Well, this episode definitely solved a mystery for me. It turns out I'd confused the introduction of Tatsulot with the introduction of the [REDACTED] Sword. I knew that something had come bursting out of a wall inside Castle Doran and I was sure that it was Tatsulot, which is why I was a little confused (but not even a bit surprised) when he just showed up out of nowhere with barely any explanation. Glad to see that my poor, faded memories of a show I haven't seen in almost 13 years aren't completely fabricating plot points.

In other areas, I'm pretty firmly convinced at this point that Shima is just a terrible boss. Not only am I still fairly positive that the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization is literally just him, Megumi, and Nago (plus Kengo 2.0 now, I guess), but at this point I'm also certain that his selection process for IXA is to find the most unstable man around and give it to him. First it was some rando that followed Yuri home, then the creep that had been stalking Yuri, then a barely held together lawful stupid bounty hunter, and now it's the 20-year-old with anger management problems who keeps assaulting the current IXA. I think I have a very good grasp now on why pretty much every Fangire that the WBSO went after in 1986 is still alive and well in 2008.

Very excited for Shima to decide that Kengo's deranged need to humiliate his former mentor makes him an unsuitable candidate to be IXA, *pause while he looks at Megumi while holding the IXA Knuckle in her direction*, and then just give the IXA Knuckle to Tatsulot.

Another double feature this time, as this is absolutely the episode for me to go back and share one last pick from the first soundtrack – Wataru. You've heard this one a lot!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLQ9PFWFo30

Naturally, this is the 2008 counterpart to Otoya's version of the same thing, which you may remember me sharing waaay back after the second episode. Otoya plays the violin with considerably more flourish, befitting his immense talent and passion for his craft, whereas Wataru is a lot more straightforward; a little more raw, but no less earnest. I've always much preferred this one for how understated it is, to be honest.

(And as a little bonus, since this IS the last piece I'm using from the first soundtrack, here's the YouTube playlist for the entire thing! There's quite a bit of it I never touched on at all, so by all means, give the whole thing a listen sometime if you've enjoyed what I've been posting.)

Getting back to the second soundtrack, it's Kiva Air Battle, which I'd presume is Flight Style's theme, based on the name, and it does play here during that scene, but like with a lot of its music (just ask Saga's theme), the show ultimately uses this one whenever it wants to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-fpHhBw_xw

...And it's not hard to blame them for that n this case. It's got such a classic 80's/90's toku/anime hero vibe to it (if Wataru ever busted out a Shining Finger on a Fangire, this would definitely be the music playing), but with all that Kiva polish to boot. It's pretty awesome!

Flight Style itself is something I'm fairly ambivalent towards, in contrast. Like, there's plenty to love about the idea of a Rider who turns into a sweet dragon bat thing, and that was even incorporated into Emperor's design from the outset (it's why his kneepads are feet, for example; that's how the toy works), so I suppose a lot of that is down to how admittedly haphazard its introduction is here. While I ~think~ I would've known it was a thing going in, I didn't watch the movie until after the show, so ending such a genuinely emotional scene with Wataru randomly becoming a CG monster really threw me for a loop! It was also just kinda hilarious?

But the thing is, that whole scene is another one of my most vivid memories of Kiva. Something I feel encapsulates a lot of the show, perhaps even right down to the potentially shoddy plotting building up to it, and the endearingly ham-fisted integration of toy gimmicks that ends it. But I remember Wataru playing that violin, and that counts for a lot. I remember Kiva playing that violin, and it counts for even more. Despite how brief that shot ends up being, I think any Kiva fan can tell you better than I can how striking and unique to this show any variation on that visual always is.

I don't know if I'd be agreeing or disagreeing that the Bloody Rose origin story here feels disconnected (again, a Kiva episode being sloppy would not surprise me), but I can at least tell you I still look back on that scene super fondly years down the line. One other thing I mentioned after the second episode was that your observation about how extra personal the central premise might be to Inoue put a lot of the show in a new light for me, and sure enough, this episode was the #1 thing I was thinking about when I said that.

One other realization I've also had, which is probably obvious to everyone else, is that this episode actually explains why the Bloody Rose tells Wataru to fight? I mean, it seems so straightforward, but I never made the connection that it's literally Otoya's prayer. It's not telling Kiva to go destroy a Fangire; it's specifically encouraging Wataru to protect people's music, and that's honestly really sweet?

Lots of great commentary on the music... and what I notice most is that the thumbnail makes me realise Kiva Emperor's 'ears' are little bat wings. That's so good

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

Yeah, it's a real series-defining scene. Most of the But Why Heroism stories are, of which this is (accidentally?) one.

The more I think about it... I don't know that it fixes what I find wrong in the episode, the tonal and thematic incoherence at work in the Kurenai stories, but it's a thing that I sort of blurted out to Sh Ranger and now I'm really thinking it might be an interpretation I can get on board with.

This story of Wataru's, it's about how we throw ourselves into work and hobbies after a breakup? Anyone who's ever had their heart broken can recall how they started working out more, the extra hours spent at their job, all of the concerts they went to, the constant ways they tried to distract themselves from lingering on their loss. That's what Wataru's doing here, with Bloody Rose. He can't fix his sadness, or his anger. He can't fix things with Mio. But, like, he can fix this violin. This thing with Mio and Taiga, it sucks. It's a shitty hand that Wataru got dealt. But he still has Kiva, and still has his dad's violin. Maybe that can help him get through this tough time in his life. What better moment to declare his dedication to protecting people, instead of just protecting Mio? Now's the time to take a greater interest in the future, because his present is depressing as hell.

Anyway, that's me trying to salvage a good scene from a sloppy episode!

If I were to offer a bit of defense in favor of the story as well, I'm not sure Kiva ever needs too much justification for landing any plot back on Wataru's connection to his father giving him the strength to press on? Sure, the narrative of a particular episode can build it up more thoroughly and be better for that focus, but with what the show as a whole is about, I don't know if there's any scenario where you could say with certainty that it's completely out of place.

Sure, but I think the problem in this instance is that it's not until Jiro randomly teleports in to progress the plot (it's unbelievably random!) that Otoya is even really brought up in the 2008 part of the episode. Prior to that... there's maybe some residual guilt that it was his father's violin that got damaged, but nothing that made him explicitly reference his father.

It's this personal story of Wataru needing to do some growing up, but then part of the resolution is about Otoya's legacy? It feels a little forced, and the plot doesn't work too hard to make it feel earned.

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 36 - "REVOLUTIONARY: SWORD LEGEND”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva36a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva36b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva36c.png

This was an episode where the whole was somehow less than the sum of its parts. There are a bunch of fun ideas, and some interesting character developments, but it also feels like it's just rushing through a checklist to set up other storylines. It's not really about much, despite being an entertaining episode.

I mean, this is an episode that has the incredibly-pious Nago angrily demand that God fix the mistake He made that resulted in Nago losing IXA. That is the most Nago thing of all time, maybe. That is Nago's incalculable sense of self-regard actually overpowering his commitment to his moral code for only the second time in this series, and it's perfect. It's done with zero self-awareness, which sounds about right. His entire worldview is built around his God-given superiority, so if he's made to be inferior, it's God's problem to fix. The twisted logic in that is sublime. And it's a scene that ends with Nago trying to get a better fortune from Megumi by basically fighting her for it! It's so good!

Speaking of dudes who don't handle defeat well, we get to spend a little more time with Kengo, and it's... I think I can see it two different ways, depending on how much I want the show to not just be permanently ruining Kengo's character for shock value and melodrama.

It's the middle of Mio's plotline, where she's told Taiga she likes someone else, but she hasn't told Wataru yet that it's him. (I mean, she's told him several times, but he hasn't gotten the message yet.) So she goes to talk with Kengo, to find out how to tell a hypothetical skinny boy in a scarf that she likes him. Taiga and Wataru are barely concealed behind a nearby hedge, spying on the rendezvous. Kengo tells Mio to take a walk with him. On that walk he tells her that he always liked her, and he grabs her in a totally unwanted embrace, at which point Taiga and Wataru arrive to break it up.

The frustrating view of the scene is that Kengo is a monumental creep now, a giant entitled baby who wants everything he was denied before: IXA, Mio, respect. It's horrifying, mostly for how the show will probably try to redeem Kengo and we'll be asked to pretend a scene of sexual harassment and casual violence never happened -slash- wasn't traumatic enough to be worth staying mad at. That's one view.

The other view, and it's one that I'm maybe concocting so I can keep liking Kengo, is that Kengo obviously sees Taiga and Wataru hiding behind that hedge and concocts this ridiculous scheme to get them to admit to their feelings. (Kengo is the greatest agent in W.A.K.E.U.P.'s history! He completed an entire month of training! There's no way he missed those two idiots bickering fifteen feet away.) He hates Wataru right now, but he hates romantic melodrama more, so he forces everyone out into the open. He's still going to punch Wataru in the face, though. Kengo's still a deranged lunatic who needs to humiliate all of the people he used to care for. But there's this little glimmer of needing to do something nice for Wataru that got the better of him. He knows that Wataru is reluctant to take that kind of risk, so he gave him a shove. And then a punch to the face. Kengo's... he's a very particular kind of friend!

Concluding our trilogy of men who blame everyone else for their failures, this is the episode where Taiga's mask starts to drop. He's been trying to take things slow with Mio, because he assumes that a) she already loves him, and b) she'll only love him more if he lets her set the pace of the courtship. This is, naturally, a thousand percent incorrect. Taiga's upbeat suitor has somehow overlooked the fact that Mio is getting more withdrawn and non-verbal as their dates continue, and she finally tells Taiga that there's another man. He takes it... not great. I mean, as far as rejected men in this series go, he actually takes it great: Mio isn't even a little kidnapped and threatened with forced breeding, so Taiga's still a pretty good guy by comparison. (He actually takes it better than either other aggrieved dipstick in this episode! And he's the evil Fangire!) But he's still furious about this unnamed man who's stolen Mio away from him.

Two things I really liked about this storyline.

The first is that I like that it's Mio making the moves in this episode. It's about what she wants, who she wants, rather than her being some prize for Wataru and Taiga to fight over. (Give it time, though, I assume!) She's the one who tells Taiga that there's someone else, and she's the one who makes a pitch to Wataru rather than the other way around. I really appreciate that.

The second thing I liked is that Mio never tells Taiga who the other man is. You could easily write off Mio's stuttering non-answers as the show needlessly prolonging the tension for Wataru and Taiga, but I see it differently. I see Taiga demanding answers from Mio, and Mio realizing that it's none of Taiga's business. She's breaking up with a dude she never wanted to be with in the first place; it doesn't matter who she's leaving him for. He isn't owed an answer, despite Taiga assuming he's the star of every story. This isn't something she's doing to him, it's something she's doing for herself.

Despite all that good stuff, this episode still felt sort of weightless. I think it's all the foreshadowing the show is doing right now? There's Bishop's meeting with Maya, which mostly just fills in a little backstory while also letting folks theorize. There's King's appearance in 1986, who mostly just looks like an older Wataru that is cosplaying as a Kingdom Hearts character. And then there's the Kanvat Sword, which doesn't actually do anything this episode. It's a lot of stuff like that, where it'll probably be a great story someday, just not today. It's too much setup, not enough actual storytelling.

Still, a decently entertaining episode. When the show is able to spend some time with its characters outside of prophecy and exposition, it's as good as always. The various plot devices keep it from being great, but they don't make it bad. I can't be disappointed in an episode where Nago is as crazy as he was here!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva36d.png

The king has issued a proclamation: listen to his insert song.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gkdJ5KbS_mU

I’m probably a few episodes too early to fully cover the head honcho, so instead, I’ll cover this episode’s other big debut (other than the Zanbat), the lowest guy on the totem pole. (He doesn’t have as fancy a name as the others, for a start)

Rat Fangire

True name: Black Death (黒い死 Kuroi Shi)

Human identity: N/A

Class: Beast

Rank: Pawn

Actor: Ryuzou Ishino (voice)

Not much for this episode in terms of comments. I’m sorry, it’s locked between two more notable episodes.

While I want to believe your other take, this is the one that seems more plausible to me. Kengo used to be a good and supportive friend, but now he's just kind of a mean a**hole with misdirected anger towards Wataru and Nago. It's not the worst case of character derailment I've seen (points at Haganeya and Yonemura), but it's unfortunate to see how far he's fallen from being a pretty likable and sympathetic character in his introduction. There's also the question of how much of this new Kengo is real and how much is an act, considering how Shima mentioned about his backstory.

But Mio not telling Taiga might also be making it more painful for him than it needs to be. Without knowing who the other guy is, Taiga is left with no direction, no way to improve, since he doesn't know why he's failing or what the other guy has that he doesn't. Sure, Mio doesn't have any obligation to tell him since she's in this engagement against her will and mostly just indifferent to him rather than having any strong resentment, but constructive criticism is usually appreciated in this situation.

Yeah, I wouldn't... it's not a theory of mine that I can justify as anything more than Please Don't Ruin Kengo. I wanted his reintroduction to be more than just conflict for conflict's sake.

But her constructive criticism would mostly just be I Am Being Held Captive By Your Society, and that's not going to make a ton of difference if Taiga meets a nice girl at a Starbucks.

More than that... it's still not Mio's job to "fix" Taiga, or even in her best interest to try? Giving him ways to fix himself is like giving him hope that she'll change her mind, and that's the worst thing she can do for either of them. She gave Taiga the truth and a clean break; I think that should be enough for him.

I honestly think if the Kiva suits weren't so heavy 36 would be right around the time Emperor shows up also a problem I have with Kiva(as a late joiner) is there are WAY TOO Many tonal whiplashes like for example if an episode of Den-O had some depressing crap happen they would wait a bit before a joke happens again Kiva it's depressing scene some screwed up stuff and then RANDOM FUNNY JOKE TIME XDDDDDDD

(I prefer darker stories but I don't mind Den-O since at least it felt tonally consistent and it knew what it was Kiva feels like it's trying to be dark as Inoue's other work but has so much random BS thrown in to the point where I'm like uhhhhhhhh what)

Ideally, it would've first appeared in 35 instead of Flight Style. That moment of Wataru repairing Bloody Rose, feeling his father's hopes for humanity's safety, and it all combining with Wataru finding his own path? THAT is when you want to have the chains break off of Kiva's suit, and for it to glow with a newly-discovered inner strength. It's a way bigger moment than My Girlfriend Got Shoved By A Monster.

It's not always effective, and it's occasionally to the story's detriment, but I've always liked how Inoue can try to insert a little absurdity to offset the harrowing emotional stakes. These stories can get dark, so having some jokes can be a benefit.

Probably I'm catching something that feels wrong in your eyes, regarding Wataru, but please don't assume me as someone who only prefers justice/empathy/work together to support. For personal and individual stuff I already frequently pointing out someone's bad traits, not ignoring/forgiving/minimizing them, I just don't find any/much for Wataru yet, and I was talking based on your insight for him 'not trusting Mio'. For the part of 'don't deal with their emotions well' it's really true for Wataru though, albeit I feel that it's ordinary flaw instead of toxic one (e.g., not lashing it out to others).

She's only 14 though...

Poor Megumi for not keeping IXA? Yeah ep. 31 was the only time she got to be one... besides not much to say about Kengo turning IXA, other than how he became an expert fighter in the blink of time. What do you mean about Yuri being thankless btw? For the Super Fangire, true... despite the role of absorbing other Fangire's powers and the hype about her becoming the strongest, she feels just like a standard MOTW, she's just disposed in the same way as usual Fangires that the Rider fought, doesn't even feel different when she was beating up Wataru.

I feel like for Wataru not feeling his father's presence in his life, Jiro has turned into a better person from his stint in 1986 where he's turned into an aloof father figure to Wataru. He's the one that gives him a bit of a clue regarding who Otoya was, especially that they've turned into an old friend by then (one of previous scene in Otoya is still about him refusing to help the Arm Monsters' problems, unless Yuri is involved), with him promising something to Otoya too. Not saying about this being good or not, but I feel like Wataru's trying to solve the rift more quicker here regarding him, Taiga, and Mio, by telling him the source of the problem here as Wataru liking her too, albeit vague enough that it makes Taiga accept Wataru's help to rescue Mio from the Super Fangire (the danger likely pushes Wataru to confess further, especially for someone who doesn't have courage to tell others due to the fear of disheartening them), continuing from that, Bloody Rose being fixed here represents Wataru moving on like what he "celebrates" before, with Jiro directing him for properly completing Bloody Rose, too quick or not.

Though Otoya seems to suffer for Maya's "literal vampire", the 2008 seems to had Maya suffer for it instead, where it's revealed that the Queen nature had the punishment of the Queen power being taken away when they actually love humans and had someone else be chosen at random, as Mio approaches Maya to have her decline the Queen role. I do feel that this answers a bit for the Queen role before, that the reason the other Fangires egg the Queen to do their job is just following the nature of the Queen mechanic, but for Maya talking about how she lost hers by loving a human, I do feel that it gives Mio actual tips to let herself go from the Queen role, despite Maya insisting her to keep the role.

I'm honestly starting to get a little tired of this phase of the show. This is part where you really need to be invested in the Wataru/Taiga/Mio love triangle because it is eating up most of the show's screen time anymore. Nago and Megumi are largely getting isolated to one scene per episode and the '86 cast isn't faring much better. I know I praised the pacing of this arc a few episodes ago, but I think I'm going to have to clarify that primarily in comparison to a show where these issues got dragged out even longer. The whole "one episode, one step forward" approach is definitely progress, but given how invested in this triangle I'm not it still feels really drawn out for me.

And Kengo? Stop creeping on Yuria Haga's character. I knew Masato Kusaka and you, sir, are no Masato Kusaka.

You know the Zanvat Sword must be serious business when they're busting out the literal Melody of Fear first thing after the opening in this one! Probably don't need to waste time describing a tune with a name like that, but this one definitely fits the gothic vibe of Kiva particularly well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UrczEdSezE

The only thing I've really got to add about the episode proper this time is that I quite like the opening scene with Wataru stepping out in front of Shizuka to politely deal with his grouchy neighbors complaining about his music? It's the show rubbing in how much growth Wataru has had again, by giving him such a new reaction to such an old scenario, and it's appreciated. He's always got something new to worry about, so I feel this might be easy to forget, but the show has seriously allowed Wataru to make massive strides compared to where he used to be. That kind of first quarter era problem doesn't even crack a top ten list of things he's angsty over anymore.

(I also approve of Shizuka attempting to handle the problem by telling those people they simply must not appreciate quality music. It's totally unproductive, mind you! ...but I do have to respect her taking such a strong stance in the name of art.) :p

36/37 are also Nakazawa's second and final set of Kiva episodes, if that ends up meaning anything. There's a nice shot in this one when Kiva and Saga are fighting in that fountain and the camera pans along with them super smoothly as Saga forces Kiva back that feels straight out of Wizard to me for whatever reason, but I wouldn't be able to say exactly from where off the top of my head, if I'm even remembering something specific.

Oh, no, I mean "poor Megumi" because the show has nothing for her right now. She doesn't have a plot or an arc or anything. She's just sort of randomly around in group scenes? That's such a waste of a talented performer.

I feel like her inability to confront Otoya is leading to some repetitive scenes? She was a badass warrior who stood up to decorative vampire monsters, and now her only role is look miserable while she's metaphorically cheated on. It's not the best storyline I can imagine!

(That said, I did like how the show used Yuri in the most recent episode. Some of it was for the timeless outfit she had on - the plaid shirt, olive pants, and black All-Stars totally worked for her - but some of it was just for her taking her anger out on a bunch of monsters. Crying Yuri is something I'm not looking for nearly as much as Murderous Yuri.)

Sure, that's fair. I'm mostly enjoying how the show is pacing the 2008 romance (as opposed to the repetitiveness of the 1986 one), but it isn't leaving a lot of room for other stories. As long as the '08 romance is just a triangle, it's going to be tough to find roles for other characters. It's definitely a limitation of this approach.

Yeah! This was a very cool callback. Nice to see Wataru stepping up, even if Shizuka feels even more unnecessary as a result. (She's remarkably genre savvy!)

The one thing that sort of cracked me up, though, was the specific complaint of the neighbors. They're complaining that the music is bad, which is something I don't the show's ever suggested? It sounds fine to me. Not really what I thought they'd be complaining about?

What they should be complaining about is Wataru playing a single minute-long piece of music for about nine straight months. Just... just play another song! ANY OTHER SONG! In his non-jerk days, Kengo had the presence of mind to practice his one song in an abandoned warehouse or an empty arboretum. It's maybe not your talent that's the problem, Wataru!

I hate to say it but Taiga's introduction is honestly where Kiva starts to fall apart and go to shit due to the utter unnecessary love triangle only here for that trademark Inoue melodrama

You are... probably not going to love tonight's episode post!

I also know how this pointless plot tumor ends as well which is heavily influencing my opinion on the show

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 37 - "TRIANGLE: BEHEAD THE KING”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva37a.png

I'm a sucker for romances. To almost the same degree I can't get on board with CGI monstrosities, I can't say no to a well-crafted romance.

And this is one! I know it's not for everyone. It's teen melodrama and love triangles and hidden identities and all of that. I know there're people who'd prefer Kamen Rider in general - and Inoue in particular - stay away from romance. But, god, not me. Not in general, and certainly not here.

A lot of it is just for how incremental the story is being moved forward, which is another way of saying that I like how deliberate the pace is. This is a romance that's so much more fleshed out and considered than I've ever seen Kamen Rider attempt. It's hitting important milestones in growing up, and it's doing it with both emotional honesty and tokusatsu metaphors.

Like, the Zanvat Sword. It's tied into Wataru's emotional development, which is pretty typical for a powerup, but it's specifically about his capacity for love. Emperor Form got unlocked when Mio was in danger. Flight Style got unlocked when Wataru was honest with himself about his feelings for Mio. Zanvat Sword is unlocked when Wataru is able to accept Mio's interest, and be honest with her about his own feelings. It's about Wataru continuing to open himself up to the world, which is a fairly standard Kamen Rider metaphor for growing up. But it's also explicitly about Wataru having the bravery to accept his feelings as valid, and allow himself to be vulnerable in a romantic relationship.

I mean, he gets beat up by a bunch of monsters, so that's him literally allowing himself to be vulnerable! It's an entire episode about Wataru figuring out how to feel worthy of Mio's love, and how that doesn't come without problems. Wataru needs to be okay with Taiga turning on him, and he has to be okay with what it means to protect the person you love. (I mean, usually it's just, like, holding someone's hair back when they puke or letting them borrow your coat when it's cold. In tokusatsu, it's a little more visceral!) It could maybe read as Wataru becoming a more selfish person, but I don't think it is. I think it's Wataru seeing love as something to be protected and nourished, even if it's his own. This show's a romance, and he's spotlighting the power of love. I am A-okay with this show giving me a story like this.

It helps that I just buy these three characters, Mio and Taiga and Wataru. There's a lot of specificity in their performances, little ways they get across their desires and conflicts.

Taiga, in particular... just a really fun take on a dude who is self-destructing as things don't go his way. It's interesting to watch him go from caring about Wataru's friendship, to punching him full in the mouth. Taiga's someone who sees something other than a love story between Mio and Wataru, and it's a neat new angle. Taiga sees in Wataru a man who is selfishly destroying another culture by interfering in Mio's life, and a man who is too weak to survive the attempt. Taiga sees in Mio a woman who is abdicating enormous power for short-sighted reasons, and a woman who is unclear on the consequences of her choices. Taiga sees himself as the one protecting both Mio and Wataru by standing in their way, and he resents both of them for making him do it.

Mio's finding some neat shades on the Damsel In Distress, even as she's getting knocked out at a rate that should've generated a hundred Emperor Forms. (It's mostly just so she can be conveniently unable to see different Henshins, but that doesn't feel like it'll be necessary after this episode!) More than anyone else in the love triangle, there are huge consequences for Mio's choices, and not just for her sake. She's aware that stepping down as Queen and loving Wataru means the old Odin Special and probably a few decades of cave-dwelling, but that's just her punishment. As far as she knows, Wataru'll likely be killed. Maybe by a vengeful Taiga, maybe just as collateral damage by the Fangires who want to take out a traitorous Queen. Leaving Taiga and the Fangires has immediate, deadly consequences for both Mio and Wataru, and you can see the weight of that on every close-up of her face. (It's a twist on the old Mari stuff she'd do, where the head drops and the eyes dart around a bit. There's a lot of internality to both characters, even if Mio's trepidation is more sympathetic.) It's Mio who'll eventually have to decide what path to choose, and I love how compelling the show has made that decision.

And Wataru! Goddamn! There's a new level of heroism from Wataru in this episode, and an amount of swagger I'd've never expected. He's empowered by his love for Mio, and that's so unique to me in Kamen Riders. So many shows are about a love for humanity, or a love for yourself. Having a massive emotional piece of the show be tied to Wataru's romantic feelings for someone... really refreshing! I adore the other types of Kamen Rider theming (Faiz's messages of self-acceptance, Ex-Aid's messages of teamwork, Ghost's messages of self-improvement via connection), but I respect Kiva's attempt to talk about things like first loves, and navigating both your feelings for others and their feelings for you.

Like, the fact that Wataru immediately dismisses Mio's feelings for him because he doesn't feel worthy of them! That tracks! I have been that guy! I have had women need to be incredibly direct with me because I never assumed we were flirting! That is a true-to-life thing, not some clumsy extension of a dramatic arc! It's an episode that's as much about Wataru acknowledging that he deserves to be loved, as it is about Wataru acknowledging his love for Mio. And to prove that love by taming a sword that may actually hate love, to turn it into a weapon to protect love? Hell yes, Kamen Rider Kiva.

(I don't 100% know what the deal is with the Kanvat Sword yet, but I like this read on it. King '86 being a dude who hates love is such an on-the-nose potential Final Boss for a show about the power of love that I'm thrilled. I dig how blatant it's being about what themes it's trying to explore.)

All this, and an absolutely insane scene of an unhinged Nago covering the IXA Knuckle in thumbtacks to humiliate Kengo? A prank that ends with Kengo socking him in the jaw again? I am loving Kiva right now, and I am willing to admit it. Wataru would be proud!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva37b.png

Ah yes, the episode where we learn why Wataru’s budding career as a chef never took off (turns out people aren’t keen on liquified crayfish).

That aside, can I say how much I love the Zanbat sword. Maybe it’s the Wake Up standby music, maybe it’s the ascending/descending blade (which I’m also finding as a reason to love in Xross Saber), maybe it’s the simple but elegant nature of its design, but I think it might be my favourite final form weapon.

And a final twist: Kiva, Saga and the Pearshell Fangire all come out as Wataru, Taiga and Mio. That’s going to make things interesting, I assure you.

I have to throw out my love for the Zanbat sword here too, it's... beyond cool, man! The way he slides the Zanbat up the blade to power up has such a feeling of power to it, the thing in general just looks cool... and one of my favourite parts is that narratively, it fulfils the purpose a new form usually would! I can't think of many other instances in Kamen Rider where that's the case; where a new weapon gets to carry this kind of importance to it without a new form attached to it? All that comes to mind is Necrom's gangun catcher, and maybe Kabuto's hyper sword and something you'll be seeing later in 01... but god, this is just so sick. I love it

My Yuri's outfit of choice is the goth-like one, that she wears when first appearing on ep. 1. I know Yuri takes her anger on monsters here which is benefical, but I don't want for "hiding one's emotions except anger" to be glorified due to it making them "cooler" or "tougher" (you did praise the Aso family's rejection to IXA in ep. 20, but you start with a reminder of 'the crying isn't being a weak woman, unable to fight', implying that the norm means crying is those 2 which is misconception). Those who resort into unhealthy coping mechanisms (ex: shifting the blame to others, projecting their issues to others, escapism) to cope with problems shouldn't be ignored and have people pretend as if it’s perfectly okay, while display of emotions (except anger) gets hate. Audiences shouldn't put display of emotions below behaviors like shifting the blame to someone else, lashing out in anger, “tuning out”, etc. Those 'hardcore' behaviors can be as severe as emotions, or even be more unhelpful and unproductive. I guess you had a take that didn't resonate with you well for Kengo's portrayal in ep. 36 so...

I thought Nago had developed before, likely started after going to 1986 and knowing that Wataru is Kiva, but here his old self-righteous traits resurface again. His moral code also comes from the sense of self-regard though? He does his moral code by treating himself as God enforcer, sees himself as the rightful sinner punisher, forcing his father to commit suicide for his 'sin', to believe that all Fangires deserve to be slain including those who are peaceful, with his catchphrase insisting the Fangire to return their life to God. Even his Rider form IXA sports a heavy Paladin/Holy Knight motif. Comedic parts aside here... Nago should realize that he's another human and thus, he's obviously another sinner too, including his methods to fight crimes.

For the take regarding monumental creep part, so you do have limits about creating conflicts like if it's done for conflict's sake here (anything comedic gets free pass? due to character changes like this can happen to create comedic scenes). Though I have seen you pretend this kind of scene never happened before, like for example, Hibiki's Kenji Matsuda (so Zanki not Jiro) when he was written by Yonemura. Here Kengo is horrifying due to his treatment to a woman, but what will it take for Kengo to earn that reputation for his treatment to other men? Though even Kengo's previous approach before when he was Wataru's friend, he still rubbed Mio in the wrong way, due to him basically saying he focuses more on himself then Mio, painting him as selfish in her eyes. I get your other view less because I didn't think that Kengo had any thoughts for romance drama before, other than acting like Megumi to push Wataru with Mio, and would likely open a room to handwave someone's terrible actions.

Mio didn't only make moves here, she did before which I talked about (and not get replied), regarding her wanting to give up her Queen role by talking to Maya. I didn't really get the outcome about if Mio is still a Queen or not, though I can only say that people like Rook had shown superhuman physical prowess in his human form, but why did Mio get KOed easily in this episode against the Fangire of the week like a normal human?! (which is why I wonder if Mio's still jad Queen powers or not here), but yeah, 2 of 2 of Mio's dilemma has been addressed here, before by asking to give up her Queen role (where she doesn't feel sure committing to the role), and here, by confessing to Taiga (her arranged marriage).

For Taiga taking it better, well, I did say about before how Taiga's an anti-villain, but still, it's a stretch to call him 'good guy by comparison' (even with comparison note), he'll be still an aggrieved dipstick, but not by what he does to Mio, but by what he potentially can do to others to keep Mio's love, like how in Faiz (the TV series one, not the other media), Kusaka mostly did bad things to people like Takumi or Yuji for his love to Mari. There's also previously Jirou who was in love with Yuri, and though he acted like abusive boyfriend to Yuri, his bad thing is nearly killing Otoya due to him being in his way for Yuri's love, the suitor doesn't need to necessarily doing bad thing to the girl itself, the others around them will apply too. Taiga places Fangire's well beings above everything else, and this would be enough to drop Taiga's mask due to his friendship with Wataru compromising his aim to take care of Fangires.

Well, it's said that Taiga is the son of Maya and 1986 King, and Wataru brings up the button to Nago which he remembered it being the thing that he gave to Maya. It's an indicator of something between Taiga and Wataru... Besides, it's true that the 1986 King is like Wataru, and it's not just done via their look alone. For the Zanvat Sword (I never see it refered as Kanvat), I already knew of it being Kiva Emperor's personal weapon, but didn't expect for it to be completely separate from the Rider.

I totally agree with you here! Emperor Form already looked awesome on its own, but Zanvat Sword just completes it, you know? It has such a simple sliding mechanic, but seeing the blade glow sanguine red like Kiva's some kind of Vampire Uchuu Keiji with a Lazer Blade is so satisfying. Even better is how it debuts to a longer version of Supernova! It also has the symbolism of Wataru taking control and channeling his overflowing emotions in to something he can wield. I love it when a weapon gets to feel like it's as important as a new form. It's easily my second favorite Final Form weapon after Perfect Zecter, overall. In terms of building suspense though, Zanvat Sword definitely has a lot more excitement behind it.

I think that paragraph is actually longer than the one I wrote about Emperor Form, so Zanvat Sword must be pretty awesome!

I think most of Yuri's outfits suit her, but my personal favorite is the one she usually wears while working at Mal d'Amour. It has the right balance between fashionable, casual and friendly.

As someone who wasn't into the romance plot in the previous episode, I actually still enjoyed this one a lot. A big part of that is that it's a big jolt of momentum, ending with a whole bunch of cards laid out on the table that are going to really change the direction the story is going in. Still a little disappointed that the rest of the '08 cast is relegated to short comic relief scenes, though (not sure why Nago is bothering to sabotage the IXA Knuckle when IXA isn't even appearing on the show right now).

And, of course, we get the full debut of the Zanvat Sword. Let me say this to start: I like the Zanvat Sword. It's a cool design, especially with the crazy bat cross guard. As someone who really hates it when Rider weapons just look like big roleplay toys, I also appreciate how hefty and metallic it looks, too. That being said, I would love to have been in the room when Bandai was brainstorming how it would work. Somebody had to have realized it, right? There's a reason why this weapon had a very specific nickname among the fanbase, after all. #FapSword

But they loved the taste before they knew the ingredients! In an episode all about honesty, Wataru learns there can be such a thing as too much honesty.

I talked a little bit about how much I enjoyed the thematic relevance of the Zanvat Sword (this goddamn franchise and its many translation choices: ZanVat or ZanBat? My subs say Zanvat, but I'm seeing people use Zanbat. Help a Cubist monstrosity out, y'all), and how much time the episode devoted to its arrival, but there're a couple other more simple pleasures that I liked.

The first is how interactive the sword is. I love when Kamen Rider weapons get toyetic and tactile (I love how Drive reloads his gun by opening and closing the door), so a sword that needs to constantly be manipulated hits me right in the sweet spot. It makes it more than just a powerful device, it makes it integral to the fights scenes, and I'm a fan of that.

I also like how it starts off as a dangerous upgrade, and those are my faves. A power source that the Rider has to tame in some way, or has to abandon because power means less if it hurts you, I love those. Having the Zanvat Sword overpower Wataru and require the help of his Three Weird Uncles (I also love how much the show has built out Wataru's ridiculous family in the second half) in order to make it a viable weapon in the war against the Fangires? Yeah! Love it!

Oh, man, he definitely definitely won't! That sort of self-awareness and humility is antithetical to Nago's character! When he thinks God is punishing him, his instinct was to think that God had screwed up! Nago is not a guy who is able to take responsibility for his life falling apart! That is some Day 1 stuff from Nago!

Look, we don't have to make it dirty. The Zanvat Sword is simply the manifestation of Wataru's love for Mio, and he moves the cross guard up and down its length until it becomes inflamed with his passion, leading to -- uh. Hmm. Definitely curious how intentional this weapon's design was! Any other Kamen Rider, I can maybe see it being accidental (pretty big accident, though), but an Inoue show? That's all about romantic love and steamy erotic metaphors in its second half? Not sure it's an accident!

Starting things off mellow with Wavering Heart, another one of those contemplative melancholic tracks from this show I love so much, which certainly has a fitting title for a conversation where Wataru finally works up the courage to tell Taiga he's not giving up on Mio only to end up getting backhanded for the trouble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAm2RRLsP0M

...And since I decided double features are just going to be a fairly regular thing from here out because I like the second OST that much, here's Zanvat Sword, which is... er, not at all in the episode featuring the proper debut of the Zanvat Sword! Supernova takes priority, as it turns out. Even though the show gets a ton of use out of this one anywhere but here, it does do a whole thing where it starts off sounding a bit ominous and worrying at first before blossoming into a proper heroic battle theme, which fits the sword's role in the story perfectly, so I'm putting it here anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvxCnxGclB4

Moving on to the episode...

...Gosh that suit is so pretty~ Uh, anyway, yeah, I'll join in on the crowd proclaiming the Zanvat Sword to be very awesome. It's got a really straightforward but cool and elegant design (even with the bat on it, it mostly just looks like an actual sword?), the blade is sparkly(!), and it even has a whole established backstory and thorough integration into the plot, which is more than you can say for a lot of Kiva trinkets! It also completes Kiva's evolution into being just another Kamen Rider in terms of how he fights, if you wanna get negative, but looking at Kiva as its own thing, being a sword-wielding hero in golden armor is something Wataru has really worked his way up to, you know?

And for the record, they got the broad idea for the sliding bat from the motion of pulling a bow on a violin, and nothing else! The original concept was even apparently to do an Iaijutsu thing where there would've been a scabbard, but they ended up dropping that so that all that was left was the basic concept of Kiva sharpening a sword as he cuts down his foes with it. While I still miss the elaborate stock footage from the show's early days, I have to admit the Zanvat Sword's awesome sound design is another thing that makes it clear the show hadn't totally lost that touch.

It's really the exact same thing either way, as b/v represent the same sound in Japanese, just like l/r do. The name of the sword is derived from the kanji for slicing (斬), which is your "Zan", plus "Bat" and "Sword", which I don't think I need to explain. I believe what's going on with the inconsistency is that, as discussed way back, Kiva's name is written the way it is, and we've also already got Kivat, so... it's the same way Toucon Damashii from Ghost is written that way because of Eyecons, even though it's just a Japanese word.

What I'm more confused by is where we got "Behead the King" from for the title on this one? Everywhere I look has it translated like that, even though the title is kingu GA kiru, and not wo? He's the one doing the slicing! It's about his sword! (Wait, I was supposed to be retired from this kind of thing, wasn't I...?)

On the subject of that King though, the reason he gives for chucking the Zanvat Sword in that wall is one heck of a powerful mission statement as to what his role in the series is. It's the kind of thing that's hard to imagine coming from a writer besides Inoue, because it's deeply thematically relevant while also being utterly insane in a way that's so distinctly him.

So, slightly funny story about that particular screencap.

I usually grab a whole bunch of screencaps during an episode, and then I'll sort through them to see if anything really connects with what I think the tone is going to be for the post. With this episode, there was an early chance it was going to be Megumi enjoying a coffee break and Nago bursting into Mal d'Amour to demand thumbtacks, but eventually I realized that it had to be something with the Zanvat Sword. So I had the first one, the one with Wataru dragging the sword, and I liked that one a lot. Then there's this shot of Emperor Form resting the sword on his shoulder as he stares off to the right of the screen, and I'm like Perfect. And as I go to pause the video to grab the screen cap, Kiva turns his head to stare down the lens. It was like he was posing, just to make that screencap even more beautiful.

Ha ha, maybe! Maybe this just turns Kiva into another sword-wielding Rider. For me, I feel like this is the first time Emperor Form has really made sense to me. Seeing Kiva with the sword makes the armor work better, makes the cape work better, makes the gold work better. Emperor without the Zanvat Sword is a little like half of a design, a signal that Wataru had only done half of the work to ready himself for a relationship.

King '86 looks so much like "Halt and Catch Fire" actor Kerry Bishé to me that it's seriously distracting.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/king3.png

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/king2.jpeg

He has a VERY distinct look to him that I just can't pin down

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 38 - "ERLKING: A MOTHER-SON REUNION”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva38a.png

INOUE FOREVER.

This one had it all, man. Heartbreaking drama! Hilarious comedy! Secret siblings! Rider team-ups! New Zealand-born actor Kerry Bishe revealing herself to be not only King of the Fangires, but also some sort of dark Kiva! I paid for the entire seat, but I only used the edge!

It's not one that's expressly about anything (I mean, beyond the regular Kiva themes of parents passing their traumas down to their children, or how difficult it can be to find identity in the world your parents built, or the ways systems ignore feelings in favor of results) but WHO CARES when there's so much to enjoy in this episode.

I almost don't know where to start, since this episode was packed with incident. I guess maybe we can start with the confirmation that Maya is Wataru's mother? And the revelation that this confirmation also means that Taiga is Wataru's half-brother?

It's something that had been rattling around in the back of my head for the last couple days, the connection of Taiga to Maya and (possibly) Wataru to Maya, and the transitive property leading me to Secret Siblings. It's a tough idea to even grapple with, since it comes maybe four seconds after Wataru and Maya meet for the first time since she left him as a child. (Like, I really hope the show at least nods in the direction of an adult who was responsible for a maybe six year-old Wataru. Jiro didn't show up until last week! Shizuka was maybe four months old! Unless Shizuka is some sort of immortal pre-teen? Is she from some weird pixie race? Have I ruined Episode 39 by mistake?!) But it's a firehose of reveals in this episode, so why not keep adding stakes and connections to this plot?

It's maybe the most I've been into the final act of a series arc in... god, a long while. Blade, maybe? Everything in this story is personal-sized, everything feels intimately connected to Wataru. Whether it's his family, or his romance, or his species, or his claim to the Fangire throne, every new reveal adds more complications for Wataru. Everything seems designed to unsteady Wataru, and that makes every episode more exciting than the last.

And while the Taiga/Wataru Secret Sibling thing doesn't really get a lot of room to be explored this episode, Maya's ill-fated Bring Your Sons To Work Day reunions are fantastic. Fantastic.

While every plot point spokes off of Wataru's character, it's really an episode to look at Maya. We get to see her feelings of superiority in 1986, as she taunts King with her infidelity. We get to see her joy at a visit from Taiga in 2008, even as he's disgusted by her fall from grace. We get to see her horror at Wataru's joyful reappearance, since everything she's done for the last god-knows-how-long was to keep him safe, and he has made them all incredibly unsafe. And then we get to see her in 199X, tearfully telling her son that he has to live by himself in his dead (?) father's house, and that he needs to forget about her for his own safety.

It's an emotional roller-coaster, and Maya nails every hairpin turn. There's this flirtatious teasing in her scene with King that could not be further from her chastened regret in the cave, which couldn't be further away from her raw anguish under the surface of firm instruction that she shows to Wataru as she leaves him for years. This is an episode that is asking an actor to basically carry multiple huge reveal scenes on her goddamn back, and she never falters. It's intense performance after intense performance, and it was a gift to watch.

The thing is, this was also the episode where Nago maybe became the series MVP for comedy? He's killer in this, as much a bravura performance in comedy as Maya had in drama. The basic idea, that Nago wants to coach Kengo because that makes Nago feel powerful again, it's fine. It's the sort of story we've seen play out before, most recently when Nago discovered that Wataru was Kiva. If Nago can't have glory, he will make do with reflected glory. (I know that Nago's saying he wants to be Kengo's coach, but this type of plot has real That's My Son stage-dad sort of vibes to it. It reads as a type of controlling parent, which keeps it firmly inside Kiva's discussions on parenting and imparting lessons.) So Nago trying to make Kengo subservient to him, sure, that tracks.

But Nago showing up with matching t-shirts that spell out Nago-san in numbers (complete with IXA Knuckle at the waist and IXA helmet on the back!), and then badly coaching Kengo while IXA defeats a Fangire? Both of those scenes are brilliant, Top-5 Kiva Scenes material. It's HBV level good, you guys. (The gag of Nago coaching Kengo to do one thing, and then Kengo doing the exact opposite thing, I lost it.) There's a maniacal dedication to Nago's character that is only now allowed to be played for intentional laughs. He's completely pathetic here, and it's the most I've ever liked him. The facial expressions! They are all so good!

This whole episode worked for me, and it worked gangbusters. All of the big reveals had unpredictable payloads (Maya tries to embrace the evil son and pushes away the good son!), nearly every character had a thrilling moment (Weird Uncle Jiro trying to slap some sense into Wataru! Yuri realizing that it's never going to work between her and Otoya!), and so many scenes had unnecessarily beautiful establishing shots. (You don't need to have a skywriter spelling out 2008 when it's a scene with Wataru and Mio! That's the only year they're ever in! Also, I can't believe Maya was given a 2008-vintage wine! That is maybe more inhumane than her disfigurement!) It's a truly exceptional episode, befitting its status as one of the most pivotal in the series.

I'm really loving this show right now. Inoue forever.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva38b.png

p.s. If I'd been watching this show last year, I absolutely would've paid $43 for a Nago-san shirt from Premium Bandai. Easy. No hesitation.

Brotherly Love.

Are you saying that now, such a thing would never tempt you?

Actually there're people who commonly prefer for something to be free from any CGI. I know bad CGI is a stain on a media, which I also think so, considering shows in my place commonly suffer for awful CGI (none of them ever, have plausible CGI effectS), but that can be a blind view to make sure any show is free from any CGI due to a bad one they've seen. Though for those who wants to be free from any CGI, it can be for reasons not regarding its bad portrayal, but they'd treat CGI lowly as it means the art, skill (for fighting), etc. are fake. I know you did praise several doomed romance before, but here so you reveal that romance is your cup of tea in general, though for celebrating art you also shouldn't make Kamen Rider stay away from genres that aren't your cup of tea, or only allowing them if they're good in your standards in that genre (unless you'd criticize badly implemented romance, it can happen in action flicks if they shoehorn romance due to a major character being male, and other being female).

What I feel for Zanvat Sword, for this long time, is that due to playing certain KR game or watching it occassionally, due to those, I've felt that Zanvat Sword is ordinary, nothing special on Kiva Emperor, due to him regularly using it in the moveset while the arms weapons are reserved for the stronger moves! But actually from watching I found it out that they're independent from Kiva Emperor, and the story had it obtained by hard time (which'd mean it'd be higher level weapon, cliche but can't kill off the hype). For Zanvat Sword being able to be pulled after he accepts his feelings for Mio.... so the item is deliberately done as usable via your romance state. I also think that I like the sliding gimmick, I kinda like about mechanic that'd be seen in toys, but is actually a deadly stuff of unleashing the swords' power more, though I'd like for the finisher to be more flashy for the weapon's position.

For Wataru being beaten up by monsters, I know you'd think it's valid within the story but, why would he de-henshin into his human form, oh right neither Mio or Taiga know that Wataru is Kiva. It took this long but it's finally shown about Wataru fighting in his human form against monsters. For selfish, the romantic person would be selfish in my eyes if they ignore others in favor of the person they love, or if they do bad things to other people (not their love interest) for the sake of their love (a.k.a, acting on jealous impulse without empathy or worse, yandere), etc.

Before, Taiga has praised Wataru's kindness (uh...it's even noted in the story itself), and consider someone fool for rejecting Wataru if it's implied to happen. But now, due to Mio being taken away, Taiga instead mocks Wataru's demeanor as weak, and consider him unworthy of love due to him (outwardly) not being the most exceptional or special person, leaning more on a "loser" side. Wataru's shyness is established at the beginning of the series, and he had grown out of it, but what happened to Wataru here can be something to trigger shyness instead, when someone protects you from others who antagonize you and befriend you.... only for them to realize that you're truly weak and it's a 'mistake' to befriend you. For him destroying another culture, it's pretty much true in Taiga's eyes, as Mio choosing Wataru means he can no longer uphold the foundational social structure of the Fangire race. Taiga places Fangires' well being above anything else, his goal currently is to ensure the survival of Fangire race.

Again, for 'damsel in distress' part, still I wonder why Mio get KOed easily in this episode against the Fangire of the week like a normal human?! There's other Fangires (not really equal, but under) like Rook who shows superhuman physical prowess in his human form, and Maya, the previous Queen, is shown stepping and pinning the Fangires who had grudge to current Queen under her boots in her human form. This seems to be inconsistent mechanic done to establish males protecting her (and I'm not saying this merely for the mechanic, but it may more appeal to the audience if she doesn't need men for her well-being, and she already had what it needs for her Queen power for that!). She wants to step down from Queen role and did talk to Maya (another her move btw, not only rejecting Taiga), but in this episode she did knock Wataru out of his transformation, which reveals that she attacked Wataru. I guess aside from parts that can be seen as lengthening the tension, the part about Mio as Queen attacking Wataru is actually not dragged out, to just let the story have her de-henshin Wataru, so Wataru's true identity is revealed to both Taiga and Wataru.

I know you probably said it's unique within Kamen Riders, but being empowered by love to someone is common in media, often being paired together with... power of friendship or such due to it being emotion based on loved ones. I mean for Wataru dismissing Mio's feelings, well, as Taiga himself claims Wataru is, he's (outwardly, as Mio only knew him as a man who is alike to him) not the most exceptional or special person, outright weak in Taiga's eyes. Him being timid and socially awkward is already a relatable part of him to wider range of audiences (though ordinary flaws gets bashed compared to toxic flaws which is praised, despite both have reasons for being relatable... those who use fiction for self-insert escapism could likely consider someone who doesn't jump for immediate chance for 'sex' as pussy, coward, etc.,), so him being clumsy is just an extension of those relatable things (of course for this one, I can't see Wataru not believing it as clumsy extension of a dramatic arc).

King's portrayal so far indicates him as another yandere about the implications of Maya loving someone else. Though it's a different take for King as he's not going to kill Maya as it'll mean he loves him if he's doing so (indicating twisted mindset as well to accept that love is shown by violence). Nago and Kengo's scene actually shows to me that Nago can't get upper hand on Kengo for now, after Kengo begs himself to be Nago's disciple.

I appreciate how Taiga sprung this reunion on Wataru, and then his whole attitude was Here's Mom, She Sucks. For a show that's largely (but not exclusively) about family, this whole reunion went about like I'd've expected for an Inoue show.

I'm saying my window closed! The preorder ended last July, and I'm not that crazy about buying aftermarket clothing.

Yeah, the finisher is maybe the weak part? It's a little neat, him pushing the cross guard down like a plunger to shatter the frozen FAngires, but it feels small-scale for such a legendary weapon.

The episode actually covers this! When Wataru is blasted out of his Henshin, it knocks out Kivat, so Wataru can't re-henshin. He's stuck as regular Wataru for the next scene.

It's pretty much just this. There's the larger narrative use of her getting knocked out so she doesn't learn Wataru's identity as Kiva, but even after that, the show has her running around in her human form while the boys Henshin into superheroes. It's tacky.

So to start off, we get a melancholy remix of an already melancholy song, changing it from a plea to remember someone to a pea by someone to be remembered: Rainy Rose Queen Edit (which I actually discovered prior to the regular version, for reasons that I won’t go into here)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uIBz2sLev8g

This episode’s Fact Fangire-le features one who’s been around for a while with some none the wiser.

Kamen Rider Kiva

True name: Wataru Kurenai (紅 渡 Kurenai Wataru)

Human identity: N/A

Class: Hybrid

Rank: Illegitimate Prince

Actor: Koji Seto

And now for the actual monster (and yes, that VA’s name is written the same was as Zangetsu’s given name, making his name literally “tiger noble”)

Mantis Fangire

True name: The Deads' Miscalculation equals The 4:36 Lie (亡者の誤算＝４時３６分の嘘 Mōja no Gosan wa Yoji Sanjūroppun no Uso)

Human identity: N/A

Class: Insect

Rank: Pawn

Actor: Tora Take (Voice)

But enough of the Return of the Jedi s stuff and cannon fodder, this episode’s real highlight (for me) is the debut of Kiva of Darkness (闇のキバ Yami no Kiba), who is unique in that his official romanised name Dark Kiva (ークキバ Dāku Kiba) is not actually canon. Which is why I always go with the first name when discussing him (or I would if he ever came up in discussions). I just love the visual of him appearing against an ethereal green version of Kiva’s emblem.

And then there’s Nago’s antics, which actually got the dialogue remixed into a song on an album (its mostly Don’t Lose Yourself, with dialogue from Nago added). He’s basically riding his decrease in badassery for all its worth.

Alright, now that Dark Kiva is on the show, it's time to break out another TETRA-FANG album for his theme song... and then three more theme songs after that, because for reasons I'll get into as we go along, today is basically going to be the Checkmate Four Super Special. You ought to be grateful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkdJ5KbS_mU

First up on the list is, as mentioned, King's theme, Exterminate Time, which is of course a grammatically incorrect (and yet so cool!) translation of Kivat II's catchphrase when he transforms. There's only so much I can really say about this one? It's got about the kind of heavy-ish rock sound you'd expect from a big villain, and all the lyrics are just an elaborate way to say that if you ever see the King AS Dark Kiva, you're basically already dead. They say it very pretty though! Although curiously, while I see some places list Fujibayashi as the lyricist (incorrectly???), I've also seen it credited instead to "USK Kohno", a stylized version of Yuusuke Kouno, who has had a fair bit of other involvement with Rider music, including being a part of the whole Wind Wave internet radio thing during Double? But I only barely know what I'm talking about here, and we're getting into a completely different show, so let's just move on to the next Kiva song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh4wQMjabvM

Bishop's theme, Eternity Blood, is a little special for a few reasons. It's the only one of these four songs to even ~kinda~ get used in the show, as a version of that gothic piano intro gets played by Bishop himself, as seen in this episode, hence why I wanted to share this song too. The other big notable thing about Eternity Blood is that Shuuhei Naruse handled all the major facets of its creation, from the composition and arrangement (which is common) to even the lyrics (which is not). You may remember Naruse as the guy who plays the keyboard in TETRA-FANG to begin with, which explains a lot about that gothic piano intro. Like, this whole song might just have been an excuse to make him look cool. As for the song's relevance to Bishop as a character... uh, is it awkward if I admit here I don't remember a whole lot about Bishop? What I get from the song is "mysterious dark schemer unflinchingly dedicated to forwarding the everlasting glory of his kind" which sounds pretty accurate to what I've seen of the guy skimming back through the show! I mean, I at least know for sure overseeing everyone else is literally his role in Fangire society, so... moving on!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d6WNmJo--E

Rook's theme, Lightning to Heaven, is here too because it's directly connected to Exterminate Time. Both because it has the same lyricist (I'm pretty sure) that song has, and because like, they're literally connected. The outro of Lightning to Heaven leads straight into the intro of Exterminate Time, in what I'm sure is a very cool trick when listening to the album. (Obviously I've botched the order, on the other hand!) This is an apparent reference to a move in chess called "castling" that involves moving the king and a rook at the same time, a bit of trivia I've always loved because, I mean, I say Kiva tried extra hard with the music, and I feel like this needless detail is one of the strongest single pieces of evidence of that. Rook is a pretty simple character to get a grasp on in his own right, so naturally the song is another real aggressive one, with lyrics that basically run down the checklist of things he does in the show. He's a relentless predator and this is all a big game on a time limit for him. You know the drill. Not that the "lightning" or the "heaven" were as glorious as that title makes them sound, but then, it's the song's job to talk the guy up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzVna4mHFCg

Last up is Queen's theme, Rainy Rose, which is here because A) I've already come this far! and B)it's also easily my favorite of the bunch. I DID say I'm a sucker for the melancholic tracks, after all. Rainy Rose is just such a *pretty* song, you know? There's nothing else from Kiva quite like it, and I've long adored that distinct sound that's at once sorrowful and yet strangely soothing. And hey, maybe this one is pretty relevant to this episode after all, what with its huge focus on Maya's life across the years. Rainy Rose has some extremely colorful lyrics, with a lot of metaphor going on, and it's kind of why I have an easy time buying that Fujibayashi didn't write Rook and King's themes, because Rainy Rose is so much more along the lines of what I expect from her words. The song basically seems to be describing Maya by 2008 – this almost forgotten relic living a lonely life after having paid the price for her love. These other songs talk the Checkmate Four up, but Rainy Rose is so much grander than that. It truly feels like a mournful tribute to Maya, singing about her story as though it were the single most tragic thing that ever happened; at once unbearably sad as well as beautifully poignant. I mean, I'm sure I'm hyping it up way too much, but while I don't think I have the same love for Maya that Die does, I might just love her song that way! Really goes to show what I've been saying about how well Kiva's songs encapsulate the characters.

...

Oh, and there was an episode of Kiva, too! Sorry I made you wait through all that to get here, Die!

Yeah, this one is pretty fun, for sure. I'd be lying if I said I remembered anything from it more than I remembered 753 though. And from this point on, he will always be 753. For better of for worse, his antics here forever cemented a major change in his portrayal. It's for the better. 753 is hilarious. It's this strange alternative to character development, where Nago becomes exactly 0% more self-aware, but the way the show portrays that trait undergoes an arc, where his more straightforward growth as a person coincides with his singlemindedness becoming more amusing than frustrating. This chapter of Nago's life has always felt to me like him becoming the character he was always meant to be. (Him imitating the Ixa Riser saying "ra-i-ji-n-gu" followed by the actual thing the next second is my personal favorite bit of comedic timing in this one, by the way.)

Something I didn't remember that I caught looking back through was the bit where Maya compares Taiga throttling her to how King used to in '86. Not only does it come with another super smooth transition (Tasaki was the director for 38/39, if you didn't have your suspicions already), but it's a nice way to highlight that Taiga has a very different sort of father from his half-brother, and an entirely different set of chains that maybe need some breaking ASAP. Another one of the reasons I'm not huge into Saga is that Taiga is sort of a complicated character who can be hard to feel sympathetic towards and yet equally difficult to treat as a typical cool villain, but part of me does appreciate what the show does with him.

The Dark Kiva stuff from this episode, while not being quite as foreboding and dramatic as Kerry Bishé's later work in the third season Halt & Catch Fire episode "NIM", was pretty iconic and unsettling. The whole sequence feels apocalyptic and inescapable, which is exactly the tone you want for a Final Boss. This is what I was saying before about Inoue and character debuts!

This was really Nago's Final Form, you know? This is the apex of his evolution into an absolute joke. He never quite went to the darker reaches that Jiro did, where Weird Uncle Jiro is the most we can really get from him, canonically. Nago was always horrible, but in a pathetic way. This episode just goes all in on the pathetic part, and it is glorious. He used to be deplorable, and now he's just pitiable. I don't know that getting here is worth ruining Kengo, but I feel like it might be?

I'm really enjoying what the show is going for with Taiga. It's (so far!) not the typical story of a nice guy who can't handle his own weakness and takes it out on everyone around him. Taiga is taking things out on the people around him, but it's because he sees the clean, orderly world he's been defending getting torn down by selfish choices and myopic decisions. He's frustrated by a world that won't act according to his will, when that's a) been what he was promised, and b) a system that's been working out great for everyone so far. (Allegedly!)

So he's got this perspective that's built around duty and narcissism in equal measure, and the show is taking that apart with all of the show's themes: familial obligation, the power of love, carving out your own purpose from the raw materials of your family's profession. The exact same things that have been building up Wataru are tearing down Taiga, and I find that paradox incredibly compelling.

Just when I think I can't love Episode 39 more than I already do (they are both highlighting Wataru's hard-fought idealism and basically strangling it), they pull this thing out of their pocket:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/39taiga.png

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/39mio.png

BEST! SHOTS!

Unbelievable. To use the same setup for both scenes, as the two people closest to Wataru have completely misread him and are letting him down in the most horrifying ways imaginable... I love this so much. This is one my favorite compositions in the entire franchise. I am going to remember these two shots for a hundred years.