KAMEN RIDER BUILD EPISODES 19 - 22

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A solid story to start tonight, but not the most entertaining one I've seen on Build. It's a gloomy couple of episodes, focused with laser precision on the various reasons, beyond ideology and survival, that people fight in war. Sento, Banjou, and Grease are characters in the middle of a conflict between nations, but they aren't fighting for nations. Sento is fighting to protect people, Banjou is fighting for Sento, and Grease is fighting because he's good at fighting. (Also to protect the Crows, but that comes later.) None of them have a deep need to fight for Hokuto's Prime Minister or Military Adam Driver. They each have their own personal reasons to fight. But, like in the previous episodes, the point is made that it doesn't matter why you fight in a war. Sento can claim defense and Grease can claim offense, but it's still warfare.

The other big topic in these episodes is how easy it is for conflicts to escalate, even when both sides are trying to avoid it. The Crows power up to support Grease, risking their lives in the process. Banjou continues using the Sclash Driver, even as it's destroying him. Rogue is so desperate to take out Hokuto that he's disowned by his father. Sento not only takes advice from Stalk (such a bad idea!), he eventually uses the Hazard Trigger, knowing it could drive him insane. Everyone is ramping things up in this story, even though almost no one wants to. This is going to end great for everyone!

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Hey, d'you remember that Fourze story, with the kid who used an Astro Switch, and he comes back to school? And it's a thinly-veiled metaphor for teenage addiction? And how difficult it can be not to relapse when it seems like everyone around you is waiting for you to fail? Hey, what if there was an even darker Kamen Rider episode?

What if there was an episode about the unforgivable cost of taking a life? About the ways war consumes morality, and how good people can make terrible choices? About the ways combat feels validated, until the fight is over and you have to live with the consequences? About PTSD, and the debate over whether war is worth the human cost on both sides?

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So, yeah. This episode. This heartbreaking, wonder of an episode.

I don't think I was prepared to see a Kamen Rider episode that treated "vanquishing a henchman" as the catalyst to utterly destroy Sento. The fact that Sento doesn't view it as just regrettable, but as a murder. He's not conflicted, he's hollowed out. The whole episode is suffused with grief. (Over the death of one-third of a comedy trio!) Most of the scenes play out absent of background music and in extreme closeup, letting the tiniest whimpers and movements tell the story of a hero who can't bear the weight of war. The winter landscape is stark, skinny trees and abandoned machinery. Sets like the cafe are no refuge, the friends who support him are something from which to escape. The only people he can listen to are the people who hate him, or want to manipulate him. It's here that the episode climbs to a level that, honestly, might make it my favorite Kamen Rider episode so far.

Grease wants revenge for his friend's death, but he still wants Sento to understand that it's no one's fault that Aoba died. It's war, he knew the risks, and Sento might've been killed if he'd held back. The idea of "no one dies" in a war is ludicrous, and a promise Sento could never realistically keep. The two episodes prior to this one should've made that clear. There's more at stake than a villain's scheme, and sometimes in war you can't just knock someone out and call it a day. Grease 100% is not forgiving Sento for killing his friend, but he's telling Sento to forgive himself for doing what he had to. It's a moment where the show never loses sight of the stakes of its story or the humanity of its characters. It's beautiful, in its sadness and honesty.

But coming to terms with grief isn't enough. Sento doesn't need to be at peace, he needs to fight, and one of the only people who can motivate Sento out of his despair and into a useful rage is Stalk. Yep, Hipster Dad is back to play both sides, letting Sento know that if he decides not to fight Grease, Banjou'll do it, he'll lose, and Touto is screwed. It's amazing to me that this show, after putting Sento through the goddamn wringer this episode, just tightens the screws at the end by putting him in an impossible predicament. Fight, knowing you might kill again, or don't fight, and your best friend might die and your country is lost. Every decision hurts him. It's brilliantly cruel storytelling.

This episode, and the two before it, have atomized Sento. There's nothing left inside that Build suit of the character I care about. I can't imagine who comes out the other side of his fight with Grease even if he wins.

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What a goddamn roller-coaster ride this show is! Action, pathos, humor, intrigue... does this episode have everything?!

Mainly, it's got an epic, episode-length battle between Grease and Build that more than lives up to the runtime devoted to it. Both sides have clear objectives and obvious stakes, with a mix of personal animosity and guilt to keep things dramatic. The fight choreography is hampered slightly by the TV budget and small scale, but this is still one of the better Kamen Rider fights I've seen. Black Hazard is a terrifying suit, and the change in the way the suit actor moves in it sells the implacable nature of the form. More than that, the frequent silences are a huge boon to the storytelling, dropping the usual cacophony of punches and kicks and Driver noises for a calm before the storm. Just, like, so many silences before so many storms. For a full-length fight, it's never repetitive: momentum flows back and forth as each Rider focuses on their hopes and fears, threading personal drama through a war between nations.

And, honestly, it's that personal drama that maybe hit the hardest. Grease's hopeless goal of keeping his friends safe, thwarted by their idiotic loyalty. Sento saying the most hurtful thing possible to get Misora to be his failsafe for the Hazard Trigger. (THAT SCENE! The camera slowly pulling back, keeping them both in frame, highlighting the distance between them! The silence between dialogue! The look on her face when he tells her she's also responsible for his choices! Five stars! Series highlight! Devastating!) And then Banjou, showing his friend he cares by beating the shit out of him when he needs it, the most Banjou thing of all time.

It's perfect. It's all perfect. These last two episodes, man. I was not sure about this Hokuto War arc. It seemed like it was losing some of the easy humor and fun of the early episodes, in favor of something darker and sadder. And, I guess it did? But it also gave me something deeper and richer. I don't know what comes next. (Other than more Stalk duplicity and a new Seito Kamen Rider, obviously.) Maybe there's a turn this show could make that'll lose me. All I know is they've shown me the horrors of war and the warmth of family, and they killed me with both. Kamen Rider Build forever.

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So episode 22 is my absolute favourite in all of Build, and I was enjoying the whole show, but it was at this point where it had cemented itself in my heart as something special. Not to imply the rest of the show was only downhill for me (maybe it was? I won't say just yet), but I've literally never been as gripped with an episode of Kamen Rider as I was with this one, and I've never come closer to bouncing out of my seat as the moment when Cross-Z comes in to face Build near the end. And the part where Banjou goes "No, we all saved you" is like ooooh that's too good.

I too love Cross-Z Charge and admittedly a big part of that was because of that episode's climax (I do genuinely think it's visually fine though). Also I will never get tired of Grease shouting words with punctuated emphasis at the top of his lungs.

Anyway! I was wondering at this point, has the show solidified itself as a favourite of yours no matter what might happen for the rest of it's run? I think it did for me at the time of this arc concluding.

There are so many emotional beats that need to be hit for episodes 21 and 22 to work at all, and it's ridiculous how much each of those beats is sold. Every character decision, every choice, it all just lands. The acting in particular is A++. I still don't love how far the Sento/Misora park scene swings, from a few episodes back, and their scene in 22 maybe shows why? It's got levels to it. It doesn't just start small and go big, it modulates through the scene, and the actors play off of each other. One goes big, the other goes small, then small again, then big, then also big. It feels fluid and real, instead of stage-y. It just pulls you in and makes you believe the emotions of the scene, instead of the dictates of the plot.

And that Cross-Z line! Yes! These are four people who are a family! Goddamn! Totally earned!

I mean, solidified? No, there's more than half the show to go. I don't think there's anything that could happen that would make me like it that much less, but it's hard to say that definitively. ("Banjou had to go get a job, so meet our new heroes, Kamen Rider Shunpei and Kamen Rider Yurusen!") Plus, I try to keep an open mind, good and bad. I'll watch shows that start bad in case they get good occasionally (THE PHOENIX SPOTLIGHT EPISODES OF WIZARD ARE BRILLIANT), and I'm not afraid to call out a good show if it makes bad choices. Like, my opinion of the whole series won't be solidified until the end credits on episode 49.

But, like, these episodes are unimpeachable. Easily in my top 5 Kamen Rider episodes, yeah.

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I mean, this exchange! The way, before Sento says "You have a responsibility", there's this look on his face as he knows he's reopening an old wound of hers, because he has that wound too, but he knows it'll get her to do what he's asking? The hurt on Misora's face because Sento just Rider Kicked her sense of guilt and shame? The way she looks so trapped as she says "That's not fair"? How the camera pulls all the way back out, two shrinking figures in the darkness, entangled in guilt and sacrifice? A+++!

I know, right! You basically said all there was about it in your initial post, but when you reminded me of it, it came back to my mind so perfectly vividly. It's that good, and I can still hear exactly how they sound just from this gif (I could probably hear the entire episode pretty vividly if I try to recall it, I might have watched it more than a few times back then, ahem!)

There's just so much going on in that scene: the staging, the silence, the camera moves, the long takes (Sento's explaining what the switch does and the camera stays on Misora for the whole explanation, her suspicion the only important thing in the scene at that point), just moment after moment of stellar acting, writing, directing... Huge emotions!

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THIS SHOT!

Hoo boy as soon as I saw this thread I was wondering about 21. May very well be my favourite KR episode as a whole

Yeah, this probably comes as no surprise, but 21 is a favourite for a toooon of people. You summed it all up there, really, there's just no matching it.

This episode, oh this episode. It just makes me frustrated to this day because for all intense and purposes I should love it, a solid character arc with a good foundation, solid acting and real consequences, but it just leaves me limp and I don't know why.

I get why Sento is reacting that way, I get why everything makes sense and all of that, but I don't get why I'm not feeling something here and it frustrates me. An episode that is so good and should be one of my all-time favorites just leaves me with nothing... Hell, I remember the damn Kikaider episode of Gaim better and with more excitement...

Oh, man, I'm glad people dug this. I didn't think I was, like, seeing some invisible thing on a wavelength only I can perceive, but if a bunch of people had posted that these episodes sucked and I'm talking up mediocre content? Bummer. Solid gold bummer.

The Kikaider episode? Damn, you went for the throat!

I've been there, sort-of. Art that has a huge impact on other people sometimes has me going, "I get why it's doing that for you, it's not doing that for me." I don't think it's some huge crime. Art (even great art!) is subjective, and as long as you can acknowledge the craft (which you did) it's okay to say the whole thing wasn't for you.

And the frustration, though, yeah, been there, too. There's movies I've disliked that I've watched multiple times, trying to find the quality that must be in there somewhere, I just can't find it. Yeah, it's a pain to feel like everything's adding up in a story, but the emotional reaction never takes place. I guess, don't beat yourself up about it?

Seriously. I think it's really hard to argue there's a better single episode of Build. The impact it left on everyone was just nuts, and what's really crazy to me is that I think we all gathered from the preview and everything beforehand that Sento was going to make someone kick the bucket. The story was shocking and edgy, but instead of being because of a surprise character death, it was more just in how freakin' far they pushed the drama after it happens.

And of course, the direction in both 21 and 22 is just flawless thanks to Kazuya Kamihoriuchi. I think both those episodes show more than anything else he's done just how much attention to detail he brings outside of the action scenes, where other directors would probably put less care in. Every shot feels so carefully considered, and I'm pretty sure the production schedule for a show like Kamen Rider does not give you a lot of time to spend thinking about it.

Yeah, most Kamen Rider dialogue scenes are of your standard TV "over/over/two-shot" variety. Get the footage, get it fast, find the scene in the edit bay. So much of the drama in 21 and 22 (mostly 21) feels like someone reading the script and figuring out beforehand the best way to frame the information, to use different setups to achieve different emotional goals. It's really accomplished work.

The other thing that's amazing about these two episodes is how minimalist they are. Kamen Rider is a very maximalist series: bright colors, fast pace, intense music, constant noises and explosions. (I mean, Stalk and Rogue end their henshins with literal fireworks.) So for the series to slow it down, use longer takes, drop out the music, limit the action, limit the dialogue, it sends a message that This Story Is Important. Amazons would use some of the same tricks to separate it from the younger-audience series, generally to good effect. (I mean, Season 1 more than Season 2, if memory serves.)

Wait, you watched Amazons??

Yeah, god, concurrent with W, maybe? Pretty much right after Ex-Aid, I think. That first season I really dug, and I think Jin Takayama (in that season only) is one of my favorite secondary Riders.

The first season I thought was fun and (at the time, compared to Ex-Aid and W) different, the second season made a lot of weird narrative choices and bet heavy on some iffy twists but still had its moments, and that movie was an insult.

But, like, even the movie had the balls to say "You know what? Never Let Me Go is a touching exploration of the way society views the underclasses as less than human and 'others' them to feel less guilty about their exploitation, and it's also about the ways humanity finds joy and connection in even the darkest circumstances, but you know what it doesn't have? Kamen Riders. We can finally correct that oversight!"

Amazons I remember being an intensely weird experience, and maybe a fundamentally flawed exercise (What If Kamen Rider But Dark, whatever), but there were some real interesting ideas and performances in there.

KAMEN RIDER BUILD EPISODES 23 - 25

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After the thrilling climax of the Hokuto War arc, we are now thrust straight into the Seito War arc. That makes what I was hoping would feel like a fresh start, instead, come off a little samey. Not bad, really, but a little perfunctory.

It's a bit of a shame. I was really curious how the events of the last few episodes would change the show's portrayal of Sento, but that's lost a bit in an episode that's a lot more devoted to Grease and the Hokuto Dwindling Crows, to somewhat lackluster results. The Hell Bros introduction is good, and I always liked that Bikaiser suit, but the conflict just doesn't feel that vital. Which is weird, because so much of the last few episodes was built around those characters and one of their deaths, but here it's just Okay, Whatever. I think it's down to Blue Crow's death being something perpetrated by Sento, and we care about Sento, and he cares about what he did. Here, a villain kills a comedic antagonist, so... alright? Grease is mad, but it doesn't feel like a loss. It's just a standard Now It's Personal motivator. It doesn't really feel like we learn anything new about Grease or the (now) Hokuto One Crow, which leads to a feeling like this whole episode was a time-filling table-setter.

Or maybe it's just giving us a bit of a rest before Seito's Kamen Rider shows up?

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Hey, it's Kamen Rider Rogue! Military Adam Driver is back, and, with an episode where he's not only the heavy but also the spotlight, I'm still trying to come to terms with the show's evolution of the character.

There's some necessary monologuing at the end, where Rogue lays out that he wants to crush Touto so he can rebuild it better than before. It's interesting, the thought that he hasn't changed his thinking so much as he's now ignoring any moral obstacles. He's wanted to Make Touto Great Again for the last ten years, and he's let that commitment cost him everything. There is now nothing he won't do to achieve the power necessary to rule, because that's the only thing he cares about. I can see where the show is going with that.

It's just, it feels a little basic? Crushed, nothing-left-to-lose Rogue feels way less interesting to me than scheming, smarmy Rogue. I sort-of liked before how you could tell that Rogue viewed his goals as reasonable, as a clear good. Now he's just a no-holds-barred megalomaniac, threatening but not clever, and I'm not that impressed. That suit is eye-popping, though, with a hilariously villainous henshin. If they're going to go all-in on Rogue as villain, at least he's stylish about it.

The only other bit in this episode, beyond some foreshadowing, is Grease and the Hokuto One Crow officially joining Team Build. I mean, it was sort-of inevitable. Grease was too awesome to stay an antagonist for long. All of the Miifan stuff, as well as his rivalry with Banjou, it's great. It's a great addition to the comedic possibilities of an already hilarious show. I'm glad that a darkening show still finds room for jokes and gags.

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Man, I gotta say, these last few episodes are not making much of an impression on me. I'll watch them, and then go to write something up and I barely remember the first half of the episode. They're solid chapters in a sprawling sci-fi war story, but they're not doing as great as discrete units of storytelling.

Like, the end of this episode, the fight with Rogue? Awesome. Well choreographed, with some great stunts and really excellent progression through the fight. It feels huge. Rogue comes off as an unstoppable villain, every hero Rider comes off great, and Black Hazard is a terrifying monster of a Rider. The cliffhanger ending, I mean, if it wasn't late and I wasn't tired, that'd get me to do one more episode. But before that? What the hell happened before that?

Okay, I double-checked. Before the awesome, climactic fight, it's the Sky Wall stuff with Misora, some Mars backstory from Hipster Dad and Misora, and the warehouse fight with the Hell Bros that exposes the Seito spy. It's all decent storytelling, but it's not very flashy, there aren't any fun twists or flourishes, and it's not about anything. It's moving a story forward, but it isn't telling a story. Does that make sense?

Overall, I'm worried that the Seito War arc just isn't different enough from the Hokuto War arc and, if anything, is a step down. Rogue and the Hell Bros just aren't nearly as interesting as Grease and the Crows. (R.I.P. Hokuto One Crow.) Everything else just feels like it's telling the same story the show's been telling for the last 10 episodes. The fights are still good and I care about the characters, but this is a show that seems more concerned about moving around pieces than making me care about the game.

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also put sawa in the credits you cowards

Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of people agree that the second half of Build isn't quite as good as the first. It's still pretty fantastic, just not 10/10 anymore

Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty common Kamen Rider problem, at least in the shows I've seen, where the middle chunk is the problematic part.

I can see why. The first chunk, everything's fresh and new and SO MANY FORM CHANGES. The final chunk, it's huge twists and real deaths and a year's worth of themes reaching their crescendo. The middle chunk, uh... let's focus on the secondary Riders? Maybe that'll fill time? The only show I can think of that had a great middle chunk is probably Ex-Aid, specifically because they had so many secondary Riders to focus on. (EDITED TO ADD: Also, Ghost. Jesus, I just watched that goddamn show and I already forgot about it whoops I'm doing great at this.) I mean, I don't think most shows middles sucked or anything (well, Wizard), they're just not where the best material is. Still, yeah, there's still stuff to get excited about here.

I won't spoil anything, but Build's ending is definitely better than it's middle. It goes in some really crazy directions

I remember having much the same reaction to you at the Crow's death. Aoba, uh, yeah; centerpiece to arguably the best Kamen Rider episode there's ever been, absolutely incredible and extremely well-handed. But when Kiba guarded Grease and pretty much instantly died and there's not much of an emotional core around that...? It mostly feels like they just wanted to get him out of there as quickly as possible.

I think that sums up my feelings on Build quite well. It's one of the more narratively driven seasons, ok, I prefer the more episodic stuff, but I have enjoyed them before, like Ex-Aid, but the difference is that Ex-Aid had actually interesting characters and does something with them even without the filler that generally does that in my favorite seasons like W, OOO, Fourze, Wizard, and Drive.

Build on the other hand doesn't really do that. I personally loved the start of Build and hold it in very high regards, and as some of the best material Kamen Rider has to offer and with the shift into the war ark I was not as invested but still interested where this would go. And with basically continuing the same ark instead of doing something new and the emotional beats not landing for me I grew disinterested something that only grew as the season went on and I have the feeling it all comes down to that basicness.

I love digging into characters heads and when I found a Rider that delivers on that front, like Haruto Soma I grow a new appreciation for the show, but here? It's just very basic, which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem if they did anything interesting with it, but they don't and that just disappointed me.

I think that hits the nail on the head. It feels hollow, boring and even if there is technically nothing wrong with it there is that certain spark missing.

I'm kind of curious, are you watching the specials in their chronological order in the show? The Youtube Best Match specials and the BD Rogue series both happen during episode 21. Neither are exactly essential watches, though I'd say both have their relevance for the show.

I can't for the life of me remember if the third episodes of either spoil anything from later in the series, though...

The third Best Match episode bizarrely leads up to something in the final stretch of the show. Nothing that you'd be super confused about or desperately need context for, but it was pretty surprising to me.

Kamen Rider Rogue is a shockingly beautiful suit, almost too good for this world. And before anyone might say that the fragile sticker on the back of his head is the only flaw, then I'll tell them it's the perfect detail that brings it all together!

Anyhow, I hope you do see the inane Best Match specials if only because the third one features probably one of my favourite of Build's combos alongside KumaTV. ...I might have strange tastes when it comes to those forms.

Who on earth is saying that about the fragile sticker?! It's the best part!!

Also, I have to agree, that form in the third special is... honestly, I think it's my favourite Best Match and it comes close to being in my top 10 Rider suit designs. I'm actually kind of mad it wasn't one of the main 10 in the show.

Some might say it's 'goofy' or 'stands out too much', but I'm obviously not one of them! Also I'm glad I'm not the only one really fond of that Build form. Honestly, I don't think about it enough, but I really love how many wildly different silhouettes and looks he can have from mashing together two different things together, while always looking unmistakably like Build.

I god damn love Build...So god damn much....

Favorite main rider, favorite secondary rider, and it is fucking hard to top those.

Yay!

Yeah, super weird how quickly the Crows get eliminated. I'll be honest, I saw the Figuarts ZERO pictures on the frontpage a little bit before they showed up in the show, so I sort-of thought they'd be a big deal and, y'know, they're joke characters who get killed off in a hurry? I'm a little surprised they got even non-articulated figures made.

I think the downturn in quality for the last few episodes is attributable to two things. First, it's the middle, so the main Rider is probably going to have to step back for a bit to evolve the side characters. Second, it's more war stuff, which has a whole lot of moving pieces, plot-wise. Added together, the show can only drop a bit in quality after the intensely personal story they were just telling about Sento. They've got, like, a lot of ground to cover each week about two or three nations in conflict AND a sprawling cast of additional Riders that need to have something to do. It's very difficult to do those things and still make a show that feels like it's growing Sento's character.

It's not death for the show or anything, I feel. The overall plot, the War, is handled in a logical, realistic-ish way. The characters are still worth watching. It's just, y'know, it doesn't feel like it's saying as much as it used to.

Some specials, yeah, but I don't think those. I think just the HBVs and the movies. I saw that Rogue takes place before 21, and those Best Match specials are peppered in the beginning, but I felt like I'd be okay with those at the end, like the Alain specials from Ghost. I definitely want to watch them, but I was afraid of dropping them in and wrecking some of the show's momentum. In retrospect, I cannot imagine trying to do all of the Rogue specials between 21 and 22. That's too cruel!

The Fragile sticker is perfect. He's literally got a thing that says his mind is fragile! I love it. I love the suit, I love the Jaws-y soundtrack to the henshin, I love the way the crocodile jaw close around the mask to light it up... It's so good!

Sento is a really great main Rider, no doubt. He, especially after Emu and Takeru, feels like a grown-up? He definitely seems like he's processing emotions and events in a more adult way, and that's helping not only the Big Emotions episodes, but a lot of the character decisions that link the plot together.

Vague foreshadowing, but I'm gonna tag it anyway just in case.

The Crows may be gone, but the memory of their buffoonery keeps influencing the plot for a long time, believe me. And this isn't the last time Gentoku reveals a... new facet to his personality, to put it lightly.

Oh no!

Do not worry too much, many of us kinda ended up loving it.

In regards to the secondary, third and fourth riders, Build gives all of them a lot of love compared to many rider shows before build, even though I love Ex-Aid, it did feel like the main secondary rider got a bit shafted here and there in favor of other things, but he got a great final section.

Poppy got a shitty turn out though I feel.....

Build though....

Oh my lord yes !

The amount of focus the other riders get, not to mention proper emotion and fantastic acting in regards to multiple episodes is just wonderful. Okay I might be a bit hyper fanboying about the season, but I truly do love this one quite a bit.

I guess I'll fly the flag for the Ex-Aid because they managed to keep each Rider feeling distinct and separate, rather than the usual progression of Surprise Antagonist > Grudging Acceptance > Total Sidekick. All of those assholes on Ex-Aid thought they were the star, and the other three were their sidekicks. They'd work together, but they clearly hated doing it. Build is much more a team of people who like and respect each other, but it still has a bit of that juice. Their goals may align and they generally like each other, but they've got their individual strengths and motivations, and they're able to disagree with one another.

Yeah, Build takes care of its non-Sento Riders, for sure. I'm watching some episodes of Build right now (I'm taking a quick lunch break!) that do a lot for all three hero Riders. And it's not even some time-filling spotlight episode!

KAMEN RIDER BUILD EPISODES 26 - 28

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This is a step in the right direction. It's an episode that's building to a big story element, (another) proxy battle between Kamen Riders with nations at stake, but also making sure the individual characters aren't lost within the conflict.

Since this is the middle chunk, a lot of the character development is spread amongst the supporting characters, with Sento in full-on Rider Science mode. That leaves Banjou and Grease to piss each other off, bond over the catharsis of battle, and cheer each other to victory. It's a fine line, drawing them closer as friends and teammates while still keeping them unique and slightly antagonistic. The show does a good job of it, though. The "who is the traitor" scene between the two of them is hilarious, hearkening back to the goofiness of the first chunk. Really, there's a lot of what I liked in the first chunk here: an emphasis on small groups bouncing off of each other, meta humor leavening the exposition, and a little bit of investigation to uncover the traitor.

Which is Sawa. Sawa is the traitor. Again! She faked them out twice. I wish the show had integrated her a little more, which would have both concealed her involvement better and made her betrayal (or "betrayal", who can tell with her anymore) hit a little harder. As it is, the show would frequently forget about her for episodes at a time, pulling her back in when there was a plot reason for her to appear. So, yeah, when they're like Who Planted This Bug and it cuts to Sawa being back on the show, no points for guessing she's the traitor. I guess it's not a big deal, her reveal. She's a clear suspect, the show doesn't really drag it out, and it's not like suspicion is tearing the team apart. Everyone else is really clicking as a team, leading to a rousing, emotional victory for Grease over Engine Bro.

Grease's post-invasion motivation is something I've had trouble seeing, and I'm glad the show took a moment to elaborate on why he's fighting, what the Crows meant to him, all of that. It makes the fight personal, which is awesome, but it helps explore where Grease's attitude and perspective fit into the team. Good use of a fight to deepen a character.

Yeah, pretty good episode!

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I'm really digging this tournament story. Build is back on track for me.

I thought this was going to be an episode fully devoted to Banjou, to give a clear idea of what he's fighting for as Cross-Z, but that ends up being only half the episode. It's a good half, though, with some interesting twists. Sento is a Rider who fights for everyone, Grease is a Rider who fights for his people, but Banjou is a Rider who only fights for himself and his friends. His motivation in this tournament is to end the war before Sento has to fight. He doesn't care that much about the horrors of war, or about who has Pandora's Box, or any of that. Sento's his friend, he blames himself for the war, so Banjou's going to end the war for him. It's straightforward and true to Banjou's character. So of course the show has to throw an obstacle at him that makes him question that straightforward goal. I really really loved that the Hell Bros fake him out the way they did, appealing to the guilt he'd feel ending one life to help his friend. It looked like the show was going to grow Banjou, widen his perspective, but nope! The Hell Bros were lying, it was bullshit, don't never trust nobody. Interesting lesson for a character to learn!

The rest of the episode was the Build/Rogue fight, and the debut of RabbitRabbit. (Beautiful suit, love the little wing cape and the symmetrical bunny ear eyes.) Rogue comes in with the by-now standard This Is All Your Fault guilt attack, which gets a full-throated assertion by Sento that he's not going to feel guilt about what Takumi did any longer. I hope that's true! It was a cool idea, but the show's really worn it out. I'm ready for a less guilt-ridden Sento to emerge from these war arcs. Time will tell, I suppose!

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God, yes. This is the show I've been missing. After the post-Hokuto War episodes left me feeling like the show didn't know where to go next, these three episodes just did the work and stuck the landing. Maybe they didn't reach the emotional heights of 21 and 22, but there's a great synergy of character-focused emotional storytelling, long-term plot machinations, and clever individual episode plotting.

Like, the tournament structure is awesome for providing character-driven fights that center one character's story while progressing the entire show's storyline. We've seen Banjou, Sento, and Grease get their moments in the previous two episodes, and in the finale we get a bit more with Sento, plus Rogue and, uh... Sawa?

Yeah, Sawa. So, I've got this friend. They're fun to hang out with, and they're a caring person. You also cannot believe a single thing they tell you. Everything, even the most innocuous thing, is in doubt. But, yeah, they're fun to hang out with as long as you remember that they're probably lying to you. That's where I'm at with Sawa. The show's probably told me everything there is to know about Sawa, and she's probably legitimately regretful over her actions against Team Build, but we've been here too many times for me to believe it. Instead, I'm just going to go with it. Maybe she's repented, maybe it's another ruse, I'm good either way.

The Sawa stuff was good, though. I like that, even in the midst of an epic struggle between Rogue and Build, the show found a space to tell a story about someone who got so caught up in the fake feelings she had for Team Build that they became real. That peace and love actually worked. It's sweet, and it's sweet that Team Build (especially Misora) is able to let Sawa know how she hurt them, but clearly want to forgive her and move on. It's nice to not have some bullshit hand-wringy But Can I Ever Trust You Again thing. That's boring, and Sawa's great, so let's all just move on and have fun.

Speaking of having fun: that goddamn Rogue/Build fight! Epic! TankTank is awesome, Rogue's counterattacks are cleverly portrayed, the sleight-of-hand of showing Seito RabbitRabbit so they won't expect TankTank is a great strategy, it's all excellent. Loved the fight, loved it more as the conclusion of tournament storyline. Especially, especially, the use of on-set projections to visualize Rogue's mental state and emotional journey. I wasn't expecting the story to slow down a bit for him to get a word in, but I'm incredibly glad he did. What could have been a simple Hero's Declaration-type finale for Sento to triumph over Rogue instead gets a bit of subtlety, where Rogue's view of "one person should have the power to protect everyone" is set in opposition to Sento's "one person should protect everyone's power" view. It's more shading than is strictly necessary, especially when the loser is going to get blasted in the face by a tank, but it's (as always) to the show's credit that it's willing to do the extra work.

Looking at the episode count, and feeling the wave of relief coming off of the cast at the end of this story, I think we've reached the end of the second act and the middle of the series. The second act, from 15 or 16 to 28, had some incredible highs and a few bum notes, but it ended really well. I don't know if I'm going to say I'll miss these war stories, assuming they're over. It's an interesting genre to play in, for a little while, but it ends up taking the series away from the lighter tones where I find it most effective. I'm really hopeful that the tone recalibrates for the next act.

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I know everyone loves episode 21, and don't get me wrong, it's amazing, probably one of the best single episodes ever, but arc-wise, my heart will always belong with the second tournament arc. Just for what it manages to do with all the characters, each one reaffirming their goals, even the villains, to the TankTank ploy, it's all so good!

As a three-parter that's about the show as a whole, every single cast member, yeah, I'd argue it's better than 21+22. Those other two episodes have a little more flair and some better acting, plus they say more about Sento's character. (Well, "more" might be overstating it. I think they say something unique about his character.)

I think my only issue at the time of watching these episodes as they aired, was that I couldn't let go of the question of why this tournament set-up was happening again. Like, Rogue was clearly winning and he had stolen the box, so Seito really didn't have to agree to this 'whoever wins gets everything' contest. Not that it matters in the end thanks to Blood Stalk but still.

I actually have another critique that was at the front of my mind at the time, but I thought the actual action for RabbitRabbit's debut was pretty underwhelming. They tell you it's a super fast form capable of bouncing all over the place and... we don't see that. They show it's 'speed' with a really weak special effect before having him stand in place and shoot Rogue with his gun three times. Seriously! So many of the Riders and forms from Drive managed to get super speed done well, so I guess I got my hopes really high up for an amazing fight. Ah, well, TankTank I had no complaints about.

I also really liked the back-and-forth speeches between Sento and Gentoku, it went such a long way to making the fights more epic and also personal. I hope the rest of the show manages to keep you as entertained as these war-based conflicts.

Also, Ready Go is a really great song, definitely my favourite from Build! (Hope you don't consider it a spoiler that there's going to be more than one insert song.)

I was actually thinking about this today and how you'd react to it, especially after 21! I'm so, so glad you like it!

Even after the show started to wane for a bit, RabbitRabbit's debut was one of the strongest parts of the show to me and represented Sento at his best. Arguably, yes; the idea of using a power-up to represent character development and moving on is pretty standard for Rider, especially in the more recent series. It's effective, yes, but still something a lot of series do, so usually it's not worth noting especially.

But RabbitRabbit really, really does stick out to me. Just how strongly both Sento's regret of his past and the strength of his resolve to move forward as the hero makes this all the better, and it's honestly difficult for me to come up with a better example of such in Rider. Which isn't an insult, because it's a high standard to live up to! Like... one of the reasons I like Kobayashi's writing so much, and especially OOO; is how she's effectively able to drag the hero down to such a low place and yet pull them right back up again in a way that's believable, inspiring and hopeful. And for a series to come not just close to that effectiveness, but do better at it; is no small feat -- I don't say this lightly, but I genuinely believe that this aspect was pulled off even better than in OOO. Sento might just be the greatest dragged down to resolve character I've ever seen, and it's wonderful.

And then there's how the power-up representing this actually goddamn works, and this is where it gets genius for me. Now any sort of power-up would have worked, really. Any sort of cool new item that gives a sweet new form, woo; yay. But I don't know if the writer got the toy people to do this or he was taking full advantage of what toy plans Bandai had supplied him with or something, but the idea that the new power-up works with the one that represents everything awful about both his past and current actions, goes on top of it, and turns it into a force of good that represents his resolve to be a hero? Like. This is top-tier symbolism, sorry, but it just is. It's so, soooo fucking good, and I love every little bit of it. The fact that it's essentially bringing out the full power of one bottle's essence and enhancing could also arguably be read into as representing what he's learned from Banjou and what effect the guy's had on him, even if never even hinted at here. Just everything about RabbitRabbit is wonderful. It's beautiful and I adore it.


... oh, and then he uses it to make an effective plan and trick Rogue and an entire government of bad guys as well! Because being a genius and being a hero is a best goddamn match that makes Sento. GOD I love this show.

I look at the tournament structure as being advantageous to Nanba (I mean, Seito is almost beside the point) because it has at least the possibility of immediately ending the conflict in their favor, while still allowing them to ignore the results of they lose. Touto would happily go along with it because they're pretty much doomed without it. And for Seito's PM, he's got that crazy villain energy that can't see failure coming. I'm sure Nanba was whispering in his ear that victory was a lock.

Yeah, they could've made it more speedy. The Vortex Finish, where the leg telescopes out, pauses, then retracts into a heavy Rider Kick is a terrific visual. Made me laugh out loud. But, yeah, once he gets outside Kamen Rider Stadium it's like he's dipped in tar.

I usually don't love those Thesis Statement kinds of battle chats, but they were executed well this time. It came at the right time in the episode and the right time in the series. Plus it just felt so fresh, with the spotlight swinging in the arena and the unhenshined Riders. Those on-set projections were choice, and they completely drew me in. I love physical effects like that, and it's a strength that Kamen Rider has as a franchise.

Not a spoiler because I, uh, didn't notice. Shit! I don't have a music video for it in my folder, so I hope they play it in an episode where I can concentrate on it a little more.

Well put! Really well put!

It's totally on-brand for this show, and this story in particular, to be about building heroes, Sento especially. He's the guilt of his past and the hope of his future. The genius who fights. It's about how he combines those things that defines him as a person, and it's how the show uses power-ups as representations of where he is as a person that's Kamen Rider-storytelling at its best.

RabbitTank was a starting point, a name he was given by a villain who was manipulating him. RabbitTank Sparkling was him expanding his abilities, trusting himself more to define who he was. Black Hazard was the guilt of his past, the danger that he could be to everyone around him. RabbitRabbit and TankTank layer over the base of Black Hazard, the guilt that'll always be there, to make a new person, emphasizing the aspects of his personality that he wants to see in the world, fully embracing his future. This isn't the work of Takumi, it's the work of Sento. His true self, fully expressed.

And, I mean, that's on top of every good thing this story does with Grease, with Cross-Z, with Sawa, with Rogue. There's really no shortage of things to praise this show for, which is pissing me off. It's hard to keep coming up with different ways to praise this show! I've got so many episodes to go, you guys!

My logic with the second fight is that Touto agreed because they have nothing to lose, and Seito agreed purely because Nanba sees the thing as a weapons demo - it's something they can show to other corrupt governments as a demonstration of their product line, which is all that guy cares about. He can go to someone and go "Hey, remember the Japanese Civil War? Well, all the players in that were too scared to go up against these gear boys. Here's a demo!" And Seito, at this point, is a puppet state ruled by a corporation.

As well as, you know, having a child army,