The Engine Blade is one of my favorite Kamen Rider weapons, and maybe 40-50% of why I think Accel is such a cool suit. The way show establishes an episode in advance that the Engine Blade is this massive, inhuman weapon that chews through concrete and obliterates masonry... all so that Accel can swing it effortlessly? Such a cool setup. I love that big dumb sword!

Oh, sure, it makes perfect sense why Ryubei and Saeko are keen for Wakana to step up and join the family business -- Ryubei for unity, Saeko for a chance to get Wakana under her thumb -- but I'm not sure these two episodes bother to give equal weight to Wakana's reluctance, especially considering how much of a factor it's been in the last half-dozen episodes.

Well, I see character types like Kirihiko all the time. This type is common.

For the half-boiled gag, kinda feel that it's a flanderization for Shotaro to fail so much in the mere basics of billiard, with him slipping the cue stick away. Feels like the usual secondary is much cooler and the primary gets humiliated here with how much Terui is, with the shilling that Terui gets like Jinno and Makura hyping him up, and after Terui paid, Akiko views Terui much more highly than Shotaro, expressing an interest in him. Terui also sees Philip as the useful one. Despite the talk about warmth and empathy, the hard-boiled stuff is the most sensitive topic to Shotaro. so much that he succumbs to negativity here, to irrationally and pettily kicking Terui (someone hard-boiled) out due to refusing to play second-fiddle to authorities. I'd think this part is one of the meanest Shotaro moments in the entire series, ironically, though, on a mission, Shotaro puts his irrational dislike of Terui away to cooperate with the clue, it's Terui's turn to be hostile being aggressive and refusing to hear his questions.

Akiko won't waste this moment by actually enjoying the rides in the park, and turns out that, having fun doesn't mean that you'd fail, as Akiko's the one to find Makiko (Akiko with M added ~), who is also.. riding a merry-go-round. That'd mean Shotaro's too serious either being confused of grown-ups riding it or not approving of Akiko having fun. Other than that, Shotaro also feels like a forceful parent to a child to forbid kids to follow their interests (e.g. playing games) due to it being 'distractions', in Philip wearing St. Bernard costume due to following Wakana's radio show. This ironically also reveals Phillip's more 'human' side having his own hobbies and interests too, which is inherent in humans and can't be just taken away like Shotaro or those figures want them too - it can cause problems but the interest can be channeled into a more constructive path.

Other than spying on the protagonist trio, Terui is egocentric and detrimental to force only 1 'hero' fighting in the city taking over W as they don't have what it takes, to the displeasure of Shotaro and Philip of his behavior. Like some other characters that are these type of jerks like, Yuuto from Den-O or Tsurugi from Kabuto. Even if W is less competent, Kamen Riders aren't omnipresent to help out somewhere else.

Shroud gives him the AccelDriver in a metal suitcase surrounded by a ring of fire.They really should've named it AccelRider instead, it contains bike's handlebar and not steering wheel! Accel can rev the AccelDriver to release a fire from his body, freeing him from Iceage's freezing. Accel also can use Engine Memory in Engine Blade, turning it into flaming blade, which is based on one of the three engine types, representing jet type here (the other ones being steam and electriic). That'd mean Accel is stronger than HeatJoker, at least in their fire abilities (with W also shilling Accel's combat). As Iceage escapes, Accel shows another one of his ability, turning into a literal motorcycle in his BikeForm to chase Iceage down. After he catches up (and in reverse, Iceage releases a steam from its body to extinguish the flames on her like Accel before), Accel ends the fight with his Maximum Drive, Accel Glanzer, a spinning kick like Fang Strizer, but with skid-mark like trail. Accel was engulfed in flame before the kick, but it's not used at all in the attack...it suddenly disappears after he jumps.

So Terui being consumed by vengeance means him being clouded by his emotions. Usually in fanbase's eyes, letting emotions get in the way of your work is when you're "too empathetic" to not do what it takes because of compassion or empathy to the victim or especially the bad guy and upholding virtue... and that going after people without thinking twice is the logical and pragmatic approach. For the Akiko - Mei (has Kirihiko's surname) relations for Saber, with Akiko also fawning over the secondary like Mei to Rintaro, seems that for this one, said loose cannon is celebrated here for that, unlike Rintaro being one of the few nice secondaries.

I mean, in Shotaro's defense:
-It is kind of unusual for a grown woman to ride a merry-go-round by herself in the middle of the day.
-Terui's already abandoned the search, and then it looks like Akiko has, leaving Shotaro to canvas the entire amusement park by himself, so it's natural he'd be frustrated.
-Philip is wearing a St Bernard costume at exactly the moment where Shotaro is trying to prove the Narumi Detective Agency's competence to Terui.
-Just, overall, Akiko and Philip are sort of not helping Shotaro with Terui.

So a little late, but yeah, the new guy comes off as more of a parody of what the show thinks a half-boiled character is (As one guy pointed out, Shotaro fits the actual definition of hard-boiled more then the stereotypical “macho man” definition).

Anyway, time for a triple feature.

Rider-lert!

Our Dopant of the fortnight is played by Kento Shibuya, who previously appeared in three mid-season episodes of Hibiki as Tsutomu/Kamen Rider Akatsuki, a retired Oni disciple who was struggling financially. Clearly things haven’t been getting any better in the interim.

Sentai-lert!

The VA behind Shroud (and I presume the face, since she has a similar hairstyle, and based on later developments, is the right age) is Naoko Kouda, who was previously the voice of Jellyfish-Kenma Rageku in the producer’s previous show, Juken Sentai Gekiranger. She later had guest roles as the Joan of Arc Ganma in Ghost and the Stagnant Sea Witch Numajo in Mashin Sentai Kiramager (who has a mask similar to Terror’s head design, funnily enough)

General Drama Alert

Our mysterious new arc villain is the late Tomoyuki Dan, who was a big name in dramas, anime and foreign voice dubbing (he was most notably Christian Bale in the Dark Knight trilogy and Terminator Salvation, James Marsden in the X-Men trilogy, Ben Stiller in the first two Night at the Museum movies and Tim Roth in The Incredible Hulk). Within the world of Toku, he had a supporting role as a security guard in Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy, and after his 2013 death, he reprised the role of the Weather Dopant in video games through the magic of stock recordings.

This is another good trait of Terui, that he's mature enough to admit to his flaws and defer to his comrades when necessary, which Shoutarou struggles to do as he wants to appear hard-boiled and Phillip struggles to do as he's socially inept. Makes Terui appear like a more human version of Soukichi, which allows us to sympathize and admire him, without taking anything away from the valid qualities of Team Double.

So basically, he's the competent version of Tachibana Sakuya.

https://media.tenor.com/NixmBZPywicA...heeda-nick.png

Chichi Yo Haha Yo Imouto Yo!

"Going after people without thinking twice is logical".... Yeah, that sounds like the kind of contradiction that edgy guys would come up with. Empathy and hatred can both cloud a person's judgment and the latter is clearly detrimental here, since Terui was about to kill the wrong man.

Yeah, Terui's personality seems closer to fellow serious red jacket-wearing big bro Ryouga than Rintarou, although Mei did show some respect to Ryouga as well. All three Riders are similar in their values and sense of loyalty, so Akiko's and Mei's romantic preferences may also be similar.

Neat! Thanks!

It would be so easy for this show to just make Terui dismissive of Shotaro, or constantly belittling him. (Basically, making him Cool Makura.) But I much prefer the hard road of making Terui actually a good guy, but one who will always needle Shotaro. It's so much more rewarding to watch Terui when you know that he does respect Shotaro's point of view, but also recognizes that Shotaro is so desperate to look cool that it's fun to tease him.

So the big thing that struck me watching this episode again was the realization that we really don't get episodes like this anymore. It's been a really long time since a show just dropped a brand new character on us and said "Here you go, here's the secondary Rider." I'm thinking either Specter or Mach; I forget exactly how Specter was rolled out because I block as much of Ghost as I can from my longterm memory (I also can't remember if it's Specter or Spectre and I don't care enough to check). Ever since Ex-Aid we've gotten a secondary who's either an established character or who's introduced so early that you can argue no one is really established yet.

I think I kind of prefer that. This two-parter feels - and this is both 2010 and 2024 Switchblade talking here - disruptive. Terui's arrival absolutely throws the vibe of the show off at first. We get back to feeling more like W by the end of the arc, but suddenly thrusting a major new character into all of the existing dynamics just makes everything feel a little bit out of whack. It's not bad, at least not in this case, but it is noticeable. It reminds me a bit of when the sixth member of a Super Sentai team shows up and suddenly all of the plots are about them for a few weeks.

:thumbdown

I feel like Mach was the last of the Sudden Arrival Secondaries, if I can coin a phrase. (And I can!) Everyone afterwards is, like you said, either there from the start (Ex-Aid), baked into the premise (Ghost), or is a supporting cast member that gets the nod (Build). As an Ex-Aid guy, I'm certainly not going to feel like that's the wrong way to go, but I honestly do enjoy arrivals like Accel. To wit:

I like that disruption. Beyond taking the cast and show out of their comfort zone -- Terui is very murderous -- it gives the show new ideas and tones to play with. It's a friction that immediately generates fun stories and jokes.

It works, it's just a lot at once. It feels a lot like a season premiere, except that in this case the previous season finale just aired last week.

No, I hear you. I think it pays more dividends in Double because the cast is relatively small (Shotaro, Philip, Akiko) and there's only one Rider. There's always a bit more of a lurch in a show that has a couple Riders already. For better or worse (I'd argue "better", but YMMV) Ghost definitely became The Necrom Show for a chunk of episodes once Alain became a Rider.

It also helps that Terui both HAS a problem (his dead family) and IS a problem (see above!). For a show that kind of doesn't have anywhere in particular to go with Shotaro, and is sort of treading water with Philip, Terui at least gives them all something to do while waiting for the next case to arrive and/or throw a brick through their window.