And now you know why I sometimes call Agito "Extreme Evolution vs. Creationism." Look closely at the shape the Unkown make with their hands when they use their powers next time.

I'm not certain I see it? Like, which side is which? Agitos are the Evolution? The Unknown are the Creationists?

I can definitely, at this point, see the show as an exploration of how humanity grows through struggle, how hardship is a necessary part of life. Like, evolution as a theme for the show, sure. The Agitos are evolution run rampant, embodied by loss of connection (Ryou), desire for power (Kino), and the acceptance of nature (Shouichi). Characters like Houjou and Hikawa, on the outside, wonder if they'll have a place in the new world, and opt to either control the Agitos or become them.

What We Do When Things Change is a huge part of the show, and evolution is a great way for the show to express that. It dovetails nicely with the stated theme of Protecting Your Home, since that home is where you can always go when things change and it's difficult. And, that home isn't necessarily a place, it's also the people who care for you no matter what, the mission that gives you meaning when nothing makes sense, all of that.

So, evolution, yeah, I can see it. Creationism? Super curious for your read on that.

MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 43

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After Hikawa gets messed up by the Manta Unknown in the opening, really thought this one was going to be about the risks to humanity as Agitos take center stage, the value of humanity in an increasingly superhuman world, all of that stuff. Nope! Instead, it's pretty much a Spooky Man spotlight episode.

I do enjoy Spooky Man as a season-long villain, though. His outlook is unique. I dig his whole hate-the-sin-love-the-sinner evil philosophy, the way he regrets killing potential Agitos even as he vows to kill all potential Agitos. He brings a different energy to his fights with Ryou and Kino than we've seen on this show before. He's trying to make the world a better place, he's doing all this to save the world, and it's a shame the heroes can't see it. That weary resignation, it's surprisingly fun to watch. It makes him feel above all of these conflicts, and it sells his power level in a way a ton of special effects or villain speeches just wouldn't. In the same way Shouichi's zen calm is unusual for a hero, Spooky Man's care and devotion is unusual for a villain. It's great to see him out and about after 30 episodes in a hospital room.

Other than that, I feel like there's not much to this episode? We learn Shouichi's real name, but the show smartly says Look We've Spent A Year Calling Him Shouichi, We Aren't Changing His Name With Two Months Left To Go. It starts off being a funny scene, where Uncle and Taichii stubbornly call him Shouichi multiple times in a sentence, but it does speak to the callback of Shouichi Is Shouichi, that his name doesn't reflect or determine his nature. It's a funny joke that highlights an emotional truth, which is the sort of high-level shit this show has grown incredibly adept at in the last bunch of episodes. (There's also a killer gag with Omuro wondering why Ozawa won't introduce him to the Agitos, and, you guys, I missed those two so goddamn much.)

Oh, and the big cliffhanger! Spooky Man blasts the Child Of Light (which represents the Agito Force bestowed by Agito Jesus, still looks goofy af) out of Kino, robbing him of his Agito-ness. Ryou's next, and, can I just say how great that moment is, when Kino tries to warn Ryou not to fight Spooky Man, that he can't win, and it's like, Oh, You Do Not Know Ryou. That dude has never met an unwinnable fight he hasn't wanted to throw himself into. He does not know the meaning of the phrase You Are Going To Be Murdered By A God.

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I'mma spoiler tag this because I forget how much of it you know by this point.

The Spooky Man is - or at least claims to be - the creator of humanity. He designed them in their current form. Agito Jesus is Satan. He introduces the Seed of Agito into humanity, which allows them to evolve into new forms. Spooky Man sends his angels, the Lords (the Unknown's real name, I forget if that's ever mentioned in the show), to kill anyone who possesses the ability to evolve. It's very much a battle over whether humanity should only exist as originally created or if they should be allowed to evolve into something Kamen Riderier.

A side note, which I can't remember if you noticed or not, is that Spooky Man created the Machine Tornador for Agito so he could destroy one of the Unknown who killed a human without the Seed of Agito. Unknown aren't supposed to kill normal humans.

I unspoilered all that since it's pretty much where the show is at.

That's an intriguing take! It definitely seems like that's what the show is saying.

I guess I like it more as a metaphor for the necessity of uncertainty, how the unexpected can be scary but ultimately worthwhile. The Unknown want to keep humanity as is, to keep things safe and controlled. The Agitos cause chaos, but that chaos has value. The way that Ryou perseveres no matter what, how Shouichi takes change another gift of the universe, how Kino is so desperate to correct a tragedy that he misses the second chance he's been given. I like the emotional stakes of that metaphor, the triumph of spirit inherent within it.

I did not notice that! That's a great detail! I mean, they did the bit where Spooky Boy killed the Unknown who killed the scientist in the first dozen episodes, but I didn't realize that he helped Shouichi for the same reason. Thanks for pointing that out!

Ah, something to say again after so long. It's really hard to say anything when your only opinion pretty much boils down to, yeah, like that too. But now I can actually say something negative... About a season I absolutely love... I'm weird...

So, yeah, the backstory on the Akatsuki... About what's revealed I'm kinda indifferent, but what isn't annoys me far more. Part of it is what Switchblade already said about the spooky child and why the Unknown didn't kill the passengers, but there is still more that was never revealed in the series and it's kinda important to put things into perspective... Primarily about who Agito Jesus is, the actual name of the monster faction of all things and a few callbacks to Kuuga as well, strangely enough.

This is pretty much my biggest gripe with Agito, not revealing all the information in the series, but a concept art book instead after the show had warped up...

Yeah, a thing that bugs me about both Agito and Kuuga is how almost nothing has a cool name onscreen. Like, Spooky Man calls Ryou's Agito form "Gills" one time, and no one else ever calls it that. Kino's just Another Agito, and, I mean, "Machine Tornador" is said by no one anywhere. I miss the days of drivers shouting out every form change and power-up, when monster factions had cool names, all of that stuff.

You'll get there again soon enough. Ryuki brings in the talking belt idea and monsters start getting proper names again with Faiz. The early Heisei era sometimes liked to pretend it was too cool for its own franchise; many of the shows don't even call their Kamen Riders "Kamen Riders."

Which is hilarious, since these early Heisei shows have way more actual Riding than, say anything after OOO. They are Masked and Riding! It would be totally natural to call them Kamen Riders! Why are you fighting so hard to be less cool?!

MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 44

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A lot of unresolved business starts getting put to bed with this one, and, man, it's just like episode 42. It's a lot of stuff that would've mattered a ton twenty or thirty episodes ago, but right now it feels perfunctory, and a little dull.

We already knocked off the Akatsuki-gou storyline in an underwhelming way, so now we've got a drawn-out look at what really happened to Mana's dad and Shouichi's sister. (Those are two different people, for the record. I don't want anyone thinking that was the episode's reveal. It would've been way better, incidentally.) Mana's dad's murder... like the Akatsuki-gou, it's something the show needed to address, but it's not something I'm terrifically excited for. It just feels like the show has moved so far beyond those mysteries, the backstories, into something grounded in current choices and present-day struggles. Finding out the convoluted chain of events that led to Mana's dad's death, it's hard to muster much enthusiasm for it. Especially since there're so many red herrings, coincidences (oh, Shouichi just happened to walk by the dead body, that's why he's in Mana's vision), lies, and dramatic pauses that occur just as someone's about to stop obfuscating and start telling the truth... honestly, it's exhausting. I might've been into finding out who murdered him, and why, if it was conveyed in a more entertaining way. Instead, it's so goddamn drawn-out that, at this point? I would confess to killing Mana's dad if it would resolve this storyline once and for all.

The Yukina plot, pretty much the same thing. She had Agito powers, and she knew Mana's dad and Truegami, none of that's a surprise (well, her Henshining was a neat reveal), but we still don't have an answer to So Did She Kill Herself Or What. It's, like the other plot, it's a lot of spelling out things I don't care about anymore. There's nothing here that's shocking, there's nothing that makes us reconsider anything we've already seen. It's just information, and I didn't care about much of it. Unbelievably ready for this show to put these played out mysteries away and get back to involving the whole cast in new, fresh stories.

(To that point, all that happens this time out is that Ryou moves a powerless Kino to safety, then eventually gets his Agito robbed by Spooky Man. No Hikawa, no anyone from Team 3G-X. I hope they're having fun with their weeks off!)

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Agito was pretty much inoue before inoue became a talentless hack; its why I wish he never kept writing the shows as he clearly lost what made the earlier ones so good.

I can't speak to his later stuff, but, uh, I do recall his Kuuga episodes being somewhat less than excellent. I was actually dreading Agito, a little, since I found his Kuuga stuff to be infuriating. Pleasantly surprised by how fun Agito has been! I'll try and give his later stuff (folks do not seem thrilled with Faiz!) a fair shake.

I really, really like that you said this on a thread that Fish Sandwich is closely following

Quick cut to Fish Sandwich:

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Yeah, I try not to talk in the future tense so much in these threads (I feel like that kinda ruins the point?), but I'm on standby to defend the crap out of Faiz. Actually, Ryuki-Blade are all pretty fresh in my head since I've rewatched them recently, so I should be able to talk about those shows in more detail than I could with Kuuga and Agito. I still kinda feel like I let Kuuga down, actually...

Don't worry, we'll get there! For now I'm just going to be mad at you for not changing back to "I don't have time for both love and Megaranger!" for valentines day

His reputation is based almost entirely on Agito and Jetman. His later stuff is... let's say "un-good." I personally disliked Kiva a lot more than Faiz, though. Faiz's biggest problem is that it really feels like Inoue wanted to write a melodramatic soap opera instead of a superhero show.

MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 45

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There's an idea in this episode I like a lot.

The Spooky Man is robbing Agitos of their Agitosity, starting with Kino, then onto Ryou. At the same time, revelations about Yukina's possible role in Mana's dad's death cast an unflattering, untrustworthy light on the heroism of Agitos. In the midst of these dual dilemmas, Shouichi experiences a crisis of conscience, crushed under the weight of familial guilt and convinced of the corrupting influence of power. In the exact moment when he's all that stands between victory and defeat for the next evolution of humanity, any action he takes feels like an attack on those he cares most about. Our only hope has lost all of his.

Like, shit, that is some weighty stuff! That is a meaty episode of a superhero show! It's an idea absolutely worth exploring, the ways power can feel like a burden to the kind, whether power itself has morality, how best to protect people and maintain your soul. I think putting Shouichi through an emotional wringer like that, especially with five or so episodes to go, real smart idea. Makes perfect sense to do.

It's just, the execution. Not super big on the execution of that idea.

There's really two problems. The first, I can't buy into the Yukina Killed Mana's Dad Because She's A Violent Agito theory. There's no proof, everything's super circumstantial, and at least one character has outright said that that's not what happened. So, using something I really really doubt as the way into this story, it's a lot to overcome. Characters like Houjou and Shouichi leaping from the evidence that Mana's dad was killed with mutant powers, all the way to Yukina, it feels so forced to me. It couldn't have been any other mutant? Of which there have been dozens? It has to be this one mutant, killing him in a way that Full-Blown Agitos usually can't do? It's like it needed to be Yukina to motivate Shouichi, but no one could figure how or why, but they just went with it for plot reasons.

Speaking of! The other big problem for me in this story is Mana's reaction. I don't get it, at all. We did a whole story earlier this season where Mana thought Shouichi killed her dad, and she decided he probably didn't do it and she wasn't going to blame him for it. Now, dozens of episodes later, she's convinced it's his sister who's to blame, she can't even look at Shouichi, and she hates Agito? I don't understand why she'd behave that way. It feels wildly out of character. Shouichi jumping to that conclusion and blaming himself, I think it's dumb, but I can sort-of see it if I squint. If he was the only one to propose that theory and couldn't be dissuaded from it, I can forgive a little bit of narrative expedience in order to get to some good drama. That's one thing. Mana, though. I don't get how Mana can buy into such a flimsy theory AND hold it against Shouichi. It, again, it feels like a way to get Shouichi to doubt himself, and it's effective at that goal, but it doesn't make any sense. It feels 100% plot driven.

I like the ending a lot, though, and I do like the core concept of the story. The ending is epic and memorable in all of the best ways. That grim nod as Shouichi knows he won't be Agito any more, the shocked look on the faces of his former allies, it lands so goddamn well. I just, I don't know if the journey to get to that point makes, like, any sense whatsoever. Definitely felt the hand of the writer on this one real hard.

Other than that stuff, what was in this one? Oh! Hikawa's back! Another great scene with Team G3-X eating and being weird, loved it to pieces, but I don't really know where the Hikawa's Blind thing is going. I assume we're meant to think he's developing Agito powers, but I honestly just thought he had a concussion? Maybe several concussions? Dude gets tossed around in that metal helmet a lot. Can't be good for his brain, and it would actually explain Hikawa's personality completely.

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Wouldn't going blind imply the exact opposite of gaining powers?

Also you're the first person I've seen who talks in favour of modern rider's surplus of transformation jingles and flashy effects that announce everything all the time. I'm in full agreement though, I love that stuff. But I do also understand why people prefer how it used to be. There's a certain kind of mood these early shows have that probably couldn't be maintained if the belts were playing catchy tunes and shouting excitedly every episode.

To me? Absolutely. But in that episode, it felt like they were leaning into the Agitos Are Everywhere thing of maybe giving Hikawa powers. It'd certainly be the time to do it, what with there being (quick count) zero Agitos left to fight for mutants. I don't think that's where it's going, but it felt in the episode that that's what they were hinting towards. I could be reading it wrong, though. Would not be the first time!

Yeah, I think you've got to account for it at the design stage. Doing a serious drama (or melodrama) and having toyetic collectibles and shouted form changes, it, uh, it lacks verisimilitude. Kind of going to work at cross purposes.

But, I don't know, maybe not? Build's a show that doesn't shy away from talkative drivers and an endless array of plastic accessories, and that goddamn show nearly put my ass in the ground with some of those episodes. They did the toy selling and the heart breaking, you know?

Maybe some of that has to do with a steadily mounting number of Kamen Rider shows, though. Two in with Agito, we're just getting multiple Riders and a sense of humor. You layer on enough sound effects and purchasable role-play items, it all recedes enough into the background that no one thinks it's weird for the superheroes and monsters to have emotional arcs and thematic relevance. You've got to get there incrementally, maybe?

Oh, also, I have questionable taste and no sense of shame when it comes to enjoying things, so, something to consider.

Also (shit, I'm still thinking about this), I feel like a lot of fans who deride the newer shows for lacking the serious mood of some of the earlier shows, it's a weird thing I've seen fans do in other fandoms. There's this tendency to equate Taking It Seriously with Better, and, for me, strong disagree.

I could not care less if a show takes itself seriously. I don't think it's some standard to adhere to, or a goal to strive for. The only thing I care about is if the show takes the emotions seriously. You do that, you can pivot in any direction you want, story-wise. Taking the show seriously, honestly, it feels like it closes more doors than it opens. You throw things like Fun and Humor right the hell out the window, and I'm not sure Very Serious Stories Told Seriously are a great return on that investment.

Because, man, if you only take the emotions seriously, you can do both! You can do high-energy stories that are goofy and fun but also poignant and sad and beautiful and deep! Like, Fourze did a story about the struggles teenage addicts have reentering peer groups and how that can lead to relapses, but they did it with magic space buttons that are handed out by teachers who are also space monsters. It's a fun set of episodes about an intensely harrowing topic, and it works like gangbusters. Shit like that, or (a billion spoilers ahead) when Emu kills Parado, or Hazard Trigger, or Mach feuds with Chase, or Takeru hugs Adel, or all of these things that feel vital and intense and it's all wrapped up in flashy colors and sound effects and shit you can buy on HLJ, I wouldn't trade a moment of that stuff for a more serious show. Not a single moment. And that's what I think whenever folks try to play the It Should Be More Serious Like The Old Days card. The current shows don't lack for serious emotions, real things, and they can still have fun while they tell those stories.

I don't know if that made any sense! I just went to brush my teeth and I got real strong feelings all of a sudden. Sorry for being weird about something that is probably not a big deal!

It made enough sense to me that I can say I wholeheartedly agree. Every story of all tones have their place, but Kamen Rider has been the biggest examples to me of how something can both be silly and genuine in one neat package.

You definitely have a point about these things being incremental probably playing a part. These days, I just don't bat an eye at the merchandise in the show singing an entire song in the midst of a dramatic scene.

MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 46

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Aaaaand it seems like we're finally at an end for this storyline. I've got some complicated feelings about it.

The big negative for me is how backwards-looking this whole string of episodes was, from full-on flashback episodes to so, so many old mysteries that got dredged up. This never struck me, especially in the fantastic midsection, as a Solving Mysteries type of show. I know there're a few big mysteries teased out in the beginning, backstory stuff that set up the current status quo for our characters, but that all felt largely abandoned as the show hit its stride. Spending so much time on how Shouichi feels about a character who's dead before the show even starts, or the time a bunch of nobodies met each other, or very long explanations of how two characters who are very dead once knew each other, it all feels like time misspent. Worse, it created conflicts that felt inorganic, irrelevant plot points getting in the way of established character development. A lot of these episodes felt like they were from a much earlier draft of Masked Rider Agito.

There's an, as it would turn out with this episode, much bigger positive for me. I mentioned in a completely different thread how there are a few things Kamen Rider does as a franchise that I enjoy. It's a set of cultural lessons the show's imparting to children, and they're different from the kind of lessons American shows try to impart. One of the big ones is about heroism and power. A lot of American shows run a variation of the Spider-Man "with great power there must also come great responsibility." A character receives power, they misuse it, they realize they need to be more responsible, that's how you learn the importance of heroism. (Gaim does a version of this, which I found interesting.) Kamen Rider shows, as a whole, flip this dynamic, so that With Great Responsibility Comes Great Power. A character, powerless, shows courage and heroism, so they are rewarded with power by the universe. It's a standard setup for primary Riders. So it was awesome to see that be the crux of this episode, that the newly de-Agitoed cast throws themselves in front of the imperiled Mana, only to see the Agitosity they'd lost fight to return to them. It's a great theme to build an episode around, and it plays out tense and exciting. It feels appropriately epic as Shoucihi punches the Agito force out of the Spooky Man, with all three Agitos banding together as the Agito Club Shouichi had wished for. It's a super strong conclusion to a plotline that ended much better for me than it began.

Didn't end great for everyone, though! Kino's dead, I guess? I assume it's from getting drilled by that Unknown, but maybe it's just that his arc ended? He atoned for his attacks against Ryou and Shouichi, he took responsibility for his actions, he helped Majima believe in himself, and he was finally at peace. It feels weird for him to die just a few episodes before the finale, but it's not like he's been around forever, either. It felt... I don't know, it felt like the show saying Someone Has To Die for the story to feel huge and impactful and it might as be Kino. I didn't love how it happened, but I think it's fine that it happened.

The Shouichi and Mana stuff, I'm glad that's over. The resolution feels as much of a shrug as I'd prefer, an acknowledgement that the outcome of the storyline was the point, not the motivation. Mana gets a Your Dad Wouldn't Want This talk from Uncle and a Being An Agito Is Hard talk from Ryou, and then she's all Team Agito again, and I still don't get what the show was doing with her in this storyline. It still feels wildly out of character, but it's over now, and that can be that. I don't want to dwell on it anymore than it seems the show wants to dwell on it.

In keeping with The Ending Almost Made Me Forget How Dumb The Journey was, that sequence of Houjou bursting into the Team G3-X trailer to be Hikawa's eyes, beautiful. Thrilling and surprising. Hikawa deciding that his hysterical blindness when operating a machine of death was a minor handicap, nothing to worry about, crosses the line for me from Hikawa's usual stubbornness and martyrdom into recklessness and stupidity. How could he not tell Ozawa?! How could he think this would work?! It immediately fails, nearly killing him. Houjou saving the day, I mean, that buys the show a lot of my goodwill, but the decisions made to get there are dumb.

So, yeah, mixed bag on this storyline. It felt, story-wise, beholden to a version of the show that no one wanted to make anymore. Deep secrets and elaborate mysteries that don't matter to the present at all. It ended up eventually saying something interesting about heroism in general and the characters in specific, but I'm not sure the path to get there was that great. Happy to move on!

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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 47

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Aw. bless. What a delight this one was. The cast moves on from the recent darkness, the show reinforces its themes, and we encounter the final villains of the season, the, uh, Zodiarts?

The one bum note for me on this episode, and I hate a little that I always seem to bring these things up at the start, is the whole thing with Hikawa's mysterious blindness. We got a couple episodes of it occurring, a doctor saying there's nothing wrong, Hikawa nearly getting murdered, and now... it's gone. That's it. What caused it? No answer. What cured it? No answer. Great! GREAT. A plot that went absolutely nowhere. Jesus.

Aside from that, a real winner of an episode.

It's nice to see the show putting some thought into what's next for Shouichi and Ryou. It's definitely tied into the themes of finding a place, protecting it, and finding careers that allow them to feel useful and a part of something works along those lines. The idea of them being motivated by Kino's death, I mean, not sure I see that, but it's still a strong premise for an episode. There's also some fun symmetry at work, the ways the plots mirror each other. Both of them have jobs fall into their laps, both of them have friction with women at work, and both of them try to apply their unique brands of heroism to solving regular human problems. Shouichi offers sympathy and support, while Ryou offers gruff honesty and maybe a little bit of negging. It's weird to see them doing the hero thing outside of saving people from monsters, but I really enjoyed it. It's something this show can be great at when it wants to, that thing of letting character relationships carry the narrative. The last however many episodes seemed so plot focused they missed what was special about Agito. This one, it's got room for Shouichi and Ryou to just talk, for Shouichi's goals and Ryou's need for normalcy to feel like stories worth telling. It's smaller stakes, but I think that's way more in this show's wheelhouse?

The big plot stuff, though, I am pretty into it. Spooky Man tells Truegami that since he got punched in the face, humanity's got to go. On the one hand, feels like a bit of an escalation. On the other hand, it's totally in character for a god to go from, like, You Are All My Children to How Dare You Humanity Is Cancelled. I really do love that all it took was Shouichi laying hands on him for a star to get pulled down to wipe out human civilization. That seems several orders of magnitude bigger than we've seen as the show's stakes, but it's so insane (an entire star!) that I like it. It's just crazy enough to work!

Before that star gets here to wipe out humanity, we've got some new Unknown at work. It's not totally clear who's what and how they all work or whatever, but I like the one who shows up at the end here. It's a little weird that there's a bunch of constellation iconography at play, since that's not really been the show's motif, but the Eagle Archer Unknown is pretty boss. I love the fight song that plays over the end battle, too. It's a great little fight between Gills and the Unknown, nothing on the scale of the last few episodes, just a fun rooftop fight. It's like the rest of this episode, comfortable in executing the basics and confident in hitting what it's aiming at.

Yeah, I dug this one. Nice to be enjoying Agito again.

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Oh! And I'm looking at that picture of Shouichi laughing with his old teacher, and I'm like, "That dude looks super familiar." Go to the Wiki, and it's Shun's dad from Fourze. Small world! I love when these shows reuse actors. One of my favorite gags is from one of the Fourze Net Movies, where Gentaro learns about Kamen Rider Garren, and he's like, "oh shit, the principal's a Kamen Rider" and then it's like, no, that's a guy named Tachibana, and he's like, "the principal is Tachibana?!" Such a great way to lean into recasting actors as new characters.

Ah, you're into what I always consider the "epilogue" era of Agito. I always feel like the big parts of the plot are over by this point and we're just getting a little bit of final run-around to wind down the clock. I don't dislike these episodes, but they always feel narratively distant from everything that led up to them.

Yeah, it feels a lot like the first half of an Agito/Ryuki Movie War, where we get to see our old favorites once more, and they're moving on to new adventures, but not before an old enemy launches one last etc etc.

I think I'm okay with it for two reasons. First, I wasn't super crazy about the last storyline, at least how it was constructed. Second, I'd love for the ending to feel more optimistic than that last story ended. That one had a lot of darkness that gave way to heroic resolve and relief. I want more than that from Agito, I guess. I want a story about Shouichi getting a job and Omuro being an ineffective bike cop. I think that last one is what we all want?

I'm gonna be as non-specific as possible so I don't spoil anything; but I find it... really interesting how the way you're talking about certain things here reminds me of how people talk specifically about Den-O that I've never seen applied to Agito before. ... then again, this is still the series no-one talks about; despite being amazing as you keep laying out post after post.

Talking of which, as a big Agito fan; your posts have actually made me like it even more and realised a lot of things about it! I like your theories on its meaning and how everyone feeds into it; it's been fun :)

Oh my gosh, thanks! That's very kind of you to say. It's been a blast getting to talk through this show with other fans. I, uh, I kind-of can't believe I've had this much to say about it, and it's humbling that folks have been reading it. I do write-ups in Google Docs and then copy them here. Just show write-ups, not responses or chit-chat or nothing, I'm on page 47 of that document. That feels like too much talking about Kamen Rider! So, honestly, thank you, all of you, for letting me get all of this out of my head, and thanks for contributing your feelings about the show. You've all awakened my soul!

MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 48

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God, I love how they're using Shouichi and Ryou to talk about the best ways to support people. Incredibly strange to make that (what looks to be) the final storyline, but, I don't know, maybe not so strange?

The real meat of this episode are the various Shouichi/Kana and Ryou/Scorpion scenes. (Of course Ryou would fall for a no-good street racer named Scorpion. Of course.) There's other stuff around the edges, like the fact that people with birthdays between October 23rd and November 21st are falling victim to a string of inexplicable suicides (hey, my birthday's on November 21sssssssshit) that certainly won't create problems for people named Scorpion, and the next evolution of Team G3-X (topical!), but all that's really worth talking about this time are those Kamen Rider Life Coach scenes.

(Okay, there's the Ozawa/Omuro scene, which kills. Omuro breaking down crying when he thinks there's a chance he could go back to being ignored by Ozawa and Hikawa, adorable. Closing the blinds so that no one outside can see him blubbering, genius.)

I always think it's a fun idea to take one story and run it through a few characters simultaneously. It's a great way to emphasize both the similarities and the differences of characters. Here, both Ryou and Shouichi reach out to help women in despair. Shouichi wants to help Kana realize her dream (although it seems like she legit sucks at being a chef, so maybe he'd be better off letting this one go), while Ryou wants Scorpion to stop thinking she needs a dream and to be okay with a normal life. And, like, yeah, that's those two guys. Helping People looks completely different to each of them. Shouichi helps people by being emotionally present, by being encouraging, by wanting them to believe in themselves. Ryou helps people by letting them know that sometimes surviving, persevering, is the best you can do, and that's not a defeat. It's everything you need to know about their worldviews in a couple scenes. Shouichi's found a family, found friends, loves everyone. Ryou's suffered, lost, and still engages with the world without blinking. This episode was like a definitive statement on who these two men are.

And I think that's why it's not so weird to have this story at the end of the series. I want this show to end with a statement of purpose, a lesson in why these characters were worth watching over 51 episodes. I want something that isn't a secret past or an outside menace, I want a story about why Shouichi and Ryou are heroes, why they want to help people, and how they provide that help. I'm really grateful this is how Agito's going out.

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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 49

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I just like when heroes can be kind, you know? Warm.

All-Star Superman's a great comic series, and it's got plenty of amazing moments. (It's a story that starts with telling you everything you need to know about Superman's origin in eight words.) One of my favorites, and one that makes its way around the internet pretty often, is this page for the tenth issue:

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Regan isn't anyone special. They're just a person, and they need someone to be there with them, to let them know things will get better, and Superman's that person. It's, honestly, a more valuable kind of heroism than punching space tyrants or thwarting criminal schemes, because being there for other people is something anyone can do. That notion, that anyone can do it, it makes Superman's actions so much more compassionate and kind, because he could be out punching space tyrants, but he stopped to let this one person know that someone cares about them. It's when heroes choose to do those small actions, to help one person, it's one of my favorite things in superhero stories.

So, yeah, feeling pretty good about most of this episode. I love that Shouichi loses to an Unknown, and then rushes to help Kana with her cooking. I love that Ryou loses to an Unknown, and then rushes to race bikes with Scorpion. There's this story building in the background, of Spooky Man realigning stars to make people kill themselves according to their zodiac sign (not crushing humanity with a star, sorry about that, this is maybe more insane though), and it's creepy and dangerous and all, but I liked that Shouichi and Ryou have been largely kept out of it, save an Unknown fight or two. It's better to use Hikawa on the investigation. Let him have one last absolutely bonkers leap of logic to land on exactly what supernatural phenomenon is at play. (He just guessed dopplegangers?!) Shouichi and Ryou will no doubt be there for the final fight, Shining and Exceeding until humanity is saved. But in the meantime, let them save these two people. It's just as heroic.

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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 50

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This last Agito story is so, so good. They are nailing all the thematic stuff I’d want them to, making it a story that’s about both what being Agito means, and what the show itself means.

The metaphor of Agitos drives a lot of this story. To me, the Agito metaphor is change. (I’m sure there’re plenty of other interpretations!) Change doesn’t have a moral dimension. Change can be seen as growth, or change can be seen as disruption. Change occurs, but it's how people respond to it that gives it meaning. For this story, that meaning is applied by civilization, as portrayed by Houjou (truly the best of us), and Kana.

The stuff with the police department, honestly, it’s a little heavy-handed as far as laying in the metaphor of change. The Agitos are referred to as chaotic, and the police would rather the terror of the Unknown than the terror of the unknown, the Agitos. That whole part of the story, to me, it’s about how society would rather have a dangerous stability than an uncertain future. The police would rather have the devil they know, who may be an actual devil, than trust their future to Agitos. Houjou, bless him, is a man who sees the whole world as a reflection of himself, a variation on his perfection, so he naturally believes that his innate fear of Agitos, of power not his own, is not only valid but common. He’s willing to protect the Unknown, even though there’s this nagging voice inside him saying, “This is too far.” (I assume that voice comes from a lower height and smells like yakiniku.) The Agitos must be worse because they‘re new, right? Fear is justified when things change, right? Being unafraid of change, embracing it and hoping for the best, that’s just naivete, right? Houjou, like humanity, would rather keep things the same, even if that means allowing terrible things to occur.

Which, you know, that’s why we have shows like Masked Rider Agito. The world can be a scary place, and things can seem bleak, so a show that says that changes are going to happen, and that you should embrace them and make a better future, that has real value as art. The stuff with Kana, and her metamorphosis into an Agito, it’s got the same fear baked into it that the Houjou/G3-X stuff has, but it’s also got Shouichi, so there’s hope. Shouichi’s been where Kana’s been, but he’s also felt the weight of choices that women like Kana have made. He’s had to find a way to balance the demands of Agito with the need to live a life, and he’s watched people give up rather than try to live as Agito. Kana’s surrender, it’s got two moves on it. The first is that it’s a way for Shouichi (and Truegami) to save a version of Yukina, a woman who sees no hope in a life as an Agito. They can be the support that Yukina couldn’t accept, living proof that it gets better. The other thing it does is remind people of the kind of show the producers have been trying to make, a Kamen Rider show with heart and hope, and how that should be an important ingredient going forward, to balance the monsters and terror with optimism and joy.

But, man, you still need stakes and consequences, and of course those were going to land on Ryou’s shoulders. As a man who loses people the way the rest of us lose skin cells, Ryou barely starts to let Scorpion in (he’s only negging her medium-hard, the ol’ softy) before she’s monster-murdered and he’s fighting like he has nothing left to lose. (And this is all happening on his birthday, which, show. Amazing. Chef’s kiss.) I said before that I like how this show was running Shouichi and Ryou through the same story, and this is one of the reasons why. If there’s just one woman in it, and she has to die so that a man can have something to avenge, lame. Tacky. Gross. But! Two women, in two versions of the same story, now you've got one can be saved so Shouichi’s hope can be rewarded, and one that can die so Ryou can suffer endlessly. It allows for multiple lessons, instead of a binary Heroes Always Win or Everybody Always Dies lesson. Agito as a show, it gets to do both, to have a story about how change is good or bad, how some people can be saved and some can’t, how life is something that has light and darkness and joy and pain and all of that. A thing that happens is a thing that happens. How we respond to that, how we move on from change, that’s a story worth telling.

And, man, that’s the big difference for me between this story and the one that preceded it. The last one, it was just things that happened. This one, it’s about how we respond to change. The last one was plot, this one is theme. I will take a theme story any day of the week.

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Well since you’re about to move onto Ryuki and I’m about to have space in my schedule for a show I can watch 5 episodes of a week, I’ve decided to start on Ryuki next week. (I have the space now, but I reserved it for another show months ago).

You definitely aren't wrong. I don't know if you know this already, but the name "Agito" was chosen in the first place because in Latin it means "to set in motion". I'm pretty sure it's the root of the word "agitate"? Basically, to provoke a reaction in something. Agito's Japanese Wikipedia page gives "awakening" (覚醒) as a translation, which likewise covers it pretty well.

This is Heisei Kamen Rider, so there's actually like two more meanings behind the name, but "change" was absolutely the big one.

I don't entirely agree Scorpion biting it was much better than the usual example of killing off someone just to make the hero even more sad and mad (as if Ryou was lacking in that department already...), but I get that it was probably so we'd feel the stakes even more when it came to Kana. That moment when other Tsugami comes in to grab her hand, desperately telling Shouichi not to let go? That's a scene that has stuck with me since the first time I watch the show oh so long ago.

Actually the whole episode's best moment has stuck with me pretty well, including Shouichi's transformation at the end where he heroically declares how he'll protect everybody... and the fact that they play the exact same clip of Kana calling out his name two times within close proximity of each other.

Kamen Rider Die reaching the final episode of Agito: AWWWW YEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Kamen Rider Die some time later in the future after seeing episode 6 of Ryuki: YO WHAT THE #@%$!

Neat! I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on it!

I didn't make that connection, with agitate, but that makes a lot of sense. The Agitos introduce a kind of friction, disruption. Thanks for the linguistic backup!

I mean, I would not fight anyone who thought that Scorpion's death was unnecessary. Ryou's loss is kind-of hilarious (on his birthday), but that's a dude who did not need more heartbreak, and it sucks to make Scorpion's story all about Ryou's pain. I'm pretty much okay with it on the level of serving as a counterpoint to Shouichi's version of events, and that part of the story gives Kana plenty of agency. Even the men at the end of the story are like, "You have to decide what you want to do next, but we'll be here to support you."

But, yeah, Truegami showing up to tell Shouichi to never let go? Awesome. Just nailed that emotional climax. It's a soaring end to that whole journey, for all three of those characters, and it felt really earned.

One more to go! And then a break! And then Ryuki! Thanks for hanging out for these write-ups!

MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 51

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If last episode was a contemplative, thematically-rich chapter that laid out everything Agito does well that’s unique to its place in the franchise, this one was 100% a Kamen Rider Series Finale. It’s a wall-to-wall episode filled with thrilling action, heroic moments, and absolutely everyone getting everything they want. (Even Spooky Man, sort-of!) It’s all dessert, this one. And I loved it.

The action in particular, was surprisingly strong. They don’t do it a lot on this show, really turn it up, but I’m glad they delivered on the finale. Each Rider gets to deliver an indelibly memorable moment, from Hikawa reclaiming the primacy of man, to Ryou declaring himself to be immortal, to Shouchi using a Rider Kick to detonate the concept of fear of change. It’s all beautifully done, and an unexpectedly visceral end to the season-long Spooky Man/Unknown plot.

That plot, though. I loved last episode because of the way it addressed its core themes, and focused on them through characters, and character choices. I loved this episode in spite of it being about the Unknown stuff. It was, you know, it wasn’t what this show did best. The things that made this show great, when it was great, it was all character stuff. Decisions being made by characters, and how that affected other characters, how they reacted to change, how they supported one another, that’s when this show was transcendent. (Maybe overselling it!) Like, the Shouichi stuff, the things it was trying that it maybe was the first to try, emphasizing domesticity and emotional availability as commendable traits in a hero, that all felt totally dialed in. The monster stuff… not so dialed in. The Unknown never felt fully realized, even compared to the Grongi. While the Grongi had a weird code, or a goal that felt terrifying in its inevitability, the Unknown were barely more than obstacles. They’d show up, fights, eventual death. They never really had schemes, they didn’t feel thematically connected to an episode or a victim, they didn’t seem to bring anything in particular out of the heroes beyond general heroism.. They felt, from beginning to end, like those level one mooks plenty of other Kamen Rider shows have. They’re like the orange-masked Bugsters. This is a show that never really had a villain with personality, outside of Kino for a minute.

Like, Spooky Man. It’s an interesting idea, a god who returns to correct his creation. But, it’s impossible to execute as a mastermind for a superhero program. Spooky Man isn’t a character, he’s a concept. And you can’t fight a concept. You can, I guess, punch it once, and then Rider Kick it in the finale, but it’s not really the kind of thing you can dramatically confront over 51 episodes. Spooky Man spends a ton of time waiting in rooms to be worked back into the plot, and he only shares a few scenes with anyone other than Truegami over the course of the show. A franchise like Kamen Rider has a lot of versatility to it, you can tell a lot of different kinds of stories, but things like Fightable Villains? That shit’s pretty non-negotiable. Masked Rider Agito managed to still tell an interesting story over its season, but I don’t think the villains were anything to recommend about it.

The heroes, though! So great, and this episode found a little moment for all of them.

Like, of course Hikawa didn’t get on that plane. Of course he couldn’t leave when he knew something unjust was happening and he could stop it. And, Ozawa, hero of the show Ozawa, is going to take back the G3 trailer at goddamn gunpoint to make sure Hikawa can join the fight and help save humanity. All of Team G3, they were like the beating heart of this show, and I’m glad they all had a happy ending to their story. I loved that Hikawa went back to being a detective, happy just to be of service. I loved that Omuro takes his hero-worship and instills it in the next generation (G5!) of mechanized police, even if that moustache is horrifying. And, as is probably no surprise, I loved that the show found time for one more Houjou/Ozawa sparring match, him flying to London to tell her how much better he is than her while she completely blows him off. They are endgame, and I’m glad this show realized it.

I didn’t need to see Ryou pull himself off of that beach, because I know exactly what that scene would look like. Stubbornness mixed with anger mixed with resignation, he drags himself to his bike and keeps fighting. He never stops fighting. And when the fight is done? He gets a dog, which is immortal, too, nothing can happen to that dog, and just keeps living. (The dog’s name, I assume, is the oft-mentioned but never-seen Count Zero. That’s what the theme song is about, right, that puppy? “You can do it, Count Zero!” Yeah, the dog’s name is definitely Count Zero.)

They don’t get a lot to do in this finale, but it’s good to see that Mana, Taichii, Uncle, and Majima (okay, why not) are doing well. Just a brief check-in, but they’re a family, and they’re happy. They are not eating well, though.

So they go to Shouichi’s (not very well attended) restaurant, Restaurant Agito. He survived Rider Kicking a primordial concept, because, what, you think this show was really going to kill off a man who loves everyone? No, Shouichi is pursuing his dream, and it’s a nice ending.

They’re all nice endings. Everyone’s life keeps going, with new challenges and new opportunities, but with a positive outlook. It’s maybe a little predictable, as endings go, but it’s all very sweet. And, y’know, it’s a sweet show. It’s a show about how change isn’t something to run from, but something to be accepted. It’s a show about how you need to find something in your life to find comfort in and protect, whether that’s a home, family, friends, a dream, or just the knowledge that you made it through one more day. In a show about all of those things, what better message is there than that, no matter what, the world keeps spinning, a new day dawns, and if we keep trying we might be lucky enough to become better, happier people.

What happier ending could you ask for?

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NEXT! A little bit of wrap up, hitting some points I maybe overlooked, and I don’t know what else because I haven’t written it yet. That’ll all be tomorrow, for a final-ish look at Agito.

Thank you!

When I first started watching the show I went in completely blind having only seen one episode of Decade and 2-3 of Kuuga. I assumed that Count Zero was the name of the villain, not just Engrish. I'm so glad to see that someone else read that as possibly being a character name.

If there's one thing I want you to take away from these write-ups, it's that the theme song of Masked Rider Agito is now and always has been about Count Zero, a dog that Ryou meets in the finale.