I think Saeko only really works in the last third of the series. Once Isaka dies, everything the show does with her is captivating and compelling. Before that, though... she's good in some of the Kirihiko stuff? Like a lot of villains on this show, she does not have a front-to-back good season.

Toei probably would be all over it, but it would completely bum me out. My absolute favorite thing about Kamen Rider is how each year functions like its own discrete story, with its own aesthetic, themes, metaphors, and tones. An overarching villain across multiple series just flattens everything out into Kamen Rider as an aesthetic, a theme, a metaphor, a tone. I'm fine with it in the context of a side story or a film, but it would maybe literally ruin Kamen Rider for me if Toei ever decided to lock each season into one evolving universe.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this story! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, though!

In this 2-parter, there are no victim of the week client, thus, Philip pretty much acts as the client here to ask them to save Wakana. Shroud has grown out of revenge, unlike Saeko who can't get even with Ryubee and Wakana anymore, but she's still alive, thus now she only confirms Shotaro humanized Raito who was only an entity of data and a reveal she hired Sokichi to save Shotaro. For Shotaro being a wild card, it's not all good though, as he screwed up Sokichi's plan to rescue Phillip, which eventually cost Sokichi his life, which he claims as his responsibility to save Philip, as a duty left to him by Sokichi. To make Philip's last moments a beautiful one, seems Akiko did it better and understand him better to celebrate Philip "going to school overseas" which made Philip smile. Shroud's explanation is confirmed as Philip admits that he was never interested in human relationships, refering himself as little devil for that, but due to Shotaro "bringing him to Fuuto", he now loves the city and the party participants there, getting cheers.

Saeko ironically earns more similarity to Wakana, as now her attractiveness helps her to be well-known (as a bike racer), which sounds as if she can now battle with her sister's Healing Princess. About Wakana being a plot device, even Saeko feels like she's treated as a commodity by Kazu, as she protests that she can go anywhere she wants. Is it the series directly pointing out how Wakana is treated? The track she's racing in is Twin Ring Motegi... I wonder if the track is purposely chosen to fit the series theme; 2-in-1, and Motegi has a road course and an oval, making it a 2-in-1 track (like how the main Rider is 2-in-1), the reason of it getting a 'Twin' moniker.

Kazu wants to eliminate everyone with low compartibility (and Kazu got 98%) to Gaia Memories to purify humanity, by turning Wakana into a data and installing her on one of Foundation X's satellites. Seems he has a survival of the fittest mentality (feels like Giff in Revice, though ofc Giff's hate is much more vocal). Kazu also only values clear strengths like power or intelligence, to only compliment Philip's insight when he calls out him treating Wakana as software. This is even exploited by Kazu as his consciousness synchronizes with Wakana's due to the foiled Gaia Impact, making his grief triggering something in Wakana as well. Thus Kazu finds a new solution to awaken Wakana, by provoking Phillip further such as killing Shotaro in front of him. Philip's humanity is portrayed as weakness here.

Controversial here to compare W in a worse light than, something coming from Takahashi. Takahashi is a hack and should always be talked down - you can't talk about Wakana being treated as plot device, but of course you must constantly mock how degrading it is for Tsumuri to be hunted as the next Goddess. I guess ofc, Foundation X would be the W version of usual "KR has bland villains" albeit it's not the main force (though didn't expect you to show more appreciation on Kazu), but indeed the Sonozaki stuff hasn't ended yet (for the complains about it not satisfying before), even if Shotaro did save Phillip and foiled Ryubee, the latter still had a noticeable impact of the heroes, with Philip's current state due to Ryubee's plan before, as he enters the fountain. Ryubee's plan is likely to succeed via Kazu by re-activate Wakana's now-cellularly fused Claydoll Memory. And of course, Saeko, Wakana, and Shroud's status are still touched upon now, near their last moments.

Kazu has an actually safe transformation, as Utopia's sheer power causes everyone around him to levitate and get pushed away. Utopia displays sort of like upgraded version of Weather's, Accel's arch enemy, and he's pitted against Accel as well, trapping him in a tornado with lightning. At least Utopia (who'd be another anticlimatic final boss) is stronger than Weather, as unlike with Weather, Utopia can keep up with Trial, and Utopia takes both Accel and Wakana skywards (bursting through the roof), using a brutal move on Accel, slamming him into one of the factory's steels, reverting him to base Accel. Utopia's overall power is ability to grant wishes and absorbing the aspirations and ambitions of others, and demonstrates it by setting Accel on fire, which continues even to Terui as human.

It's just his type of battle prowess. Dopants are varied in that. Many harms physically, either with physical force or by other stuff like burning them, but this one attacks mentally. Mentally harming someone so that they won't henshin can be more effective than fighting Kamen Rider W trying to get them to de-henshin.

Far more than just Terror, generally many people in Kamen Rider are average joes granted power. Indeed some are fighters from the get-go or grow into one (e.g. some main Riders like Kouta), but many should be non-fighters throwing power around (e.g. many of MOTW Dopants are suddenly granted power too). Don't think monsters without sentiences (should be many, like Mirror Monsters) are those who can fight well either, they are just strong enough physically to be a threat. Having vast amount of power doesn't mean you're a good fighter and it applies to far more than just Terror (Terror Dragon can also count if it has separate consciousness).

Maybe? I think it's also Saeko's traditional brutal honesty, since both her and Wakana have been treated like pawns and prizes by men for pretty much the last 46 episodes.

This episode hit so hard the first time I watched it. It didn't affect me as strongly this time, but it's hard to have the same gut punch from watching Shotaro let Philip go when you know that he'll be back and a continuing part of W for several movies, some cameos, an ongoing comic book, and a cartoon. It's still done really well, though. Utopia wasn't a terribly interesting final villain, but he made enough of a splash in these final episodes that I remembered him being around longer.

Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow and hearing Die's thoughts on one of the most divisive finales in all of Kamen Rider!

It does take a little of the grief out of it, yeah, but I think it's still a strong story on the axis of Shotaro's personal development. Regardless of how fleeting Philip's absence may be, it's incredibly touching to see Shotaro opt to be the one that closes the Driver and sends Philip away. He's fully hard-boiled now!

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 49 - “GOODBYE TO E - A BOUQUET OF JUSTICE FOR THIS CITY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double49aa.png

I think this was the right epilogue for this show.

I’d’ve probably hated it for something like Revice or OOO, though. This one immediately undoes the stakes of the previous episode, with so little distance in between the consequences and salvation as to be comical. The pain of separation – the sort of thing we’d normally have as the time between a series finale and a winter crossover film, or eventual V-Cin – is a point dropped in through exposition. The delay in Philip’s return is as brief as the barely twenty minute wait in this episode for the theme song to play us out.

But that’s this show, you know? It’s not a show that really wants to stress you out, or work you too hard. It’s a hang-out show. It’s uncomplicated and warm, where nothing’s every really going to screw up our beloved dynamic for more than the middle section of a story. Philip returns quickly and smoothly, because it’s more fun when he’s around. The end.

With that in mind, I really enjoyed this final adventure for Team Double. It’s a quick one, the only single-episode story for our crew, and it’s mostly here to illustrate how hollow things are for Shotaro on his own. He’s capable of defending the city, but it doesn’t mean as much without Philip. The brief Akira/Yui story is here to tell us that it’s important to keep going when we’re on our own, while acknowledging that it’s better when we don’t have to shoulder those burdens alone. It’s cute, and, again, not complicated. This isn’t the show that’s going to send you off with a downbeat finale, or even one that delays your gratification for too long.

So, yeah, fifteen minutes or so after vanishing into the Earth’s memory, Philip is resurrected by Wakana and given a second chance at life. (This part actually was weirdly complicated, because it’s not until way late in the episode where it’s revealed that the Wakana scenes are happening shortly after Episode 48, not concurrent with the events of the rest of this episode.) It coasts on the warmth of this being a final episode, even if your level of investment in the Sonozaki family drama may render this more exasperating than cathartic. Nice to see Philip get the kind of family reunion he always wanted, but it’s hard to square this beatific version of a USB drug metaphor crime family with the one we encountered over the last 48 episodes. They all had their deathbed repentances (for Sonozaki versions of “repentance”), but it’s just weird to see them all so chummy.

Who cares, though? Philip’s back, Shotaro’s half-boiled, Akiko’s toting unconscious data humans, sins are being counted, and a pleasant breeze is blowing through Fuuto. It’s not an episode that wants you to feel anything other than light humor and easy drama, which is pretty much the mission statement of Kamen Rider W. Not a great epilogue for similar shows, but just right for this one.

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

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-I absolutely love that Shroud drops dead for no real reason other than that she had no more exposition to dispense. God bless this show’s use of Fumine Sonozaki.

-This wasn’t a huge episode for Fuuto as a whole, but I like that this finale gave us the entire crew of allies and informants, even if it was for something as innocuous as yelling at a pet store clerk on Shotaro’s behalf. They didn’t really matter to this particular story, but it’s a good reminder of the deep world that W had constructed around the edges.

-The group of youths who were trying to do Gaia Memory cult crimes – it’s fine! I am never going to feel like surly youths don’t need a good ass-kicking from a superhero, so they were exactly the proper level of menace for a quick epilogue that did not have nearly enough room to tell a nuanced Dopant Dilemma story.

-Additionally, it was fun to see the ridiculous Energy Dopant get walloped by all of the basic Double combos. Those were good suits! I’m going to miss them!

I have a story about that.

So, like with most Rider shows, when I first watched W it was alongside my binge buddy, Name. While watching this episode, we had the following conversation:

Me: You know, with how everything that kept Shroud going is now gone, you think she'd, I dunno, give up living or something.

Shroud (immediately):https://i.imgur.com/R3CJpxc.gif

Me: I WAS JOKING!

Name: Well she wasn't.

I still laugh about that to this day. And speaking of me and Name, this is also a finale that him and I hold a big disagreement about as well, and was surprised to learn that the fandom was equally split.

I'll just come out and say it. I'm in the camp that feels that Philip should've stayed dead. Now, I'm not about to say that him coming back totally ruins the dramatic weight of the previous two episodes or anything, but it would definitely give the show a more proper sense of finality in my eyes.

Not only that, but me personally, I feel as though there's value in teaching kids about loss and grief, and how to handle it(hi, I grew up with movies like Land Before Time). I was absolutely drawn into the atmosphere of this one on that front. The scene with the Frog Pod is so mean spirited that I couldn't help but absolutely love it.

Does Philip coming back and the show ending with "And the adventure continues!" absolutely ruin it for me? No, but my ideal finale swings the opposite way. Regardless, for what it is, I feel it's overall done well, and I'm not about to hold anything against anyone who's all in on the idealistic and happy ending.

I'll get into this more tomorrow with the Series Wrap-Up post, but I can see what you're saying while still disagreeing. It'd be a more meaningful resolution to Kamen Rider W, but Kamen Rider W -- from the very first story -- is not a show built to have a resolution. It would be the opposite version of this show for Philip to be gone forever, no matter how his return might diminish the conclusion of this series. Like it or not, him returning is the structure of this show.

Also, I'm glad that we both had a laugh at Shroud collapsing dead from Sudden Narrative Necessity, the most fatal illness for parents in tokusatsu.

I recall when I first watched the final episode, I wasn't really mad that Philip was alive, I was honestly glad. And in this case, I'm still glad. When Philip fully reveals himself and we get some hijinks with Shotaro just shouting in disbelief/relief that his partner is actually back, I just had a huge grin on my face.

The Dopant Case in this one is relatively simple, though I do like that getting rid of Museum and Foundation X ceasing funding doesn't mean the end of Gaia Memories. There's still likely plenty out there, though it's obviously not as large scale as it was before. It's a good way to handle a threat like that. And it's nice to see the show explore the fallout of Museum with what kind of groups decide to rise up in Museum's place.

Speaking of the show exploring stuff. I feel like more Rider shows should just give us full on epilogue episodes? Some of my favorite entries in the franchise usually push the final battle to the second to last episode before telling an epilogue of sorts as the one that airs right before the next Rider shows up. I just feel like it's a nice way to decompress and sort of see where our characters are headed in a future that we'll likely never get to see, but be able to imagine.

It's nice to know that Shotaro has a future as a Kamen Rider, and not just a guy tracking down someone's lost pet. I mean, he'll still do the latter, but not just the latter. Sometimes he'll do both in one movie!