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MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 11
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki11a.png Jesus Christ, what even is normalcy anymore? We've got a pandemic putting the globe on lockdown, I've got no idea if I'm going to have a business next month, you can watch tons of old toku shows on streaming services, I'm thinking about turning on my Switch for the first time in a year (Animal Crossing!), we've spent the last few days of this Ryuki thread talking about Ex-Aid and sequel movies... it's insane out here. Hard to keep up. So, hey, let's talk about an episode of Ryuki again, like old times. I, uh... I wish it wasn't this episode we were talking about, though! I mean, ignoring how much of this episode is clearly setup for the next episode, there's just so little here that kept my attention. Like, being the first episode in a while without Kitaoka, that's going to start you at a deficit. But, man, almost nothing worked for me with this one. The big plot is that Ren has TV Show Amnesia, where he's conveniently forgotten that he's a superhero, and he's gruff(er than usual) with the other characters. It's all a way to explore Ren's backstory, which would normally be difficult/impossible with a brooding, taciturn hero. Here, he's going to retrace steps we've never seen, filling in blanks that should hopefully get us to care more about Ren, about his journey, about his goals. It's just really dull to me in the moment. First, Yui gets dumped from this storyline pretty fast, despite her having one of the closest connections to Ren, so we don't at all get to see how this is affecting her. Second, Ren's not even really funny mean to Shinji, he's just a dick. Even in the first episode he was funny mean to Shinji. Here, their schtick, it feels hollow and dull. He doesn't even care enough about Shinji to belittle him, which, then why am I even watching this show. Finally, Ren's plan of, I guess, Wander Around Japan Until His Brain Works Right is so hard to get on board with. He should not be operating a motorcycle! That's stupid! Very, very stupid! And, I don't know, it's so vague of a plan that I couldn't really track it. He's literally just wandering around side streets for an episode. That's it. There's info we get from his neverending aneurysm (I assume), but it's at the very end of the episode. It's just generally not very fun to watch. Not an awesome way to pad out a two-parter. That said, there is one legit solid gag in a very humor-light episode of Ryuki. (Holy shit, do I miss Kitaoka and Goro!) The idea of Ren having, like, forty nemeses in one neighborhood that he doesn't remember, that's good. That's a funny concept, and I'd've loved an episode built around that. Instead, it's two scenes and one laugh. Not... not worth all of that boredom. Reiko and Yui's stories don't fare much better. It's all setup, all to link together Yui's brother, Ren's girlfriend (probably), and the mysterious survivor of the monster attack that Reiko's investigating. This whole episode, it's just table-setting. It's investigation, but in a way that only finishes asking a question. Not a lot here to get excited about. (Also, what the hell is up with the insanely high body-count for this episode? Monster attacks on Ryuki are usually single victims, spaced out over days. Here, what, dozens of people at once? Multiple times a day? And, man, it's starting to bug how the monsters are once again just random attacks, showing up out of nowhere, then getting blown up. It's so boring, the monsters on this show! Not at all what's fun about watching Ryuki!) A bummer, this one. The best you can say about it, besides one good Ren Makes A Lot Of Enemies gag, is that it doesn't destroy the concept of Masked Rider Ryuki. It's not good, and I've got to imagine anything we learned in this episode is going to get restated and expended upon in the next one, rendering this episode redundant, but it doesn't wreck the show. It's just, like, a bad episode of Ryuki. Not the end of the world, which, these days? I'll take it. https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki11b.png |
Yeah, the amnesia thing was odd. I never really enjoy that trope. The good thing I'll say is that the next episode that's being set up is a really good one if I remember correctly. Big plot stuff coming up! The monster of the week stuff never fully goes away, and never becomes very strong either, but as more and more Riders get introduced it becomes much more of a background thing, and the fantastic Rider vs Rider conflict becomes the core
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The rule of his amnesia is that the only one erased is 1 year ago, so he still remembers his name and his origins. His only clue is the blurry flashbacks where indicates some places. Quote:
Other than that I have to talk about the fighting choreograph that interests me in this episode. Where Zenobiter utilizes his boomerang to negate any Vent cards a Rider use (knocks away Ryuki's Sword Vent), but later Shinji tricks him by summoning Strike Vent (where he knocks again) TO buy time to pick his Sword Vent. So Shinji's your usual dumb-at-daily-life-but-good-at-fighting MC. |
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Besides how will she catch up to those 2. They were riding their bike and Ren already left (and with him forgetting her I doubt he'll let her ride on him), and Shinji's bike is only 1 seater. Quote:
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And, it's not like there wasn't time for Yui to get involved with Shinji/Ren plot. Shinji takes the lead on that one, and she just acquiesces. It's a choice she makes. Also, to the monster stuff, I think we're differing in opinions on that one, too. I don't know that anything in the show has explained enough about the non-contract monsters for me to get their deal. They just show up a random amount of times, attack a random amount of people, and then get exploded. It feels frustratingly undercooked to me. If you can see a logic there, and a way it works that makes you happy, I won't begrudge you that. For me, in the text of the show, I'm not seeing enough to be able to go with it. |
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It's honestly been a bit of a bummer how much you've refused to play ball with these early Heisei monsters. As usual, I can't fault a thing about your logic, but sometimes I think you're being a bit too hard on them anyway? The Grongi and the Unknown are designed to get the viewer picking up subtle clues and making theories, and you go "nah". The Mirror Monsters are deliberately uncomplicated animals so as not to get in the way of the Rider on Rider drama (the lack of which in these episodes probably explaining why it becomes more grating), and you go "nah". I don't know. I feel like there's merit in the approaches these shows are taking. In Ryuki's case, I think keeping it as simple as "monster = kill people = bad" was definitely to the series' benefit in the long run. We'll see how you feel by the end. |
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