Let's go! Kakugo! Episo-o-ode 13!

-Opening gag so good. Love these kids so much.

-Another Ghost! Looks real cool! Interesting dilemma to handle the fact that they already have the Ghost Ridewatch! As you said, a bit of a shame they're playing it straight in how the MOTW reflects the Legend Rider's season, I can let it slide this time. That is of course, because something far more interesting is here...

-Tsukasa!! Wouldn't be Decade if he didn't insert himself into someone's story uninvinted, but it seems he's recieved a formal invination from the Time Jackers (and Woz) this time? And of course he accepts. If you asked me if pick out any main rider that would go and fight some teenagers for an afternoon or three for some odd amusement, I'd have to pick Tsukasa. Causing chaos is his forte, so I'm excited to see what happens next. (Tsukasa is rather hard to gauge on the "actor with slightly different hair" gauge for obvious reasons, but I think I like this look of his?)

-Oh and Takeru's here too!!! I'm kinda happy this an arc where the Legend Rider tags along for the ride. Not only because I like him a lot, I just think him and Sougo are fun to pair up together. Geniunely don't remember him having cool monk-excorist powers or whatever on top of being a Rider, maybe he had time to do so in this revised timeline? Kinda sad they couldn't get Onari or Akari's actors, wouldve been fun.

-We did it, gang! Took us a bit, but Zi-o's dead(?). Show's over, go home, and make sure to buy a Ridewatch or two on the way out! .......But seriously, I love how Geiz spends the opening scene going "I'm your enemy! Don't forget that!!!" but when Tsukuyomi says he's not breathing, he gets equally concerned.

-Some comments here and there in the .5s, and especially the whole Drive bit makes me wonder how exactly they manage to corral up actors for a project like this. Were they just going to do this episode with Shibuya and Narita if Shun Nishime's schedule's never opened up? Are there actors who barely couldn't make it?

Once again, not much here. Just prep for next episode, but it was very fun prep indeed! (Now if you'll excuse me, I will follow Takeru's advice and go re-watch the Specter v-cin.)

So I yeah Tsukasa here and I love how Woz introduce him and someone that can change history and that he similar to ZI-O it feels on the nose playing aware how ZI-O has some similarties to Decade.

Also love how the Ghost crew was almost going to untie Sougo .... until he talks about being king and they just decide nope! Where leaving this kid tied up it's great lol.

Also I disagree that the Ghost stuff didn't have thematic weight. By making Another Ghost a dead cop it ties into elements well the first one is obvious being dead and all but the guy was targeting people who would've been responsible for disasters in the future. And I love how they tied into his motiviation of wanting to defeat ZI-O because of how terrible his future self is.

And finally Decade boy oh boy they way brought him back was just so in line with the guy. Speaking of the Neo Decadriver it actually got another upgrade that you may not be aware of.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EWbPDtmW...jpg&name=large
Obviously there the inclusion of the Main Riders from W onwards but notice that despite being in Agito Ground Form he has Flame Saber. Now the obvious reason why they did this is simply cost saving measures considering how many forms and weapons the Phase 2 Rider have and the Driver has only so much space. But I do think case of creativity caused by limits because Decade power set has now been upgraded to be able to just use any Rider weapons or abilites much faster than before.

(Also that Takeru/Shinnouske gag in this .5 episode is one of my favaorite gas to come out of the whole thing)

This was a good look for him! He comes off a bit more posh, which is probably the right level for Legend Anniversary Rider to be at. He's a pretty S-Tier Rider to bring back, canonically, so he should dress the part!

Takeru's story seems to be following in his dad's footsteps more explicitly, so I imagine he learned all the cool ghostbusting powers his pop had.

(And, honestly, I felt like it was Sougo who was tagging along for the ride here? Team Zi-O landed square in a Ghost story!)

Kaito is rolling his eyes so hard.

I wanna say that Heisei Generations Forever almost had Philip from W, but the schedules couldn't work out. He was down for it, but he was tied up with a different project.

It's for sure a fun gag to have Takeru -- the Heisei Rider who's all about connecting with people -- go This Dude Is Too Dangerous To Let Free. He's a sweet boy, but he's got limits!

There's superficial stuff, but I don't feel like it was a story that Sougo's really invested in, or speaks to his arc. There're consequences for his (potential) future actions, but I don't feel like it was a weight on Sougo's mind.

Most of the parts that could be claimed as thematic are just Time Jacker manipulations? They're spinning Another Ghost around this episode; it's more about them and Woz targeting Team Zi-O than it is Another Ghost having a demonstrable strategy.

I knew that it being an anniversary season and Decade armor being one of the upgrades for ZI-O at the time, I knew that someway somehow Decade would make his way to the show.

But I was still pretty giddy when Agito showed up, I immediately knew that it wasn't Shouichi. It was Decade! It took a while to get used to the garishly magenta belt, but I love it now and how it upgrades Decade's abilities.

It was very nice of them to celebrate the arrival of Masahiro Inoue by using suits from two of Toshiki Inoue's most famous shows: Agito and Hibiki.

So one of my dirty little secrets? I kind of really like Takeru when he shows up in things that aren't Ghost. He's a fun, likable guy with a good heart who's great to have around when he isn't the protagonist. I enjoyed his turn here a lot, in no small part because he really felt like the original character in ways that some of the other recent tributes didn't. This isn't Takeru who became a monk or Takeru who became a salary man, it's just the same guy minus the part where he died and then sat around waiting for Eyecons to fall into his lap. Absolutely no complaints with him here.

And then, of course, we have Tsukasa. We were always going to have Tsukasa. As I keep saying, I'm pretty sure he keeps a Decadriver and bottle of hair gel by his front door in case Toei calls up and needs him for something. I appreciate that the show is doing something different with him, too. Decade was the previous anniversary Rider, so it's really fitting that he isn't just another victim of time erasure. Instead, he's being a randomly antagonistic asshole. I have to assume that this is one of those rites of passage that every new Rider has to go through: having Decade show up to randomly attack them for no apparent reason.

Flames. Flames on the side of my face.

Speaking of Toshiki Inoue, I may not be in this thread often, but I will be when it concerns him because I would love to talk about our Ambassador Hell Inoue

What a coincidence that you get to the episode where Decade shows up with the powers of the next ten years worth of Riders (which the toy managed by deleting all the Form Ride, Attack Ride and additional Riders other than Skull, along with giving the Showa Riders a generic transformation noise) on the day, the other side of the original Super Hero Taisen gets a similar upgrade released by Bandai. https://youtube.com/watch?v=O9wYkXnCOTI

Anyway, let’s get on with…

Ridewatch Playlist: Yes, I Actually Created A More Sizeable List Than You were Probably Expecting Mix

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NbmHH1pfUNE

“The power of luminaries, the parka-wearing ghost Rider is… Ghost”

And here, I went with what people were probably expecting to be the only song from Ghost on this list, Warera Omou Yueni, Warera Ari https://youtube.com/watch?v=2A6vEykhGk8

“The red-hot, burning Ghost. Toucon Boost Damashii”

And I went with the song for Super Movie Wars Genesis, Hajimari no Hi (say what you want about the film, it’s got a pretty good song) https://youtube.com/watch?v=BBz2XjH7Hlk

“All 15 luminaries powers are gathered, this is Ghost, Grateful Damashii”

And here, O went with Go! Go! Ghost!, a remix of the Eyecon jingles into a full rap song by the guy who voiced the Ghost Driver. https://youtube.com/watch?v=o3H8mT6pfiA

“Life burning bright into infinite evolution. The strength of the heart unleashes power. The strongest Ghost Mugen Damashii”

And there’s another movie theme here, ABAYO from the summer movie (which got stuck in my head when I was watching the show through promos) https://youtube.com/watch?v=TqX_b_KGlVo

“Let me show you my way of life! The blue parka Rider is Specter”

And like with Cross-Z, Grease, Brave, Baron and Zangetsu, I went with his V-Cinema’s theme, New World https://youtube.com/watch?v=SbXWsYKRAgQ

“A new power has been received, the Specter with wings, Deep Specter”

“The World of Ganma’s ruling Rider is Necrom”

And with him, I went with the Harpy+4 song from the Sanzo two-parter, Zenryoku Start Line https://youtube.com/watch?v=RdHNGG3_wxU

And now for the list of the unreleased, with there being no winners of the competition this time either.

Kamen Rider Ghost (Musashi Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Edison Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Robin Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Newton Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Billy the Kid Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Beethoven Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Benkei Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Goemon Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Ryoma Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Himiko Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Houdini Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Darwin Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Tenka Touitsu Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Ichigou Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Heisei Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Ex-Aid Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Drive Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Gaim Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Wizard Damashii)
Kamen Rider Specter (Nobunaga Damashii)
Kamen Rider Specter (Tutankhamun Damashii)
Kamen Rider Specter (Houdini Damashii)
Kamen Rider Specter (Edison Damashii)
Kamen Rider Necrom Specter
Kamen Rider Sin Specter
Kamen Rider Necrom (Grimm Damashii)
Kamen Rider Necrom (Sanzo Damashii)
Kamen Rider Necrom (Yujou Burst Damashii)
Kamen Rider Dark Ghost
Kamen Rider Dark Ghost (Napoleon Damashii)
Kamen Rider Dark Ghost (Ikkyu Damashii)
Kamen Rider Dark Ghost (Pythagoras Damashii)
Kamen Rider Zero Specter
Kamen Rider Dark Necrom Pink (Pink)
Kamen Rider Dark Necrom Red (Red)
Kamen Rider Dark Necrom Blue (Blue)
Kamen Rider Dark Necrom Yellow (Yellow)

I won’t be doing the Decade playlist now because I have three rules for them. 1. The Another Rider has to have appeared, 2. A character from the show has to make an in-person appearance (even if it’s a deceased corpse) and 3. The Ridewatch has to have been obtained by Sougo or Geiz. It’ll be a while on that first one, so it’ll be a while until the playlist drops.

But, since we’ve got an actress that went on to be more recognisable to the Sentai crowd (namely, Ichika Osaki playing Another Ghost’s sister), I’ve got a special addition to this week’s playlist.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xJYctqzY9To

“The cool Sentai fighting with the power of Ryusouls is, yes! Ryusoulger!

And the song I went with was Que Bom! Ryusoulger!, so I could share this video of the Zi-O cast attempting the dance. Key word “attempting” https://youtube.com/watch?v=Va0M67kLZ78

And as for the compare and contrast, Whereas Takeru is a disembodied spirit collecting the souls of deceased luminaries to bring his body back, Another Ghost is a reanimated corpse stealing the souls from nobody, preventing them from “burning bright”. And while Another Ghost is visually based more on Marvel’s Venom (more specifically, the then-recent movie version) than a Ganma, he does have a similar gimmick to some of them (I recall the one from Igor’s debut having a similar gimmick, only he used a knife)

Do you think Heure's marketing strategy has improved? Before, he was using threats to make people become Another Riders, but now he's offering a person who canonically should have died the chance to live. Kind of makes me think about the Time Jackers' claim in the previous arc, since Another Ghost really was helped out by Heure's intervention.

Regarding the Ghost Ridewatch, the causal loop hasn't been completed yet. Geiz borrowed it from Oma Zi-O in the future, but Sougo still needs to obtain it in the present.

This is what I was referring to before about "unexciting or unwelcome" returning characters. In Ghost's post-finale, Jabel proved that he was the best monk apprentice Onari could ask for, making Useless Monk Apprentice #1 and #2 even more useless. So I find it ridiculous that the staff thought bringing back those two characters would cause viewers to feel any emotions.

You're right about Yurusen, they should have brought back.... That poor nameless cat who Toei neglected to credit! This isn't the first time Toei neglected to credit their animal cast either, as Denji Dog IC's physical actors (both of them!) are also uncredited.

You're also right about Takeru's blonde hair being more iconic, especially considering it's even an important plot point in the novel.

I don't love the Neo DecaDriver, since I think the pink clashes with his Kamen Rides, unlike a neutral white which can go with anything. It's also redundant since he already has an iconic pink camera, but now he has two. I don't even like the name, since Neo is kind of a generic word to call the upgrade. I don't like how contrived it is that he happens to Kamen Ride in to Agito so many times, when it's not like he needs to hide the fact that he's Decade or anything like that. Besides, his favorite Kamen Ride is supposed to be Ryuki, so he should be using Ryuki more often.

However, I do think Tsukasa contributes an ominous feeling to the show, as his mysterious origins means that unlike the other Riders who can be traced back to a specific time and place, it's technically impossible for the Time Jackers to create Another Decade.

I felt pretty much exactly the same way you did. Even worse is that due to Ghost's poor reputation in the west as the least popular Phase 2 show, Takeru got overshadowed by Tsukasa's appearance as well. Even as someone who started with Decade and generally enjoyed seeing Tsukasa return, I felt so disconnected with people only talking about Decade that fortnight while ignoring and/or trashtalking Sougo and Takeru. I didn't want this show to become Kamen Rider Decade Season 2 at the others' expense.

I mean, that's cool and all, but Violent Emotion didn't even need to Kamen Ride to access other powers and weapons. Violent Emotion is just that OP!

Geez, more Ranger Keys? How long does Bandai intend to keep this up?

Damn, you beat me to it.

I guess I could still mention that this isn't the first time a future Ryusoulger appeared in a Kamen Rider show, as Kishida Tatsuya appeared as Haruto's friend in that Wizard episode with the hospital scene people were talking about not long ago in this thread.

Yet another reason why Die should start watching Ryusoulger sometime!

Everything on the Ghost side of this story was so on-model (Shibuya, Narita, the temple, the Professional Ghost Wrangler gig, Takeru's whole look) that I legitimately forgot why Takeru couldn't just Henshin at the end and help Zi-O out. It felt like I was watching a Winter Movie!

Again: SO ON-MODEL.

just like hibiki's henshin from the classic toshiki inoue series kamen rider hibiki

I'm looking forward to his work on this show! He already didn't do the Faiz tribute, so I'm assuming he'll be trotted out to work on the Kiva tribute. Or maybe something even weirder! No spoilers!

Totally intentional! You know how dialed-into the world of Sentai I am now, after seeing three whole episodes of DonBros.

Yeah, I can sorta see it?

I feel like the Time Jackers' strategy is as Throw It Against The Wall And See What Sticks as it's ever been. The first few Another Riders took deals to save themselves, or help loved ones. Didn't work! Then they went with a guy who wanted to rule the world. Didn't work! Then they went with a guy who was not even aware that he was supposed to be trying to rule the world. Didn't work! Now they're going with a guy who vowed never to work them, died, and they just reanimated. We'll see how that one turns out!

I would love to hear how/why Takeru's hair color becomes an important plot point in a novel. That sounds nuts.