[SPOILERS...for the one person who might be expecting this]
I must admit it did take me right until the end of this episode to really get into this and part of that came with the transition from Black RX to Black. That sounds like I’m already complaining doesn’t it? Well, I am. Black RX is the proto-Heisei, which isn’t such a bad thing as, by default, it is very much the blueprint for Kuuga, but it does mean that it is something of a series with ‘two masters’.
As the absence of my curmudgeonly reviews will attest, I’ve been away from the series for a while. I did watch #24 but had absolutely nothing to say about it so saw little point in trying to update about it. The other two post-Hibiki episodes…well, I’m trying my best to forget them in all honesty.
"Who's Bad?"
I love the internet in that it obviously connects people and allows for the almost instantaneous passing on of information and data. Sadly it also allows, at the click of a mere mouse button, for the casual nostalgic to discover what became of icons of his or her rose-tinted youth. Seeing Battle Hopper’s weather-worn form amongst the dead of the Tokusatsu Graveyard was a defining moment for me. Knowing this, I found myself somewhat cynical when this episode was announced and it was revealed that DCD and RX would be fighting Fangries and Imajin.
Still, some classic period monsters are represented, the most notable, for me at least, being Black’s Rhino Mutant (or Rhino BASTARD as I began to call him during Super Hero Retsuden). It will be interesting to see just how many classic monster suits are present in the forthcoming film and how many are newer creations or new suits modelled on older villains.
There’s a lot of emphasis on the Yuusuke/Natsumi pairing in this episode with Yuusuke getting one of his best scenes of recent times (and a Kuuga transformation to boot) in order to attempt to rescue Natsumi from the poisonous attack of X’s Apollo Geist. Little scenes like this went a long way to smoothing over some of the dislocation I felt from not being familiar with the previous post-Hibiki arcs.
One character who hasn’t evolved sadly is Diend, who still seems to be acting like a dick despite not having much of a reason to do so anymore. I’m strongly believe this is a case of the writers/staff not really knowing what to do with him and I must admit to feeling a tiny bit disappointed with this.
Other than that, it really is the transition to ‘Black’s World’ that has me excited. Kurata Tetsuo has obviously aged, there’s no point in trying to deny it, but it is nostalgic seeing him throw all the old moves. I’m not sure why the two shows have been fragmented into separate worlds but I’m not going to argue as, technically, all the Showa Riders are supposed to have been a part of the same continuity and thus, to get any kind of mileage out of the DCD formula, you need to take liberties. So fair enough, things will be broken down piecemeal but, hopefully along the way, it means we’ll also get a chance to see some fairly unique team ups – like the next episode’s Black/Black RX Double Rider team – and that certainly makes things at least interesting.
"I'm looking at the Man in the Mirror!"
Part of me is hoping we’ll now get to see a lot more of the Showa Riders in upcoming episodes but, realistically, I fear all of this is just a lead in to All Riders vs. Daishocker.
Feel free to prove me wrong, Toei!
Posted by utsukushuudreamer 
Posted by utsukushuudreamer 
Posted by utsukushuudreamer 
