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03-29-2024, 05:36 PM | #521 |
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It’s a bit of a neat touch to show mostly old Dopant suits used by the wannabe cult before Energy’s big reveal. Definitely makes it clear how Dopants have gone from “defcon 1 threat” to “on the level of a mugging”.
And I have to wonder if somewhere out there, there’s a world where Wakana decided to try and take her brother’s place as Nate as of reviving him… But that’s what fanfiction is for. Maybe I’ll tell that story some day. And now, the actor trivia, which is more mixed, so I don’t have a title to go with. The kid who spurs Shotaro to action is the same actor who played the kid version of Shotaro earlier in the series (and in Movie Wars Core), probably for bookends purposes. His older sister is played by Yui Koike, who would later play Ahim de Famille/Gokai Pink in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (one episode of which has the guy who played Kirihiko playing a villain of the week). And finally, one of the thugs is another future Sentai vet. Shohei Nanba would later play Leo/ZyuohLion in Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger (though I doubt people would know it with the rather ridiculous looking wig he wears in that show) |
03-29-2024, 06:12 PM | #522 |
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Did not expect to see him years later as a yellow ranger in dreads, that's for sure. Speaking of Nanba, perhaps I should rewatch Zyuohger soon, it's been a while.
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03-29-2024, 06:13 PM | #523 |
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But, yes, it's really funny to see two-episode suits become background fodder by the end of the series.
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03-29-2024, 06:24 PM | #524 |
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Little Kamen Rider W and Sentai trivia. Both Koike, who played the sister, and Nanba, who played one of the thugs, were in anniversary sentai shows. Koike was Gokai Pink in Gokaiger, the 35th show, while Nanba was Zyuoh Lion in Zyuohger, the 40th show.
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03-29-2024, 08:12 PM | #525 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 48 - “THE REMAINING U - PARTNERS FOREVER”
It’s the real obstacle for Shotaro in this last story. Kazu’s an interesting final villain – we’ll get to him – but his eventual defeat is both academic and inevitable. The core dilemma for Shotaro is accepting that Philip has a right to determine his own fate, and part of being a good partner is allowing him to make that choice. Shotaro’s main strength is how deeply he feels, but his main weakness is refusing to accept that other people may feel just as deeply. Philip comes off as the drily analytical member of Double, but Shotaro’s insistence on not sacrificing Philip only meant that Philip was doomed to slowly fade away while his sister was destroyed by Kazu. Shotaro’s needs were put in opposition to Philip’s, and Shotaro couldn’t see how his own pain was equal to Philip’s. The only way for Double to win was for Shotaro and Philip to work together, no matter the outcome. The only way they could lose would be as individuals. Quote:
It all makes for a sweet final story, no matter the shape of the actual final episode. This one’s the big conclusion, where a thematically-relevant villain meets their end in a thrilling battle with our heroes. So much of the beginning is about Shotaro and Philip laying out their anxieties: Shotaro, that he’d be pulling the trigger that kills his partner; Philip, that Shotaro’s reluctance wouldn’t save Philip, and would also doom Fuuto. But the back half is where all of that becomes a pyrotechnic delight, with Shotaro single-handedly storming the Foundation X plant to show how Fuuto will not lack for a Kamen Rider, even when Double is done, and then our two-in-one hero taking on the Utopia Dopant.
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Kazu’s an intriguing final opponent for Double, regardless of how late he entered the story, or the use of Foundation X throughout the last dozen episodes. Kazu’s dream is a faceless world of nothing but him and Saeko, which is a direct rebuttal to the vibrancy of Fuuto, and a sort of neat reflection of the drama between Shotaro and Philip. Kazu has been concocting this apocalyptic strategy as a gift to Saeko, to try and win her over. Except, Saeko’s never wanted that, or him. Kazu’s selfish indulgence of his own feelings over Saeko’s autonomy is the villainous counterpart to Shotaro’s disregard of Philip’s dying wish. Both Kazu and Shotaro think they can trick and ignore their way into an outcome that gets them what they need, even if it’s hurting the people they say they’re doing it for. As far as last opponents go, Shotaro’s Emotions With Philip’s Demeanor is as on-target as you can get.
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This whole two-parter… man, it’s so good. It’s everything I’d want from a W finale, executed with commitment and precision. Double defeats Utopia by caring too much! Goddamn! It’s a gorgeously sentimental finale (Shotaro finally feeling like he can wear Sokichi’s hat!) wedded to a rousingly superheroic finish. Perfect ending for this show, man. Perfect.
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DIE-A MEMORIES
-Saeko’s death… best Sonozaki death since Kirihiko. I love that she’s equally sacrificing herself to save Wakana as she is to spurn some dipshit dude who thought he could own her, and that’s 100% why I love Saeko in the final third of this show. Even her saving Wakana… she’s partially doing it because it’s contrary, and also Wakana’s death only matters to Saeko if she does it herself. Such a great, prickly lieutenant. Quote:
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I think Saeko only really works in the last third of the series. Once Isaka dies, everything the show does with her is captivating and compelling. Before that, though... she's good in some of the Kirihiko stuff? Like a lot of villains on this show, she does not have a front-to-back good season.
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03-29-2024, 10:10 PM | #526 |
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Otherwise, I don't know which part of you thinking Saeko is treated as pawn/prize in middle part but I personally don't think Saeko is treated as pawn/prize throughout Isaka arc, it's her choice to make out with Isaka, to be Isaka's partner and aid him in overthrowing Ryubee, out of her own will, that doesn't take any agency away from her, it's her decision. And in the first arc, Kirihiko is the one used as a disposable pawn by Saeko, not the other way around.
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03-30-2024, 10:49 AM | #527 |
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SERIES WRAP-UP
Here’s the thesis statement, so you can start getting angry at me in advance: Kamen Rider W isn’t a story, it’s a setting. This goes back to what I first said about Fuuto’s primacy in the premiere, but became more and more clear to me as the series progressed. A more traditional Kamen Rider story gives us a starting point – Yuusuke becomes Kuuga, Ryotaro joins the Den-Liner, Touma becomes Saber – and then progresses that character through a specific narrative – defeating the Grongi, solving the mystery of the rampaging Imagin, dealing with the various prophecies and whatnot of Calibur etc. – until the story is concluded, and the main character has faced their personal conflicts and flaws in service of illuminating the themes of the series. That’s a year of Kamen Rider: you go on a journey with these characters, in pursuit of a goal. But that’s not really Kamen Rider W. Sure, there’s the ostensible defeat of the Museum, but even that isn’t the conclusion of this show. (The real finale is them fighting a guy from a completely different organization, for completely different reasons!) This isn’t even a show that goes on a journey with the two characters that fundamentally changes them; the core dynamic is the same in the first two episodes as it is in the final episode. This show kicks off with Shotaro and Philip being dedicated partners with different strengths, and concludes in exactly the same way. Their relationship is tested throughout W, mostly to exciting effect, but it never fundamentally changes. They are partners from the first episode to the last episode. That’s the show. That’s it. It’s a show that never really wanted to put the characters in opposition, or irrevocably change them. Revelations about Philip’s backstory only increase his bond with Shotaro, and Shotaro does not exactly have a wealth of layers to peel back. Shotaro never once views Philip as anything other than a valued (if occasionally frustrating) partner, and Philip’s belief in Shotaro’s abilities is the crux of multiple story climaxes. The closest we get to the team breaking up are in tiny ways that the show almost instantly swerves away from: Shotaro’s incompatibility with Philip’s evolution in the Xtreme Memory story feints at CycloneAccel, but the show never even tries out that concept; Philip plans to leave town with Wakana, but the very next scene after his fateful decision is the reveal that Wakana is now completely evil. We get teases and hints that the show is about to change, but then it becomes even more entrenched in its routines and habits. And yet, that’s exactly what makes Kamen Rider W such a great show for new fans. It’s not trying to have a complex year-long story with shifting allegiances and uncertain outcomes. It luxuriates in being a show that starts with a case being dropped on our heroes, which they’ll solve in the next 42 minutes. (Even the last two-parter! And they do! They solve it in two episodes!) It wants to hang out with a fun detective superhero team, with little bits of mythology accruing at the edges. Another show might’ve had Philip join the Museum for a few episodes, or had Shotaro feuding with Accel in a more serious way – this one never lets those options become more than a single scene’s hypothetical. The show’s narrative gravity is dedicated to a core where two brothers in a found family protect Fuuto in an action-comedy noir milieu. It’s built to have no beginning and no end. It is forever just your memory of Philip and Shotaro, in their office. Because of that, it’s probably the easiest Kamen Rider show for fans of American superheroes. This is the unending Middle Act of Superman, and Spider-Man, and Batman – forever fighting battles, but never really concluding their story. Double is tested endlessly, but in ways that only reaffirm what we know about them. They’re fun to hang out with for an adventure, and those adventures will never end. Defeating the Museum was a story for a year, but it was never really the story of Kamen Rider W. They exist to protect Fuuto, which means they never need to reach the end of their story. It’s like Batman protecting Gotham City for over 80 years, but with more fun pop songs. All of this… it doesn’t make W a bad show, even if it makes it a show where I found less to talk about. W is a vibes show, not a show with complex characters that are constantly surprising you. You could drop into maybe any two-parter on W and find plenty to enjoy. (I’d always laugh to myself at the Previously Ons that just recapped a one-off story that would not even be referenced in the current episode.) The series-arc stuff, outside the final few episodes, mostly felt like the producers treated it as an obligation. The real excitement and enjoyment was always, for me, in the Dopant Dilemmas. To see our heroes crack a case and save the day? That was always a delight. The greatest strength of Kamen Rider W is also its greatest weakness: it’s a show that never wants to change, because it’s perfect from the start. The chemistry of the actors, the template of the episodes, the overall feeling of the show – it’s all exactly what you want a Kamen Rider show to be. It nails its premise so utterly, so quickly, that it’s like no one could see a reason to deviate from it over the next year. But that lack of risk makes everything feel too comfortable at times; episodes are delightful, instead of thought-provoking or challenging. Shotaro and Philip bicker and come together in Episode 2, and they bicker and come together in Episode 48. It’s fun, and the actors make it nothing less than memorable, but it’s safe in a way that Kamen Rider rarely is. More than any other show, this one felt like it was built to go on forever. The fact that it got an animated sequel over a decade later proves that it can. But the cost of that forever is maybe a lack of promise in the present.
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03-30-2024, 01:36 PM | #528 |
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I've always been in the camp that enjoyed W's finale. This wasn't a show that was designed to be a tragedy; it was meant to be a show about two detectives whose skills combine together to solve mysteries and fight monsters. It wouldn't feel right to me to end on a note where one is dead and the other is struggling to get by without him (or where both are dead, as the teaser at the end of 48 wants you to think may happen). Does it rob some of the pathos from 48 when Philip comes back 15 minutes into 49? Yeah. Does it still feel good to see him after watching Shotaro still having trouble remembering he's gone after a year of in-universe time? Hell yeah. If I want a beautiful tragedy, I'll watch Blade. That's not what I'm here for with W.
Now, in response to your final thoughts, I generally agree. Sometimes a premise works better for episodic storytelling than serialized and W is absolutely one of those. It's basically the Kamen Rider version of a procedural: each fortnight brings a new case with a new client and a new monster. And it works really well here. It works well in tokusatsu in general; Sentai, Ultraman, and Showa era Rider were all built on episodic done-in-ones with the occasional two-parter to shake things up. The Heisei era really revolutionized things by doing more ongoing plot threads and character arcs, which sometimes leads to the assumption that every Rider show needs these, and that view is... complicated. I absolutely get tired of Kamen Rider just doing episodic stuff. There's years of posts on this site of me bemoaning "monster of the fortnight" story structure, especially in early Drive threads. I think it's a format that works sometimes, but I also like it when shows feel like there's a more serialized plot. I think W is a place where the episodic structure works great because it's baked into the premise. I think it gets frustrating when we don't have any variation from that, which is where we get into my own complicated thoughts on W's legacy. I love Kamen Rider W. It's been one of my top five - probably top three - Rider shows since it aired and this rewatch has done nothing to change that. Like Die said, it is a show about vibes and those vibes are immaculate. It's also something that led to what I've always felt was the stagnation of the Neo Heisei era. W took the format pioneered by Den-O and perfected it: episodic two-part arcs, main Rider with a non-human partner, generally lighthearted tone where few people get seriously hurt, serious vs. goofball dynamic with the secondary Rider, etc. It did all of this and was a huge success, which led to the next three years being minor iterations on that same set-up to steadily diminishing returns (any time this topic comes up I always think back to this post I made back in 2012). None of this diminishes W as a show on its own, but it is something that I can't fully divorce from it. |
03-30-2024, 03:53 PM | #529 |
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For myself, Kamen Rider W was and still is one of the good introductory shows because it carries the elements of a classic Kamen Rider show established during the Showa era but gives it a Heisei flavor to it. Shotaro and Philip together are the textbook Kamen Riders in that they each hold a tragedy/sadness of their own, be it the loss of someone close, originating from a place (or in this case, a family) of evil, but they run with it by putting on a mask and ride on to help those in need. It's this approach of taking a curse and repurposing it as a gift to benefit those around you that is I think what made the first generation of Kamen Riders from the 70s and 80s Kamen Riders, and this show making that point more obvious further cements the reason to start with this show to those unsure of where to begin after at least half a century of shows and movies.
The show really pays tribute to the early years of the series well. Aside from what I said about the origins of Shotaro and Philip, the choice of using green and black invoke to me the first two double riders, Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji, aka Ichigo and Nigo, and the overall shape and form of the suit, though it may not be insectoid, have key design elements of the archetypal Kamen Rider design. Ryu is a nice tribute to both Kazuya Taki from the first show, an FBI agent who helped out both riders, and Shiro Kazami the protagonist from the second show Kamen Rider V3 by being an agent of a law enforcing entity, an eventual ally, and a rider whose tragedy involves the horrific death of his parents and sister. Lastly, Kamen Rider Skull is a nice tribute to what resulted during the culmination of the og Kamen Rider, Skullman, in that he was the catalyst for the titular rider to be born. Anyway, those are my two cents and I hope you enjoy Fuuto P.I.
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03-30-2024, 05:49 PM | #530 |
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Oh, for sure. It's one of the Top 3 shows you can give to new viewers, no doubt. (Kuuga and Geats are the other two for me.) A two-part mystery formula is easy for viewers to key into, and the opposition basically being a crime family ranks pretty highly in verisimilitude, compared to other Kamen Rider villains who are mutant messiahs and immortal book warlords. W is, for better or worse, a very easy show to get into if you're unfamiliar with tokusatsu conventions.
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