Well other than certain actual dangers like the Imagins of the week. Also don't lump the actual human adversaries like hostage taker or ninjas with people just acting as a (convincing) performer in a show!

Feels more like Deneb trying to help Yuuto again, but this time he has to act on his own, regardless of Yuuto's plead. It gives me thoughts about Deneb's sense of right and wrong doesn't have much to do with the law, reminds of Yusuke (Godai, not Sieg's baby).... who stole a police bike at one point. Deneb going to Ryotaro is his way to help Yuuto, and it not going super great... probably Ryotaro's bad luck affected him too?! Momo is just generally hostile to others regardless of drama or feelings, though I don't know what's Momo's deal to act that way to Deneb, likely bugging Ryotaro? Because at first Momo wants usual Imagin contract with Ryotaro, then he warms up to Ryotaro and cares about him, at least more openly compared to like, other Taros, but now against Deneb...

Ryotaro makes a point about sibling or loved one fights that the heat aren't really malicious yeah, but I believe Ryotaro should know enough to differentiate between sibling slapsticks and actual strife between someone, especially for someone who had been bullied (people can make light of bullying as sibling slapsticks or such). But Ryotaro explains what siblings are while him with Airi are completely, I still believe the closest ones are the ones who are in harmony like them (as you previously said, these 2 are sweet toku hero and his saintly sister). But I guess the more appropriate comparison was the Taros Imagins who do bicker and fight, as 3 of them are morally ambiguous, where of course Kintaros will also be caught in although he's mostly respond by sleeping.

This is a real conflict and dispute between family, it's about how, apparently at 5 years ago, the couple didn't match as the husband and wife have different approach, and the husband instead left the family for his own dreams, or rather, to proof that his dreams aren't just meaningless enthusiast. I think in that guy's wife side, she should accept the difference and flaws that your significant other have, albeit of course the significant others should also want to improve themselves. The wife shouldn't look down or underestimate something that she sees as trivial. I guess the ending just wants to show that the husband's interest isn't a laughing matter, and that the wife accepts him more after this proof. But I guess the issue here is how violent and overboard the husband reacts to the family complaint? Compared to above, probably this should show that not all bickerings or dispute are sibling slapstick like between Yuuto and Deneb? Or support about families acting like this (and make light of that as something like sibling tantrum throwing) like how Naomi can potentially do.

Multiple times said, Den-O is a series about gags. Mother scolding at child for staring at Deneb? Seems like they don't know about good monsters in KR series. Well, superhero shows can inflict bad influence instead on certain kids who only like them for the cool violence and fights instead of the helpful acts.

Anime cameo of her in Hayate the Combat Butler ep. 16, along with other Den-O stuff.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...36/unknown.png

Also from where I've arrived in Riders discussions other than this forum, I was wondering if people were apathetic of Hiyori being Gon from Kabuto, or more relieved to have her being replaced by an action-based girl in Renge.

Well she maybe is a charismatic presence, but I hope this won't be a message where you have to be like the Imagin part (even if they deserve it) nagging and aggressive to be like that (Some people equate being assertive as being aggressive).

I think it's a few things with Momo here. The first is that Deneb's help got Momo shot up and led the monster to escape, so that's Strike 1. The second is that Momo can see that Deneb is abandoning Yuuto out of shame, and that sort of melodrama will always irk Momo. That's Strike 2.

Strike 3 is stepping on Momo's catchphrase and posing, which is the last straw. Denim's lucky he didn't get detonated for that!

Maybe they did know about good monsters, and the mom was just trying not to make Deneb feel bad about his terrible and unconvincing disguise?

KID: Mom, look!
MOM: Son, what did we talk about? If a good imagination monster from the end of time puts on a disguise, just act like it works. Let them have their privacy. I didn't raise you to be disrespectful of other people or creatures! (...that hat, though. Yikes.)

You know Die, the way you started off that last episode post gave me intense déjÃ* vu I was having trouble pegging for a bit, but then I realized it was because it was reminding me of how that series wrap-up post I did for Kabuto started. Like I'll honestly be shocked if you tell you weren't taking some degree of inspiration from my now well-documented love of Hiyori there, as you use the visuals of the opening as a springboard to talk about the importance of the female lead in this Kamen Rider show.

Actually, on the subject of Den-O's opening – this is a perfect chance to mention I love those visuals just as much as Kabuto's? They share a lot of the same heavily stylish touches, which is maybe not a surprise since, while this is another case where the series doesn't specifically credit anyone for the OP, I have heard before that the first episode's director usually handles that kind of thing (hence why exceptions like Kabuto have the separate credit?), and for Den-O, that's Ryuuta Tasaki. So yeah, between his talents and yours, it's definitely not surprising to see you able to pull so much meaning out of just a few quick shots there.

And you know what? While you're a little too bummed out to deal with this episode right now, and since I happen to be feeling nostalgia for the Kabuto thread, how about another one of these for old times' sake?

https://i.imgur.com/JlY6Rqr.png

Okay, so, first of all, easily my favorite Den-O episode title. Maybe it's just because it's such a delightfully obvious bit of wordplay? Maybe it's just because it reminds me of End of Evangelion? Or maybe it's because, unlike Die, I'm actually a pretty huge fan of the soap opera style dramatic arc concerning Airi and Sakurai, so episodes of this show that focus in on that tend to be favorites of mine.

If I had to knock the episode for one thing, it'd probably end up being the direction. 31/32 are handled by Osamu Kaneda, his second set for the show after Ryutaros' debut in 13/14, and his work is ~maybe~ not as remarkable as the other directors on the show? I'm not sure if I even want to criticize it all that much, as I honestly think the very straightforward approach he tends to take lends itself well to Den-O's particular atmosphere, especially in a more mellow episode like this. But it's hard to say it's doing anything to really elevate the material, either, and there's not a ton of action in this first part for him to show off the more elaborate and impressive stunts that often mark episodes he worked on.

The material he's working with is thankfully pretty good to begin with then? "Not exceptional" is a fair evaluation, but there's a lot here to love. The ridiculous nature of the setup, I mean, I can't even pretend that bothers me. Den-O is a show all about dumb things happening on the surface, so an episode that uses an even more ridiculous than usual episodic premise to slide into a much bigger picture capital P Plot episode... I sort of think it's brilliant?

The thing about Den-O is the plots basically never matter, because it's all just an excuse to do things with the characters, and while I can't speak that well for how this fits into the bigger picture, not having seen the series in a while, this episode does some great things with these characters.

The cold open meets my criteria for a great cold open, quickly putting the mystery of the Zeronos cards in the spotlight and making it clear that answers are coming sooner rather than later. Yuuto fades just a bit into the background of the first part, but I love the brief glimpses you get into all the emotional baggage he refuses to let anyone know he's carrying. It's nice that his inability to be upfront is rooted in his character, and on that same token, there was a conversation he has with Ryoutarou that I found did something pretty interesting with him, too – having him start to admit to himself the reason he hasn't tried telling Airi the truth is probably because he's scared more than anything. Again, only a brief moment, but between that, and the way the script also slips in a reminder of his refusal to properly see Yuuto as being Sakurai's past self, they're moments with proper weight that do a ton to inform you about why the characters behave the way they do.

That kind of attention to characterization is what defines Kobyashi's writing, and it extends to every facet of this episode, from Airi going out of her way to turn down Slimy Bank Dude's "proposal" without a second thought, after misleading the audience to think that the drama is that she might accept, to the very end, where the excuse to keep Den-O from getting out of a pinch with the power of Climax Form is that Ryutaros is too childishly proud to admit he can't win by himself with Gun Form. Even the action cliffhanger is about the characters first and foremost.

So yeah, I don't know. Maybe not the best episode ever, but certainly far from the worst, in my book. Hopefully the second opinion is appreciated!

I may have been subconsciously (because the loss of both characters feels very similar in how everything that comes after is suspect), but... man, my memory is terrible. Terrible. TokuNation member MrWilliamGraham stopped by my store a couple weeks ago, and in the process of talking about Kabuto I needed to go to the Wiki to look up Hiyori's name. And that was maybe a month after I finished watching Kabuto? My brain does not retain this stuff very well! It's like a sponge that fills up and gets wrung out every few months. So, absolutely, there's a chance that your post got me thinking along those lines, but not in a way that I was trying to reference.

I think we both, for all of our disagreements, come at these characters the same way. There's a freedom in the women of Kamen Rider to explore different types of heroism; different shapes of heroes. The loss of that part of the narrative feels especially damaging for how fragile it is, how ancillary it can feel. When there's a really great performer finding something really powerful in their performance, and then it's so unique to begin with, the absence there is greater than one person not being around.

God bless you. Never change.

There's a subplot in here that could make me really appreciate the second part, and it's how this chapter is about four characters who are afraid of Airi's autonomy? Ryutaros is ready to murder everyone who looks at Airi funny, Yuuto and Ryotaro are concerned about what could happen to Airi if she learns the truth, and the main adversary in this one is some jerk who's trying to blackmail her into marriage! Every man (and man-shaped monster) in this story is scared of what'll happen if Airi starts making informed decisions for herself, and that's a really intriguing premise, if done correctly. I don't... I'm not sure the show is going to do it correctly (serious Airi plots have not worked out to my general satisfaction!), but it's making some possibly inadvertent points that I find interesting.

Always! I love it when people want to talk about what's going on in these episodes, even if (especially if?) they're getting something else out of them. I'm looking for conversation, not consensus. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I think I kind of remember this episode. Going into it, it really didn't look very familiar and even now I don't remember much of how this arc goes beyond it giving a better explanation of how Yuuto's powers work. I was honestly a bit nervous going in, as Everybody Loves Airi is not my favorite flavor of Den-O. I liked it better than I feared I would, though, as it was another good example of Airi being a lot deeper and more resolute than she appears on the surface. Would I have rather seen her throw a bicycle at the debt collector creep? Yes, yes I would. The confrontation we did get was a satisfying alternative, though.

So I've always found the story of Sakurai and Airi to be equal parts fascinating and frustrating. The show really wants to bill them as star-crossed lovers (stargazing snuggle count is up to 5, btw), but it's hard to make it work when she doesn't remember that he exists and he's just a dude in a trenchcoat and two hats who shows up for ten seconds every other episode. Yeah, we get Yuuto, but it's always been clear that this isn't the same dude, it's him when he was a jerk teenager and he barely knows Airi at all. It doesn't not work, but it also doesn't really work.

It's definitely a plot that needs some link between Yuuto and Airi that feels dynamic, but all we're given is blank stares and evasion. It's like the show wants this to be a Doomed Romance, but all they're giving us is Doomed? No real Romance?

There's a neat bit in this one where Yuuto's dilemma with Airi is revealed to be fate-based. He's supposed to become this man that Airi loves, but he isn't that guy yet. Worse, even when he becomes that guy, he'll disappear and she'll end up forgetting about him. It's a depressing future that Yuuto somehow is failing to live up to. It's no wonder this kid is so grumpy and stressed out!

On the other hand, Airi is unaware of her relationship with Sakurai, and doesn't see Yuuto as anything more than Ryotaro's friend. There's zero(nos) chemistry between them, and absolutely no intention to change that. Airi mostly doesn't think about Yuuto, and Yuuto is weird and closed-off around her. He's a child, she's an adult. He knows he ends up with her, but he's not really attracted to her, at least that the show's felt like dramatizing. (Because it would look very weird! He's way younger than her, developmentally!) And she's not pining for Sakurai, so...

It's an interesting enough idea, What If You Loved Someone And Lost Them And Then They Showed Back Up As An Unlikeable Asshole Who Isn't Here To Make Friends, but the show sort of presents it as a complete concept, rather than anything that needs to be worked at or attended to. It presumes a level of audience investment in these two somehow making it work (for a future value of Making It Work) that's like, not a goal of mine as a viewer? I don't care if Airi and Sakurai/Yuuto have a happy future/past? I'd rather she just got on with her life, as she's been doing fairly successfully for the last while?

Yeah, weird plot.

On a side note, recently learned that Ryotaro and Agito's kid god are leaving their agency and forming their own. Fun fact they can be found in the live-action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin and Bakuman as co-stars.

Oh, cool; good for them! I guess god isn't too far removed from time traveler, so they can make it work

The actor not being back is the worse part IMO, and not in a way like someone later. Actors not returning again has happened not only for someone who got stopped in middle part of the series though. Not that it's a good thing, but at least for being sick, can be hoped that it's temporary and they can be back (though there's Kabuto one before, but the later part of Kabuto...). I probably will wait about your elaboration to the intro scene though.

Didn't expect this reaction regarding Airi considering your reaction to the Airimirer trend or Milk Dipper scene, or the keeping the truth part, and your reaction to the previous episode that it's horror to have an episode about a contest that ends up with an Airi date. I don't think that Airi's laugh is out of character? She regularly acts like that in Milk Dipper especially when Ryou-chan returns. And well, Fujishiro is of course, an Airimirer, so it will be just as similar as the ones you consider slimy; Ozaki and Miura. Though I wonder if Fujishiro isn't an Airimirer, you would consider that kind of antagonist as entertaining and charismatic... Fujishiro is someone that cannot comprehend decency it seems, that he focuses on anything that'd easy to attract those that are shallow, like money, looks, position.

And regarding the truth that Ryotaro keeps away from Airi, this is for important reason that she's aware too and is a part of Airi's classic Japanese feminity part, which is still spoiler-y.

Airi is a yamato nadeshiko, which means a woman who embodies classic Japanese feminity. She's pretty, caring, excellent cook, and for what you say Airi not rocking the boat as her nature and shrugging her shoulders, Airi's someone who is completely unflappable. And for Ozaki and Miura (well, Fujishiro is also an Airimirer... right?) calling the cops, it's unknown if someone like Fujishiro can be taken down easily, he'd probably have wide connection to protect himself from that, and moreover, at the end he got an Imagin, which, would remind me to Ouja before, can bail him out of prisons, as being possessed by Imagin gives you super strength.

She's always happy to see him, but she doesn't bust out laughing. She's too low-key for that.

Not really? He's just a scheming, entitled creep. There's not much to him than menace, and I find his menace alternately ridiculous and pathetic.

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 32 - "THE LAST CARD: ZERO!"

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/sodo/den32a.png
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Some really powerful emotional storytelling here, unfortunately focused on a plot that basically never landed for me.

We've spent the last day or so talking about the problems with the Airi/Sakurai/Yuuto plot. Things like Sakurai existing as an idea more than a character. Yuuto's lack of present-day connection to Airi. Airi's complete isolation from the emotional stakes of her own story. (A pretty fatal flaw to me!) Add to that the use of signifiers ahead of specificity (we get shown scenes of affection without finding out what the people involved really felt), and it's a plot that never really made me feel anything towards it. I could recognize that this was an unideal situation, but it didn't really feel like anyone was too broken up about it?

The show definitely tried to make it matter here at the end of the plot, though. (Or, "end" of the plot; I can't imagine we won't see further developments for Airi and Sakurai, at the very least.) Airi, for sure, is bringing so much pathos and heartbreak to her performance, a woman who is starting to understand the shape of the absence inside of her. Yuuto's raising his game as well, with his stoic resolve crumbling under the weight of a loss he's only now beginning to value. The direction, too! The dreamlike constellation pulling Airi out of her captivity. Yuuto breaking down a door and bathing her in light. The painful slowness of Airi starting to see Yuuto for who he really is and needing contact to make it all cohere in her memory. The impossible strength of Yuuto to watch that last card vanish, as the soundscape dissolves to his labored breathing, taking his past and future with it. It's trying so hard to make the stakes of this story work.

It almost manages it, but not quite.

The themes are good. The idea of your memories only having value if they can be used to make a brighter future, that's a strong message. Yuuto opting to give up the reason he's fighting in order to save Den-O and Deneb, that's an awesomely heroic move. Just, in general, it's saying smart, insightful things about letting the past go. It's an episode about acknowledging loss, to better open yourself up to new possibilities.

They just, man, Airi and Yuuto just never got there for me. A lot of it is down to how coy the show played with too many key elements. We're only just now learning that the Zeronos cards are Yuuto's... future? Sakurai's past? Memories of Sakurai? I don't even know exactly what they're supposed to be, and that's a huge drawback for what this episode's trying to accomplish emotionally. Which is pretty much the whole problem with the Airi/Sakurai/Yuuto plot: it takes forever for it to explain the stakes, and even then it's relentlessly vague about the specifics of those stakes. We never get a sense of how Yuuto really feels about this plot, since literally every time Ryotaro brings it up on behalf of the audience, Yuuto tells us to go screw. I can try and project what I think those characters are going through, what they're afraid of, but it's all projection, all inference. Yuuto won't talk about it, and Airi doesn't remember it. I am a sucker for these types of sci-fi bullshit temporal paradox love stories, but this show was giving me so little to hold onto.

I liked this episode more than I thought I would, since everyone involved is bringing a ton to the table. There is so much effort involved in landing this Airi/Sakurai/Yuuto plot. But, for me, it was too little, too late. Entertaining, and occasionally insightful, but not nearly as heartbreaking or haunting as it probably should've been. A for effort, though.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/sodo/den32c.png

THE BAGGAGE CAR

-One of the few benefits of Less Hana seems to be More Naomi, and I do like that. (I wish it wasn't a zero sum calculation, though!) It's nice to see Mana-chan get to have more screen time. When I'd read that she was a part of this show after I finished Agito, I just assumed they'd give her a meaty part to play. I've liked what she's done so far, a lot, but she's definitely been underutilized. Maybe that'll improve?

-Credit where credit's due, the Airimirers did an off-screen resolution of the ridiculous Fake Loan plotpoint. A dumb plot was taken care of and I didn't have to watch the Airimirers do it? This show is getting me back on its side!

-As someone who's never cared that much about integration Riding into Kamen Rider, the bike duel in this one was... not that awe-inspiring? There's a late bit where Sword Form gingerly stops the Den-Otorcyle (or whatever it's called), hops it into a 90 degree turn, and then lets the Grasshopper Imagin's bike slowly bump into it. Not the most impressive bike stunts I've ever seen on these shows.

For reference, the bikes in this series follow a “first part of rider’s name followed by bird” theme naming.

And personally, I’ve never understood why someone decided to incorporate an amnesia plot regarding the Zeronos Cards, or give them a limited number of uses. Almost no logical reason occurs to me.

Oh, I get it now! I thought for a second this might be a whole new disagreement between us, but it's actually just a classic that goes all the way back to Kuuga – early Heisei shows having cryptic storytelling that I gleefully eat up while you desperately beg the series to give you something you can actually unpack. Heck, I even specifically praised these episodes for being a little vague when I rewatched them:

But yeah, I can definitely see where you're coming from with how this one failed to really resonate with you, even though it definitely got there for me. I told you upfront Zeronos is my favorite secondary Rider, and the tragic nature of his existence that the show is starting to dig into here is a key reason why. There's nothing more Kamen Rider to me than a suffering hero.

And like you said, the direction really works in spots, too. I was kinda trying to get at this talking about the first part, but Kaneda's style, for an episode like this, is less "boring and slow" (like the Super Hero Taisen films he's kinda infamous for these days), and more just weighty. And you know, you talk smack about the bike action here, but uh, I mean, I saw those Black Fang episodes of Blade, man. It could be a lot worse. At least Den-O went off a ramp here! :p

Logical reason as in, like, why do they function that way in-universe? Because on a thematic level, the entire show is about memory, and the cards are another angle to explore that concept from. But if you're simply confused as to the literal mechanics of that, then yeah, as demonstrated by that cell phone Climax Form is rocking, Den-O's type of storytelling isn't super concerned with that sort of detailed worldbuilding.

If you think my pride in coming up with "Den-Otorcycle" will ever let me call that bike by another name... welcome to a Kamen Rider Die Watches thread! It's great to have you join us!

Yeah, it's like Fish said, the Zeronos cards are more about the slipperiness of memory, that trap of nostalgia, the weight of connection. How they work? I'm not sure there's any particular science that could be behind it that'd define it better than It Works That Way To Make Yuuto Sad.

I really love that you and I can both look at a fog bank, and you'll go It's So Beautiful And Atmospheric and I'll go I Can't See A Goddamn Thing. Just unironically love that. It's what art's all about, you know? Differing perspectives.

I'm hoping my feelings toward this story'll change as it goes on (I like that you said "starting to dig into"!), because what I got so far didn't feel enough like a story about Yuuto and Airi. It felt like a Doomed Romance with a Suffering Boy and a Wounded Girl, not anything with characters who were invested in their own narrative.

(Although, my absolute favorite recurring Yuuto thing is how people keep projecting the wrong emotions onto him? The Deneb story is all about Deneb misunderstanding how much Yuuto cares about him, and this story's climax hinges on Yuuto needing to explain to Ryotaro and Deneb that saving his connection to a woman he hasn't fallen in love with yet, and now never will, isn't worth his friends dying. People keep reading deeper emotions into Yuuto because he's so closed-off, and then they read the wrong emotions into him. I love that.)

The more this story lets Yuuto and Airi, instead of Ryotaro, drive the plot, the more I'm going to be into it. I just don't feel like the show's done that yet?

Stargazing snuggle count: 6

This is probably one of the two best moments in Den-O in regards to making the Yuuto/Airi/Off-screen Yuuto thing work (the other is much, much later in the Cho Den-O films). There is a lot of great stuff with the staging and framing of Airi almost remembering Yuuto that sells the idea of this time travel romance nonsense as well as anything can. I actually got fairly invested in this story my first time through the show, but on repeat viewings it's harder not to notice how much of it is based off of telling instead of showing. We're definitely informed that Airi and Sakurai had an epic romance that consisted mostly of the same scene of them looking at the stars, but the show's set-up prevents us from seeing any of it on screen. It's like a Greek drama where all the important stuff happens off-stage and we have to hear about it secondhand.

As far as the rest of the episode goes, I like the idea that Ryutaros was so badly injured that it prevented everyone from coming together for Climax Form. Felt like a legitimate way to handicap Den-O and forcing Yuuto to burn the last card (loved his whole "Fuck it, these exist to be used" resolution, by the way). Also dig the unintentional W foreshadowing of the monster being half green and half black, separated down the middle.

So my big question, then, is "Zerotorcycle" or "Zeronotorcycle?"

Yeah, I'll go to my grave thinking that this plot's biggest flaw is that the person most visibly invested in it is Ryotaro. It turns what should be a doomed Ouroboros of a romance into some weird forced-shipping thing that the show is perpetuating. No one really seems that into this, to the point that the person most active in the story, Ryotaro, is constantly trying to keep Airi from getting emotionally involved in it. That is insane! That is an insane way to tell a story!

HorneDen-Otorcycle.

Well yeah, like I said before, Airi's completely unflappable. About Airi's isolation to the emotional stakes, it's something important for her to act that way. And well, for uh, all the everyone loves Airi part of the plot, this part gives the conclusion about the one that actually belongs to Airi, which is Yuuto Sakurai, and this part had him starting to make a move on her. The lack of connection is due to them being still in young age for this time. Yuuto now has to move on, but not from love, but from keeping the card by actually using it. This seems relatable for people who want to save up things for the best, like money... but for that, the Yuuto part of trying to keep is important, don't pull out the "money is only memento when kept, it's meant to be used" blindly.

Yuuto still has jerk qualities here unlike the version in movie (who is mostly on serious side), but he's getting there by shedding it by taking part of the battle despite his limits of transformation. His development about going away from the past isn't helped by Ryotaro like the contract holder, talking about regrets of past burden part.

Well, her thing is to make coffees which are worse than she thinks, then watching the infighting between Taros Imagins, or playing with Ryutaros, and serving Owner. She won't be the type to likely improve situation, because she's bloodlusted by the infightings Taros Imagins, which would be likely anti-development instead, though she does act like audience's exaggerated reaction towards some that happened like being touched by touching moments, being cheerleader for actual fights, etc.

Yeah, she's got her well-documented comedic role (which I like!), but I wouldn't hate it if the show let that character grow a bit. Poppy on Ex-Aid was a light-hearted character that added a touch of the ridiculous to some heavy stories... until she became the heavy story. I wouldn't be mad if Den-O went a similar(-ish) route with Naomi.

So I think it is safe to tell that other motif behind Zeronos as of this episode. Zeronos's other motif aside from Ushiwakamaru and Benkei is the Asian folklore behind the Summer Triangle made up of Altair, Vega, and Deneb, and most importantly the myth behind the Jujly 7th festival celebrated within Asia, known as Tanabata in Japan.
The story is called The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, Hikoboshi and Orihime in Japan. Some details vary depending on country but the common gist of things is that Orihime was a great weaver and her father who happened to be the ruler of the galaxy found it saddening she was a workaholic. So she introduced her to Hikoboshi the cowherd and both fell in love. However, their love for each other grew so much that they started slacking off and the emperor was angered at how they changed so he banished them to the farthest depths of the galaxy from each other. Orihime was deeply saddened and her tears became the summer rainy season and feeling sorry for her he decided to let her meet Hikoboshi once every year. Altair is Hikoboshi, Vega is Orihime, and the flock of crows and magpies that bands together to form the bridge for them to meet every year is Deneb hence why Deneb Imagin is a crow motif because of this lore and the karasu tengu stuff thrown in the mix.

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 33 - "TIME TROUBLER KOHANA”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den33a.png

There are these episodes in Kamen Rider sometimes, where it's just a pile of things happening. This is one of those. New train lines are developing, Hana's a kid, Yuuto's no longer a Kamen Rider, the world learns how majestic the music of Kamen Rider can sound when played on a piano... it's a whole bunch of things happening.

The nicest feeling for me as a viewer is when the Why of all those things locks in. Why are you telling me all this? Why now? Why this way?

How the Yuuto and Kohana plots dovetail made me pretty happy. There's a reason why you'd do them this way, even if the impetus was accidental. Yuuto's used up all of his Zeronos cards, Airi's forgotten him, special guest star Sawada who is definitely in England has forgotten him... he feels frustrated by his cosmic irrelevance. The universe exists to squander his potential, rob him of his rewards, and humiliate him. Yuuto's got people like Ryotaro who pity him, people like Deneb who care for him, but he doesn't have anyone who understands him. No one who can sympathize with what he's going through.

And then Hana shows up as a child, and we're in business.

I can't really think of a good Hana/Yuuto plot that's been done. There really wasn't any time, no pun intended. We had Yuuto's introduction, then Sieg, then all of the movie stuff, then the Climax Form stuff, and then Hana's gone. We got a little bit of Hana needing info from Yuuto in one episode, but that plot was overshadowed by Tiger costumes and monsters who were not that into Urataros. (Also, Hana didn't even learn anything too valuable from Yuuto.) There never was a solid Hana/Yuuto story, and that's a shame.

Maybe it's okay, though, because that makes this story feel refreshingly original? The episode is sort of sloppy and overstuffed (while also feeling sort of thin?), but the combo of Yuuto and Kohana is pretty goddamn great. The two of them are the most cosmically shit-upon characters in the show, so giving them both a chance to team-up and get their lives back on track (pun intended) is a pretty clever way of making lemonade out of some production lemons. I'm not missing Hana as much, because now I've got Yuuto/Kohana. It's not what I'd wished for, but it's what I can live with.

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THE BAGGAGE CAR

-Did that above section feel short? Well, that's because the part that's most worth discussing occurs halfway through the episode and lasts about two minutes. Like I said, it's not a great episode for how it feels both overstuffed (Hana's change, Yuuto's epilogue, the IOTW plot, Ryotaro trying to explain to the younger/less-attentive viewers exactly what happened at the end of last episode) and also weirdly thin. The Piano Man stuff was fun to watch, but it sort of goes on a while. There's what feels like a ton of restating of premises, and teases for future stories, and very little Present Tense storytelling.

-While we can't get Zeronos in this one because his Zeronos cards are gone forever, irrevocably, no tapbacks, no continues, at least we get Deneb taking an active role in the current Imaginvestigation. Seeing him try to stealthily tail a dude in tails, or fill Yuuto's shoes in combat, it's very sweet. Any episode where Deneb attempts a catchphrase is worth watching, to me.

-Also worth watching? An episode of Den-O that includes someone who guested in one of the greatest, most ridiculous Blade stories of all-time. Piano Man is a total 180 from what's basically Takoyaki Capulet, but it's always nice to see an Inoue all-star make a return appearance.

And now we have Kohana. This really shouldn't work nearly as well as it does, but replacing Shiratori with a child actually turned out surprisingly well. It helps that they got a good actress to play her, but honestly the show does a good job of justifying it as part of the time travel nonsense that forms its backbone. Kohana definitely brings a new dynamic to the show, but it feels less disruptive than it could have.

That's Taro Suwa, one of the most prolific guest stars in all of Kamen Rider. In addition to Blade, he also had a recurring part on Agito and showed up in Decade, W, Wizard, and Ex-Aid. He was also a regular on Toshiki Inoue's Shougeki Gouraigan. His turn here as the piano hobo is one of my favorite contract holder stories in the show's entire run, primarily for reasons that we'll get to in the next episode.

I’m in the camp that prefers the new Hana to the old one. A grown woman doing that stuff was so-so. A child doing it is hilarious (especially since the Den-O novel has Hana getting drunk). Though I’ll never understand why Bandai decided to devote 3 figurines to Den-O’s female characters (specifically, adult Hana, kid Hana and Naomi) in what is normally a Super Sentai line (one where the only Sentai series to have at least that many was Magiranger, which got 5).

Anyway, I also remember this episode for somebody’s reaction to it on Twitter (which is what got me to watch Den-O beyond the movies in the first place)

Anyway, I almost forgot the regular feature.

Tetsu Inada

Notable Anime roles: Ishibashi-sensei in Kanon, Mr. Izinski in Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, Ira Gamagoori in Kill la Kill, Muneshige Tachibana in Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement, Over Jsutice in Space Patrol Luluco, Hijikata Toshizō, Alexis Kerib in SSSS. Gridman, Wakkein in Mobile Suit Gundam,

Notable Tokusatsu roles: B-Crusher Descorpion in B-Fighter Kabuto, Juma King Golmois in Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive: Sudden Shock! A New Warrior, Highness Duke Org Shuten in Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, Ultraman Cosmos in the Ultraman Cosmos movies, Doggie “Boss� Kruger in Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, Dark Faust in Ultraman Nexus, Hades God Ifrit in Mahou Sentai Magiranger, Strange Demon Robot Schwarian in Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider Ichigou from Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs Dai-Shocker onwards, Revol in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Homuras in Kyoryuger Brave, Gachireus in Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger, Mashin Hakobu in Mashin Sentai Kiramager.

Notable video game roles: Elzam von Branstein in the Super Robot Wars series.

Notable dubbing roles: Commander Cruger/Shadow Ranger in Power Rangers SPD, Daggeron/Solaris Knight and Magma in Power Rangers Mystic Force, Groundpounder in Transformers: Robots in Disguise, multiple characters in Transformers: Cyberverse, Prowler in Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

*The sign says “The first class begins at 8:30. There will be a physics exam this week.� British universities at least don’t start earlier than 9 AM. And exams are usually announced weeks before they happen, not put them on a placard with no date affixed.

**They presumably being either the writers, the set designers or both.

Same here. Matsumoto is sometimes compared unfavorably to Shiratori, but not as egregiously as the comparison between Mizoguchi and Sato. Kohana is still pretty popular on her own merit even though the actress is unfortunately retired last I heard. Honestly, I couldn't imagine Den-O without Kohana, considering how she appeared in a lot of the post-series content. Matsumoto is also the youngest actress to play the female lead. Unlike the actors of Kato Yakumo and Jin Masato who have identical kanji in their surnames, the second kanji in her surname is 元 which is different. Yay for different kanji readings!

Something else that is good about Kohana, as Die already mentioned, is her relevance to the dragging Zeronos memory subplot, which makes it just a little less boring to watch by actually showing a tangible and interesting consequence that isn't just Airi conveniently losing her memory due to weird time travel logic. Sakurai/Airi is an already established ship, but Yuto/Airi isn't, which makes it hard to get invested in the subplot, so throwing another character in to that in such a surprise plot twist is a good way to reroute the train on to a different more scenic rail, figuratively speaking.

Yeah, Kohana's pretty great! In much the same way Deneb has an echo of Jiiya from Kabuto, Kohana visually and dynamically feels like Kobayashi looking at the stuff Inoue got to do with Gon on Kabuto and saying Yes Yes That That. Replacing a part of the Kamen Rider formula with A Cute Kid is just a fun idea, and Kohana seems to be filling the bodyguard/muscle part of the group in a similar way to Gon's role as the brains of the group. Kohana rescuing Ryotaro from a couple of unreasonable motorists by egging them is as fantastic an introduction as anyone's gotten on this show.

The big thing the Hana/Kohana change adds to all of the Yuuto stuff is a sense of problem-solving, a switch from I Wish This Wasn't Happening to Maybe We Should Fix This. It's a positive change! The peril in all of the previous Yuuto and Hana stuff was so ill-defined as to make me think I had merely dreamt it. Hana's timeline is gone, but maybe not? And the ZeroLiner is part of that? And maybe Sakurai? And also Yuuto is wrapped up in it? Now we've got a clear dilemma with appreciable stakes occurring at a time where folks are motivated to put its investigation front and center. There's a vitality to what's going on now with Yuuto and Kohana that I really appreciate. Instead of making me sit through a bunch of handwaving about timelines and the mysteries thereof, we've got a clear problem that deserves our attention. It's way more fun to watch!

Well, yeah, nothing wrong (you say you wouldn't hate it) for giving her growth, but you commenting about well-documented comedic role makes a point about people don't go through dramatic changes in their life all of the time for those wanting characters (the main character for you here) to constantly grow and change. Also, true Poppy is light-hearted due to her being fully peaceful, wanting to ensure both humans and Bugster's longetivity. Can't be applied to someone like Naomi who revels in comedic sociopathy, that's a trait worth to be wary about. Both are genki yeah, but Naomi shows that being cheerful doesn't necessarily mean decency, and I already talked about comedy isn't necessarily light-hearted.

I mean, not all characters in series are meant to interact with each other? This is, so far, probably the reason of no good Hana/Yuuto plot before, at least to you. Hana serves different role, mainly as a caretaker to Ryotaro and enforcer to the Taros Imagins. Yuuto is the secondary Rider who brushes off everyone to work on his terms by protecting the time flow. I do think that, Hana and Yuuto should interact regarding something they're similar of, about how they were against Ryotaro changing things up in the past to make the contract holders feel better, with of course Hana fully supporting Ryotaro doing that later, and likely Hana acting as a testimony against this Ryotaro's practice for Yuuto's view. And wdym by cosmically-shit-upon? The ones get affected by time? Well, that's something still not revealed yet within the show now. Also, Ko means little, so Kohana literally means little Hana, and this is just like Ryotaro in the movie before, where he's refered as Kotaro for child version of him.

I thought you were ok with Den-O being all about the characters as you aren't into plot if chosen between the 2? But this is what will happen about restating of premises and present tense storytelling.

This is worth waiting about what will happen to Zeronos later, he may have no cards left for now, but there's still almost 20 episodes left of this show. Secondary Riders likely won't be retired out by this. Deneb already "rebels" from Yuuto few episodes ago y'know, and he earns scorn from Yuuto for this, and Deneb is at least unlike Taros Imagin, he has physical form.

Good to know I'm not alone in really digging Kohana! I don't really want to knock Shiratori, because she did a great job too, and the circumstances of her leaving the show are super unfortunate, but I absolutely find Hana's shtick way funnier coming from a child, and to this day, I'm really impressed by how smoothly the staff managed to work the change into the story in such a positive way.

I summed up how not jarring it is like this during my rewatch, and I don't think I could put it any better:

Yeah, add me to the "Kohana is great" train. Having to replace one of your primary cast halfway through should not be a great sign for a show, and yet the actress makes it work just as well as before. Maybe better, since the only thing seeing Momo get clowned on, is seeing Momo getting clowned on by a 10 year old.

Sure, but conversely, I don't see the reason to permanently silo characters? Some of the freshest storytelling occurs when we get to see characters interact with each other for the first time, or when someone's on a set you wouldn't expect. One of the most fun stories this show's done is the Hostages story, and that's great because it's crossing over nearly the entire cast. I'm not sure why a show wouldn't want to keep combining characters to see what happens?

I think my point was more about the various advantages and disadvantages of plot-driven storytelling versus character-driven storytelling. My problem with this past episode was that it was basically not-driven storytelling? It was a very neutral episode of folks expressing information-less curiosity at spiralling train lines, and recapping of recent developments that maybe weren't 100% clear to the audience. It's halfway through the episode before anything really happens to our cast.

For sure, it's maybe saying something about the conception of Hana's character that Kohana's behavior is funny, on-brand, and more fitting. If your 19-year old character can be switched out with an actual child and the character's normal dialogue sounds more believable... Oof. Not sure that's saying great things about Hana's role to date.

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 34 - "THE PIANIST OF TIME"

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I swear to god, I feel like this show is trolling me. Not a day after I write a whole bunch about how excited I was for the new Yuuto/Kohana team, and how excited I was to see some real movement on their shared dilemma, HA GODDAMN HA, I get this episode. It's one where Kohana and Yuuto share (if memory serves) absolutely zero screentime, and where their shared dilemma is addressed with, to quote Reverend Lovejoy, "short answer 'yes' with an 'if', long answer 'no' with a 'but'." Literally everything I loved about last episode got chucked out the window, and what I'm left with... well.

I liked the ending? There's a sweetly pure idea about memories being both sacred and illusory. The idea that forgetting people can be like a death, but that we remember things we've forgotten all the time. No one's ever really gone, as long as we're quoting prolific voice actors. Someone can disappear for ten years, and then rekindle a connection to the world in an afternoon. It doesn't take a lot. It's a tragedy, to be forgotten. But it's not really fatal, not really the end. If we stay true to ourselves, and reach back when someone reaches for us, it can all work out.

The rest of the episode I found largely lifeless and dull, and I'm not completely sure why.

Some of it is because, like a lot of problems I end up having with Den-O, it takes forever to explain what the hell is really happening in the story, and then it rushes through the exposition because there's no time left for subtlety. Every flashback scene with Piano Man and Coma Man was, honestly, pretty abysmally acted and written. The dialogue is just this guy shouting all of his thoughts at a stranger, and the performance is him SHOUTING ALL OF HIS EMOTIONS. It reads as nearly psychotic, instead of as two kindred spirits finding a connection. And that accident scene! I was not meant to laugh at it, I'm pretty sure? But, man, come on. Coma Man dashes in front of an oncoming car like he's secretly two dogs standing on each other's shoulders and wearing a sport coat. It's a ridiculous moment, and it nearly sunk this story for me.

The regular cast is weirdly deployed in this one, with special disappointment for how unintegral Kohana is. There's a scene where the DenLiner crew reacts to her new form, which was funny, but she's largely irrelevant to the Imaginvestigation. She doesn't do anything that helps Den-O save the day, and she disappears from the plot about halfway through. Her aside, it's really just some Urataros smooth-talking (one scene?) and a little bit of Deneb possessing Yuuto to keep things lively. The rest of the episode is a lot of piano playing, and not much story.

Yeah, god, this one bugged me. I don't mind a story that wants to take it down a gear, I guess, but to abandon the electric storytelling developments of Yuuto and Kohana to do a story that's About Yuuto without really featuring Yuuto... it made this one really unimpressive to me. Some nice thematic stuff at the end, but the nuts-and-bolts of this one were nowhere for me. Was not anticipating the show working this hard to let me down! A+ trolling!

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THE BAGGAGE CAR

-The thing I laughed the hardest at in this episode were the insert shots of Urataros playing the piano with hands that are way thicker than Ryotaro's. Does Ryotaro retain a bunch of water when Urataros possesses him? It would make a sort of sense...

-Mostly didn't care about the fight at the end of this one (the Imagin has, like, an army inside him why?), but I'm pretty sure that office building got used in a good Ryuki and/or Blade story for a fight. That is, uh, that is how into this episode I was: fondly half-remembering Blade and Ryuki fight scenes.

This is the core of why I like this bi-weekly monster story so much. The whole concept of someone disappearing because of an Imagin rampage in the past and nobody remembering them in the present is such a neat idea. It's a great example of the show's theme of memories and it ties directly into everything that's going on with Yuuto, too. Plus it leaves us with that haunting final note (pun intended) of Piano Hobo boarding the Denliner to drift along through time until he can find his place again. I really love everything that's going on with this concept.

Yeah, it... I wouldn't say it redeemed the episode's flaws (of which I thought there were a bunch!), but the willingness to have Ryotaro fail in such a dispiriting way, and then to have the twist of be that Den-O could fail because he couldn't stop a monster in time, but Ryotaro couldn't fail because people will always find a way to reconnect with each other if you give them the chance, I really liked that touch. It's another story that points out the limitations of superhero action, and the necessity of Ryotaro's holistic view of saving people.

IIRC, the last one about Yuuto/Kohana was about Kohana being treated like a little child (obviously) by Yuuto like when he carries her while she's smacking him along the way to not treat her like a child. Like others said, Kohana's antic being funnier than Hana comes from a fact where Kohana was more of a comic relief compared to Hana, and this treatment continues in the DenLiner where Kohana gets subjected into bubbles and a bit of a payback from the Taros Imagin. Feels deja vu into Sieg's powers turning Imagins small, which is now happening to princess instead.

And there's literally erasing any record and history about certain someone, called un-person. And there's certain ends in a series that is about erasing that person's memories from everyone else, or also the starts of their journey where that person is pissed off that nobody knows who they are, especially if they have fame/infamy previously. Seems that there shows the consequences of how forgetting people can be like a death. D̶u̶n̶n̶o̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶d̶e̶p̶r̶e̶s̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶,̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶p̶i̶c̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶a̶p̶p̶e̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶,̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶c̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶,̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶,̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶S̶h̶i̶r̶a̶t̶o̶r̶i̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶?̶ ̶K̶o̶h̶a̶n̶a̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶r̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶t̶i̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶I̶n̶s̶t̶a̶g̶r̶a̶m̶.̶

I've seen about your post before regarding acting this way to a stranger, like one of the Ghost's victim of the week. But this is more about how the acting is inappropriate for opening up to a stranger rather than the act of opening up to a stranger right? Because the staple of ideal hero like most of the main Riders in KR series is how they'll extend a hand to even strangers that need help (oh well, this one's the coma man asking for help to the piano man). Otherwise would quite agree that while those 2's relationship is already established, the beginning scene feels off to have someone dump down all the piano and life issues he have, like it feels the story to rush out what's that character about. But this scene probably proves that acting isn't only about throwing all your emotions, for those who cry out about characters showing lack of emotion. I̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶l̶a̶i̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶N̶a̶o̶m̶i̶'̶s̶ ̶e̶n̶t̶h̶u̶s̶i̶a̶s̶m̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶v̶i̶o̶l̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶m̶a̶t̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶s̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶a̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶i̶d̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶s̶c̶e̶n̶e̶ ̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶.̶

Well yeah a good chunk of Den-O's comedy is about the craziness that happens in a DenLiner, so it can be more of a daily stuff rather than the part of the IOTW journey. What she did was driving away Urataros, like usual, from going too far, in this case, flirting with a nurse. I guess about DenLiner crew reacting to her new form, Kohana will have a new issue about her not being taken seriously as a child, probably worth knowing about how others in Imaginvestigation will react to her trying to help Riders save the day. Deneb again tries to make Yuuto on good terms with the others but Yuuto still doesn't take it well, he hasn't completely shedding away his negative traits yet.

But this is something already established before, that Imagins can go out of control and go apeshit with stronger form, a la Ex-Aid's Bugster Union form. Something new I got that is worth attention was the train collaboration and circling to end the biggest threat yet.

Yeah, exactly. I think it's actually really great to do a story about someone feeling inspired enough by a stranger (who was actually their inspiration years ago?) to find their way back from depression and hopelessness. It's a nice idea. The way it's portrayed here, though, is a guy playing piano and another guy screaming at him about how terrible his life is and how this guy is saving it. That's a weird way to start a friendship!

We've seen Imagins have a Final Form before, but I'm not sure we've ever seen one have over a dozen separate Final Forms? It was a bizarre escalation, like something you'd get in a series finale or something.

I remember watching this the first time and thinking WTAF :lol It has not seemed any less weird to me at any point since then. That having been said, the juxtaposition of the bizarre-escalation line and your Den-Oh signature image made me laugh out loud :D

I'll just start off by dropping this in first:

...and then say that, despite reading your thoughts on some of the tonal issues kicking up vague memories of me maybe having the same reactions, this is another episode set I really like. That amazing piano version of Double Action lodged itself in my brain the first time I saw those episodes and basically never left, though, so that might account for my extra attachment to it.

Also! I forgot to say this when it was more timely, but this is the relevance of episodes 21/22, the first ones after Zeronos' debut, explictly taking place around Tanabata. Some dialogue from Ozaki and Miura broadly touches on the subject, but I think it's mostly assuming the audience will understand the significance.

- And naturally, the clever of idea of Deneb being what allows Altair Form to turn into Vega Form is yet another cool thing about Zeronos. I'm telling you, they went all out with the theming on this dude!

It's unbelievably weird, since it feels more apocalyptic than, like, the movie? This is just some gunslinging squid who steals pianos! Why is he crammed full of the entire Imagin army?! It would not shock me at all if the next episode opens with Owner saying to the team Well, Since Den-O Defeated All Of The Remaining Imagin, Let's Have Cake. Show's over, y'all!

I feel like this two-parter had the end hook in mind, that forgotten things can be remembered, and the Den-O Fight Music (Piano Ver.) instrumental, and not a whole lot else. It felt strangely inert for a lot of it, like everyone was standing around waiting for something to happen. There's a poignant nobility at the end, and some great music cues, but a lot of wasted opportunities.

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 35 - "THE CARD'S TRAGIC REVIVAL - ZERO"

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God, aces episode. It starts off being a look at how Ryotaro processes responsibility, then transitions into a look at how Yuuto processes responsibility, then wraps those two threads together in an astonishingly ambivalent and sad look at the costs of being a Kamen Rider.

There's jokes in there, too, and they're great. The whole training montage is shot beautifully, and had me in stitches: Momo mistaking Ryotaro's desire to learn to fight better as a request to fight more, and basically declaring war on the yakuza as sparring practice; Ura using Ryotaro's request for help as an excuse to just hardcore flirt with five women, with some light deception to keep himself in fighting shape; Ryuta opting to be no help whatsoever, and letting his advice to a struggling Ryotaro be Don't Lose; and Kohana, muscling all of these dinks into a shape that could, at the very least, not get Ryotaro killed.

So it's down to Kintaros to train Ryotaro, an idea that goes on exactly as long as it could. Kintaros is too well-meaning to get Ryotaro into the kind of trouble that can fill up an entire episode, so what we get with him and Ryotaro is some cute callbacks, some good physical humor, and a chance to get at what's really bothering Ryotaro.

The whole Getting Better At Fighting thing is mostly a cover. Or, not a cover, but it's Ryotaro not really dealing with his guilt over Piano Man's transitional state. Ryotaro can't really deal with the fact that some people don't get saved, even when Den-O saves the day, so he thinks if he can maybe fight harder, no one will get lost in time. But Den-O doesn't work that way, and Ryotaro training harder isn't anything more than Ryotaro trying to put his guilt somewhere. It's not productive, and Kintaros eventually needs to address that reality with Ryotaro. (Kohana is less likely to challenge Ryotaro than the Imagin, which is an interesting idea that the show doesn't really explore. It's maybe about how protective Kohana is of Ryotaro, as his bodyguard, in a way that the Imagin can be more blunt? Dunno. Not a thing the episode feels like dwelling on, unfortunately.) Kintaros sees that Ryotaro is looking at his guilt as a dereliction of his responsibility. Ryotaro thinks he's feeling this weight because he's not been as effective a Den-O as he should be; this guilt is his punishment. But it's because he's so invested in protecting people, so wounded by one displaced soul, that Kintaros can see that Ryotaro is plenty strong. His feelings of responsibility and duty are what makes him effective, not the other way around.

But that's only half of what this episode is trying to say about guilt and responsibility.

For the other half, we turn to Yuuto, who is more or less shifting full-time to Retired Brat. He can't really help Ryotaro any longer, since he can't transform into Zeronos. He's given up his future to save time, and now he's free to make new memories. Protecting time and saving people, that isn't his responsibility any longer. He's free of that burden.

Until Sakurai shows up with a new deck of Zeronos cards, and an unspoken explanation of Yuuto's role in this story. (It is, predictably, my least-favorite part of this episode. I get that Sakurai is probably wrapped up in whatever endgame narrative Den-O has been barrelling towards since Episode 1, but it is Episode 35. You can give us a little bit more to go on than Silent Double-Hatted Future Selves and Portentous Stopwatches and Crestfallen Allies. It would not hurt this story to spell out some of these mysteries! If you need to drag it out this long, it maybe is not that good of a story to begin with!) Yuuto has to decide if it's worth losing what little life he's managed to nurture, just to keep fighting as Zeronos.

It's the flipside of Ryotaro's personal strength being his advantage. It's less about believing in yourself and leaning on your friends, and more about self-sacrifice and self-negation. It's Yuuto being asked to scourge himself of hopes and dreams in favor of The Mission. It's exactly as sad as Ryotaro's story was uplifting. Yuuto's story is tragic, and he's seen the arc of that tragedy. He gets to immolate himself, slowly, in the fires of Zeronos, and in the end his reward is that no one will care. But the alternative is for Yuuto to put time itself at risk, to know that he could have fought harder and chose not to. It's the guilt of inaction, and it drives Yuuto to destroy himself. It's a feeling of responsibility that lacks perspective, lacks any ego.

There's a great inversion for Ryotaro and Yuuto this episode. It starts with Ryotaro beating himself up for not being flawless, and Yuuto finding some happiness in a future without responsibility. But then Ryotaro learns that there's solace in feeling loss, and Yuuto burdens himself because he can't do anything less. It's an episode about the ambivalence of responsibility, and about the limits of guilt.

It's not a happy ending for anyone in this story. Yuuto is doomed, Deneb is crushed, and Ryotaro is frustrated. For the Shocking Return Of Zeronos, it's a remarkably somber episode of Den-O. I loved it. A great, hopefully permanent, return to form for this show.

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THE BAGGAGE CAR

-Awesome twist for this episode's contract holder. His whole story was incredibly slight, and was mostly there to keep this episode looking like it was going to be all about Ryotaro Learning To Be Strong. As such, it doesn't really do a lot. (There is some stuff contrasting his ridiculous nonsense with two men who have actual problems and are handling it with more dignity, but that's not focused on too much.) But! Laughed my ass off at this guy's motivating loss being at a singing contest. That is some A+ humor writing. Hilarious twist.

-Really thrilled with how screwed this episode made Yuuto's existence out to be. The idea of your future self showing up in a beige trenchcoat and saying, basically, TATAKAE (because that's what you do if you wear a beige trenchcoat on a Kamen Rider show, I don't make the rules), robbing you of all hope... that is rough! Even for a franchise of doomed heroes, Yuuto literally dies a hero or lives long enough to see himself become a gigantic asshole who keeps wrecking his own life! That! I mean, THAT!

Yeah, this is a really good one. I loved all of the stuff with Kohana and Kintaros. Kohana really is sliding into her role on the show very smoothly here; she feels like the same character, just smaller and a bit sillier in how she approaches disciplining the Taros.

I'll let Androzani handle the voice acting angle, but I do want to highlight this episode's Imagin. The Mole Imagin is going to go on to be one of the most heavily reused suits from the show. It appears in almost every Den-O movie from here on out and in a number of the Rider team-up films during Phase 2. It's a really good design, to be fair, but get used to seeing it.

Yeah, despite there being three different VAs for the th Mole Imagin, only the one with claws had a VA I felt was worth talking about. So here we go.

Kōichi Sakaguchi

Notable Anime roles: Arbok and Mr. Contesta in Pokémon

Notable Tokusatsu roles: Zu-Gumun-Ba in Kamen Rider Kuuga: Special Chapter, Duke Org Yabaiba in Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, Five Venom Fist Rinjuuken Yamori-Ken Moriya in Juuken Sentai Gekiranger.

Notable dubbing roles: Silas in Transformers Prime.

I will point out that the dojo master is played by Jiro Okamoto, the suit actor for Kintaros (along with several characters on Rider and Sentai since 1985, to the point that CSHT had a sight gag where one of the tournament matches is Team JIRO vs Team TAIKAWA). And since he’s already in every episode, I’m not breaking my taboo.

And yeah, Zeronos’ return. I saw it coming, even without my habit of checking Final Form toy compilations on YouTube (my personal favourite is one where Kaixa’s final form is the Kaixa Driver on a beach covered in sand). That said, it’s not entirely the main focus of this two-parter, hence why I’m bringing it up here.

But have you ever wondered why so many contractors imagine the same mole appearance?