Faiz 9-13:

-Not a fan of the love sextet that they seem to be developing, and the whole "chance encounter without knowing about who they really are" thing that keeps happening

-Still enjoyed the chemistry between our main trio. Keitaro's a typical goody two-shoes that may annoy me in other shows/circumstances, but he complements Takkun and Mari (who are jerks as Fish Sandwich pointed out) really well

-Kaixa has a very cool design with the X on his face and the shoulder pads. I also really like the idea of a cursed Rider belt

-Episode 13 in particular is very well-directed; the fake-out about Kusaka's identity, the role reversal between Mari and Kusaka by the end, and that hilarious Takkun's 'serve fail' scene were all executed very well. The latter scene is particularly noteworthy for how it's completely silent during the punchline (no wacky comedic sound effect or the likes), which reminds me again of how much I like minimalist, understated humour in general.

Movie War 2010:

I'm not going to dwell on Decade's chunk of this movie too much, because, honestly, it's like, what do you even say about it? It's just total nonsense. Wataru was right, man, Decade doesn't have a story. So you can't think about it that way. I could try and divine some grander theme from it, or discuss why as a Kuuga fan, Decade's trivialization of Ultimate Form has never sat right with me. Maybe I could congratulate Natsumi for turning the tables and being a female Rider that kills someone instead of getting killed, or whatever else, but, far more so than usual for Decade, you just have to sit back and let it happen. Brain goes off, popcorn goes in.

Between 2010 and Core, I feel really bad for Riku Sanjou, because for two years in a row, it seems an awful lot like he was the only one trying. Begins Night is excellent and also does not gel with what's to the left or the right of it at all. Suddenly the movie becomes comprehensible, starts taking some time to breathe, and tells an engaging story with discernible human emotion about Shoutarou facing his guilt over disobeying Soukichi, reflecting on how he and Philip got where they are, and ultimately rededicating himself to carrying on in his mentor's name, which he cements by disobeying Soukichi again. What a finely crafted narrative. What a delightful little slice of an great show.

But then it stops abruptly, and Double ends up accidentally driving into Decade's ongoing nonsense climax, which was either just next door the whole time, or they were chasing that Dopant for a while. Either way, you'll want to turn your brain off again for a while and just enjoy Double fighting giant robots. Don't waste time wondering how we got here, and remember to turn your brain back on when Gackt starts playing.

In case you can't tell from that description, I'm not entirely sure what to make of this on a rewatch. I think I probably enjoyed it less than the first time, but I also don't particularly begrudge the movie or anything. The Decade stuff is a whole can of worms I might get into some other day, but I'm here for Double, and that part was great. Although to this day it weirds me out thinking that people getting into Rider through accessible shows like W end up watching this movie with zero context for Decade, who I think is more the focus of the movie. I almost feel like the best thing to do in that position is to watch the director's cut that puts Double's part first and then just stop at the cliffhanger. You got your origin story! Go back to the show now, you don't need to stay!

I feel like I'm forgetting something here, though...

Oh, right!

ダブルやディケイドの話ばっかじゃ寂しいので、今回もファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだ！

https://i.imgur.com/1fsaNRt.jpg

「海堂さん、本当は木場さんのことが好きなんじゃないんですか？」

Look, I only said I'd complain about one translation error per post; I never said a thing about those posts having to involve me watching Faiz. This is an error from back in episode 10, which I brushed off at the time, but it's been bugging me so much I feel the need to set the record straight. Bear with me while I take a second to explain what's going on here.

One of the criteria I'm looking for in these segments is for the thing I'm complaining about to be an actual, honest-to-goodness mistake in the translation. Not stylistic choices, and also no typos. This one is in a weird gray area, though, because I'm pretty sure it's a typo that got way out of hand. Yuka's line here to Kaidou is quite simply "you actually like Kiba, don't you?". The line immediately following has her suggesting that despite the front he puts up, Kaidou wants to believe in humans the same way Yuuji does. This seems to have caused some confusion. There's absolutely no way even the most amateur translator would be able to mix up liking someone and being like someone in Japanese, so what I think happened is between TV-N's original subs, the redone DVD versions they did later, and then finally Agony's scrub, this line has been "fixed" several times over, resulting in it drifting totally away from what it actually means.

I figured that, much like Tsukasa, you'd still be able to "get the gist" of the scene, so it didn't matter, but considering the same episode ends with Kaidou being unable to deal a finishing blow on Yuuji when they fight, and then the next one has him expressing concern for Yuuji's well-being, in retrospect, blending this line into the next one actually is doing the narrative of the show a disservice.

Finished Kamen Rider Kuuga on Saturday and while I liked it did find it a bit too slow. Loved how Godai actually had to learn how to figure out his Kuuga forms rather than knowing them from the get go.
Also thought the Gurongi’s rules for their “games” was rather clever and liked how mysterious they were( watched with their speech not translated).Some of which what they did managed to actually creep me out with maybe the film work also helping.
Particularly loved the bike fighting in Kuuga that was great.

In terms of Characters while not my favourite cast were good in how either their contributed to the story or how they were effected by the Gurongi.It was great in time how in the police got more and more useful as it got towards the end.

Overall on the bottom of the 5 riders I’ve seen so far while enjoyable was still a bit sluggish and a little bland at times just barely gets an 8/10 from me.

Also watched episode “50” of Kuuga that was hilarious ,could tell that the cast were having fun with this.

After Kuuga I decided to watch Den-O as I wanted something lighter to watch. So far so good finding it very enjoyable and loving the characters. Ryotaro like how different he is from the other Riders I have seen so far very shy and sweet.
Find it hilarious with the situations he gets into either to his bad luck or the Imagin possessing him. Love the Imagin and how their individual styles look especially when they possessing Ryotaro(The break dancing with Ryutaros doing the possessing is fantastic!)also with how they fight as Den-O.
Liking Yuuto and Deneb too a brilliant pair.

Recent batch of episodes of Den-O seen episodes 27-32: Seeing how episodes 25,26 and 27 were leading to a movie also decided to watch Den-O The movie I’m born! before episode 28. Liked the movie and how it gave insight to Ryotaro’s character background.

After watching episodes 31 and 32 of Den-O, poor Yuuto.

Faiz 15-16:

This is probably the first truly notable ~misunderstanding~ in Faiz, and I'm a little unsure of how to tackle this. I'm watching this show again in part so I can reevaluate it, and as such I've been trying to avoid making any sweeping judgments of its quality or running my mouth off about how everybody else just doesn't "get" it. But I've gotta speak my mind on how much I'm still loving this show, and while I still can't speak for what comes later, I find this stretch of the show fascinating.

First of all, the way Faiz structures itself is always a delight, and simple things like Takumi and Yuuji sort of "crossing over" into each other's cast in 15 after they both got defeated in the last episode, and then also swapping back right at the same time, is super neat, and I wanted to give a quick shout out to it. Moving on to the actual meat here, I adore Takumi's character development in these episodes. This is where it starts becoming apparent just how big a heart Takkun has, and while I'm sure plenty would be eager to call him out for not explaining what's going through his head here to Mari and Keitarou, this is all completely in-character for him. He's a closed-off person to begin with, is currently processing a lot, and is also being screwed over by Kusaka deliberately manipulating the situation to make himself look like the good guy. Which works great on Mari, who hasn't seen Kusaka's dark side and still thinks of him as that defenseless little kid, and slightly less so on Keitarou, who likes Kusaka too, but is also more active about trying to get Takumi to communicate properly.

I'm still not discounting the possibility that I'll be eating my words later down the line, but, at least right now, I can't see this as anything other than developed characters behaving in ways that line up perfectly with their very human faults. It's driving the story forward, and it's resulting in further growth for the cast, so I'm happy.

もちろん、嬉しくない時にはファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだ！

https://i.imgur.com/IADmvA8.jpg

「木場さんなら、見捨てたりしないと思うから。」

Yeah, Yuka's dialogue gets messed up a lot. Just for context, this is from when Yuka and Kaidou are looking for Yuuji and find Takumi instead. Kaidou recognizes him from when they fought earlier in the show, and tells Yuka they don't have time to bother helping him, and Yuka's counterargument here is actually more along the lines of "if Kiba were here, he wouldn't abandon him". Pointing out that Kaidou would've been happy to grab Yuuji out of a river is a complete non-observation when they both know that already and came here planning to do so.

What this is actually about, which is critical to the plot of the episode, is how much Yuka looks up to Yuuji's unwavering sense of morality. Throughout these episodes Yuka is trying to shake off her inner demons and become a better person, and it should really go without saying that the pervy snake dude is not the one acting as a role-model for her.

W 15-16:

I don't think this is going to be as controversial as me defending Faiz, but, uh, this arc is a masterpiece. This is the first time Double pulls out all the stops and ups the stakes. It starts with a simple enough sounding plot about protecting the good name of Kamen Rider, which would already be amazing, because the only Heisei Rider up to this point to treat that title with any gravitas was Blade, which just goes to show how serious Double was about going back to basics. But then you get "tricked", and things go completely to crap at the halfway point, moving into a second half where Philip has to act on his own, letting him grow as a character by showing him in a position where he has to call all the shots himself, leading up to FangJoker's (televised) debut, a form that on top of looking sick legitimizes Philip as the co-protagonist by using his body instead of Shoutarou's.

There are not enough good words to say. This two-parter is so slick, it effortlessly slipped in a compelling explanation for why Double announces his finishing moves during the climax like it was nothing at all. I'd be here all day trying to point out everything in it that works, so let me just mention what a delightful example of Seiji Takaiwa's suit acting prowess it is seeing Philip's side of Double try to keep Shoutarou's side from punching out Jinno at the end. Two characters in one body is nothing after playing four, I'm sure, but still, it's always fun to see him do this stuff.

Finished OOO last night, and I gotta say, my personal distaste for Date aside, the last batch of episodes was pretty much the perfect way to end it.

Overall, as a show, I felt like W was the better of the two Neo-Heisei KRs I've seen so far. But on a purely character basis, I really loved the main four of Eiji, Ankh, Goto, and Hina. So on that level alone, I'd put this as my 2nd favorite Rider show overall(with Kuuga still being my absolute favorite).

Next up is Fourze, but that won't be for awhile since Christmas season is coming up and as such I won't have any spare time for shows in general, sadly. Gotta love(hate) mandatory overtime.

OOO is one of my best of the 2010s!

Faiz 17-18:

Episode 17 of Faiz is an all-time classic. Everything about it comes together so smoothly. First of all, the direction in this and the last episode feels a lot more dynamic than was standard for Rider at the time. It's still that same rough, early Heisei style, but some of the shot compositions and everything are fairly inspired. All in support of a very climactic story that, by paying off what's been going on with Takumi the past few episodes, touches on a lot of the series' broader themes, and shows where the main characters are at right now.

The way Takumi struggles with the morality of his actions here is something you just can't get anywhere but Faiz. Not even in the episodes of Kiva where Inoue used the same basic idea. The kind of personality Takkun has makes it that much more devastating to see him in this state. There are layers to what you can take from it. It's shocking to see him beaten down like this, but the fact that he's getting so upset about it in the first place is also the biggest proof so far of what a good person he is underneath. This dilemma is positively eating him up, and yet because he's spent his life pushing people away, he has absolutely no idea how to express any of this to his friends, putting him in this self-destructive spiral where they start to get frustrated with his inability to open up, leading to Takumi hating himself that much more.

It's compelling character drama, and a perfect time for Takumi and Yuuji to have their first major interaction, venting to each other about problems they can't actually talk about, since they're each under the impression the other is just an innocent bystander in all the Orphenoch business going on. Dramatic irony at its finest. Eventually Yuuji's problem becomes Takumi's when an Orphenoch the former was dealing with starts tearing up a university. The dominoes start falling into place as a combination of Yuuji's remarks, and seeing the Orphenoch's casualties up close and personal, pushes Takumi to his inevitable rebound, getting him to push aside his own doubts and focus on the lives he knows need to be saved. The resulting fight scene is by far one of the show's most memorably awesome moments. The theme song powerup. The light when Takumi transforms being emphasized, kind of mirroring the first episode. Faiz's confident, almost cocky body language. Two finishers for two monsters, including a good old Rider Kick. It's great. I love it.

Episode 18 is... I mean, you know, it's mostly Keitarou getting taken advantage of by a little girl. Whatever. Look, the show just wanted to relax for a bit after like a month straight of heavy-duty angst, okay? It's fine. Kusaka's even on vacation after almost completely ruining Takumi's life, the jerk. So you don't have to see him, either.

では、今回非常に苦労したファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだけど・・・

https://i.imgur.com/ox1q1Vr.jpg

「普通こんなもん持ってわざわざ来るか？」

I may have went slightly insane trying to pick an error for these two episodes. See, the routine I've settled into for Faiz is to just watch Agony's version, and then when I notice something off, go and check TV-Nihon's version afterwards to see if the mistake originated there. Both of them being wrong is another one of the criteria I'm shooting for, since it means there's no avoiding it. In this case I ended up watching 17 in its entirety twice over, which I told myself was because it was just that awesome, but it quickly became both a revelation and a nightmare. Feel free to glaze over this part if niche discussion of fansubbing isn't your thing, but I seriously need to vent about this.

Judging just by that episode, Agony actually is doing considerable work to fix TV-N's subs, with a ton of genuine errors corrected on top of simply making the lines sound more natural. Much more than I had them pegged for. Although 31 onwards are apparently barely retouched because they wanted the batch out in time for Zi-O? We'll see when I get there. Anyway, that's the revelation. Agony did good work, and despite what I'm about to say next, I'd definitely recommend their version of the show for people looking to watch Faiz for the first time. The nightmare is that in spite of this, they've also introduced a ton of new errors in the vein of what I complained about with episode 5. Which means even though between the both of them, there were loads of mistakes, it was really hard to find one in common.

I've settled on this line, which I've decided is "close enough" because despite being translated in vastly different ways, both are wrong. Agony's translation is right up there to see like usual, and TV-N's version is the immortal "Who carries magazines around while intentionally going?". So you can tell why I think Agony is an improvement. But the thing is, they basically just made up a line of a dialogue that sounded right instead of translating what was being said. Mari came here in the middle of an Orphenoch rampage to show Takumi a magazine article she found about curing nekoji- er, people with sensitive tongues. He's making a surly remark here, which Agony got down perfectly, but the part they either missed, or ignored, is that Takumi is expressing surprise she came all this way at a time like this for his sake. One of the big threads in this arc is the friendship the main trio has built up being tested, and, just in time for the big scene where Takkun gets his groove back, this is meant to be a reminder of how much these people actually do care about each other. So once again, some of the story's subtext is being obscured. Hopefully next time it won't take me three giant paragraphs to explain that, but man, this was not a fun one for me.

W 17-18:

https://i.imgur.com/gyVXNQs.jpg

These freakin' episodes, I tell ya'. Keiichi Hasegawa doesn't mess around. Did you see some of the crap that happened in Ultraman Nexus? Because it might actually be less intense than this arc, which somehow involves both making the audience sympathize with a drug dealer, and showing how drugs ruin the lives of innocent youth. AT THE SAME TIME.

I recall this being the first W arc that really deeply resonated with me when I first watched it, and it's no wonder why I was so impressed. These episodes hit hard with everything they do, and it's hard for it not to leave an impact. On the drugs corrupting the youth front, it goes all out on the metaphor, with a Victim/Monster of the Week who picked up a Gaia Memory because she was depressed and wanted to be better at sports, who also ends up passing the thing around with disatrous results in a manner disturbingly reminiscent of needle sharing. Not to mention the withdrawal symptoms that come later. Really, the whole thing is disturbing. It doesn't even go all after-school special on you, either. It knows it did its job portraying all of this well enough you'll get the message without it having to say a thing.

As for the dealer bit, I have to admit I don't think W and Nazca's rivalry had the best build up, between their fight scenes being slightly underwhelming for varying reasons, and the simple fact that, even though it was to the benefit of those stories, Kirihiko wasn't given a ton of screentime when an arc didn't call for it. Still, it was totally serviceable, and the way it all comes together here is crazy memorable. Seriously, as good as FangJoker's debut was, this arc blew my mind then, and it still does now.

It also has my favorite episode titles in the series, on a side note. I love a good naming scheme, and while Double's double titles with double-meaning letters give you maybe a bit too much information to take in at once, to the point where I used to be a bit more iffy on them, it's one of those things I've come to appreciate over the years.

Well I wanted to watch Dragon Knight but it's, uh, blocked in my country. Guess I'll have to do something else then.

...

BLLLAAAAAAADE BRRRAAAAAAAAAVE

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHzvUZ7WkAEeTtp.png


Episode 1 was just fantastic! It reminds me of OOO's first episode in some of the best ways; it manages to throw just SO much in there but still tell a coherent episode and story and give me a good idea of the basic setting and characters. I was fully expecting Episode 1 to be a slow thing of Kenzaki joining BOARD and becoming Blade at the end to set up a status quo, but no; not only is that ancient history, BOARD GETS COMPLETELY DESTROYED!!

It's shocking just how quickly it gets on with things and how much it starts in the middle. About the only thing I didn't like was the whole fight-in-the-dark thing; this is something I never like in media and it feels especially frustrating coming off of Shinkenger which did have multiple night battles but were all very brightly lit and it was clear what was going on. Still, from the next time it looks like this isn't going to be a trend.

Also happily surprised to see a Café as the base once again, since something about that setting is one of my favourites! ... but maybe I shouldn't be surprised as I'm slowly realising just how many series that's a thing in. Kuuga, Ryuki, Den-O, OOO, Build; and they definitely feature prominently in Kiva, Wizard and Gaim as well. Decade and Zi-O kind of have a similar set-up too despite using a photo studio and clock shop...

The kid is adorable and I love this family already but all I can think of when I look at her is how she's fated to become Another Blade

Trust me, you're not missing much. And this is coming from someone who's second ever KR was Dragon Knight(the first being Saban's Masked Rider, yikes).

I hope you manage to forget most of the spoilers from Zi-O as you get deep into enjoying Blade.

The cafe being such a common recurring element in these shows makes me wonder why we haven't had a main character who is runs a cafe, and fights with like, powers and forms based on different flavours and types of beverages.

Unfortunately between Zi-O and Gorider I have had some major elements about Blade spoiled for me, though that's been the case for Ryuki and Faiz as well. I'm just hoping it's not stuff that's supposed to be a huge surprise because as said I'm super liking it despite being two episodes in.

Also, surprised Chalice showed up this early! Decade made me think he was the secondary belt rider that shows up around the 20 mark like Woz or Gatack or Meteor; but nope, here he is! I can't believe Tsukasa would lie to me like that!
Also fun that they're barely bothering to hide that he's a monster, especially when that was a big twist last season. I've got to imagine said twist last season was a very popular one since after that we got early Chalice; the Hibiki riders arguably being kaijin in some form; some of the Kabuto riders being worms; the Imagin in Den-O...

I'll just refrain from saying when those spoilers come into play then.

I could be speaking from faulty memory, but I think the show did mean to be coy about Chalice being an Undead in the beginning. They were really blatant with their hints, I think.

Either way, I love Chalice and everything about him, from his character to that sick suit and weapon.

Faiz 19-20:

Episode 19 is the back half of the plot that started in 18 and it's exceedingly okay. "Obnoxious kid has family problems" is just about the most ubiquitous stock toku plot out there. So to see Inoue do a very standard take on that, in a show I love for being different? It's hard to get excited about. There are things to like. While it's stretched out way too thin, I feel like the show is accomplishing something with the main trio here. Because this is a lighter plot you get to see them in a more mellow light than usual, and it reinforces how much tighter they are by this point. It's something, anyway.

At least it has the super cool final fight with J. I have to admit the fact that Kaixa killed him twice already lowers the impact a tiny bit, but if we're looking specifically at his fights with Faiz, Takkun has consistently been getting smacked around by this guy. We know a Rider Kick won't work on him, and neither will a Punch. So to see Takumi ultimately beat him by just doing both is a cute payoff, and a memorable fight scene.

Actually, this is probably as good a spot as any to mention how much I love the action in Faiz. It's got the visceral feeling I love from stuff like Kuuga, befitting the grounded tone, with Takumi in particular being extremely thuggish, always grabbing at Orphenochs and even occasionally literally kicking them while they're down, but the show also mixes in a lot of cool flashy stuff, mostly where it comes to the finishers. It's the best of both worlds. The general lack of banter is also something that appeals to me. It creates a nice contrast with the talky parts of the show, and I love that often you can still get an idea of what's going through Takumi's head from Faiz's body language.

Episode 20 has plenty going on between wacky dating antics, Takumi's new haircut, and our fourth Faiz, but strangely I don't have much to say about it, even though it's way more interesting than the last two.

Oh, and the Faiz Mistranslation Corner is on break today. Granted, I'm also an amateur doing this by ear, so it's entirely possible, even likely, I missed something, but both these episodes seemed pretty intact. Of course, there's still plenty left from earlier episodes I could touch on, but, look, I'm still exhausted from the last one of these, okay? Please enjoy this picture of a cute dog instead:

https://i.imgur.com/vFZOAIu.jpg

W 19-20:

Accel has a pretty strong introduction. Ryuu is a character who I think adds a lot to the show, but he also falls into the same weird position for me as some other secondary Riders, where I don't actively care about him that much, even though he's cool. But I've already discovered I actually really like Akiko, so who knows how I'll feel about him this time around. As for the arc itself, it does its job cleanly and precisely, like Double always does. I appreciate how the importance of the Kamen Rider name is once again highlighted, and the way Ryuu fills the void Kirihiko left as Shoutarou's foil is neat. Besides, another character for Shoutarou to get comically frustrated with is never a bad thing.

Also, and I think everyone who watches W thinks this, but the show stressing how heavy the Engine Blade is before Ryuu transforms is amazing. It's cool simply because it's nice to have such a direct reminder that Riders are really strong, but beyond that, it's such a delightfully high-energy way to introduce this new character. Having Ryuu running around for a fight scene, in that sort of "halfway there" state, leaves with you with a very distinct impression of him. You won't soon forget the guy who fearlessly charges at a superpowered monster armed only with the rage in his eyes and a sword he can barely hold.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. I went into Blade knowing (or found out midway, I can't really remember) the usual assortment of things that always get spoiled about that show, and it didn't end up making a huge difference. I think the further you get into the show, the further it'll get from your mind. Plus, with big spoilers like that, I think even when you know the "what", there's still a lot of surprise to be had from the "how" of seeing it all play out.

Chaco is the number one best character from Faiz and I'm distraught he doesn't have a figuarts yet. Shinkkochou Seihou J & Chaco now or else.

Faiz 21-22:

Alright, we're finally here. The moment I've waited years to get to again. One of the most common things I see people complain about in Faiz. The out of nowhere appearance from the Faiz Accel. A piece of equipment presumably manufactured by Smart Brain, that Kusaka shows up with after going on an offscreen three-episode length quest with the other Ryuusei school children for the Delta Gear, a piece of equipment manufactured by Smart Brain that he pretty clearly states in 22 is now with the other Ryuusei school children. Hang on, that actually sounds completely explicable! I feel lied to!

Anyway, even if there wasn't a completely plausible explanation all but explicitly stated (and Takkun is not the kind of character who's going to care enough to ask!), I was prepared to say I unironically love Faiz Accel's debut. The fight itself is underwhelming, which gets made up for in 22, but the actual scene of Kaixa just chucking at Faiz's head? It's brilliant. You'll never convince me otherwise. This show's detached attitude towards shilling merch, while also still making said merch look awesome, is just one of the many things I love about it, and while the true pinnacle of that is yet to come, this is definitely a very close #2 for scenes that symbolize it.

The actual stuff that matters, the drama, is great in 21, too. Takumi warming up to Yuuji through a life and death struggle against monsters together is amazing, and, of course, perfectly timed to coincide with Yuuji developing a proper rivalry against "Faiz", who he's definitely, totally sure is still Smart Brain's hitman, especially because he sees Takuma transforming here. I also love seeing Takumi act on the development he's been going through by refusing to do a finishing move on an Orphenoch he knows just wants to live as a regular person.

Yuuji and Kusaka also get to start hanging toward the end of 22 after the latter overhears Mari suggesting she might have a crush on the former. I'm sure this will all work out great for everyone involved.

No Faiz Mistranslation Corner today, either. There were a few awkwardly rendered lines here and there, but as long as the subs stay at the reasonably competent level they've been at lately, I don't think nitpicking them serves much of a purpose. Those early episodes were real ugly in places, so I think I'll just sit back and enjoy the change of pace, as long as it lasts.

W 21-22:

Okay, so this has been bugging the crap out of me for a bit now, but I can't help but notice Masquerade Dopants explode without leaving a trace like a typical Sentai mook. Which leads me to ask, are Double and Accel just slaughtering these guys by the dozens? This show makes a huge point out of the monsters not dying, but every time the mooks show up, it's like nobody even cares. I get that I'm not supposed to read into it at all, but this is extremely jarring coming off of Takumi's crisis of conscience in Faiz.

At any rate, the arc itself this time was great. It has stronger than usual atmosphere throughout, and does the usual thing of focusing on fleshing out the new hero, with a plot about a cop willing to go to extreme lengths for revenge that parallels Ryuu's own motives. However, it also manages to avoid falling into the trap that a lot of these episodes do by not making the plot at the expense of the main hero. Shoutarou and Philip both have plenty to do, and Shoutarou even gets his own emotional angle with the guest character too. It really covers its bases, even if I still think this show should've stayed away from giant CG dinosaurs.

This was definitely the strongest part of Faiz to me, even if yeah, I really do wish that they'd give at least a throwaway line to where their new tech came from. But I guess I was prepared for that after Kaixa suddenly had a sidecar bike drive up to him that straight up turned into a Sentai mech and not even Keitarou thought that was worth mentioning.

Anyway, uh, yeah. This is where the strongest part of Faiz lay, and why I wish the show focused on Takumi and Kiba a lot more and why I wish it went different places with it. Their dynamic is so fascinating even if their mistaking each other for the enemy does get a bit tiring, and I just adore the idea of the beat-up-monsters-save-the-day-our-hero-kamen-rider formula getting subverted by the actual monster of the week being arguably the bigger hero here, and how Faiz should be questioning things a lot more.

Also, shoutout to that Pizza guy, who I was so glad didn't die and I was kinda confused didn't show up again. I liked him a lot and I swear I wish half of my bosses were as nice as him.

Faiz 23-24:

Everyone has it real rough these episodes. Lucky Clover has it rough because their whole recruitment drive is going terribly, with their candidates being, as Murakami might say, the lowest of the low. Yuuji has it rough because his new friendship lasted all of 20 minutes. Takkun has it rough because he's making a genuine effort to get to know Kusaka, which is like talking to a brick wall. Kusaka has it rough because all his plans keep failing miserably. Mari has it rough because she has to fend off two different borderline stalkers. Yuka has it rough because Kaidou won't notice her. And Kaidou has it rough because Yuka deliberately gave him terrible advice to sabotage his already nonexistent chances with Mari.

It's okay for Kaidou, though, because unlike those other losers, he knows how to press forward in life. Why, by the end of 24 he's even successfully stolen both Rider belts with the help of the new buddy he made after saving him from committing suicide. You know, because he's such a hero that way? And that plan to get the belts? Totally airtight. Takumi and Kusaka never saw it coming. Well, okay, that's a lie. It's actually one of the more baffling moments in the whole show. I think it's mostly a matter of the way it's edited out. The idea was probably supposed to be that after Kaidou and his pal run off, Takumi and Kusaka sorta go into recon mode, and search around on their bikes for a bit. But in execution, it just looks like they randomly decided to detransform and pack away their Gear before giving chase, which makes Kaidou's extremely silly plan look even more impossibly stupid.

Honestly, though? The whole thing is so much fun I don't even care how arbitrary it is. Actually, these episodes in general are crazy fun. Kaixa even starts dual-wielding his guns and blasting away at one point. It's amazing!

...Unlike Agony's subs for this show, which I'm still flopping back and forth on how much I like. There's no Faiz Mistranslation Corner this time, again, but that's only because all the botched lines I saw in Agony's version were completely accurate, if clunky, in TV-Nihon's. Which has been happening a lot lately, and it's getting frustrating seeing how "one step forward, two steps back" this whole situation is.

Still though, dual-wielding Kaixa, am I right?

https://i.imgur.com/YyGFEla.jpg

W 23-24:

These are some of the weirdest and most memorable episodes of the show. Really, I'm only even saying "some of" on the off chance I've just forgotten something that comes later. This arc is strange. I also remember it very fondly for whatever reason. I couldn't tell you for the life of me if it's a good set of episodes, or a bad one, but I distinctly recall at the time, that somewhere in here, it just sort of hit me how much fun I was having with this show. Like I hadn't really thought about it at all up to this point. I know saying Double is fun is like saying water is wet, but that's what goes through my head seeing this arc again.

Given that it revolves around a local singing competition, this is probably also a great time to get in a mention of how much effort Double went to when it came to world-building with Fuuto. It could've gotten away with a lot less, but, even though the show doesn't always rub it all in your face, you've got a big landmark, a city mascot, a fairly large cast of recurring citizens from widespread walks of life, a local celebrity or two, and even what finally gets alluded to here, the fact that the insert themes are technically meant to be the work of in-universe bands. The extra attention to detail helps you buy Fuuto as a "real" place, and makes it that much easier to connect with Shoutarou's attachment to it.

I never thought about it much before but when you put it like that, looking back that's probably why W worked so well for me as an entry point. You feel a -lot- closer to Futo's citizens and everything feels a lot more solid and relatable; which is especially important when Shotaro has such a huge thing about Futo being his backyard and wanting to be there for the citizens -- which, much like W's design, is just a perfect way to update Kamen Rider's core points while still changing significant areas to be your own unique thing.

Most Kamen Riders kind of have a thing about protecting the citizens, and often characters of the week fill it in well; but I think just how specifically W does it and how much it develops their jobs and landmarks is what gives you a much better idea of Futo than, I dunno; The City Where Ex-Aid's Hospital Is, or That Place Wizard Always Fights In. And that's not to knock those shows, I like them; but it just speaks more to how strong W is.

Maybe that's part of why I often easily think of W, OOO and Fourze as a good trilogy, because the latter two had similarly strong worldbuilding though on different scales; ie a small community and a high school respectively. All three of these have a VERY strong sense of setting and background compared to most Rider shows which generally just go for The City, which is fine and often works well enough, but there's a reason I look so fondly back on this 'trilogy' as a golden era of Rider.

Faiz 25-26:

Okay, full disclosure, I probably let the Faiz Accel off the hook a little too easily. Apparently the Delta Gear was just with one of the other Ryuusei school children this whole time, which I had forgotten was the explanation for where that's been. So maybe Hanagata got some things mixed up while he was getting the belts to everyone before the series or something. I don't know. I'm also ignoring the actual issue here, which is that the show doesn't directly address this at all.

On the flipside, these episodes do support my point about how out of character it would be for Takumi to ask for expository dialogue, considering that when he comes home to someone he's never seen before chatting it up with Keitarou, his immediate reaction is total silence, followed by completely ignoring their presence altogether. It's okay though, they start bonding over their mutual dislike of hot drinks afterwards.

Anyway, these episodes are once again a good time. I really love seeing Takumi and Kusaka getting hunted down by their own alter egos, so to speak, which is one of those delightful things about Faiz you just don't get anywhere else. It'd be one thing to see them getting chased through dark rooms deep underground, or even for that to happen when they don't have their belts. But for the monsters chasing them to be using those belts? It's just great.

では、久々のファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだ！

https://i.imgur.com/pmYPVQ0.jpg

「二度と這い上がれない闇というものがある」

Finally found a mistake in common again! I shouldn't be happy about that, especially when there are still so many mistakes exclusive to either sub group, but I kinda liked doing these.

Murakami here is talking to Takuma and Kageyama about how by betraying Smart Brain, Hanagata fell into darkness. His followup words of warning to them are about how there's darkness you can't ever rise up from again. He's giving them an extremely melodramatic threat that reflects his character. If you cross a line he thinks you shouldn't, you're done to him, and that's that.

W 25-26:

I feel like this arc was a little uneven for whatever reason, but the good things about it are definitely quite good. The Dopant is another very out there, creative concept that differs from the norm, the villain has a pretty compelling motivation for turning to crime, the developing sideplot with Isaka is fun, and most of all, it agrees with me that it's not important where the Faiz Accel came from!

https://i.imgur.com/qSx9mdV.jpg

That's the one with the puppeteer, right? For some reason, the image of Accel doing his Maximum Drive against a tiny wooden doll was one that really stuck with me.

Faiz 27-28:

I really love the way Delta is just this mysterious figure for a few episodes, always popping up slightly out of focus or occasionally creeping around in bushes. Something about that air of mystery really adds to the weight of a new Rider debuting. It's cool. Much like these episodes, which have a ton going on, even by this show's fairly high standards of stuff happening.

You've got the scenes with Takumi and Kimura, which do an astonishingly good job of getting into the kind of character Takkun is. You get to see a lot of different aspects of his personality in play, including both the good parts, and some of the uglier ones that haven't been as apparent lately, since he's largely accepted Mari and Keitarou as his friends, and is even starting to begrudgingly allow Kusaka's presence. Actually, I always thought it was funny how well Faiz and Kaixa tend to work together given all the stuff that goes down between them. When they have a common goal, they actually work towards it without too much friction. Unlike the Ryuusei children, who really need to get their crap together. This Delta Gear stuff is getting them way too worked up. It's a shame there isn't some guy out there that would be able to handle the Delta Gear's addictive power. Someone perfect for the job, too mellow, too utterly wimpy to ever hold any delusions of grandeur!

Well, I guess we'll just have to make due with Kitazaki for now. He is pretty mellow, at least. The new villains here are both super memorable. Kitazaki's been hyped up for about a fourth of the show by now, and he doesn't disappoint. He's creepy, and so powerful he can destroy things basically just by existing. Sawada is someone I'll probably want to wait until his story wraps up to really talk about, but for now, I'll say he has one of my favorite monster designs in the series. I think it's entirely down to the creepy cyclops look, but what can I say? That always works for a bad guy.

Oh, and I don't have a smooth transition for this bit, but I love how proactive Mari is when she gets held hostage here. It wouldn't have much effect on how the story plays out either way, so props to Inoue for specifically having her cut her own ropes with a piece of broken glass, which is a lot more true to her personality than if Takumi just sliced them open when he got there or something.

では、今回もちゃんとやってるファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだ！

https://i.imgur.com/Z09mL9X.jpg

「お前らを見てればよくわかる」

This cutting remark should be more along the lines of "That's obvious enough looking at you two". Kusaka is saying this in response to Kyousuke and Arai, who have become total jerks after using the Delta Gear, talking about how Delta's power, like, totally chaaaanges people, man! Kusaka is mocking them for being petty degenerates. Which I know is rich, coming from him, but that just lets you know how low these guys have sunken.

W 27-28:

Okay, I might have undersold how much I actually like Accel. First of all, just to get this out of the way, that suit is gorgeous. The sharp lines, the delicious crimson color, the way the blue visor pops, it's pretty much perfect. He looks like the protagonist. It's basically a checklist of tried and true Heisei Rider design elements, which is the perfect contrast to Double, a design that made it a point to be both its own unique thing, and a Showa throwback. The contrast then extends to the characters, with Ryuu being the hot-blooded supercop who seems like he could headline his own show, as opposed to Shoutarou, the hard-boiled(ish) detective who does.

The way the show bounces the focus back and forth between them in the middle of arcs is impressive, and in the 10 episodes Accel's been around so far, I've yet to feel either one was ever overshadowed by the other. Which is all the more impressive for these episodes, which deal heavily with Ryuu's desire for revenge, offering up a satisfying character arc about him coming to further understand what it means to be one of Fuuto's Kamen Riders. It's intense. It's dramatic, and all throughout Shoutarou and Philip get plenty of great moments too. This is another one of those W arcs that just totally hits it out of the park.

Yup! And that's definitely a memorable target for a finishing move. :lol

Decided to watch the OOO and Fourze crossover movie despite not having seen Fourze yet. And I thought it was alot of fun. Made a good epilogue for OOO and a nice intro to Fourze. Once Christmas season is over I'll probably give Fourze a go; It seems like something I'd like.

Fourze was my first so I've naturally got a lot of attachment to it; but I can still confidently say it was very, very good. It follows a similar monster-of-the-week tendency to W and OOO and keeps that strong sense of setting and theming. You saw how enthusiastic and over-the-top FRIENDSHIP IS GREAT Gentaro was in the movie? Yeah that's a regular thing. It's a very fun series, I hope you'll like it!

Just finished Agito and found it really frickin good.While kinda of slow paced wasn't quite the slog that Kuuga was and I really digged the characters. Shouichi just a really nice guy and interesting.Loved the humor moments especially with him and Hikawa.The whole mystery element to the series was great too.

Current ranking:
1. Build+ W(Joint position)
2. Den-O
3. Agito
4. Fourze
5. OOO
6.Kuuga
Probably gonna watch Ryuki next.

That's about how I'd sum up Agito as well. Just a really good, strong series; not the best thing ever but very likeable with some nice characters, some good action and a decent enough story and mystery to string together individual episodes. Very much as archetypal as Kamen Rider can get, but when it's done this well that's hardly a bad thing.

Agito picked up after the first act when it started focusing on being its own thing rather than trying to recapture the magic that Kuuga did. I get that it was originally meant as a direct sequel, but still, the first act came across as trying to capture Kuuga's' style without really having any of its substance.

I always found it kind of... odd how Shouichi at first is portrayed as going into a trance-like state when using Agito's power, but then a few episodes later he basically just goes "Oh I got over that" almost off to the side, and we never hear about it again.

Agito was an awesome series. And he looked fantastic in all his forms.

Agreed. I also disliked how he got his memory back only to immediately lose it again after the debut of Trinity Form. Felt like they did that solely to drag the plot along some more.

Faiz 29-30:

The obvious thing to talk about here is that this is the big turning point where Takumi and Yuuji finally find out each other's secret identity. 29 does a great job leading up to it, showing Takumi starting to harden his stance against Orphenochs in light of recent events (or at least, that's what his mouth says), and having a ton more interaction between the main cast than usual, including getting all six of them at a table together for a conversation that goes absolutely nowhere because all of them are some combination of socially awkward, disinterested, and/or secretive. It's rather delightful to watch. I also how in 30 attention is called to the fact that Takumi didn't even know Yuuji, Yuka, and Kaidou all live together up to this point.

Anyway, once the twist happens, it's more of that awesome parallel storytelling with Takkun and Yuuji as they both figure out how they feel about everything. It also plays off of established character connections since Takumi goes to Yuka to ask her what Yuuji's like, while Yuuji goes to Mari. It's good, introspective stuff, although of course, things still don't end up going very smoothly right away. I'll give Kusaka one thing, he knows how to come up with a plan on short notice.

The less obvious thing that I honestly want to talk about way more is the crazy stupid and crazy awesome one-shot appearance by Faiz's Jet Sliger. It's so great! I feel like there's a fascinating behind-the-scenes story here. I know there was an RC Jet Sliger toy with Faiz as the driver that was probably supposed to be some big ticket item for Bandai, which is why it's so impressive to me the show gave so little of a crap about shilling it. Yeah, Delta drives one and it's cool, but Faiz? He gets a proper fight with Delta's, because, again, the show still remembers to make the stuff it doesn't care about look cool, but the scene lasts barely over a minute before Takkun's slick new ride gets totally trashed. It's so brazen I can't help but love it. It basically admits there's not going to be a lot of room in the plots or budget for the effects to give this thing regular appearances, so instead it tells you, in no uncertain terms, not to get your hopes up.

では、多分期待してもいいファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだ！

https://i.imgur.com/1cWvz3N.jpg

「俺の知ったことかよ」

After Saya's death, Takumi starts talking about how he's decided he's going to wipe out the Orphenochs entirely, further steeling his resolve from the events of episode 17. Mari points out that this probably wouldn't actually make Saya happy, bringing up that even though Sawada has become an Orphenoch, it doesn't change the fact that he's one of the Ryuusei children.

Takumi's response to this is more of a blunt "Like I care". He's actively trying to avoid acknowledging the idea that someone could think of an Orphenoch as a friend, and given what's actually going through his head in scenes like this, I think it's fair to say he definitely didn't already know that. You can even see on his face how hard it hits him when Mari says Saya would've wanted to help Sawada.

W 29-30:

I've always been a huge proponent of shows that keep their storylines largely episodic, and going back through Double has helped me focus in on a lot of why that is. The huge advantage an episodic show has over a serialized one is the inherent freedom of the format. When it comes to a superhero show, what this essentially means is that episodes live or die by how interesting the villain is.

Double, I'm discovering, was probably better at that than any other Rider show. The broad concept of Dopants allows for monsters based on basically anything at all, and that lead to an absurdly varied and creative series of different plots. The show really capitalizes on the inherent potential to deliver arcs that are never quite like each other. They frequently dip their toes into wildly unique tones and even entirely separate genres, all while still keeping a similar enough feel to keep the series cohesive.

This arc is the one that makes me bring this up, because it totally goes for broke on that front.

https://i.imgur.com/38dYTyZ.jpg

You've got all sorts of absurd dream scenarios, leading to all sorts of comic misadventures, all in addition to the usual exciting mystery plot, which actually pulls out some solid twists that will keep you guessing until the end. Plus the continuing development of the overarching storyline. Plus the first time Double has been on his bike since Accel showed up (I think). Which is also nice. Basically these episodes are really good.

Faiz 31-32:

Okay, so the whole telephone game thing with Kaidou and Keitarou in these episodes is more than a bit absurd. The thought that Yuuji would not only rely on a crazier than usual Kaidou for something so important, and not even think to like, write a letter or something, instead of expecting him to just remember what to say? Yeah, not even I have a defense ready for that one. It's a very, very odd way to fit in the comic relief.

On the other hand... I think focusing on that too much overstates the minimal impact it actually has on Takumi and Yuuji's ongoing development, which in spite of this, I don't find too off. The actual roots of their problems run way, way deeper than that, and a huge number of other factors all had to collide to push them to the point they're at. And even then, both of them still want to believe the other. They aren't immediately at each other's throats even after Kusaka's meddling. We see Yuuji making an effort to communicate. We see Takumi questioning Kusaka's truthfulness. Actually getting them to fight takes Takumi's emotions hitting a boiling point after his indecision results in Mari getting horribly injured, and what pushes Yuuji over the edge as a result, more so than Kusaka abusing his trust again, is Takumi saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. It comes off less to me like the show arbitrarily drawing a status quo out, and more like natural growing pains. These are two people, who had never quite become best friends to begin with, trying to work through complex feelings, and the complicated lives they lead prevent them from having the time they need to properly do that.

I don't know. It checks out to me. It's engaging. There's nuance to it. I'm still open to the idea this show will totally fall apart at some point, but I'm not seeing it quite yet.

The Faiz Mistranslation Corner is also on another abrupt break. I probably won't announce this every time if it keeps happening, but since I'm past episode 30, I would like to mention, since I brought it up talking about 17 and 18, that Agony's subs do still have significant changes from TV-N's versions, and they're still not all for the better.

W 31-32:

I kind of don't even know what to say about this one? It's CycloneJoker Xtreme's debut, it's great. You've probably watched it and loved it already. What could I even add? These episodes are arguably the gold standard for final form debuts. The plot has the most perfect yet obvious concept. Put the partnership at the center of the series in question, then build it back up stronger than ever. The usual client and Dopant have a direct connection to Soukichi, adding that extra significance. Shroud questioning Shoutarou's ability to keep up with Philip puts him in this cool, underdog position where you can't help but root for him. There's an extremely memorable use of an insert song. The climactic showdown takes place in a unique location from the norm to make it more special. Everywhere you look, this arc is doing things right.

Nobody's perfect, but I think these episodes might be.

Faiz 33-34:

Hey, we found a guy lame enough to use the Delta Gear! Sure, this Mihara kid is a little rough around the edges, but you never know, give him some time, and he could shape up to be a real hero!

Look, at least that's one thing going right. Everybody else is once again having an extremely crappy time in these episodes. Especially Takumi, who has had his biggest fear in life made reality, which is a pretty big kick in the teeth. The guy himself said he doesn't have much self-confidence early on in the show, and he really wasn't kidding. He blames himself so hard for everything that's happening, he calls up Yuuji basically because he wants someone to beat him up.

34 is also where *the* big twist of the whole series happens, and while I think I'll avoid touching directly on what it is for now (this is your cue to go watch Faiz if you don't already know), I can say I think it's totally brilliant. It has an utterly massive impact on the narrative, and really ties a lot of the show's themes together. Best of all, the way it's foreshadowed is in this perfect sweet spot, where going back through the show, you'll notice details and changes in context that make it clear this was planned from the start, and yet, the show is sure to play its cards so close to its chest that you're extremely unlikely to guess what's going on ahead of time, because there's also a more obvious, equally important surface level to everything happening that you'll naturally be focusing on. It can be hard to do a plot twist that makes sense, and is also genuinely surprising, so I give major props to Faiz for pulling it off.

Of course, I think everybody knows the deal here already, and it's hardly something I can dodge talking about, so I'll probably be getting deeper into it soon, but for now, please enjoy this picture of a cute dog:

https://i.imgur.com/79t7C08.jpg

W 33-34:

This arc is unique for being written by Kazuki Nakashima, who would of course go on to write Fourze. Alongside Riku Sanjo and Keiichi Hasegawa, no less. I think someone at Toei realized what a dream team they had going with Double. Anyways, the point is, I think it's fun to note that these episodes are from a first-time writer for the show, given that they lean very heavily on digging into the past, retroactively fleshing out Kirihiko a bit more, and in the process offering some further closure on that front. It's a good two-parter. I also loved the way the Yesterday Dopant's gimmick of making people repeat their actions was executed. I feel like a worse version of this would make it really grating by like, flashing back to the original events every five seconds like we forgot or something. I'm not totally sure, but at any rate, it felt pretty clever, and is another winner in the long line of wildly unique villain gimmicks in this series.

I'd also like to take this time to finally mention Philip's whiteboards. This is another one of those seemingly little things that, even just on a subconscious level, does wonders to make the show's world feel lived-in and real. Even when attention isn't called to it at all, they're filled with info relevant to whatever topic Philip is currently hot on at the moment. Which means here that, after Philip notices Shoutarou is attracted to this story's client at the start, those things are plastered with jumbled writing about romance. At the start of 34, you can see behind Shoutarou in one shot what appears to be a bullet-pointed list of his personality traits, which includes "half-boiled" as its own item three separate times. All while a completely serious, normal conversation plays out in the foreground. It's great that they put so much effort into literal set dressing. It's the sort of thing I'd love to see collected in a guidebook or the like. If nobody on set ever took clean photos of all these things, it's nothing short of a tragedy.

All of this applies equally to Shoutarou's reports at the end of arcs, by the way, which also have way more written on them than is actually in the accompanying narration.

Well, it sounds like you have to personally take up the job of transcribing every bit of text shown on those whiteboards and reports for the rest of us.

I'm kidding, of course, but I do really appreciate those extra little touches even if I can't actually absorb them myself.

Faiz 35-36:

I have to imagine this is the point in the show that really starts to test the patience of anyone who wasn't already on board with it. This is a downbeat set of episodes, and it's easy to see why they'd be grating to someone who never formed any attachment to these characters. Of course, I rather like all of these people, so this is an extremely interesting stretch of the show to me. The situation with Takumi plays out wonderfully, and a lot of that is in how the show largely communicates his character through his actions more than his words. You get a great sense of how much he's come to care about Mari, and his decision to actively reject the Faiz Gear, after it's been long established how much being Faiz means to him, says volumes about where he's at in life.

Once again, his relationship with Yuuji takes another turn, with them having another great scene at the same batting cages from back in episode 17. This ends up with Yuuji becoming our fifth Faiz, a development which I think pretty much anyone watching the show was waiting for. Because they had to do it, you know? How could you not? Keitarou and Mari are also great here, with everything they're dealing with. I especially like that, once again, Keitarou is the first person to reach out to Takkun when things start getting icy between them. Unlike Kusaka, who is characteristically Kusaka-ish throughout this whole process.

And let's not forget my guy Mihara's big steps in 35. Finishing off his first monster and everything, I'm so proud of him! Kitazaki never even did one Rider Kick when he was Delta! That's how I know this kid's got potential.

では、たまにだけやるようになちゃったのファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだ！

https://i.imgur.com/jGdycsP.jpg

「俺は君のようにはなれない」

Mihara is saying "I can't be like you" here. As in, he doesn't believe he has what it takes to be a Rider like Kusaka is. Obviously he isn't doing what Kusaka asks, by extension, but that's not the line, and Mihara generally isn't that assertive.

W 35-36:

This is another arc that always springs to mind whenever I think about Double. Probably in large part because I love Accel Trial quite a bit. You know, blue things and fast things both being easy sells for me and all. But the actual plot here, it's fantastic, and has that kind of intensity to it I don't think you get a whole lot outside of shows like Double. The way Ryuu's arc is resolved here is super clever. Despite some flashes of it still popping up here or there, he's largely already grown past his single-minded focus on revenge, and rather than wind that back, the episodes work with it. The focus isn't on showing him overcoming his faults, but instead on how over time, his motivation for being a Kamen Rider has naturally changed, and in the end, he beats Isaka basically as any random Dopant, rather than as the guy who killed his family.

Isaka himself was also just a great bad guy, and this is a fitting sendoff for the guy. In general, the backstabbing upper-class scumbag drama of Double's villains is always entertaining, but Isaka is a lot more direct about getting involved in the fight scenes, and it was always very clear what a tough customer Weather was.

I also love the sort of old-school feel of Ryuu doing wildly intense, needlessly dangerous training to master the Trial Memory, which is another reason this arc is so memorable to me. They don't even hold back the debut for dramatic impact. He transforms before 36's opening even plays, and the rest of the episode is just him learning how to kick things. You know what else is old-school? The Weather Dopant awkwardly disappearing for a few frames when he explodes because someone cut the footage wrong. I guess that's objectively a problem, but honestly, it really does enhance the Showa throwback vibe.

Talking of Weather, unless I missed you saying so; how can you not bring up that awesome meta-fake out of him being the holder of the 'W Memory' when he's first introduced? That was great and prepares you for the idea of him being super important to a main protagonist -- and then he turns out to not be that! But he is in a completely different way!

I just found it a super fun way to mess with the audience.

Faiz 37-38:

First off, I'd like to take a second to correct the mistake I realized I made in my last post saying Yuuji was the fifth Faiz. He's actually the sixth. Apparently Kusaka tricked me too, because I forgot to count him. So for those keeping track at home, that's Takkun (duh), that random goon from episode 4, Kaidou, Takuma, Kusaka, and now Yuuji.

Anyway, these episodes are fantastic. There's so much to talk about. First of all, the thought that 3 entire episodes of a Kamen Rider show can go by without the main hero being the main hero, totally unprecedented, I love it. It gives Yuuji his chance to shine while it lasts, even getting to do both a Rider Kick and a Punch, plus an appearance by Accel Form, but more than that, it really stresses how out of whack things are right now. The trick is, every other time this has happened, Takumi usually loses the belt in an episode where he's already used it, and then gets it back and uses it again in the next episode. Even though other people had a turn, it was always clear who the real star was. But right now, that's all out the window, and it's a perfect payoff and escalation to this show establishing early on that this kind of thing can happen.

Of course, Takumi still gets in on the action though. He even gets his turn as Delta, which is another fun little aspect of all the belts getting tossed around. The show specifically made sure to give the main two Riders a go at being the third. It's not dramatically significant or anything, but it's just kind of cute, you know?

Speaking of Delta, Mihara gets slapped around a fair bit here. Heck, towards the end of 38, he only gets as far as putting the belt on before getting smacked to the side. It's okay, though! He's a tough kid, I'm sure he'll bounce right back from this.

I believe this is also the first time outside of the opening (and the movie which was out by now) they actually used the fancy light-up version of the Faiz suit. And Kaixa. They saved it for a rather important scene, too. I remember always wishing they would've used those more, but honestly, considering that there's absolutely no way those poor suit actors can see a thing filming in the dark like that, I seriously can't blame them.

では、責めることが平気でできるファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだ！

https://i.imgur.com/gVubaiS.jpg

「姿を消せた？」

These episodes were rougher than they've been lately, and while there's a lot to pick from, this is the first thing that jumped out at me. This is Murakami speaking, having just received the news that Takumi went missing... or, er, "erased his form", I guess. I feel slightly bad picking on this one, since it's one of those translations that's technically accurate, if only in the most overly literal way possible, but I don't think anyone reading this would be able to figure out what the heck the conversation is actually about.

W 37-38:

I've updated my theory on the Masquerade Dopants in light of some new evidence. During 38's climax, FangJoker uses a Maximum Drive on a bunch of them, but you can still see them all laying on the ground after they explode this time. However, the next time the camera cuts back to where they were, there's no sign of them anywhere. So my new conclusion is that these guys are just really, really good at running away, and usually do so with such speed, the explosion effect hasn't even disappeared by the time they're gone. Like they basically use it as a smoke bomb?

It's one explanation, anyway. As for the episodes themselves, they're real good. It's another arc focused on Philip and Wakana, just like 13-14, and both written by Keiichi Hasegawa, so it's got everything that made those episodes great, but with the added drama of a status quo that's been changing over like half a year since then. I also appreciate Nobody's Perfect being played again over a big moment for Philip, after being used more for Shoutarou the first time. Once again, the show does a good job of keeping both the main protagonists on an equal level.

Also, Masaki Suda has mad charisma as Philip, by the way. I don't think I've specifically mentioned that yet, but it's seriously no wonder he hit it as big as he did after this show.

I'm a little lost on this one. Is there an entire plot twist I forgot about, or are you just talking about how they gave his Memory the same letter as the show? Because I have always thought that was neat, since he's such a major villain, and I did forget to mention that, but I don't think it's actually meant to trick the audience or anything. There's a clear difference between "Double" and "double-you".

Although to be fair, back when I originally watched the show and wasn't paying too much attention to the audio, I do remember being very confused for a while. :lol

I cannot tell or not if you are building up to saying Mihara is one of your favourite characters or if you're making a reoccurring joke about how he only became the 'default' Delta because it had to go to somebody.

I’ve given it a chance, but after 10 episodes, I really can’t get into Kuuga. It’s just really tedious to watch for me. Should I carry on and hope for a pick-up, or just drop it and move onto something else?

If it's not your thing, there's nothing wrong with moving onto a different show!

In any case, Fish has now written more about Mihara than anyone else, including the writers who worked on the show.