I feel that wizard has just taken some of the elements from previous Kamen rider series.

Belt smashing... Kuuga.
A person who has lost his family members and manipulating other riders.... Ryuki.
etc etc etc

Fueki's sad ending.

Does every Kamen Rider series end up in a river? At least every one that I've watched seems that way.

And I get the feeling that Haruto will be sporting a new tattoo sometime in the future that reads "Forever Koyomi"

Poor Fueki. He just couldn't catch a break. He went all Fullmetal Alchemist trying to save his daughter, and instead created this mess.

I have to say, I thought I was going to be disappointed after Pheonix was aced halfway through. He made one of the best protagonists of the series, and really, was one of the best finishers I've seen in a Rider series. However, I'll be dipped if Gremlin hasn't only been just as good with his duplicity, but just freaking hands down one of the creepiest. Serial killer turned evil monster? I actually got chills watching that reveal from the thought of that in a reality situation. And he wants to be human again, why? So he can feel the ecstasy of killing again and again? Shivers.

I'm also guessing that Fueki's flute sabre was a part of the philosophers stone creation in that the power in it was able to gather the mana in the first place. It was strong enough to break Nitou's belt, and obviously strong enough to destroy Fueki's belt too.

Oh, and Drake, you also missed "character that is only half here but is important to the storyline" like OOO and Ankh.

Personally, I liked Haruto's character, but he's in the top five, not number one though. I'd have to say Shoutaro and Philip are my top pick currently, only because (and maybe I'm in a minority) I really enjoyed the storyline.

I wonder how they're going to write the rings and stones into the Foundation X theory though.

Great episode, although like most its difficult to feel for Koyomo's emotional death when she's barely been in the series.

I'm also resigned to the fact that she will inevitably come back next episode. While it would be an interesting twist to see the eternally optimistic Haruto realise that he can't always save everyone, given that this show is essentially about never giving up hope I can't see that happening.

Um...Ankh had more speaking lines and character development than just about anyone in the show.

… By the great and powerful pen of the writer. This is one of the strongest episodes of Kamen Rider that I have ever seen. The acting, the story, the emotions—I even cared about Koyomi! But I think the highlight of the episode was Haruto himself. This was his best performance to date. Anyone who says his actor is terrible at his job can shut their mouthes with how wrong they are. He wasn't sobbing, but he wasn't stoic—he was at that perfect level of intensity. I really enjoyed the subtlety of his performance. I will miss Kamen Rider Wizard…

But we've got three more episodes, so it's cool.

Sorry, by half here, I meant half Greed, half human. Like Koyomi is a doll. Not half here in terms of lines. I completely loved Ankh. In comparison, Koyomi we didn't even really care about until episode 48. She was background noise only good for pressing her hand against Harutos belt. Cheeky Wizard.

Well, Ankh was just a much better written character. It also helps, though, that his actor was actually available for most of the series. Koyomi's actress is just doing Wizard as a side project. Her idol group work has been getting top priority and is why she's barely on the show.

I feel Rinko and Shunpei were more help to Haruto and were more important characters than Koyomi.

...Yep. That's pretty much true. Koyomi's ability to sense Phantoms was nullified by the fact that the Phantoms make it pretty fucking obvious they're monsters.
She was pretty much the load that Haruto grew attached to.

Until the last few episodes, the donut lady was more helpful and important than Koyomi.