[Kamen Rider Die]

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 13



Feeling back in the zone for watching Ryuki, and it's nice to get to watch one as fun as this episode. Really getting back in a good groove, this show.

The direction on this one, man, worth calling out. A lot of very fun, different ways of staging scenes and transitions. Some don't completely work (that pre-dinner sequence, when it's half-faces and flashes of paintings, a little too avant-garde), but there's a bunch of fun new looks in this episode. The shots of Ren biking at night, there's this mix of speed and isolation and freedom and doubt, him processing what he needs to do alongside the bonds he's inadvertently formed. All of the pre-fight stuff with Ren and Kamen Rider Quarter, so pretty. (They want better names, they can say them on the TV show. Look, what is up with this show forgetting to name new Riders? We just now get someone calling Kitaoka "Zolda", like that's a thing anyone ever said on this show before, and now this guy doesn't even get to introduce himself to Ren. Big pet peeve of mine.) Those shots, with them not quite in each other's frame, spotlighting how incompatible their views are, how they can't convince one another of their perspective, they're doing such great work visually. It's all epic storytelling decisions, adding weight and gravity to sequences that could come off lacking momentum (Ren does not seem super engaged in anything lately) or a little rote. As it is, that stuff sparks, creating some of the most enjoyable parts of Ryuki yet.

And, obviously, some of that is down to the return of Goro and Kamen Rider Scumbag himself, Kitaoka. That shit, with Kitaoka being a creep to Reiko and her somehow managing not to roll her eyes completely out of her skull, and Shinji exposing Goro's weakness as a whistler (he's so bad at it!) before confusing Goro for Zolda, it's nearly perfect. The only that'd make it better is if it never ended, but we live in an imperfect world. I've made my peace with it.

The Kitaoka stuff, it's hilarious, but it ties into the Knight/Quarter stuff, where everything's about both the sad inevitability of combat (Ryuki, Quarter), and the death of idealism that comes with participating in Rider Battles (Knight, Zolda). It's neat to pair those that way, with Knight/Quarter feeling built around brooding archetypes, while Ryuki/Zolda have a more emotional, hot-blooded take on things. It's a neat idea for them to explore, and I like how there currently seem to be two bad sides and no good sides. Refusing to fight is untenable, but welcoming carnage is inhuman. It's a very complex bit of business they're mining, and I'm thrilled to see smart, funny Masked Rider Ryuki is happening again.