I honestly wish I had the episode in front of me, because IXA's line to Bishop is hilariously grandiose and quotable. It's something about how Nago's burning spirit of justice is like the sunlight, which always returns? Or something? And Ishida puts the sun just over IXA's shoulder, as if it's saying Hell Yeah This Dude Speaks For Me? It's such an end-stage Nago moment, his whole Divine Warrior Of God's Judgment thing but awesome instead of tacky?

This episode did not lack for quality content!

No, I think Otoya did change. It's not as big and obvious as Wataru, but look at his motivations. At the start of the show he was 100% involved in all of this for selfish reasons: he thought Yuri was hot and wanted to bang her. Stalking her, getting in with the WBSO, his rivalry with Jiro, it was all tied into him wanting Yuri for himself (and to probably discard quickly thereafter, based on previous behavior). I think the big change was when he helped Yuri take down Rook. That was something that he did because it mattered to Yuri, not just as a way to get into her pants. From that point on he could still be a selfish jerk (see his immediate blowing off of Yuri for Maya), but his final acts as Dark Kiva, that was all for other people. He wanted to save Jiro and the others because they were friends. He wanted to save Taiga for Maya's benefit. He fought alongside Wataru to save his present and future family. Even his goodbyes were done for the benefit of others: to give Yuri some peace, to give Jiro a duty, and to give Maya something to remember. There's a selflessness in Otoya by the end that would never have happened with the dude that was scamming people out of money and womanizing his way through Tokyo.

The thing is, though... I sort of feel like he was always the guy in 46, we just couldn't see it yet? His aggressive flirting/stalking/harassment of Yuri isn't a million miles from his courtship of Maya, it's just that Maya finds it funny and curious instead of infuriating and unwanted. In, like, Episode 2 he jumps out to attack a Fangire who wanted to use music to hurt people. His rivalry with Jiro doesn't really end because Otoya alters his behavior or anything; it ends because Jiro loses and leaves. Their friendship (or mutual respect) is more from Jiro recognizing Otoya's positive qualities and helping him protect Yuri than it is Otoya becoming a new man.

Like, I think there's a completeness to Otoya that exists from Episode 1, and a lot of the series is about people seeing past his aggravating qualities to find something worth emulating. Jiro, Yuri, Maya, Wataru, Nago... the whole series is about folks drawing strength from Otoya, but not really the other way around? Because he's already strong?

I think there's a lot of room to read Otoya either way here, and that's maybe the beauty of the character?

Like, on a narrative level, in terms of how he relates to the themes and all that, being the main cast's one and only fully formed person is absolutely his entire thing. In a show about breaking chains, Otoya is the person who refuses to be bound by anything, because he knows himself and what he wants so well. He has plenty of flaws, but he doesn't have hang-ups the way so many of the other characters do, and that's the part of Otoya that ends up inspiring people.

But also, I mean, he's got flaws, and I think there's just as much of an argument to be made that we see him iron a lot of those out as the series goes on, even if it isn't the drastic transformation a guy like Nago undergoes. I don't think it's simply a matter of the people around Otoya learning to see past his laundry list of personality defects; being around those people for so long creates a focus to Otoya's positive qualities that wasn't there previously. They bring out the best in him the same way he does for them.

Sure, but I think some of that is just Otoya being comfortable in any group, in any situation? He became a warrior to be with Yuri, but I can see him putting it aside for Maya, if he'd gotten the chance. He's very flexible, is maybe how I see his heroism. This was a thing he does for these people, and he's okay going back to roughing up street punks and embarrassing neglectful boyfriends. Defeating The Fangires wasn't his calling or anything, but it's something he was willing to do for love.

You're right, in that Otoya's a rich enough character to have a few reads on him. For me, I see him as not so much a changed man, as I do a man who channelled himself into slightly different things while always staying true to himself. But that's just my read!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...agosankyu1.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...agosankyu2.png

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 47 - "BREAK THE CHAIN: OBEY ME!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva47a.png

This episode is full of plot developments that are either brilliant or stupid, and all but one of them depend on the next episode.

The stupid one is, obviously, Shima's return. It's so ludicrous that I almost wish he had been a Fangire or a ghost, because Taiga Only Pretended To Kill Me For No Apparent Reason And Then Changed Me Back Into A Human Because He Loves Me is dumb. Very dumb. (Also, like, when did Taiga save Shima? Because I just rewatched that death scene, and there's no way. Saga immediately fights Kiva after Shima detonates, then Mio gets killed, then Saga chases Wataru into the woods. This episode shows Saga saving Shima while the flames are still burning from his non-detonation, and... there's no way. There's NO WAY Shima's explanation works.) It's a development that only exists to let Shima participate in the finale (Who cares? I'd rather see Kengo again!), and for someone to argue for Taiga's salvation. It's negligibly successful on the latter point, since maybe one scene later Taiga declares that he's all alone (...you literally just resurrected your surrogate father, but okay) and kills Maya in a rage. It's a ridiculous convoluted scheme that buys Taiga maybe two minutes of audience sympathy at best. Mostly, it's just this baffling distraction in an episode that could use maybe a few less baffling things.

Like, the rest of this episode lives or dies on whatever Wataru's actual plan is, because Becoming An Evil Overlord feels slightly out-of-character for a very sweet boy who just wanted to erase his own existence because his rivalry with Taiga got out of hand and people were getting hurt. Usurping the throne from Taiga and dressing like the father Taiga killed as a baby doesn't feel like much of a de-escalation!

(That said, Wataru and Taiga dressing in each other's dad's clothes is a super thematically and aesthetically appropriate final fight for this show, no matter how sketchy the path to get there is.)

It's one of those turns in a tokusatsu story where it's either one of two things. It's either some double-secret plan, where Wataru is acting all mean to provoke someone into doing something, whereby he can save the day for good; or it's Wataru getting drunk with power and now his friends need to rein him in, the power of friendship, etc. That's how these stories always go.

But we don't find out until next episode, so investing in this one is like listening to half of a joke. It's only when you get to the punchline that you can determine if the setup is worth it. Here, it's a bunch of neat visuals (Bad-Ass Wataru is really something), but I basically don't believe anything he's doing. I don't think Wataru is really going to lead the Fangires, and I don't believe he's abandoning his friends, and I don't believe he's turning his back on his brother.

Or, shit, maybe he's doing all of those things, and I just don't get why, so I'm still just waiting for the next episode. The core inability to understand why Wataru is doing what he's doing keeps me at such a remove from this story. It's mysterious, but there's nothing of substance in the back half of this episode for me to hold onto. It's just shocks that get their power from being inexplicable, rather than clever.

Shima coming back in a dumb way for no tangible story advantage was a real canary in a coalmine for this episode. That development was so nonsensical that I could almost feel the episode falling apart. There're a bunch of little things like that. I don't understand why Nago would ask Wataru to run W.A.K.E.U.P. instead of Megumi, a woman whose family is basically synonymous with the organization. I don't understand why Megumi won't use IXA, but will try to coach a blind Nago through a fight. (Terrible coaching; she doesn't even give them matching shirts!) I don't understand why Shima is welcomed back with open arms, considering his last appearance was as a rampaging monster, and we only have his non-explanation for why that isn't the case anymore.

But, y'know, there's always next episode. Maybe there're explanations for all of these things, and Wataru's plan is genius, and Taiga is more than just a slowly collapsing pile of entitlement, and Nago's blindness will feel like a story worth telling (genuinely can't make a case for this subplot right now), and Kengo will show back up, and and and. This episode is a waveform that hasn't collapsed yet, simultaneously awesome and awful. It's full of things I'm either going to shake my head at or pump my fist in the air for.

Watching this one... it's like I'm just collecting data, you know? I can't really judge any of it (well: Shima) until the next episode. I liked some of the data, though? Bad-ass Wataru is really something!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva47b.png

My immediate hot take, remembering almost none of this from my first time through, is that I'm really disappointed that Shima eventually explained how he's still alive. Until that scene near the end of the episode, I was 100% down for this being one last bit of unexplained randomness from Kiva.

They probably only gave a rationale because there wasn't a Shima action figure coming out. If he had a toy there is no way that Inoue would have bothered explaining anything.

I would have LOVED for them to have left it unexplained, if the alternative was the nonsense we did get. Shima just randomly appearing on a rooftop, immediately berating Megumi for her sloppy performance while ignoring Nago's blind fumbling for the IXA Knuckle, and only saying that he isn't a ghost or a Fangire? That would be an all-time great return.

...now that I say all that, I'm rescinding one of my complaints. The team absolutely doesn't need to wonder if it's the real Shima or not, since he shits all over Megumi within a minute of his return. That's ironclad proof!

So here, we get the symbolism that while Wataru establishes relationships that leave him on top of the Fangire world with monster butlers at his Beck and call, Taiga’s actions have cost him everything, leaving him a poor, destitute loner who’s only friend is a bat (and that’s for a given value of friend, given that he tossed his previous bat aside for a less conceptually silly one). Quite the reversal.

And to add to this symbolism, here’s the two actors doing a duet.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3GUNwLPGX1E

In case you can’t tell, Wataru becoming a king is one of my favourite ends to a character’s growth in… anything. You can’t deny there’s been any change from the guy in the face mask practicing social distancing 12 years early.

Oh, I really like this! I hadn't even noticed that they've completely exchanged positions. Great catch!

Actually, no offense but the part of Wataru going back in time to set right what once went wrong, reminds me of stuff like Shinji (Kido) in Ryuki trying to prevent some outcome in the war in the series "recap" ep. 28, Tendou in Kabuto movie altering the past after gaining Hyper Clock-Up creating the TV series timeline, and Woman of the Beginning in Gaim trying to change the fate of her friends by traveling to the past. Otherwise, though I also like that the time travelling properties of Castle Doran is implemented for something more interesting here than a cop-out it was in stopping Tanahashi before, but regarding episode like 44 coming after ep. 43, I don't want for hostile and biased assumptions like "the TV team must've sabotaged Inoue to create something as bad as ep. 43, because no way Inoue can screw up or create bad things" to happen, or worse be agreed upon people here, it'd be a total lie and misinformation, it being claimed as joke or not (if it's a joke it's the worst usage of "just a joke" to get free pass of terrible behavior kind). The TV team restrained Inoue instead to not go overboard in gross way like side medias.

Probably yeah, he can save Mio for his blame to himself... though it can also Wataru just wanting to save the one he loves by sacrificing himself, like if someone wants to save. Otherwise, Wataru seems to really prove that he's a Kurenai family here, with him channeling his father here to disguise as a doctor and then a fortune teller as his method to do his goals (like Otoya buying the dress from his manipulative female friend to trick a Fangire). That skill to approach someone in different occupation needs confidence to pull off (so it's not exactly very Wataru-style in the plan, but the sweet and earnest probably applies), and Wataru had gone through yet another trauma of losing Mio, albeit Otoya can spot him, but Wataru did nice job of showing the proof of him being the son, with the button, the shattered glass of Mio, and the key of Kurenai family house. But Otoya's interaction at first to this reminds again that albeit Otoya have become better (now he's friends with the Arms Monsters), his terrible traits still present that he's a hedonist that wants freedom as in doing anything what he wants with little regards (after he acknowledged Wataru is his son) and he can be hostile and aggressive towards other males. About the collateral damage, you just reminded about this here to me (Yuri would marry other man in the present for Megumi and his brother), this is a common thing that happen when writing time travel stories, the story sometimes can neglect the consequences here, creating plot hole, as iirc a good number ends in triumph for interfering in the past. Actually, no offense to bring up another series, but Den-O's the one which warned Ryotaro about the change of time flow if he changed something in the past.

Dunno... glorifying mean-spirited comedy of Yuri stomping on Otoya's foot, while continuing with it being a lesson to kid. Something wrong with the tone here I feel. Though the one on receiving end for this is Otoya, a casanova though (depends if you'd accept misfortunes on enjoyable characters that can be rooted). Though that aside, probably the other lesson can be that men and women can interact closely without forcing a romance feeling between them, as stomping foot aside, Otoya and Yuri interact like they're close to each other here. There are those for either gender as both pairs have been romantically involved with each other, they're forced to end any relationship with anyone with different gender.

Like above, I'd not like for this to paint Inoue as 'the only one that makes tokusatsu insanity and human drama'. Like, Kivat and Tatsulot popping up in wormhole when henshin is ordinary among toku stuff, though I'm not sure if I'm getting what you said here, like stuff such as the mechanic obeying the user in Ryuki ep. 26 (Zolda's advent cards going to user despite Ryuki scanning it), the ricocheting laser to blow up a Worm without super speed in Kabuto, Den-O Liner's Sword being too heavy to lift, the reaction to Suika Arms in Gaim, Drive's Type Speed Cab allowing him to separate his body in diagonal cut, Ex-Aid's continue bar in final fight, etc. Otherwise, I feel that it'll likely create a loop that before Otoya and Maya married, they'd know that their children's name is Wataru, and about how he'll be when adult.

That's the new conflict for now, Taiga resorting to kill Wataru, blaming him for Mio's death. Like Wataru, trauma befalls Taiga from time to time, like before, he's born as the new sovereign of a certain race, and said race depends on that sovereignity to survive, then he's set up to marry a girl, but she fell for someone else who's also your childhood friend who turns out to bet his half-brother. Then the said brother doesn't share your worldview. The girl can't take it anymore, wants to be with his half-brother, and she attempted to murder you. But because he loves her, he defends her and lets her go. Then now, said girl gets killed by the half-brother unintentionally. For Nago inheriting Shima's role, it's him probably not being himself to inherit Shima's methods of keeping body fat low, or either he does think Shima's a good influence, that part of him here. BTW aside from this, wdyt about my thoughts about Mio's choice to shield Taiga? Here:

Well, sacrificing himself would be someone offering to bring Mio back at the cost of Wataru's life. That's not really what's happening here? This is Wataru wanting to run away from his own guilt by ceasing to exist, and just sort of assuming it would bring Mio back to life because Wataru hates himself that much at this point. It's not heroic! It's definitely Wataru running away from his problems!

Otoya had it coming! He got off lightly.

And, like, she didn't shoot him in the face or push him into traffic. She stomped on the foot of a man who treated her with less respect than she deserved. I think Otoya would agree that she had a point.

Sure! I don't understand why Mio did it, and I'm not sure there's an explanation out that's ever going to work for me, but that sounds like a valid interpretation.

Going for that proper penultimate episode "stuff about to go down" vibe with today's track, King's Wrath, which makes a pretty great choice for the opening here as Taiga and Wataru are fighting each other while the background explodes and then fighting a gang of resurrected Fangire while the background explodes even more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovwZiKt-S7I

...And besides pointing out how much I love both cool explosions as well as how there's specifically a bit where Kiva and Saga somehow end up working together in the middle of their grudge match, it's a bit hard to kick in much more about this episode by itself for exactly the reasons Die brought up. ...Oh, and Wataru's silly King voice! I love that too! Between the abrupt total change in mannerisms and the clothes, you know he's really making an effort here.

A bit more seriously, I do quite like that Nago explicitly offers the Ixa Knuckle to Megumi. I seem to recall Inoue did this exact melodramatic late series shlocky blindness thing with G3, but for whatever reason, Nago's version of it was way more memorable to me? That's not to say it's necessarily some genius plotting decision or anything, or me trying to diss Agito, which I would never want to do, because Agito is awesome, but I can definitely see what Kiva was aiming for by having Nago's ultimate challenge for the climax be something so humbling for him. Just imagine for a second how extra poorly pre-753 Nago would be handling this situation.

It's a nice moment for both characters, and I do love the bizarre Odd Couple energy Nago and Megumi have. I will never not be a fan of them getting on each other's nerves while being equally dedicated to fighting Fangires. It's great.

...and that always comes with the proviso that watching a great scene like this has me saying But Why Won't Megumi Just Be IXA through gritted teeth. It's nice that she's willing to take a backseat to Nago's emotional journey, but, like, she is always taking a backseat to Nago's emotional journey. This was maybe a point - you know, as Fangires are slaughtering people by the dozens - for Megumi to accept that she'll need to operate IXA while Nago is injured. It would maybe be the ultimate expression of Nago's growth, to step aside in a time of crisis?

(Also, I want to say Hikawa's blindness was psychosomatic, what with his Imposter Syndrome, rather than Nago's Sword Slash To Face. I maybe prefer the Hikawa version, because it's way funnier? Hikawa was a real disaster, and that plot point was his zenith.)

Of course, I did say "Though the one on receiving end for this is Otoya, a casanova though". I refered to the part of this being a lesson to kids being said after that, not Otoya, of course Otoya deserved that, let him get his just desserts.... well even Otoya to women isn't 100% respectful...

I guess that comes very quick, Taiga's grudge to Wataru is solved by how Bishop's the true killer for Mio. And this is a big downfall and stupidity for Bishop, this'll be something that turns the Fangire against his advantage! However of course, Bishop has sociopathic traits, not wanting to admit his faults, viewing Taiga’s attempt to kill Wataru (Bishop's job to protect him from ursurper) as a betrayal and a sign that he wasn’t worthy of being a king including draining people's souls here, as well as valuing Fangire law without empathy like what he did to Mio.

I guess Otoya has been suicidal before by taking on King after his friends are sealed, with IXA, not Dark Kiva. IXA is an ordinary Rider, not a broken one like Dark Kiva (Kiva Emperor isn't necessarily more powerful). I'd say Otoya is really impulsive here, as he probably had not gotten into grip for Dark Kiva's power, straight up using it to fight King right away. I mean of course there's no time to try as Dark Kiva will kill ordinary humans. But well, this shows a miracle determination that Otoya doesn't die right away by turning into Dark Kiva yet, despite the claim that it'll instantly kill humans. I'd think that Otoya turning into Dark Kiva may actually succeed Wataru's plan to eliminate himself, what I concerned was about, Otoya and Maya haven't married yet at this time and give birth to Wataru?

Wataru's so caught up in eliminating himself to save Mio that he forgot that Yuri herself is going through the same thing, but not about death, but breakup. I know Wataru doesn't handle his emotions well, and this I'd see as a case. This is not exactly an idol/mentor and apprentice situation, but this plays out like one as Yuri tries to speak to Wataru here (with Wataru also opening up), she inspires Wataru to give up on the quest to eliminate himself for his love, by thinking that Mio won't necessarily want that as she won't meet Wataru. I guess Mio can be inevitably killed if Fangires sooner or later will approach her and force her role as the Queen with her being reluctant to do it, which'd make Wataru's quest still go wrong, but Taiga also may protect her but she can be living an unhappy life instead, probably highlighting that saving life isn't necessarily a good thing for them.

Yeah, Bishop is the type of lieutenant who's more loyal to a creed/culture/system than he is to anyone within it. He got a little lucky that he has some non-Taiga options available to him, though.

It's definitely a scene that draws some extra power from how Yuri and Wataru are basically strangers to each other. She's able to talk to him as just some misguided kid - not a Child Of Destiny or whatever - and he's able to take advice from an adult he isn't related to. It's a very nice scene of two warriors who have some overlapping heartache, and they can maybe help each other through it.

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 48 - "FINALE: THE INHERITORS OF KIVA”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva48a.png

Honestly, I didn't have any expectations for this finale. I know last episode set up a whole bunch of threads, but, like, Inoue. It wouldn't've surprised me if they were all tied up in the first two minutes, and then we spent the rest of the episode looking for the last perfect varnish for a violin. It's the finale of Kiva, and it could be about nearly anything.

I couldn't even tell you what I'd think a Kiva finale should have in it, and watching this episode, I don't think Inoue could tell you, either. There're a hundred different things in this episode: bits of fan service, shocking reveals, brotherly love, love connections, deaths, weddings... a lot. There's a lot going on in this episode. I just... I just don't think it's saying a whole lot? Or , at least, it's not really saying one thing clearly.

There's nominally stuff about the value of family, how family members support each other. It's a little facile, compared to some of the thorny elements Inoue's played with before on this series. Here, it's Otoya's IXA gauntlet from 1986 catching Wataru when he falls. It's a cute shot, but it's not really an evolution of where things were left with the two of them. It's a callback, or a nod towards character growth, but it doesn't add a period at the end of the sentence for Wataru and Otoya. Wataru wasn't feeling disconnected from Otoya, so having his dad support him is just an Oh Thanks moment, rather than something pivotal to Wataru's character. It's cute, but not anything that feels profound at all.

The bigger examination of how family supports each other is in Wataru's ridiculous plan to save Taiga by stealing his throne and goading him into a fight. I couldn't even begin to tell you why this seemed kind to Wataru. It's kindness from the Shima school of caring for people, where it mostly serves to put Taiga into a bloodthirsty rage. Luckily, as soon as Wataru reveals his plan (with Shima there, because god forbid this show not have Shima in a big emotional moment), Taiga immediately and entirely regrets everything he's done to date, and gratefully accepts Wataru's love.

Like... do you know how badly I want to like this scene? This is a character defusing an adversary by hugging them and telling them they are loved. I adore that shit. That is one of my favorite Kamen Rider moves of all time. That is my Rider Kick; the Rider Hug. But this feels insanely rushed, with Taiga doing a complete 180 in about forty words, and Wataru tightening the screws and acting like an asshole for very little reason. It's nuts. There's a lot to like about Wataru trying to save his brother from hardship, but... no. It's a plan that pushes Taiga to almost kill his mother (oh, Taiga also didn't kill her, in a scene that made me laugh pretty hard) and almost kill his brother, and it only succeeds because Taiga suddenly sees Wataru's rivalry as something Wataru is doing to help him. It's like Taiga got hit on the head with a coconut, and all of a sudden he's like I Don't Need Power If I Have My Brother. You've got to work way harder for that twist to work, and this episode just doesn't put in the time.

But, god, they did on Megumi and Nago.

Of a thousand things I'd've guessed this episode would end with, the wedding of Megumi and Nago wouldn't have been one of them. But it's here, and it's the best. All of the Nago and Megumi stuff in this episode is fantastic, and I almost can't believe it. This is the finale of Kamen Rider Kiva, and Wataru's story in it is the B-plot I won't remember in a couple weeks. (That's not true. I will always remember Maya's look of happiness as her two sons just start beating the holy hell out of each other in front of her. That was, by far, the funniest thing in this entire series. They are brutally fighting out of love!) The little story they told about Nago and Megumi is the one that worked for me.

Them two always had great chemistry. First as workplace rivals, then as workplace friends, and now as romantic partners. It's not a huge story, and it doesn't have a bunch of twists, but that's why I liked it. While the Wataru/Taiga story is tying itself in knots and speeding through character developments, the Nago/Megumi story has a training montage, because the episode wants you to feel the time they're putting in. It's dead simple, this plot. Nago needs someone to help him, and Megumi respects him enough to not let him give up. It's just support, and being there for someone when they fall. It's like an origin story for their love, which is why I'll remember it more than Taiga lying about killing his mother or Wataru making his Three Weird Uncles think he's a dick. Megumi and Nago had a year-long story that ended in a wedding, and that's maybe what I wanted out of Kamen Rider Kiva after all.

I didn't think this episode was that great. As a finale, it mostly misses the forest for the trees, concentrating on recent plot twists without really connecting with the series' themes in a clever way. There's a ton of work put into the Wataru/Taiga plot, and very little of it registers. It mostly just assumes that things are going to work out because Wataru would like them to, and that's almost the opposite of the story the show was telling at its peak. But the way this show made me not only believe in Megumi and Nago as a couple, but made that development feel like a worthy end to the series? Yeah, I'm okay with that. Not the best ending ever, but it concluded the series in as satisfactory a way as this messy, confounding show was probably ever going to.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva48b.png

Surprised and glad that you got a lot out of Nago and Megumi's wedding in the end! For me, unfortunately, the thing I took the most was all the stuff involving Wataru and Taiga and how not great it was. With so many people who look like they died but not really, wouldn't have been surprised at that point if Otoya showed up and was like 'are ya winning, son?'.

And I'm pretty sure the thing that most people who watched the finale took away from it was the laughably stupid final sixty seconds or so.

Maya being alive isn't on the same level of stupidity as Shima being alive, but it's a very close second.

And, man, I really liked Wataru's kid showing up in full Back to the Future regalia (that orange vest!) and getting everyone together to fight the Neo-Fangires. (THE NEO-FANGIRES.) Beyond a fun way to get Otoya's actor back in the final shots, I liked how it reaffirmed the links between generations? This episode didn't do a single thing in 1986, so having a character from 2030 let us know that Wataru's actions will impact future generations... that's pretty on-topic?

Also nice way to bring the base Kiva suit back for the finale since Wataru is still using Emperor Form.

That, too! Ending the show with all three Kiva suits (plus Rising IXA and the Arms Monsters) jump-kicking a glittering UFO full of Neo-Fangires? Helluva final image!

Should have been Saga instead of Dark Kiva though!!!! (< me being a bitter nerd)

You're not wrong to feel that way, even if I can sort of see why they didn't use it. Saga was the incomplete version of Taiga, and Dark Kiva is him accepting his family and becoming a better ruler.

That said! I'd've loved if they could've found a way to use the Saga and IXA suits, just to give us a complete suit roster. Say, Kengo as Saga? And Megumi as IXA? That would've been ideal.

I Wish they expand the 13 Demons lore more.

I'm not even sure what this is? *quick Google search for "13 demons kiva"* Oh! The monster guys! Yeah, I'm okay with what we got. There was, for me, the exact right amount of world-building in Kiva. Just enough to give context and stakes, not enough to feel like we'd need a ton of exposition to keep track of it all.

I Do not know why they mention the 13 demons and not bother to show all of it. That's a pet peeve of mine.

Probably just a fun Ryuki callback. First it was having Megumi do a photoshoot in Kitaoka's office, then it was mentioning 13 of something and giving us way less.

Saga doesn't have a Rider Kick though...at least from what I remember.

Although suddenly I'm imagining Taiga having a kid that's the next Saga.

Yeah well anyway what is your favorite finale from Kugga to Kiva?

Hmm! Tough call. There's a single shot in Ryuki's finale that will probably be in my brain's last firing neuron. I think the metaness of Hibiki's finale, a finale about Kamen Rider finales, is pretty great. I remember Agito and Den-O doing some good work.

But it's either Faiz, which lands its themes with such intensity and precision that it's awe-inspiring; or Blade, which imbues unused park equipment with unparalleled gravitas. Both shows had bumpy roads to get those finales, but delivered when it counted. Not sure I could choose between them, so consider them tied for First Place.

So, Kiva's finale. It's fine. Not the best, definitely not the worst. There's some good emotional character stuff in here with Megumi and Nago and some weird emotional stuff with Wataru and Taiga (the whole "you're reunited, my sons, now beat the shit out of each other to prove your love" bit with Maya is so many kinds of "no"). I don't hate the feral resurrected King as a thing to throw Rider Kicks and Aegis Reflectors at, but I appreciate that he wasn't really meant to be much beyond that, even though I'm still not sold on the Taiga and Wataru stuff.

Honestly, my favorite parts were the brief moments with the '86 cast. Yuri's ghost visiting Megumi was surprisingly touching (and we can officially add "so what happened to Yuri anyway?" to the list of things that Kiva never explains) and Kouhei Takeda absolutely stole the entire episode with his last minute appearance as Wataru's son. I know there are some people who hate the ending and want to see how that fight played out, but I honestly love it for how completely bonkers it is.

This is the end. Hold your breath and count to ten.

To start with, here’s the final song from the Re-Union album, which is, fittingly enough, a remix of the first song on Kiva’s regular soundtrack, Destiny’s Play.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gXx5iwz1csc

Surprisingly, I didn’t think Wataru’s kid appearing was the most random thing about the wedding. For that honour, I went with Kivat yelling “Modigliani Forever!” And on a similar note, the S.I.C canon went and replaced the crazy ending with one that’s slightly less crazy (instead of Wataru’s kid talking about Neo-Fangires, we get Kivat’s sister talking about the Rook having come back as a giant chandelier of doom).

And I’d like to confirm whether or both the Final Stage follows on from this, but I’ve been trying to download the torrent for months with no progress made. This is why I prefer DDLs.

I sort of like that we never meet Yuri's husband, or it's not some random dude from the 1986 cast? (I am extra super glad it didn't end up being Jiro through some convoluted plotting.) She just went on and lived a life, and that's kind of sweet. Surprisingly, her life became 100% less dramatic once Otoya was out of it! Who could have predicted?

And, yeah, very into Masao's random appearance at the end of the episode. The whole thing is a really funny joke, and it's crazy to me that anyone thought that story would/should be continued.

He can't get enough of that long neck! That was my favorite callback, and it felt like it was there just for me. Kivat hasn't had a chance to get horny about Megumi's classically-beautiful neck for the longest time.

I'm glad you agree that Otoya is the true Dark Kiva! He definitely let his life burn bright in the end.

Agreed. Sagarc has been a loyal partner to Taiga since his birth so it sucks that he just gets abandoned in favor of some other bat Taiga's never even met before. I'll admit that Taiga as Dark Kiva makes sense in universe since being King, he was always ordained to inherit that power, but it doesn't have the same feeling that Wataru and Kivat teaming up with their fathers did.

The way that Kivat Bat the Second offered his power to Taiga after the latter "killed" Maya is clever foreshadowing that she was still alive, considering how Kivat Bat the Second went to Otoya cause he "didn't like what King was doing to Maya".

As of this finale, we've seen three out of four generations of the Kivat Bat family. The First is still a mystery.

Now that you mention it, I don't think any of Inoue's KR shows had interesting final villains. It might be intentional. Probably since his shows are more about people vs people than good vs evil, so when something is evil, it's mostly just walking plot as motivation for people to settle their conflicts and fight it together, such as Takumi and Kiba and Wataru and Taiga. I can't defend the defeated offscreen final villain of Hibiki though, from the "non-existent half" as you might call it. I think Radiguet's the most interesting final villain he's written, but then Sentai is a different kind of show.

Yeah, I love that twist ending as well! I feel like anybody who actually hates it for being a cliffhanger out of nowhere are maybe judging it a little too harshly. It would be boring if Masao's introduction was anything less than what it was. It's like seeing Wataru's time trip from the perspective of Otoya. It only seems absurd to us, the viewers, cause we, like Wataru, are also meeting his son for the first time. There's a whole story waiting to be told here and it confirms that Wataru does eventually find love again and pretty soon as well. So be sure to tune in on September 1st 2030 for Kamen Rider New Kiva! (nante ne)

If Kiva was a late Phase 2 show, this would have continued in a V-Cinema. But now I doubt we're ever going to find out what happens next, just like we're not going to find out how/when Yuri's death happened or who the hell even is Kivat Bat the First. But hey, to paraphrase a popular metaphor: When life gives you loose ends, make headcanons or fanfiction!

So this shows that you can criticize someone for their flaws, while still caring for them at the same time, like Megumi still deeming Nago as unfit for being chairman after Nago gets nearly killed. I expect for Nago to make use of Megumi's care of him to still ask for her agreement with him as chairman. The scene about Nago pulling another certificate after Megumi rips one (that's still a rough response to something) is comedic here, but I've seen in other stuff about similar thing like that used for tragedy.

Why I didn't have thoughts that Wataru would also meet Otoya in the series too just like in the movie, Castle Doran's time travel trait is also a thing in the series. This is really thrilling team up yeah, both father and son using their maximum potential as fighters, Wataru with Kiva Emperor (well actually no, the full potential would be Flight Mode I think) as final form, and Otoya with Dark Kiva for his determination. I wanna ask regarding Dark Kiva's true finisher to someone, but here, it seemingly that Dark Kiva's deadlier as it's not only kick with claws on leg, but also trapping the opponent in a Dark Kiva rune. Otoya did good things here for various people like Wataru, Maya, Yuri, Arms Monsters here, but I'd not want to glorify the hero moments too much here, continuing from how you think Kiva's a show about personal choices, individual choices, especially you defining hero as "protecting people you love" here, which can be misused as ignore those you don't love. I mean you said "if you've been dating him", that'd mean women? And instead a double standard gender treatment. Wataru has completely become confident now yeah, making use of his Fangire physique to fight off Fangires without henshin. Wataru doesn't justify Otoya's terrible traits, but this does help him clear up the misunderstandings he had regarding his father.

Like you said even if Otoya is no longer a couple with him, doesn't mean that you can only interact with your significant other, so she would mourn Otoya as platonic partner. I guess that's metaphorical... she says love... love really can be a poison, like if it leads one into toxic relationship or loving someone too much, so she's not really inaccurate on this. ~ Now you claim Otoya moving to Maya is betrayal? Before I talk about how Otoya had playboy qualities to please every woman but you said it's not disloyal as there's a difference between an Otoya who dates women and an Otoya who's in a relationship, which is more focused and less obnoxious. That'd mean it's truly disloyal to move to Maya, albeit of course she suits Otoya better.

This is doing a favor to others (though this is not Otoya's intent) so that they owe you, and will obey you for almost everything you ask for due to that. And that's earned after a long brutal hostility between Otoya and Jiro, due to what Switchblade said, involved in all of this for selfish reasons, wanting Yuri for himself and thus views other men as opposition like Jiro. Otoya even refused to aid them at first (due to not wanting himself wasting his freedom) before they claim it's for Yuri. They're undeniably friends now, but interesting development aside, for Otoya to take this long to build a relationship with them, speaks about his terrible traits.

I mean true that, other stuff than 'paragon of justice' and 'all-the-time good man' can have good influence to others, like someone's sheer power, such as overpowered Rider against muggles, or even other lesser Riders. Or someone's charisma to draw people in, as long as they're not used for bad purpose (neutral purpose can still be benefical such as making themselves famous). Or someone's skill mastery that inspires others to try harder or mere comfort... regardless of morality (such as... public figures in real life which fans don't get to know about them deeper personally, if they have bad personality).

Yes, as I've said before, Otoya being "literal vampire" to Maya doesn't apply; loving Otoya would mean that Maya suffered instead. And not for King's threatening (so her taunt to King has place), but for the Queen mechanic of losing its power, but also (so it's even worse than I thought than losing her Queen powers) her further suffering that the Fangires will likely hunt her, therefore she's been broken that she had to isolate herself from society, staying away from her sons. Other than that there's Taiga's being an abusive offspring for a while to threaten his own mother under his power using his King obligation. I don't know what would you mean for quantity regarding love here? I guess Otoya breeds Wataru with Maya offscreen (with them naming the baby Wataru because of the future version coming) before he finally dies after using Dark Kiva 3 times?

I don't think so? I think she's definitely mourning Otoya as a lover. A lot of Yuri's story in the last few episodes has been about the messiness of love, how it doesn't just start and stop when you choose. She broke up with Otoya, and she's moving on with her life, but she still loves him. Beyond how recent the breakup was, the shared something that'll never really disappear. It won't be the kind of eternal connection Maya and Otoya share, but there'll probably always be a part of Yuri that looks back fondly on her time dating Otoya.

The violin-making was a metaphor. Otoya has been having sex with Maya for weeks!

I do gotta say, for a series I have made my dislike for clear... I did super like this ending and felt it was a perfect last 60 seconds. Just the best possible way you could bring together the generational themes with a dash of Inoue bonkers-ness

There's no way I was going to end the series with anything other than more of that slower emotional music from the OST I love so much, so here's the extremely mournful, final sounding Fate of Parent and Child, which, uh... isn't at all in the finale, unless I missed it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw7luprhizA

But hey, at least there's the very last track on the second OST, Clear Sky, essentially a deep breath in music form, which just screams of something written to play at the very end of the show... even though it's not anywhere in the finale either. Hm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bseI_-uNcmI

Granted, there's a chance I simply wasn't being thorough enough going through, but as far as I caught, neither of these two tracks were even used in the entire series, and if I'm right about that, then man, at least I couldn't ask for a better opportunity to point out why I've been sharing all this music. Kamen Rider shows get a lot of talented composers making very high quality background music; it's something I feel greatly contributes to creating the identity of each one of these shows, and as I stated upfront, Kiva is the exact opposite of an exception, thanks to Tsuneyoshi Saitou. There's a lot of music in Rider I don't really appreciate until I've heard it by itself, and in some cases, there's even some you just don't hear at all unless you give the soundtrack a listen, so in that spirit, since this is the final set of tracks I'm sharing from the OST, here's a link to the second volume's playlist on YouTube, just like I did for the first one. Maybe see if anything new catches your ear some time.

(Note that I said this is the final set of tracks I'm sharing from the OST, by the way. I'm not done with this bit just yet.)

As for the episode, I ended up rewatching it in full once I got to the end of my whole process of skimming through the series, and I gotta say, anyone can argue this isn't a perfect finale all they want, but it might still be the perfect Kiva finale?

There's just so much insanity and heart and stupidity and action and it really encompasses so much of what the show was leading up to it. You've got a character journey as charmingly inexplicable as 753 somehow ending up being (I think?) the first ever Kamen Rider to get married, plotting decisions as frustratingly absurd as Shima still needing to be involved for some reason, a fight scene that ends as amazingly as King getting destroyed by Wataru and Taiga using his own dumb yo-yo finisher on him followed by a combo of Saga and Kiva's own killer moves!

...It's a really packed episode! In a way where it's sort of all over the place, but darn it if that doesn't make it the pinnacle of Kiva-ness. I really do think it's everything a final episode should be in that sense, as backhanded as I'm sure some of this sounds. There is a method behind a lot of that madness, too.

You say the Ixa glove bit doesn't add any further depth to Wataru and Otoya's relationship, for example, but I don't think it needs to. It's the same thing as RabbitDragon in Build – a summation of all that you've seen over the course of the story. Just like the core of that show was how a genius physicist and a meathead fighter were always the Best Match, Kiva beautifully encapsulates how the bond between a father and son transcends time by demonstrating that Otoya will always be there to lend Wataru a hand, literally, even if he's only there in spirit.

The stuff with Taiga, though, I mean, I have to give credit to Inoue for writing Ghost before Ghost again, as the main hero (a young man at the end of a journey to gain the self-confidence to protect the people who matter to him) stops the main villain (a member of a royal family led astray by personal issues stemming from his upbringing) with a hug, but at the same time, I can't claim this part of Kiva's ending really resonated with me or anything.

There are things about it I love conceptually for sure, but my most vivid memory of those scenes, my most visceral reaction, was how thoroughly baffled I felt when Maya told her sons to beat each other up so they could "feel each other's souls". In the moment, it was simply because I thought it sort of unnecessarily undercut the fact that they just reconciled, but in retrospect, it's like... what the heck were you thinking writing that, Inoue-san!? What kind of a message is that to send to the kids watching these shows!? And then the fighting isn't even choreographed like casual roughhousing; Taiga and Wataru are kicking the s*** out of each other there! There have to be healthier ways to vent these emotions, guys!

Still, even that is exactly the sort of madness I expect from Kiva. Maya being alive, too, they even foreshadow that by placing the scene in 47 where she's "killed" directly next to Shima telling Wataru that Taiga didn't have it in his heart to actually kill him. It's like one shlocky plot development justifying another!

Putting aside that more negative stuff (and I mean, really, Taiga fake-murdering people doesn't even bother me), I think I'm also a fan of where Nago and Megumi end up here? It's completely ridiculous and yet surprisingly endearing, and the end of the day, that's our Nago-san! Also kind of a fan of his final boss being Bishop, now that I think about it? On the surface, it seems like just a matter of pairing up the characters who are left to fight, but Bishop sorta had the same kind of unfeeling dedication to his black-and-white code that Nago used to, so you could maybe argue it's like Nago's final triumph over his own weakness to beat him here? Or something?

Anyway, yeah, this finale is 1000% Kiva, whatever else it is. That final minute especially is the absolute most wonderful way imaginable to close out the show. It's like the whimsy that went away during the melodramatic back half came back all at once, AND it's thematically on-point to have Wataru's kid show up. Like, yes. Absolutely yes to the Kurenai family just having to deal with wacky time adventures forever now. Why would anyone say "no" to that?

There's a real Here We Go Again comedy beat to it, that... I just love how Inoue's going to make time in the final moments of his entire series for some weirdo riff on Back to the Future. Super on-point, and completely hysterical.

Yeah, I'm not really mad at it. (I really respect how the show actually set it up, by showing that glove floating in the lake during Otoya's fight with King? For a series that seemed way too willing to retcon ever-more-unbelievable plot twists, I like how planned out this twist was.) It's really more that... like, the show pretty much ended the Otoya/Wataru story a couple episodes earlier, so bringing it up again here felt a little tacked-on. Not unwelcome, exactly, but sort of distracting for how it wasn't really what the episode was about.

It's maybe the best thing in the episode, for WTF entertainment value alone. It's so tone-deaf and inappropriate (those two actors are working stiff, to put it in wrestling terms) that it's sort of incredible. The cut to Maya's maternal pride as her two sons are punching each other in the face! Amazing. Terrible, indefensible storytelling that is also the thing I enjoyed the most in the finale.