Yeah, it's a cute touch. He'd complimented her show before, and it came off fake, him just trying to ingratiate himself into the Sonozaki family. But now, it's clear that his facade was always phony, but his intent was pure. He genuinely liked her dumb radio show, and he wanted that to be the last thing he said to her. As drug-dealing urban terrorists go, he was one of the good ones.

I love how Terui's debut shakes up the feeling of the show, both as a character and a Rider. He's such a bad*ss and easily one of my favorite Secondary Riders. In a way, he's also my first Secondary Rider, since Decade's abundance of Riders meant that Diend never hit the same way as Accel did for me, with Accel being literally second after Double. Despite his cool exterior and impressive detective skills though, he does let his emotions steer him for personal matters, with him acting as judge, jury and executioner to Iceage Dopant, showing that he's a loose cannon with no partner to slam the brake. It's an intriguing contrast to Double for sure. Humorously, the only member of Team Double who Terui actually takes seriously is Akiko.

For me, it's Accel's instrumental soundtrack that always gets me excited for his fights. The way it starts abruptly, then slows down a little, then immediately accelerates in to the fast-paced chorus makes it sound menacing, which is probably how the Dopants feel about Terui before he henshins, like they're only a few moments away from getting their a**es kicked. Yeah, Accel has some awesome themes and I haven't even talked about Leave All Behind yet!

Of course, I'm a big fan on the suit as well. While Double has a very simple design that looks like the style of the Showa Era, Accel's red and silver suit has a lot of details, he's armored yet fast at the same time, which is necessary due to him having his own Final Form Ride gimmick (emphasis on Ride). I guess I have to admit I'm biased here though, since I generally love speed types. The way he has to drag his Engine Blade makes it feel even stronger when he hits enemies at such speed. Must be like getting hit by a bullet or something.

Like Androzani mentioned before regarding a problem with those subs, some English words fall victim to being translated in to something totally different in English. For Accel's catchphrase, "goal" becomes "finish line" here. I guess it kind of fits the bike motif more and essentially means the same thing, but nevertheless, it's wrong.

Her involvement in the story is directly connected to Terui's quest for revenge, so it makes sense that she'd appear alongside him.

I have to side with Die on this one. I think the red suit with the blue eye is more fitting for Terui's hot and cold personality.

Well, not exactly a Sunday cartoon villain, but we cannot deny that Kirihiko is a Sunday villain.

A nice contrast to the half-boiledness of the Narumi Detective Agency. :lolol
It was like watching Colombo meets True Detective in terms of how their vibes are different.

This is Onodera Erasure, and I am honestly okay with it.

But, yeah, Accel's a great presence to add to the show. The first 18 episodes gave us a Fuuto that, at worst, tolerated Shotaro's cosplay detective schtick, and generally saw Team Double as a boon to the city. But then Terui shows up, and could not be more disruptive as an outsider. He's the best personality to add to an already killer ensemble.

I'd maybe say "Scooby-Doo meets John Wick", but I think we're getting the correct tension.

Yes. :lolol

I mean, sure, but the suit itself would look so much better! I will die on this hill! lol

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 20 - “I WON’T STOP - KAMEN RIDER STYLE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double20a.png

There’s a whole bunch in this episode that was just sort of there for me – Shroud, the main mystery, Saeko and Wakana’s Foreshadowing Lunch – but I still think this one worked, mostly because of how great the Shotaro/Terui chemistry is.

Like, that last scene! It’s so good! It’s hyper-competent Terui being effortlessly cool, but specifically needling Shotaro because it’s fun to do. It all works because Terui clearly (and vocally!) respects Shotaro. He sees the value in Shotaro’s warmth and empathy – from the earlier scene where Shotaro outlines the difference between fighting crime and killing criminals, to the middle section when Shotaro takes a beat to let a scared mother know that he cares what happens to her son. Terui even clarifies that, as long as he’s in Fuuto, he does things Shotaro’s way. This is a guy who clearly sees the value in Shotaro’s methodology and value system.

It’s just, Shotaro is also a total buffoon (that aside when he’s like I Mean I Wouldn’t Say I’m “Half”-Boiled!) and it is totally logical that a legit hard-boiled detective would delight in teasing him constantly about his many obvious and ridiculous shortcomings. Like, the very fact that Shotaro cares if people think he’s cool gives Terui endless ammunition, as Terui is actually cool and doesn’t care. It’s such a fun dynamic.

The rest of this one… man, I don’t know.

I don’t think the main mystery is anything to write home about, beyond a vague thing for Terui to see some specific pain in. (I think the first Terui case absolutely had to be about a family, for whatever that’s worth.) The sleight-of-hand reveal that the son is the culprit and the mom is trying to take the fall… like, it doesn’t hold up to the slightest scrutiny. It requires the mom to get into crime scenes before the police do, and plant clues that somehow lead the police to suspect her but not her son, which is sort of the opposite of diverting attention. It’s… this is not a great plot. It’s too convoluted, and requires the mom to be basically clairvoyant about her son. It’s too much.

(The fact that the mom’s plot does work on Terui is maybe more of an indictment of how deranged Terui has become, and less a vote of confidence in the mom’s strategy.)

Beyond that, it’s all setup for future plotlines. Saeko takes Wakana to meet the mysterious and dapper Weather Dopant, while Terui’s backstory includes the first of many semi-inexplicable Shroud appearances. The latter is kind of nothing to me at this point, but the former is a little more troubling. We were in a neat place with Wakana’s newly-discovered need for independence, and now we’ve just got her as Saeko’s protege. There’s really not a lot to connect the two plots, and so it just feels like Wakana and/or the show was like Eh Maybe Later. I don’t love it? It feels like it needed a more conflicted performance, or a scene explaining Wakana’s decision-making. Feels… undercooked.

But, y’know, who even is going to remember these underwhelming subplots when the Shotaro/Terui stuff is so good? Not me!

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double20b.png

-Terui’s dad’s final words… hilarious. It’s a scene that should feel as emotionally scarring as Sokichi’s death in Begins Night (Philip and Shotaro even make the comparison!) but it’s just the dumbest plot-point expositing. He specifically says “the W Gaia Memory”, and I wish anyone at any stage in the production would’ve noticed how this exposition dump is working against the emotions of the scene. That is, unless the emotion they were going for was Incredibly Funny, in which case: bullseye.

-I cannot even imagine what a pre-Weather Dopant Ryu Terui is like. The flashback has him goofing around with his sister, and I just fundamentally don’t believe it. Based on the next 14 years of media, it’s pretty clear that dude came out of the womb hard-boiled. I’m reasonably certain his first words to his parents were DON’T QUESTION ME.

And so we get Kamen Rider Accel.

I remembered Terui was like, the big cool Kamen Rider that contrasted against the Narumi Detective Agency. Like that was ingrained into my skull enough, but I forgot the specifics. Which is to say... Terui Ryu might be the most unintentionally funniest Secondary in the history of Secondaries?

Just the way he presents himself and the way the show presents him as this supercop in which he's awesome and cool and how he tries to tear down W despite that crew surviving 18 episodes + half a movie before his arrival. It's hilarious, and I love it. I love that despite his seriousness, his effectiveness, there's still a sort of deranged aspect to him in his mannerisms or how he tries to take control of the case. Very much a "glad I'm the only normal one here" if you get what I mean.

But that's not to say he isn't effective or badass. Dude is effective at his job and Accel itself is a cool suit. I also have to agree with others, the blue just hits better than a green visor would. Also I do enjoy that there is some level to respect he has for the dude even if Shotaro's a bit off for his liking. That being said, I did enjoy his bit at the end of this two-parter in which he just decides to be like "Yeah I'll play nice, but I'm also going to make the best coffee ever just to tick you off".

Speaking of hilarity though, the Engine Blade. In how it's this heavy ass weapon that embeds itself into the ground and Terui has to drag it along most of the time and even carry it with two hands at points. I'm glad that's one thing that's been kept consistent usually when its brought up.

As for the Dopant case... I didn't remember minor specifics. But I did remember enough to be like "Oh right the mom's faking being the Dopant for the son" so the twist didn't really hit.

As for other bits... yeah I'll agree the Wakana stuff is sudden but I think it works in that well, her family is basically forcing her to do this. Ryubei these past several episodes had picked up on what happened at the end of the Violence Dopant case, and clearly doesn't want Wakana slipping, especially after what happened with Kirihiko.

Shroud though... wow, I had honestly thought she'd appear earlier but nope, her appearance is with Terui's debut. I have no real thoughts on her yet, because even I can't remember much about her aside from like the broad strokes. But I thought I'd just note that I was going "So when are we going to see Shroud?" after enough episodes had been watched.

LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE!

https://i.imgur.com/GKzfPD5.png

*Eats raw egg and puts on belt*
ALPHA

Amazon.:lolol
I'm sorry I just had to. :lolol

Looking back now, Terui's past feels like a nod to Kamen Rider V3 because Shiro Kazami also has a similar origin where his family is wiped out by a kaijin, in Kazami's case, a jaguar with scissor blades for arms.