Same goes for the Movie War, both of them work a little better with the full context of Double's story, although Gaia Memories of Fate is still a great movie than can easily be rewatched at any time without having to rewatch the show. I guess it helps that NEVER are affiliated with recurring Heisei villain group Foundation X, rather than Museum. Daido's a sympathetic and bad*ss villain and I'll talk a lot more about him in his Returns movie, but his backstory of being turned in to a NEVER is similar to Showa Riders being turned in to Remodified Humans. Except that those Riders accepted their loneliness to protect people, while Daido has already succumbed to despair and wants to make everybody else NEVER like him so he won't be lonely anymore. His relationship with Maria is an intriguing parallel to Phillip's with Shroud, as both Riders received unwanted help from their mothers. This shows how Phillip could've ended up like Daido if he didn't have Shoutarou and Akiko to support him.

For me, it's my 7th favorite Heisei Rider summer movie. However, Daido is my favorite summer movie villain for sure!

Speaking of your thread schedule, I notice that there isn't a "Kamen Rider Die Watches A Metal Hero" in the list. Do you plan on including that next decade?

You didn't mention Zenkaiger?! I guess I'll have to do my own recommendation list that Die can use after whatever Sentai he plans to watch next.

Turboranger
Fiveman
Jetman
Ohranger
GoGo V
Timeranger
Gaoranger
Abaranger
Dekaranger
Boukenger
Gekiranger
Go-Onger
Goseiger
Gobusters
Zyuohger
Ryusoulger
Kiramager
Zenkaiger

The ones I added are in bold. I omitted Showa, as I know Die "doesn't truck" with that. I also omitted Gokaiger, as that show is full of spoilers for previous Sentai and therefore unsuitable for introduction IMO, although I acknowledge that some people like Kurona did start with it. I put Gobusters and Ryusoulger in there as well, despite them being kind of subversive, as they still mostly follow the typical Sentai formula.

It definitely does help, yeah. Eternal becomes this parallel threat that can be wrapped up in a film, rather than some heretofore unknown aspect of the main series plot. Hell, the Museum spends most of this film watching TV!

Maybe? I hadn't really planned on it, but who knows how I'll feel in seven years. (I have never liked any of the Metal Hero appearances in the mid-Phase 2 spring movies, so that's sort of the main reason I didn't schedule one.)

And thanks for the additional recommendations!

If we're offering pointless recommendations, then I say skip every official Sentai and just watch Akibaranger.

Interesting dilemma here, to get a client, but with a case that'd help their enemy, and it's shown in Akiko refusing it and trying to warn something, but Shotaro would instead accept it. As Akiko questions Shotaro, he accepts due to being a chance to find Ryubee's secrets. Like before, Akiko's significantly more cooperative now compared to the very beginning, to just question his decision instead of throwing her chief position around. Her heart is in the right place, but there's surely still room of improvements, slapping Shotaro with a slipper is unnecessary if she can do that instead. Though Akiko can climb up well, she can't climb down when following after Shotaro and Kyoko.As usual, Akiko's bizzare antics somehow ends up accidentally providing an advantage by using her slippers as dowsing rods as Shotaro finds the Evil Tail by digging in the spot Akiko's slipper points to (and the slipper moves by itself like a compass).

Emotion manipulation is rather powerful in KR franchise, due to the fighters only being strong when they're in KR form, it's very vulnerable for Shotaro to stand still in middle of battle as he's a normal human outside of Rider form, though at least Philip manages to get him henshin to W. But even when Accel has unique physiology against Terror's ability, Terror shows that he's more than just mental attacks, showing his another ability to turn himself into his advanced form Terror Dragon that is house-sized (enough for Trial's speed), similar to Dopants such as T-Rex or Quetzalcoatlus (which Isaka seeks). For the revelation, it seems to be about how Ryubee is also able to use the Terror power even on human form, making Shotaro tremble, claiming that Shotaro never did anything against the fact that Ryubee's the head of the Museum, due to his body subconsciously avoiding coming near to his estate out of fear. As Terui notes, Terror's power is amplifying someone's fear. About you claiming he'd be immediately be killed to have fear by himself, really there's nothing to fear as shown in next.

When Philip was born, Wakana was 4 and Saeko was 13. Both older sisters have "bad numbers" (death and unlucky numbers) for their age when Raito was born, probably explains Sonozaki in a nutshell. He then gets Mick at age 3, then at age 5 Ryubee discovers the contact to Earth's consciousness, with a research team named "the fountain", and then Raito.... falls inside a hole. Phillip did fear about the truth reason, and that was for a good reason that he's utterly shocked to learn that he may've potentially died young, with unknown means on how he got to grow up now. The book/truth is as scary as he imagined. Wakana again tries to yank Philip away from the heroes, but of course to help Museum's cause (other than abrupt turn, Wakana trying to take Philip away still feels like the extreme version of her plan at ep. 39-40 to run away before her turn).

Ryubee's motive is revealed now that he's driven by how many species, the ones who he keep at Museum, has been extinct now, and that he feels humanity will face the same fate with their current path, thus he wants to secure humanity's future by uniting them with Earth. Gotta praise that it's interesting that the Museum isn't only a random unrelated job to cover his acts, but it's a driving factor for his motive too. So he's a well-intentioned extremist, as there are many better ways to ensure humanity's survival than uniting them with Earth, or especially unleashing superpowers that can accelerate humanity's extermination, and his root of his motivation is interesting one with the parallel. Still I'd want to see more of his work being related towards achieving his goal like unleashing Gaia Memory to the citizens they've been doing all the time.

Kyoko's like Bitou before for a client with a slapstick quirk, but with bullwhip rather than finger snap, such as tying up Shotaro and dragging him to the office, and later being the one in charge among the Narumi crew to whip both Shotaro and Akiko to remind them that it's a precious excavation site, and both submit to her. As a curator for a museum, it explains why she'd have country-themed outfit. Kyoko has some physical prowess before where Shotaro compliments her for her climbing skills, so when Wakana tries to capture her as a sneak-thief, she'd try to break free, albeit she ends up knocked down.

As even super fast Accel Trial was unable to keep up with the present Smilodon, Philip shows his non-pragmatic intellect again to point out that their mistake is fighting Smilodon as he's a human... and with CycloneMetal, W decides to instead pet Smilodon, with flashbacks of Ryubee doing it, using Metal Shaft in place of a spoon, which worked, thus leaving Smilodon open to CycloneMetal's Maximum Drive with a Stag Beetle, Metal Stag Break, creating a projection of a mandible with a green wind to bind Smilodon, breaking Smilodon's driver and reverting him back to Mick. Philip explains further that Mick's pose is when he got a special food to eat, and assures him that he won't become a Dopant anymore. Still wonder if an animal becoming one would have their Dopant actions in control (thus making Mick an evil animal), at least Smilodon was sentient enough to track down Evil Tail before.

I'll take it under advisement!

It does not! Most museum curators wear normal clothes! She's dressed like Indiana Jones! That's the joke!

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 46 - “WHAT K DEMANDS – THE LAST SUPPER”

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Not… not great? Not a great episode?

It’s anticlimactic, which shouldn’t’ve come as a surprise, considering there are three more episodes left to go in this series. But this is the end for Ryuube, and the Museum, and it’s all sort of rushed and unfulfilling. The Museum side of things is just Wakana and Ryuube, and Wakana doesn’t participate in the battle at all. The Terror Dopant has a fistfight with Double, and loses like they trotted out the Terror suit for a background fight at the quarry in a crossover film. (It’s, like, under a minute.) The overall plan was just Wakana Will Be A God Somehow, and it’s as vague in its aspirations as the Gathering Data phase of dispensing Gaia Memories was. None of it really comes across as worth 45 episodes of build-up, and it somehow carries less weight than several of the Dopant Dilemmas.

There’s some meat on this thing, largely from how irredeemable the Sonozakis ended up being. (Shotaro’s like Maybe There Was Some Humanity To Ryuube, a scene after he’s gleefully immolating himself while screaming that he regrets nothing he did.) Philip needs to save his family, but even after destroying their Gaia Memories, there’s nothing to celebrate. The only thing that Philip can depend on is Shotaro, and Shotaro is the only one who treats him like a human being. The emphasis of that bond – yet another invocation of Riding With The Devil – is where this episode finds whatever footing it can. It’s good, for that stuff.

And yet… boy, I laughed a lot in the first half of this episode. Whoever decided that Shotaro’s portrayal of bone-deep fear and trauma should be expressed by him screaming like a lunatic at phones and Makura? I would really have gone a different way with it. It cracked me up, every single time, and I feel like that’s not the intended response from the audience. Going out on a limb here. It sabotages at least half of this story, because it never once feels like it’s an observed character trait or relatable human experience, it’s just ACTING as loud as possible. We’ve gone from Shotaro Will Have To Face His Fears all the way to Shotaro Needs To Be Committed Forever with absolutely zero progression. It gets the point across that Shotaro is going to be no help to anyone, sure, but it is relentlessly funny to watch. Again, I might’ve suggested portraying it a different way!

This one was basically a miss for me. All that time spent getting us to a confrontation between Double and the Museum, and it’s Double pushing the Terror suit around by a lake while Accel flies through the air, shooting a CG creature from mythology. It feels… hollow, I guess. Like it didn’t really cost our heroes anything, which is sort of the opposite of how you want such a longstanding foe’s demise to feel. Ryuube’s plan was the usual Power For The Sake Of Power thing, and the final moments of it were as much of a shrug as the rest of his year-long stratagem. If it had some minor pathos for being so much trauma for such a pointless goal, I guess that’s something. Beyond that, let’s see where the final three go.

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

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-Shotaro’s various looks of fear throughout the first half of this episode – I can’t decide if they’re his worst acting (for drama) or his best acting (for humor). Unforgettable, though, either way.

-Boy, it is all coming back to me, the feeling of not liking how this show ended. If memory serves, we’ve got a Foundation X two-parter that never grabbed me emotionally, and a Wakana finale that I think got something out of me, but this Museum two-parter… ugh. What a fumble.

-Shroud would not miss a dinner where could walk out on her family all over again.

These were an enjoyable two episodes, though of course there's only so much climax you can fit into them due to the wrinkle of Foundation X and things not being over just yet. Since we've been made aware of since the early 40s that while Museum distributes Gaia Memories, there's still someone above providing the funding and making their own.

I don't have too much to say but I did find this a fitting end for Ryubei. It really says something that the most he's able to do is posture at the end of it all. He can't back it up without extra abilities, and when those prove ineffective or are being dealt with elsewhere, he completely loses all threat. There's also something very entrancing about a delusional old man walking into his burning mansion and dancing with old memories, unable to let go of the past despite being one of the reasons that past is gone.

It's a bit sad that Nazca R just kind of goes out like that, but it was a fun night fight. We got to show off Claydoll's LEDs again which is neat. That being said Smilodon/Mick's exit was rather entertaining, watching Philip being able to wrangle him and Terui's exasperation at them fighting a cat all this time, priceless.

I don't think I found Shotaro's yelling constantly hilarious though tbh. This is kind of just Terror amplifying anxiety and fear to new untold heights? Like, I've seen lower levels of what I've seen Shotaro do before in different situations. So it kind of unnerved me more than anything even if it did get to be a bit much at times.

That being said I'm surprised Shroud's exit wasn't really in these episodes? I could've sworn her stuff got wrapped up here but I guess not? I do like how she does give Philip that push and really pushes what she learned in the Old Arc that Shotaro is the Trump Card. I also let out an audible chuckle when Saeko fell to her knees outside the gate to the burning mansion and during that pan we see that Shroud is also just there watching in the background.

As for Shotaro overcoming his fear thanks to Philip's "final words", I think I'll talk about that later given what I recall coming up. But it was nice to see them take advantage of Philip's 'physical' state and use it to turn the tables on Museum.

But yeah we're uh basically at the end main series, kind of crazy to think about that.

It was! I like the clever twist of Shotaro using the Double Driver (and Xtreme) to pull Philip back to physicality.

Only because to me it feels like another curveball. Trust me, I was contemplating it for my suggestions but ultimately felt it would be worth watching after something more standard. Heck, I had to restrain myself to not recommend old school shows like Liveman and Zyuranger so Die doesn't feel overwhelmed. :lolol
With that said, please consider Carranger if you could, Kamen Rider Die. :lolol

Well yes, W has anti-climatic final boss fights, the Dragon-less Terror is meant to be only superior to base W, but not to W Xtreme, as well as being unable to create the fear-inducing ooze (wasted chance to show off Accel's physiology, but of course main character deals with main treat while relegating the secondaries as assist...). Though the fight may reinforce the series theme that you'd have to work together and trust each other, shown in how Terror is unstoppable one-on-one, but is easy with teamwork; other than W's Shotaro and Phillip, the cast also had Accel to deal with Terror Dragon, leaving Terror to be stuck on the nerfed Dragon-less Terror, otherwise Xtreme had to struggle with 2 powerful Dopants at once. Otherwise, this battle had Accel not using Trial, but base Accel in BikeForm, equipped with Gunner A, as he had to improvise after the fragile speedster Trial is not enough, by using the physically stronger base Accel, but with BikeMode and equipments to compensate for Trial's maneuvers.

It was more of a statement from one person rather than a fact where Saeko refers to the family as inherently twisted thus it's not obligated to reconcile. She's one of the main factor to make the family twisted... Philip claims that the Sonozaki's evil is caused by Gaia Memory influence. Still would like for Phillip to try to use Gaia Library to find a cure for Gaia Memory's influence or something, or it's only can be done by Memory Break. The statement probably holds a truth as shown by the Evil Tail. It is probably the closest explanation to Ryubee turning into someone who is abusive to his family for his ambition. So I guess the evil can surface in various way from the Gaia Memory influence, like Ryubee still having a noble goal but turning into an extremist, but Saeko is a cold unfeeling vengeful manipulative... psycho that uses anyone as a stepping stone for her, where now Wakana is not only possessive but also revels on Phillip's misery while emotionally abusing him, not taking into account of Philip's other relationship or obligations, treating him only as a means for her and Museum, a collection of data to fulfill human's destiny. When she snatched away her phone from Philip's hands, teasing him regarding his last words, it actually proves how human Phillip is even when he's a data, Philip is Philip.

After Ryubee's defeat, he goes back to his crumbling mansion, while seeing a projection of Wakana, which means there's a sliver of hope in his plans, so he'd stay there and die without regrets (no, the Museum stuff hasn't ended, with Kazu taking Wakana's body as well), while also remembering his time with his family. I guess the Gaia Memory influence slightly wears off of him, which is what Shotaro (claims to, but the other cast agrees on the claim) made up to Kyouko to make her feel better later. But he's still clearly insane though currently, other than just letting himself die, but is also deluded that he moves as if he's dancing with his daughter albeit there's none. I'd say Ryubee does have good acting that he feels charismatic and intimidating (non-Terror) fitting of a mob boss, and has an interesting driving motive related to his Museum business, but would like for his work on the plan to be displayed more, or talk more about extinction, rather than mostly just revealing about others playing into his hands, albeit this episode had a bit of more explanation, as well as, similar to Kirihiko before, would see more of his well-intentioned plan being tested by others, where it was only by Phillip's vague reasoning and Shotaro's Evil Tail scene here (Ryubee only had 1 objection line of denying Shotaro's claim of what he caught about Evil Tail).

Now Fumine/Shroud refers Shotaro as trump card as well. Other than his fears, this episode shows the reason why Shotaro assumes the role of Joker, he's a wild card whose presence screwed with a lot of people's plans. Eventually Shotaro remembers Philip's last words where it'd mean he'd never be cracked if Phillip sees him as a partner, and henshins into W, and at the same time, the henshin makes Claydoll go haywire, as Phillip's consciousness is pulled by force to Shotaro's body. This is another part of Philip's intellect, taking Shroud's words as his last-ditch strategy, reminding Terror about W's transformation system. I guess Phillip's words were more than 'strength from within' and resolve thing, but it also means to trust in your partner, who has known intellect, and that by trusting others things can work in your favor in unexpected ways, as well as how this is an example about Shotaro's presence derailing other's plans, by being the one to pull Phillip as his W partner, so Shotaro isn't just blindly bravely rushing into things to show that he can't crack. Though it also shows that mental state can be as crucial too as power or such, as the rather... basic and habitual solution (just henshin into W like every episode) is delayed for this long due to Shotaro's mental breakdown, which means Kyouko was doing crucial stuff with her sneaky ability too, likely her successfully stealing Evil Tail is what gives Shotaro his hopes back.

Ryubee using Evil Tail in Gaia Impact symbolizes about how Ryubee had lost his ways, would sacrifice his family for his ambitions in Gaia Impact like what he did previously to Philip, the opposite of how Evil Tail is meant to symbolize the family's happiness and unity, but it scares himself, thus he'd use the Evil Tail as a substitute of the sacrificed family, which'd mean even Ryubee has his own afraid. Philip is assigned to act as the program to regulate the process of the gathered informations flying from the fountain to Wakana, as Phillip also had achieved Xtreme form. So that's the reason of both Phillip and Wakana having Xtreme as super forms, and good to have more explanation about the purpose of the Museum's schemes by turning the Fuuto citizens into Dopant, which is the one that builds up Wakana as Earth's cleric, living Gaia Memory factory. Ryubee pushing Raito on the fountain for some reason brings MCU Thanos to my mind, not merely for the sacrificing your child by throwing them from heights for your endgoal (while grieving so), but also for pitting 2 sisters against each other where one of them got horribly mistreated, as well as an endgoal involving an eradication for a good portion of humanity to prevent their extinction. For KR comparison though, this'd remind me of Masamune; other than both operating in a businessman-like way, the plan probably converts all of the humanity into data like what Masamune intends with Kamen Rider Chronicle, but of course Masamune has no noble intentions, only being a control freak to all of the human lives.

Sort of, but it's also a symbol of how Ryuube has valued the memory of his family over the reality of his family. As long as he views the Devil's Tail as a crystallized version of his perfect family, he gives himself free reign to abuse and destroy his actual family.

Honestly, considering toddler Raito had to talk Wakana out of bludgeoning Saeko with a rock, I don't think his family was ever all that functional even before people started falling down energy wells or cosplaying as mummies.

I'll agree that the Terror fight is pretty anticlimactic, especially the bits that are very obviously designed to show Accel without showing the CGI stuff that's supposed to be attached to his butt. For me, though, the peak of this arc is easily the completely bonkers Last Sonozaki Supper. I'm not really sure how Ryubee thought that was going to go, but I love that he figured the best way to celebrate his plan is to gather together a bunch of people who want to murder at least one other person at the table.

Also, props to the show for committing to the bit of not showing Shroud's face.

You're right. Getting a full on blast of Terror's' ooze which is what causes the fear in the first place? Zero weight or progression in that. If only we'd had previous instances of seeing Dopant powers work that way. Like with with Old, then maybe it'd have some weight to it.

Other than Philip being able to rescue anyone in his family, much less Wakana whom he genuinely cared about.

His ultimate plan was to kill everyone. Not sure how you missed that given the speech he gives about extinct species.

It's pretty clear that she showed up both for Philip's' sake as well as to see what would ultimately become of the family she walked out on.

Anyway, I overall liked this two-parter. The overarching theme of it all is, fittingly enough, Terror, and how many times the idea of something is stronger than the actuality of it.

Philip fears learning his past, but decides to do so and comes out handling it well enough thanks to the people he's grown bonds with. Kyoko fears what Terror Dad might do to her, but by sneaking into the compound she's what ultimately saves the day. And of course there's Shotaro, who despite being full of fear toxin is able to pull through, showcasing that, outside of his fear powers, Terror is ultimately just an old man who can't fight worth anything. And it's double great because, throughout the whole show, we've never actually seen Terror fight anyone directly. He's always just hit them with the ooze and teleported around. It's all a very fitting way to showcase what exactly courage is and how it can pay off, and I dug it alot.

The atmosphere does alot of heavy lifting here too, which the constant ambience of dread and the blue filter creating a sense of unease throughout almost the entirety of the two episodes. The music also went incredibly hard, especially during that Church scene.

Side note: There's a minor plot hole within the overall narrative. These episodes reveal Philip's' nature as a data human to everyone for the first time, yet in A-to-Z, Kaido talks about Philip's' true nature rather casually, to Philip no less, yet no one bats an eye.

To end this off, I just wanted to point out a play on words I thought was rather fun.

Cyclone -> Cyc lone -> Psyche Loan

Cyclone -> Cy clone -> Psi Clone

I always thought They'll Definitely Cast An Actor, and they never ever did. I appreciate their follow-through!

Evidently! I feel like you're mischaracterizing some of my points, but I'd rather not get into an argument about it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm glad you had a good time with this one!

SHOTARO HIDARI HARDBOILED DELUSION DIARY EPISODE 12 - “WHAT IF EVERYONE WAS HARD-BOILED?”

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Oh, that’s a cute finale. After giving Shotaro a bunch of opportunities to mimic other actors, here’s the rest of Team Double aping all of his tics and mannerisms. If I have to chose a substitute Shotaro… Akiko, maybe? She absolutely nailed the HEY AKIKO thing, which is arguably as much Shotaro’s catchphrase on W as anything related to the counting of sins.

And, lucky for us, Terui also does a remarkably dead-on Philip, so perhaps the two remaining W actors in Reiwa can just get recast as live-action Double? (Terui’s body language as Philip… it’d be mean, if it weren’t so accurate.) There’s no story to this one, just a few minutes of actors goofing on each other, but it’s really the only way this series of shorts could possibly end. W itself is a hang-out show, so these specials should conclude with the actors hanging out and goofing around. Perfect.

The idea that Shotaro finally gets to see what his delusions look from the outside, realizing how much of a fool he looks like, and promptly swearing them off to end off the DVD bonus shorts is very fitting.

I also like that this episode starts with the entire crew of the Narumi Detective Agency just being like "Yeah, we know exactly what you've been doing".

The delusion though didn't really hit for me this time, at first. Everyone being hard-boiled was neat, but the real fun stuff came from them swapping roles before Terror showed up to throw them into CGI terror juice.

It is the BEST idea. Shotaro's entire self-image is based on everyone thinking he's cool, so let's start the 12th Delusion Diary with all of his friends telling him he's looked like a weirdo eleven other times.

Kind of fitting that you reach this episode not long after the unfortunate news of Terada's death, may he rest in peace. Ryubei was a mysterious villain to the end and he certainly lived up to his name as the intimidating Terror Dopant (and the "Ryu" part of his given name, unlike Terui Ryu who's a bike). I recall that the scene where Terror Dragon chewed up Accel was pretty brutal. I think Terada did a good job portraying him for sure.

Agreed on the humor part, Shoutarou's perpetual state of fear is humorous as hell, as bad as that may sound. Disagreed on the drama part though, as the more he acts like that, the more I want him to snap out of it and return to his usual half-boiled self. I guess that's part of the juxtaposition now that you mention it, that it highlights Shoutarou's courage even more by showing how despite him being in the grip of such crippling fear, his strong sense of justice ultimately won't let him lose to that and he eventually does what he must to prevent Terror from spreading that fear to anybody else.

Oh, I know what you're referring to....

Well, at least you contemplated it. I guess I was just surprised that you mentioned Donbrothers and King-Ohger, but not Zenkaiger. They're all part of the Crazy Sentai Triumvirate, after all. However, while Zenkaiger is certainly crazy, I personally recommended it partially due to their solid teamwork, in contrast to their 2 immediate successors. There's also the Gear gimmick, which gives a taste of each Sentai's powers in a more sophisticated and condensed way than Gokaiger.

Sure, and it's nice that Akiko leverages her innate ability to cut through Shotaro's bullshit by giving him a little tough love. She's the one who's like Your Partner Needs You, which is the key to walking Shotaro back from the edge. Always nice when the show utilizes Akiko as the third leg of Double!

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 47 - “THE REMAINING U - PHILIP’S CASE”

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Wow, that was substantially better than I remembered it being.

I definitely didn’t care much for Foundation X the first time around. Where the Museum was baked into the premise of W generally – and Philip specifically – Foundation X was just a bunch of outsiders that bet on a bunch of different doomsday scenarios, of which Gaia Impact happened to be the most promising. They hadn’t sacrificed their family on the altar of some insane dream, or persevered through a tumultuous childhood, or longed for the approval of a demanding parent, or searched for a way to prove themself to their in-laws, or craved the power to never be weak again – they’re just gamblers, betting on every horse. There’s no commitment to them, just the laziness of limitless capital.

Now, though, I sort of think that’s their strength in the narrative?

One of the first things I wrote in this thread was that W is really the story of Fuuto. While this two-parter is way more about Shotaro and Philip than anything else (like a hilariously masked Santa, ‘cause the actual actor definitely wasn’t at that party), the idea of Foundation X being outsider investors, with no feelings whatsoever for Fuuto, is pretty great to have at the end of this show. They don’t belong here, and that’s the biggest reason to fight them. They exist to profit off of their myriad strategies, but they don’t care which one is the most profitable. Where the Museum was woven into the fabric of Fuuto, and represented an aspect of it that Double couldn’t easily excise, Foundation X is here to be the slick, gentrifying outsiders that don’t care about the spirit of Fuuto, or the core identity of the superhero show it’s based in. They’re completely Not Wanted, so they make for appealing foes.

But, again, it’d be hard to say that’s a big part of this episode. (It’s honestly just something that made me less bored by Foundation X as a concept.) This one’s all about Philip’s Last Days, and it’s an incredibly strong episode for that emphasis.

Like, what else could you do for a final W story than have Philip accept his imminent demise with grace and heroism, while Shotaro rages against both the cruelty of fate and the seeming-tranquility of Philip’s acceptance? A story where forming Double to save Wakana, Philip’s fondest wish, is the very thing that might kill Philip off for good? C’mon, that’s a hell of a hook for the last ride Shotaro may take with the devil.

It makes for a lovely middle section – Shotaro screaming through the woods and Philip giving the supporting cast presents – and an absolutely jaw-dropping cliffhanger, with an immolated Terui watching as Shotaro refuses to form Double alongside an anguished and helpless Philip. It’s the strength of their partnership turned in on itself, since Shotaro’s dedication to Philip means he can’t possibly help pull the trigger on Philip by henshining, even as Philip needs Shotaro’s help to save Wakana and avert an apocalypse. It’s an impossible choice, and a terrific cliffhanger.

This whole thing… man, so much better than I remembered it. I love how heavy this one is with Team Double, and I honestly dug Kazu’s whole Nothing Personal take on corporatized armageddons. There’s always a chance that the conclusion lets me down, but this is off to a stellar start.

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

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-While I’ve come around on Foundation X, it’s for sure in a So Bad It’s Good sort of way. I 100% do not think that Foundation X is here to represent the ways real estate investment groups hollow out the character of towns and cities, but at least it’s a hook that helps me care about their presence. They’re just a bland group that’s funding a bunch of projects without caring too much about any of them, which is maybe not the tone you want for your villains across multiple series? The Indifference Of Capital? It’s okay if the show can support it thematically (Geats, Zero-One, Ex-Aid… the stuff Takahashi likes to talk about, is what I’m saying), but W doesn’t really spend a ton of time on the soul of Fuuto, outside of Kirihiko’s storyline. And, shit, they’re already moving on to Medals, so that does not add a ton of heat to this Gaia Impact story!

-Favorite touch, though, is that Kazu’s Henshin for the Utopia Dopant is him butterfingersing his Memory out of his hand, like he does with everything. Cute!

-Seriously, we can all see the full face mask on Santa, right? It’s a different guy!

Honestly, I think the thing that makes Foundation X hard to take seriously for some people is the weird insistence that every member have some kind of quirk (Kazu’s dropping things, Neon Usland timing everything, Kaisei Mogami saying “funky” every other sentence). In a similar vein, I think people who like them would be less insistent on them being a big deal if this episode hadn’t snuck in that sneaky OOO foreshadowing (did someone think people would turn off before the trailer or something?)

Anyway, I like the idea that with Phillip’s life hanging by a thread that will cut the next time he pushes open the W Driver is a good way boy to establish our final boss and give the supporting cast (Terui, Saeko) one last hurrah, even if it is as cannon fodder.

And now for the rarely beeped…

Ultra-lert!

The character of Neon (the stopwatch lady, not the fake human from Geats) is played by Scottish-Filipino Japan based actress and radio personality Maria Theresa Gow (known professionally in the latter career as “GOW-chan”) who was previously supporting character Georgie Leland in Ultraman Gaia (which GC is reviewing weekly currently) and was later the voice of Ultrawoman Beth in the English version of Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad.

Honestly, that part works for me? I don't know that a more serious Foundation X, of nothing but quirkless individuals, would be better -- I think it'd just be boring, instead of misplaced. Kazu never really came across as a full character for me, but he least he's got some weird tick to remember.

Biggest takeaway from seeing this episode again? I love that Shotaro and Ryu chose to confront Saeko in the opening credits to Agito.

Ah, the shot that launched a thousand expectations. We were all so excited at the time. Kamen Rider was going to go shared universe. Foundation X would be an ongoing mastermind behind all of the Neo Heisei villains, just like the Great Leader was in the Showa era. With them fully on the stage by the end of W, it was going to be really exciting to see the role they played in OOO.

And then they didn't appear again until Fourze. And after that we didn't see them until a crossover movie in... I want to say Ex-Aid? Definitely over-promised and under-delivered.

Yes and it's possibly the creepiest way they could have come up with to hide that. After spending so much time keeping Shroud's face hidden you would think they'd have "just don't face the camera" down to a science.

That's why she's the chief!

I have to pity Shoutarou here. He's not merely being asked to have faith in his partner, he's being asked to let his partner sacrifice himself while feigning a smile to obscure his anticipatory grief. The stakes of henshining for Double are certainly much more severe and tragic than, say, memory loss or something. Not that anybody's really at fault in this either, I can feel that Phillip in his own socially reserved way is trying his best to make the process a little easier for Shoutarou, but of course it would never be that easy for him to let go and the sentimental atmosphere only makes it worse instead. Phillip's barely lived and spent most of his life fighting against his dysfunctional crime syndicate family, so it feels unfair that his time is nearly up already. I can't blame Shoutarou for hesitating to fulfill Phillip's last wish, as the pressure to keep the mood light discouraged him from talking honestly with Phillip about his feelings.

Clearly this is all Decade's fault.

*Sees Narutaki jump up and wander around looking for Decade* :lolol

On the one hand, nothing about Saeko has ever said that she decompresses from stressful situations by hopping on a motorcycle and screaming down a race track. On the other hand, I love new random details like this for villains, and I wish we'd gotten a hundred more of them for every Sonozaki member. One of my favorite W stories is the one where Ryuube is just super into desserts all of a sudden!

Yeah, it's kind of amazing that Philip really thought that the legendary half-boiled Shotaro would be agreeable to being half of the reason why his partner disappears into data. Not Philip's most genius moment!

(Seriously, though, I like that Philip thinks he can rationalize this scenario, while Shotaro can't get past his rage and grief. THESE GUYS!!!)

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 48 - “THE REMAINING U - PARTNERS FOREVER”

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I like that the final dilemma for Shotaro to overcome is how to be the best partner for Philip.

If Shotaro has an arc on the show (big if!), it’s becoming the man that Sokichi knew he could become. Shotaro was this teen detective in shortpants, cosplaying as a hardboiled gumshoe, but Sokichi saw more in Shotaro. He saw a sympathetic hero that cared enough to feel the pain his city was enduring, and work everyday to make it better. He saw a partner for Philip, someone who could create a place for a lost kid to feel like he belonged. This whole series has been Shotaro working to become not just Sokichi, but the successor to Sokichi.

And the last step, naturally, was having to make the tough call and let Philip go out on his own terms.

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.

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.

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.

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.

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

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-That whole catch scene at the beach!!! They’re just two brothers, and children, so Akiko makes them work out their tension by playing catch. Adorable.

-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.

-We finally get to see why Wakana flipped over to Ryuube’s side so many episodes ago, and it’s a tiny detail that mostly doesn’t matter. Wakana believed in Ryuube’s hopes that the Gaia Impact would be a type of salvation for the planet, but it doesn’t explain at all a) why she turned into Episode 1 Saeko overnight, and b) immediately tried to murder Philip. Most of Wakana’s Act 3 arc only works if you look at the very, very end of it, and sort of ignore the first few episodes of it. Not great!

-Santa gets his face back, just to immediately lose it. Ironic!

What a fantastic two-parter.

It's funny how years later I've come around on both Saeko and Kazu as characters when I didn't either notice them too well before, or just plain though their conclusion was a bit off. Did not expect Saeko to win me over like that with her final sacrifice, it's very fitting for her and I do like the touch of Shotaro coming across her before he goes to take down Utopia.

Kazu and Foundation X, they were this interesting potential revival of the idea that something like Shocker could persist in the Heisei Era. Maybe if this was Reiwa, Foundation X would've stuck around a lot more solidly. But I'd say Kazu gives us a good run nonetheless.

Utopia's a beautiful Dopant suit, and its kind of incredible seeing how stoic he is the entire time, even when he's upset at Saeko. And then it all just breaks once Shotaro thoroughly demolishes not only his plan but any attempt of Utopia trying to overwhelm the detective. He's got a more delirious way of speaking, he's legitimately yelling while fighting W Xtreme.

He also might just have my favorite villain death despite its simplicity. Just him talking about counting up sins while relating it to his situation. Himdissolving and pressing his Gaia Memory for round two only for it to fall out of his hand as is his habit with W even getting ready for round two too. Real memorable stuff.

That being said Shotaro, the man stepped up big time to help out his friend out in that final request, and it could not have been easy in the slightest. Really shows the strength of heart Shotaro has to stay composed for as long as he can.

I also enjoy the brief parallel between Shotaro and Philip here in these stories. Shotaro breaking past his fear caused by Terror to go to Philip, and Philip breaking past the despair of Utopia's rampage to go to Shotaro once he realizes what's going on. I'm unsure if it was intentional, but I thought it was a nice way of tying these two stories together.

But listen, I knew what happened, I've seen the scene a couple of times previously. But even then, a little over a decade later and I still bawled at battle's aftermath and the subsequent ending scene where Shotaro opens Philip's gift.

On a brighter note though. I forgot that they had saved Extreme Dream for the climaxes of these past two mini-arcs. And of course while I was surprised at the Acoustic Edit for Cyclone Effect making an appearance earlier than expected, this is the scene I know the Acoustic Edit for.

Between these two episodes and the Old two-parter, I gotta wonder if Sakamoto and Ishida made a bet on if they could pull off eachother's' styles or not, because with the emphasis on unmorphed fights, I was absolutely convinced these episodes were Sakamoto, only to be surprised it was Ishida.

Anyway, I really hate to do this, given the trend that this thread has had between us so far, but like...

https://i.imgur.com/yVx4zJt.png

I really liked this two-parter, and pretty much agree 100%.

There's just alot of great emotion that carries the entire thing. Even Shroud gets time to shine with her actually letting Shotaro have a go at her as she begs him to make her son's' final days mean something. The atmosphere is top notch!

There's also how great Utopia is in general. He tends to get alot of flak in my experience, but personally, I think he makes for the perfect final boss for W. Not only is the suit stellar, but his utter lack of care for anything other than himself makes him the perfect foil to Shotaro, who's always been about serving the people of the city.

It's funny. Foundation X was rejected hard back when the idea was proposed, which is in turn what lead to alot of fans not liking the idea either. And yet, the producer who came up with it was ahead of his time because had the idea been proposed for, say, Zero-One? Toei would be all over it due to how much everyone wants to get in on the whole "Shared Universe" idea made popular by the MCU, whether one likes it or not.

And yeah, Foundation X is a total joke now, but in the context of W specifically, I think they work pretty solidly. You can tell there was genuine effort towards utilizing the idea and Kazu is a character who I actually rather dig. Plus, having another hook into next season outside of just the usual Rider cameo for the movie is neat to see, even if it does end up going totally nowhere in OOO proper. Maybe they would've just been better off bringing SHOCKER back? Foundation X essentially became Beta Shocker anyway.

Regardless, these episodes are very well executed for what they are, and that ending, which made me tear both times that I've now seen it, serves as proof that for all the faults I found on this rewatch, I really do love alot of the main cast, Shotaro and Philip especially. Their relationship, however one wishes to interpret it, is beautiful and for sure the big highlight of the show for me, and it's easy to see why Toei would want this dynamic to continue into OOO's' main duo(though OOO does its own nice twist on things, but that's for next year). And that's not even getting into the formula W would make last up until Wizard.

But yeah, great stuff--I mean, awful episodes. Totally terrible. Everyone who even remotely likes it should stop it. Right now.

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.

Toei probably would be all over it, but it would completely bum me out. My absolute favorite thing about Kamen Rider is how each year functions like its own discrete story, with its own aesthetic, themes, metaphors, and tones. An overarching villain across multiple series just flattens everything out into Kamen Rider as an aesthetic, a theme, a metaphor, a tone. I'm fine with it in the context of a side story or a film, but it would maybe literally ruin Kamen Rider for me if Toei ever decided to lock each season into one evolving universe.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this story! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, though!

In this 2-parter, there are no victim of the week client, thus, Philip pretty much acts as the client here to ask them to save Wakana. Shroud has grown out of revenge, unlike Saeko who can't get even with Ryubee and Wakana anymore, but she's still alive, thus now she only confirms Shotaro humanized Raito who was only an entity of data and a reveal she hired Sokichi to save Shotaro. For Shotaro being a wild card, it's not all good though, as he screwed up Sokichi's plan to rescue Phillip, which eventually cost Sokichi his life, which he claims as his responsibility to save Philip, as a duty left to him by Sokichi. To make Philip's last moments a beautiful one, seems Akiko did it better and understand him better to celebrate Philip "going to school overseas" which made Philip smile. Shroud's explanation is confirmed as Philip admits that he was never interested in human relationships, refering himself as little devil for that, but due to Shotaro "bringing him to Fuuto", he now loves the city and the party participants there, getting cheers.

Saeko ironically earns more similarity to Wakana, as now her attractiveness helps her to be well-known (as a bike racer), which sounds as if she can now battle with her sister's Healing Princess. About Wakana being a plot device, even Saeko feels like she's treated as a commodity by Kazu, as she protests that she can go anywhere she wants. Is it the series directly pointing out how Wakana is treated? The track she's racing in is Twin Ring Motegi... I wonder if the track is purposely chosen to fit the series theme; 2-in-1, and Motegi has a road course and an oval, making it a 2-in-1 track (like how the main Rider is 2-in-1), the reason of it getting a 'Twin' moniker.

Kazu wants to eliminate everyone with low compartibility (and Kazu got 98%) to Gaia Memories to purify humanity, by turning Wakana into a data and installing her on one of Foundation X's satellites. Seems he has a survival of the fittest mentality (feels like Giff in Revice, though ofc Giff's hate is much more vocal). Kazu also only values clear strengths like power or intelligence, to only compliment Philip's insight when he calls out him treating Wakana as software. This is even exploited by Kazu as his consciousness synchronizes with Wakana's due to the foiled Gaia Impact, making his grief triggering something in Wakana as well. Thus Kazu finds a new solution to awaken Wakana, by provoking Phillip further such as killing Shotaro in front of him. Philip's humanity is portrayed as weakness here.

Controversial here to compare W in a worse light than, something coming from Takahashi. Takahashi is a hack and should always be talked down - you can't talk about Wakana being treated as plot device, but of course you must constantly mock how degrading it is for Tsumuri to be hunted as the next Goddess. I guess ofc, Foundation X would be the W version of usual "KR has bland villains" albeit it's not the main force (though didn't expect you to show more appreciation on Kazu), but indeed the Sonozaki stuff hasn't ended yet (for the complains about it not satisfying before), even if Shotaro did save Phillip and foiled Ryubee, the latter still had a noticeable impact of the heroes, with Philip's current state due to Ryubee's plan before, as he enters the fountain. Ryubee's plan is likely to succeed via Kazu by re-activate Wakana's now-cellularly fused Claydoll Memory. And of course, Saeko, Wakana, and Shroud's status are still touched upon now, near their last moments.

Kazu has an actually safe transformation, as Utopia's sheer power causes everyone around him to levitate and get pushed away. Utopia displays sort of like upgraded version of Weather's, Accel's arch enemy, and he's pitted against Accel as well, trapping him in a tornado with lightning. At least Utopia (who'd be another anticlimatic final boss) is stronger than Weather, as unlike with Weather, Utopia can keep up with Trial, and Utopia takes both Accel and Wakana skywards (bursting through the roof), using a brutal move on Accel, slamming him into one of the factory's steels, reverting him to base Accel. Utopia's overall power is ability to grant wishes and absorbing the aspirations and ambitions of others, and demonstrates it by setting Accel on fire, which continues even to Terui as human.

It's just his type of battle prowess. Dopants are varied in that. Many harms physically, either with physical force or by other stuff like burning them, but this one attacks mentally. Mentally harming someone so that they won't henshin can be more effective than fighting Kamen Rider W trying to get them to de-henshin.

Far more than just Terror, generally many people in Kamen Rider are average joes granted power. Indeed some are fighters from the get-go or grow into one (e.g. some main Riders like Kouta), but many should be non-fighters throwing power around (e.g. many of MOTW Dopants are suddenly granted power too). Don't think monsters without sentiences (should be many, like Mirror Monsters) are those who can fight well either, they are just strong enough physically to be a threat. Having vast amount of power doesn't mean you're a good fighter and it applies to far more than just Terror (Terror Dragon can also count if it has separate consciousness).

Maybe? I think it's also Saeko's traditional brutal honesty, since both her and Wakana have been treated like pawns and prizes by men for pretty much the last 46 episodes.

This episode hit so hard the first time I watched it. It didn't affect me as strongly this time, but it's hard to have the same gut punch from watching Shotaro let Philip go when you know that he'll be back and a continuing part of W for several movies, some cameos, an ongoing comic book, and a cartoon. It's still done really well, though. Utopia wasn't a terribly interesting final villain, but he made enough of a splash in these final episodes that I remembered him being around longer.

Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow and hearing Die's thoughts on one of the most divisive finales in all of Kamen Rider!

It does take a little of the grief out of it, yeah, but I think it's still a strong story on the axis of Shotaro's personal development. Regardless of how fleeting Philip's absence may be, it's incredibly touching to see Shotaro opt to be the one that closes the Driver and sends Philip away. He's fully hard-boiled now!

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 49 - “GOODBYE TO E - A BOUQUET OF JUSTICE FOR THIS CITY”

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I think this was the right epilogue for this show.

I’d’ve probably hated it for something like Revice or OOO, though. This one immediately undoes the stakes of the previous episode, with so little distance in between the consequences and salvation as to be comical. The pain of separation – the sort of thing we’d normally have as the time between a series finale and a winter crossover film, or eventual V-Cin – is a point dropped in through exposition. The delay in Philip’s return is as brief as the barely twenty minute wait in this episode for the theme song to play us out.

But that’s this show, you know? It’s not a show that really wants to stress you out, or work you too hard. It’s a hang-out show. It’s uncomplicated and warm, where nothing’s every really going to screw up our beloved dynamic for more than the middle section of a story. Philip returns quickly and smoothly, because it’s more fun when he’s around. The end.

With that in mind, I really enjoyed this final adventure for Team Double. It’s a quick one, the only single-episode story for our crew, and it’s mostly here to illustrate how hollow things are for Shotaro on his own. He’s capable of defending the city, but it doesn’t mean as much without Philip. The brief Akira/Yui story is here to tell us that it’s important to keep going when we’re on our own, while acknowledging that it’s better when we don’t have to shoulder those burdens alone. It’s cute, and, again, not complicated. This isn’t the show that’s going to send you off with a downbeat finale, or even one that delays your gratification for too long.

So, yeah, fifteen minutes or so after vanishing into the Earth’s memory, Philip is resurrected by Wakana and given a second chance at life. (This part actually was weirdly complicated, because it’s not until way late in the episode where it’s revealed that the Wakana scenes are happening shortly after Episode 48, not concurrent with the events of the rest of this episode.) It coasts on the warmth of this being a final episode, even if your level of investment in the Sonozaki family drama may render this more exasperating than cathartic. Nice to see Philip get the kind of family reunion he always wanted, but it’s hard to square this beatific version of a USB drug metaphor crime family with the one we encountered over the last 48 episodes. They all had their deathbed repentances (for Sonozaki versions of “repentance”), but it’s just weird to see them all so chummy.

Who cares, though? Philip’s back, Shotaro’s half-boiled, Akiko’s toting unconscious data humans, sins are being counted, and a pleasant breeze is blowing through Fuuto. It’s not an episode that wants you to feel anything other than light humor and easy drama, which is pretty much the mission statement of Kamen Rider W. Not a great epilogue for similar shows, but just right for this one.

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

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-I absolutely love that Shroud drops dead for no real reason other than that she had no more exposition to dispense. God bless this show’s use of Fumine Sonozaki.

-This wasn’t a huge episode for Fuuto as a whole, but I like that this finale gave us the entire crew of allies and informants, even if it was for something as innocuous as yelling at a pet store clerk on Shotaro’s behalf. They didn’t really matter to this particular story, but it’s a good reminder of the deep world that W had constructed around the edges.

-The group of youths who were trying to do Gaia Memory cult crimes – it’s fine! I am never going to feel like surly youths don’t need a good ass-kicking from a superhero, so they were exactly the proper level of menace for a quick epilogue that did not have nearly enough room to tell a nuanced Dopant Dilemma story.

-Additionally, it was fun to see the ridiculous Energy Dopant get walloped by all of the basic Double combos. Those were good suits! I’m going to miss them!

I have a story about that.

So, like with most Rider shows, when I first watched W it was alongside my binge buddy, Name. While watching this episode, we had the following conversation:

Me: You know, with how everything that kept Shroud going is now gone, you think she'd, I dunno, give up living or something.

Shroud (immediately):https://i.imgur.com/R3CJpxc.gif

Me: I WAS JOKING!

Name: Well she wasn't.

I still laugh about that to this day. And speaking of me and Name, this is also a finale that him and I hold a big disagreement about as well, and was surprised to learn that the fandom was equally split.

I'll just come out and say it. I'm in the camp that feels that Philip should've stayed dead. Now, I'm not about to say that him coming back totally ruins the dramatic weight of the previous two episodes or anything, but it would definitely give the show a more proper sense of finality in my eyes.

Not only that, but me personally, I feel as though there's value in teaching kids about loss and grief, and how to handle it(hi, I grew up with movies like Land Before Time). I was absolutely drawn into the atmosphere of this one on that front. The scene with the Frog Pod is so mean spirited that I couldn't help but absolutely love it.

Does Philip coming back and the show ending with "And the adventure continues!" absolutely ruin it for me? No, but my ideal finale swings the opposite way. Regardless, for what it is, I feel it's overall done well, and I'm not about to hold anything against anyone who's all in on the idealistic and happy ending.

I'll get into this more tomorrow with the Series Wrap-Up post, but I can see what you're saying while still disagreeing. It'd be a more meaningful resolution to Kamen Rider W, but Kamen Rider W -- from the very first story -- is not a show built to have a resolution. It would be the opposite version of this show for Philip to be gone forever, no matter how his return might diminish the conclusion of this series. Like it or not, him returning is the structure of this show.

Also, I'm glad that we both had a laugh at Shroud collapsing dead from Sudden Narrative Necessity, the most fatal illness for parents in tokusatsu.

I recall when I first watched the final episode, I wasn't really mad that Philip was alive, I was honestly glad. And in this case, I'm still glad. When Philip fully reveals himself and we get some hijinks with Shotaro just shouting in disbelief/relief that his partner is actually back, I just had a huge grin on my face.

The Dopant Case in this one is relatively simple, though I do like that getting rid of Museum and Foundation X ceasing funding doesn't mean the end of Gaia Memories. There's still likely plenty out there, though it's obviously not as large scale as it was before. It's a good way to handle a threat like that. And it's nice to see the show explore the fallout of Museum with what kind of groups decide to rise up in Museum's place.

Speaking of the show exploring stuff. I feel like more Rider shows should just give us full on epilogue episodes? Some of my favorite entries in the franchise usually push the final battle to the second to last episode before telling an epilogue of sorts as the one that airs right before the next Rider shows up. I just feel like it's a nice way to decompress and sort of see where our characters are headed in a future that we'll likely never get to see, but be able to imagine.

It's nice to know that Shotaro has a future as a Kamen Rider, and not just a guy tracking down someone's lost pet. I mean, he'll still do the latter, but not just the latter. Sometimes he'll do both in one movie!