Kamen Rider DCD #31 Review (SPOILERS)

[SPOILERS...for the 12/12/09]

TRUFAX.

Asking if I liked DCD #31 isn’t the right question here. What should be asked is, did I like a 24 minute trailer for a forthcoming Kamen Rider W film in December? That is the question.

The answer, by the way, is no. Points out of ten have to be awarded however for the fact that Toei managed to offer up such a inconclusive and lacklustre episode. It’s difficult to highlight the ways in which this episode failed but, for starters, let’s begin with canon!Blade and his utter irrelevance and, whilst we’ve got you on that note, that’s level a similar accusation at the return of canon!Kiva and predict that the same arbitrary logic was responsible for selecting canon!Agito for the All Rider film.

Then let’s talk about Apollo Geist and how it is now impossible to count how many seconds, minutes, hours or days by which he has outstayed his welcome. A character that proved an interesting choice for the Black arc and served as an awesome suggestion of what lay in store for the upcoming movie has now become an irritating and petty character who turns up, achieves nothing and then runs away. His use of Fangrie ‘magic’ to prolong his life would have been interesting if it weren’t for the fact that Toei’s Kiva bias is already very much evident in countless other DCD subplots. The same results, I wish to point out, could have been achieved by Geist becoming an Orphenoch.

Moving on, let’s touch on the actual ‘Rider War’ established in episode #1. Towards the end of this episode, the story begins to take root and for the briefest of moments, I was convinced that we might see some kind of conclusion regarding the long running themes of this series. I feel like an idiot for even hoping for such a thing, and the prospect of this entire storyline being wrapped in a Kamen Rider W film scheduled for December does nothing for me.

So, what did I like about episode #31? Well…in all honesty, I liked Yuusuke’s determination, I liked the fact that Kaito finally seemed to be acting like he was on the same team as the rest of the main cast, and I liked the roles of kid!Wataru and kid!Asumu, even if their presence was abruptly terminated by a desperation to try and tie in the episode with the vague idea of what happened during the series’ opening.

Other than that, there was nothing here to recommend the episode at all, which is damn shame as it promised so much but managed to deliver so little. Even the famed ‘Rider War’ wasn’t really present in the actual ‘conclusion’, save for possibly one scene.

During the course of the original Kuuga, Godai Yuusuke was offered one seemingly insignificant but very important piece of advice: ‘Don’t do a half-arsed job‘. I can’t help but wish Toei had followed that advice when producing Kamen Rider DCD.

All in all episode #31 is a dissapointing end to what could have been the best Hesei series in a long time…but wasn’t.

Kamen Rider DCD #30 Review (SPOILERS)

[SPOILERS... for Bride of Dai-Shocker!]

I can’t say I was really taken with this episode. In my heart, regardless of whoever wrote this part of the series, I was always aware that it probably wasn’t going to work for on the same level that the reconstruction of the Heisei Rider shows worked. There’s just too much pointlessness going on and not enough character.

Having said that, I was really pleased to see both young!Wataru from the Kiva arc and new!Asumu appear in this episode. That kind of, for me at least, meant that watching this episode wasn’t a complete bust. I’m not sure if I ‘believe’ in the all-but-off-screen deaths of Akira and Todoroki during this episode (in that, I don’t doubt they happened according to the show, but that there was no reason for them) but what the hell, personal continuity for the win, yeah?

As an aside, have I mentioned how awesome young!Wataru’s eyebrows are? ^^

"Illogical, captain."

So anyway, this episode seems to be mostly about Apollo Geist getting married to not!Mari, getting an out-of-the-blue Fangrie upgrade in order to extend his life…and then wasting our time with pointless battles.

That’s it.

Honestly, nothing else happens.

Perhaps fans of Blade will have a different opinion and will be excited to see canon!Blade returning and almost being in the same scene as his counterpart, but for me I was kind of indifferent. Really it was only the presence of the two younger heroes that really made an impact on me.

I’ll fully admit that there are a lot of nuisances I probably missed and whatnot, but overall the late addition of Apollo Geist as the series’ ‘big bad’ and the determination by Toei to work whatever loose ends or vague ideas they had around this point seems to let the show down. This seems to be a continuing trend for these shows though and I’m beginning to wonder if, in order to judge a Heisei Rider show, it’s not the beginning or the end episodes you need to watch but roughly around episodes #19 – 25 as this seems to be the point where shows often change direction.

Whatever the case, episode #29, lacklustre as it was, has now passed and we’re on course for the final episode.

I wish I was more excited about it. It seems a shame for a show that had such a promising start to end on such a bland note.

Kamen Rider DCD #29 Review (SPOILERS)

[SPOILERS, all of which you can no doubt guess]

Let’s be honest, readers, this episode could have been better. It wasn’t an especially *bad* episode…but it was slow and very awkward in places. I know it must seem like I’m never happy but I still think Amazon was an odd and very random choice to build these two episodes around. I can’t fault the premise, although some of the finer details escape me, but I like the idea of it…I just wish there had been a little more passion involved in expressing this idea.

But let’s begin at the beginning and, by that, I mean let’s address the clips of the movie seen in the opening. First off: Final Form Ride DCD – I should have seen this one coming but surprisingly I didn’t. I’m assuming that the Diend card Kaito received from Hat Man in this episode will be used in a similar fashion. I kind of like the fact that they’ve held the Final Form Ride for Tsukasa back for this movie and I’m actually looking forward to seeing it. If you’ll forgive me for skipping erratically ahead whilst, at the same time, addressing a point from the previous arc, I will once again say that I think the absence of the Form Rides in these episodes is somewhat sad. The Amazon card used in this episode might well have been called the anti-climax card for all its worth.

Back on track: Hibiki is often compared to Amazon, so it seemed kind of fitting to have Diend summon Ibuki, Todoroki and Zanki against Gorgos. All’s well and good, and then Amazon finally turns up on screen…and I just can’t help but think that Sakamoto Enrique wasn’t the best choice of actor. I mean no disrespect to the young man, but he just doesn’t seem to have that mix of integrity and innocence that Okazaki Tōru managed to pull off in the original series. Perhaps I souldn’t be judging this as I’ve only ever seen a handful of Amazon episodes…but then again Sakamoto is only in two episodes and I’m pretty much convinced that he wasn’t the right guy for the role. Having said that it doesn’t look like he’s going to be in Dai Shocker, which I have mixed feelings about, almost as if, now he has been cast, I want them to make the most of having an actor associated with that suit.

Already some of the things regarding the film are feeling awkward to me and I’mcertainly not looking forward to the return of canon!Agito from the original series. But I won’t let doubt sway me, I’m still holding out for the film to be good which is why, in a couple of minutes, I’m going to watch the We Love Rider! special making of movie.

Motorcycle Emptiness

So, next episode: nothing to say really. I’m never cared too much for the Rider War concept and now, with the seeming inclusion of Apollo Geist, I’m all but convinced that the creative idea had only the vaguest notion of what they were working towards it. I’m willing to bet that the next two episodes will be very different from the ‘flashbacks’ we saw at the beginning of the series.

On a positive note though, is that young!Kiva and Sonoda Mari in the trailer?

Kamen Rider DCD #19 Review (SPOILERS)

[SPOILERS...for an episode you've already seen]

My friend Mister Mo really likes Agito. He often claims that Agito has this level of depth and meaning (it doesn’t, by the way, Mister Mo) that other entries in the Kamen Rider franchise just don’t have. Recently, he’s stopped watching DCD because he felt that the Agito’s World arc didn’t capture the true spirit of his favourite series. I can certainly understand where he’s coming from but I’ve also been determined to give Hibiki’s World a fair chance hence why I’ve only just got round to watching DCD #19.

Over the past couple of arcs, it’s felt like the series has been winding down – well, perhaps that’s not as accurate a statement as it should be. Since Den-o’s World, it’s felt like the series has been winding down. I’m not trying to heap the blame solely on the shoulders of episodes #14 – 15 but it does feel like those episodes were a noticeable watershed in how the series has developed and how it will develop now we’ve reached the point where we’re back we started.

To begin at the end, one of my concerns about tomorrow’s episode is that, now we’re back in Natsumi’s World, we’re going to find ourselves with nothing but cameos from less significant secondary Riders in an unchanging world. The clip of the Kiva-esque Rider running amok in the next episode trailer did nothing to disuade my opinion that a.) this might be a possibility and b.) Toei really do have a shedload of Kiva merchandise left to sell. I really hope #20 picks up in some way as such a decision would really kill the momentum of the series.

But let’s not worry about the future, for now let’s live in the present – and speaking of the present, #19 is one of those episodes that, perhaps like Mister Mo when watching Agito’s World, I began to watch whilst doubting the ability of the new medium to interpret the story I loved. Having watched both episodes of Hibiki’s World, I have to say that I don’t think that they fully explored the story of the original series…but they did however take what was at the heart of that series (the relationship between Asumu and Hibiki) and do something new and interesting with it, therefore I can’t complain.

Whilst I was pleased to see the return of some familiar faces and familiar characters, I did find that, just as Asumu had become more expressive, Akira seemed to have become quieter. There’s still determination in the way she carries herself but she’s a lot less abrasive.

I also had a hard time excepting Ito David as ‘a Hibiki’. Even though I knew Hosokawa wasn’t going to return, Ito just didn’t seem like ‘a Hibiki’. There was the suggestion of Hidaka Hitoshi in the way that he acted at times and certainly in the nobility with which he faced death but for the rest of it, I was a lot more comfortable with the new!Asumu assuming the Hibiki role.

"My spirit sleeping somewhere cold."

Daiki’s role in this seemed a bit all over the place – for a while I was convinced he was about to become the villain it was half-suggested he might be upon his arrival in the show.

One of the big problems with this approach is that the franchise keeps throwing out these villainous Riders but still has to make sure there’s a Double Rider sequence in each episode thus the bad guys always seem to resign their morals (or lack thereof) during the final reel before the status quo is once more resumed (‘Don’t think this makes us friends, Rider X,’ growled Rider Y with a flick of his hair from his eyes. Rider X grunted, tightening his hand into a fist, ‘But I know you’re not really bad, Rider Y, one day your heart will turn to the light…even if you have to spend the next 40 episodes fighting me and then teaming up with me at the end of each one!’). Yet, during the course of this episode, it seemed like Daiki become one of the good guys instead. I don’t really have a problem with that.

The final two fights – the first being Asumu!Hibiki vs. Gyuki and the second being multiple Riders vs. Bakegani – were both done well, the former being heartfelt and the latter being suitably epic. I was pleased to see the return of the giant Makamou, even if it took another Ryuki character to bring about their role in the story. It was also nice to see Zanki, Todoroki, Ibuki and Akira all working alongside Diend and DCD to bring about the defeat of the giant crab…

"I said, 'Who's Michael?' 'Who is Michael Jackson?' he said, 'The Michael Jackson - the real Michael Jackson'"

…however, I can’t help but feel that this scene could have been made even better had Danki been included in it.

(joking – although if the next set of episodes are just random secondary Riders there’s always a chance he’ll turn up in Natsumi’s World!)

Now let’s wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Kamen Rider DCD #18 Review (SPOILERS)

[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? (^________________^)

Kamen Rider DCD #17 Review (SPOILERS)

[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.

Kamen Rider DCD #9 (SPOILERS)

[SPOILERS!!

Seriously, this whole commentary will make you unhappy if you're following the fansubbed versions only, so...]

Guys! It’s okay! I don’t think Todoroki is a bad guy!

I know you’ve been on tender-hooks all week about this, but I really think that Todoroki isn’t a bad guy or, at least working from the same page as lesser ‘Riders’ such as Kaixa…even if it turns out their all reading from the same book. It’s hard to tell exactly *what* Todoroki is up to but basically it seems to amount to playing guitar and blowing stuff up…and then not being there anymore. What he doesn’t do, during any of this, is directly confront DCD…and neither does our blue coloured second Rider character, who I believe is somehow in charge of both Hat Man and the secondary Riders (unless this new character is the secondary Riders, ala DCD’s assumption of primary Rider forms…however that wouldn’t explain the change in voices).

"For those about to rock..."

Confrontation looks like it is on the cards but not for another episode or so which, by the seems of it, will also debut our ‘Niigo’ Rider’s hideous armour…and it is hideous, make no mistake about that.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Before we deal with episode #10’s inevitable Rider vs. Rider showdown (and I want to complain about how this is a common trope of Heisei Rider shows, but there’s just no point in trying to argue it here as the whole show is about Rider vs. Rider showdowns), episode #9 presents us with what may possibly be an alternate Tsukasa.

Don’t quote me on this, but I could have sworn that ‘Niigo’ identified himself as Tsukasa and, if this is the case, then it adds a whole new level of complexity to the way in which the show’s storyline is unfolding.

"...we salute you!"

In regards to changes to opinions regarding the arc’s opening, Mutsuki proves that just having awesome jumpers doesn’t make you a nice guy (in fact he turns out to be the biggest arse of all three of Blade’s initial Riders) and Shijo Hajime/Kamen Rider Chalice reveals his plan to become not only the strongest Rider but also the strongest Undead. Apparently this is related to the set up in the original series, but once again, I’m afraid I can’t comment on such aspects.

Blade’s Final Form Ride is, like Ryuki’s transformation, somewhat uninspiring – in fact both Ryuki and Blade’s new forms could almost be referred to as derivative versions of the forms assumed by Kuuga and Kiva respectively.

After a somewhat short and disappointing confrontation, a fight that was by far the least convincing confrontation of any of the arcs thus far, everything is put right and the scene is set for a visit to ‘Faizu’s World’.

I really have never been a big fan of Faizu as a show, finding it boring at best and mind-numbingly tedious at worst. Inui Takumi has got to be one of the most uncharismatic of characters in the history of the whole franchise.

Having said that, Paradise Lost was a genuinely good film and seeing as DCD has done a good job thus far of reinterpreting weaker material, I think there’s at least a fair chance that the next arc will have something worthwhile to offer.It will also be interesting to see if this arc, being naitive territory for Kaixa, offers some kind of closure to his sudden appearance in earlier episodes.

Whilst I can’t say that the series is without faults it is proving to be consistently better than the material it’s drawn from (in most cases) and that in itself will keep me watching.