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Won't lie, I had purged like 98% of this two-parter from my memory.
And having seen it again all these years later, boy do I immediately realize why exactly that was. I won't go too deep into it, but what it essentially boils down to is the episodes showcasing Akiko at her absolute worst, and then immediately trying to make me feel bad for her, which, sorry, ain't working. Where I absolutely drew the line was towards the start of the first part, where Shotaro shows genuine concern for her and her safety, and even explains why he has good reasons to feel the way he does. And Akiko's' response is to do the verbal equivalent of spitting in his face over it. As bad as characters like Shunpei or Onari can come across to some people, you know what they never were? Actively antagonistic towards the people they claimed to care about. I have zero patience for that sort of behavior, as well as entitled brats. And Akiko displays both attitudes throughout both episodes. It made me seriously question how I ever came around to her later on. But hey, the episodes aren't complete and total washes, I guess? The two scenes that I did still remember are Shotaro and Kirihiko's' conversation at the gate, and Terror's' appearance during the courtyard fight. They're good scenes, especially in a vacuum. Just a shame that they're attached to two episodes that I very much did not have a good time watching. To the extent that at one point I thought "Do I even like W? Do I really?" Such a letdown, especially when following a two-parter that I rather liked for the most part. |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 11 - “V FOR VENDETTA - INFECTED VEHICLE”
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double11a.png Boy, I bounced off this one pretty hard. It’s not a bad episode or anything, but I found it incredibly dull. Beyond one good scene, and the image of a filthy Chevy Trailblazer as some sort of righteous instrument of vengeance, there’s precious little for me to even care to talk about. Lemme start with that one good scene, though! It’s the interrogation room scene with Makura and Jinno. I love that Makura’s all We’ve Got You Now Shotaro, and then Jinno just comes and makes Makura fetch them lunch. (With double portions for Shotaro!) It’s a charming way to incorporate the police into a story that has a rapidly rising body count, while delivering some early clues for Shotaro to investigate. I just… man, I like the energy between Shotaro and Jinno. Jinno’s has such a professional camaraderie with Shotaro, while never really treating him like a peer. He just sees a well-meaning guy who can make his own job easier, and that’s worth some of his time. It’s a fun energy, man. The rest of it was all just sort of there for me. Kouhei’s looking for revenge, the gangsters are clearly culpable, and there’s only a little bit of discussion as to whether killing a bunch of dudes is justified. (Spoiler: it isn’t!) The gangsters don’t stick around long enough to be more than a body count, and Kouhei’s defined solely by his need to vehicularly manslaughter for a sister we’ve never met. It’s all the vague shape of The Hollowness Of Pursuing Vengeance, but it never rose above that for me. There were no fun details, or clever moments to become more than just A Story About Revenge. (Even Akiko’s illness thing… fine, whatever.) Kirihiko showing up might as well be to fill some quota, for all he contributes to the plot. The twist at the end, that the Virus Dopant is a different person altogether… good twist! Interested in how that rolls out! But it’s nothing that made the first 22 minutes of this one more fun to talk or think about. — DIE-A MEMORIES https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double11b.png -The Fuuto PD Headquarters! We will be spending a lot of time here in just a couple weeks, and it’s a fun building. I like the water feature up front! Could house an Anomalocaris assassin, but it’s tranquil enough to be worth the risk. |
So I’ll start with my delayed thoughts for last time: I liked the idea of Akiko trying to solve the case, but only doing so by pure dumb luck.
As for this two-parter… Yeah, nothing really stuck out. I even had to look up the following guest star. Sentai-lert The artist dude is played by Koji, who under his full name Koji Suzuehara had the supporting role of Hayate/GingaGreen in Seijuu Sentai Gingaman (which I’d recommend by the way, which considering my love/hate relationship with the writer and producer, is saying something). |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 12 - “V FOR VENDETTA - RAGING BEAST”
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double12a.png The thing with Shotaro is… he’s maybe not the best lead character? The failure of the previous episode, as I thought more about it, is that it put way too much of the narrative on Shotaro’s back. Philip was doing his dumb Idiots Don’t Catch Colds research, Akiko was worthless, Kirihiko was barely involved, the other Sonozakis were absent entirely, and there was only one City Of Fuuto scene (which was terrific). The monster plot felt thinly sketched-in, with both victim(s) and perps coming off as ideas rather than characters. That left Shotaro to carry the plot and the story, and it’s just asking way too much of a cosplay detective. The value of Shotaro is that he acts as a way into all of the things that work in this episode: booksmart partners and scheming crime lords and duplicitous creeps and teasing informants and enraged victims. This one works because it has all the stuff the previous episode didn’t have. It lets Shotaro exist alongside so many fun details, instead of making him cover for their absence. And those details are, without exception, incredibly fun. Like, the scene with Saeko and Kirihiko! Where he thinks he’s cracked the code on something that’ll win Saeko’s respect and solidify his place in the family hierarchy (basically, making him more valuable than Mick), and she’s like We Already Found Out That Was Worthless? Amazing. So fun to watch her destroy his ambitions and not-so-subtly remind him of what a disappointment he’s been as a husband/flunky. And that’s just the first thing that was more delightful than most of last episode – we also got a fun Queen/Elizabeth scene (Queen teasing Elizabeth about maybe hooking up with some art creep!), Philip handling the investigation into Sachi’s motivations, a couple fun monster attacks, and a few intriguing twists. If there’s a thing that doesn’t work in this episode, it’s that those twists are maybe a little too convoluted. Sachi being the one who’s motivating this story, through the applied rage of her brother… that’s all fine. (It sort of makes the brother incidental to the overall plot, since he’s not a factor in this episode, and Sachi would’ve just killed those dudes anyway. There’s maybe some narrative value in viewing her vengeance like a virus, but it’s not really a thing that passes through multiple characters. Kouhei wants revenge for his sister getting run over, while Sachi wants revenge for that AND a completely separate thing that Kouhei never knew about.) But there’s a bunch of stuff that comes up in Sachi’s explanation/confession that’s just weird and coincidental – they can show it a hundred times, but it never feels logical or believable that she’d shove the Virus Memory into her arm instead of diving out of the way of an oncoming car. (Also, the Memory seller just happened to walk down the stairs when she saw her fiance cheating on her? What?) I appreciate that the story got significantly more complex than Family Vengeance, but it’s stuff that maybe would’ve worked better spread out across both episodes. But that’s a small complaint, honestly. I’d always rather a story be too convoluted instead of too straight-forward. While some of the later details were distracting, the bulk of the episode was assured and packed with entertaining moments. I wish it had been the same for the first part of this story! — DIE-A MEMORIES https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double12b.png -Not much in the way of future teases or memories in this one, but I did sort of recall that the sister was the Dopant at the beginning of this episode, despite the show pointing in the immediate direction of the art creep. -Zero Nazca or other Sonozaki monster suits in this one! FAILING GRADE! |
Honestly don't have that much to say on the two-parter.
I did enjoy the unorthodox usage of the Virus Dopant though, real fun stuff. Aside from that, Shotaro gets to have some fun interactions with the side cast this episode, whether it was the officers or his informants. The fact that he almost calls himself an idiot in front of Santa, Queen, and Elizabeth was hilarious. Also it's always fun to see when W actively has to switch to certain Memories because they're more effective. Like how Heat quickly became the go to Memory when it came to fully dealing with Virus. That being said poor Kirihiko, the man seemingly got a W only for that to snap in half and form two Ls the minute his wife was like "been there done that" to him. |
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Upon rewatch, I have alot more respect for this two-parter now than I did on my initial viewing of it.
It reminded me of just what exactly kept me going with W, when the previous two episodes had me questioning why exactly I able to stick with it at all. And the way it was all structured only helped with that. Akiko is unbearable at the start as per usual, but then, we get to the good stuff. Which is, basically, every other character, as well as the great world building and surprising amount of foreshadowing that the story has going for it. The Virus Memory being capable to interface with people's's consciousness; Sure, it's something totally new for the Sonozaki's', but we the viewer have a primary example of that in Philip, which in turn foreshadows his true nature. There's also the interactions between Kirihiko and Saeko, which pretty much spell out the direction that things are headed in for those who found some of the previous scenes too subtle. Granted, Saeko claiming they already knew everything about the Virus Dopant is either a blatant lie or makes no sense, but whatever. It's merely a small drop in all of the other great character interactions going on, like between Philip and Sachi. And of course, last but not least is Shotaro, who still remains my favorite character even now. Dude stood out a ton throughout both episodes, showcasing why exactly he's one of our two leads. He's not a detective that's solely out to find a culprit, he's one who does when he can to get to the heart of a matter. Not just because it's his job(like Akiko), but because he cares for all life equally, whether they be an outstanding citizen or a criminal. All throughout the episodes, his resolve is on full display, and it helps make him incredibly likable ontop of respectable. These episodes reminded me. Yeah, Akiko might grate on my nerves to no end, but regardless of her, there's still a bunch of shining stars that deserve my attention far more, and I'm always happy to see them regardless. This is now a two-parter that I'll remember alot more fondly from here on out. |
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