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Kamen Rider Die watches Masked Rider Agito
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02-17-2020, 10:37 PM
#
238
Kamen Rider Die
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 51
If last episode was a contemplative, thematically-rich chapter that laid out everything Agito does well that’s unique to its place in the franchise, this one was 100% a
Kamen Rider Series Finale
. It’s a wall-to-wall episode filled with thrilling action, heroic moments, and absolutely everyone getting everything they want. (Even Spooky Man, sort-of!) It’s all dessert, this one. And I loved it.
The action in particular, was surprisingly strong. They don’t do it a lot on this show, really turn it up, but I’m glad they delivered on the finale. Each Rider gets to deliver an indelibly memorable moment, from Hikawa reclaiming the primacy of man, to Ryou declaring himself to be immortal, to Shouchi using a Rider Kick to
detonate the concept of fear of change
. It’s all beautifully done, and an unexpectedly visceral end to the season-long Spooky Man/Unknown plot.
That plot, though. I loved last episode because of the way it addressed its core themes, and focused on them through characters, and character choices. I loved this episode
in spite
of it being about the Unknown stuff. It was, you know, it wasn’t what this show did
best
. The things that made this show great,
when
it was great, it was all character stuff. Decisions being made by characters, and how that affected other characters, how they reacted to change, how they supported one another, that’s when this show was transcendent. (Maybe overselling it!) Like, the Shouichi stuff, the things it was trying that it maybe was the first to try, emphasizing domesticity and emotional availability as commendable traits in a hero, that all felt totally dialed in. The monster stuff…
not so dialed in
. The Unknown never felt fully realized, even compared to the Grongi. While the Grongi had a weird code, or a goal that felt terrifying in its inevitability, the Unknown were barely more than obstacles. They’d show up, fights, eventual death. They never really had schemes, they didn’t feel thematically connected to an episode or a victim, they didn’t seem to bring anything in particular out of the heroes beyond general heroism.. They felt, from beginning to end, like those level one mooks plenty of other Kamen Rider shows have. They’re like the orange-masked Bugsters. This is a show that never really had a villain with personality, outside of Kino for a minute.
Like,
Spooky Man
. It’s an interesting idea, a god who returns to correct his creation. But, it’s
impossible
to execute as a mastermind for a superhero program. Spooky Man isn’t a
character
, he’s a
concept
. And you can’t fight a concept. You can, I guess, punch it once, and then Rider Kick it in the finale, but it’s not really the kind of thing you can dramatically confront over 51 episodes. Spooky Man spends a ton of time waiting in rooms to be worked back into the plot, and he only shares a few scenes with anyone other than Truegami over the course of the show. A franchise like Kamen Rider has a lot of versatility to it, you can tell a lot of different kinds of stories, but things like Fightable Villains?
That shit’s pretty non-negotiable
. Masked Rider Agito managed to still tell an interesting story over its season, but I don’t think the villains were anything to recommend about it.
The heroes, though! So great, and this episode found a little moment for all of them.
Like,
of course
Hikawa didn’t get on that plane.
Of course
he couldn’t leave when he knew something unjust was happening and he could stop it. And, Ozawa,
hero of the show Ozawa
, is going to take back the G3 trailer at
goddamn gunpoint
to make sure Hikawa can join the fight and help save humanity. All of Team G3, they were like the beating heart of this show, and I’m glad they all had a happy ending to their story. I loved that Hikawa went back to being a detective, happy just to be of service. I loved that Omuro takes his hero-worship and instills it in the next generation (G5!) of mechanized police, even if that moustache is horrifying. And, as is probably no surprise, I
loved
that the show found time for one more Houjou/Ozawa sparring match, him flying to London to tell her how much better he is than her while she completely blows him off. They are
endgame
, and I’m glad this show realized it.
I didn’t need to see Ryou pull himself off of that beach, because I know exactly what that scene would look like. Stubbornness mixed with anger mixed with resignation, he drags himself to his bike and keeps fighting. He never stops fighting. And when the fight is done? He gets a dog,
which is immortal, too, nothing can happen to that dog
, and just keeps living. (The dog’s name, I assume, is the oft-mentioned but never-seen Count Zero. That’s what the theme song is about, right, that puppy? “You can do it, Count Zero!” Yeah, the dog’s name is
definitely
Count Zero.)
They don’t get a lot to do in this finale, but it’s good to see that Mana, Taichii, Uncle, and Majima (okay, why not) are doing well. Just a brief check-in, but they’re a family, and they’re happy. They are not eating well, though.
So they go to Shouichi’s (not very well attended) restaurant, Restaurant Agito. He survived Rider Kicking a primordial concept, because, what, you think this show was really going to kill off a man who loves everyone? No, Shouichi is pursuing his dream, and it’s a nice ending.
They’re all nice endings. Everyone’s life keeps going, with new challenges and new opportunities, but with a positive outlook. It’s maybe a little predictable, as endings go, but it’s all very sweet. And, y’know, it’s a sweet show. It’s a show about how change isn’t something to run from, but something to be accepted. It’s a show about how you need to find something in your life to find comfort in and protect, whether that’s a home, family, friends, a dream, or just the knowledge that you made it through one more day. In a show about all of those things, what better message is there than that, no matter what, the world keeps spinning, a new day dawns, and if we keep trying we might be lucky enough to become better, happier people.
What happier ending could you ask for?
NEXT! A little bit of wrap up, hitting some points I maybe overlooked, and I don’t know what else because I haven’t written it yet. That’ll all be tomorrow, for a final-ish look at Agito.
__________________
Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on
KamenRiderDie.com
!
Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 06-03-2023 at
03:24 PM
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