If someone forced me to pick only one, it'd probably be mine too? Like, as a single episode, it's hard to do better than this, and as I put it when I was rewatching the show, it's...

...Which is but one small line of a particularly glowing review. Knowing it's directed by Ishida explains a lot in retrospect, as always.

On an unrelated note, having it pointed out that the plot is similar to the debut of the best final form ever also explains a lot about why I like that episode of Ghost so much, even though I know Die didn't mean that as a compliment. :p

Happy early-or-late birthday!

Man, I can't exclaim enough how much I'm looking forward to Mugen's debut. I only just got to Grateful and yet I'm so impatient to get there!

And here we are on the debut for Climax Form. I hate it.

Not Climax Form itself, just the way it’s debut is handled. Mostly because it fails to tick any of the boxes I have for a good form debut.

Used to beat a monster giving the hero a hard time in battle: The Imagin wasn’t giving them a hard time. He only got away because Ryo got distracted mid-fight.

The monster has previously shrugged off everything thrown at it: Ryo never got to use anything on it, because, as said before, it kept getting away before a winner could be decided.

Debuts against a stronger opponent than previous ones: There is no way Bloodsucker is stronger than the previous opponents Den-O has faced, especially since all 4 versions of Den-O wiped out his buddies in Gaoh’s army with ease. If he was somehow more powerful than all of hem put together, than Gaoh wouldn’t have sent him to cause a distraction.

The hero has been on an emotional journey to receive it: Ryotaro almost losing the Imagin isn’t an emotional journey, it’s another Saturday on the Den-Liner.

Oh, and separate from the list, there is no logical reason their remains should’ve turned into a magic phone.

Heck, I basically realised while seeing this for the first time that it’s the same issue I have with OOO. He gets new combos that are supposed to be more powerful, but we never see just how powerful they are because the bad guys are the same old ones he’s been beating just fine without power-ups. The only one that clearly felt like a powerful was PuToTyra, with its “kill Greeed dead” ability… which was only used twice and might not have even been worth being there.

An episode of Ghost where Takeru dies and promptly revives with a new form? Can you be more specific? :p

Kidding, I know which one you're referring to. Even though there's this meta awareness that there's no way this can be the end, what makes it work is showing how the stakes matter for the characters. Takeru didn't just run out of time again, he was killed, something Yurusen previously said was impossible, and now Ryu might lose his afterlife as well. That's a crazy amount of pressure for the other characters who have to find a way to prevent that from happening. It's a very heavy episode and the escalation is abrupt.

The same applies to this episode of Den-O and it does the same thing that Ore Tanjou does by showing Momotaros actually caring and being depressed and it shows something that isn't always apparent, the fact that deep down, he has come to care about his fellow Imagin friends and is now having to deal with those feelings. It's fitting that what is essentially the Imagins' final form, is them literally coming together through Momotaros' sentimentality for a bunch of people who he used to merely tolerate, before it grew in to a very real camaraderie and friendship.

Agreed! Sato may be great at portraying Ryoutarou and the Imagins in human form, but Takaiwa is just as great at portraying them as Den-O. Very talented guy and I hope he continues to suit up occasionally in the Reiwa Era, either in KR or Sentai, like how he was Ryusoul Black in a flashback scene.

Our rewatches are pretty close then! I'm currently at the Alain redemption arc and I'm surprised by how my opinion of Makoto has improved since the first time. Like, he's the whole reason Takeru and Alain are even able to consider working together, the bridge between the humans and the Ganma. He's the MVP of the Grateful debut episode for sure!

Sorry it didn't work for you!

For me, I sort of liked that it wasn't an upgrade that was about defeating a monster; it was an upgrade that was about how much more emotionally healthy these characters had become? So much of the metaphorical weight in this show is about how we accept and balance our emotions, and an upgrade that's down to Ryotaro and Momotaro understanding the value of the other Imagins... man, that feels like a pretty good point to introduce the Teamwork form.

And after they were all so unhelpful when he was trying to learn how to swim during the Summer Vacation short! Momo's so heroically forgiving.

But yeah, I was not expecting the movie epilogue to be Momo Cares About His Friends! Pleasant surprise!

I have a thought of the Imagins being mean to him for him being not the most anything, because that's the words from Kintaros; "boring, plain, and trivial". The "beyond your reach" part can also count, as the phrase is usually uttered when someone unremarkable speaks to someone that is like, excels on anything positive and is respected or something. I know Ozaki refers to Hana as "Hana-chan" that Imagins assume him getting too familiar, though I feel that Imagins don't really look at him interacting with her before, and others such as Airi refering to her as Hana-chan too (they too recently met series-wise, not old friend or something), and I feel the Imagins can do this to anyone unremarkable based on their words. And my point of Hana wasn't her standing up for herself (what she did was smacking Imagins like usual), but defending Ozaki, some empowering for average people that aren't stand out, those should be treated equally in society.

Actually, one episode after the movie. You watched the movie before episode 27 which means skipping ep. 27. The movie is set between 27 and 28, means 27.5, so one episode after the movie. And I've played the video games like Climax Heroes, so I know about this, but Den-O also likely started the trend of movie exclusive form (clue: Sieg).

Well yeah, Gaoh can be beatable only by Sword Form, albeit with a help of other Den-O base forms (, a big enough threat for main antagonist role, but probably not the highest in threatening scale of him only being a counterpart to Sword Form. If you view Momo as caring about other Imagin, I guess he'd be a tsundere about this huh? Him claiming that the Imagins disappearing would be good for Ryotaro (he cares openly about Ryotaro), and that it'd create more space within the DenLiner.

One of the jewel thief are the starter villain of the movie, and I mean of course the next episodes would address the unfinished business if there's still 22 episodes left of this series! And you talk about Ryotaro cleaning up Yuuto's mess here, ironically, I forgot to talk about this before, but the version of Yuuto in the movie is far nicer and approachable than the one in the main series for you talking about him leaving a mess, he's just a bit more on the serious side, but he didn't act hostile to the others. Ryotaro's amnesia here is really a coninuation of the movie, and those who don't follow the movie can be confused here. And why are you ok with Ryotaro and Hana's powerlessness here of saving their friends? Sometimes you or people just criticize regardless of the stakes.

Ryotaro obviously wouldn't feel right about his three teammates disappearing, I mean he obliges to save Kintaros by letting him contract with Ryotaro before, Ryotaro is the one who would like having more of the "pests" in the Imagin if it helps them. And Momo's stuff is more affecting and understated yeah, but I wouldn't want for Ryotaro to be turned like him just for the sake of the story to work with the theme. Momo's fiery demeanor for him to be vulnerable as a joke though and the pain, that's the thing Momo surely inherited from Ryotaro though, his inhuman bad luck, it transfers over to Momo. And yeah, the Imagins coming back with a handwave, that's Kobayashi doing show not tell.... I know you talk about it may be not working for others, but of course we know about how the Imagins won't be gone for good for middle of the series, but what matters is the process of them coming back, that it shouldn't violate the pre-established rule of the series. Not giving criticism of this part, but about the views of parts like this in general (I mean I can't give thoughts of this here because the Imagin mechanics aren't revealed yet).

Well, the Rider Kick in Climax Form ain't the best for me visually (and I would have an idea for it to be more pleasing, at least in my eyes). But the fun of Climax Form would be about, well, all the 4 Imagins being inside Ryotaro, and the power struggle to decide who controls the body or anything. It's when multiple individuals in 1 body are NOT fused, and it gives all the confusions you expect for multiple individuals in 1 body! And I look forward for it not only for the comedic effect, but about the real drawback of this kind of powerup.

Well, apart from your headcannon, the show obviously can't show everything in screen, there are many offscreen events happening. Deneb is also someone who does visit DenLiner if he wants to, and he can act independently outside of Yuuto, and get scolded for it due to Yuuto's cold, pragmatic approach.

Yeah, while I think that's a very good set of standards to hold form debuts to, there are times it's okay to break the rules, and I'll also give Den-O a bit of a waiver when it comes to the usually all-important comeback victory. It's just not a show even remotely interested in power levels or anything like that. Even Den-O's base forms are less about their unique situational abilities and more about their unique characters, so everything about Climax Form being rooted entirely in the emotions of the story, at the very least, is consistent with the show's style and themes.

You still get the emotional journey from Momo (and Die's write-up actually gave me the revelation that this is kinda his super mode, by the way?), and it also still hits that heroic second wind vibe in the process, despite the particular opponent Den-O is up against barely mattering. (And given the bit where Momo gets angry at the monster for interrupting his phone call, I think Kobayashi was VERY conscious of what she was doing there.)

So I've never been a huge fan of Climax form. It's just a little too busy for me with all of the colors and the double eyes. I like the gimmick behind it and the suit acting is great, but the design is just a bit of a mess.

As for the story? Weirdly forgettable. Like, I knew that Climax form was coming up, but I honestly did not remember anything about where it came from or how Ryotaro got it. Overall, we're kind of getting to that point where I start remembering the big events more than the specific stories.

I don't want to nitpick, but the movie hit theaters one day before Episode 27, so 28 is the second episode to air after the movie.

That said, I claimed it was a fortnight since the movie, when it was actually only eight days. I was thinking about it in terms of a week between the movie and 27, but that wasn't the case. Sorry for the only error this thread will have in it!

Don't know what "tsundere" means (know it's an anime term; not an anime guy), but I think this is just Momo covering for the confusion of his own sadness. He never thought he cared about the other three Imagin, but now that they're dying he sees how he needs them around. He can't say that, so he acts tough and pretends like he won't miss them.

I'm okay with Ryotaro and Hana being powerless to save their friends because this is explicitly a story about only really understanding how much people mean when they're gone, so you should try to value them when they're around. If it's a story where Hana or Ryotaro are running around trying to prevent things, it's a different story entirely. Plus, it's all about how Momo is dealing with this, so two other characters saving the day changes the goals of the story.

But all it would take is a line of dialogue! When this story kicks off, it's because Ryotaro has to catch the final thief/Imagin. He's never shown to know that the villains are still out there, since only Zeronos was around for that part of the story. We never see the scene where Yuuto fills Ryotaro in, because that much screentime is unnecessary: just toss in a line where Ryotaro says that Yuuto filled him in, done. You don't have to show everything, but you have to acknowledge in the narrative how characters obtain information relevant to the plot. Unless Deneb is watching the same episodes of Den-O that we are, I'm not sure how he learned about the disappearing Imagin, and the show doesn't give any clues to help the viewer fill in that blank.

One of the best gags in the episode. Momo is trying to resurrect his friends through a magical cellphone! He doesn't have time to deal with this monster right this second! I'm pretty sure I also shouted DUDE SHUT UP at my TV during that fight!

I can see that. In the moment, I'm very into the story that suit is telling, but aesthetically... not my thing. Not a figure I'm rushing out to buy.

For reference, a tsundere is a type of character who acts like they don’t care about someone else, but switch to actively caring when they’re not present. Not to be confused with “yandere” which is where the person is obsessively caring of someone to the point of insanity.

Sempai can’t look at that other girl if I cut off his head and carry it around in my purse. Check and mate.

No, nitpick all you want if it's to correct (and not conveyed in condescending way too), because it's a nice new info and trivia to have. So it's about the release date... I was thinking about the movie setting (being set between ep. 27 and 28, 27.5).

It's not necessarily anime term, and I feel like people mistake it for that (furthermore, thinking that tsundere only can apply for females, or it's all about screaming "baka!"). Tsundere is having affection for someone, but covers it up with rough treatment of said affection object. And I refer to Momo acting tough and claiming he wants the other three Taros to be gone, but he actually secretly cares about them. Some other KR characters are tsunderes too like Ankh to Eiji, or some secondary Riders like Ren to Shinji (not to Yui or Eri).

I always feel that Ryotaro already cherishes the Imagins around him, that Ryotaro already values them before this moment and didn't need to understand about that. Hana did show affection for certain Imagins like Deneb (!), I still wonder what's in Deneb that softens Hana without any rought treatment, only for him (not Kintaros in his debut scene where she reminds Imagins' malicious nature), but Hana probably got a case of tsundere too regarding Imagins; normally she makes it very clear how much she hates Imagin and routinely beats up the four Taros for how they treat Ryotaro, but she does care about them deep down, like crying when Ura, Kin, and Ryu seemingly vanished.

Sure, but this mostly (and surprisingly!) ended up being a story about how Momo felt about the other Imagins, so any unnecessary or superfluous Hana/Ryotaro scenes are... it's maybe a misdirection? I think it's the story getting you to overlook Momo's reactions (which are very minor) so that the climax has more impact.

For Hana liking Deneb... he hands out Deneb candy! That buys a lot of goodwill!

I see you're a fan of School Days. Obviously very comparable to Den-O and Hibiki.

I know I haven't been around, but I've come back to speak only the truth.

Wing Form is the best Den-O form.

Also the movie is great, Climax Form debut is great, Deneb best Imagin, and Yuuto's stargazing is adorable.

Not a fan, just know it exists.

Climax Form is a beautiful mess. I loved it back then still love it now. :rock:

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 29 - "LUCKY HORROR SHOW"

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Fittingly for an episode set at a haunted house, I was absolutely terrified at the thought of a story built around people getting very excited to win a date with Airi. The potential pitfalls for a storyline like that would make the Grand Canyon look like a pothole. But no! That's not really what this episode's about at all! It's an episode about trying to be better for the people you care about, which is a very nice sentiment. It's also an episode about how shared selfishness can sometimes be a better motivating force than cooperation or sacrifice, and that is a hilarious sentiment.

The conclusion of this weird almost-one-off (it looks like Deneb's sadness is going to spillover into an episode I could not be more excited to watch), where the DenLiner Imagin have to figure out what one thing they could all believe in enough to use Climax Form and that thing is Not Working Together... genius. I love it. It's a total zig where other shows would zag, and it's hilariously this show. These heroic imagination monsters from the end of time can't cooperate for a shared desire, but they sure as shit can be so unreasonably and collectively selfish that they'll power through any obstacle in tandem. It's a fantastic note to end on, We Are All Pretty Greedy Deep Down And That's Sometimes Better Than Apathy, and it's a great juxtaposition to award that behavior while penalizing Zeronos for trying to protect Deneb.

It's a purely selfless act from Yuuto, him using his penultimate Zeronos Card to save the presumably imperiled Deneb. It's for nothing, of course. Deneb is trying to overcome his inexplicable terror (it's funny, but it's a weird thing in the episode, since Deneb is an imagination monster from the end of time who fights imagination monsters from the end of time pretty regularly? But he's petrified of spookums for this episode?) and win Yuuto a date with Airi, so there's really no danger. But Yuuto rushes there regardless, and Deneb is shattered by how much he's let Yuuto down. It's the one real emotional stake of this episode, and MAN they definitely hit the stake into the ground at the end. Having Deneb's cute little subplot result in Yuuto losing a Card and Deneb running away from home? Sad! Too sad! Didn't want a sad ending to this goofy-ass trifle!

It's a hilarious episode besides that, though. Just wall-to-wall goofs. The story takes off like a rocket, and Ryotaro's actor does award-level work by cycling through every Imagin in short order. There's a real transformation he goes through when he plays possessed, and it's never more clear than when an Imagin is only there for a line before moving on. Getting to see so many fun moments, as the Imagin try to cobble together a working team in order to defeat a local haunted house, and they can't even manage that (Kin botches it! Ryutaros never even gets his shot!), it's a really stellar episode for Ryotaro's actor.

Everyone else who shows up for this one (bit of a light cast, which is to the story's benefit, focus-wise) gets a killer moment or two, though. Naomi's at her most Chaotic Good here, generally encouraging the Imagin while delighting at their continued bickering and misfortune. Hana gets one of the episode's biggest laughs by being terrible at surviving a haunted house because she can't stop fighting back. Yuuto eating an incredibly large rice ball. Deneb's slow realization, amid his own screams, that the monster staring at him is his own reflection. Just a comedic masterclass, top to bottom, front to back.

Fun way to come at the now-standard Wait Can We Use This Super Form Again plot. The continued exploration of the DenLiner Imagins inexplicably effective non-teamwork teamwork is endlessly delightful, and I could not be more pleased to have their victory come at the expense of any of them learning anything positive or helpful. Brilliant.

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THE BAGGAGE CAR

-This episode's Imagin and contract holder were fine. Zero percent surprised that the murderer didn't really murder anyone, because that's not what kind of show this is. The Imagin had a good visual, but didn't really get a chance to chatter enough to feel like more than a speed bump. Not a lot of room to develop the IOTW here, and while I am totally okay with that, it's still worth noting.

-The touch of Deneb's note imploring Yuuto to chew thoroughly while Yuuto takes disturbingly big bites of this head-sized rice wedge... so good. So goddamn funny.

Well, here we are at the first of two (mostly) standalone episodes in Den-O. I don’t recall much, but I can remember the next one is innocuously important.

Anyway, back to what I do with every new monster*

Shōto Kachii

Notable Anime roles: Ikki Kida in Bakkyuu HIT! Crash Bedaman, Yosshi Miyoshi in Bakuman. 2, Dr. Hell blade in Beyblade: Metal Fusion, Marechiyo Oomaeda in Bleach, Kowalski in Fortune Dogs, Badat in Glass Feet, Tadataka Zengyou in Gunparade March, Kaishu Katsu in Intrigue in the Bakumatsu - Irohanihoheto, Kagetora Katsuki in Monkey Turn V, Chief Director Hosome in REC, Deadwing in (The) Reflection, Insect-user in Saiyuki Reload, Munetaka Yagyu in Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou 2nd Act, Dr. Bariki Kudō and Manriki Kudō in Tomica Kizuna Gattai Earth Granner.

*I looked up the VA for the next one, and his career is so uninteresting (I found his wife more fascinating than him), that I just decided to skip him and tell you who the main face guest for that episode is.

Yeah, this is a weird one and it really gets overshadowed by what happens after the next episode. I actually think it’s kind of a pity that this ended up as a standalone episode since the Imagin story is interesting enough that it could have filled a full two-parter.

Maybe? There's definitely some vague thematic stuff that could've been a larger story (how we tell ourselves stories about our actions that lock us into unhealthy mindsets, or how being honest about our shortcomings is better than hiding from them), but what's here is plenty entertaining. If anything, I like the break from the two-part structure we've gotten recently, where this one-off comes on the heels of a four-part movie tie-in. It's nicely unpredictable!

And a prominent example of this franchise for yandere is Kusaka from Faiz. Obsessively loves Mari and did a good number of his evil acts revolving around that, namely taking out her potential suitors.

I know about the part where shared selfishness is a better motivating force, like Ex-Aid where the main Riders attack Graphite together and won, but it's them trying to one up each other. But just because the shared selfishness make a good result like here and there, doesn't mean it's a better motivating force than cooperation, the cooperation can likely produce even better results than shared selfishness. I'd wish that people don't overlook that selfishness can create pointless infighting instead, like Yuuto attacking and shoving Den-O away due to his self-righteousness about dealing with the problem (protecting the flow of time).

Like I said before, I always want to know about how the living beings feel when 2 or more of them are being fused in 1 body for combining powers or something. They would share a body with each of the merging living beings, and most of the time, the show just act as that living being would triumph over the fight or something, likely due to certain living being is the dominant one in controlling that body, or that the souls are united too. Den-O Climax Form shows all the struggles in glory for fused beings as power up, the struggle to decide which one takes control, and all the clumsy decisions coming from that. It's an appropriate drawback for fused beings as more power up.

Not only Deneb, but Momotaros is also shown to be afraid of chihuahua, he's a comic relief and a ditzy one, that's why. And oh well for Yuuto's act being refered as purely selfless, this one's still, as expected from him, about someone close to him (friend/family), won't refer that necessarily as purely selfless, or at least less than caring for others that are not directly related to you. It's still sad though for losing a card for something not needed and low stake.

Not every episode for Takeru Sato? His achievement is about cycling through every Imagin throughout the entire show, and that makes him a big star for KR actor, not only big in KR but also overseas.

Naomi's constant need for stimulation, apart from here (and what I noticed as well), is rarely listed upon in the Den-O inforomations on internet, just talking about her being pollyana or hyper, and being good friends with the Taros Imagin and playing with Ryutaros. I know the part of her engouraging the Taros Imagin for doing their job against monster makes the good part in chaotic good, but I'd still think of that delighting misfortune behavior as something to be wary of; I said before about those who love drama being a serious issue in society and contributes to making the world being a harder place to live for the need of the drama. In logical extreme this is the main goal of one of the most irredeemable villains in the franchise; Daguva from Kuuga, who wants to make humans as violent as he is. Hana can't stop fighting back but man... those are humans, aren't Hana's hostility are reserved for Imagins?

Reminder that the show has the Imagins actually shown killing people, onscreen, like Wolf Imagin (Yuka Sawada's) when he travels to the past.

Yeah, but in this one he's really putting on a show. Usually he's performing as an Imagin for a scene, in this one he's performing as all four Imagin over one scene, and then he does it several times over the episode. It's worth singling out for praise!

She at least knocked out that hostage taker before. Plus she defeated a half-dozen ninjas in the movie. Hana'll fight pretty much anyone who gets in her face.

Sure, but my point was more that the human being didn't really murder anyone. This isn't really a series (so far) about human murderers, even accidental ones, and I didn't expect this episode to change that approach.

The way the show's formula loosens up a bit here is something I definitely approve of. It comes off to me like after pulling that big stunt with the movie tie-ins, the show feels a lot more... comfortable with itself, maybe? Especially considering the show started off with a very strict structure of introducing a new Taros followed by a further spotlight on them. That carried it through the first quarter just fine (there was plenty of merit to that approach!), but it's cool to see the show stretching what it can do more.

Hana isn't a character I'm ~super~ passionate about (even though she's always great), but this is a good spot to mention that I am way into the ironic amount of overlap between her personality and Momo's.

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 30 - "MADAM, HOW ABOUT THE FIREWORKS"

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I really love the summer episodes of Kamen Rider.

They're usually more playful, more adventurous. I wonder if it's the heat, making everyone involved in the production that extra bit more loopy? Whatever it is, there's a sort of welcome exhaustion to what's going on, where it's all about making a game out of what's happening, keeping things loose and slightly stupid. Everyone's just enjoying the day, waiting for things to relax at night.

And so we get this episode, evenly split between prideful antagonism during the humid daytime, and the unspoken delight of friends and family in the evening. The first part is all stress and nonsense, the second part is all forgiveness and smiles. We've got three stories that overlap, but let's talk about them one by one.

The Deneb/Yuuto thread is terrific, with Deneb trying to start a new life away from Yuuto. Deneb feels like he's a burden to Yuuto, and he opts to run away from home. (I absolutely love that Yuuto says that Deneb ran away from home. It's reframing their fight as something intensely childish and temporary, which sets the appropriate tone for this story.) What follows is Deneb trying to assist Ryotaro, and it going terribly for Ryotaro. (It does not go super great for Deneb, either!) It's mostly just Deneb trying to copy Momo enough to fit in on the DenLiner, and Momo having his usual zero tolerance policy in regards to Drama and Feelings. While Ryotaro is trying to be a good listener and offer non-judgmental options, Momo gives Deneb a literal swift kick in the ass and tells him to go home and work things out. It's a cute little story that never gets as insane as you'd think/hope (some neat physical comedy, though), but keeps a solid tie to the other stories and ends itself well.

That ending to the Deneb/Yuuto story! So great! Yuuto was grumpy at Deneb having a slightly fake emergency last episode, but he wasn't really mad at him. Ryotaro compares their fight to the kind siblings have, where your affection for another person, and your shared history, causes whatever heat had built up between you to eventually just evaporate into the air. It's a bond that can't really be broken, so if you wait a little bit it'll return to its normal shape. Yuuto proves his forgiveness to Deneb by throwing his last Zeronos card in the river, yelling at Deneb that losing the card was less important than losing Deneb. There's a petulant exasperation on Yuuto's face that is absolutely adorable, his frustration at needing to say these things out loud to Deneb. These two weirdos... so great. So great!

The Airi/Ryotaro story is a little mirror to the Deneb/Yuuto one, the example of how fleeting ill will can be when you really care about someone. I love that the only real speech about Feelings in this one is when Ryotaro explains what siblings are like to Deneb. Yuuto gives a huffy little I'm Not Mad Now Come Home And Shut Up tantrum to fix things with Deneb, and Airi and Ryotaro don't even say anything about their fight being over. It's just, like, the sun went down. There are fireworks. Let's all just hang out and relax.

The Fireworks Family story is the linking element, and it gives us fireworks, but I sort of hate it? It's trying to do the same thing as the Deneb and Ryotaro threads, where Some Emotions Are So Big You Don't Need Words, but this dude abandoned his family for five years because he wanted to make fireworks. That is a way bigger thing than inconveniencing a friend or fighting over culinary chemical warfare! I don't know how or why this guy's wife is supposed to forgive him, let alone support him? Beyond a poorly articulated sense that he wants his family back, he doesn't really seem to regret his actions or take responsibility for what happened. He's just like When I'm Great At Fireworks She'll Come Back, and the show's like Yup? It's a weirdly dark monster plot featuring a horrifyingly bad husband and father, who gets what he wants in the end? Weird! Did not like this story or how it ended.

Besides that, though, real fun episode. Great action, beautiful shots (the one with Deneb and Yuuto on the bridge!!!), another clever non-teamwork take on Climax Form, and a cute little story about pride and the resiliency of friendships. Fun to watch.

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THE BAGGAGE CAR

-An astonishing amount of great gags in this one, but my two favorite ones were the crime scene set dressing of Milk Dipper (the chalk outline around the teddy bear!) and the mother scolding her child for staring at Deneb. I love the conceit that Deneb In A Summer Hat just reads as some unfortunately deformed individual, and society shouldn't make him feel bad.

-As someone who also gets the occasional summer cold, Kin has become even more relatable from this episode. The joke about Kin's sneezing in Climax Form wrenching Momo's shoulder, A+ stuff.

-The use of Climax Form in this one felt a little gratuitous (feels like Gun Form or Rod Form could've taken this Bird Imagin out?), but it worked for me because it was just Momo using the other three as armor. Every time the Teamwork Form is about Momo being as callous and selfish as ever while still caring about his friends in the larger sense, I love it.

-The cage over the head of the Bird Imagin makes for probably my favorite monster design in this series to date.

Bandai had to sell that red cellphone. :lolol

don't forget the Shochakku Henshin figure (if it had one)

*Thinks about back in the days* Nope. Cellphone. I remember when this was airing in Japan circa 2007 the roleplay toys were more coveted by folks.

So this is a tough one to evaluate for me in that everything that happens in it will always be secondary to the episode's most noteworthy feature: the dreaded return of mid-00 Rider's greatest foe... Production Problems!

(I considered waiting to post this until tomorrow's episode, but I suspect you'd notice pretty quickly that something was up regardless)

This was Yuriko Shiratori's last episode of Den-O. Like Yui Satonaka the year before, it was because of health issues, in this case a result of being overworked. Apparently her talent agency really, really wanted her to be the Next Big Thing and piled so much work on her that she physically couldn't take it anymore. She ultimately retired from the entertainment industry a few years later and basically disappeared.

So this is the last time we're going to see Shiratori as Hana; she doesn't even come back to hang out in the Milk Dipper for the last couple episodes and barely interact with the main cast. We actually won't see the character at all for a couple episodes while the production staff figured out what to do without an actress. When she does come back... well, you'll see in a few days.

does she come back as an anime character

https://anime-figure.com/static/imag...735ffd0bd7.jpg

Man, that's a bummer. I honestly don't know if this is going to sink the next 20 episodes for me or what. Hiyori being gone from Kabuto was such a distracting development, and... ugh. Ugh!

Total bummer.

I honestly think this did leave to possibly Den-O's biggest plot twist though

I mean, I've seen that figure around for a while, and it's called "Hana 19-year old Version", so I think with this new information that I can probably hazard a guess as to what possible scenario the producers will decide on.

Ryotaro's just going to play Hana now, too.

I'm honestly not sure how much it changes the characters' overall trajectory. What we ultimately see happen may have been the original plan or it may have been a complete rework, it's really hard to say without knowing for sure.

Yeah, I'll try to be fair to it as a story. It's not like Hana's arc was what I was loving the most about Den-O. (It was usually sort of boring and nonsensical?) That performer, though. She was such a charismatic presence on the DenLiner, and I'm definitely going to miss her.

Oh yeah. A full series with Shiratori is just after Taketara's original plan for Hibiki on my list of non-existent Rider material that I'd love to see.

The one upside to this, though? This is the last time this happened. The closest we've ever come since is Koyomi's actress on Wizard being too busy to appear on the show very much. It sucked, but she didn't leave the show and she still got to complete her character's arc.

I remember when I first started watching Rider back during W, there was some talk of being the lead female character on Kamen Rider being cursed. This came out because there was some vague controversy about Hikaru Yamamoto (Akiko) posting risque photos of herself on social media and/or having had a nose job. I forget the exact details. Ultimately came to nothing, but after Shiratori, Satonaka, and the untimely death of Hibiki's Miyuki Kanbe, it really did seem to be a job that had a lot of misfortune attached to it.

Well like I said, the VA for the Bird Imagin is so boring to read about I’m going to break my rule and talk about the contractor’s actor. I forget his name, but he’s better known as Houji “Hoji-san” Tomasu in Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger.

Not much else I can think to say about the rest of the episode. At least the next one has a decently punny title (even if it does fall into Engrish territory)

I can't say too much about the Hana situation without spoiling what happens to her, but I'll say that her absence is shorter than Hiyori's and actually results in a plot twist I really like in a way that I think is surprisingly fitting for her arc. I'll talk more about this later.

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 31 - "AI NEED YU”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den31a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den31b.png

I already knew what my Den-O Series Wrap-Up post was going to be about. I figured it out a couple weeks ago.

It was going to be about how my favorite thing in Den-O wasn't a plot or a character or an arc or a gag. My favorite thing in Den-O was something that was in pretty much every episode. It was that bit in the opening credits, when the music flares up after In Your Hands from the theme song, and it's Hana making goofy faces at the camera. That's it. That was my favorite thing.

There's a lot more I could go into about it, and I was planning to. Stuff about how the simple act of letting the actors mug for the camera was so integral to the warmth the show radiated. That taking time to show how Ryotaro's life was enriched by these two women, Hana and Airi, was a window into how deeply he connects with people. How much there was inside Ryotaro, and how these women could bring it out of him. Or how the characters facing the camera instead of each other was a way of communicating the ease of their relationship, that their support was unwavering.

But, y'know, Hana's gone now. That post is never going to get written.

I was sad watching this episode. I can't pretend I was viewing it objectively, ready to go on another DenLiner adventure with the gang. The whole experience was diminished. Knowing Hana wouldn't be back, or the actor wouldn't be back... this episode would've needed to be exceptional just to make me feel not horrible.

It was definitely not an exceptional episode.

The other part of that opening bit I really loved was Airi's laugh, the semi-out-of-character reaction to something Ryotaro's actor probably said to her. Airi's quirky mindfulness is a well that the show keeps coming back to, because it's refreshing to experience. She's like a home that Ryotaro can always return to, and the last storyline really enforced that idea.

So, yeah, inevitably you need to do storylines where that's disrupted. Or, I don't know, maybe not inevitably? Maybe it's okay to have something that isn't jeopardized or threatened? Maybe Airi's happiness and emotional safety doesn't need to be the crux of a cliffhanger? I don't know. Stories need stakes, conflict builds character, but having Hana gone at the same time that Airi's under attack... it's too much. It's too much for me to handle, honestly. I don't like sad episodes of Den-O a whole lot, and this one was just an all-the-way-through bummer to watch.

A lot of it was my mindset, which wasn't ever going to be great. But having the rest of the story be focused on some slimy banker concocting an incredibly illegal ten million yen loan with Airi's name on it to blackmail her into marrying him, and the climactic threat is that she'll learn the truth that her brother's been hiding from her for months that he definitely should've told her already... I didn't like this.

I'm sure I've said before how much I enjoy hanging out in the world of Den-O, how it feels like spending time with friends. This episode was the opposite of that feeling. This one was like an awkward dinner party that you wish you'd never attended. It's full of things that should be enjoyable, people you normally like; but someone's missing, and folks keep saying the wrong things. It's an episode that needed everyone on their A-game to make me feel like Hana's absence wasn't going to irrevocably change the formula, and what I got was a return of my least-favorite trope and a plot that was equally repellant and unbelievable.

I'm going to miss that girl who played Hana.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den31c.png

THE BAGGAGE CAR

-The idea of a banker just walking in and saying You Owe Us Ten Million Yen is stupid. It's just a stupid idea. It breaks the reality of the Magical Time Train show, if you can believe it. I can sort of vaguely see Airi not rocking the boat, since that's her nature, but just shrugging her shoulders as they repossess Milk Dipper, her parents' shop and her only livelihood, is maybe too far. The bigger problem is the Airimirers, who never think to, like, call the cops? I'm not sure someone can just show up with a contract you never signed and take everything you own? It's just a dumb idea that I was not in a charitable enough mood to overlook.

To borrow a phrase, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this.

The most I remember about this episode (besides the ludicrous plot with the banker) was that the Anthopper Imagin is the closest that Den-O got to a crossover with W (which, along with Build, is one of two post Den-O Heisei series that never got a full crossover with at least Momotaros or Yuto). He even has two voice actors (Count Von Count laughter)

Kosuke Toriumi

Notable Anime roles: Inazuka Kiba in Naruto, Kozo Kasahara in Rosario+Vampire, Saizo in Pokémon XY, Nephrite in Sailor Moon Crystal

Notable Tokusatsu roles: Taurus Balista and Gelnewt in Kamen Rider Decade, Piggies Imagin in Chou Den-O Trilogy: Episode Red, Rhino Doubler in Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters.

Tomokazu Seki

Notable anime roles: Tracey Sketchit in Pokémon, Mepple in Futari wa Pretty Cure, Gilgamesh in the Fate series, Ginei Morioka in Rosario+Vampire, Ashiya Douman in Garo: Crimson Moon, Frog and Eagle in Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens.

Notable Tokusatsu roles: Buldont in Choriki Sentai Ohranger, Bibidevi in Denji Sentai Megaranger, Tomokazu Daichi/Voicelugger Emerald in Voicelugger (live role) Kamen Rider Amazon from Kamen Rider Decade onwards (except Movie Wars Mega Max), Glen Fire in the Ultra Series, the Narrator/equipment voice/The Greatest Treasure in the Universe in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Akarenger from Super Hero Taisen onwards, past Sentai heroes in Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger Season Tsuu, Alien Icarus in Ultraman Ginga, Ultraman Ginga S and Ultraman X, the Great Leader from Kamen Rider Taisen onwards, The 15 luminaries in Kamen Rider Ghost (even Himiko), Gaisoulg and the Ryusoulgers’ equipment in Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger, Ahiru Megid in Kamen Rider Saber.

Notable video game roles: Dumon Kasshu in Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs Gundam, Kanji Tatsumi in Persona, Ishida Mitsunari in Sengoku Basara, Sonic the Werehog in Sonic Unleashed, Stan Aileron in Tales of the World, Yoshimitsu in Tekken, Joe in Viewtiful Joe.

Notable dubbing roles: Will in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Brainy Smurf in The Smurfs 2, Skids in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 in Into the Spider-Verse.

Multiple media: Kikaider in the OVA (and Let’s Go Kamen Riders)

As for the other Imagin, his only other major role was as the White Wizard on um, Wizard before they revealed he was Fueki.