Same goes for the Movie War, both of them work a little better with the full context of Double's story, although Gaia Memories of Fate is still a great movie than can easily be rewatched at any time without having to rewatch the show. I guess it helps that NEVER are affiliated with recurring Heisei villain group Foundation X, rather than Museum. Daido's a sympathetic and bad*ss villain and I'll talk a lot more about him in his Returns movie, but his backstory of being turned in to a NEVER is similar to Showa Riders being turned in to Remodified Humans. Except that those Riders accepted their loneliness to protect people, while Daido has already succumbed to despair and wants to make everybody else NEVER like him so he won't be lonely anymore. His relationship with Maria is an intriguing parallel to Phillip's with Shroud, as both Riders received unwanted help from their mothers. This shows how Phillip could've ended up like Daido if he didn't have Shoutarou and Akiko to support him.

For me, it's my 7th favorite Heisei Rider summer movie. However, Daido is my favorite summer movie villain for sure!

Speaking of your thread schedule, I notice that there isn't a "Kamen Rider Die Watches A Metal Hero" in the list. Do you plan on including that next decade?

You didn't mention Zenkaiger?! I guess I'll have to do my own recommendation list that Die can use after whatever Sentai he plans to watch next.

Turboranger
Fiveman
Jetman
Ohranger
GoGo V
Timeranger
Gaoranger
Abaranger
Dekaranger
Boukenger
Gekiranger
Go-Onger
Goseiger
Gobusters
Zyuohger
Ryusoulger
Kiramager
Zenkaiger

The ones I added are in bold. I omitted Showa, as I know Die "doesn't truck" with that. I also omitted Gokaiger, as that show is full of spoilers for previous Sentai and therefore unsuitable for introduction IMO, although I acknowledge that some people like Kurona did start with it. I put Gobusters and Ryusoulger in there as well, despite them being kind of subversive, as they still mostly follow the typical Sentai formula.

It definitely does help, yeah. Eternal becomes this parallel threat that can be wrapped up in a film, rather than some heretofore unknown aspect of the main series plot. Hell, the Museum spends most of this film watching TV!

Maybe? I hadn't really planned on it, but who knows how I'll feel in seven years. (I have never liked any of the Metal Hero appearances in the mid-Phase 2 spring movies, so that's sort of the main reason I didn't schedule one.)

And thanks for the additional recommendations!

If we're offering pointless recommendations, then I say skip every official Sentai and just watch Akibaranger.

Interesting dilemma here, to get a client, but with a case that'd help their enemy, and it's shown in Akiko refusing it and trying to warn something, but Shotaro would instead accept it. As Akiko questions Shotaro, he accepts due to being a chance to find Ryubee's secrets. Like before, Akiko's significantly more cooperative now compared to the very beginning, to just question his decision instead of throwing her chief position around. Her heart is in the right place, but there's surely still room of improvements, slapping Shotaro with a slipper is unnecessary if she can do that instead. Though Akiko can climb up well, she can't climb down when following after Shotaro and Kyoko.As usual, Akiko's bizzare antics somehow ends up accidentally providing an advantage by using her slippers as dowsing rods as Shotaro finds the Evil Tail by digging in the spot Akiko's slipper points to (and the slipper moves by itself like a compass).

Emotion manipulation is rather powerful in KR franchise, due to the fighters only being strong when they're in KR form, it's very vulnerable for Shotaro to stand still in middle of battle as he's a normal human outside of Rider form, though at least Philip manages to get him henshin to W. But even when Accel has unique physiology against Terror's ability, Terror shows that he's more than just mental attacks, showing his another ability to turn himself into his advanced form Terror Dragon that is house-sized (enough for Trial's speed), similar to Dopants such as T-Rex or Quetzalcoatlus (which Isaka seeks). For the revelation, it seems to be about how Ryubee is also able to use the Terror power even on human form, making Shotaro tremble, claiming that Shotaro never did anything against the fact that Ryubee's the head of the Museum, due to his body subconsciously avoiding coming near to his estate out of fear. As Terui notes, Terror's power is amplifying someone's fear. About you claiming he'd be immediately be killed to have fear by himself, really there's nothing to fear as shown in next.

When Philip was born, Wakana was 4 and Saeko was 13. Both older sisters have "bad numbers" (death and unlucky numbers) for their age when Raito was born, probably explains Sonozaki in a nutshell. He then gets Mick at age 3, then at age 5 Ryubee discovers the contact to Earth's consciousness, with a research team named "the fountain", and then Raito.... falls inside a hole. Phillip did fear about the truth reason, and that was for a good reason that he's utterly shocked to learn that he may've potentially died young, with unknown means on how he got to grow up now. The book/truth is as scary as he imagined. Wakana again tries to yank Philip away from the heroes, but of course to help Museum's cause (other than abrupt turn, Wakana trying to take Philip away still feels like the extreme version of her plan at ep. 39-40 to run away before her turn).

Ryubee's motive is revealed now that he's driven by how many species, the ones who he keep at Museum, has been extinct now, and that he feels humanity will face the same fate with their current path, thus he wants to secure humanity's future by uniting them with Earth. Gotta praise that it's interesting that the Museum isn't only a random unrelated job to cover his acts, but it's a driving factor for his motive too. So he's a well-intentioned extremist, as there are many better ways to ensure humanity's survival than uniting them with Earth, or especially unleashing superpowers that can accelerate humanity's extermination, and his root of his motivation is interesting one with the parallel. Still I'd want to see more of his work being related towards achieving his goal like unleashing Gaia Memory to the citizens they've been doing all the time.

Kyoko's like Bitou before for a client with a slapstick quirk, but with bullwhip rather than finger snap, such as tying up Shotaro and dragging him to the office, and later being the one in charge among the Narumi crew to whip both Shotaro and Akiko to remind them that it's a precious excavation site, and both submit to her. As a curator for a museum, it explains why she'd have country-themed outfit. Kyoko has some physical prowess before where Shotaro compliments her for her climbing skills, so when Wakana tries to capture her as a sneak-thief, she'd try to break free, albeit she ends up knocked down.

As even super fast Accel Trial was unable to keep up with the present Smilodon, Philip shows his non-pragmatic intellect again to point out that their mistake is fighting Smilodon as he's a human... and with CycloneMetal, W decides to instead pet Smilodon, with flashbacks of Ryubee doing it, using Metal Shaft in place of a spoon, which worked, thus leaving Smilodon open to CycloneMetal's Maximum Drive with a Stag Beetle, Metal Stag Break, creating a projection of a mandible with a green wind to bind Smilodon, breaking Smilodon's driver and reverting him back to Mick. Philip explains further that Mick's pose is when he got a special food to eat, and assures him that he won't become a Dopant anymore. Still wonder if an animal becoming one would have their Dopant actions in control (thus making Mick an evil animal), at least Smilodon was sentient enough to track down Evil Tail before.

I'll take it under advisement!

It does not! Most museum curators wear normal clothes! She's dressed like Indiana Jones! That's the joke!

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 46 - “WHAT K DEMANDS – THE LAST SUPPER”

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Not… not great? Not a great episode?

It’s anticlimactic, which shouldn’t’ve come as a surprise, considering there are three more episodes left to go in this series. But this is the end for Ryuube, and the Museum, and it’s all sort of rushed and unfulfilling. The Museum side of things is just Wakana and Ryuube, and Wakana doesn’t participate in the battle at all. The Terror Dopant has a fistfight with Double, and loses like they trotted out the Terror suit for a background fight at the quarry in a crossover film. (It’s, like, under a minute.) The overall plan was just Wakana Will Be A God Somehow, and it’s as vague in its aspirations as the Gathering Data phase of dispensing Gaia Memories was. None of it really comes across as worth 45 episodes of build-up, and it somehow carries less weight than several of the Dopant Dilemmas.

There’s some meat on this thing, largely from how irredeemable the Sonozakis ended up being. (Shotaro’s like Maybe There Was Some Humanity To Ryuube, a scene after he’s gleefully immolating himself while screaming that he regrets nothing he did.) Philip needs to save his family, but even after destroying their Gaia Memories, there’s nothing to celebrate. The only thing that Philip can depend on is Shotaro, and Shotaro is the only one who treats him like a human being. The emphasis of that bond – yet another invocation of Riding With The Devil – is where this episode finds whatever footing it can. It’s good, for that stuff.

And yet… boy, I laughed a lot in the first half of this episode. Whoever decided that Shotaro’s portrayal of bone-deep fear and trauma should be expressed by him screaming like a lunatic at phones and Makura? I would really have gone a different way with it. It cracked me up, every single time, and I feel like that’s not the intended response from the audience. Going out on a limb here. It sabotages at least half of this story, because it never once feels like it’s an observed character trait or relatable human experience, it’s just ACTING as loud as possible. We’ve gone from Shotaro Will Have To Face His Fears all the way to Shotaro Needs To Be Committed Forever with absolutely zero progression. It gets the point across that Shotaro is going to be no help to anyone, sure, but it is relentlessly funny to watch. Again, I might’ve suggested portraying it a different way!

This one was basically a miss for me. All that time spent getting us to a confrontation between Double and the Museum, and it’s Double pushing the Terror suit around by a lake while Accel flies through the air, shooting a CG creature from mythology. It feels… hollow, I guess. Like it didn’t really cost our heroes anything, which is sort of the opposite of how you want such a longstanding foe’s demise to feel. Ryuube’s plan was the usual Power For The Sake Of Power thing, and the final moments of it were as much of a shrug as the rest of his year-long stratagem. If it had some minor pathos for being so much trauma for such a pointless goal, I guess that’s something. Beyond that, let’s see where the final three go.

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

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-Shotaro’s various looks of fear throughout the first half of this episode – I can’t decide if they’re his worst acting (for drama) or his best acting (for humor). Unforgettable, though, either way.

-Boy, it is all coming back to me, the feeling of not liking how this show ended. If memory serves, we’ve got a Foundation X two-parter that never grabbed me emotionally, and a Wakana finale that I think got something out of me, but this Museum two-parter… ugh. What a fumble.

-Shroud would not miss a dinner where could walk out on her family all over again.

These were an enjoyable two episodes, though of course there's only so much climax you can fit into them due to the wrinkle of Foundation X and things not being over just yet. Since we've been made aware of since the early 40s that while Museum distributes Gaia Memories, there's still someone above providing the funding and making their own.

I don't have too much to say but I did find this a fitting end for Ryubei. It really says something that the most he's able to do is posture at the end of it all. He can't back it up without extra abilities, and when those prove ineffective or are being dealt with elsewhere, he completely loses all threat. There's also something very entrancing about a delusional old man walking into his burning mansion and dancing with old memories, unable to let go of the past despite being one of the reasons that past is gone.

It's a bit sad that Nazca R just kind of goes out like that, but it was a fun night fight. We got to show off Claydoll's LEDs again which is neat. That being said Smilodon/Mick's exit was rather entertaining, watching Philip being able to wrangle him and Terui's exasperation at them fighting a cat all this time, priceless.

I don't think I found Shotaro's yelling constantly hilarious though tbh. This is kind of just Terror amplifying anxiety and fear to new untold heights? Like, I've seen lower levels of what I've seen Shotaro do before in different situations. So it kind of unnerved me more than anything even if it did get to be a bit much at times.

That being said I'm surprised Shroud's exit wasn't really in these episodes? I could've sworn her stuff got wrapped up here but I guess not? I do like how she does give Philip that push and really pushes what she learned in the Old Arc that Shotaro is the Trump Card. I also let out an audible chuckle when Saeko fell to her knees outside the gate to the burning mansion and during that pan we see that Shroud is also just there watching in the background.

As for Shotaro overcoming his fear thanks to Philip's "final words", I think I'll talk about that later given what I recall coming up. But it was nice to see them take advantage of Philip's 'physical' state and use it to turn the tables on Museum.

But yeah we're uh basically at the end main series, kind of crazy to think about that.

It was! I like the clever twist of Shotaro using the Double Driver (and Xtreme) to pull Philip back to physicality.

Only because to me it feels like another curveball. Trust me, I was contemplating it for my suggestions but ultimately felt it would be worth watching after something more standard. Heck, I had to restrain myself to not recommend old school shows like Liveman and Zyuranger so Die doesn't feel overwhelmed. :lolol
With that said, please consider Carranger if you could, Kamen Rider Die. :lolol

Well yes, W has anti-climatic final boss fights, the Dragon-less Terror is meant to be only superior to base W, but not to W Xtreme, as well as being unable to create the fear-inducing ooze (wasted chance to show off Accel's physiology, but of course main character deals with main treat while relegating the secondaries as assist...). Though the fight may reinforce the series theme that you'd have to work together and trust each other, shown in how Terror is unstoppable one-on-one, but is easy with teamwork; other than W's Shotaro and Phillip, the cast also had Accel to deal with Terror Dragon, leaving Terror to be stuck on the nerfed Dragon-less Terror, otherwise Xtreme had to struggle with 2 powerful Dopants at once. Otherwise, this battle had Accel not using Trial, but base Accel in BikeForm, equipped with Gunner A, as he had to improvise after the fragile speedster Trial is not enough, by using the physically stronger base Accel, but with BikeMode and equipments to compensate for Trial's maneuvers.

It was more of a statement from one person rather than a fact where Saeko refers to the family as inherently twisted thus it's not obligated to reconcile. She's one of the main factor to make the family twisted... Philip claims that the Sonozaki's evil is caused by Gaia Memory influence. Still would like for Phillip to try to use Gaia Library to find a cure for Gaia Memory's influence or something, or it's only can be done by Memory Break. The statement probably holds a truth as shown by the Evil Tail. It is probably the closest explanation to Ryubee turning into someone who is abusive to his family for his ambition. So I guess the evil can surface in various way from the Gaia Memory influence, like Ryubee still having a noble goal but turning into an extremist, but Saeko is a cold unfeeling vengeful manipulative... psycho that uses anyone as a stepping stone for her, where now Wakana is not only possessive but also revels on Phillip's misery while emotionally abusing him, not taking into account of Philip's other relationship or obligations, treating him only as a means for her and Museum, a collection of data to fulfill human's destiny. When she snatched away her phone from Philip's hands, teasing him regarding his last words, it actually proves how human Phillip is even when he's a data, Philip is Philip.

After Ryubee's defeat, he goes back to his crumbling mansion, while seeing a projection of Wakana, which means there's a sliver of hope in his plans, so he'd stay there and die without regrets (no, the Museum stuff hasn't ended, with Kazu taking Wakana's body as well), while also remembering his time with his family. I guess the Gaia Memory influence slightly wears off of him, which is what Shotaro (claims to, but the other cast agrees on the claim) made up to Kyouko to make her feel better later. But he's still clearly insane though currently, other than just letting himself die, but is also deluded that he moves as if he's dancing with his daughter albeit there's none. I'd say Ryubee does have good acting that he feels charismatic and intimidating (non-Terror) fitting of a mob boss, and has an interesting driving motive related to his Museum business, but would like for his work on the plan to be displayed more, or talk more about extinction, rather than mostly just revealing about others playing into his hands, albeit this episode had a bit of more explanation, as well as, similar to Kirihiko before, would see more of his well-intentioned plan being tested by others, where it was only by Phillip's vague reasoning and Shotaro's Evil Tail scene here (Ryubee only had 1 objection line of denying Shotaro's claim of what he caught about Evil Tail).

Now Fumine/Shroud refers Shotaro as trump card as well. Other than his fears, this episode shows the reason why Shotaro assumes the role of Joker, he's a wild card whose presence screwed with a lot of people's plans. Eventually Shotaro remembers Philip's last words where it'd mean he'd never be cracked if Phillip sees him as a partner, and henshins into W, and at the same time, the henshin makes Claydoll go haywire, as Phillip's consciousness is pulled by force to Shotaro's body. This is another part of Philip's intellect, taking Shroud's words as his last-ditch strategy, reminding Terror about W's transformation system. I guess Phillip's words were more than 'strength from within' and resolve thing, but it also means to trust in your partner, who has known intellect, and that by trusting others things can work in your favor in unexpected ways, as well as how this is an example about Shotaro's presence derailing other's plans, by being the one to pull Phillip as his W partner, so Shotaro isn't just blindly bravely rushing into things to show that he can't crack. Though it also shows that mental state can be as crucial too as power or such, as the rather... basic and habitual solution (just henshin into W like every episode) is delayed for this long due to Shotaro's mental breakdown, which means Kyouko was doing crucial stuff with her sneaky ability too, likely her successfully stealing Evil Tail is what gives Shotaro his hopes back.

Ryubee using Evil Tail in Gaia Impact symbolizes about how Ryubee had lost his ways, would sacrifice his family for his ambitions in Gaia Impact like what he did previously to Philip, the opposite of how Evil Tail is meant to symbolize the family's happiness and unity, but it scares himself, thus he'd use the Evil Tail as a substitute of the sacrificed family, which'd mean even Ryubee has his own afraid. Philip is assigned to act as the program to regulate the process of the gathered informations flying from the fountain to Wakana, as Phillip also had achieved Xtreme form. So that's the reason of both Phillip and Wakana having Xtreme as super forms, and good to have more explanation about the purpose of the Museum's schemes by turning the Fuuto citizens into Dopant, which is the one that builds up Wakana as Earth's cleric, living Gaia Memory factory. Ryubee pushing Raito on the fountain for some reason brings MCU Thanos to my mind, not merely for the sacrificing your child by throwing them from heights for your endgoal (while grieving so), but also for pitting 2 sisters against each other where one of them got horribly mistreated, as well as an endgoal involving an eradication for a good portion of humanity to prevent their extinction. For KR comparison though, this'd remind me of Masamune; other than both operating in a businessman-like way, the plan probably converts all of the humanity into data like what Masamune intends with Kamen Rider Chronicle, but of course Masamune has no noble intentions, only being a control freak to all of the human lives.