain't the fun, cool, bitchin' time he thinks it would be. I think this is a jab at the critics who were like "Kamen Riders are heroes! They aren't mopey, they're friends of kids and justice!" And if this is indeed the message Ryuki is saying, then I agree with it -- being a Kamen Rider's NOT supposed to be fun. You wouldn't want to be a Kamen Rider, because that means something really shitty has happened to you. It's fighting, it's pain, it's loneliness. Chances are, you're a guy like Shinji who's in way over your head. And this is one of many reasons why Heisei Phase 2 and modern Riders suck -- they take that whole moronic Marvel "Man, it's dope being a superhero and playing with toys!" tack, and it flies in the face of what Kamen Rider stands for.

I like the way that whole scene's depicted of the kid, Shinji and Goro all watching the Mirror World battle. After getting woozy, Kitaoka's motivated to get back into the fight, and so he -- and eventually Asakura -- join Knight's little battle. As if you didn't need any more proof that Goro was in love with Kitaoka, he breaks down crying seeing him fight, knowing how difficult it is for him. This is the same episode as Ren, putting on a brave face for everyone after there being a scare with Eri, goes to his room and can be seen crying. The kid says he wants to be a Rider not only because it's cool, but he can get back at bullies. If this kid wasn't so polite and nice-seeming, I can see a scenario where Kanzaki WOULD select him to be a Rider.

Ryuki makes it to the scene at a bad time, as Odin reveals himself, getting in some smacks (and smack talk) to all of the Riders, before engaging the Time Vent card. (Uh-oh, was my reaction at the time AND now. Kobayashi and her time travel obsession rearing its ugly head into this show was obviously a bad thing.)

The preview for this episode shows a very pissed of Yui telling Shiro that she wanted to join the fight as a Rider. I feel like that was another cheat. People expected Yui to become a Rider at the time, which I didn't think was going to happen, but it's interesting to think about. (What if the Alternative storyline had been about her becoming a self-made Rider? Imagine if after this episode, Yui just vanished for a while, and then came back as Alternative? Am I the only one that thinks that sounds awesome?) This was back before every character in a Kamen Rider show became a Kamen Rider or transformed in SOME way, so it wasn't expected or a given for someone like Yui to maybe become one. So I feel like that line and speech is there to torment the people who wanted that to happen. But it's a good scene, with Ayano Sugiyama going crazy and wrecking the Kanzaki place like some drunk metal band trashing a hotel room, and demanding answers from her brother and, finally, cutting ties with him.

Kanzaki says here that his motivation is to obtain the power from whoever's the victorious Rider. "The power to be a god or a devil." And Shiro's been depicted as such a nefarious creep that it's obvious he's in this for something that would benefit him -- I don't think, even at this stage, it was going to end up being the seemingly benevolent reason of saving Yui. There's obviously something important about Yui, and she's PART of his motivation, but I never thought the entire motivation. More on my theory and/or what I originally envisioned the show would do in the coverage for the finale.

Reiko ends up rewatching the surveillance footage of the prison the day Asakura escaped like she's looking for Easter eggs within it, when she catches a glimpse of Shiro in the Mirror World. She's smart enough to remember his picture at the Atori, and makes the connection, even spilling to Yui that she heard he died a year ago in America. Good going, Reiko! Are you sure you don't want to feed Yui to Venosnaker while you're at it? Maybe she'd make it in time to be digested with Akira, who you got killed. Geez. Ace reporter.

I shouldn't be hard on Reiko. I like Sayaka Kuon a lot and think she does a good job, the show just really doesn't know how to handle the character, and has her just keep stalling on her investigation because they don't want her to solve it, which just ends up making her look bad. (Even though I think it would have been more interesting if she did put things together.) But I like the moment in 26 when Daisuke's doing some lame, pun-filled routine with a cantaloupe he has, and Kuon obviously breaks and bursts out laughing at him, turning away quickly before then trying to compose herself so she can again face the camera. (She succeeds in masking her smile. You can be bested by a model, Jimmy Fallon!)

Odin's a great design, I'd like it if the show could have had a better landing with the character. I LOVE that they got Visor voice Tsuyoshi Koyama to voice him, the significance of which I'll bring up in the final episode and what I expected from the final episode. (Shirakura calls Episode Final Inoue's version of the finale and the show's finale Kobayashi's. I guess that post will end up being Shougo's version of the finale.) Since Jiro Okamoto plays Odin in suit, I'm curious who plays Ouja in these scenes from 27 and 28. He seems kinda lanky, so I wonder if it could even be Hagino since he has a lot of the same mannerisms.

One last thing I'd like to say about these episodes is I like how open they show Ren being with Yui. Ren's always different around Yui, and I don't know if that means Matsuda's a better actor than I ever gave him credit for or if Sugiyama brings it out of him. But Yui's with him to see Eri and she's torn up and feeling responsible, but Ren says that Yui's just another victim of Shiro's. He also admits that he only ever got close to Yui because he thought it would give him an advantage in the fight, so I guess his revealing this is an admission that, no, he DOES consider Yui a close friend now, so his original intention is now moot and he should also confess it. But I think Kobayashi writing that Yui is potentially another victim of Shiro's kinda tells you where some of her initial ideas were heading. This and the argument between the siblings show that Shiro wasn't meant to be some antihero who's just looking out for his innocent sister, but there's a deeper issue there.

Kamen Rider Ryuki Episodes 24 & 25

EPISODES 24 & 25

For years, I basically thought the show died with Tetzuka. By that, I mean...not just what I feel is a decline in quality in the show's second half, but the show just feels different. Some of it is the way it seems like its budget gets lessened, but a lot of it is the show starting to improvise on the spot and write to adjust to what they think is popular about it or expected it from it. Like...I think it's obvious that Asakura wasn't meant to last as long as he did. I have a theory he was going to be killed off by the end of 25. But he really jazzed the show up, they knew people would love him, so they kept him. And I certainly don't think they expected to keep him until the end of the series, but that's what happens. Kooky theory, but I feel like that shot of Ren burning the Evil Diver card in the episode preview kinda proves the original intention; but in keeping Asakura, they decide to have him make a Contract with Raia's monster instead.

Something about this two-parter just always seems slapped on to me. Even though the real decline in Ryuki begins in 26, IMO, I tend to unfairly lump 24 & 25 alongside those ones, and I think it's the rushed feeling of these episodes. And it's not just that Inoue's breezing in to write his own thing. It's the first time in the show that I feel like the momentum has ceased; it has been pretty consistently solid up until now, but this episode's scattered. I don't know how, but it's like when an American show goes on summer hiatus and there are shake-ups behind the scenes or they pay too much attention to fan feedback and the show returns for the new season as practically another show. Something's just missing. Different. A bit broken.

And this episode begins the show's almost trolling of the audience. Shirakura, Takebe, Kobayashi, Inoue -- they're getting full of themselves and it's not about delivering a quality storyline anymore, but moments that are "cool." Episodes are constructed around a "cool" idea, even if it's illogical or even outright clashes with what's previously established. Something that will be a real "zinger" and hook. You know the way Hollywood nowadays just likes having stuff that will look cool for a trailer, but doesn't care to actually implement it within a freaking narrative?

Episode 24 deals briefly with the fall out of Tetzuka's death. Yui's so depressed that she goes missing. Shinji's depressed for a bit before deciding the best way to honor Tetzuka would be to change the Riders as people and stop the fight that way. He thinks that Ren's changing is proof it can be done, but...c'mon. Shinji's not THAT stupid. He'd have to know there's no chance of changing Kitaoka, forget about Asakura. Just a few episodes ago, Shinji denounced Asakura as a monster and kicked his ass and demanded he turn himself in. But now he's wasting everyone's time talking about changing him? I get that he's supposed to be torn up about Tetzuka dying, but it's not believable. And you can't say it's the character just trying to convince himself it's possible, which is the only way I'd excuse it, because he's shown to genuinely believe in this ill-conceived new approach and uses it as a way to help console Yui. So it stinks to me of Inoue having disdain for Shinji and his heroic ideals, so he's intentionally making him look stupid. Cool guy Ren, though, of course is streets ahead enough to know none of this will work and tells Shinji as much, but Shinji's stuck on his plan for the time being.

Also smarter than written here? Reiko, who finds Asakura's hideout and buys his bullshit story of needing to see his kid brother for a shot at redemption. (AND the bogus story he tells her of being his brother's hero.) I could understand if Reiko got so caught up in covering this story and framing it a certain way that she let her senses get away from her, but it's again not presented that way. She seems like she's genuinely impressed to find that Asakura seems sensitive and human and...she's supposed to be smarter than this, and certainly more logical and in-tune with the way the "real world" works than Shinji. Why are she and Shinji using the same brain in these two episodes? At least Hagino does a good job in his performance as Asakura, at first telling her stories of hardships of living as a wild dog and then the tragedy (he caused!) of what happened to his family. You realize just how sick and sociopathic Asakura is, but everybody should have known better. It's been clear since minute one how screwed up Asakura is. No matter how convincing he is, Reiko would definitely know better than to trust him...

But she instead finds his brother and leads him to his death. The brother -- whose actor is a dime store Yellow Lion -- makes it clear that he wants left alone, but she keeps pushing him until he relents. And he gets killed. And Reiko never seems to feel guilt or even remember the guy. Asakura knocks her out and I guess she just forgets about this plot, as the viewers should, too. And I think Inoue thought he was being clever by naming the brother Akira -- Hagino, in his new image as Asakura, kills his old image as an Akira (Akira Suzumura/Changerion). On a random note: they should go and refilm Akira's scenes with the Lupin Red actor and CGI them into the show, because HE looks like he could be Hagino's little brother.

So, I think all of this was Inoue being like "Ooh, I've got a really cool story to tell about Asakura! Who cares if it makes everyone look stupid?" Like, you know Inoue was just dying to write something sick for Asakura. And the episode ends with a "Ooh, I've got a really cool cliffhanger -- what if Kanzaki cuts off everyone's Advent Cards?!" Fine, it makes a good cliffhanger, one that I fell for back in the day, but it doesn't make a damn bit of sense. Because he does cut off their cards like he's a pissed off parent cutting off their rich asshole kid's credit cards, but it flies in the face of what's been seen before. It's yet more overpowering Kanzaki, because...why hasn't he done this before? When Tetzuka ends up giving Ren the Survive Card, which wasn't Kanzaki's intent, why didn't he cut off that card? If he's so worried about Shinji or Tetzuka stopping the battle, why doesn't he cut off their cards? There's so many things that don't go his way that he could have prevented if he pulled this move, but...well, why doesn't he? See, don't just go with something because it's "cool." (Another thing in this episode that was used as a "cool" hook for the preview? Kitaoka collapsing. See the way the show devolves into just trying to trick its audience into thinking something big will go down? It loses its courage, so it resorts to these fake-outs and the show's above that stuff.)

These episodes end with Ouja contracting Evil Diver and now taking control of that monster. With the way even Ren's disgusted by Akira's killing, and the randomness of Zolda deciding to enter the fight, I really do feel like this storyline originated as being Ouja's exit, with the main three coming together to fight him. On one hand, it's a good thing they didn't, because Hagino often ends up being the best part of the show. On the other, it just opens up more opportunities for wheel spinning. (Much like the wheel spinning done by Reiko's dorky Urkel e-car when she happens to conveniently gets stuck right near Asakura's hideout. Man, her car...it's the Rideshooter of cars. I should take this time to mention how dorky I think the Rideshooters are, and that I think the production is under the impression they're like some cool gadget that Batman would get in one of his movies. Having said that, that didn't stop me from wanting the Rideshooter Hot Wheels in '02. That's how into Ryuki I was.)

The episodes could have worked, but they're just rushed and come too much at the expense of our characters. And while we get a bit of history of how Goro came to be employed by Kitaoka -- Kitaoka missed a critical doctor's appointment to represent Goro -- even Kitaoka's clowning around a bit in this episode, and will continue to do so for his next few appearances. The next two episodes are lighthearted, and then the show basically commits to its soft reboot with what I call the "Odin Clip Show," and then returns with two wacky, seriously out of place comedic episodes. Typical Terrible 20s of Toku, or something else? My theory is in another post.

Other than Hagino's performance, the part I like most of these episodes is the scene of Yui and Shiro at the seashore. It's filmed nicely, I like how Shiro remains ominous by being so far out into the water from Yui. (Does he use the sea as his reflective surface of choice here? That's cool.) And it's nice that Yui's affected by Tetzuka's death and makes you wish that the character showed more initiative, which these next few episodes hint at but never go anywhere with.

Heroism Watch: Ren manages to save a couple of kids at a playground from a Mirror Monster. He's obsessed with showing off the Knight Survive form which...I've never liked the design of. It's way too bulky (look at that ugly gauntlet!), it uses too bright of a blue, the enlarged visor makes him look like he has a shrunken head. It doesn't help they film the scenes with the visual panache of the local car show. The bike's ugly, Dark Wing's new form is ugly. If Tetzuka knew how ugly this form would end up being, he'd probably have torn up the Survive card.

The "shock" in the next episode's preview? Something going on with Eri! Yeah, they put that off for several more episodes. The sad thing is, I like that Ren has come to his senses, and he basically looks out for Shinji in this episode. But that's going to be going out the window in the upcoming episodes when Eri temporarily gets out of her coma. The way Shinji and Ren each end up going back and forth...it's just cowardly writing. I feel like they really wanted to end up having Shinji and Ren basically come through the show in reversed positions -- Ren's become the caring hero, Shinji's become one-tracked and wanting to fight, but it didn't have the guts to go through with it, totally and concretely. So we just get this back and forth and it makes the characters look indecisive, foolish, and just plain mental in the end. The showmakers are starting to lose control of their creation. There's supposed to be a complexity or like the back-and-forth is a depiction of characters grappling with difficult decisions, but that's certainly not the way it ends up playing in the long term; the show's staff stops putting in the amount of effort and detail it would take to make it play as such. If you're wanting to prolong things until the end of the show, they needed to keep the level of nuance they had been giving the show. Instead, they're content to just repeat themselves, and it goes from seeming like a subtle show to one that's beating you over the head and one that's more formulaic.

Kamen Rider Ryuki Episodes 22 & 23

EPISODES 22 & 23

I've always thought that the time limit in the Mirror World was sort of a cheat. The show's concept gets you to think "If fighting is so important, well...why doesn't someone like Kitaoka stay transformed all day and try to kill some people?" Well, the time limit. And now here the show's cutting us off before we ask "If Asakura's so nuts, why doesn't he stay transformed all day and try to kill some people?" by showing us him attempting to push past the limit. It ends up taking a toll on even him, and he just ends up blacking out once out of the Mirror World. So while it's great to finally have that nuts Rider who doesn't care and pushes past the limit, it's still a little frustrating that the writers concocted such a cheat, making things a little too convenient, at times, for a show that's supposed to be such a free-for-all.

Ren's finally come to his senses and is back on Team Atori. Sad thing is, when I'm rewatching this, I know it doesn't last long until he's willing to kill his dad and dog as long as it's for Eri and it's just repetitive whiplash with Shinji chasing after him all the time. (BTW, I find the scene of Ren and Shinji talking while navigating the rocky beachside to just be so awkwardly staged that I think it was a terrible directorial choice. And it also really doesn't seem like they're two guys who were lucky to just escape the brutal ass-whupping they got.)

Asakura ends up kidnapping Goro to lure Kitaoka into fighting, but Goro knows Kitaoka won't bite. This gets Ren -- knowing Goro's worried (and missing) to go yell at Kitaoka, and they end up fighting as Riders to a draw. Kitaoka maintains that his strength is that he only cares for and fights for himself, and Ren's trying to get Kitaoka to be concerned about Goro...it almost works! When Kitaoka's sitting at his desk and punches it in frustration before deciding to go and search for him (Goro returns before Kitaoka can do anything about it), I think Kitaoka's like "Damn! I do care." But you know Kitoaka, he's not really going to risk his own safety for anything, not even the one person who worships him. So he might care a *little* about him, but not enough to record that silly "Dear Friend" song with him.

But the more important stuff in these episodes is with Tetzuka. He finds an abandoned room full of mirrors (and curved mirrors) at the Kanzaki place, and also has an exchange with Shiro, who gives him the Survive Card. Tetzuka also gets a glimpse at the Mirror Monster Garudthunder, who wounds Tetzuka's hand. Tetzuka eventually reveals to Shinji that he became Raia because *his* dear friend, Yuuichi, was originally chosen, but refused to fight and was then killed by what ends up being Garudthunder. (BTW, I'm saying Garudthunder because...even though it's not winged, it seems to me like its name is based on Garuda, and since Garudthunder acts under Kanzaki's orders... That the thing looks like it could pass as Odin's Contract Monster is no accident is what I'm sayin'.)

I always felt like the show was pushing, as far as they could, the implication that Tetzuka and Yuuichi were a couple. You can make what you want to out of Raia being pink or having a long ponytail or that fortune-telling is often depicted as being a woman's thing in Japanese pop culture. For me, I think it's the way they film the scenes with Yuuichi. Look at the casting of Yuuichi, for one. You don't cast someone like that as just a bud, he's intentionally androgynous and soft-spoken. (Actor Takashi Nagayama actually just popped up in Zi-O last year as the guy who broke Yumiko Shaku's heart and mind in the Kiva two-parter. It was really hard to buy him in that role.) They film Yuuichi's concerts by having Tetzuka watch him lovingly. The biggest tell is the scene of Yuuichi's attack, when they're both just taking a stroll on a snowy winter night. I mean...that's one of the cliched things you'll find in a romantic montage in a toku! The couple out shopping on a snowy night. Lastly, Tetzuka's reaction to Yuuichi's being pulled to his death in the Mirror World. I think it might be second only to Takeru's "MIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" from the Maskman premiere, and you know how much that sonuvabitch loved Mio.

So, unlike everyone else, I wasn't all that surprised by Rider Time's attempt at shock value. I was surprised Tetzuka would be with someone like Shibaura, and how different Tetzuka was, and I should save it for the Rider Time section, but I'll cover a couple of things in a minute.

So, Kanzaki knows that Yuuichi is attacked and loses his ability to play piano and thinks he's a good candidate to be a Rider -- he can wish to be healed. But Yuuichi refuses, he doesn't want to fight anyone, he'd rather stay wounded than fight someone. Now, the question I have is...did Kanzaki REALLY misread Yuuichi or DID he sense a darkness in Yuuichi that he thought made him a candidate? If Yuuichi wasn't as peaceful as he says, if there WAS some resentment or hatred within him, it might help explain where Tetzuka ends up in Rider Time. (That Yuuichi survived in that timeline, but grew to be bitter could have caused problems that changed Tetzuka for the worse, whereas in the show, a kindhearted Yuuichi dying when and how he does, puts Tetzuka on a better path, inspiring him, motivating him to be a hero. It's similar to Ren and Eri, which is why I think Inoue makes Tetzuka an ex of Eri's and friend of Ren's in the 13 Riders Special, as a way to compare them and highlight their similarities.)

We get some glimpses of darkness in Tetzuka throughout the show -- sometimes, he's quick to snap at Shinji if Shinji doubts him -- and here it's in his absolute obsession in killing Garudthunder when he sees it, even holding Ryuki back and yelling at him. (Even Ryuki's like "Chill out, bro. You're acting weird.") He also harbors a lot of guilt over Yuuichi, because his death is something he foresaw, but was still unable to prevent. So, while Tetzuka's the only other truly heroic Rider in Ryuki other than Ryuki, I can understand a little bit the decision to depict him in a villainous way in Rider Time, even if I think that special was too rushed and low budget to give it the development it needed. (Which might have made it easier to forgive the decision to have him be villainous.)

Kanzaki's such a cruel, vicious guy, though. He tries to goad Tetzuka into fighting more by giving him the Survive card. He then attacks Tetzuka with the monster that killed Yuuichi. (Attacking the same hand/arm as Yuuichi's.) One of his reasons in choosing Asakura was because he was the one who wounded Yuuichi. And then he finally gets Tetzuka to fight by telling him that Yuuichi ended up regretting not being a Rider, and immediately leading Asakura to him. Kanzaki's line about Yuuichi interests me, because it sounds like it's just a taunt, but he says it with certainty and, again, there's a supernatural aspect to Kanzaki, like...maybe he DOES know that's how Yuuichi ended up feeling. Similarly, Tetzuka has a supernatural ability, so...the show should have dealt with this supernatural aspect more, but perhaps they didn't want to right after Agito. (Being right after Agito is why I assume there's not a doctor amongst the 13 Riders, because you know Kanzaki could have easily found a candidate in that profession.)

Tetzuka's roped into fighting because Asakura threatens the surrounding crowds. Having foreseen Shinji's death, he's mortified once Ryuki shows up to help him. I'm glad the show played it that Tetzuka claimed it was his own death he saw. Maybe it's predictable he'd die since he wasn't a regular, but if he had flat out said it was Shinji he saw, it would mean nothing. We wouldn't buy it, because we know they're not going to kill off the titular hero in episode 23. So it's a rug-pulled-beneath-you moment when Tetzuka reveals the truth, and you can go back and watch that fight and realize how close Tetzuka's prediction came to being true, because Ouja wipes the Mirror World with Ryuki. (I love when he offers Ryuki the choice of which Final Vent he wants to be killed with. "Pick a card." Kanzaki probably regrets not finding Asakura sooner, since Asakura LOVES being a Rider.) But Raia steps in and takes the hit for Ryuki. And Tetzuka gets to die with some peace -- his ability didn't allow him to save Yuuichi, but it allowed him to save someone as good as Yuuichi, who he realizes is going to have a big impact on things. I've always wondered why Tetzuka decides to give the Survive card to Ren and not Shinji, though.

On the Kanzaki Mystery front, Tetzuka realizes Yui's the more important figure in things than Shiro, and they realize the photo Yui has -- of what looks to be of her and Shiro as kids in the window of the Kanzaki residence -- has to be recent, because a train's reflected in the house's windows and it was a newly installed line. Here's another supernatural thing! It sounds like ghosts, right? This sounds like it should probably be some reflective/Mirror World versions of Yui and Shiro, but the show goes nowhere with this because I'm guessing plans have changed. (More on this in Episode Final coverage.)

And I kinda feel like these episodes are the first that are just blatantly shoving it into your face that they don't care about the point of return -- only being able to leave the Mirror World from where you entered it. There's no way Ryuki would have been able to get himself and Raia out of the Mirror World, seemingly together, because Raia had been in there fighting for longer than Ryuki, so Shinji would have had no real way of knowing where Tetzuka transformed and entered unless, like, Kanzaki popped up and told him. (And why would he?) Similarly, Asakura uses Venosnaker and the Mirror World as means to kidnap Goro-chan and...the only way that would have really worked is if Asakura used that nearby car and hot-wired it to take to his destination, but I don't think that's the case. Things like this show that the staff are starting to slip and not care or be consistent with maintaining their own rules or quality.

Kamen Rider Ryuki Episodes 18-21

EPISODES 18 - 21

Battle Royale was a hot property for Toei in the early '00s. It was a best-selling novel, made into a movie that became infamous and controversial worldwide. You couldn't escape the buzz for that movie, and Toei even milked its shitty sequel for what little it was worth. (There was a point where every cast member from BR2 ended up in a toku, too.) So, a lot of people in '02 made the Battle Royale connection with Ryuki, and you really can't deny it. The biggest piece of evidence is in the character of Takeshi Asakura, who's a TV-14 version of Kazuo Kiriyama. However...as blasphemous as it may be to most, I think what Takashi Hagino does with Asakura blows anything actor Masanobu Ando did with Kiriyama out of the water. I think Asakura would kick Kiriyama's ass.

I was so excited for Asakura's debut in '02. I had really wanted for a character like him in Ryuki -- an all out villainous, homicidal, psychotic, formidable opponent. I basically wanted a Yutaka Hirose Rider. Even though I like the villains with a surprising shade of grey, I feel like Ryuki really needed a Rider who just didn't give a shit. One who played by his own rules. One who really stirred things up and wouldn't care about alliances or magic wishes or feeding his Tamagotchi; a Rider who wouldn't be afraid to push a fight past the time limit in the Mirror World. Somebody who walked the talk and can do serious harm. That was all promised with Asakura and I thought he delivered.

I couldn't wait for the episodes with him. Nowadays you can download the latest episode (for free!) the very day it airs, which is still crazy to me. But at the time of Ryuki, you had to wait for slow-ass tape sellers to get the four episodes they'd sell per volume. So, that's wait around for four episodes to air, wait for the sellers to put it on their site, and then pay the outrageous price they wanted for four frucking episodes (which oftentimes was iffy quality) and wait then for ages for the seller to get it out to you. This was the horror of the fandom back in the day, and it was a farce. I was suspicious of the goofy guy from Changerion being cast in such a part, but he at least looked cool in pictures, and I freaking loved the Ouja design, and that Jiro Okamoto was playing him in-suit. (Not just because of the Changerion connection, but because I was happy for Okamoto to be playing a Rider again, and I thought he was really cool and made a great villainous Rider as G4.) Sidenote: after Ouja transforms, Okamoto will do a little slither-y flicking of his wrist. Seiji Takaiwa totally stole this for his portrayal of Faiz, and became better known for it, and it's unjust.

It's a rare thing for a wait like that to be worth it, but it was. The character delivered, the episodes delivered. 18 & 19 are treated with importance -- the stakes are high, and 19 has an "event" feel to it. (Watch the preview for it at the end of 18 and try not to feel the Chills of Epicness.) I like that 19 was such a Rider free-for-all that it's the only time in the series that the credits will list the Rider name along with the character's name. (A weird detail for me to notice and point out, but...still. The Heisei Riders were trying to be so much cooler than the standard Rider shows that they rarely credit the character as the hero like they used to always do.)

We had Sudou/Scissors, who was a sickie, but didn't hang around long enough to make a full impression. We have Kitaoka, who the show wants you to sympathize with at times. We have Shibaura, who's hard to take completely seriously because he looks 10 years old and that shaky game introduction did him no favors. So here's Asakura, and it's a kind of shocking character to have in a superhero show. A violent prisoner, one who obviously has a lot of mental issues. But what's great about Hagino is he gives a pretty grounded performance. You could get very flashy with this kind of role, give a mannered performance -- which is how I feel Ando is in Battle Royale. He's just about seeming cool and having tics. Hagino can convey the character's delight in the mayhem he causes without seeming artificial or over-the-top. Similarly, he is really good at displaying the character's simmering rage and frustration. He's just SO good in the part and ends up saving a lot of the show when it stumbles in its second half and will manage to be good even when they start to put Asakura in more outrageous situations.

There are so many villainous characters like Asakura in TV and movies that you just don't buy because the performance will be overly quirky or the writing will try too hard to make the person a cold bad-ass. And on the other hand, there are depictions of madmen who take it the other direction and are almost robotic and uninteresting. When Asakura's just passing time by banging his head on the nearest hard object or punching a wall, Hagino sells it. You're just like, "What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Hagino knows something about the character and his motivations we don't; he believes in the character. It's such a good performance and Hagino is such a good actor that I don't understand why there have been so many less talented people in Kamen Rider who are rewarded with great, mainstream careers, but someone like Hagino -- who did good work in his show, who has range and is committed -- can't escape genre works. He's better than Joe Odagiri. (Besides, Japan already had Tadanobu Asano, they didn't need the knockoff with Odagiri.) People like dweeby Den-O or pipsqueak Philip and the flop-sweating Fourze dork and personality-free Drive twerp get big...what?! Makes me want to go smack my noggin against the wall, Asakura-style. Fame doesn't reward talent.

Anyway...

These are the first episodes we see Shiro Kanzaki OUTSIDE of a mirror. When I first saw the show, I always assumed he was trapped in the Mirror World, and that's what one of his motivations was. But in these episodes, he's out and about and meeting with people and moving Kitaoka's chess pieces, so...there went that theory! There's obviously still limitations in how long he can be in the real world, but...Kanzaki beginning to just pop up as he pleases makes him seem a little too powerful. What was stopping him from interfering with real world stuff prior to this? What was stopping him from escalating the Rider battle before now? (And it's still several episodes away from him doing stuff like messing with Eri to light a fire under Ren's ass. So...why the delay?) The show starts to act like KANZAKI IS EVERYWHERE! Yeah? Well, why doesn't he stop the Alternative stuff from happening? That would save him A LOT of trouble, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

But, as Kitaoka notes, Kanzaki is one nasty guy. I love that he chooses Asakura just to help get things moving, knowing that Asakura has ties to two of the Riders and will probably leave guys like Shinji and Ren as stains on a road in the Mirror World. Kenzaburo Kikuchi is so creepy in the scenes when he recruits Asakura and then, later, when he stops by Kitaoka's to threaten him, and I have to once again mention how much he reminds me of Mitsuo Ando, classic toku villain creep.

I love the jailbreak scene, with Ouja kicking down the barred doors. But I have to mention that I've always been confused how it works. I've always been under the impression that Asakura just transforms in the real world and uses the Ouja power suit to break out. But when I just rewatched it, the way it's filmed -- Ouja breaking down the door, proceeding down the hall, with guards just rounding the corner -- seems to suggest that he's in the Mirror World. His escape is supposed to be a mystery -- when Reiko later goes through security cam footage, she doesn't see Ouja (just Kanzaki), which suggests Mirror World shenanigans. How's that work, when he needs to get out of the Mirror World from the point he entered, which could only be his cell? (The show forgets the little detail of the Riders needing to exit from the point they entered the Mirror World.) Unless Kanzaki was holding a reflective surface for him and was like "See ya outside!" I hate to poke holes in such a cool scene, so let's overlook all that. Sometimes, a show or movie has to just throw logic aside in favor of the cool factor...

I'd similarly like to know just how Asakura was able to afford to hire Kitaoka, but I'll let that slide, too. Kitaoka lets himself be exchanged for hostages in an attempt to clean up his image, so...maybe he took Asakura's case for some egotistical reason? Like, he intended to get this nasty criminal freed just to prove his talents, but that's how much Asakura creeped Kitaoka out -- he decided to drop him rather than spend any more time helping him. And it's a mystery just the level of crimes committed by Asakura -- the vagueness certainly hints that he's done all of the worst things you can think of. Instead of facing off against some Ex-Aid rando in a special, he needed to face W and be forced to count up his crimes! (Or, better yet, Skull.)

Asakura quickly gets to work once freed, immediately heading to a thrift shop for new clothes and the phone book in order to find Kitaoka. (He tears the page out. "Public property...private property." Billy Caulfield style!) He then goes directly to Kitaoka's to attack, in a coolly-directed scene, a swift little exchange from him attacking Reiko, attempting to strike Kitaoka, but being intercepted by Goro. He eventually winds up taking a girl hostage and holding a restaurant full of people hostage, and where does our hapless hero happen to be? In that restaurant. I LOVE that Shinji gets a big hero moment here, and that he FINALLY is seen in a better light by his co-workers for his actions. This is one of my favorite Shinji moments of the series. He also puts a mark on himself in Asakura's eyes; when Shinji says he's going to stay as long as the girl is still held hostage, Asakura waves him off. But when he later finds out that Shinji is Ryuki? That pisses Asakura off. I think it's that he doesn't like the "idiot from the restaurant" twice now being so defiant and standing up to him. Everyone treats Asakura like plague-covered evil incarnate, but here's a regular guy like Shinji stepping up to him and talking back -- fighting back, even, as Knight and Raia are frozen by Ouja's killing of Gai. And Asakura don't like that one bit. He recognizes a threat in Ryuki, and it's something the show sadly doesn't pursue.

So, Shibaura gets what's coming to him. It's funny how hard he tried to set everything up to be perfect (in his mind), and he really got in over his head. I like how he just has the balls to pull up to Asakura and spill everything about the Rider fight -- including that Kitaoka is a Rider, before then just driving off! He underestimated Asakura and paid for it. The character's so weaselly, it's an awesome moment when you discover that Ouja uses him as a human body shield. (It initially looks like Gai's the only one unscathed from End of World, but he took it hardest!) But that doesn't kill him! It's crazy that little Shibaura's still in the fight, pissed at Ouja, but is too weak, so he gets Veno Crash'd -- he tastes two Final Vents! A weird subplot, though, is his apparent kidnapping of Yui to lure Ren and Tetzuka into the fight. It all happens off screen because it's just hard to buy any scenario where Shibaura's overpowering Yui -- they're in the same weight division. And it's a little too much after Sudou already kidnapped her. (Poor Yui.) It makes more sense for Shibaura here than it did Sudou, but that was an early episode trying to amp up some drama, what can ya do?

Ren begins these episodes still in a bit of a trance, barely speaking, wandering and withdrawn into himself. If he was still himself, Ren would probably send Tetzuka swimming with Evildiver in the river they were near after their talk, but he just gives him a look and, I guess, things turn out OK, because we next see 'em just heading to the Atori. Ren finally gets to speaking again when he finds out Yui's been taken. Despite all of Tetzuka's pleas and calling it as he sees it, Ren insists on fighting. Ren has a cryptic line in 19 that says that maybe, at this point, he has a bit of a death wish. Like, it would just be easier to be killed than worry about any of the stuff he's worried about. And Tetzuka's spent all of this time trying to keep him alive! To avoid that vision he saw. And I think the death wish is kind of one of the reasons Ren decides to help Asakura escape. Tetzuka says that he thinks Ren's trying to "get back his mask," hoping to pick up something from Asakura, but I feel like a death wish is part of it. Hanging out with a volatile, unpredictable guy like Asakura. And it all ends up making Shinji extra worried, not only for Ren putting himself in danger, but now ORE Journal wants to know about the guy aiding Asakura. Shinji don't want his bud to be cheesed by the fuzz! Seriously, when Ren's off with Asakura, Shinji's burning up Ren's cellphone by calling as much as a worried grandmother.

And then Tetzuka blabs Ren's secret and motivation in front of Shinji, so now he knows about Eri. This scene's good because Ren pretty much just opens up, putting all of his Advent Cards on the table -- including the fact that he blames himself for Eri. And he's aware of what Eri would want, that she would want him to do the right thing -- that the best way to honor her would be to be the good man she thinks he can be. But his love for her is wrapped with guilt and so many other feelings that he can't just move on that easily, so it's a believable component to the character and keeps his motivation from being frustrating to the viewer. There's so much forced drama in later Rider shows that you're like "These stupid characters could resolve this with one conversation!" Ren's story had the risk of being like that, but it's not. He's a little more complicated. And so then he's back to Asakura's side, trying to learn how to be cold.

Shinji's uncertain what to make of the news, feeling like Ren's fighting for a pretty selfless reason and that he's no longer in any position to try to stop him. Tetzuka points out that all Riders are fighting for something personal. It's supposed to be a tell about Tetzuka, but it seems like it flies over Shinji's head. Although Shinji is written to be super altruistic, to the point where he is pissed about someone like Shibaura being killed senselessly by Ouja, these episodes are a glimpse of things to come in terms of Shinji's just total blind faith in Ren. He gets a little too obsessed with Ren. And, sure, he knows Ren's decent deep down, and he certainly has more heroic qualities than mostly every other Rider here, and he feels sorry for him, but...like I said many a time during my Liveman coverage, there's a fine line between our heroes being good and caring and just being chumps. Shinji ends up taking quite a few visits to Chumptown later on. (I'll mention here that I remember on the making of Episode Final, Takamasa Suga was kind of grumbling that he had to be like "Hey, Ren!" and chase after him for the umpteenth time.)

There's a lot of little subtleties happening to Ren here that...I used to blame on Matsuda's performance, but he's not totally to blame, even though he still delivers some lines in a bemused way that doesn't make the character seem like he's really in such a serious situation. Ren here is trying to bottle up his feelings and trying to see Shinji as a villain; he's trying to make himself believe that, but when Matsuda's saying lines in that sing-songy way, it gives everything a falseness. You feel like he's just putting up a ruse, not having this tug-of-war with himself. He's not exactly smarmy, but it's in the neighborhood. The situation seems more like he's trying to pull one over on Asakura, when he's supposed to be pulling one over on himself!

But the bigger problem is I feel like they don't let a lot of this internal strife within Ren breathe, so at times he seems like he has multiple personalities, other times he just seems wishy-washy. It doesn't come across like the big crisis of the soul it should. He tries this "learn from Asakura" thing for an episode and a half -- trying to urge Asakura to take Ryuki out -- before then just going back to bailing Ryuki out. It's nowhere near as bad as some of the character "changes" that go on to happen in Faiz -- remember when Takumi betrayed his pals to join Lucky Clover then betrayed Lucky Clover to join his pals and then betrayed his pals to join Smart Brain and then betrayed Smart Brain to join his pals and then betrayed his pals to join his pals? -- it just would be so much stronger, have the full impact it's supposed to, if it just took it a little slower.

Look at this: Ren was trying to get Asakura to kill Shinji for him, basically, so he wouldn't have to worry about doing it himself. That's very fucked up! That's a crazy plan to have the main hero of the show consider. He knows it's wrong and steps in to save Ryuki, but it's still quickly just waved off, like the show is Asakura and we're the idiot in the restaurant. But Shinji shows up to Asakura's hideout and challenges Ren to a fight first; the implication, I feel, being that he knows Knight wouldn't end up harming him, and he'd come to his senses in time.

I do like that moment when Ren's watching Ouja battle Ryuki, and he just knows it's not right, so then enters the battle and prevents Ouja's Final Vent. He gets in a line about wanting to kill Ryuki himself, and you're like "Son of a bitch! Don't do it, Ren, don't take a page out of the Crisis Playbook of Villain Cop-outs, don't!" But then he follows that up with telling Ouja he'll take (Ouja) out first, and that saves it for me.

Ouja, proving what a tough bastard he is, makes a Contract with Gai's Monster. Ouja was already a threat enough, but it's great that they overpower him on top of it -- Kanzaki's stacking his deck on purpose by giving him extra Contract cards. You feel like the axe is right above everyone else's heads. I wonder, though -- why does Gai's Monster, of all Monsters, seem to show loyalty to Gai? He goes on a full-on vendetta against anyone who he thinks looks like Asakura! It's crazy. But it's interesting that Ouja performs Gai's Final Vent, and Knight takes the hit in the exact way he does in Tetzuka's vision. I always figured that Knight only ended up getting killed in that vision because it was at his low point and when he was doubting himself. Now that he's regained some sense and is doing the right thing again, he's strong enough to survive what should have been an even more powerful attack since it's coming from Ouja rather than Gai.

Kanzaki meets up with Shinji for a scene, going into the spiel he does when recruiting Riders, knowing Shinji's never really been given the proper introduction to things. When Shinji refuses to give Kanzaki a reason to fight, Kanzaki drops the chilling parting shot that Shinji's wish must be to die in the Rider battle. Oh, what a bastard...and this is after he's like "You're the accidental Rider. I'm surprised you've made it this far."

Yui begins to investigate things in this batch of episodes, and...these episodes are made around the time of Episode Final, they're leading up to Episode Final and...it's a bad indication of things to come in the series. She gets a vision of drawing brightly colored monsters! Uh-oh...

BTW, in the episode when Asakura's holding the restaurant hostage, the actor who plays the head cop on the scene is Masahiro Sudou...aka Spielban's Youki! You've done messed up when they're sending Youki to be the hostage negotiator.

Officer Youki reporting for duty. AAAHH!!!

One last thing. Asakura's often repeated line ("irairasurundayo") is frequently translated as "vexed." What is he, in Downton Abbey? It means to be irritated, to be pushed to the brink of annoyance. It's supposed to be kinda funny that this insane guy will just snap at a moment's notice, kill a dude and be like "Well, I was irritated." It's cutesy, but considering his Pokemon is a rattlesnake, I always said I'd make the line "I'm getting rattled."

Kamen Rider Ryuki Episodes 15-17

EPISODES 15 - 17

Inoue returns for episodes 15 & 16 and he brings along with him nobody's favorite Rider. Jun Shibaura, Kamen Rider Gai...I don't totally hate the character, but in retrospect, I just kind of see him as an unnecessary diversion from getting to Ouja! I think Shibaura's an appropriately evil character, and that he's a beyond spoiled rich kid is such an Inoue idea. Shibaura's a sociopath who likes toying with people. He's an entitled, rich prick. Give him a coke habit, and it's like a Bret Easton Ellis character becoming a Kamen Rider. And I think actor Satoshi Ichijou is too good at playing this character, because he succeeds in making the character really just so damn obnoxious and unlikable -- you hate him. My problem with the character has always been...his whole introduction through that web video game or whatever is just done so poorly and is so lame. I don't even know how a writer can come to that decision. "How to bring on the new Rider...I know, this dumb video game shit!"

On one hand, I can appreciate what they're going for -- it's just so screwed up that this young brat is putting on this game which seriously harms his classmates and supposed friends. This game, which is his creation, supposedly hooks his friends to the point where they're not happy until they're reenacting it for real. The show depicts this *horribly*, and is all just a set up to launch Shibaura's obsession with turning things into "games" -- you know those types of characters that toku loved in the early '00s that totally didn't get old fast. (Shibaura's obviously more the type to go to some developing country and hunt people, don't you think?) What's this horseshit with trying to have it be a very outdated video game, what looks like the Game Gear version of Mortal Kombat? And if that's not bad enough, Toei hauls out 16 YEAR OLD Kinclone masks from Spielban and spray paints 'em silver for the fighters in this "game" to wear. (Why mask them? Just so there can be confusing reports of masked fighters, which makes Shinji panic that someone's caught wind of the Riders. It would have been interesting if Shibaura did this as a way to attract attention to himself from other Riders, but that's apparently not the case.) Of all of the masks to repaint...the goofball Kinclones. ANY other grunt mask would have been better. Even a Cottopottoro, you ask? OK, maybe not them.

If they weren't going to iron this idea out and put the effort into executing it better, then they should have gone with something else. It's a bad debut for the new character, who actually is a little important, and it's hard to get you to care about him when it comes across so cheap and stupid. Oh, and the victor of these battles will take the buttons from the cloak of their victims, which we all know Inoue recycles for 753 in Kiva -- and it's not good there, either.

What a joke ORE Journal is, man. Shibaura hacks their system and threatens them until they let him take over the company and Shinji and Daisuke are seen advertising the new and still-not-improved paper, and...Shibaura's in charge for, like, a day before being bested, losing interest and moving on. How's that all look to the public and advertisers? But I like his takeover of ORE Journal more than that Shaq-Fu stuff of the first episode, because we at least get some fun scenes and humor out of it. Shibaura remains a dick, roasting everyone at the ORE Journal. Secondly, Suga's hilarious as he's typing up praise for Shibaura as if his brain can't accept the bullshit of it all and is trying to get his fingers to stop typing. But most importantly -- computer dork Shibaura VS computer dork Shimada is the best. After he insults her, she makes it her mission to get even, and the scene where she goes to the Atori to launch her attack is gold, Kurihara's quick intensity and Ayano Sugiyama's perplexed reactions both a riot. Shimada's the one who saves the day, stopping Shibaura from forcing his dumbass game onto the subscribers' computers (make a timely joke about U2 forcing their dumbass album onto your iTunes here), which makes him lose interest and abandon the company.

It's a good thing Shibaura's a sickie who likes toying with people, or else this would be Shinji's final episode. If Kitaoka had gotten his hands on Ryuki's Dragredder card? It would have been torn up right there. But Shibaura hangs onto it so he can keep tormenting Shinji, which is his mistake, since Knight and Raia manage to get it off of him.

I don't know how the writers room worked at Ryuki, but it's kind of sad to go from Ren ending the previous two-parter finding a sort of peace, being OK with saving Shinji, to Inoue coming in here and having Ren decide he needs to cut himself off again. I guess they had to accelerate things knowing Ouja was coming up and what his appearance entails, but it's a little too sudden. There needed to be a scene between Ren and Shinji, instead of just having Ren space out as he washes dishes and going over everything in his head. And when Tetzuka's following Ren, Ren's one reaction is to just stick to his version of the story -- he's in it to fight Riders! -- when Tetzuka and we viewers know differently. Maybe it's not a Japanese reaction, but I'd rather Ren keep silent or just tell Tetzuka to piss off. His denials, his restating his mission just all sounds like thou doth protest too much. And it can just get repetitive after a while -- I don't care if you're afraid that some viewers aren't up to speed; if they liked the show, they'd have been watching every single episode!

I think it would have been better if Ren had still just been OK with Shinji, but the thing that gets him to waver again is his hesitation to kill Gai. After that, have him go over things in his head, have that be what gets him fixated on winning and Eri again and looking for a way to emotionally distance himself from Shinji. That way, it would have been a short bit of peace for Shinji, and growth for Ren, and it would have ended in the same result, but not be the immediate step back from the previous episode's advancement. But I feel like that might be Inoue's fault -- he wants to write the cool guy being cool. (And, hey, it IS cool when he's just wandering down the street, purposely bumping into a punk who then chases after him and just *PUNCH*. And then the punk's buddy approaches him and then *PUNCH*. And then some other pest taps his shoulder and it's *PUNCH BLOCKED* by Tetzuka.)

Kobayashi writes 17, which is a kind of cool-down. Ren's a little more back on track. His hesitation to strike Gai nearly brings Tetzuka's vision to reality, but Ryuki steps in. Tetzuka warns that Ren's not in the clear yet, and also that Ren loses either way the story goes -- whether he loses the battle and therefore Eri or wins the battle, but at the cost of his humanity. Matsuda's pretty good in the scene when Shinji tells him how proud he is of him -- that's the last thing Ren wants to hear, so he has a bit of a break-down and just goes kinda catatonic for the rest of the episode, having to be hauled back home by Shinji and Tetzuka. But does Ren hesitate to kill Gai because he can't kill or because Shibaura's basically a kid? Speaking of Shibaura, he's picked up by the police (cybercrimes division?) until his rich daddy calls Kitaoka to bail him out! That they employ Kitaoka, who calls the patriarch a treasured client, tells you all you need to know about the Shibaura family.

Heroism Watch: After giving a woman a particularly negative reading, that woman is eventually grabbed by a Mirror Monster, but Shinji manages to save her in time by giving the monster a good ol' Showa-style jump kick.

Now here it is, your Moment of Zen: