Well… 46 minutes into OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let’s Go Kamen Riders, and if this is the reason why the authorities at Toei wanted to cut back on using previous Riders in Fourze and successive shows, then I can’t say I blame them.
So far it’s not a patch on All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker.
I suppose I should award points for the fact that General Shadow from Stronger appears… but seeing as I’d completely forgotten who he was as he’s such a last-minute-head-villain, I don’t think I really can.
[SPOILERS - major ones actually]
There was a lot of unnecessary melodrama in this episode – of course there was also a lot of melodrama for all the right reasons as well. The emotional resonance of Yuusuke losing Natsumi, just as he once lost Ai, should have been really moving but it never quite came across as convincing. Even with the idea that Natsumi may well indeed be dead (until the movie/next episode/next scene/delete as applicable) the facts never quite coalesced into the dramatic moment that should have been on screen before us.
Regardless, there’s also a lot to recommend this episode, so don’t let one misplaced subplot put you off.
A while ago, myself and Mister Watts were talking about the nature of Kaito’s ‘summoning’ skills. I never quite managed to work out whether he was creating puppets of the characters based on the details on their cards or if he was actually pulling them out of their respective universes. As of this episode, I’m going to have to say he summons them…otherwise there’s no way this episode can work.
It should be noted that in episode #18, Kaito summons Momotaros who very much, like Black here, exhibits his own personality. It should also be noted that it was Yonemura Shoji who wrote both of these arcs. This may possibly mean that the role of Kaito’s ‘summons’ is subjective and open to change depending on each writer.
Whatever the case (and who really cares, I’m sure you’re thinking), in this episode Black teams up with Black RX, Double Rider Kick and all.
Now you see them...
One thing I find myself missing though is the old Final Form Ride sequences, weird and disjointed as they might have been. Having skipped a block of episodes, I haven’t been able to get used to Laminated Card Mode or whatever it’s called and, if I’m honest, having a guy sellotape playing cards to himself and summon an echo of a past Heisei Rider doesn’t have the same kick or originality as two (or three) Riders teaming up for a last ditch attack against an evil foe.
Just saying.
This episode’s final scene with Minami Kotaro (and I’ve just noticed he managed to keep his whole original name as well as the original actor who played him) and Tsukasa is heart warming. It’s the kind of scene I watch these shows for. It’s a scene about heroes.
Now you don't!
So…next episode! I’m really excited! I have a soft spot for Amazon and, even though it definitely looks like a new actor will be playing him, I’m confident that it could still be a lot of fun (as long as Inoue stays out of the picture). It does seem an odd choice though. Considering that DCD is supposed to be ending with #30 or #31, it seems strange to spend two episodes in Amazon’s World before wrapping up the Rider War threads in the last episode or two.
Unless, of course, Toei are planning on running W and DCD concurrently come September.
Either way, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
[SPOILERS...for Hibiki's World]
I almost don’t want to write about this because I kind of half want to wait for #19 to roll around so I can express a proper opinion on the full storyline and on Ito David as Hibiki. First off, I feel I have to say that I can’t help but feel that maybe the Rider-with-a-monstrous-nature angle has been overplayed a tiny bit in this series so, whilst I can deal with a fatally ill Hibiki, I find the Hibiki-as-yokai/makamou plot to be a bit too much like retreading ground from Kiva’s World and Faizu’s World.
The most striking thing about the episode is the amount of returning actors although this, in a way, highlights sadly those who have not returned. It’s also somewhat sad to think that even if Toei had wanted to get the original cast back, it would have been impossible due to the untimely death of Kanbe Miyuki. Her presence, and indeed the presence of the entire supporting cast of Tachibana’s sweet shop were conspicuous by their absence, as were Hosokawa Shigeki himself and Tochihara Rakuto, who played the original Adachi Asumu.
The young actor playing the ‘new’ Asumu – Koshimizu Kazuki, who I initially mistook for Fukasawa Arashi, who played Wataru in the Kiva arc – does reverse a problem with the mutilated ending Inoue Toshiki supplied for the series (an ending I still, to this day, remain mostly ignorant of) by having Asumu henshin (outside of a daydream). The trouble is the suit worn by Asumu looks very much to be a modified version of the suit worn by that-character-who-shall-not-be-named and, as such, is tarnished by association.
A decided difference between the two Asumus however, is that the new, younger version seems to express a lot of more of his conflicting emotions, often vocalising his frustration in a way that Adachi never would have.
In terms of the storyline, there seems to be more relation here to Inoue’s admittedly enjoyable Hibiki & The Seven War Oni movie, especially with the roles that Zanki and Ibuki occupy in this world and just how close Ibuki’s role is to that of his mischievous daimyo persona from the film. One returning character I failed to mention last time is Todoroki, played by Kawaguchi Shingo. I am a bit uncomfortable with the suggestion of a relationship between Todoroki and Akira, especially since the romance between Todoroki and Hinaka was sacred ground for me – another casualty of Inoue’s poor scripts during the original show’s ‘second season‘. I’m sucking it up because, as with all the other worlds, this is not the original show and a certain amount of story compression is to be expected but, in my heart, I’m still rooting for Todoroki/Hinaka – yet, let’s also keep in mind that this was the same compression that resulted in Zanki playing Todoroki’s theme on his guitar and the makamou no longer appearing in Douji and Hime pairs but rather flying solo in their Kwaidouji/Youhime forms.
Yet despite the return of the cards, there was a distinct lack of singing! Where was the “ohayo!“, where was the “la la la la la la la la ~ la…la…la“?
"Ongaku Rider Decade"
One thing I was pleased to see the return of was the cards announcing characters and moves, a stylistic tenet that the original 30 episode ‘first season’ was criticised needlessly for, however the highlight of the episode was probably the arrival of Momotaros and his fight with Ibuki and Zanki in a genuine Oni vs. oni fight. Likewise, it’s always good to see Yuusuke in armour as Kuuga.
"I am Master of the Wicket!"
Altogether, this was a good episode with a lot of friendly and familiar faces…but I can’t help but still find myself waiting for the return of Hibiki…and I’m still not sure I’m going to see him yet.
In other news, *where* was Danki? (^________________^)
[SPOILERS...you know the score]
First off, the music for this incredibly heartfelt episode has been rightly epic, especially the slow piano version of Journey through the Decade. For the first time since, you guessed it, Hibiki, the music in the franchise has that right mix of ‘never give up’ and orchestral melancholy.
Speaking of which, there’s a lot of melancholy in this episode. It was only during re-watching #16 that I realised that TheBee was probably a Worm and that Kabuto was in fact Mayu’s older brother. It certainly didn’t occur to me though that Mayu might have been a Worm as well, an event I’m assuming is in relation to the original series’ Kusakabe Hiyori, who I remember there being a big fuss about back in the day when her status as a Worm was revealed.
One element of this that I found particularly striking was, whilst they were both being hunted down by Worms and prior to Mayu’s realisation of her own nature, Natsumi backed away as soon as the villain began to focus in on Mayu…almost as if, had not Mayu saved herself by transforming (or rather, had Mayu been human) then Natsumi would have been too scared to try and save her.
That possibility is truly scary in what implies and the fact that it again reaffirms that, in a world of monsters and armoured heroes, humans are fragile and terrified things…or it could have just been a plot device in order to introduce Mayu’s Worm status, but you know…
Another melancholy aspect of the story is the fate of Souji/Kamen Rider Kabuto, who is doomed to forever remain in the ‘Clock Up World’. This kind of event, this kind of heroic yet tragic melancholy theme makes both this arc and the character of Kabuto as much as the tragedy of Agito’s World made those episodes. We call this improving on the original.
I was somewhat disappointed not to see more of Arata/Kamen Rider Gatack as he came across, even when in opposition to Tsukasa, as a genuinely likeable character and I was surprised when noting that TheBee’s Worm form was familiar, to discover that this was the same suit used in the short ‘SMAP x Rider‘ special, Kamen Rider G.
"Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory."
Points of real significance for me were both the final fight, the style of that fight and, most importantly, Tsukasa’s heroic entrance into the final reel and Kaito’s cute gesture of triumph.
After that reel, things get a little tense. I almost cried when I thought Hat Man might actually be Hibiki but, from what I can see, there is a Hibiki present and, whilst he’s not your and my friend (and incidentally one of the two most Rider-like characters of the Heisei era in terms of character and heroism) Hosokawa Shigeki, he does appear to be an older character – which is ace in my book. I’m also over the moon to see the return of Shibue Jouji, Matsuda Kenji and Akiyama Nana in an unprecedented move on Toei’s behalf almost as if they were trying to make an apology to the author of this blog in fact.
I’m not so keen on seeing the Inoue-era silver Oni suit that looks like it was built on the cheap from cannibalised parts of other suits as they tried to ‘re-invent’ the show but we’ll give and take. Perhaps I can stomach all of this when, on top of the aforementioned returning cast members, Momotaros also makes a cameo – a character so perfect for a Hibiki cameo that words cannot express how happy I am about this (though, on the downside, I did also notice Ryuki there as well).
Certainly both this episode and, hopefully the next, have been events worth getting out of bed for. All that remains now is to see what the show, like Toei itself with the franchise, will be able to achieve post-Hibiki.
[SPOILERS...for the penultimate world!]
…and we’re back on track, which I’m relieved about as it proves the rule thus far that series that I didn’t care for first time around return with elements that make them much more palatable this time.
I won’t pretend to understand Kabuto but I was impressed with Nirasawa Yasushi’s redesigns of DevilMan characters so it was nice to see them in action during the course of this episode, even if they did come across as being a bit plain – although I think this may be in part due to the fact that the majority of ‘kaijin‘ appeared to be of the lesser class…apparently.
One of the things that impresses me the most is that, despite the set up for the original series being incredibly close to Inoue’s work on Faizu, the approach here is suitably distinct. I still don’t really know what ZECT are doing and the Worms aren’t that different from the Ophenoch but the atmosphere is what makes this better than Faizu. Perhaps though, this arc accounts for why Faizu’s World was such a radical departure from its original series.
Whilst the whole corporation-Rider angle isn’t dwelt on too much for these reasons, what the episode *does* do is provide some awesomely unique fight sequences – again on the Faizu note, the idea of using Faizu’s Axel Form against the super-speedy secondary Riders was fantastic – and some great character moments. The real show stealer is 16 year old Mayu (played by Kanno Rio who appeared in the film Dark Water) who I think might be comparative with the younger sister of Mizushima Hiro‘s character in Kabuto. Considering the fusion of characters in Agito’s World and, in regards to how this episode ends, I’m pretty much sold on the idea of this world’s version of TheBee somehow being comparative with the original Kabuto character.
Don’t quote me on this as I really don’t know how it would work but I do think this could be a possibility.
In other news, it’s nice to see Tsukasa using his Kuuga card again (as opposed to another appearance from Kiva) and it’s also nice to see him learning some lessons about fighting enemies that put him in his place without devaluing his role as the lead character. Likewise, the comedy value of DCD’s Den-o form character/armour cards and their utter uselessness is another nice moment. I also swear this is the only Heisei Rider series that makes the prospect of Rider vs. Rider battles seem actually interesting.
I, of course, am also very pleased to see the return of the RiotTroopers. The ZECT-Troopers are pretty cool but somehow they don’t seem as cool, although I couldn’t for the life of me explain why.
"Encore!"
But more than anything, I’m just relieved to see the pace of previous pre-Den-o arcs restored and for the series to generally be back on top form again.
It seems to be DCD‘s role as a series to fix Inoue Toshiki’s mistakes…and it’s doing a very good job of it too!
[SPOILERS, again, for Chou Den-o...and a bit of DCD and speculation on one aspect of the August DCD movie]
Kiva is the first item on the agenda. That’s what, three, four times outside of his arc now? Again, I have to wonder how much Kiva merchandise Bandai have left over from last year that they hope to shift. I was also surprised to find out that two characters from Kiva are turning up in the new Chou Den-o franchise – it’s really beginning to feel like Kamen Rider has become the testing ground for elements Toei hope to include in their spin-off franchise.
But enough of the complaints, let’s talk about this episode and let’s talk about what was good about it: for starters it was an improvement on the first part of the Den-o arc, secondly, I’m firmly of the opinion that the inclusion of Momotaros as an actual character improves anything. Even if part of the way in which he was used seemed somewhat random to me, I will fully admit that he was one of my favourite things about the original series and, quite possibly, one of my favourite things regarding the entire Heisei era. Kintaros comes a close second but as far as I’m concerned, Momo is the Imajin man.
People who aren’t the man are, obviously, girls and, speaking of which, it’s hard not to see that the actress who plays Kohana has grown a lot since I last saw her in the abysmal Climax Deka. She’s still not a patch on the original Hana but, considering she was a quick-fix for Shiratori Yuriko‘s absence, I wonder what Toei will do when they finally realise that their new girl is now a teenager and unable to play the same Kohana they originally foisted upon the series.
The other girls who primarily do nothing during this story are sadly, Natsumi and Naomi. The latter I didn’t expect much storyline for but I was hoping that the former might get a bit more, especially considering the whole End of the World sequence in the last episode. Perhaps, however, this was asking too much as the second part of Rider World arcs are always crammed with the majority of the action so there was never really much room for her here.
I won’t pretend to understand the whole DenLiner Form card vs. Momotaros Form card in this episode, but I am pleased to see Yuusuke as Kuuga once more and even more pleased to see Kuuga and Momo as a team – even if the Final Attack Ride card for this episode was a bit weird even by DCD‘s standards.
"Don't cross the streams!"
Undeniably though, my favourite aspect of the episode was Diend’s use of the RiotTroopers from Faizu. Mass-produced armour characters are one of my favourite aspects of this kind of show (quick, spot the Gundam fan!) and so it was great to them here – plus, their inclusion amongst Diend’s deck and the appearance of RiderMan in the trailer for All Riders vs. Daishocker (or whatever it’s called), gives me faith that maybe, just maybe, we might get to see an AU version of Tackle in that film.
"I Predict a Riot."
To wrap up, despite being an improvement on the previous episode, I still felt there was a lot lacking in #15. This wasn’t helped by the ‘two-ending’ phenomenon – i.e., having to have an ending for the arc and then having to bolt on a continuation point for the rest of the Onigashima Battleship movie and the necessary DCD cameos in that. I could have done without that.
I am however, believing that things will be back on track next week. I couldn’t stomach the Stronger!lite stylings of the Hibiki killing team of Inoue Toshiki and Yonemura Shoji scripted Kabuto and avoided watching even the opening episode for so long due to feelings of resentment towards Toei. In the opening episode of that series, I found little to convince me to follow the show – I’m hoping that Aikawa Sho (the writer, not *the* actor) will be able to bring the source material alive for me.
If anything though, I’m just pleased to be back in the realms of a storyline without tie-in considerations.
[SPOILERS...for the new Den-o movie...and nothing much else...alas...]
Before talking about this week’s instalment of DCD, I feel obliged to at least mention Mei-chan no Shitsuji and its massive cast of former tokusatsu actors, not least of all being…
"Yankee Pose #39949597357939794"
…Sato Takeru (Nogami Ryotaro/Kamen Rider Den-o) himself.
As for DCD #14, well to put it mildly, it was something of a disappointment. Things started out well, with the welcome return of Momotaros and the amusement of the whole Momotaros/Tsukasa fusion, but this quickly became tiresome as the episode progressed into various different combinations of Den-o Imajin x DCD cast members.
Somewhere around 8 minutes in, it kind of dawned on me that what this episode was going to be was not so much a story in itself but a recap of the various different Imajin we could expect to see in the recently released Onigashima Battleship movie, which features a DCD segment set chronologically between this episode and #15.
Even cosplay!Natsumi, the brief return of Akiyama Rina and a section taking place in the setting of the predicted ‘Rider War’ couldn’t quite stop this from being one of the least impressive episodes of the series to date. There were no actual characters to speak of – just the visual cues of the Imajin – nor was there any kind of discernible storyline, it was just…24 minutes of omake. I was half wondering why the time-travelling ‘villain’ and his sentai-villain-reject henchmen looked slightly like an evil version of Zeronos but not enough for me to care *too* much.
All in all, something of a disappointment for one of the most popular Heisei series. Hopefully the next world will have more substance.
Boukenger #22 is possibly the best Silver-era Bouken episode to date, which is odd as considering how silly it was if this had been Go-onger, I would have been bitching about it before the opening credits had finished.
I think that it was the Hurricanger vibe of the episode that made it so likeable (though certainly Yamasaki Mami’s cute stage magician outfit didn’t hurt). The whole dynamic of the set-up, especially the opening confrontation between the five Boukenger, Shizuka and Zukangami was not a hundred miles removed from a Furabijou-centric Hurricanger episode, thus furthering the personal ‘fanon’ of this household as to who is exactly behind Yaiba’s masque.
image courtesy of the wonderful automated_icons.
Considering how enjoyable this episode was, it was somewhat disappointing to see it reduced to an edited clip of the giant robot finale in Overdrive #17.
What did work about OO #17 was the fact that it was back to normal levels of Power Rangers absurdity, creating a story about the Norse gods Thor and Loki at the expense of two stories about a plot to lead animals in revolt against humans and Mogami’s former partner from his spy days, Toba.
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings,"
"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
(sidenote: the two screenshots above are interesting to me from a technical point of view if only because the ratio is so radically different).
It’s difficult to explain the appeal of OO #17. The episode still suffers from poor quality acting, bad dialogue and a script with awful pacing (not to mention an overt focus on Ronny) but the silliness of the notion of the Power Rangers teaming up with Thor wins over all that – not at every moment but certainly in retrospect. It’s that silliness that places it slightly above what is a good, solid character episode for BoukenBlue and certainly a more finished product. Bouken #22′s playfulness carries the episode in much the same way, so again, we’re back to the age old scenario of Boukenger being the superior story but Overdrive still having at least some charm.
Matsumoto Wakana makes a cameo? Possibly?
On a semi-related note, I’ve been meaning to mention Kamen Rider Den-O & Kiva The Movie: Climax Deka for some time now, but I can’t seem to find the enthusiasm because…well, it was absolutely awful. Not even Akiyama Rina in cheongsam could save it.
