Again, I don't know who this hypothetical viewer is who's complaining about OOO not killing enough people, but they sound miserable. I'm glad I've literally never met anyone like that in the toku community over the last five years.

The Larry and Balki of Heisei Kamen Rider, maybe? Or I guess, while more neighbors than roommates, would be more of a Jerry and Kramer situation. :lolol

Little did anyone know at the time, this would lead to the second most heated debate in Heisei Kamen Rider.

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That debate will continue to rage on! I, too, am unclear as to whether a director as visually-impressive as Ishida was in general through his career and on this episode individually -- The circular camera move during the Ankh/Kazari opening scene! Every single Ankh/Eiji shot in the back third! The One-Winged Angel stuff! -- was using a hilariously unconvincing body double for half of the Satonaka fight scene stuff on purpose as a joke, or sincerely as an attempt to trick the audience. (Like, you cannot cut between a close-up of Mayuko Arisue in her painted-on leather pants and someone who's clearly 30 pounds heavier in much baggier clothes without taking me out of the action! ISHIDA! What the hell, dude!)

It's not like Ankh can actually defeat Hina if he wanted due to Hina's super strength. And guess like Eiji, Ankh needs Hina alive. Just being all threats doesn't mean they didn't really mean it or have the heart to go through it, one can fail in carrying out that like because they're too weak to do so (Ankh also pretty much kidnapped her). What Eiji fears is Ankh abandoning Shingo's body when his revival is complete. This part also highlights Hina's loyalty to Eiji to never give up the medal to Ankh no matter how long Ankh held her captive so Ankh'd save Eiji.

In contrast to Goto being unable to handle Birth at this point, I wonder if Satonaka, who has her action debut this episode (and not only ranged but also physical one in kicking the jellyfishes), is able to become Birth, but she just chose not to, as she just does the bare minimum of her job and doesn't care much. Otherwise, while for my experience, I do see some people praising characters who risk/throw away their life standing against threats they have no capability to stop, hailing them as more of the true heroes compared to the superheroes (e.g. German old man in The Avengers standing up to Loki), results still need to be considered to actually save people, and this part addresses one's technical capabilities in standing up against threats.

Though the victim of the week, although there's a comparison between Yamagane mistreating Yasu and Ankh mistreating Eiji, didn't really get a proper conclusion, like perhaps Yamagane's actual goal or such, in comparison to Eiji knowing what Ankh wants. I do think that one can, for the lack of the better word, take advantage of someone of any kind of morality, getting them to achieve what you want. It's a smart move, though likely can be risky if they can wreak havoc to others if not stopped, including also Yamagane and Yasu being free. By this, even someone as depraved as Kuroto Dan can also be taken advantage to save the day, but doesn't mean that Kuroto turned into/was being a good guy by this.

Man so this is the difference between KR TV series story and KR (particularly crossover) movie story. And so, OOO's mid-season upgraded TaJaDor has an earlier debut than ShaUTa, TaJaDor's body language copies the majestic type of Rider/kaijin from Kobayashi's previous serieses, Ryuki's Odin and Den-O's Sieg, with Taja Spinner resembling Ryuki's Drag Visor, and the finisher being a Rider Kick on fire like Ryuki's Final Vent.

I don't think Ankh was really planning to hurt her, though? He's capable of it, and he wanted her to remember that he's capable of it, but he never actually harms her.

Wasn't really enjoying the first part of this story, but the back half was an absolute home run. I'm always a fan of Ankh being a complete bastard, so seeing him yeet Eiji off of a building then dangle Hina over a canal was a lot of fun (I love that she was so unimpressed by him that she took a nap).

Given some of the choices the camera made when Satonaka showed up, I'm amazed Sakamoto didn't direct this one.

I only learned it was Ishida directing because Slow-Motion Shot Of Satonaka In Tight Leather Pants Dismounting A Motorcycle While Shot From Below was so indisputably a Sakamoto thing that I was just verifying it on the Wiki. But no! Ishida!!!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 21 - “A GRASSHOPPER, A FAMILY, AND A HERO”

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Gotou’s just a weird little boy, you know?

It’s really fun to take this fast-paced story of stunted careers and directionless anger and adult disappointment and somehow drill it down into a story about Gotou seeing the world the same way a child does. I mean, sure, there’s a family in crisis, and we’re also in a story where Ankh’s inability to deal with his shame at his limitations is a parallel potential problem to Takashi's dad, but the really fun part of this episode is having a little kid parrot Gotou’s worldview back at him, while Gotou tries in vain to articulate a counterpoint to his own weird, childish dreams.

Takeshi has this handed-down sense of righteous justice, and he thinks that Fighting Evil is a cool thing to do. The idea of a grasshopper-themed warrior of justice bounding into frame to punish the wicked… what could possibly be wrong with that? What could be the negative of saving the world?

It’s always neat to see a Kamen Rider show try to balance the visceral thrills and toyetic idolatry of its milieu with a bit of caution for the children in the audience who might be missing the existential battle against violence that Kamen Riders are actually fighting. (I’d say it’s a Kobayashi special, but she didn’t even write this one!) It is incredibly difficult to have your karate bugman cake and eat it too, but it’s such a worthwhile endeavor. The act of teaching children that you can fight for justice without literally fighting for justice, or that the goal of a hero should never be punishment… I like that shows try to do that while also showing off the TajaSpinner or whatever the hell the wrist-shield thing is for Bird Form. I don’t ever want this show to lose its heart for its salesmanship, or vice versa.

But, yeah, Gotou! He’s got to talk this kid down from thinking that the point of a good life is battling injustice with your own two hands in the name of making the world a better place, and he’s just got nothing. You might as well have a story where Ankh needs to tell a kid why eating popsicles is wrong – blank stares and slack jaws, from credits to credits. We’re in that stage of the story, where the problem is presenting itself to the heroes. While characters like OOO and Birth deal with the more immediate threat of Rampaging Righteousness Monster, we’re slowly getting Gotou into a position where he can see how weird and childish his conception of things like Justice and Helping are. He starts off this story confronting a litterbug with only slightly more maturity than the child who kicked a stranger in the leg, which is setting a very clear tone for this thing when contrasted with Eiji’s calming attempt to defuse the situation without ceding ground to inconsideration. Better to stick Takashi with Gotou, since Gotou has to learn the exact same lesson as a little boy.

Because Gotou is that same little boy, and I’m glad this show finally sees it.

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Well as the post indicated, this is the first Rider credit for Nobuhiro Mouri, who is still contributing as a supporting writer to this day (though if his Japanese Wikipedia page indicates anything, he’s more of a Sentai fan, which is probably why that franchise gave him the head writer’s seat).

Most people remember his for being “what if Masked Rider Shin span off into a series”, I remember it for the scene where Eiji has to talk with Ankh about what Medals they can and can’t use right now. Given how many later Rider shows with constantly shifting/finite collectibles gloss over any issues with accessible forms, it stands out.

It's a great part of the fight, and it harkens back to Episode 15 for how Ankh and Eiji just have to make do with suboptimal combos and Medals. It's smart writing!

The grasshopper is the part I always remember too, but I will say this scene *immediately* came back to me after reading this. Pretty great stuff.

I remember having a theory like this about those Kiva episodes by Yonemura too, but I can't help but wonder if that's a great idea for a scene that happened specifically *because* it was a new writer for the show? It sort of has a scent about it, where I can easily imagine Mouri looking in on OOO from the outside first, seeing that it has this hero who has a bajillion forms but not all at once, and immediately getting excited to just kinda do something with that, and have it be really fun?

Unlike Takuya in Ryuki who clearly had the wrong motivation to only want to have fun fighting, Takashi seems to be righteous to want to not tolerate bad guys and stop injustice, but this is something that I also have a hard time conveying to the audience regarding the part of heroes' goal shouldn't be punishment. Maybe it's just hard to explain why a twisted sense of justice is wrong. I see some complaining that the bad guys in fictional medias don't get enough suffering/punishment, namely if they got redemption, which means letting them get off easy and not properly giving the crime its supposed weight, like what Takashi complains. But heroes are also often described as fighting for justice, and justice is often used to refer to punishments by law done for the victim's sake so they get closure, so making bad guys pay are expected for heroes' job by this.

It's expected for Goto to react first in this, as Goto's an ex-cop, so he can't stand by seeing a kid got hurt. Reminds me of Terui in W reacting to Nagi pushing a kid in the zoo. Otherwise, I too can have a problem on how to react against infractions and injustices, as indeed calling people out (or characters) can get one dismissed or ostracized by people for disturbing and offending them, perhaps including in this website. For the one supposed to be role model like most main Riders, the obvious thing they'd interfere and stop are the monster attacks, but people'd need help even without monster's existence, which is usually what differentiates main Rider types and those who care less about people's plight and mainly just beat up monsters (e.g. for revenge), which can be also due to normalized bad behavior done to them (e.g. not respecting boundaries).

Some of it's that, for sure, but it's maybe more that Gotou's main (semi-obnoxious) motivation on the show is Righteousness, so he needs to charge into a situation and sort of make everything slightly more confrontational than it needs to be by being inflexible and stern. He's working on that! But it's not going well!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 22 - “CHOCOLATE, CONVICTION, AND THE POWER OF JUSTICE”

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More than anything, man, what a visually impressive episode this was.

Every beat of the story feels plussed by the direction, whether it's adding a surreal overlay to Kanbayashi’s Yummy-assisted mission of vengeance, or a melancholy grounding to Eiji’s fears that unchecked righteousness can end in bloodshed. (Sort of makes sense that the guy whose origin is based on the consequences of a civil war would maybe not feel super great about people lashing out in the name of what they think is right!) The camera moves never feel showy, either – the way the Grasshopper Yummy keeps appearing from inside the frame is all about how it’s the conscious manifestation of Kanbayashi’s desire, always with him, not some hidden aspect that’s been weaponized against his will… as well as just being the coolest shot ever. Whole episode is just incredibly fun to look at.

The story itself… sort of a mixed bag for me?

I liked the Eiji part the most, probably. Him having to explain to a guy that doing the small things reliably is better than doing the big things eventually is a nice little Eiji-specific message. It values less ostentatious things like, uh, not abandoning your family for an indefinite amount of time. (I liked this story despite Kanbayashi’s plot being sort of a weirdly typical story about Dads Abandoning Their Families, which is kind of a horrifying recurring plot in Kamen Rider stories. But at least he’s not just randomly dead before this story even begins?) Eiji stories are at their best for me when he saves the day by clumsily imparting his authentic advice to someone, rather than suiting up as OOO for a pyrotechnic finish. Again, it’s just doing the small bit of good that’s right in front of you, rather than saving it all up for some heroic battle.

Meanwhile, we’ve got the Takashi/Gotou stuff, and I just… I sort of can’t ever really get inside Gotou’s head? I’ve harped on this before, but the actor just really doesn’t do it for me. I can’t tell if it’s his limitations as a performer – being unable to portray the mixture of Determined and Lost that the story has him in – or if he’s just making choices in the scenes that I don’t think match the energy of the show. (Like, I don’t know if Gotou is an Asaya Kimijima problem, or a Kamen Rider OOO problem.)

But this one kind of fell apart for me in that final Takashi scene. The idea of staying true to your desire no matter what is a good one… when it’s something relatable like Hoping Your Dad Comes Home. That’s cool! That is exactly where you want to be emotionally, instead of thinking too big about how to force your dad to come home by punishing evildoers -slash- litterbugs. Letting that mirror Gotou’s growing realization that it’s not his job to save the world by himself – instead, letting him work alongside everyone else to achieve more – is a very interesting way to dovetail both plots, but it just… I don’t know, it didn’t fully land for me. Gotou’s idea of Saving The World still feels hopelessly childish to me, and more in line with the tragedy of Kanbayashi than the wide-eyed belief of Takashi. Gotou’s thing is weird! It’s weird for him to want it, and I don’t know that the character has me on his side the way the show assumes.

Other than that (which I’m totally admitting is more about my enjoyment of a performance than it is an indictment of the story), I liked this one a lot. The direction is faultless, the Eiji/Kanbayashi stuff totally clicks, and all of the Date/Gotou stuff gets me closer to caring about Gotou than I’ve ever been before. Solid conclusion to a great story!

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What Eiji said here needs to be acknowledged more by fiction fandoms. It often happens, as explained in the Draco In Leather Pants page here (clearer on some of the actual examples), that people justify anyone who's fighting for other people's sake or what they think is right, many of which are actual villains, that they did nothing wrong and being treated unfairly by the story and have the "supposed heroes" ruining everything by opposing them. And some also have a tendency to view any bad guys as pure monsters, particularly those who start wars like Eiji said, when they do come to the conclusion of starting wars due to the reasons above they use to justify bad guys and what Eiji criticizes, just that they have the power or position to make their desires come true.

By this, still I wonder about heroic abandonment stuff (though Kanbayashi doesn't fit this), 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. What Eiji said about what's wrong with unchecked righteousness is sound. Still, as Kanbayashi keeps his goal to become a defense attorney in the end, what'd be his solution to pass the bar exam as he abandoned his family to think about ways to pass the exam (actually as Grasshopper Yummy, he spent more time with Takashi).

Otherwise, seems that Goto does have this problem he needs to learn like what you said in the previous episode, where he actually was conflicted in taking down the Grasshopper Yummy as they only attack bad guys. Eiji did say similar things to Goto in response like what he said to Kanbayashi later. Though that part is still about Goto asking others about what to do against a supposed threat, so not doing his job alone? Doesn't seem that he still has the idea to save the world by himself. When Goto talks to Takashi, the pep talk he gave was about the standard believing in yourself.

Yeah, ha ha, the episode just sort of glosses over this detail? Kanbayashi acts like him saying he's going to be a defense attorney is the same as actually being a defense attorney, when nothing onscreen shows hm being any closer to passing the bar. (Unless the Grasshopper Yummy did that for him, too? Was the proctor a Bad Guy?) Since the real dilemma in the episode was Kanbayashi detonating his family structure because of his shame at not being the hero to his family he thought he should be, instead of realizing that all they ever wanted was him to be there, I'm sort of okay with the episode concentrating on that resolution rather than the career one. But it's still sort of weird!

Gotta be honest, with these last two I fast forwarded every time the kid was on screen. I can usually put up with child actors on tokusatsu, but this one really grated on me.

Honestly, he blew Gotou off the screen, so I was okay with him!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 23 - “BEAUTY, EGGS, AND A DORMANT DESIRE”

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A cute little episode, but not one I felt especially engaged with.

There just isn’t a ton of meat on the bone? It’s a very setup-heavy installment of a two-parter, as Uva feints with Kazari, Maki hints at Date’s Secret Affliction, and a new Yummy is sort of almost spawned. Nothing ever feels substantial, with almost every plot point or scene acting as a kind of narrative ellipsis. Kazari fights Uva, but nothing comes of it. OOO and Birth fight Kazari, but nothing really comes of it. Date talks to Eiji about their potential earlier meeting and Eiji’s lack of motivation, but nothing really comes of it. Gotou gets a single scene to establish that he works at Cous Coussier and girls think he’s cute, but nothing really comes of it.

The most time we spend on anything, really, is with the toxic relationship between sisters Saukra and Rei. Like, a lot of time? Arguably too much, considering how blandly dismissive Rei is and how generically Ugly Duckling Nerd Girl that Sakura is. (They seriously do the She Takes Off Her Glasses To Be Hot thing! Kind of lazy!) The scenes between them do the job right off the bat, thanks to how broad the concept is and how solidly the actors get across Meek Sister and Snotty Sister, but then we just sort of get a couple more scenes that spell that all out? With a few extra characters? It feels unnecessarily repetitive, considering that the writing on this episode – at least dialogue-wise – is typically tight and clever. We don’t really need as much time spent on setting up the background radiation of Sakura’s feelings of being left out of the spotlight or Rei’s casual disregard for her sister’s feelings, because all of that stuff is super obvious, but the episode just makes that the spine. It’s just not necessary?

And yet, there’s nothing terribly wrong with this episode. I didn’t hate the fights, or the scenes with our core heroes, or even what this installment’s storytelling portends for next episode’s conclusion. (I actually sort of remember the next one being super fun?) The chemistry of the characters and the vibrancy of the setting are enough to make even a relatively formless episode like this one feel like time well spent, even if I can’t say I fell in love with it.

Maybe next time?

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Now this one, I remember a lot, but mostly for what happens in the second half of the episode. The most I can say about this episode in particular is that the song Chiyoko chose for her “Revolutionary France” theme is an English song written by a German composer. Are we sure she’s as well-travelled as she claims?

But I can talk about our Yummy host of the fortnight.

Rider-lert!

Erena, the actress/model playing the older sister seems to have something of a typecast in that regard. She was previosuly in the Ryuki movie as Miho’s older sister and in an episode of Go-Onger as Saki’s older sister. All three are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of character. Away from this typecast, she was also in Drake’s debut two-parter in Kabuto as the girl Daisuke falls for and the woman the Worm killed to replace her.

Now it explains that the Greeed requires the Core Medals of other Greeeds along with their own to have them match the mid-season upgrade of this series, TaJaDor.

Though you'd not acknowledge this based on how you process shows, the nerdy one's given name is Yumi. Not realizing that it's rather similar to the MOTW name of this series. And I feel that it's not merely about her taking off the glasses to be hot, as Eiji is, well, already around someone extremely beautiful all the time (many of the fandom specifically bring up her for beauty), Hina. Eiji doesn't have the same reaction for her, yet he's lovestruck by Yumi with the Yummy egg. Dunno if it's the Yummy having a spell that brainwashes the people around, except Date who knows Yumi well. Yumi's actress have appeared in Kobayashi's previous series, Ryuki, as Miho/Femme's older sister.

I mean, there's also a sign in English advertising "Franch Dessert", so I think Chiyoko is more concerned about the vibe than the facts. Anything Goes, etc etc

Is it? I honestly thought her name was Sakura, but I went back and found out that's her family name, not her name. My mistake! In my defense, literally no one calls her Yumi anywhere in the episode? Rei calls her Sis, her employees call her Boss, and Date calls her Sakura. I got confused because the episode didn't give me any other info!

Sounds like getting hit by a bullet train! However, I wonder if a form like TakaGorillaCheetah would suffer from poor weight distribution making it difficult for OOO to stop or turn, kind of like Fire Gotchard SteamHopper where the attack is strong as hell, but only effective as long as the enemy stays in a straight line.

Well, it would probably be the opposite of Birth, which is Death. A member of Metsuboujinrai technically has dibs on that now though. And Diend already has the "end" part. Maybe Finale could work.

Shinji wasn't even aware of the War part of becoming a Rider. He saw Knight fighting monsters and saving people and assumed Riders were all best buds fighting for justice. He totally refused to play the game at all until the final arc and even then, he realized he was wrong on his own when he couldn't bring himself to kill Ren. It's also left to viewer interpretation whether Ren seriously lost or threw the fight since he didn't want to kill Shinji either. I personally believe the latter.

I'd agree that Ankh becomes a tsundere towards Eiji, Hina and Chiyoko. But him caring about Shiratori's unrequited love triangle with a married man? Depends on whether or not she carries ice pops. I think apathetic characters can exist in various shows, regardless of tone.

I think this is a complicated moral that needs to be conveyed carefully though, since there's a critical difference between justice and evil disguised as "justice". I don't want viewers to conclude from this episode that justice is wrong or an excuse to commit evil deeds. It's just that justice is a relative term. While Eiji doesn't desire justice for his own sake, he still fights for other people's justice, as long as it doesn't bring harm to others. Maybe we sometimes take for granted how Ishinomori heroes typically subvert the values of conventional heroism shown in other media, so it's important to not take everything at face value and read between the lines to understand what these powerful words actually mean, before we try applying them for ourselves.

Congrats on your 6500th post!

Sucks to see annoying outdated Western stereotypes in a Japanese show. It's the 21st Century, but unfortunately this kind of thing still happens.

Yeah, it's a moral that lands better in OOO than nearly any other show, because it's talking more about Moderation and Perspective than it is about Justice. Eiji's not saying you shouldn't stand up for what's right or protect people from what's wrong, but when you make it into a crusade you risk becoming part of the problem. Wanting justice too much, like wanting anything too much, can push you into some bad places if you let it.

For sure, it's fitting for OOO's main themes and I guess I should praise Mouri for starting his first arc of the show with such a dangerous premise, that a lesser writer might've screwed up. Hopefully it worked and most viewers have drawn the right conclusion from this.

Well yeah, it's not brought up in the episode, which is why I brought up about how you process those shows (though yes, Sakura's obviously her family name). I knew that her given name's Yumi by reading akinoame's OOO episode reviews where I put said link in my signature (specifically, this'd be the ep. 21-24 section). I haven't followed the ep. 24 yet, watching it or reading said review.

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 24 - “MEMORIES, LOVE, AND THE OCEANIC COMBO”

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Happy Valentine’s Day, here’s the Love Combo!

Obviously, that’s not the big deal new Combo for this episode, no matter how holiday-appropriate it might be. No, it’s Shauta, the aquatic Combo that’s been teased for a little while now. And it’s apropos, considering we’re at an aquarium, fighting a Stingray Rhino Monster (rhinos being the natural enemies of eels, after all). The form itself is pretty neat, despite a large portion of its usage being completely computer generated. I like the pointed brim of the helmet, and the electric cable-style eel whips that attach from the wrist to the shoulder. Stylish, when it’s a physical suit.

As much as that’s the climax to this episode, and another excellent tactical fight sequence that depends on overcoming limitations through strategy and teamwork, it’s all sort of vestigial to this episode’s solid combo of comedy and pathos.

Let’s talk about the comedy first, because it’s what I remembered the most about why I loved this episode. All of the stuff with Hina and Ankh having to navigate Eiji’s love-impaired mental state was killer. Hina getting bashful when Eiji asks for romantic advice! Ankh getting repeatedly smacked in the head for the immortal OOO gif! Ankh having to get Kazari to hold on a minute before a fight, so that he can get Eiji ready, and Kazari being like Wait What Okay Fine! And Hina and Ankh having to team up to perform an OOO Henshin on Eiji’s unconscious body! It’s laugh out loud funny, and all of this show’s comedic potential shoved into one ridiculous subplot. Any time Hina and Ankh need to work together is great, but having it be to protect a lovestruck Eiji from his own distracted impulses? Genius.

The pathos side of things works nearly as well, since it’s all about digging into Date’s past and illuminating his strengths. (The stuff with the Sakura sisters… it’s fine? They both wanted what the other had, without seeing how to value what they already had, which is a very OOO way to defuse desire. Much like Date, I was completely ready to be done with their elongated melodrama.) Date’s immune to Yumi’s Love Whammy powers because he finds her superficial beauty to be a huge step down from the vibrant woman he knew as a doctor in Africa. Date fell for Yumi for her selfless dedication to helping people despite her anonymity, and he’s vaguely repulsed by the new shallow version that craves the love of strangers. She was beautiful before because she cared so much about people, and had such big ideas, that it was intoxicating. Now she’s sexy, but it’s nauseating to him.

It’s all a really nice rebuttal to the previous episode’s weird glamorization of an already classically beautiful woman through the tired trope of A Little Makeup And No Glasses, since it basically sidesteps all of that to talk about how her goals changed into something selfish and vindictive, which is more ugly than anything skin-deep. Date’s story with Yumi gets at his attraction to people’s motivations, and his embrace of people who fight for their ideals. A woman like Yumi who uses evil to get adoration… that’s not gonna work for the Fighting Doctor.

Whole episode worked for me, though. Loved this one, from front to back. What a holiday treat!

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Now his one is probably a real contender for favourite episode based purely on the comedy subplot. And yes, Love Combo is a hidden sound in the CSM OOO Scanner’s dialogue mode.

It’s also the debut of my personal favourite OOO combo, in ShaUTa, the reasons for which is something I talked about at length in the Memory of Heroz Let’s Play. And recently, thanks to DreamSword, it’s the one Figuarts I own (mostly because in that same Let’s Play, I inadvertently made myself a challenge to get merch for every water themed Rider/form. So far, aside from the Figuarts, I have the Decade cards for Bio Rider and Kuuga Rising Dragon, the WAP figure for Wizard Water Style and all of Blades’ roleplay items), which made me take notice of the gimmick where the whips plug into the arms as tubes. Though personally, I took more note of this Bio Rider-esque ability to turn into water.

Sure, the episode is cool and all, but I'll still never forgive the sound editors on this one for being so distracted by shirtless Date that they forgot to put Shauta's insert theme in there.

It's a very neat suit!

Maybe the insert theme can only be heard underwater?

As the previous episode didn't... yeah turns out the beginning of the episode immediately tells that the older Sakura's given name is Yumi. Also, they did implement the Yumi/Yummy joke like what I brought up earlier. Hina being bashful about Eiji asking for romantic advice can hint Hina having a crush on Eiji as well, in how she's flustered, her meaningful looks and touches, and the way she realizes over time that she constantly looks to him. She constantly insists that Eiji only acts like this due to Yummy (double m and ends with y) when talking about confessing his love, indicates Hina wants that from Eiji to her herself. Unlike Yui or Mezool, for the OOO main trio, Ankh is the one who attempts to splash with a bucket of water.

About falling, Goto does point out about Yumi wanting Date to notice him (which Date stopped before), but Date also rejects the idea of romance in favor of working for his money. Date's noble side is shown here too to go for Rei's (the unlikable one) rescue, who got tied up by Yumi. Rei has something else she's good at other than her looks, she's business savvy. What ends the melodrama, other than revealing their feelings, seems to be the usual on how despite the usual toxic relationship, on dire situations the toxic one (Rei) tried to come to Yumi's aid.... Otherwise, about appreciating Yumi for what she's on inside about being kind and smart, I'd wish that this is more widespread on life to not only use looks as a measure of someone's worth.

At first it was on his own, but for the 2nd it was Yui, someone else who also wanted to saved everyone, begging for Shinji to stop (as he was fighting for her sake). About Ren throwing the fight, just wish that Shinji's fighting ability is also acknowledged, as Shinji's also someone who can kick Mirror Monster's ass untransformed, not only Ren. Keiwa's also aware about the danger people face from monster attacks and that the DGP seem to be the only one opposing them, joining it is the way to prevent further harm.

The bolded one is what I wanted to inform more people and get more widespread, along with how virtuous characters also exist in darker shows (not limited to the usual good hearted main Rider type). Like how perhaps for Saber being a more lighthearted show, people can view characters like Reika as another righteous straight hero for her joining the SoL for the right reasons, deflecting the blame for her to Isaac ordering her, and treating her abrasive side as colorful quirk (well ofc, like Ankh here). Why wouldn't Ankh be considered tsundere for those people problems too?

Feels that no matter how these kind of stories are handled, there'd be people who get the wrong idea and justify twisted things that they feel strongly for, the Draco in Leather Pants trope. Like, Kanbayashi spent his time mostly attacking people who did actual crimes, like a purse snatcher or corrupt politicians, of which perhaps some audience would view that as justice served and root for making them pay, because otherwise, they'd just keep harming people without anyone punishing them, or those who are too lenient in dealing with them and thus are ineffective. Though then again as I several times said here, people seem to generally never bring up MOTW stuff. A clearer example might be those who put superheroes like Punisher on pedestal for similar reason, going brutal and merciless on criminals.

I didn't really get into this because it's a spoiler for upcoming stories, but there's also a very specific part of Date's as yet unrevealed backstory that is making him prioritize making money over romance, and I'm pretty sure Yumi is aware of it, which is why she doesn't press the topic as she's being put into the ambulance.

Probably not the peak of comedy for OOO, but love drunk Eiji is definitely a high point. I'm pretty sure that Cazali shrugging was at least briefly a meme.

Great two-parter for Date, even before he took his shirt off. Every time we get more development for him, I just like him even more. The show spent a lot of time building up Gotou as the show's obvious secondary Rider, but Date is so much fun and fits in so well that it doesn't feel like an unfair bait-and-switch. I'll have more to say about this much later in the series than I originally expected to.

I'm watching the old Over-Time subs from back in the day and... oh man, did they make a translation choice when Ankh was snapping at Eiji in the opening scene.

Last thing I'll mention is something that took a little bit of research. I remembered that there was some kind of figure for the "Love Combo" form of OOO. I was thinking a Figuart, but it turns out it was a) part of the absolutely bonkers OOO line of SICs (this show was made for SIC and its gonzo aesthetics) and b) it was just one of Bandai's many, many "hey, look at this thing that we made but we're never going to mass produce" figure reveals.

Uh, yeah. He's saying "idiot"! Just leave it at that, you weirdos!

Say what you will about Bandai's tendency to show off toys they never produce (MUGEN GHOST WHEN), but it is 100% thematically appropriate for them to show off an OOO figure you'd really want but can't ever get. It's a teachable moment about desire!

Yeah there’s a reason I’ve never been a fan of OverTime’s subs in general.

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 25 - “A BOXER, A LEFT HAND, AND A BIRD YUMMY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo25a.png

One of the perils of a rewatch like this one is when you hit an episode that only really works to its full potential if you buy into its misdirection. There’s a sweet little story here about a boxer trying to overcome his secret desire to stay in the ring, but the episode (sadly) switches out from that premise pretty quickly, spending the majority of its second half on the very real possibility that Ankh has spawned the new Yummy that everyone’s trying to stop.

And I can’t really engage with that in the way the episode needs me to, despite the tension being so goddamn watchable.

The show goes to enormous lengths to make Ankh not only the prime suspect but the only conceivable suspect, with his normal smirking indifference curdling into suspicious obfuscation. Eiji and Gotou immediately realize that only Ankh’s Core Medals could spawn a Bird Yummy, so this can’t be Uva or Kazari. The presence of an Ankh hand around the events only drives home to the audience that Gotou and Eiji’s theories are correct. And then we get the end fight scene, where Ankh gives Eiji strategically unsound Medals, while a Greeed hand blocks Birth’s shot. It’s an entire second half that’s shouting at the audience that Ankh must be behind this.

And I’m sure the first time I watched this, I totally bought into it. Everything about this episode is in the shape of damning (if circumstantial) evidence, and Ankh resolutely refuses to provide anything resembling an alibi or a defense. Eiji’s desperate for Ankh to tell him he’s wrong, but Ankh just smirks his way out of the scenes. It seems, for all the world, that Ankh is the culprit.

As long as you don’t notice the recurring details (even inserted in the TITLE via a red herring) that point to a completely different possibility, of course.

I kind of love it for that, even if I’m not connecting with this episode on the same level it’d prefer. It’s blatantly obvious what’s really going on here, if you pay close attention. The pre-credits scene practically screams it, while the very specific phrasing of the flashback to Ankh and Eiji’s conversations about Ankh’s lack of regeneration – the specific things Kobayashi needs you to keep in mind – gives you all the clues you need to connect the dots. Even the story going on with the boxer, about a man warring against his own body… big clues! Incredibly big clues about what’s really going on here!

Hopefully we’ll get a chance to talk more about that soon.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo25b.png

If I remember right Ankh was supposed to become the main Villain in an earlier draft of the series before the natural charisma between his and Eiji’s actors was noticed (and the same natural disasters that led to Gokaiger to get significantly more veteran actors to return to their roles caused other rewrites for OOO). So I wonder if this was initially intended to be the start of that plot point?

I’ll probably have more to say for the next episode, but for now, we’re at the debut of… whatever you want to call the other Ankh (I’ve seen Lefty, Kid Ankh and Ankh Lost all see use)

This does seem like a natural point in the story for an Ankh heel turn, which is part of the reason why this episode works so well on initial viewing: we've solidified our Secondary, we've given our hero the last big form change, and we've cleared the decks of a couple major antagonists. Everything in the show metatextually feels like it'd be natural for Ankh to be the villain here!

"Ankh Lost" is how I mostly see it labeled online and through merch, so that's what this thread will eventually use.