Train, toku villain

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 15 - “MEDAL COMBAT, TRANSPORT, AND POTENTIAL”

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MEDAL COMBAT:
This episode’s structure is what I think of the most when I think about OOO, despite its semi-unusual nature. There isn’t a person being saved, and it doesn’t split its focus into two parts, and the Yummy for the story is just Gamel’s backup. It’s not really a story where a person grapples with their own desires and is forced to accept limitations on their obsessions, despite also being 1000% about that. This one-off is mostly about people gaining and losing Core Medals, and that’s the most OOO thing in the world to me.

There’s the thematic value to it as a story driver, for sure – the lust for power, the need to feel whole, the way an object’s totemic qualities can drive people crazy, all exemplified by the year’s collectible. But it’s the way the shifting fortunes of hero and villain alike ramp up the story and turn every combat into a different tactical challenge that really makes this concept an iconic one to me. Like, just having Eiji try to figure out a way to survive a three-on-one fight with SaGoZou, which is mostly just used to lock a single opponent in place? Fun! Fun limitation to the stock fight sequence!

It’s an episode that feels fraught and dangerous at all times, coming off more as the penultimate episode of the series rather than the penultimate episode of the first act. There’s genuine danger as Eiji and Ankh whittle down their selection of Medals, and real triumph to Gotou’s bit of heroism by sneakily rescuing the other two Medals of TaToBa. It’s just a rich episode, for how much can change in a single scene, which is maybe fitting for the Heist episode!

TRANSPORT:
Which, it’s a Heist episode!

I love that it’s a heist with the laziest possible participants – Kazari basically saying This Is A Trap, and Ankh being like I Need Medals So What The Hell. Kazari is mostly using the lure of Cell Medals (and maybe a Core Medal) to draw all of his Greeed victims out into the open, which is the most relevant of OOO ways to plan a betrayal: he’s using their desires against them, up and down the roster. There are a bunch of moving pieces to Kazari’s scheme, and yet it’s also just distraction after distraction so he can get the drop on whoever is least expecting it at any given time. He’s sending everyone running, and then picking them off one by one. It’s not the densest plot, but it’s enormously effective at increasing tension and surprising the viewer.

Some of that tension is thanks to an actually pretty thrilling chase sequence? The Gotou/Uva car chase is one of the better vehicular stunts I’ve seen on a Kamen Rider TV show, using a treacherous mountainside highway to let the automotive mayhem do its work in giving the villains a pretty resounding victory. It uses some extended takes to keep the action visceral, using only a couple fakey interior shots to clarify the participants. It’s a solid chase sequence by any standard, not just TV Budget.

AND POTENTIAL:
Plus, we’re in an episode that’s all about leveling up out of tired ideas that aren’t working, so why not imbue the quick chase scene with that?

There’s so much to like in the possibility of Kazari deciding that being one of many Greeed isn’t interesting to him anymore, and in Eiji deciding that his dynamic with Ankh is keeping both of them from getting what they want. I like shows that can have characters in the story fight against the boring routines that a lesser show would build as its sturdy status quo. Kazari would rather risk it all on being the only Greeed than rehash his plans from 800 years ago, while Eiji reframes his existential battle with Ankh into the sort of mercenary terms that an avaricious avian asshole can understand. (A year’s worth of ice cream, and Eiji’s vow to help Ankh recoup his Core Medals, to get Ankh to help rescue Hina. And Hina says Thanks! And Ankh has no idea why because obviously he’s only doing this because there’s something in it for him!!!) This whole episode is talking about the ruts that people can get into because of their desires, and that breaking out of them can actually get you more than you might’ve landed ordinarily. Good for our heroes, but sort of bad for heroes too, thanks to Kazari’s successful gambit!

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This is one of two episodes of the show I’ve seen lately (namely, last month) and I couldn’t remember what happens in it to save my life.

I respect the show for having Eiji stop the caravan and explain to Gotou what’s going on instead of just attacking it to save Hina. It always feels like a pleasant surprise when characters on a Kamen Rider show resolve their issues with communication instead of punches and assumptions.

Though I agree highlighting those more'd work better, result/outcome-wise, Tamura'd still not fail even for having those qualities, because she'd still have those skills. It'd still benefit people and build a good rep for her, still making people want her for the operations. Rather like, Ankh protecting Hina in ep. 15 I guess. The "all skill" would still be there.

Guess this'd be OOO's main theme, a 'battle royale' (wouldn't be noticed by people because it's not about many Riders - also Kobayashi brought Ryuki) among the Greeeds to collect the Core/Cell Medals. The Greeeds usually got their Medals stolen/returning back before they retreat from battle while the Yummies got destroyed. Though this format also can lead to pure luck without planning, like ep. 12 in OOO gaining SaGoZou by pure luck despite Ankh only ordering him and him jumping into a battle too much for him to handle. Seems Hina's super strength isn't enough to fight Greeeds, or at least Gamel (the brute/physical one). Eiji steps up further to use 2 combos in 1 henshin.

Kobayashi makes cat-themed fighters traitors who constantly backstab their teammates... first Tiger from Ryuki, and now Kazari. Some people have a tendency to view only the kind people as the one susceptible to manipulation, where their virtue is a weakness, and that they should dispose their morality to survive, like Eiji being seemingly deceived that Hina was kidnapped, but villains can be manipulated as well, as said there, them wanting something can be exploited to make them do something. Being manipulated is often used to deflect blames from the 'fundamentally good' victim (who for example, helped the villain's schemes) to insist that it's only the manipulator's fault ignoring said person's agency (e.g. "they didn't meant to commit that!"), while denying the fact that villains can be manipulated too.

Not all the characters on the good side want to help/do good things for the right thing (and not about those who both want something, but does care about others and do right things), even in more lighthearted shows, where the fanbase seem to think only darker shows feature ambiguous morality, like Ryuki having most of the Riders only caring and fighting for their own desires, where here Ankh only helps for personal gain. People'd think villains who help/benefit the heroes for said mutual benefit 'redeemed', like Kuroto in Ex-Aid or Evolt in Build V-Cin. It'd be dangerous if these type of people get better offer from the villains' side, which can likely get them to switch side and make things harder for the remaining heroes.

It's a nice moment, and it becomes a funny moment when Gotou is annoyed at the entire situation. His little You're Not Really Shadowing Me If You Tell Me About It dig! Eiji's just trying to be polite about all of this and Gotou snarks at him! It's a good twist in a typical setup.

She still does pretty well for being a solitary scared human!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 16 - “A CONCLUSION, A GREEED, AND A NEW RIDER”

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A CONCLUSION:
Is this it for Mezool and Gamel? I honestly don’t remember.

If it is the end for Tank Top and Girl, it’s a sort of underwhelming conclusion for the two of them. It’s interesting in how their bond is used to showcase both the innate desire of the Greeed for things like love and safety, while still being amplified to an unnatural hunger that threatens the world. But it feels a little light on individual conflict, keeping Mezool and Gamel apart until Gamel gets absorbed into Mezool and then Mezool gets flooded with Medals until she becomes a giant CG amphibian monstrosity. It all happens sort of quickly, and the episode doesn’t make it enough of a focal point for my liking.

(I mean, it’s for sure a part of this episode, and there’s been enough groundwork to the Mezool and Gamel relationship to still make their destruction affecting, but I’d’ve definitely liked this more if we’d seen them together for a little longer in this episode.)

It’s a smart way to raise the stakes, to seemingly (?) knock off half of our named antagonists to illustrate the danger and peril of the Greeed.

A GREEED:
Which is what this one’s really all about, in a way that’s less expository than it is exhilarating.

All of this could’ve been super dry, with Eiji learning more about the origins of the Greeed while Maki runs his diabolical experiments until things get destructive enough to qualify as an Act Break. But it manages just enough ambiguity to entertain, building out both the menace and the tragedy of the Greeed at the same time.

For an episode that’s nominally about defining the threat of the Greeed gaining their Core Medals – via a large amphibious monster wrecking an empty park – there’s so much fascinating sadness to the Greeed’s existence that we learn about from Kougami’s exposition. Ankh’s a pissy baby, Uva’s a slimy doofus, Kazari’s a duplicitous prick, Mezool’s an untrustworthy matron, and Gamel’s a blundering child, but they’re all driven by a need to reclaim their Core Medals. There’s a (if you’ll pardon the pun) core deficiency to their lives as Greeed – they’re all missing a part of themselves from birth, and their existence is about trying to reclaim that missing part of themself. Their lives are the rapacious hunger brought about by an unfillable void, and the existential terror that knows how easily they could be reduced to nothingness. (Much like, uh, everyone!) In that light, Kazari and Ankh’s quest to collect Core Medals feels less like world domination than it does the fervent hope that mortality can be held at bay, and maybe some solace can be found in its place.

It’s agreeably sad, that aspect of the Greeed. It’s a thing that Eiji can lock onto as a reason to help Ankh – this isn’t about power, or malice, it’s about someone who wants to feel safe, and needs a hand obtaining that safety. Who could say no to that?

AND A NEW RIDER:
Probably the new guy!

It’s a solid debut for what I remember being one of my favorite characters in Kamen Rider. Birth gets the standard Secondary introduction of absolutely demolishing an enemy with the sort of pyrotechnic display and overwhelming firepower that we will never, ever see again as he struggles to hold off Pseudo-Yummies or that corgi who barked at Ankh or whatever. This is his birthday, so he gets to be the special boy.

Everything about Birth is so smart, aesthetically. We’re in the Coin-Operated show, so naturally the new Rider is a goddamn Gashapon machine. (That little POP! I love it.) Where OOO runs on Core Medals, Birth churns out his form changes through Cell Medals. Where OOO is about the power of desire as a cornerstone of civilization, Birth is the raw avarice that undergirds the system. OOO is the spirit, Birth is the body. And so on, and so forth.

He’s great, in just this little bit we see from the end of this episode. (He carries around his instruction manual! I love it.) Very excited to get to talk more about this guy soon!

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Oh man, this is the moment I've been waiting for. No disrespect to Ankh, Eiji, and everyone else, but this is where the show really begins.

Now this one I do remember slightly. Mostly for the new guy’s debut, mostly for Eiji not recognising Gamel in a crowd (you’d think that even if he’s never seen his face, he’d recognise his voice).

And talking of the new guy, he’s someone else with a prior Toku role. Specifically, Hiroaki Iwanaga, who had two years prior played Eiji Ishiguro/R5 in Tomica Hero Rescue Force and its sequel Tomica Hero Rescue Fire. Notably, both are some sort of Showa-era throwback, with R5 having the mannerisms of a Showa era Kamen Rider, while Birth resembles Ichigou in terms of colour scheme.

Also, can we talk about how his gun catches the shells and uses them to reload? Probably one of the most obvious “this is a toy” elements in OOO (another being the random circle OOO has on his back in every form - a relic of the budget action figure gimmick wherein the circle is a button you press to separate the parts for mix and match purposes)

Ugh.

He's so fun!

I never knew that! Neat!

Sometimes you gotta go through hell to get to heaven!

I don't know if this'd be a spoiler (this is my first time watching OOO), but this shouldn't be an end for Mezool, as her true desire that I've read somewhere hasn't been revealed yet. OOO's blue combo ShaUTa. should likely come from Mezool, also hasn't appeared yet. Guess it's not only the heroes that wants nothing for themselves like Eiji, Gamel also only wants to take care of his mother figure Mezool, rather like Julio/Tamaki in Revice wanting to take care of Aguilera. Mezool claims to love him, but it still feels that Mezool is also taking advantage of him, rather like the other Greeeds like Uva hunting Mezool before.

Though the tragedy does increase the sympathy points for them, it'd still be villainy from them to try to survive as they do it by creating the Yummies to farm for Cell Medals and hurting innocents in the process, they're not only attacking each other to gain the Cores. This'd be like if the Ryuki Riders more actively feed their Contract Monsters to humans (done by the most evil Riders like Ouja), where it's something required so they won't get eaten by their monsters other than killing Mirror Monsters. Other than that, this also shows Kougami's character that, this reminds me of Sougo where he encourages even his foes to fight for their dreams, but Kougami won't ever intervene in someone's actions (where obviously Sougo stops evil-doers), even if it's depraved like Maki's, he'd let others achieve their desires even if they'd commit heinous crimes in the process.

With Goto talking to Maki (for a reasonable one this time, to arrest Maki for kidnapping Hina, as Eiji accurately predicted about the truck), and Maki talking about the new Rider system being completed (as usual, the heroes' powers would come from evil, Maki being the creator of them, and he knows it that he can't be arrested or OOO wouldn't get help), it's expected that Goto would be the one wielding Birth, but it's a red herring that, turns out it's Akira Date instead.

Yuri also wanted to save the world, which was considered conventional heroism for his time, but by interacting with Touma, he realized that heroism had grown to become saving the people who live in the world, as the people are what make the world worth saving.

As mentioned by Die, saving the world can often be a tricky obsession for Secondary Riders. At worst, they can actually become the problem that the world needs saving from, like Tachibana, Kumon Kaito, Daiji and Keiwa, when their sense of justice becomes warped by what they see as being wrong with the world. It's good to have a vision for a better future, only as long as the present doesn't have to suffer for it.

I love the part where Tajadol briefly has green eyes before it gets ruined by more red.

Not sure if this is a rhetorical question? I wouldn't want to spoil if you don't want me to answer.

Ankh was literally born from desire, so it's like he doesn't know how to be anything else. It's a good contrast to Eiji, a secretly depressed martyr who doesn't know how to want for more. They need each other.

It's thematically appropriate, but I'll admit I'm not too fond of the suit design. Not that it's bad or anything like that, it's much better than Diend, but not as cool as Accel or Meteor.

I like him even more than DreamSword does. :p

And a future Tokusatsu role as well, with Iwanaga later becoming the new generation Uchuu Keiji Shaider.

I didn't have a good place to bring this up, but I really appreciated the show giving a little screentime to Gotou confronting Maki about Hina's kidnapping. While Kougami is typically Do As Though Wilt in regards to his mad scientist's troubling tendency towards felonious kidnapping, Gotou recognizes this as a bridge too far, even if he quickly gets led astray again by the temptation of the Birth Driver. (It's also gotta be especially galling for Gotou, since he was the one who personally assured Eiji that there was no way Hina had been kidnapped and shoved in a van. WHOOPS.)

It's rhetorical in the sense that I don't want an answer, but it's not rhetorical in the sense that I literally do not remember if this is it for Mezool and Gamel. I don't remember basically anything about this show!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 17 - “A KENDO GIRL, ODEN, AND A DIVIDING YUMMY”

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A KENDO GIRL:
After an episode that largely eschewed any Real People Dealing With Real Problems stuff (other than, uh, being kidnapped?), this episode goes back to the tried and true two-episode Yummy Trouble format, as a kendo girl deals with hidden personal issues and incredibly visible Yummy issues.

The problem with your typical Yummy Trouble plot is that you’ll often get the effect in Part 1, but the cause in Part 2. It’s good for building a mystery – what deep-seated personal issues are driving Shiratori, and how is Uva profiting off of them – but sort of not great for talking about at this stage of the story. Shiratori is clearly bothered by something, but what it is specifically will have to wait for further investigation and/or detonation.

At first glance, we’re dealing with her need to be stronger, which tracks with her lack of success in a kendo match, but the Yummy dividing seems more crucial than its fighting prowess; I feel like we’re in a story about loneliness, not a story about a girl who wants to physically dominate her competition. But we’ll know for sure next episode!

ODEN:
Okay, there, I talked about something other than Date. I did my job! Now it’s time for the fun part.

Date is so, so fun. He’s exactly the sort of guy Kougami would hire as his Kamen Rider: an uninquisitive blowhard who’s charmingly self-centered, and willing to do any weird thing to achieve his goals. Kougami couldn’t be more pleased with this guy if he were a sentient cake. (Kougami reading over Date’s CV all bug-eyed and sweaty, shouting SPLENDID! at every page.) Where Eiji is Good and Ankh is Evil, Date’s just, like, Chaotic. He’s here to do his job, he’s not going to try super hard, and he’s mildly sorry for you if that screws up your whole thing. He just works here! Take it up with Kougami!

The first full Birth fight scene follows those beats pretty closely, with some completely sloppy shooting and a general unfamiliarity with whatever is going on. (He still calls Ankh “Anko”! It’s great!) A ton of it is For Display Purposes-style combat, showing off not just the cool new gun but all the cool powers of the Birth system for children that may be inspired to badger their parents for post-New Year's toys. I’m a sucker for all of it, though, so this is in no way a complaint. I’m a huge mark for the POP of the Henshin, the coin operation of each power, the CHNG CHNG CHNG of the gun… I love it all, it’s incredibly fun to see in action.

And even when he’s not being Birth, I like that Date is just chilling out at an oden stall? His job is to go collect Cell Medals, and he can’t do that until a Yummy pops up. He’s sort of vaguely investigating Shiratori, because that’s his lead on the Yummy, but saving her isn’t his job or anything. He’s after Cell Medals, and it’s not personal.

That’s sort of the part I like the best? We’ll get into Date’s motivation in a little bit, but I like how even in this episode, we’re talking about how desires intersect with needing to earn a living. There’s what you want, and what you have to do to get it, and what skills you can apply to the process. How those steer people in different ways is a fun thing to discuss in a show like this. I’m glad to see the new Rider already opening up new topics!

AND A DIVIDING YUMMY:
look i told you that i wanted to talk about date and i did and now we’re done

(Okay, one thing: the fight between OOO, Ankh, and the two Yummies takes place in the same partially-outdoor parking garage as the recent debut fight for Vram on Gavv. I loved that fight! And this one was good, too!)

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So here we are, at the full debut of the new guy. Given how people feel they’re justified in complaining that the Zein a driver doesn’t shred the cards (even though said cards are typically made of plastic, not paper, and would probably jam the blades of any shredder), I feel justified in jokingly complaining about the fact the Birth Driver toy doesn’t disintegrate the Cell Medals (not even the CSM).

And now, the obligatory guest star highlight.

Sentai-lert!

The Sensei our Yummy victim has a student crush on is played by Mitsuomi Takahashi, better known as Satoru Akashi/BoukenRed of GoGo Sentai Boukenger.

And as for our Yummy victim herself (how big is her desire? She makes two Japanese Beetle Brother Yummies out of it), she later went on to be married to a guy whose Rider association is with Hearts during his Ultra Blaze-r of glory

Aw, good for them!

There are also several secondaries whose conflict with the primary is about the primary dreaming big to save everyone and achieve improbable best-case scenarios, dismissing their idealism to achieve long-term ideal possibilities, perhaps like Ren (who wants to save Eri) dismissing Shinji wanting to save everyone as naive. Oh, I guess rather than saving the world, the primary Rider type often proclaims to want to save everyone, which can correlate to want to save entire world too. And among those, people'd see Keiwa as the type who's focused on little ways to change the world for the better, not tempted by desires (only joining the DGP to protect others), putting others (e.g. giving Boost) above it/winning. His heel turn is just seen as natural/depraved world of Geats failing him, they think people like other main Rider-type would all snap too like Keiwa if put in his position.

Even Tsukuba was also bothered when he realizes that the Yummy born from his desires was actually attacking people. Guess though people'd like to depict desires and ambition negatively (where Eiji is too tolerant), having them doesn't necessarily make one want to throw people under the bus to achieve it. Eiji did console her to say that the monster just has the untampered desire of the person that spawned it and thus it has different will to just attack. Though Eiji can fight untransformed well, he really struggles against this one Yummy, as he claims that it's made of metal.

While it's common for secondaries to be darker characters, dunno about depicting Date negatively here to deem him as self-centered or ruthless (the willing to do any weird thing part). He does get in Ankh's way to survive and collect Cell Medals, but inconveniencing the protagonist isn't something bad in someone, in actuality, Ankh'd be the suspicious one as he claims he'd create Yummies if he can (you refer to him as Evil here, but still talk about him as 'the heroes' otherwise). Date is a rare type of secondary where he's the happy-go-lucky type, and is amiable with the other Riders from the start, and he also warns Eiji and Ankh about being shot in his battle too.

I'd even say if someone's truly good, it's a greater indication if they'd save people outside of their job, rather than doing it because of their job. Like, someone having a noble occupation like soldier, cop, or doctor doesn't necessarily mean that they're morally righteous (or more virtuous than the average person) by themselves, even though if they're good, there'd be good outcome of people being saved. Though obviously there'd be those who genuinely want to save people in those jobs, saving people due to a job can be something forced upon someone who normally doesn't care.

The "willing to do any weird thing part" was more in reference to how INCREDIBLY WEIRD it must be to be a gashapon-flavored armored warrior, tasked with collecting one hundred million magical coins from desire-powered monsters and duplicitous ancient demigods. That's so weird! Kougami employs people to do weird things -- see also: Satonaka -- and is very clear that you gotta sometimes do weird, potentially humiliating things to achieve your desires. Kamen Rider Birth is maybe that!

I have student loans, I totally get where Date is coming from.

They even mention the recession in this episode! Date is based on very relatable motivations to most adults!

Iwanaga as Date was such a surprise to see at the time having previously seen him in Rescue Force, the toku rescue hero show that was backed by Bandai's competitor Takaratomy during the 2000s. Iwanaga showed so much improvement acting-wise compared to Rescue Force. His portrayal as Date felt very natural.

Like a handful of other heroines, Akiko's also someone who complains about the (true) Kamen Riders' tendency to focus on helping and protecting others, despite that Akiko's someone who was shown to regularly help others too during W. I tend to think that those who try to stop people from helping others (Hina also qualifies against Eiji helping others) can be suspicious, but these are done by the heroines who also do that, so rather conflicted on processing this. I'm also still confused regarding this heroic abandonment issues yeah, but what do you think one should handle these scenarios, when Riders know that the civilians need help and that they're the only ones that can stop the threats? And that Riders can't be anywhere at once... I've always thought about how one shouldn't be biased to only care about personal loved ones only as an ultimate good ... well I guess there's Blade thing in Umi dealing with Kenzaki 'not helping' her but dunno.

I feel that for OOO portion, it's Eiji's worldview that is validated, rather than it being criticized, as clearly Nobu is in the wrong here. Nobu has to learn to embrace Eiji's worldviews, to not only be focused on his ambition, which is what KR fanbase usually would expect in how KR deals with desires, it's something you have to let go for the sake of others, in Nobu using his remaining time for Yoshino's sake, like above in how being a Rider is about prioritizing others even at the expense of your own happiness. Eiji using his pay to help others (and seemingly have his generosity being taken advantage of), people'd likely view Hina as the bad influence to the hero trying to stop charity, my frustration is people thinking that kindness is only limited on giving everything you have, when it can come in many forms other than must be giving.

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 18 - “DESTRUCTION, REASON, AND EEL WHIPS”

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DESTRUCTION:
Shiratori’s motivation is exposed, and it’s eminently relatable to everyone except Eiji. (Even Ankh is like Yeah That Tracks!) She’s a teen girl, and she has a crush on an older man who completely does not see her in that way. Why wouldn’t she want to destroy everything?

It’s a sweetly sad story, this girl who realized that she had an unrequited crush but still couldn’t help dreaming of both requitement and crushing. She swooned over a man and wanted to destroy her rival, even though literally no one else knew they were in this teen girl’s story of heartbreak. (I especially like that her teacher and his wife never learn about how Shiratori accidentally put them both in danger. This is a story about her choices, not anyone else’s culpability or judgment.) Shiratori’s Yummies are just her adolescent rage and shame bubbling to the surface, which makes her the most perfect victim yet for these autonomous metaphors.

Her motivation is the entry into the real story happening here, but it’s honestly not the part I’m most going to remember.

REASON:
It’s the first full Birth story, so what I’m probably going to remember is how Date solves this problem, and how his worldview finishes fleshing out the basic OOO dynamic.

Where Eiji constantly reaches out to pull people to their feet, Date exists for those occasions when you have to pick yourself up off the ground if you want to have any hope of getting better. Eiji shouldn't fight this battle for Shiratori, and Date gets that. Date is a guy who understands that needing help and needing a chance to help ourselves are two very different things, and self-reliance exists alongside the selflessness of someone like Eiji.

Date is like this liminal space between Eiji and Ankh, preaching a Do What You Think Is Best ethos while cautioning it with a But You Gotta Live With It warning. It’s about desire as a resource to be harnessed, but also a temptation to be wary of, making him another great addition to this show’s nuanced take on human want.

AND EEL WHIPS:
He’s also a great addition to this show’s awesome action sequences!

It’s nice to have an additional participant for some of these fights. Ankh’s there, but mostly as a coach. He throws Medals and offers strategies -slash- scolding, but he doesn’t really get to battle anyone serious. (I definitely feel like the show’s growing reliance on Pseudo-Yummies was just to give Ankh something he can brawl with.) Birth is another Kamen Rider, so he can actual fight monsters.

I continue to enjoy his different capabilities! Where OOO relies on quick form changes in a vaguely magical way, Birth is just grinding it out with a limited toolset running off of a finite power source. OOO can keep using Core Medals forever, but Birth has to pay out for every upgrade or weapon he generates. It allows for a more methodical pace alongside the rapid-fire OOO stuff, and there’s some really harmony as the show cuts between them.

Oh, and OOO used the Eel Medal for part of this fight! That was neat!

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This episode does such a good job of selling Date as a character. I love his whole laid back but serious vibe. The moment where he told Shiratori to take care of her own desires but do it in a way that doesn't make her cry is fantastic. It's a fantastic establishing scene.

As a quick side note, all of the in-helmet HUD shots are so 2010.

The new wave of toys just came out so now Eiji finally gets to use those blue medals he's been carrying around for several weeks now.

Dunno if you'd think making the assumption of being in love because of Shiratori being a teenage girl is something reductive against a gender, and I do see a handful of people thinking it's reductive if a girl character is made to be in love with someone. And it seems that love is more commonly used to refer to romantic interest in someone else, but more rarely about something like, for example, compassion for others, or even family affection, which can fit to people like Eiji too in why he'd take care of others, he's an all-loving hero type.

Here Date seems to be someone who has better social skills than Eiji (it's common that the main Rider types wouldn't excel in anything other than their virtue, Eiji's the social part, many others are about being naive/idiot), where he gets through Shiratori better. And Eiji's the one in the wrong in this episode too, that Date calls him out for being insensitive to blurt out Shiratori's true desire. If not for Date's happy-go-lucky demeanor, maybe he can be condemned more by the fanbase at this point for wanting money (or just anything else, for KR formula) and also being an obstacle to the protagonist regardless of what (Date did say to not involve others in reaching desires), Ankh (despite him being a much worse scumbag, but he's the lead), as Eiji has no need for collecting medals, though Date did refuse Eiji's offer to work together, albeit it's due to Eiji's type.

Man, most teen girls fall in love! Most teens fall in love! It's not reductive or gender-biased to do a story about a teen girl having a crush. Eiji's the only character who doesn't think this is all completely normal and obvious, and that's only because Eiji is not super perceptive when it comes to romance. (Hilariously so!)

Secondaries lean towards the extremes of the idealism-cynicism scale, so Primaries can function as a balancing role to develop them for the better. Of course, Primaries can be wrong and need development as well, but they're at least usually facing in the right direction. The cool part about Shinji is that as soon as he hears about the offer of the wish, he immediately stops trying to stop the Rider War and tries to change the Riders instead. Even though he's an idiot, he's smart enough to know when something won't work. The important difference between an improbable best case scenario and an impossible best case scenario is that only one of those is worth fighting for.

If Keiwa wasn't tempted by desires, then Giroli wouldn't have even bothered inviting him to the DGP. World peace and reviving the dead aren't "little things to change the world for the better", those are very big things! Much too big for one man to do alone, which is why Keiwa feels like he cannot forsake the DGP, using the delusion of protecting people and helping rivals to make himself feel better and feed his inner cynicism that they owe him for his heroic deeds. Somebody without desire like Eiji certainly wouldn't have joined DGP or fought for them in Desire Royale. Neither would Shinji, who wants a complete stop to the fighting.

Date is kind of like what I imagine Ankh's role would be if Ankh actually cared about other people's problems. In a show that often vilifies desire, it's a good moral that it's okay to have desires as long as you don't end up hurting others to obtain them. Date is a selfish yet noble man, so he's qualified to deliver that in a way that Eiji isn't and motivated to deliver in a way that Ankh isn't.

On the other hand, Birth never has to worry about losing access to any of his powers, as Cells all give the same output. If OOO loses his only Batta for example, then no more Tatoba until he finds a new one. But Birth knows he's going to burn through Cells no matter what, so he only has to think about turning the fight in to a profit, which means he can afford to be more reckless than OOO.

Oh right, I did promise Fish that I would point out my favorite mismatch form when it appeared. Of course, I'm talking about TakaUnagiCheetah! I think the passive spatial awareness of Taka, the large AOE of Unagi and the super speed of Cheetah seem like a good mix for manipulating the distance between OOO and the enemy to OOO's advantage.

Yeah, it's really the show taking the early episodes' plot of Ankh desperately needing Cell Medals and handing it over to Date. Ankh still sort of needs Cell Medals to, uh, live, but we've leveled up out of that part of the narrative into a hunt for Core Medals. It's very economical of the show to give the jettisoned premise to its Secondary, which is thematically appropriate!

I approve of your taste! Personally, I've always been fond of the idea of any random form using Gorilla and Cheetah. (Which I know you do get to see at least once somewhere in the show.) Not so much for any particular aesthetic value, but just because to me, it always seemed like the raw offensive power and speed of that pairing would be totally OP in basically any situation.

Also I rewatched the fight scene from the end of 18 after reading this post, and noticed two things:

- Eiji doesn't actually use the Cheetah legs at all?

- The director here, Takayuki Shibasaki, conveys the fun beat of Birth charging his cannon while OOO fights using the exact same style of split-screen gimmick he used back in Kabuto, which is neat.

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 19 - “RED MEDAL, A DETECTIVE, AND BETRAYAL”

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There’s really two main modes for modern-day (Heisei/Reiwa) Kamen Rider stories: Morals and Pulp. You can sort of slot every episode of every modern-day series somewhere on that spectrum, from Pure Morals – little short stories about people and the lessons we can learn from their heightened tokusatsu dilemmas – to Pure Pulp – extravagant adventures of super-powered people with not much in the way of lessons learned. A story will likely drop in somewhere between the two poles (a Pulp story with a little bit of a Moral, or a Moral with a tiny Pulp subplot), but that’s kind of the formula of the franchise, tonally.

The thing that’s always elevated OOO for me is how confidently it can attack both tones, and how easily it can swing from one to the other without losing focus. The last two-parter was a straight up Moral story (Shiratori’s need to won up to her feelings, in order to control them) without much to say about the Pulp plotting that makes up this show’s spine. Now that Date’s been fully introduced, the show swings back into Pulp mode, with an emphasis on Core Medal distro.

The Yummy of this one is an escaped prisoner who wants revenge on the guy who sold him out, plus the detective who put him away, plus maybe their family members, plus a guy he stole clothes from, plus a fire plug. It’s not exactly a relatable moral that kids can grow from. (I mean, god, I hope!) Eiji and Ankh are mostly just protecting themselves and Hina here, not trying to understand the motivations of a crazed attacker. We are not learning anything in this one.

But we are being entertained, and that’s the easier lift for a Pulp-heavy story. This one’s got its mind set on reintegrating Kazari into the plot after the last few stories, and he’s working every angle he can in order to get the Cores of his that Ankh’s been helpfully carrying around in a Core Medal case. (It’s seriously just asking to get swiped!) A Kazari-instigated problem is usually a more Pulp-heavy story, with more angles on it than an Uva dilemma (straight-ahead, really not too difficult) or a Mezool plan (desperately trying to avoid detection). Kazari schemes in a way that the other Greeed just plot, and his stories tend to have the greater number of moving parts and goals.

Like, hey, Yasu is working for Kazari! Kazari went out and employed a duplicitous henchman to take advantage of Eiji’s protectiveness! I like a story where it feels like the villains have been watching the same show I have, and they’ve learned the weak points for the hero emotionally as well as physically. Kazari gets how the Eiji/Ankh team works, so he’s able to plant a weasel in their midst to get what he needs. It’s smart! He’s a smart cat!

I really dug this episode. It’s not trying to do much more than progress the overall plot in the most thrilling way possible, and it’s incredibly good at doing that. (Even around the edges we got Gotou working at Cous Coussier and Date living in Maki’s lab, two things we’ll probably come back on very shortly.) I do not mind a healthy dose of Pulp when it’s served this smoothly!

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The reason why Akira Date was the best, just chillin' at an evil mad scientist's lab cooking food on a portable stove as if it was a dorm room.

Given his distaste for the name “Birth” and his preference for endings, one wonders what Maki would've named the Kougami Foundation’s Rider.

Also, I suppose it’s nice that we actually get a plot out of Ankh wearing Keiji-San as a formal suit. Though I think the new hybrid Yummies that are stronger than regular Yummies (citation needed) is something that would work better if the show wasn’t comprised mostly of two parters, because otherwise they just come off as a slightly different looking monster to normal.

He seems like a terrible roommate, and I would not have been upset if this show abandoned all of the Medal mythology and just pivoted entirely into an Odd Couple riff with Maki and Date.

It's sort of amazing that this random informant is the first person in four months to try and connect with Shingo. Like, I know we already got a story about Hina needing to have more in her life than her brother, but at least she's got a couple friends! Who in Shingo's life has checked in on him that we've ever seen? (He's taking an indefinite sabbatical from the police force! He nearly died in a car accident!) I feel like, of the two siblings, it's Shingo's attachment to his sister over every other human connection that's maybe the bigger problem!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 20 - “BAIT, SUITABILITY, AND THE FLAMING COMBO”

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It’s fun to watch a whole episode that’s just about the tension between the inherently selfless Eiji and the inherently selfish Ankh.

It’s a little similar to Episode 15, in that everything here feels like a red line for the Eiji/Ankh partnership. Ankh counterschemes to wrest one of his precious Core Medals from Kazari’s grasp, but in a way that flings Eiji off of a roof and requires threatening Hina. Meanwhile, Eiji has kept one of Ankh’s Medals from him, fearing *see the last sentence*. These two are firmly in opposition, and yet… it also basically doesn’t matter?

It could seem a little flippant, how much Eiji doesn’t care about Ankh’s rapacious self-interest, or how much Ankh was never really going to hurt Hina. (It’s all threats, no real violence.) But there’s another plot in this episode, and I think it’s instructive in how to read what’s really going on with Ankh and Eiji.

We get the first part of one of my favorite long-term sub-plots, which is the Date/Brotou stuff. (I’m sure other subbing groups stick with “Gotou-chan”, but I came up on this group's “Brotou”, and that’s the hill I’ll die on. It just feels truer to Date’s affection for this skinny child!) Gotou’s been tying himself in knots about whether or not he’s the right man to be Birth, and if his principles and pride are an obstacle to helping people. But Date makes it easy for him – he can’t even fire the Birth gun. All of the high-minded morality and ethics are missing the main point that Gotou can’t even do the job he’s worrying about, which is putting the philosophical cart in front of the tokusatsu horse. Date suggests that Gotou should maybe dedicate himself to being able to do his dream first, then decide if it’s a dream worth doing.

That’s sort of the zone that Eiji and Ankh find themselves in at the end of the episode. Eiji can’t trust Ankh to do what’s right, but he can trust Ankh to do what’s right for himself. Ankh hates Eiji’s obtrusive morality, but that obtrusive morality is the only hope Ankh has to rebuild his body. The arguments about the why of it all… that can all come after the immediate concern of what needs doing today. Despising each other for the ways their worldviews don’t align misses how effective they can be as a team. You can disagree about motivations, but that’s okay – the end results are what sometimes matter most.

It makes for a story that honors both characters' individuality without compromising their bond. The little bit of swagger Ankh has when Eiji turns up for their battle against Kazari and the Yummy! Eiji knowing that Ankh will be there with the Medals he needs, even though Ankh flung him into the river! Ankh trusting Eiji with TaJaDor – here given so much more weight and significance than Movie Core’s whole Hey I Randomly Found This Please Use It In A Fight thing – even though Ankh has schemed for the last two episodes for this shot at resurrection! It’s all brilliant in how it leverages the tenuousness of their partnership, as well as the inevitability of their reconciliation.

Perfect OOO episode.

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(Programming note: I got work and then the Super Bowl tomorrow, so we will be moving Episode 21 to Monday night. See you then!)

Though Ankh wouldn't care at all about humanity, despite benefitting Eiji, perhaps people'd prefer if one'd just straight up eliminate prisoners, particularly because of how Yasu ended up here, rather than trying to save them, which Eiji does think of because of Toichi being a Kazari Yummy, as saving them would just endanger the public. Maybe there can be more complaints about this (or perhaps even other unlikable Yummy hosts) if Toichi is a major villain, rather than an MOTW story aspect, where it seems people don't bring up much about MOTW stories of KR serieses.

Even if it's just Kazari and some Yummies, the stakes feel bigger than the one in ep. 15 about the chase scene and multiple Greeeds being after OOO and Goto, though OOO hasn't used any combos yet, where ep. 15 had him using 2 at once. Dr. Maki's contribution probably should be brought up too, as someone who worked with Kazari, and the actual main antagonist of OOO. Dr. Maki claims Birth's may be stronger than OOO, but here, Kazari seems to view Birth as weaker than OOO as Birth relies on Cell Medals unlike OOO with Core Medals.

Ofc, this'd have the fanbase dismiss the goody two shoes' virtue as naivety. Naivety is something commonly implemented in the goody two shoes type of characters like most of the main Riders, to the point that people'd think being kind automatically makes you naive. Otherwise, Yasu being actually still a scumbag may send a harsh yet true implication that, once a criminal, always a criminal, they should be just automatically viewed as a lost cause, they're just inherently evil like monsters and can't ever change, so continue the outcast treatment of them even after they served their sentence. While it can be true on criminals that has sentences, like Toichi still holding a grudge to a cop for locking him up, regular civilians may be also as evil, when given an opportunity (e.g. power), just that they haven't got caught yet.

Well, the little things obviously don't refer to Keiwa's wishes, but rather about how in the fanbase's eyes, in the DGP Keiwa prioritizes helping/protecting people and aiding other players, even if he'd lose his chance to win or sacrifice himself, in contrast to other players fighting each other and focus on winning (anything good they do aren't genuine). So, by this, in fanbase's eyes, Keiwa's wishes aren't a priority to him (until the loss of his family where one naturally gets a downward spiral), just a bonus if he somehow wins, but Keiwa joins the DGP for the same reason as Shinji joining the Rider War, to protect people and other Riders. Even if Shinji wants a complete stop to the fighting, he wouldn't be able to do it as a completely normal human eh, that'd be why he chose to join the Rider War too (and in Advent Calendar, Shinji had a wish to revive all Rider War victims). Eiji/Shinji obviously wouldn't fight for DR, which is proably the true reason why Keiwa hating Mitsume is seen as weird. KR fanbase also tend to vilify desire (and praise those who'd use their wishes for other people's sake), like what you said for OOO here.

OOO is a rather more lighthearted show, so perhaps Ankh can be just viewed as a tsundere regarding his claims about not caring about people's problems (which you also do for some depraved characters), as people'd see any lighthearted shows as all black and white, lumping all the good guys as white together, there can't be any moral ambiguity for lighthearted shows. Though yeah, bad guys on good guys side like Ankh or Black Woz isn't being much of an obstacle to the noble main Riders and that they never really cause any damage despite them aiming for something sinister (due to main Riders being more often the ones that take action), they'd be viewed as completely fine, another straight-up good guys just for being a help for the main Rider (protagonist centered morality...).

I don't know who this hypothetical viewer is, but they sound miserable. I don't think anyone's clamoring for OOO to execute prisoners?

Hmm... to begin with, as I said there too, I don't hear often from people about anything regarding the MOTW stuff of KR shows, so I'd almost never hear something like Yamano or Shiratori other than the discussions here or other complete analyses like akinoame's. But regarding superhero media in general, I'm basing this part based on how there are many complaints about heroes wanting to save irredeemable bastards like reaching out a terrible but tragic villain (if they're major characters), or them having a no kill rule which prevents them from finishing off unlikable bastards too. One of the main reasons for this complaint is because they can endanger others by doing this (and it means they prioritize their own worldview to other people's wellbeings), which is understandable...