EPISODE 36: "Complication"

It's a fairly unassuming start to what will turn out to be an epic saga as Sakurako and Ichijou look over the symbol discovered in the previous episode. Obviously, #0 killing a bunch of other Grongi and then writing Kuuga's logo on a wall in their blood is bad news, but the exact reason for that is still up for debate. Ichijou jumps to the obvious conclusion a lot of audience members probably will. It must be #0's way of announcing an intent to kill Kuuga, right? Classic hero and villain stuff. Sakurako has a different theory about the symbol's significance, that she'll be going deeper into over time. What she thinks this suggests is that the Linto character for "warrior" was never actually theirs to begin with. They borrowed it from a different culture. The culture of the Grongi. The implications of this are more complicated, and less immediately apparent, but no less frightening, as we'll soon find out.

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Before we jump back into the story at hand, it's worth noting that the opening gets its last set of changes here. It's largely the same as before, but in light of the events of the previous episode, and the direction the plot takes in the final stretch, it's been updated to feature a few new bits, including brief shots of that mysterious new form of Kuuga that was glimpsed last time.. It's only a difference of a couple seconds of footage, but I think it counts for a lot.

On their way to take a more direct look at the ancient inscriptions, Sakurako starts elaborating to Ichijou on her theory. She's always felt the character for "warrior" looked fundamentally different from the other Linto characters, as though someone else came up with it. The Linto were supposedly a peaceful people who rejected fighting, so it would make sense if they didn't come up with a symbol to represent that on their own, and instead borrowed one from another source. Credit to the people who designed these characters in the real world, too, because Kuuga's symbol legitimately doesn't look that much like the other Linto writing, which tend to be more "sqaure" in overall shape, just for example. The point of all this is that if the Linto borrowed the character, and the character came from the Grongi, then it's entirely possible what that symbol originally represented was actually #0. Which would mean that writing on the wall was a much more general calling card. Combined with the trail of corpses, it was #0's way of simply saying "I'm back", and that's bad news for a lot more people than just Yuusuke.

Speaking of, over in Tokyo, Yuusuke's helping out Enokida with some research revolving around how the Grongi lately have had the ability to transform mundane objects into weapons to fight with... kinda like how Kuuga does. Hm. All in all it's a fairly relaxing morning for the guy considering what he's been going through lately. He even uses the time waiting on the results from the tests to fold a bunch of origami animals, having noticed the book Jean gave to Enokida hoping she would use it to spend more time with her son Sayuru, and figuring he might like them. Mind you, this means that book is just sitting around in a lab, so this is also more evidence Enokida has some problems that still need to be worked out. The same might actually be true of Yuusuke, too, with Pops pointing out in a conversation at Pole Pole that Yuusuke's been hanging out in Tokyo for eight months straight instead of going on adventures all over the world like he normally is. I really like the show calling attention to this here and now that it's so close to the end. It's easy to take it for granted, but Yuusuke really has sacrificed a lot of his lifestyle for the sake of being Kuuga, and it starts to beg the question of how much all of this has to be weighing down on him by this point.

The monster in the spotlight this time is Go-Zazaru-Ba, who brings a sick, scorpion-like twist to her "game" by going around melting taxi drivers with acid. Yeah, I guess Ginoga kind of had regular posion covered as a gimmick already, so Zazaru goes a little harder. All the people being turned into puddles quickly comes to the attention of the police, as does the fact that #3 is is finally making another move after all this time. Gooma jams a mysterious rock into himself, which fuses with his body, granting him the extra power to stand toe-to-toe with the stronger Grongi. He's tougher, he's stronger, he's got a wicked head of hair, and, as he dramatically demonstrates by casting aside his usual umbrella, he's completely lost his weakness to sunlight. The other Grongi have been treating him like a joke for most of the series, but Gooma's out to prove that he's a survivor, and it starts by picking a fight with Zazaru.

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This is just another cool payoff. The idea of having one of the show's first monsters survive his initial appearance, only to fade into the background, only to then suddenly become a serious threat again, there's something really awesome about that. I wouldn't exactly say I'm rooting for him, I guess. Any sympathy he might garner from being the runt of the litter as the last of the Zu kinda flies out the window when he's both a murderer, and constantly acts like he's the best of the best even when it's evident he's not. Any time he got slapped around by one of the other Grongi, he kind of had it coming. Still, though, it's interesting to see how far he can go on sheer bravado, and Grongi infighting is always fun. It's even more fun once Kuuga shows up to put a stop to it after Sugita fills him in on what's going on.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Another real simple one.

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Total thumbs up count: 62+1 = 63

EPISODE 37: "Approach"

The fight carrying over from the cliffhanger has a cool atmosphere, with a multi-way throwdown in a darkly lit, possibly abandoned club or something, but it doesn't last long. Kuuga gets dealt with pretty effortlessly by Gooma, who doesn't seem to care much about him right now, and leaves to find out where Zazaru ran off to in all the confusion. In the aftermath, Yuusuke discusses the situation with the police, including Ichijou, who came back from Nagano as soon as he heard what was going down. It's neat seeing Yuusuke be so included in this whole process now. He actively contributes ideas, like suggesting they focus on Zazaru for now, since she's the one actually on a killing spree at the moment, while also noting if her body is full of dangerous acid, he's going to need a safe enough place to let her explode.

Ichijou gets in touch with Enokida for help with the matter, but he's not the only one looking to talk to her. Jean is at the lab to give her a disc containing a bunch of data on Gouram, but, again, I don't think Jean is really here because of how much he cares about Gouram. As usual lately, it's a bit of an awkward atmosphere around the two, with them both trying to keep any conversation as quick, professional, and/or shallow as possible. It's apparent they both have some things they really want to get off their chests, but they can't find either the words or the will. Jean makes an attempt to ask about Sayuru, which is cut off by that phone call from Ichijou, which also means Enokida is going to be busy for the next while. After realizing it's not a good time, Jean heads on his way and settles for imploring Enokida to at least give Sayuru a call to say she won't be home tonight, figuring even just that little bit of interaction would be good for them.

Meanwhile, Sakurako has found out from her continued research that the "warrior" character in the inscription with the prophecy about the sun being swallowed by darkness actually has two more horns than the normal version. This was also true of the one written in blood by #0, a fact Ichijou informs Yuusuke of, which seems to leave him taken aback for a moment. He tries to brush off his concern, rather than explain why that worries him, but viewers with sharp eyes might have already noticed the version of Kuuga that Yuusuke saw when he defeated Jaraji also had four horns. Still a lot of mystery surrounding that particular plot point, but it'll be fun to see where it ultimately leads.

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The police have put a stop to any taxis driving around town in an attempt to stop Zazaru, which Ichijou admits to Yuusuke probably won't be a permanent solution given what happened when they tried a similar trick with Bemiu. It turns out Gooma might be demanding their attention a little more after all, though. He's been making quite a bit of noise in the Grongi community after his power-up. A lot of noise, and a lot of enemies, too. He's going after the woman with the rose tattoo, seemingly with some deeper motive, but of course, it's all buried in his own language, as Gooma has never taken to speaking Japanese. I really respect how the show is still keeping the Grongi speech up this late in the game. It's very particular about what information it gives out freely.

This all leads to yet more Grongi infighting, as none of them are still taking Gooma all that seriously. It's an extremely chaotic situation, and as Kuuga jumps in to try and deal with Gooma and his current opponent, Ichijou arrives, with one of the special rifles in hand, to investigate the scene after everyone leaves to fight elsewhere. Everyone except the woman with the rose tattoo, that is. The episode ends just holding on the tension of this encounter for an entire minute, and it totally works. I mean, there are literal sparks flying between these two. It's great. Watanabe directed 36 and this one, and while I still don't find his direction as consistent as Nagaishi's, or as inventive as Ishida's, there are scenes every now and then that he just completely nails, and this is one of them.

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THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Always good to see Jean getting in on the thumb action.

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Total thumbs up count: 63+2 = 65

EPISODE 38: "Transition"

The sense of escalation in these episodes is insane. Gooma's fight against that other Grongi is so intense that Kuuga barely has to do anything but watch these two super strong monsters throwing down with one another. Because it's like, how do you even intervene in that? There's no real side to take, and no civilians in danger, so he might as well just breathe in the spectacle instead of wasting his energy. This pays off a bit when Gooma boasts about how he now possesses the power of something called Daguva, while gesturing to the spot he placed the stone in his body. Everything just starts sounding more and more ominous, and all the more so when you add on Ichijou's "conversation" with the rose-tattooed woman. He tries asking her some basic questions. Trying to find out if she's #0, or why they'd be killing their own people, or what their goal is. Good questions, but she's not interested in talking about any of that. What does get her attention is the gunshot wound Ichijou leaves her with a second later, which manages to draw blood, despite still healing right away. This seems to be more impressive to her than annoying, and she notes how much the Linto have changed, leading her to make one more cryptic statement to add to the pile: the current Kuuga may become like Daguva. There's a bit more of this conversation offscreen while Yuusuke is doing his thing, but after Gooma collapses in pain and runs away, Yuusuke runs over to Ichijou to find him horribly injured and unconscious.

While Ichijou recovers in the hospital, there's still the matter of Zazaru to deal with, which means Yuusuke is going to team up with Sakurai, of all people, to sort it out. I love that the show made time to do this instead of just pairing Yuusuke up with Sugita again. Sakurai, you know, there wasn't a lot to say about him for the longest time, and there still isn't that much, but the show has found a comfortable enough niche for him over time. Ichijou is the stern, disciplined super-cop, and Sugita contrasts with him by being the older, worn-out cop who's much more ready to grumble about the kind of nonsense they deal with on a regular basis. The flavor Sakurai ended up with is basically the opposite of that. Even though he's still around Ichijou's age, he comes off as the younger, more enthusiastic and excitable one of the trio, who's not quite as naturally skilled as the other two, and is therefore just kind of along for the ride most of the time. Essentially, the show started capitalizing on how minor his role was. So to put him in this position where he's now the hero's sidekick, it's a natural fit, and once again brings a totally unique chemistry that makes for a fun break from the usual Yuusuke/Ichijou scenes, giving you a chance to appreciate their dynamic more by showing you how it maybe could've been, if things had happened to play out a little differently. You wouldn't really see Yuusuke bringing Ichijou snacks to boost morale, you know?

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While those two are concerned with what the pattern to Zazaru's killings is, there's still plenty going on with the other Grongi. Thanks to some Grongi who have gone a little more native than Gooma, we find out the reason he's been going on such a rampage is to find out where Daguva is, which I'm sure is a sentiment that will be shared by a lot of viewers with how much this name is suddenly coming up. Whatever Daguva's power is, it's also resulting in even further changes to Gooma's body. His hair's gone grey! I think that means he's more powerful? Well, the spikes popping out of his monster form would definitely suggest he's getting stronger. Nothing says power like a particularly pointy pair of shoulders.

Over in Nagano, Sakurako explains to a colleague that the four-horned Kuuga mark is actually a separate character from the regular version, that was used specifically in that one inscription, but because the extra horns were a bit worn, she mistakenly assumed they were the same, and had it entered into her computer that way the whole time. It's obvious that their appearance differs now, but what's a little less obvious is what that difference is meant to signify. The aforementioned colleague puts forth the idea that it might mean #4 is going to have four horns eventually, but even that explanation only leads to further questions. And on the subject of questions, I have to ask how exciting these scenes are. Because I'm sitting here watching them, knowing exactly what these things mean, and thus knowing the show isn't just messing around when it says they're important, but it's not hard to picture an entire subplot revolving around linguistics coming off as boring material for what is ostensibly an action show. You probably need to be pretty on-board with what the show is doing to really buy into this guessing game of breadcrumb trails, especially when up to this point, most of Sakurako's actual effort to solve this stuff was offscreen. These episodes go all-in on assuming you care about the difference between the Kuuga logo, and the Kuuga logo with two extra lines drawn on it, and I worry that's a tall order. I don't know. I mean, I like it, and it's very directly connected to everything else that's happening right now, so I say it's cool!

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Ichijou wakes up in the hospital, despite Yuusuke earlier saying it would probably take around three weeks to make a complete recovery. Instead, Ichijou is going to shoot for about an hour or two, even if it's a bad idea. Add this to the list of similarities between the two of them. Once he gets a grip on his surroundings, Ichijou explains to Tsubaki about that conversation with the rose-tattooed woman. Apparently she also told him Daguva is something that will bring about the ultimate darkness, which put together with the previous statement about Kuuga becoming like Daguva... well, I think by this point you've probably put most of the pieces together. Turns out Tsubaki might not have been worried about Yuusuke becoming a living weapon for no reason. In a more minor revelation, Ichijou realizes here that his theory about #0's identity was probably wrong. Tsubaki tries to lull Ichijou back to sleep with mood-setting music on the radio, which leads to Ichijou confessing something regarding how he really feels about Yuusuke -- he hopes the day they can part ways comes as soon as possible. It's a rare moment of emotional honesty from Ichijou. I mean, it doesn't sound that way at first, but what he means by that statement is clarified by his next one, where he says going on adventures suits Yuusuke best. The same way Yuusuke has never truly gotten over his aversion to violence, Ichijou still doesn't want to have Yuusuke constantly putting himself in harm's way. He's still thinking about that, all this time later, and given how much faith he has in Yuusuke's abilities at this point, it's now much more obvious what the motivation behind that concern is. He just really, really doesn't want him getting hurt. So it probably shouldn't surprise anyone what his reaction is when he hears the news on that radio about how Zazaru is out killing people again.

This time the victims were in an elevator, and shortly after that, a bus. The mystery becomes what the connection between all these things is, and surprisingly, it's Yuusuke who does the deductive work here. Thanks to an earlier conversation with Sakurai that touched on Kuuga's different forms, Yuusuke's got colors on the brain, and he manages to make the connection that the colors of the objects being targeted go in a sequence. From there, he also manages to figure out that the common point between the targets now that taxis are no longer an option is they're all things that carry people places, allowing them to predict the next one. Ichijou would be so proud if he wasn't already! In something of a rarity, Kuuga doesn't actually transform at the end of this one, with the episode closing simply on Yuusuke and the police riding off to save the day. I guess they figured an episode with this much going on already didn't need much more.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Apparently they definitely didn't think this episode needed a thumbs up anywhere in there!

Total thumbs up count: 65+0 = 65

EPISODE 39: "Gooma"

The hunt for Zazaru becomes complicated by Gooma once more, who has now turned his attention to humans and begun his own killing spree. This leaves the cops unsure of which to go after first, but Yuusuke, taking the lead yet again, doesn't hesitate to say that Zazaru should take priority, an opinion also shared by Ichijou, who chimes in on the radio at the exact moment Yuusuke does to say the same thing. Two peas in a pod, these guys are. Ichijou is taking charge as always, going to grab some special equipment to help deal with Gooma. The cops currently being slaughtered by him in an attempt to draw out Daguva would probably appreciate the help.

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In the meantime, Yuusuke has finally met up with Zazaru, and attempts to keep her busy while the location to blow her up in is being prepped. Now, Gooma's taken a lot of the spotlight in these episodes, but Zazaru is no pushover herself. You don't want to take too many chances with someone who has claws covered in their own acidic blood, which means Kuuga gives it everything he's got. There are a few things about this fight I thought were really fun. Kuuga goes from Mighty to Dragon Form, and then does a finishing move, which isn't good enough to finish Grongi anymore, but it does put her in a lot of pain, which leads Yuusuke to switch back to Mighty Form to do a Rider Kick, and that, in combination with special bullets from the police, leaves her softened up enough to load onto the Beat Gouram. Interestingly, the Gouram plops itself on the Beat Chaser in its normal color scheme here, and it actually consistently stays that way underneath. The same thing happened with the Try Chaser back in episode 24, but the difference between the Beat Chaser's two sets of colors is a lot more pronounced.

Kuuga gets to the underground location the police have found to minimize the damage from the explosion, and tells Sugita to start shutting the gates while he's still in there. Using a gun borrowed from Sakurai (which means all three of the main cops in the show have now given Yuusuke a firearm at one point or another), he switches to Pegasus, and then Rising Pegasus Form to shoot Zazaru while driving by on the Beat Gouram, getting right the heck out of there as soon as possible, barely squeezing under the series of closing gates with heroically dramatic timing to escape the oncoming fireball and make it back to where Sugita is. This whole sequence is crazy awesome. This is where the show demonstrates how much value there is in letting Kuuga work more closely with the authorities. There's this real sense of them putting together this big operation, and having to carry out a tightly executed plan that's just fundamentally exciting to watch, especially in this case, where Ichijou was largely kept out of the case, giving Yuusuke more time to build some chemistry with other members of the cast. There's some serious bang for your buck going on in this one, too, because as soon as he finishes off Zazaru, Kuuga's got another monster to go deal with.

The atmosphere of the episode starts getting a little more tense from this point on. It's getting late in the evening, and Gooma is running around the woods killing more cops like a horror movie villain. Fortunately, Kuuga gets there in time to save at least one of them, going into Titan Form for some extra power, which I believe also makes this the first episode of the series (not counting the recaps) where all of Kuuga's base forms appear. One more thing that highlights how big in scale this plot is. Ichijou gives an assist with a device that generates sonic waves to disorient Gooma. Kuuga takes this opportunity to go for another Mighty Kick, which gets a big, slow-motion windup... only for Gooma to slap him right out of the air. He's a little too powerful at this point for Ichijou's device to do much more than make him angry, as it turns out. He smashes it to bits, and tosses our heroic duo to the ground, poised to kill them, when a mysterious sound on the wind catches his attention. It would seem he's finally found Daguva. Remember how I said Gooma was running on sheer bravado? This is where that catches up with him. Turns out that rock he was using to power himself up was Daguva's to begin with, and Daguva wants it back. This doesn't mean good things for Gooma.

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It's really incredible how tense those last couple of minutes are. These four episodes were all about building up the threat of Daguva, this mysterious entity of great power, and it does it all indirectly. Even right here, we're seeing Daguva's actions, but not his face, and I think that was the way to do it. We don't need to see Daguva boasting, or even see him at all. Just lightning shooting up into the sky like #0 back in the first episode to basically confirm they're the same person, heavy wind beating down on the trees, menacing animalistic sounds as he does the deed of killing Gooma, and then complete silence as Ichijou and Yuusuke cautiously approach the scene in the aftermath to find Gooma's bloody body, sitting up on some tree branches. It's perfect. This whole story was to show how powerful Daguva is, so what better way to accomplish that than having it be four episodes of Gooma becoming a huge threat by essentially stealing a fraction of that same power, only for it to turn out in the end that what Gooma had, which was already enough to overwhelm Kuuga, means absolutely nothing to the real deal. Gooma becomes just another Grongi added to Daguva's body count in the end, the villain doing in a few seconds what the heroes couldn't in four episodes, and that's the note things leave on. There's nothing more that needs to be said. When they say Daguva is going to bring about the ultimate darkness, you'll probably believe it now.

And that brings us to the end of a very, very long stretch of Kuuga. I said episodes 25 and 26 felt like Arakawa doing a combination sequel to 7/8 and 11/12, and these ones come off to me like a mix of 18-20 and 21/22. You've got that epic, extra length "event" serial thing going on from the former, as well as the plot structure that relies entirely on advancing the overarching plot like the latter. I think my favorite episodes of Kuuga will always be the ones that tell really strong stand-alone stories, but it's hard to deny how well this four-parter turned out. It mixes lots of great character beats in to provide that emotional resonance the episodes need in the short-term, like with Ichijou in the hospital, as well as still delivering a normal investigative Grongi plot with Zazaru to keep things a little more contained. The show essentially gets to play it safe and let Kuuga have a proper showdown with a monster before the subversion with Gooma, which I don't think detracts from the impact of that twist one bit. There are episodes of Kuuga with really strong thematic weight, that are good because they ask really good questions. Episodes like these are good because they just have so much excitement going on. All sorts of new lore, new characters, tons of action, you name it. It can't compete with the impression left by the more heartfelt episodes of the series, but it also can't be topped when it comes to intrigue and tension.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Lots and lots of thumbs for this one.

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Total thumbs up count: 65+4 = 69

You basically said it all already, but that moment where Gooma appears completely defeated, so easily? It's chilling. That something as threatening as that was so simply swept aside... it's not like it's an uncommon trope, but the way this was done leaves so much to implication and imagination. You don't know why Daguva's here. You don't know what he is, what he looks like or what he can do. You don't know why he's killing. You just know he's very, very good at it.

It's a very different type of Toku villain, at least in my experience; and one that hews close to horror movie monsters -- or the good ones, at least, where they don't let you get a clear look at it. Daguva more than anything else is simply fear.



It's time for more Kuuga Gun! ... but please don't fool yourself into thinking this is a fun distraction. Because it's the last set until that Kuuga Gun scene.

Daguva ended up being my favorite KR Big Bad, and the excellent way the show gradually builds up to him is definitely one of the reasons why. It's something few other Rider shows have managed to do successfully, in my experience.

Hey! A question you've got about Kuuga that I can answer!

So, it was boring and unclear BUT it was also useful for tension and pacing. Watching Sakurako dither over ancient linguistics was like Eating Your Vegetables for the meal that was this Kuuga story.

Not gonna lie, I wasn’t that invested in the show for most of it (the most attention I payed was whenever he got a new bike, or the clip shows.) But the introduction of #0 was enough to get me invested for the next 10 episodes.

Only the next 10 though

Seeing you refer to eating vegetables like it's some inherently unpleasant activity really clears up a lot about why our opinions on Kuuga differ so much. :lol

Seeing you refer to eating vegetables like it's not some inherently unpleasant activity does the same for me. Today is a learning day!

That's no good! Kamen Riders would be telling you to eat your greens! Or at the very least, Ex-Aid would, doctor's advice.

Agito too! Shouichi would be very very sad if you didn't try his veggies.

Something something Ghosts can't eat vegetables.

Look, I'm not saying I won't eat vegetables, just that I find it unpleasant. Much like Kamen Rider Gills, I understand that life is perpetual suffering, but facing that suffering is what makes life worth celebrating. And if anyone's about their greens, it's Gills!

EPISODE 40: "Impulse"

This one starts with a scene I really like. It's just Pops and Yuusuke having a little chat at Pole Pole, which ordinarily would be of little consequence, but it builds on the developments of the previous few episodes in a nice way, with Pops telling Yuusuke it's okay if he leaves on an adventure whenever he wants to. It's a touching gesture for how minor it is, and it adds a nice extra layer to Pops' character to show that, having spent so much time around Yuusuke, he's capable of recognizing when he's feeling troubled under the surface. It's the benefit of their particular relationship, because he doesn't look up to Yuusuke the way most of the other side characters do, which means he doesn't brush off the idea something could be wrong with him. Although for how much he knows about Yuusuke, he's still pretty clueless about what a "Kuuga" is, when Yuusuke tells he's still going to be on that adventure for a while. It's the thought that counts, though, and that's why it's a nice scene.

The police are having one of their usual "how f***ed are we?" meetings to discuss all the new information, and the new things they wish they had information on. Listening to these guys talk, it's always really easy to sympathize with how hard it has to be to stay on top of the situation. I mean, first they think the woman with the rose tattoo is #0, then it turns out #0 is probably some guy named Daguva. And then this Daguva guy is going around killing nearly 200 other Unidentified Lifeforms in around three weeks, which is like four times more than #4 has managed over nine months. Plus, they don't even know what could possibly be motivating Daguva to kill his own kind, but if it has something to do with bringing about ultimate darkness, then Sugita, about as optimistic as usual, has a pretty simple theory: he's just killing everyone, and humans are probably next.

It's business as usual for the Grongi, too, who are continuing with their usual games. The latest player is Go-Jaaza-Gi, who is basically a literal business shark. She's seen typing something up on a computer at an airport, telling the other Grongi she's making her game as easy as possible so as not to waste any energy, which is definitely the kind of efficiency I'd expect someone who looks like she belongs in a boardroom to apply to mass murder! Oh, and, since these episodes are by Ishida again, that means more super creative visuals for the Grongi talking as always. The two scenes of that in this episode are a bit more restrained than usual, but they both have moments where the characters are basically standing in featureless voids rather than proper rooms. This is especially impressive in the airport scene.

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Yuusuke lightens the mood over at the police station by calling in on the Beat Chaser's radio simply to ask if anyone there has caught a cold while on his way to meet up with Ichijou, Sakurako, and Enokida for their own meeting about Kuuga and the Grongi. Then, when he gets to the university for the meeting, he even climbs up the window into Sakurako's room for old times' sake. They're more little moments, but I appreciate the show remembering to put in these touches of human warmth as the story gets more heavy. Because it is getting pretty heavy, and once the discussion starts, it doesn't take long to be reminded of that. There's a really subtle thing that happens, where Sakurako reads the prophecy about the fearsome warrior and the sun being swallowed by darkness again, and Yuusuke immediately gets a grim look on his face, almost like he's not even listening to anything after that, even getting up out of his seat at the table with everyone. When the big revelation is about to be dropped, Yuusuke is the one to say it first: Kuuga and Daguva are pretty much the same thing.

He's figured a lot of this out on his own already, as could be picked up from his reactions to things like Ichijou mentioning the symbol with four horns a few episodes back. Again, Yuusuke's not ignorant, and in this particular case, he has one piece of information nobody else does, and that's the vision he saw when he defeated Jaraji. A pitch black Kuuga with four horns. He's got a hunch already, but Sakurako confirming for him the part of the inscription about the "holy spring" drying up refers to a person losing their capacity for kindness and compassion allows to him to say for sure that he was on the verge of becoming the fearsome warrior. He opens up about his feelings in that moment, how the fear those high school students were put through, and the fact that he couldn't save so many of them, it made him crack a little. All the anger he felt at the Grongi for all the people he hasn't been able to save caught up with him. And remember, he keeps track of the overall death toll. Yuusuke keeps a lot more buried under the surface than it looks like, and he admits it was spilling out so violently in that moment, that, just for a second, he genuinely considered using Rising Mighty right then and there, while Ichijou and everyone else were still around. Yuusuke reassures everyone that he thinks the vision was the Amadam's way of warning him where fighting with anger in his heart is going to lead, and he tries to brush it off by saying it was enough of a wake-up call to make sure that an incident like with Jaraji never happens again, but I don't think the importance of that confession from Yuusuke can be understated. It proves how human he is underneath. Even someone as kind as him is capable of losing control, and, even for a moment, for the smallest moment, he was almost ready to do something that would've horribly injured if not outright killed many of the very people he's trying to protect.

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Back at Pole Pole, Nana is dealing with her own problems. Earlier she went to an audition, and despite how optimistic everyone felt about it, she comes back with a sullen look on her face. Pops picks up on this, and is ready to provide emotional support, but the situation turns out to be more complex than Nana simply failing to pass the audition. It becomes downright worrying when she asks him if he's ever wanted to kill somebody.

The mood at the university has managed to lighten back up at least, with Enokida managing to get there eventually (at least she was up in the morning for once!), and Yuusuke amusing her and Sakurako with what I'm pretty sure is a killer impression of Hiroshi Fujioka, in yet another much-welcome Showa reference. Once they get back to business, the topic of discussion becomes the nature of Kuuga's powers, and how the Grongi are starting to possess similar abilities, like changing objects into weapons. It's one more hint of how similar Kuuga and Daguva truly are, and according to Enokida, it's entirely likely they'll start seeing Grongi with the ability to change forms the way Kuuga does too. Although Yuusuke isn't seeing much of anything at the episode's climax, as trying to track down Jaaza in the water after she kills almost everyone on a plane proves rather difficult. What's more, in another great Ishida sequence, Kuuga is sensing a different presence entirely. An almost ethereal figure in white watching from the distance. One it's hard to imagine has anything good in store for Yuusuke.

https://i.imgur.com/nnbA1mzl.png

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

At long last, the show reaches new heights of thumb action, topping all previous records with a grand total of eight thumbs going up, half of which are in the same frame!

https://i.imgur.com/JBsW2JEm.png
https://i.imgur.com/2yuh9S9m.png
https://i.imgur.com/oZPpLucm.png
https://i.imgur.com/ccY4uxFm.png
https://i.imgur.com/wgIvtCmm.png

Total thumbs up count: 69+8 = 77

EPISODE 41: "Control"

Kuuga learns a lesson about getting distracted the hard way when he gets a spear jammed straight through his shoulder less than half a minute into the episode.

https://i.imgur.com/Cs9EMTOl.png

Ouch! This is just brutal. The thing launches out of the water so fast it sends him flying through the air and pins him to a wall. Yuusuke being the trooper that he is, he just yanks it back out, while in excruciating pain the whole time, and since he had the misfortune of being in Pegasus Form while this was happening, he hit the time limit, and winds up in Growing, and unable to transform again for two hours. All in all, not his best fight! Once things have settled down, Yuusuke makes it clear to Ichijou (and the audience) that the presence he felt reminded him of #0 back in the forest, meaning we just got our first glimpse at Daguva's human form, who can manage to ruin Kuuga's day just by standing in place. That's pretty impressive!

Sugita drives up with some new info, which includes a hint as to what's next, deliberately given to the police by Jaaza, as well as the fact that the victims on the plane she attacked consisted largely of the elderly. She's taking this "easy game" thing very seriously, evidently.

At Pole Pole, Pops is also taking Nana's problems very seriously, to the point he's actually closed up the shop to take the time to talk about this with her. That's genuinely really sweet. What do you want me to say? Pops is the man, and again, I really appreciate seeing this more compassionate side of him. He's not anywhere near as helpful in situations like this as Yuusuke is, but he tries his best to lend an ear, though that becomes a lot harder when Nana runs out on him. But it's okay. By this point I'm sure we all know what it means when Yuusuke loses the ability to transform after using Pegasus Form. There's nothing quite like a pep talk from Yuusuke, and this is another darn good one.

He gets off to a fantastic start by thinking to look for Nana at a place he remembers her saying she used to practice with her teacher at, before the whole incident with Garume. It's less directly relevant to solving her problems than it was with Mika, but I can't get enough of Yuusuke demonstrating how much he cares about people to figure out where the sentimental places they'd go when feeling down are. It'd be so simple to just have the scene start with Yuusuke driving along on his bike until he turns to the side and says "huh?", having randomly found who he's looking for, but that's not good enough for this show. And of course, the reason she's so upset does come back to her teacher. Turns out one of the prompts at her audition was to act like someone you care about is being killed by an Unidentified Lifeform in front of you, which, uh... kinda seems like an oddly specific and insensitive thing to ask of somebody! You know, in case exactly what happened happened? Amazingly, this cruel reminder of what happened to the person who trained her to this point was not the reason she's talking about wanting to kill someone. No, that got her upset, but what tipped her over the edge was one of the other girls at the audition casually saying the fact her teacher actually died would come in handy for the performance. Which, like, yeah, pretty freakin' devastating. Even Yuusuke can understand why Nana would want to beat the crap out of her. He knows it's only human, but he also knows how painful it really is to solve your problems with violence. He asks Nana to take a deep breath, and gives her a spiel about how it's more important to make sure you've let the other person know they've done something wrong in a way that lets them understand, and how trying to do it with your fists doesn't really accomplish that.

Nana isn't having any of this right now. She's Yuusuke's number one fan, sure, but none of this is how the "real world" works, right? Nana thinks everything Yuusuke is spouting right now is naive idealism. Yuusuke has a pretty simple retort to this -- of course it is, and that's exactly why it's something you'd want to make real. Things being bad is just all the more reason to try making them better. Because a world where people only know how to solve things by fighting is far too sad. Summarizing it doesn't do justice to the usual great minimalist touch of Kuuga's dialogue, either. I don't know how adequately I can convey this, but the way that instead of saying "with your fists", he just says "like this" while gesturing with his fists, it's so much more powerful for some reason.

https://i.imgur.com/23TBMwbl.png

And that's what I think this whole scene is. Powerful. It's probably more than evident at this point how much I love the themes that take center stage during the last stretch of the show, and these episodes do an absolutely fantastic job of taking everything that was implied back in 34/35 and just running with it. We get a much deeper look into Yuusuke's psyche here, and what makes his advice to Nana click so well is that we know where it's coming from. These aren't just hollow suggestions. Yuusuke is starting to feel the pressure of being Kuuga more than ever. All the pain of that lifestyle. All the tragedy. All the anger. It's not hypothetical to him. The Grongi are people who truly can't be reasoned with, and it's precisely because he deals with them the way he does that he's all the more dedicated to making sure us regular humans realize we can talk things out. Joe Odagiri's acting here is also pretty excellent, continuing a trend he's developed in these recent episodes where there are the briefest little pauses in Yuusuke's smile. Occasionally, just for a moment, all that confidence completely leaves his face, and all the weight he's carrying underneath is plain to see. Like when the Beat Chaser's radio starts beeping and he realizes he has to leave, even though he clearly doesn't want to, and he struggles for a second to actually tell Nana he needs to go.

Once he does leave, he gets the latest news on Jaaza. Turns out she was cryptically announcing her targets via the internet, and the police have managed to crack the code and find out she's after a cruise ship next. A cruise ship full of children. Oh, and there was a post there saying she hopes to finish the "trivial" killings as soon as possible to move on to a more "important" game. You can imagine how Yuusuke feels hearing the slaughter of children dismissively referred to as trivial. Once he gets to the boat, there's an emphasis on him clenching his fist, clearly feeling that same rage again, but he takes a look at the blue sky above that seems to calm him down. And that right there is why you can take it seriously when Yuusuke tells you not to lose control of yourself and act on your worst impulses. Because he's practicing what he preaches. He has to, because unlike Nana, or any other regular person, he possess the kind of power that could easily bring about tragedy on the same level as the Grongi if he ever lets himself slip too far.

There's obviously the whole rest of the fight I could talk about. Cool stuff like paying off Enokida's earlier talk by having Jaaza change forms, or Kuuga turning from Dragon to Titan and seemingly changing the rod straight into a sword, or, heck, Rising Titan with two swords. It's good stuff, too, but this is another one where that's just not the part I most want to talk about. To me, the real climax of the episode is what the fight is contrsted with: Nana's confrontation with the girl she was thinking about killing not too much earlier. It's another way the show's minimalism adds so much. We don't actually see the conversation between the two. She's smiling at Yuusuke back at Pole Pole in the end, so it's assumed things worked out, but the act the scene focused on, what really mattered, was just her following Yuusuke's example and keeping her head clear. We don't need to see what they talked about, or how it went, because none of that matters anywhere near as much as the simple fact that Nana had the courage to try talking first. That's the kind of stuff that makes me love Kuuga, and it's the kind of stuff that makes me love this amazing set of episodes.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

This one's pretty packed too, but it's hard to top how crazy the previous episode went.

https://i.imgur.com/7pOxLK4m.png
https://i.imgur.com/dA0niZ3m.png
https://i.imgur.com/RGfQFydm.png
https://i.imgur.com/csN0qvsm.png

Total thumbs up count: 77+4 = 81

Alright guys, it's time to continue the Funny Wacky Gun Scenes!!!


... or not, because after a whole series of screenshotting and collating these because I found them so damn funny, I was not expecting a scene that took it this seriously. It's incredibly obvious in hindsight -- of course Godai as the wonderful person he is doesn't want to be a living weapon, and of course the themes of the series would gather around that conflict. And of course, if you're making one of Kuuga's powers the ability to use a gun in a certain way, having Kuuga hold a gun is an extremely effective way of showing those themes.


The attachments below do not do the scenes - the end of 40 and the start of 41 - justice. There's a lot going on here, of course; and arguably the big takeaway is what Fish highlighted -- Daguva's human form and the effect it had on Godai. But beyond that, with how long Kuuga holds the untransformed gun, with how much he just stands there with it, how much the camera zooms in on and holds on that shot... it really nails what these episodes are about. Godai holding a gun is just wrong. It's not right. His hands weren't made for this and he's not the sort of man to use a weapon of murder -- and yet, here he is.

We are getting closer and closer to the debut of one of my favorite things in Kuuga, and I swear Kurona if you manage to talk about it before me there will be words. WORDS I SAY!!!

Anyway yeah, another point to how well Daguva is pulled off is not getting to see his human form fully for a while; As if his aura is so intense and alien that even the viewer can't make him out fully. It's good framework.

Oh don't worry, I think I know what you're talking about given what you've said in the Figure-Rise thread and others; and I've got other stuff in those episodes I wanna talk about ;)

Do you... do you want to just like, do the rest of this thread for me? Because I kind of feel like you could do a better job. Because this observation, that these episodes devote an unusual amount of screentime to Mighty Form just standing there with the gun, the face of the show, holding a real weapon, and all the implications that carries? Totally brilliant. Brilliant, and also completely over my head. But on watching that scene again, with the way it specifically focuses in on the gun as Daguva is watching, as though it's what he's interested in, like, I'm now very confident this was entirely intentional.

As if these episodes weren't good enough already.

In all honesty, I was super surprised you didn't mention it! I thought you were leaving it open for me or something since I hinted at it last time.

But, yeah, maybe it is because of my devotion to HaHa Funny Gun Bug but it is the part of the episode that stuck out the most to me, and one of the scenes I think about a LOT when I look back on Kuuga. Frankly, though, don't sell yourself short -- there's countless examples in this thread of your observation shedding light on things I hadn't thought about or paid much attention to, and makes me appreciate Kuuga even more than I already did!



(also holy shit thank you for the compliment)

If there’s one thing I remember about episode 41, it’s the name dropping of Yusuke’s old college professor.

I think I'm going to have some questions for this part that I really want to know. So the Kuuga logo (that Yusuke has created in various attributes) are the Grongi's word for warrior? But of course Sakurako is the one understands deeper about the symbol unlike Ichijou or the audience, she's the only one having prior knowledge upon that language!

Finally now it's explained what Lintos Grongis have been grumbling about actually are... so they're the ancient human race in the past. And with no difference between them, Grongis refer to present-day humans as Linto too. Even then, if Lintos rejected fighting (if you say they reject, means they would know what fighting is right?), they still don't come up with the word to identify if that kind of thing (what they consider taboo) happens somewhere, or like suggested, or another tribe provoking them that? But yeah, the production team actually mean it when they want the "warrior" character to be different from the others here. It's obviously a bad news for a lot more people because they don't have any power to fight back Grongis, let alone #0!

I've always been interested in Kuuga's ability to transform objects into weapons (and I still stand by that his ability to change Try/BeatChaser might be related to that, but then Try/BeatChaser also has a mechanism in it to change the color as well), so I'm glad they're addressing it in-universe to be researched. Jean giving the book to Enokida to guide her only for it to be left.... that feels like some experience I've been. What if Kazari asks Yusuke about his changing lifestyle? How Yusuke's going to answer by that? Other than that, Kazari is right regarding Mika and Nana.... though he's just going to be that blunt to a family member?

This has to be some of the most gruesome deaths by Grongi, and the corpse here really are far from human shape now. And yeah fights and conflicts between villains are fun to witness.

And Yusuke even gets to hear the police reports in the BeatChaser! It's been neat since seeing Yusuke get to know the other cops from before honestly. Though can the radio call distinguish between mass reports and personal calls? Like when Ichijou asks Sasayama to bring the special bullets.

Would something happen for the Gouram with the bunch of its info now being collected in a disc and researched? E̶h̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶s̶w̶e̶r̶.̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶r̶e̶w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶!̶

A tiny difference. I didn't even notice it at the first (I know she's talking about the horns, but the horns are a very tiny part that it's not easily seen). So the symbol isn't actually shared.

So Gooma wasn't only being taken as a joke, he was isolated to be left behind in Grongi cultures... And as other Grongis pointed out, Bemiu gave a little of hint to the humans for their downfall.

Of course you shouldn't intervene in Grongi fight, it will turn into 2v1 if Kuuga interrupts and they saw a common enemy. You may can intervene from afar with Pegasus Form though, just to make one of them die quicker. And lol Ichijou, integorrating a Grongi (with a gun as a threat like a cop would do to criminals) wouldn't give exact results as it would be to humans. And this culminates the investigation, B1 isn't what they seek for. BTW, what does the B stands for in B1? Also how Ichijou survived whatever B1 did to him?

So this completes the assemble, the middle, the old, and the young ones for the cops working with Yusuke. And yeah it's significantly more light-hearted between Yusuke and Sakurai.... despite that they're recently interacted. Yusuke cares for Sakurai the most compared to others to treat him into foods by himself!

But Gooma had to undergone such great pain to obtain more power.

How did Sakurako invovled a random colleague into this anyway? And speaking of the subplot, I'm not one of them to declare it as a boring material in an action show. Though admittedly this part is a bit hard to follow, I have to read here to get clearer meaning of those. I follow KR because of things surrounding the action part too, so I'm accepting parts like this (someone in this forum hates the fact that the series showcases parts where Enokida has to focus on her child). And like you said, this is definitely important as this is an attempt to seek out #0 and following the cops hypothesis that dealing with #0 may solve the Grongi, though Ichijou got some further information directly from what they suspect to be #0 that she's wrong to be that.

This just echoes both Ichijou and Yusuke at the beginning part to keep going despite the injuries. And Tsubaki allowing Ichijou to still work here (with thumbs up!).

Now it seems Yusuke's significance is bigger than ever for him to also do the detective work here. The cops job now is to lure Grongis to safe place and evacuate civilians. The only thing's missing is that they don't mention which part of Yusuke's 2000 skills mention detective work.

I thought the claws were a part of Zazaru's body... turns out those are weapons, and can be disarmed to gain an advantage. I wonder what will happen if the acid actually hits Kuuga, a being more than earthly level. And yeah this is the culmination of Kuuga's fighting to have him use all the form he has.... except Titan.

Now I want to ask, how to determine Grongi's explosion from Kuuga's stamps? In this part, it takes abnormally long for Zazaru to explode here, I thought previously, the Kuuga's finisher move which left stamps at Grongis don't work on Zazaru, and therefore expires. But turns out that it still affects her when there's 3 of them after Pegasus shoots her, and she only explodes at that time. And were the explosions from the finishers in different forms add up, or Zazaru had a huge explosion solely from the Mighty Kick? There's also something when Sugita hesitates to close the gate with Yusuke still inside.

Kuuga didn't fight Gooma with Rising Forms right? How would it go if Kuuga does?

Lol man... entrance and victims count for a threat buildup. Entrance is the main impression to see how powerful a threat is because obviously they would undergo an entrance first before fully appearing! And for some reason, the deal with Gooma here, it reminds me of Graphite in Ex-Aid, where both of them gets stronger by absorbing a tiny part of the big villains, but even if they got significantly stronger, it's still nowhere compared to the actual big villains, which are kept mysterious and only talked about until the one who absorbs a part of their power dies. Also Gooma doesn't explode like Kuuga's victims?

Yuusuke's seriously had some notable teachers in his life. I wonder if Hongou ever gave him that same speech about the preciousness of life from the Rider 1 movie?

I think the idea is that the Linto were just living totally peacefully until the Grongi showed up one day. I'm pretty sure they would've had a concept of what violence is, but that specific idea, a "warrior", someone who exists for the sole purpose of fighting, wasn't something that existed in their own culture. If the Grongi were the ones who introduced that idea to them, it makes sense they would borrow a symbol of theirs to represent it in writing.

The police keep track of Unidentified Lifeforms with human appearances separately, and they're labeled as the B Group. The letter just signifies that it's a secondary list from the main one. It's not short for anything.


There's room for debate there! In that particular scene, it wasn't really an option for Yuusuke, since the Rising forms are pretty strictly for finishing off Grongi, and blowing up Gooma with Ichijou standing right there would be a bad idea. If he weren't though... personally, I get the impression Gooma would still be more than powerful enough to take Kuuga down. Fighting his basic forms doesn't seem to take any effort at all for Gooma, so if he was actually trying, the results would probably be the same in the end.

EPISODE 42: "Battlefield"

These two episodes are directed by Osamu Kaneda again, and as soon as this one starts, it's obvious why. Kuuga can be a very relaxed show, but here, it's nothing but action right out of the gate. Everyone is hot on the trail of Go-Baberu-Da, a brutal buffalo with a surprisingly cowardly approach to killing Linto. He makes a point to block off all routes of escape in crowded structures, leaving him free to to do his thing with the added benefit of making it harder for anyone who could stop him to get in. I gotta say, I think these last few Go guys are starting to get lazy. I mean, Jaaza basically outright said on her blog or whatever that the actual "game" part of the "game" they're playing is completely trivial to them, and they just want to hurry up and move on. Makes sense for the guys with the highest rank, I guess, but still. You could at least put some creativity into how you slaughter people. Or, well, you could also not kill people. That's a pretty good option too!

https://i.imgur.com/Hz0VQ6ql.png

The way the plot here is structured is pretty interesting. Not only does it start at what would be the climax of any other episode, but the police have explicitly been dealing with Baberu for a few days already. It completely skips over most of the setup almost any other episode of the show would do to get us right to all that glorious action, and man is it exciting. First, Kuuga catches up to Baberu on the Beat Chaser, which means a small but welcome taste of trial action before he dismounts the bike. From there, it's an intense battle that puts Yuusuke on the ropes in more ways than one. There's a great little character moment that continues to build on his recent struggles, where Baberu takes a second to compliment Kuuga's strength, saying his fists would probably be able to kill a ton of prey. Yuusuke is visibly shaken by this, and is about to charge at Baberu in a moment of anger, but he holds himself back for a second and lets Baberu come to him. It's a nice reminder of the conflicting emotions he's dealing with in-between all the exciting action.

And the action is really exciting! Kuuga gets a nice Mighty Kick in there, but it doesn't even work to annoy Baberu, who brushes it off, and unveils an ability to change forms just like Jaaza last time. His comes with a big hammer that he starts smacking up Yuusuke with, leaving visible dents in even Titan Form's armor. This far in the series, I have to say I really love how brutally and how often Kuuga gets beaten up. How do I put it? It's fun how fun it isn't? Like, Yuusuke sustains these massive injuries, and spends a lot of time rolling around on the ground having trouble even drawing breath properly, and all of that does a great job to reinforce how serious the stakes of the fight are. If Yuusuke messes up too much in any one of these fights, he's going to die, and you really feel that watching some of these scenes. The only thing that saves Kuuga here is Ichijou shooting Baberu with another special new type of bullet that serves to stun him long enough for Kuuga to do the now standard trick of loading the Grongi onto the Beat Gouram's horns to drive off to somewhere safe.

Once he gets to a nice big open quarry, Yuusuke decides to try out, for seemingly no particular reason, something Enokida suggested to him. He transforms to Rising Mighty while on the Beat Gouram, allowing Gouram itself to be imbued with the golden power, which... gives Bandai one more thing to sell toys of! Obviously it also gives Gouram the extra power to be able to finish off a monster again, but three random extra pieces of gold slapped on an already busy bike design honestly isn't that exciting, and the show seems to know that, because it treats the whole thing with a bit of a wink and a nudge. Yuusuke tells Ichijou over the radio after Baberu is destroyed that the "Gold Gouram Beat Chaser Combo Ramming Attack" worked great, and all Ichijou can say in response is that's a really long name. This show obviously has things against both announcing attack names and shilling merchandise in forced ways, so I think Yuusuke doing (a terrible job of) the former is a subtle indicator they kind of felt like they were being made to do the latter in this one. No deep origin, or great buildup. It's just... Rising Beat Gouram, there it is! And there it goes, too, because this is its only appearance! Combined with Ichijou's smile, it's a cute, tongue-in-cheek way to wrap up half an entire episode that was pretty much all adrenaline, all the time.

https://i.imgur.com/wv1CREdl.png

Yeah, that's right, we're at the commercial break already. That's how long that went. Everything's like totally backwards right now, it's nuts. Things start feeling a lot more normal from this point on, though. Nothing reminds me I'm watching Kuuga quite like a long scene of characters in a room talking to each other about things. And this particular scene of characters in a room is like an all-star gathering of the main cast. Yuusuke, Ichijou, Enokida, Tsubaki, Sakurako, and my main man Jean have all gotten together to share their latest updates on Kuuga and the Grongi with each other, and it's pretty great. The only way it could be better is if Pops was there serving tea and completely misinterpreting everything everyone was saying as being a reference to some song or something.

The main topic of discussion ends up being Tsubaki's work analyzing the corpses of Gooma, and all of the other Grongi killed by Daguva. Because they weren't blown to pieces like the ones Kuuga takes out, it was actually possible to analyze them thoroughly. The good news is that means the police might finally get some useful countermeasures against them out of this. The bad news is that, without any remaining doubt at all, the Grongi are functionally identical to Kuuga. They aren't monsters with human forms, like you might've assumed. They're basically just regular people who have magic stones in their stomachs enabling them to turn into immensely powerful, animal-themed forms... exactly like Yuusuke. There's a lot I really love about this. Some of it is thematic, and it's probably best to get into it later. Some of it just how very Kamen Rider the whole idea is. Having the monsters and the heroes both come from the same place is a franchise tradition, and the ways Kuuga works stuff like this in while still having a completely original spin is awesome. Not so awesome is how much credence this lends to the theory that Yuusuke is going to become like Daguva. Tsubaki's been worried about this, in a way, since episode 5, and this only makes him more so, but Yuusuke tries to reassure him, and the others all join in. The whole scene started off as a serious meeting, but by the end, everyone is laughing at Ichijou making puns. Again, I love what the show is doing here. It's inching ever closer to an inevitable darkest hour, but the worse things get, the more emphasis there is on these basic moments of human warmth and camaraderie. They become more important.

The other thing to mention here is that Mika is back in Tokyo yet again, this time for a flute competition, which is being held at a building owned by some big corporate CEO dude who seems to have made a lot of enemies. When a guy sits in a poorly lit room chucking darts at a picture of you, it's probably not a good sign. And when that same person shows up to your building at the same time Mika arrives, and starts inching closer towards her while menacing music plays, it's another kind of sign entirely. The sign of a cliffhanger!

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Some pretty reckless use of the thumbs budget again this time. Take special of note the fact that, like in episode 40, Yuusuke even uses both hands at one point.

https://i.imgur.com/aLr9cgmm.png
https://i.imgur.com/oEcMsWXm.png
https://i.imgur.com/RZIwQO7m.png


Total thumbs up count: 81+8 = 89

EPISODE 43: "Reality"

The resolution to the cliffhanger from last episode is another one where it basically just turns out it was no big deal at all. Masahiko, the guy with the grudge against the building's owner, was just giving Mika back the necklace of shells she got from her father before heading in himself. I really, really love that subversion, actually, and we'll come back around to why in the end. There are many super interesting choices this episode makes, and one of them is in what it focuses the plot on. There's a token Grongi talking scene, and a brief bit in the middle where Yuusuke turns into Kuuga when he feels Daguva's presence again, but that's pretty much it for supernatural elements in this story. All the climactic battles, all the impossible murder mysteries, that all happened last time. It's taken care of already. This is a story about reality.

With things having calmed down so much now that Baberu is gone, everyone is enjoying the free time. Yuusuke is off to the preschool again to help Minori out and generally be a cool guy who's good with kids. Happy times all around in these scenes. There's genuinely no other location in the series where Yuusuke in more in his element. Some great attention to detail, too, with a goodbye note on the whiteboard from Keiko, since she's off to go have a child. It's a great little bit of continuity to include, and it further emphasizes the sort of celebratory mood of the first part of the episode. Yuusuke eventually leaves to go attend Mika's concert, but not before Minori expresses her hope that hearing Mika's performance will put a smile on the face of Ichijou, who's also going to be there. After all, Ichijou's a stern guy who doesn't smile that much, right?

Admittedly, he's not doing a whole lot to dispel that image as he gets ready. He's carrying out the task of cheering Mika on in his typically formal manner, buying a nice bouquet for the occasion, and generally being a little stiff in social scenarios. Such as when he gets to the building and happens to meet up with an old coworker of his who's currently acting as security for the event. He's makes some casual cracks with Ichijou about him finally getting a girlfriend and whatnot, but of course Ichijou just responds completely seriously to everything he says. He's equally quite serious talking to Mika before she goes on, filling her in on the latest news about #0 completely honestly and openly. I love how thoughtful you can tell Ichijou is being by thinking to give her a status update on that, and I equally love the whole idea of Mika kind of gradually finding herself. She basically says she gave up on helping out the research team in Nagano because she realized she just didn't have anything to really contribute, and this sudden interest in playing the flute is her new way of doing something that would make her father proud, since it was something he encouraged her to do. With only a few major appearances, there's this real sense of Mika growing up, and something really sweet about the sort of "it takes a village" attitude we see the main cast applying now that her father is gone. Ichijou's not as good at expressing it as Yuusuke, but you can tell he cares a lot about seeing to it she's happy. No one made him come here, after all. What's more, Mika manages to get Ichijou to lighten up when they bond over their preferred method of eating manjuu, getting him to crack such an earnest smile that Mika is surprised to see it.

https://i.imgur.com/ElrxRAJl.png

Right after this, Ichijou has to run off, however. That guy from earlier, Masahiko, was indeed coming to the building to get his revenge on the CEO. Masahiko is currently holding him hostage on a rooftop with a gun to his head, and the situation is looking tense. Turns out Masahiko was a longtime employee for the company who lost his job after some corporate downsizing happened. Clearly he didn't take that too well, and Ichijou isn't going to sit by and let this play out. It's as cop show as things have ever gotten as Ichijou pursues him all the way down from the rooftop to the ground below, heading outside the building's entrance, where Masahiko takes another hostage, having had to ditch the CEO, in an attempt to get Ichijou to back off. It seems like a standoff for a moment, but Ichijou waits for the perfect opportunity, and shoots the gun right out of Masahiko's hand for maximum TV cop style. Having disarmed the criminal, he rushes over and restrains him by force as civilians run by in panic. Truly an action-packed, gritty ordeal. One that happened in full view of Mika, on her way out from her performance.

All of this was pretty traumatizing for her. She can't even look Ichijou in the eye when he comes over to ask if she's alright. Ichijou leaves her in the hands of Yuusuke, who just now got there after getting held up searching for Daguva. Ichijou says it's because he has to write a report on what just happened, but I think it's obvious part of it is him reading the room. Yuusuke sees Mika back to the train station, and she explains why she was so scared. It wasn't even really about a criminal being there. It was because of how frightening Ichijou was going after the criminal.

https://i.imgur.com/IKEbbOwl.png

Only a little bit before that, Ichijou was so jovial talking to her. He was friendly, and kind, and all kinds of words that seem so impossible to reconcile with the man in the street violently subduing that criminal. Yuusuke, who has been having this exact problem with himself lately, tells Mika something that's clearly informed by his own internal struggle. That side of Ichijou exists. It's real. No matter how unpleasant or scary it is, it's there, and there's no helping that. But Ichijou's smile is real too, and there's no getting rid of that either.

This is a story about reality, and this is one of the boldest, most poignant morals this show ever delivered. Kuuga is a show with very clearly defined sides of good and evil, but it's also a show with a lot of nuance. To do this story that says we all have parts of ourselves we don't like, ones we wish we could ignore, because of what we think they say about us as a whole, that's pretty daring. To then further say that, in spite of all of this, we can't deny those things, and that acknowledging them doesn't mean we should stop acknowledging the things about us that are good? Well, that just shows why this series is so beloved all these years later. This is a very complicated lesson to give to children, but it's also an important one, and that's why I respect this episode so much for tackling that head on.

Framing it around the actual child of the cast was a smart move to that end, and I appreciate details like Masahiko's characterization, which further plays into that central theme. An ordinary human is the main antagonist, even given the same ominous music cues as the Grongi. He's the villain, but he's not a monster. He's not much of a stone cold criminal, either. He held a gun to a man's head, and even shot another one in the leg, but the whole time, there's nothing on his face but pure fear. He doesn't necessarily want any of this. He convinced himself to carry out this plan for revenge, but before all of this, he was just a regular old employee, and we see from that gesture of returning Mika's necklace that he's not without compassion. The world is complex sometimes, and that's what this episode captures so well by pushing all the actual Kamen Rider material off to one side. It's another beautifully done drama that stands among Kuuga's best episodes, in my opinion.

https://i.imgur.com/5l5PATjl.png

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Sure enough, the show needs a break after that last one.

Total thumbs up count: 89+0 = 89

I think it's been noted by you guys alot in this thread before, but yeah, a handful of Kuuga's' episodes have alot of surprisingly adult lessons for kids, and it really does do alot to help the show stand out. And Episode 43 is yet another big point to my man Ichijo, and helping show both his growth and multiple sides of his character. Great stuff.

I still think about this episode a lot because it really reflects how Godai and Ichijou are simultaneously opposites of each other, yet the same person. I adore how this show decided to posit its main characters as a peaceful man who has to engage in violence and then we look at his struggles with that; and a man all too used to engaging in violence being able to indulge in peace around that former man.

It's a bit difficult and complicated to get across without getting you to watch the series too, because I wouldn't say Ichijou exactly... learns anything from Godai, and I don't mean that in a bad way either. I think it's clear that he's pretty well-adjusted and knows how important it is to have these different aspects of himself, and to be able to smile and be happy when he's able to. I don't think of him as a character that needs Godai to come in and help him grow as a person.

Rather... I think it's more accurate to say that Godai is someone that lets him be his best self a lot more. Someone he's much more able to be that person around; someone that draws out his best characteristics like that. It's hard for me to not see Godai and Ichijou as each other's other half, because to me they're just the best examples of opposites attracting. They're both extremely well developed as people before the series starts, and don't exactly have anything they need to grow on; but more just... this constant life stuff they need to work through. And they help each other immensely on that. It's a very different angle to come from on a show like this, and I think it works heavily to its credit.

This episode was called Reality, and it's a very fitting name... but to mirror something that'll happen in not long from now, I think it would have been just as apt to call it Ichijou. It's a very specific and complex character piece on the man and I think it's fantastic that this was done so close to the end. It's a real bookend on what makes Ichijou Ichijou.

Oh so this one did happen. Though it's not about Kazari asking Yusuke outside his adventure... but asking deeper inside it about him finding a girlfriend. And again about Yusuke showcasing Kuuga... umm... warrior symbol to a clueless Kazari. I wonder if Yusuke's going to cook a food that is Kuuga/warrior shaped...

I wonder now how did they suspect that rose tattoo woman was #0.... there are other Grongis around and she doesn't seem to take charge of them... unless it's from her posture alone. The optimistic side would be that Daguva reduces the potential threatening Grongis with him killing them. But yeah... now they're dealing with quality (Daguva) over quantity (killed Grongis). They should remember that there are humans killing other humans, and Grongis seem to be the case too. But it's also said that Daguva revives them just to kill again...

So up to now there are no Grongis achieving what Gegeru asks so far because Kuuga killed them?

Yusuke's call to police would seem unecessary and disturbing to some people regarding authorities. So yeah there's a talk. From the Grongi talk, possibly only now that the translation Sakurako has been confused over makes sense, and not related to Yusuke at all, after previously it's all about Rising Forms. Yusuke truly sees now what makes him a monster, besides Tsubaki explanation, that is the implication he may be Daguva... I wish for Yusuke to actually bring up more about it with him being possibly the head Grongi, or related to him. And Yusuke doesn't explain himself why he had to climb the window (I mean he said he had to!).

So the vision wasn't only something to show to the viewer about Yusuke giving in the hatred... but Yusuke did actually see it. And now it's indirectly revealed that Rising Mighty is the strongest one with Yusuke not using it against Jaraji and opts to use Rising Titan instead. I thought it's also partly to make Jaraji suffer more with a slow death.

Changing form Grongi? Oh well just hope that the forms are like Kuuga's, more of multiform balance rather than vastly stronger ones (while also healing them with the new form). Because I want to also emphasize that quality isn't always the same as quantity. Having many forms doesn't guarantee you as stronger. BTW, it's already referenced back then by Tsubaki.... Yusuke after becoming Kuuga, has enhanced physical qualities even as human like Grongis (Ichijou shooting #B1!) and it grows over time. Yusuke is a pure hero, but his body has become monstrous back then. It's fantasy, but now I finally get the information about weapon changing that it's just atom manipulation. I still wonder how broken this ability could be, unless the atom manipulation limits what kind of object they can change.

Not even Pegasus Form's enhanced sense can detect Jaaza? Pegasus is made for these kind of situation! At least Jaaza didn't continue to relentlessly attack Kuuga for him to escape. So this is Daguva's first defeat of Kuuga?!

I want to know, how did the pilot survive at the plane? To give Sugita the info he needed.

I need the translations of the note written in front of Pole Pole door, my sub didn't do it. Aside from his compassionate side, Kazari did admit he had a thought of killing someone. And he's completely right that you cannot know someone's problem if they don't talk it out, though he could've taken a hint that Nana failed the audition (though that's not the actual problem).

The audition probably asks to make a kind of action/horror film, only that the kind of horror like Grongi actually exists irl. It makes sense that, to solve a problem you need to talk it out rather than fighting it out, though, I also think that the kind of heartless person Nana interacts at the audition, may not be able to be reasoned with and just revels over others misery like this (probably even a psychological manipulation to take out the competition). Even though it's seemingly not the case. That person didn't even berate or leave Nana when she was freezing at first when confronting her.

Lol at one point the cops thought the internet message was just a troll! The clue reminds me of the Kuuga-Daguva stuff regarding the sun. And that shot of Kuuga's clenching hand corresponding with Nana's.

So now it's finally seen Kuuga Rising Titan with 2 swords.... didn't expect to take this long to see it. Regarding the weapon changing ability, this is what I meant by Kuuga utilizing it fully, like Jaaza, she has many tools to use as a weapon, and she creates numerous of that, more than 2 (like what she can hold in her hand). And would that mean the weapons can stay morphed when not touched? And that Kuuga Titan, even not in Rising, can dual wield too?

Rising BeatGouram is just a little too tacky for my tastes, so I think it was for the best it only had one appearance. What would have really solidified this as the ultimate Ichijou episode is if he got to ride the big beetle-cycle mount for a bit!

I wish I had a more complex response to this, but all I can think of here is repeating what I said about you being better at this than me. These are all very good observations!

It basically just says they're closed. Nothing you couldn't figure out from context.

That's actually one of the other things that I like how the show leaves up in the air. From the way Nana quotes her, I think there's a legitimate possibility that girl was genuinely trying to say "hey, I guess that horrible tragedy had an upside!", not realizing how insensitive it was, which would reinforce why it's important for Nana to not just flip out and start beating her up. And of course, if she was just being mean, Yuusuke's point still stands. The lesson matters either way, and that's why I think it was smart not to define that problem too much. The thing the show is trying to convey isn't really about a specific instance.

Okay, I know I just got done praising episode 43 for its emphasis on realism, but in the alternate reality where the episode is called "Ichijou", it totally ends with him ramming that criminal with the BeatGouram. :lol

So Yusuke has been holding it throughout the series before Jaraji comes, and now any mention of Grongi killing now just sets him off instantly from there on?

When Baberu changes form, is that a balanced multiform like Dragon, Pegasus, and Titan to Mighty, or the stronger one like Rising to base forms? And can he changes his tools into something other than hammer? Oh yeah, this is the part where Yusuke gets beaten up a lot to the point that it's horrific. This really gives a feeling of hopelessness in Yusuke. One of the moments where the Kuuga armor was visibly damaged with all the marks from the hammers. The police now have caught up with Kuuga I guess with the bullet affecting Go Grongis. And.... "If Yuusuke messes up too much in any one of these fights, he's going to die".... lol... "go die".... "Godai".

The Grongi of the week is finished off in only 1 episode and mid-episode... why wasn't this abnormall mentioned? And can't Grongis just get off of Try/BeatGouram when they are carried by it? Like just jump out of them. Also even the Gouram finisher has an usual nuke explosion (or it's stronger Grongi's explosion?). I mean what do you expect of the attack name if everyone just refers to Kuuga's forms with their colors and refered to Grongi in numbers?

I was going to ask about the Grongi analysis if they're blown up by Kuuga! But as summed up here, there are Grongi corpses from Daguva too, and they're still in one piece to be analyzed. Then again why weren't Daguva's victims blown up too? And if Grongis are humans by origin, are they those who picked the belt and has become a living weapon like everyone afraid Yusuke's turning out as? Or that they were already bloodlusted for some reason at the beginning? If they aren't, why were they putting up the belt at the first place? Are there no ways to remove the belt at all? Because if there's a way, the answer of those may be found. And damn Tsubaki not joining the thumbs up. Also it's bad now not to trust Yusuke from Sakurako. If the meeting happens at Pole Pole, wouldn't it be irritating to have a serious meeting constantly be interrupted?

Yeah the subversion, really thought that Masahiko's going to ram Mika with the cart. And Daguva beating Kuuga again with the presence! Or it was Pegasus' strong senses that becomes his downfall that time?

So yeah with Baberu lasting only one episode, this is the rare time to experience without Grongis, which everyone wishes to happen again. Though even if it's like that, Grongis (in their relief) never appeared in the places where they enjoy life like in Pole Pole, police headquarters (would like to see Grongis blending with human getting to know about human system like a group to ensure their safety called polices), Minori's preschool, hospital, etc. It'd be more impactful if they've felt hardship from even living out a daily life with their places being terrorized. I get it that they probably think Grongis can show up anywhere anytime like at their usual place but experiencing it may be a different (and much darker) moment. There's always Yusuke to beat

Mika giving up is her growth apparently. She was helping the team at Nagano for her father's sake? A source I read said that Mika caused problems when she ran away at her debut leading to problems, so she had to make it up by helping Jean in the research team. And talking about Ichijou smiling, he had attempts before for a small smile that he blatanly tries to hold off, and those doesn't count to the likes of Godai siblings?

I can just say the show finally shows Ichijou's maximum competence as a cop with him dealing with something that isn't out of his league, that shoot to his gun! The girl civilian's resistance can also contribute to give the opening window. Ichijou's usually dealing with the superhuman Grongis, can only shoot them where it's ineffectual most of the time (Baberu's one of the exceptions! But anyone can shoot with a gun), otherwise getting beaten the crap out by them. Here it shows his marksmanship, and also restraining Masahiko later until the other cops come.

I mean yeah, he was all of that, even if he's serious, formal, and stiff, so that's ok. Yusuke's an idealist so he would tell Mika something like that. But a composed nature is required for work, to deal with something like Grongis. And Mika's reaction to Ichijou can be a problem for people itself, that if someone changes for the better (actually not changing for Ichjiou as elaborated above, but showing more of his best side), people would be uncomfortable about the changes and prefer your usual way even if it's unpleasant or scary.

Giving some adult morals is a good thing to help others grow up facing the world. Though for this series being beloved, I don't know if people look deep into these nuances as much, especially in a tokusatsu series where people are in it mainly for the fights and effects. They sometimes despise gimmicks in the new series and liked this one for not focusing on it, and the more "pure" fights that isn't filled with effects.

Only later the characteristics of Masahiko would be implemented in more aspects of Kamen Rider, now even Riders can possess that characterizations.

I mean, I don't know if I'd say any mention "sets him off", exactly. Moments like that one just emphasize how, this far into the show, Yuusuke is starting to get worn down mentally from everything that's happened. When Yuusuke gets angry, it doesn't just mean he's losing his cool, it also means he's losing his focus. I'm not sure how well I'm getting across what I'm trying to say right now. Like, the rage is the main thing, for sure, but I think the problems Yuusuke is dealing with are a little less blunt and simple than just "Grongi make him mad". There's an implication he's starting to get sick of just... the entire experience of being Kuuga. He's repressing as much hate for what the Grongi are making him into as he is for the Grongi themselves, I think, which would explain why Baberu complimenting his talent for violence would be one of the remarks that does get under his skin to that level.

Kuuga and the police generally try to soften them up first specifically to prevent that from happening, I presume. Jaraji actually did try to fight back, to his credit, but of course, it didn't make much difference.

Oh I don't, that's exactly what makes it such a hilarious gag! These characters just have absolutely no talent for coming up with cool names. It's as Kuuga as Kuuga gets.

To be fair, all Minori says is that Ichijou rarely smiles, not that he never does at all, which I'd argue is true enough. Keep in mind that we the viewers also get to see those smiles he hides, or does without anyone around, a luxury the other characters in the show don't have.

That was exactly what I meant and I wanted to express; Yusuke being sick of Kuuga from the beginning, from Minori's worries about him at early that he has to be violent for the others, and gradually worn down overtime with him being pained more and more with all the humans he failed to save. But like you said there and what I asked, he's still repressing it throughout the series, but he reached his breaking point at Jaraji and it's no turning back for Yusuke (even if he has to hold if off like minimizing damage with Rising Titan) that now Grongis anger him for real like Baberu here because he brings up the bodycounts, which has been accumulated until now. Oh I was thinking about mainly the humans Yusuke failed to save part above the violence part.

Probably not Minori.. but about Yusuke who always interacts with him, seeing the tiny smile he holds back as much as viewers...that possibly doesn't count to him.

EPISODE 44: "Crisis"

Ichijou and Yuusuke start this one out discussing how much the Grongi have been increasing in power, and Yuusuke says he's determined to become even stronger to stop them. Sounds like pretty serious stuff, right? But the thing is, this opening scene is actually just them going for a casual morning jog while relaxing music plays. Once again, I find this a very interesting way to handle things. There's nothing at all dour about the mood here. In fact, it's the exact opposite, to the point that Yuusuke is even comically tripping on the ground. You could have these characters be so beaten down by this point, but they just refuse to break, and that's really the spirit of the whole show right there.

Things are going less swell for Enokida, however. She's staying up all night again, and getting chewed out over the phone by her mother about not being home right now, because it's one of the days of the school year parents get to accompany their children, and Enokida promised she'd make it. She insists she still will... right after this meeting she has to go to first. She gets there just in time to miss Yuusuke introducing himself to chief Matsukura, complete with presenting him one of his business cards, which are now properly updated to reflect his status as the man with 2000 skills. The meeting begins pretty seriously. Dim lighting and blurry projector photos of monsters. Talk of the ultimate darkness and #0's incredible power. All that, plus Enokida clinically explaining the new types of bullets they've created based on Tsubaki's research on #0's victims, one of which acts as a tracking device, and the other of which will be able to prevent the Grongi from using their regenerative abilities, the latter of which are still being tested. Basically, your typical police scene in this show, except for the part at the end where an overly enthusiastic Yuusuke gets everybody to start laughing. Even here, things aren't without their moments of levity.

Out in the city, a big screen on the side of a building is playing a news report about the mysterious string of power shortages that have been going on over the past month. This is observed by the woman with the rose tattoo, who remarks to another Grongi that it seems he's obtained a new power. This is Go-Gadoru-Ba, who's clearly marked as another rival sort of character to Kuuga, given his rhinoceros beetle motif. In fact, he's so dedicated to mirroring Kuuga, that, in case you've missed the implication here, he apparently really was going around juicing up on electricity for a month before starting his "game" to beat Kuuga at his own shtick. It's really, really hard for that not to seem silly when I try to picture it. Gadoru has been around for a while now, and it seems he has a stronger sense of, uh, let's go with "fair play", than the usual Grongi. He has the air of a dignified hunter, keeping his composure at all times, and making it a point to only use his new power against the Linto's warriors, rather than picking on random civilians. I put "fair play" in quotes because it's obvious he mostly just wants the excitement of a good fight more than anything. He plans to make it all the way to the top of the food chain, after all. From the distance, a voice that sounds both youthful and innocent simply replies "I'll be waiting." This is Daguva's first proper line in the show, and the contrast between that downright playful inflection and his horrific actions will only become more pronounced from here.

At the university, Jean is making a mess of things gathering up research materials to take to Enokida, which leads to Sakurako stumbling upon the business card Yuusuke gave to Jean when they met, back when he was merely the man with 1964 skills. That number is actually handwritten above a crossed-out 1900, much the same way Yuusuke gave Enokida one with 1999 replaced with 2000 back when they met in episode 7. That's a really small touch I love kind of disproportionately. I mean, it's beyond minor, but the attention to detail to say that Yuusuke didn't always have the luxury of printing new sets of cards evey single time he acquired a new skill, and would hastily adjust whatever his current stock was is super neat to me for some reason?

https://i.imgur.com/HpskFiml.png

It's not even the point of this scene. It's about emphasizing how long Yuusuke has been on his quest to make people smile, and it does a great job of that. Yuusuke enters the room, and when Sakurako shows him the card, he immediately remembers it's the one he gave to Jean based on the number alone. Naturally, he also remembers Sakurako's perfectly. You know, between this and the body count thing, maybe memorizing numbers is one of his skills? This actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. At any rate, it's more than obvious at this point how deeply Yuusuke cares about other people, and that's why he's asked Sakurako to see if she can find him any hints as to how to become stronger, like a new form for Kuuga. The only ones mentioned in the inscriptions are his basic four, and the "fearsome warrior", which is probably out of the question. He does have the Rising forms, that are real tough, but then, he can only hold those for 30 seconds at a time. In true Kuuga fashion, that last bit is only outright stated for the first time here. Jean pitches the idea that simply finding a way to make free use of the golden power would do the trick, an idea Yuusuke takes to immediately. Like, to the point he's legitimately planning to just go have Tsubaki bust out the defibrillator again. Sakurako finds this distressing, and Jean even apologizes for his bad habit of saying the wrong things at the wrong time (at least he's self-aware!), but Yuusuke is unwavering. His plan may be overdoing it, but if it means protecting smiles, he's ready to overdo things as much as he can, the same way his friends do.

Speaking of, Enokida ends up having to turn around on her way to Sayuru's school on account of the police needing those new nerve-disruptor bullets finished ASAP. Gadoru is out on the town, and his search for Linto warriors has lead him to start slaughtering cops, who turn out not to be the challenge he was really looking for. Not that this stops him from killing them, of course. Kuuga is on the case too, making a sweet entrance where he quickly assesses the situation, leaping off his bike, grabbing the gun of a fallen officer from the ground, and then leaping onto a nearby cop car to get a vantage point from which to shoot Gadoru with Pegasus Form in an attempt to prevent him from finishing off the surviving cops. It's a seriously awesome little sequence to end the episode on.

https://i.imgur.com/i4pTgqPl.png

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

No crazy group photos this time, and yet there's still an insane amount of thumb action.

https://i.imgur.com/TF93kzhm.png
https://i.imgur.com/dyGrH7zm.png
https://i.imgur.com/uC9YzKmm.png
https://i.imgur.com/OGbkKMPm.png
https://i.imgur.com/vSzwGimm.png
https://i.imgur.com/Aaos9rem.png

Total thumbs up count: 89+6 = 95

EPISODE 45: "Archenemy"

Kuuga's efforts manage to draw Gadoru's attention away from the police, but not much more. His old finishing moves are thoroughly useless at this point, and Gadoru is all too happy to show him how it's really done. His eyes turn a green color, and he gets himself a big crossbow that pretty much immediately has Kuuga on the ropes. After evasion with Dragon Form proves unhelpful, Yuusuke grabs a random beam of wood to use as a sword, and goes after him with Titan Form. Gadoru is barely fazed by this. When Kuuga manages to knock the bow out of his hands, Gadoru reveals the next of his knockoff forms, grabbing the Titan Sword out of his own guts to turn it into his own. There's really nothing Yuusuke can do to touch the guy at this point, and he once again takes a beating straight through Titan Form's armor, which gets huge gashes on the torso and part of one of the shoulders sliced right off. Just when it seems like Kuuga will finally manage to turn things around with a Rising Mighty Kick, the hopelessness of the battle becomes truly apparent. Gadoru not only completely absorbs the attack without flinching, he reveals his forms also include an off-brand Rising mode, which leads to Kuuga basically being on the receiving end of a Rider Kick. Or more like a Grongi Kick, in this case, I guess. Kuuga winds up knocked back to Growing Form, where he actually looks ready to still fight for a second! He definitely isn't!

https://i.imgur.com/FUuohq1l.png

This is another excellent fight when it comes to building the threat of the antagonist. I mean, I've seen the series once already, and I don't even think Kuuga can bounce back from this one. He tried all his favorite strategies in a row, and none of them did a thing! There does manage to be some good news in all of this. Yuusuke got trounced so thoroughly that Gadoru doesn't even care to finish the job and walks off, giving Yuusuke a chance to recover at the hospital. Ichijou also managed to get a shot with the marking bullets in on Ra-Dorudo-Gu, who reveals his condor-based monster form for the first time here after the bullet shatters the abacus he uses to count the kills of each Grongi during their "games". He too leaves the scene after assuming getting shoved over a ledge will be enough to deal with Ichijou, but of course a super-cop like him climbs right back up.

With Kuuga out of commission for the time being, it's now more crucial than ever to get those nerve-disruptor bullets working, which means Enokida has some explaining to do to her family again. Her mother throws how little she's there for Sayuru in her face, and tells her that thanks to this latest broken promise, he's skipped school entirely, and locked himself in Enokida's room. Enokida's obviously in an unenviable position here, because there really isn't anything she can say beyond the usual. She'll be there as soon as she can, but making sure the mass murdering monsters get stopped kinda has to take priority, and that means she needs to be there to do her job. No matter how much frustrating that is for Sayuru, or for herself.

In the meantime, Ichijou is tracking down Dorudo's signal to the sports arena he's currently hanging out at with the rose-tattooed woman and Gadoru. Gadoru gets the bad news that with the abacus broken, he has to restart his "game" from scratch. He takes the news well. You know, keeps an even temper, doesn't raise his voice. Even says he's fine with doing it all again. Yes, indeed, he's even very, very calm when telling Dorudo he has to die now. This means more Grongi infighting, which is always such a treat. Right out of the gate, my money's on Gadoru though. Dorudo's hilariously saggy bird face kinda makes him look like the Grongi all the other Grongi steal lunch money from. I mean, his whole job was to do math. He's obviously the nerd of the group. Of course, looks can be deceiving, so who knows? His skills with his tonfa might turn out to be a good match for Gadoru's imitation Dragon Rod.

https://i.imgur.com/HkmVdFBl.png

Although Ichijou is already at the arena without them, Enokida manages to get the new bullets good to go. Her initial elation gets cut short the second she remembers she had to let down her son to make this happen. She's later seen moping outside the research institute, clearly unsure of how to even face Sayuru. Hopefully Jean can do something to cheer her up now that he's there too. While I'm mentioning side characters, I also want to bring up the Pole Pole scenes for this episode. There's not really anything in them to really take time digesting, but a very pregnant Keiko makes an appearance, and it's still so cool to me how all these characters keep coming back, so I wanted to mention that.

Sakurako comes to the hospital where Yuusuke is recovering to ask on Yuusuke's behalf for Tsubaki to give him a good shock or two again. Even though she's not totally on board with the idea herself, she has a lot of faith in Yuusuke, and if he thinks that becoming stronger is something he needs to be happy, she's all for that. Tsubaki seems to be considering overdoing what he can for a moment, but regardless of what he would've decided, the issue gets forced when Yuusuke's heart flatlines. Again.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Things are kept much more reasonable here.

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Total thumbs up count: 95+2 = 97

EPISODE 46: "Indomitable"

Yuusuke isn't dead!

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The show doesn't waste any time pretending this isn't the case, either. The very first shot of this episode is dedicated to showing you Yuusuke's very much beating heart after Tsubaki fixed him up, mostly offscreen. Even during the cliffhanger last time, it was treated like more of a moderate inconvenience than anything. In fact, Tsubaki goes as far as to suggest that Yuusuke somehow forced his own heart to stop, just so Tsubaki would hit him with some more of that sweet, sweet electricity. Which seems like a weirdly chessmaster kind of move for Yuusuke, so I assume Tsubaki means this was some sort of subconscious thing. Or he just doesn't know what he's talking about. Take your pick, I guess, but I'm pretty sure it's the former. Tsubaki is generally really good at his job, after all.

On the subject of people who are good at their jobs, we can't forget about Enokida, who's starting to break under the pressure of her life. She opens up to Jean about what's been going on with Sayuru, and admits she's still sitting around at the institute because at this point she honestly doesn't know what to do anymore. She keeps trying to find time for everything to avoid hurting anyone, but that keeps failing to work, and now she's sitting around being sad about it instead of going to see Sayuru now that she's free. It's goes into straight up self-loathing territory, with Enokida dismissing herself as a failure of a mother.

Jean has been lending an ear this whole time without saying much, because that's always been his nature. Just two episodes ago, he basically apologized for accidentally contributing to a discussion. He's always preferred to stay in the background, be friendly, and not rock the boat too much. That's why he's never pushed Enokida too hard about her parenting, even though he cares so much. Until now. Hearing Enokida talk about herself like this prompts Jean to finally stand up (like, he literally stands up) and say the most forceful thing he's ever said: has Sayuru ever told Enokida she's a bad mother? Because, as it turns out, Jean's parents were never around when he was a kid, and no matter how lonely he felt, he never thought any less of them for it. This explains why Jean has always had such a vested interest in Enokida's situation, and some of his dialogue in those first episodes where it came up makes so much more sense with this knowledge. Jean's really intent on getting Enokida to realize she isn't the problem. Her life may be hectic and hard to manage, but in his opinion, all Enokida needs to do is what she can. As long as she can stay smiling, and keep pushing herself to work hard for the benefit of all mankind the way she does, then that'll lead to Sayuru smiling too in the end. Jean's impassioned defense completely reinvigorates Enokida, who goes to grab a certain something before getting a ride home from Jean.

Yuusuke is feeling pretty invigorated himself, after waking up in the hospital. Tsubaki's surprised when Yuusuke knows right away he had the defibrillator busted out on him again (Tsubaki not expecting that confirming he didn't mean Yuusuke literally willed himself to death on purpose, I guess), but Yuusuke's just so full of energy he knows it couldn't have been anything else. He's pretty confident that with all the energy he's loaded with now, he should be able to sustain the golden power for a lot longer, which will be a big help, since Yuusuke wants to work hard for the sake of everyone else who's working hard. The scene at Pole Pole this time kind of blends this drama with the Enokida drama by having Minori talk about how their father, when he was alive, was also never around, a natural result of being a war photographer. There aren't any deep revelations here, but I like how the show caught how Yuusuke's existing backstory could kind of fit in here thematically, with Minori pointing out how they'd always get letters from him that would always end with him wishing for the day when everyone can smile. It's obvious, especially from Minori's tone, that both of them really looked up to their dad, despite barely seeing him, and that reinforces what Jean is saying, as well as how deeply baked into Yuusuke the idea of protecting other people's happiness is.

Ichijou has headed inside the arena just in time to catch the night's main event. Gadoru and Dorudo are continuing to throw down on surprisingly even footing, with Dorudo managing to get way more good hits in then I would've ever expected from the guy. Ichijou's smart enough not to stick around watching long enough to get caught though, and retreats to a nice safe distance, meeting up with Sugita and Sakurai, and picking up the completed nerve-disruptor bullets when they get delivered. That means it's time to take the fight back inside, but Dorudo flying off means splitting into two teams. Sugita and Sakurai head off to catch Dorudo, while Ichijou is the one to head back inside to go after Gadoru. When he finds him again, he fires a few of the bullets off, and Gadoru... falls flat on the ground. The bullets don't just work, they work great. Sakurai and Sugita even manage to outright kill Dorudo, winning the police their first ever proper victory against a Grongi. It took them 46 episodes to do it, but they did it, no Rider belts required! The woman with the rose tattoo is, once again, mostly just impressed, cryptically remarking this time that the Linto as a whole will become like the Grongi. Kinda kills the mood a bit. As does Gadoru turning out to have been playing dead, which is a cheap move. It just goes to show you, these competitive types only care about fairness as long as they still win.

Yuusuke arrives to finish up the job, transforming straight to Rising Mighty, able to freely use its power exactly like he was hoping for. The fight heads to a nearby forest Ichijou has made sure is cleared out for the explosion (I choose to believe all the squirrels and birds were evacuated too), where Yuusuke unlocks a brand new power. Now, keep in mind, Bandai at this point was already selling merchandise of that four-horned version of Kuuga I'm feigning ignorance of for a couple months at this point. Ever since around its first hallucinatory appearance during the fight with Jaraji, pretty much. And I have to imagine it was a little frustrating for them those visions were the only appearances it was making. What was definitely frustrating for them, was tuning into this very episode, and seeing a brand new form for Kuuga they'd never heard of before. This is the debut of Kuuga's Amazing Mighty Form, a black and gold spin on the default form with doubled up Rising anklets. You think it'd be a cheap repaint deal Bandai forced on the show, right? As a matter of fact, it's quite the opposite. The show's staff thought this whole idea up and executed it all on their own without ever thinking to mention it to Bandai, and as such, no merchandise of this form was actually available while the show was on the air. How could it be? They only found out about the dang thing when there was like a month left to go. Making toys takes time! When Yuusuke finishes Gadoru off, and takes a second to observe himself, he realizes the implications of the color, and in a cruel twist on Dragon and Pegausus' debuts, remarks with trepidation that he's turned black. It's a cool, solemn moment, that I don't want to undercut, but just be aware that for Bandai, it was probably more like "he turned black?!"

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After this twist, things pick back up with Jean driving Enokida back to her home on his motorcycle, because of course Jean has a motorcycle. With his encouragement, she heads in to straighten things out with Sayuru. The decision she comes to here is really interesting. The whole purpose of this plotline feels almost like a rebuke of how similar ones in other stories can often be handled. Enokida isn't a bad parent. She's a talented, hard worker with an important job, and she absolutely cares about her child on top of that. She keeps making these promises to Sayuru because she genuinely would like to be able to keep them. But that's what she realizes here her problem is. She can't keep them, and the solution isn't to stop working to go be a "real" mother. It's just to be straight with Sayuru. To tell him that with the Unidentified Lifeforms around, she has to work harder than ever, and while there's no getting around that, she's every bit as dedicated to being his mother. It's a really touching scene, with the kind of drama that, again, you really just do not find in a tokusatsu show that isn't Kuuga, and their following reconciliation, finally bonding over that book Jean gave Enokida all those episodes ago, it's such a great payoff.

It's a really uplifting ending for the most part, but then, there's only a few episodes left, and with all the Grongi that were participating in the "game" dead, the final scene reminds us that this means Daguva is done waiting around. It's the final stretch now, the storm is coming, and it won't be pretty.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

And with only a few episodes left, the count finally hits the triple digits!

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Total thumbs up count: 97+4 = 101

So, right off the bat; we've come to the end of my Funny Kuuga Gun count. And we're actually ending on quite the banger; because I tried my damndest to get a screenshot of Kuuga Mighty grabbing the gun before changing into Pegasus at the end of 44, and when I finally managed it? It was blurry in the most perfect way possible. The first image at the bottom of this post is my final gift to you all.


So now we've got the superfluous superficial stuff out the way, let's talk about toys for a second. Kamen Rider from the very start of the Heisei Era has played a very delicate balancing act in telling a coherent story and having to sell a colourful product filled with goofy sounds. And I've always admired how well it's able to balance that -- I heavily admire how recent shows which have a billion upgrades are able to somehow work them all naturally into distinct moments of character development.

But what I admire even more, though, is when the show introduces something that there's no explicit toy of. Agito Trinity, for instance -- at the time the form was introduced, there were no actual figures of this form. Sure, using the Souchaku Henshin's armour gimmick you could 100% just kitbash the form together which I'm sure is exactly what Toshiki Inoue did, and not long after Bandai added a little sticker to the box saying you could turn it into Trinity; but there wasn't any actual specific merch for it like there was for Flame or Storm. For the purposes of telling the story of Episode 29 as best they could, a story about regaining a certain sense of self and advancing beyond that; the staff of Agito just came up with a form all on their own with no explicit toy connection, and it didn't even show up again until 2014.

All of which is to say, I'm sorry Dreamsword, but I adore this. Especially as Kuuga was one of the last five Heisei shows I watched, there was a real bluster and confidence to me in introducing a non-final form with very few episodes left. Heck, this combined with the last episode recap; it's almost like they were saying "alright, alright, we got the Rising BeatGouram out the way or whatever; now onto the REAL shit"!

I joke about how this is all superficial of course... but it's stuff like this that shows me when a Rider show's storytelling really, really cares. When they introduce wholly unique sounds and forms that's in-line with the merchandise but isn't exactly merchandise itself; when it goes out of the way just for the sake of telling their story the best way they could; when it does things that just downright could not have been healthy for toy sales. I'm sure more than a few kids rushed out to their local Toys R Us, wanting the new Black Kuuga form; saw that there wasn't one there but there was this weird veiny spiky Kuuga and got upset and went straight back home. But what would have followed will have been so, so much more important for them.

And besides, Amazing Kuuga got like a ton of SHFs and Model Kits and Statues and everything well after this. He straight up maximises Bandai's profit margins now by being an easy repaint! And I suck it up like the absolute fool I am.




... oh, right, and there's a whole emotion story in here too about Enokida which I just completely adore in so many ways! I got out a lot of what I liked about it a couple weeks back, where I was talking about how wonderful Enokida and Jean's chemistry is and how you can read into it very differently; but this seriously goes the extra mile. Once again, I love how Kuuga is a show that absolutely refuses to say "no, she's definitely in the wrong and needs to learn". I love that Enokida is a character who knows how awful it is that she's having to skip out on her son; I love that she feels so much guilt over it; I love how it's not about her making the wrong decision but how she feels about the decision she's made!

And most of all... I think I love Jean's reaction to her. Once again, so many shows would have the scene where the other character stands up and give an impassioned speech be about how the person feeling guilt needs to get a grip, or how they need to just get over it. But Jean's not about that. What he is about is making sure Enokida understands just how much she's loved by the people around her, and letting her do what she wants with that information.

Just like with Mika back in Episodes 7 & 8; just like with Hiraku back in Episode 25 & 26; the emphasis is not on telling the other character what to do. It's not about patronising them. It's not about laying out a path for them. It's about giving them the information and the support they need, and having enough trust in that character with what they'll do with that.

And what's so, so wonderful about Kuuga is that the other character will always prove that the trust in them was never displaced, and never could be.

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*deep inhale* EVERYONE BUCKLE UP BECAUSE THIS MY SHOW NOW!

I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU WHY AMAZING MIGHTY IS NOT ONLY THE BEST KUUGA FORM, BUT THE BEST KAMEN RIDER FORM OF ALL TIME!!!

First off, holy crap, what an awesome way to introduce a new form. Not just in the show itself, which is framed around some absolutely fantastic character arc conclusions and moments, but in a meta sense, which Fish already covered.

ALSO. Many might take it for granted, but it's a twist on things that actually makes sense! There's a bunch of proper foreshadowing, proper building upon how Kuuga's' forms were already established to work, AND proper payoff in the form of THIS!

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And not even just the explosion shows just how much more powerful of a boost Amazing Mighty is. The way Gadoru ends up dying shows it too. The new symbol, the build up, how nothing else has worked up to this point, it's perfect. And it even makes a certain other plot point way more believable too given basic, simple math.

Plus, the design of the suit itself is absolutely fantastic. I love black and gold as a color scheme, so Amazing Mighty already has that going for it, but you can tell there was alot of elements that went into it; Both subtle and not. For instance, how it does the job of giving a symmetrical finish to Rising Mighty, and the armored, popping bits to show power. But oh no, we're not done, there's one more element to this that makes me love it all the more.

I dunno if you guys remember, but awhile back Die asked the board about what they felt alot of the overarching themes of Kamen Rider as a whole was. My answer was that I felt one big part of it was being a shining light in the darkness, in response to Die proposing that Showa wanted to establish "fighting darkness with darkness." Well guess what? Amazing Mighty pulls off both. The majority black suit, with the bits of gold and, more blatantly, the red eyes, show just those things.

Yusuke might be becoming a creature of the darkness on the outside as his strength continues to grow, but on the inside, he's still Yusuke. His inner light continues to shine through despite everything. Amazing Mighty does alot, tells alot, and symbolizes alot via the perfect combination of its design, as well as its really well played introduction. And these things would only go on to their ultimate conclusion within the next few episodes. I LOVE this form alot, and hopefully you guys can see why within all this uncharacteristic rambling I've done. *deep exhale*

In fairness, I believe my full quote was "Ew explosions those are gross and I hate them wah wah wah." There's so much nuance that you just, like, chopped off.

As to these episodes, I remember them being pretty fun? There's an All-Hands On Deck feeling to the action in these, where I feel like they found fun uses for pretty much every character. (I might've even liked Jean in these, for the first and only time? I don't really remember. If there was ever a time, though...) It's a great use of the police, giving them one small win over the Grongi before the game ends for good. Just, everyone gets to contribute, and I think that's what I want from a penultimate Kamen Rider story.

Because, y'know, eventually there's going to be something that only Kuuga can deal with.

I love that trivia about the staff putting together Amazing Mighty on their own. The added fact that the show's staff made the choice of holding off Kuuga's four-horned form until it was appropriate for the story is such a far cry from how Bandai's wishes might affect a show in present day.

Another thing about this that's probably easy to take for granted since we aren't watching these shows tied to a calendar anymore: Episode 46 aired on December 31. The show was still refusing to shill that other new form during the Christmas season, when you most want little kids to be bugging their parents about the latest toy they saw on the show, and then to top that off, they introduce some completely different form they made up the week after.

I think this entire process speaks to what a long leash Kuuga had earned for itself over its run. The show's staff spent a ton of time trying to figure out how all this stuff would feed into the drama in a natural and compelling way, and for the most part, they were allowed to. "Failing" to get a new toy properly introduced for like three months, that kind of stunt would almost certainly not be forgiven if Kuuga hadn't proven itself such a success time and again every time somebody told it to change and it refused to. I touched on this back when I talked about my meta reading of Kanzaki's speech in episode 12, but Kuuga was under a lot of pressure about stuff like this at points, from what I understand. Stuff like parents apparently complaining the realistic designs of the Grongi were too scary, the higher ups being upset with the staff filming behind schedule at first while they were getting used to the new cameras, Bandai having toys to sell of something that's only been seen in blurry glimpses in the series proper, leaving magazines to try capitalizing on the mystery accidentally being created to generate hype anyway.

I'm not totally thoroughly informed about this, but the impression I've gotten is that there were plenty of voices demanding that Kuuga just Be More Normal Already, and it never backed down an inch.

I don't use the word a "hero" a lot, but god bless the heroes who made Kuuga for not debuting the we-didn't-make-any-merch-of-this-design suit until after Christmas. As someone who still gets PTSD from thinking of all of the people I had to tell No They Don't Make Any Baby Yoda Stuff Yet during last December, they are saints for waiting that additional week. Saints.

I forgot to realize, that, I like the music here. Also Yusuke remarks that he has to become stronger, and what they do here is a physical exercise. Does Yusuke's human physical capabilities also stack up to Kuuga where if his physical capabilities are stronger, he's also stronger as Kuuga? And wtf man, Yusuke's a superhuman, but he's the one tripping?!

So Yusuke finally properly met Matsukura, complete with business cards, completing the cops meetout. I want to see Matsukura more than just thanking Yusuke but the meeting has to immediately start. Daguva unwittingly provides the humanity the means to win against the Grongi by themselves, that his Grongi victim's corpses didn't explode and stay in one piece, making them able for Tsubaki to use for autopsy. The doctor's speciality is eventually the one which turned the humans around against Grongi in the series and providing the cops an actual solution, examining the opponent's body turns out to be vital for the defeat, if only because their human origin and still possessing a sliver of human weakness. I guess Yusuke, a human that becomes a practically heroic Grongi (Kuuga) also played a part in the examination? (Him gaining the superhuman physical body and regeneration, and Grongi's revealed to have the same, which gave an idea of them being originally human-like just like Yusuke) I must say, besides the series' theme being grounded, the science capability, while still significantly better than what real life can accomplish, is also grounded right? They can only create a slightly more effective bullets before with the smokes, and even now, something new they created are still quite mundane stuff, not flashy one, but it can deal specifically with an organ part of a humane body. Science in other series, coming from otherwise completely normal humans, can create a much more insane devices, even also another Rider wholly. Even if the cops've finally found the solution, I think I would like to see the cops trying to use a stronger weapon before rather than just relying on bullets and guns, such as missiles, grenades, etc.?

Gadoru is practically, the climax boss of Kuuga. The Grongi that targeted the police directly, defeated Kuuga with ease, and came closest to killing Ichijou, and took 3 episodes to defeat. Kuuga only beats him by tapping into more of the golden power and running the risk of turning into a second Daguva. He's also the foil to Baruba. Both are lieutenants to Daguva, and he's exceedingly masculine to Baruba's feminine, but as loyal to Daguva as she is and attempts to challenge him fairly, unlike Gooma. He's also the physical muscle to her more delicate scheming. He truly is the evil counterpart to Kuuga with him having all of Kuuga's powers and even form changes just like Yusuke. The forms being Grapple Form (Rising Mighty), Quick Form (Rising Dragon), Shooting Form (Rising Pegasus), Herculean Form (Rising Titan), and Shocker Form (loses to Amazing Mighty).

Can you list known Yusuke's skills with their numbers as much as you can after finishing the rewatch? I wish there would be a supplementary material that touches on this. OK, one of the questions I've asked before is finally answered here, he can only keep Rising for 30s. So, at first Tsubaki jokes about using defibrillator to make Yusuke gain Rising, but then it's revealed that it's from Yusuke's willpower, but now this brings up the defibrillator again. So which one actually creates Rising form? The defibrillator, willpower, or both? Sakurako's faith to Yusuke still has limits like here. It's actually just usual Yusuke overdoing it, just like him turning into Kuuga from the very beginning. You saw how terrified Sakurako was for him, at that beginning, without Jean getting involved so, this isn't so much of Jean's fault as it's Sakurako's concern?

Yeah, this is the kind of fight choreography I like, using everything you have at once. Though Kuuga gets over more quickly with each of those right, instantly switching to his other forms to get a shot, and also only had Mighty used in Rising, I guess Yusuke means maintaining 30s for Rising only for 1 base form before and not like, each base form can get Rising for 30s each in 1 henshin?

About building the threat.... I don't know and probably there's some wrongs in my takes but, weren't Kuuga taking the finisher kick from Grongi and just KOed (albeit hospitalized) quite underwhelming, if compared to Kuuga doing the same to the other Grongis where they are just quickly destroyed? Or is it superior feat when compared to other Grongis who had Kuuga on their ropes?

A reveal of Gegeru rule, and broken abacus is a rule breaking, an excuse to give more threats and increase the bodycounts? Oh yeah and also Grongi infighting.

Yusuke does not Godai... uh, go die. FTFY :p So you mean that Yusuke still has some degree of consciousness in this stae to stop his own heart? And what will happen if Tsubaki hits him with the electricity while his heart still beats that Yusuke probably stops his heart for this?

So the conclusion is.... either it's from Yusuke, or from Jean, personal experience is a reliable help to others. But what if the person doesn't have the personal experience that is related to other character's problems? Sayuru probably didn't say it directly but, did he refuse to take Enokida's hand when they go for a walk and confides to his grandma?

So even if the defibrillator is a one time use, the effects on it is permanent on Yusuke's body, like now he can use Rising indefinitely? Minori is the one to recount about her father, I wonder what will Yusuke tell regarding him.

Actually better than Kuuga now? Also, speaking of Grongis, I know you put money on Gadoru, but was Grongi classified between tribes where each tribe level is stronger than the previous ones? Would that mean Dorudo's supposed to be on higher level than Gadoru in Ra tribe (same as Baruba, though tbf Gadoru is leader of Go)? He dies while Gadoru was faking.

If he can use Rising for likely indefinite time now, how long can he use Amazing Mighty? And this is the form Gadoru has no counter to, making him defeated. And about the kick, it creates a skyscraper-tall pillar of flame. It's understandable that they want to make it less damaging to the environment, but other than it being deadlier as a stronger form, was Amazing Mighty's kick as destructive or more than Rising Mighty's? Rising Mighty's explosion covered like good part of the city.

Also the key part is missing, someone should point out that, with Grongis around, people are in danger including Sayuru, so it should be said that they should make the world safer first before any of the quality times. It's better for a delayed quality time rather than being killed by a rampaging monster. t should be said when her mother talks about why she's more concerned about Grongis rather than Sayuru. And you sure really not seen in tokus other than Kuuga, including other Kamen Riders?

(a big thank you to both kurona and die for being good sports about getting shot and kicked in the head, respectively, just saying.)

But yeah, it goes to show that having artistic integrity really pays off in the long run.

EPISODE 47: "Decision"

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Daguva cannot be stopped by Kuuga. Not the way he is now. The beginning of this episode wastes no time in establishing that. The initial fight between Amazing Mighty and Daguva is nothing short of a disaster. It barely qualifies as a fight, especially with how the decision was made to film it. The entire cold open is shot entirely from Yuusuke's own perspective. It very specifically emphasizes how the experience feels to him. It's chaotic and jumbled. The rain is pouring down so hard he can barely see, yet despite this, Daguva manages to light nearly everything in sight on fire, including Kuuga himself. The pain is so intense, the only sounds he can focus in on are his own pained gasps, and the laughter. The horrible, horrible laughter of the one causing all this destruction. Daguva is having the time of his life, and taunts the injured Kuuga to put up a better fight. After all, Daguva wants to smile more. This is the last thing Yuusuke hears before collapsing. This wasn't a fight. It was a nightmare, and it can't happen again. Yuusuke won't let it. But to do that, he still needs more power, and that means making a fateful decision. Yuusuke is going to do it. He's going to become the fearsome warrior.

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Hidenori Ishida will be closing out the series by directing the last three episodes, and the first few minutes of this one might be his most creative work on Kuuga. Unusually, the episode preview had some unique shots in it implying a more straightforward fight scene. The simple but effective visual of Daguva putting Kuuga under his foot. Perfect for a short trailer, but what the episode itself has is perfect for the story. This is one of the most pivotal moments of the show's entire narrative, and that's why I think focusing so much on the emotion of it was the right choice. For half the series, we've heard about how the fearsome warrior will bury the sun in darkness. For the entire series, we've seen how much Yuusuke hates solving things through force. We need to understand why Yuusuke would make this choice here and now, and this opening conveys that beautifully. It's heavily visual, relying a lot on imagery to get those emotions across. The dialogue is kept to an absolute minimum, with Yuusuke's big declaration itself being deliberately subdued, in contrast to the striking, dramatic view of the four-horned Kuuga, coming more clearly into view than ever before.

One thing that is the same between the preview and the episode? The choice of ambient noise. Daguva has brought about a perpetual downpour, and in all but a few select scenes, you will be hearing the noise of it constantly. Rain being sad can be pretty trite as far as symbolism goes, but it's taken to another level here. It's not just that there's a downbeat atmosphere, it's that there's no escape from it. The episode jumps from familiar location to familiar location, but all those cozy little rooms you've gotten to know over a year inevitably still have that noise going on. And yet, even with that darkest hour finally having come, the heroes still don't give in. You can tell it's affecting all of them, don't get me wrong. But the tone of the episode, it's more bittersweet than anything. It's probably best summed up by a scene from early on where Yuusuke is watching a news report about the latest casualties. He's clenching his fist, clearly feeling that anger again, but when a voice he knows well calls out to him, he turns and smiles. It's Kanzaki.

And that's really what this episode is about at its heart. Yuusuke going around, having his last chats with some of the supporting cast. Whatever else he's feeling on the inside right now, he's planning to go beat Daguva, and then he wants to finally head back out on an adventure again. Even though he just received the beating of a lifetime nine days ago, Yuusuke, you know, he can't help but be happier when he's around the people he cares about. It comes off like Yuusuke basically trying to take himself back to why he started on this path in the first place now that the end is in sight. There's still that same warmth in these scenes, even with all the worrying going on. It's a very specific mix of emotions I have trouble describing. This episode, it's all about the worst things happening, this sense of impending dread, and anger at the damage Daguva and the rest of the Grongi have done. Scenes like Tsubaki telling Yuusuke about the rage he feels when he thinks about all the bodies he's seen over the past year, knowing everything those people's lives could have been has been stolen away from them forever. The look on Yuusuke's face as Tsubaki says that, and the scene of him driving along the street where his fight with Daguva took place, stopping in the rain to see the flowers placed on the ground for the victims of that madness. Enokida musing on how much time she's spent making weapons.

Yet the episode is also about the bonds that keep these people looking forward. About moments like Yuusuke telling Enokida that once the Unidentified Lifeforms are gone, she can make something for Sayuru instead, or them having a good laugh about the concept of "failing" at going for a walk. The scenes with Kanzaki. Keiko calling Minori from at that hospital, as she gets ever closer to bringing a promising new life into the world. It's such a complex combination of feelings, and that's pretty much where Yuusuke is at right now. There's an ambiguity to him here. The entire point of the fearsome warrior is gaining ultimate power by giving in to hatred, and it's more than evident at this point that Yuusuke is capable of that. He's still smiling and cracking jokes, he says it'll all be fine, and his friends believe it, but is it really true? Can Yuusuke really say for sure he won't get carried away in a moment of passion again, like with Jaraji? And if he doesn't, does that mean he won't be able to beat Daguva? With the Amadam still cracked from their earlier encounter, his odds don't seem great. That air of nervous trepidation is what makes this such a great episode. It's a calm before the storm happening during a literal storm. Nobody can be too sure of anything right now, but there are things they're willing to bet on.

For Yuusuke, that's the relationships he values so much, and he ends the episode continuing his farewell tour by working up the courage to head into Pole Pole. For Ichijou, it's the dedication of the police force, and he ends up investigating a Grongi hideout, stuffed with encyclopedias and whatnot that I believe are meant to imply how the woman with the rose tattoo caught up on human culture so thoroughly. What Daguva is willing to bet on is the simplest of all. Whatever happens next, it's going to be so much fun.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

The show has managed to top itself yet again, with a frankly astonishing amount of thumb action, including one from Minori so hard to make out you'll probably just have to take my word for it!

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Total thumbs up count: 101+9 = 110

EPISODE 48: "Kuuga"

Yuusuke warms up inside Pole Pole, sharing some more casual banter and good times with Pops and Nana before announcing his intent to leave on an adventure, which sours the mood a bit. Nana in particular can't stand the thought of him leaving, but Yuusuke insists he has to go defeat #0 this time, because he's Kuuga. In a nice little moment, after Yuusuke walks out, Pops seems to finally have the epiphany that "Kuuga" meant "#4" this entire time. People make fun of shows written by Inoue for characters being poor at communicating, but honestly, Yuusuke never stopping to realize Pops might need further elaboration on what a Kuuga is for 40+ episodes might be the single biggest misunderstanding in the history of Kamen Rider. Yuusuke's never made his identity a secret, and I guess because of that, he just figured they were all on the same page the entire series. Every scene where he brings it up, it's like Yuusuke assumes Pops knows he's #4, and Pops assumes Yuusuke isn't all there, and neither of them really wants to make a big fuss about it, so they each just say what they want to say and go about their business. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I find it all sort of low-key hilarious.

Over at the Grongi hideout, the woman with the rose tattoo stops by for what will turn out to be her final encounter with Ichijou. He tries to interrogate her again, getting as few answers as usual out of pointing a gun at her and asking. She rubs his aggression in his face, insisting that the Linto have truly become like the Grongi, and that Ichijou's role as a cop, in her eyes, a Linto warrior who hunts his own kind, is evidence of this. Not being one to indulge him too much at once, she shoves him aside and heads out of the building. Ichijou responds to this by unloading six nerve-disruptor bullets directly into her. She gives the most perfect possible response, turning to smile at Ichijou as blood streaks down her mouth, and saying a few last words in the Grongi language before falling into the nearby water. This marks the end for Ra-Baruba-De, the rose Grongi so classy, we never saw her monster form throughout the entire show. I really love this conclusion, and how it pays off of how she was built up over the course of the story. The fact that we didn't see her as a monster gels with how she clearly takes to modern society more than any other member of the Grongi. The fact that she takes so much to human society means it makes sense she develops that sort of rivalry with Ichijou. And since she isn't a monster in a rubber suit to be fought, it means that rivalry is enhanced by the fact that Yuusuke never once met her. And all of that combines to make this such a satisfactory resolution. Her fate is ultimately tied not to Kuuga, but to the completely ordinary warriors of the modern Linto, and in the end, more than anything else, she seems to simply be proud of how much they've embraced violence over the years. And that's only looking at it from one angle. I feel like there are a lot of equally valid things you can draw out of this scene, and that's what makes it great.

Yuusuke heads to the last two stops on his tour. Neither of which includes seeing Jean, but, as much as I don't want to admit it, he always was the character with the least connection to Yuusuke, so leaving him out is a smart move in a way. The first stop is the preschool, to say goodbye to Minori and the kids there that are always so happy to see him. It's a simple scene, but I like how you can see Minori and Yuusuke's facial expressions communicating some of those more complex emotions they obviously don't want to burden the children with by bringing it up in front of them. Things they say with a look. Plus, Yuusuke's optimistic assertion that there's a blue sky waiting on the other side of all this rain is just great. You can't even complain it's too on-the-nose, because he's speaking to little kids. Of course he's not going to be subtle. He saves the subtlety for his talk with Sakurako at the university, which has considerably more tension. There's still a bit of time for some awkward chuckling, but Sakurako knows Yuusuke well enough that she's already deduced what he's planning to do, and she's completely powerless to help him from this point on. All she can do now is believe in Yuusuke, and hope things will turn out okay, and it's obvious how much that eats at her. It's a pretty uneasy conversation, and of course it's cut short when duty calls, and Yuusuke receives a call on the Beat Chaser from Ichijou telling him Daguva's making his next move. Yuusuke arrives at the scene to more burned bodies, and Daguva telling him that if Yuusuke can finally become like him, he's looking forward to seeing him again at a place that holds a lot of significance. Ichijou rides up on the repaired Try Chaser, and if that wasn't full circle enough in its own right, Yuusuke than explains what the deal is. This is ending where it all began. Daguva is waiting at Kurogatake.

Once they reach their destination the next morning, there's a little more time to talk before heading up the mountain. Pretty much every one of Yuusuke's conversations with the rest of the cast has been better than the last, and it probably goes without saying the one between the show's two main characters is the best of all. I'm going to say it anyway, though. This is a fantastic scene. There's a ton of weight to every moment. The things that aren't said, and the moments of silence matter just as much as what Ichijou and Yuusuke can manage to put into words. And that's probably the key to why it works so well. They're "managing" to speak. There's an entire year of emotions between these two that neither of them will ever know how to fully express. After all, they're so similar, remember? There's inherently going to be some sadness in that conversation, and neither of them is good with that kind of thing, because lives dedicated to protecting smiles and stoic public service mean they're both conditioned to avoid "bothering" others with their own problems. The way Yuusuke ultimately chooses to break the ice is by matter-of-factly telling Ichijou he should aim for the damaged Amadam if he ends up going out of control. I think the strength it takes to say something like that so casually is what prompts Ichijou to admit what he's been worried about since the second episode. He wishes Yuusuke was never put in a position where he had to be strong. Ichijou considers the fact they ended up relying on Yuusuke to this point to be a failure on his part, and the more and more attached he's grown to him, the more that regret increases. It was never fair that he had to take on this burden, but Yuusuke makes one thing clear in return. He doesn't regret the path he's taken. Certainly not if it meant getting to meet Ichijou. It's a touching bookend to what started off as a rocky relationship, as Yuusuke asks Ichijou and the audience, one last time, to watch his transformation. After all those episodes of buildup, the fearsome warrior finally arrives, and Kuuga heads off in his new Ultimate Form to finish off the last surviving Grongi, and end their threat once and for all.

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This is one of the most monumental showdowns in Rider history for a bunch of different reasons. Much as Ultimate Form is only truly first seen here, this is the first time we've gotten a clear glimpse at N-Daguva-Zeba's true form. It's a direct mirror to Ultimate Form, with a matching four-horned stag beetle motif, spiky bits in similar places, and the notable contrast of being primarily white, which also happens to match his human form's taste in clothing, just as Yuusuke himself has started wearing more black lately. The inversion of stereotypical good/evil colors was almost certainly deliberate, although there's room for debate about how much that's really meant to imply. What's for sure is that there are a lot of very effective parallels between these characters, and while Daguva has only properly been around for this last stretch, he's made every bit of screentime he's had count towards building himself up as the polar opposite of everything Yuusuke represents. I tend to be fond of villains with these kinds of setups, and Daguva, man, he's as good as they come. Going into the fight, there's a brief phase where the two basically test out their incredible powers, with Daguva lighting Kuuga on fire again, only this time, Kuuga returns the favor. This supernatural duel doesn't last long. The two quickly start pounding into one another the traditional way, and the whole time, Daguva is just ecstatic. He lives for combat, and nobody has given him as good a time as Kuuga in forever. He's laughing all through the fight. Even once his belt, as well as Kuuga's, are broken, reverting them to their human forms, he's still laughing. No matter how bruised he is, no matter how many hits he takes, he wouldn't trade this experience for the world. Fighting is what gives his life meaning. It's what makes him feel happy. But that's only his perspective, and there's a question here that needs to be asked -- how does Yuusuke feel?

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And of course, he feels like absolute garbage. He despises every second of this. He's always despised it. This is what that mask has been hiding an entire series. All the pain and misery, not simply at taking all these wounds, but at being forced to deal them back in kind. The heartache of this whole miserable, pointless cycle where a punch to the face is all that decides who's right and who's wrong. That look on Yuusuke's face, how he sounds almost like he's crying as the blood rolls down his chin before he strikes the final blow on Daguva, I can't even begin to describe the impact this had on me. It's a moment I won't ever forget. Kuuga was a show that had a lot it wanted to say, and this climax says everything louder than any amount of words ever could. It is intensely powerful, and without question my favorite final battle in all of Rider. It's the pinnacle of a series-long trend of asking you to reexamine everything you think you know about hero tokusatsu. By stripping away the fancy powers, all the special effects, the costumes, the music, all the spectacle, it implores you to take a second to truly think about what exactly you're rooting for. Watching larger than life characters sort their problems out through violence, it's ingrained in pretty much every form of storytelling there's ever been. That kind of physical conflict is primal and easy to dramatize. We all want to see heroes defeating villains. But why exactly do we want to see it? What exactly is it we should be idolizing about those kinds of characters? Kuuga was a show that often aimed for realism, and, in real life, what is trying to solve things exclusively through force more likely to result in? Will it lead to a thrilling showdown, with the fate of the world at stake, filled with exciting colors and fantastic abilities? Or will it just be two men, beating each other to death in the snow, savage and senseless?

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Refusing to give the audience what they wanted, in this case, I firmly believe to be the best possible choice this story could've made. This is what the show was building up to since all the way back in the second episode when Yuusuke told us he'll never get used to this feeling. Taking all the glory out of fighting, exposing how ugly and repulsive it is so unapologetically, that was the only way Kuuga ever could've ended. But there was one thing that could've gone more than one way. Originally, the plan for the ending was to have Yuusuke die. It would've been a sort of way for him to atone for the violence he was a part of, regardless of his selfless motives. While we'll see what became of that plan in a second, there's one part of it that's just as true in the final product. By the end of this episode, Kuuga is gone, and we won't be seeing him again.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

With some help from the kids at the preschool, the show tops the record it just set last episode. I don't believe it either.

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Total thumbs up count: 110+14 = 124

EPISODE 49: "Yuusuke"

Kuuga's finale is a unique ending to a unique show. First of all, this is hard to appreciate watching it now, but there's no commercial break in the middle. It's still the normal length, so I don't know if they had to stuff 7 straight minutes of ads before or after to compensate or what, but the episode ran on TV from beginning to end completely uninterrupted. I think that speaks to a certain level of pride in the end product. It gets special treatment because it is special. So let's get into why.

The episode opens with about half a minute of nothing more than a sort of ethereal zoom through the clouds. The credits that would normally be reserved for after the opening are put here instead, as is the simple title of the episode. Yuusuke. Just "Yuusuke". It may seem like a lot of nothing, but when you put it in context of how the previous episode, called "Kuuga", was so downbeat and violent, that simple, peaceful shot of the clouds starts to make a lot more sense. One thing about the opening from the second version onwards I've neglected to mention is that it added a feature where the initial flashes of images that start it off include a sort of preview, usually of that episode's monster, but also sometimes used for things like each of the Rising forms. What is it this time, at the end of it all? It's Yuusuke's hand, giving a thumbs up. Perfect. It's the first we see of him this episode, and, believe it or not, those couple of frames are the most we'll see for a while.

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Three months after the showdown with Daguva, Ichijou is getting a bunch of files and whatnot in order, now that the Unidentified Lifeform task force has served its purpose. Looking over the records that go all the way back to Growing Form's initial fight with Gumun, he can't help but feel a little nostalgic. It was a long year fighting, after all, as Sakurai points out by noting they dealt with 48 different Unidentified Lifeforms up to now, counting from #0, and going up to Dorudo, who was #47. I feel like there's a chance it's a coincidence, but with Sakurai taking the time to call attention to it here, that number seems to double as a meta reference to how many episodes it took us to get to this point, which is an impressive thing to line up like that! Just one or two extra offscreen Grongi would've thrown the whole thing off, but no, it lines up exactly.

Sasayama muses on the possibility that if anyone but Yuusuke had become #4, they might not have been able to see things through to the end. In fact, everybody seems to have nice things to say about Yuusuke after everything he's done. Sakurai admires the way he always kept up his smile no matter what. Sugita wonders how he does it. Matsukura says there are few men out there like him, and even mimics a thumbs up. After this, he goes to the window to ponder what Yuusuke is out there doing right now. We cut back to that same blue sky from the cold open... and then to Pole Pole, where Pops is wearing a Kuuga-branded apron, evidently in tribute to Yuusuke.

Pops has just finished writing a response to a letter he received from Mika, who's been accepted into the high school she was shooting for, and is still keeping up with playing the flute. A lot of things are going very right for people right now. Nana's even finally landed a role herself. The structure of this episode has clearly taken shape now. It's about following everyone around to see how they're doing now that things are finally peaceful again, and their thoughts on Yuusuke's impact, with a particular emphasis on Ichijou heading around Tokyo to say his goodbyes before he transfers back to Nagano. It's essentially a twist on what Yuusuke did before facing off with Daguva. Next on his list is Enokida, who's finally found time to spend with Sayuru without the Unidentified Lifeforms to worry about. She's even planning to head to Disneyland the next day. But of course, she can't help but wonder what Yuusuke is up to, and wishes he'd stuck around long enough that she could've gotten to see what his friendship with Ichijou would've looked like in peacetime. True to his personality, Ichijou doesn't have any words to respond to this, but it's obvious from his wistful sigh he would've liked to see it himself. Elsewhere, the blue sky pans down to reveal a beach.

Back at Pole Pole, Pops has received a few customers looking to drink Yuusuke's own special blend. One of them is Kanzaki, who happened to be in the neighborhood. The other is Jean, who's feeling great knowing that tomorrow, he'll be heading to Disneyland. This tells you pretty much everything you need to know about how his relationship with Enokida is progressing, and I adore how indirect the show is about explaining it. It's all very subtle, but there just isn't anything else that needs to be said, and the slight ambiguity of their exact situation is something I appreciate. It fits a subplot that was always treated with a light touch. Always eager to please a customer, Pops calls in the guy Yuusuke based his blend on. It's some dude named Tamasaburou Kazari, who turns out to be... Pops, having done an elaborate bit where he walks up the stairs pretending to call out to somebody else. Now, explaining what Pops' real name was is hardly some necessary part of the lore to fill out, but, I mean, if you've got the time in the finale, why not? The way he makes such a scene of it, like his pride has been damaged by people assuming he can't make drinks as well as Yuusuke, that's also more of that delightful Pops arrogance I can't get enough of.

Ichijou stops by Tsubaki's place, where Tsubaki is remarking on how incredible Yuusuke was to soldier on for everyone's sake, in spite of the frightening changes his body was undergoing the whole time. As always, Tsubaki has a really deep appreciation of just how much pain Yuusuke went through, and he makes it clear how much he resents the Unidentified Lifeforms forcing Yuusuke to chip away at his own smile just because they were so obsessed with their own. That kind of selfishness, it's an easy way to live, but it was never Yuusuke's way, and that's what made him special. Tsubaki is confident things are looking up in the world though, especially thanks to a letter he received from Chouno. The text of it is only onscreen for a brief moment, but it's fully written out. Chouno describes in it how little seems to be changing in his life, for better or for worse. He's still working part time jobs he hates, and he's still drawing pictures when he has the time, though he doesn't even know why himself. He's still got no clue what to do with his life, but an experience where someone liked one of his pictures enough to buy it off him has led him to start thinking it's okay for him to be alive, and that, just maybe, like Yuusuke told him, he's better off trying to enjoy it, even if he doesn't know how it will all work out. To that end, he sent something along with the letter to Tsubaki, and it tells you all you need to know even without the context of the letter. He gave Tsubaki his knife, and Tsubaki takes that as a sign that Chouno is finally ready to put his own self-centered ways behind him for good. This is one of the most powerful moments in the episode, I think, proving just how much Chouno always did belong in this show. He was exactly the kind of guy the Grongi were talking about when they said the Linto would become like them, but here, at the end of it all, even Chouno was able to find hope in himself, and maybe that says something for the hope of humanity as a whole. Back at the beach, someone seen only from the legs down sets a backpack on the sand.

Pops looks through his #4 scrapbook with the rest of the group at Pole Pole, and they discuss how Yuusuke always wanted to see everyone smile. Pops brings up the letters Minori and him received from their father, and speculates how much those must've stuck with them from a young age. Combine that with Kanzaki's words, and even Yuusuke's childhood experience in Nepal that he mentioned in his very first scene in the premiere, and it's not hard to see why this guy made it his mission to protect happiness the way he did, taking it upon himself to master 2000 skills to that end. And what do we find out his very first skill was here, thanks to Kanzaki? It was smiling, of course. It might not sound that impressive, but like Yuusuke said back at the start, there's nothing cooler than someone who can keep smiling no matter how hard things get. It's safe to say he lived up to that standard.

Ichijou's next stop is the preschool, where Minori thanks him for looking after her brother for so long. Ichijou tries to downplay this, and insists he put Yuusuke through hardship, but Minori knows Yuusuke did everything he did because it was what he really wanted. One of the kids there asks why #4 left, even though he's a good guy who beat #0, and Minori replies that a world that doesn't need #4 around is better for everyone. The kid's blank expression implies that, perhaps like much of the target audience, he's having a little trouble grasping what Minori means by that, but everybody is soon distracted by the arrival of Keiko, who's stopped by the school with her newborn child in tow. The future is looking bright for her son, who gets to grow up in a world free from the Grongi's menace, thanks in large part to Yuusuke.

After this, Ichijou heads over to the university to see Sakurako, who shows him a bit of the ancient text saying Gouram is supposed to crumble to sand if Kuuga's "holy spring" ever dried up and he became the fearsome warrior. It was the Linto's attempt to avoid giving the fearsome warrior any more power to use for evil, but Gouram is still perfectly fine over at the research institute, so what gives? Well, that's obvious isn't it? Yuusuke became the fearsome warrior, but he didn't do it using his hatred as fuel, even though that would've been easy. He instead chose his own path, and gained that same power through his heartfelt desire to protect the things that matter to him. Ichijou calls out how this is symbolized by Yuusuke's visions of Ultimate Form having black eyes, while the one he actually turns into (first seen in-series as Yuusuke makes his decision in episode 47) has the same passionate red eyes as Mighty Form. This is another one of the most powerful bits of this episode. Sakurako's meta paraphrasing of the theme song, saying Yuusuke rewrote the legend, is really inspired in how much it works on both levels. Yuusuke did things his own way, and changed an ancient prophecy, and Kuuga, the show, did things its own way, and changed a franchise. It's a very celebratory remark, and there's something so blunt about the idea of Yuusuke doing the impossible and achieving Ultimate Form through kindness I can't help but love. Especially since we did see him going around talking to all his friends before heading out to face Daguva. But that's just it, isn't it? He was essentially saying goodbye to everyone, and we still haven't really seen him in his own finale, even though the episode is nearly over. He seemed so eager to leave, it makes you wonder how well he's doing as much as the characters. Can he really be happy after everything that's happened? Was his desire to leave so soon reflective of him trying to get as much distance from his trauma as possible? Will he ever feel any better, or has all the fighting left him corrupted forever? A man lying on the sand raises his fist in the air.

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This is Yuusuke, obviously. After all that buildup, we finally see him again, but we still don't see his face yet. Just that image of him putting his fist in his palm, as though the unpleasant feelings of his days as Kuuga haven't left him, even months later, and in another country entirely. Maybe he really did crack. After all, the last we saw of Yuusuke was him in horrible pain before passing out in the snow. There are a lot of questions to be asked of him, but that might have to wait, as he looks down the beach to see a group of children angrily shoving one another around. Yuusuke leaps up to run over to them. We cut to the blue sky yet again, and a small white ball flies through the air.

Yuusuke's juggling act is a huge hit with the kids. They've all stopped fighting to watch him and smile, and Yuusuke is smiling too. Of course he's smiling. It might not have been the first plan for the show's conclusion, but really, I can't imagine it any other way. This is just the most poignant possible ending to the show, perfectly in line with everything it's ever tried to convey to its audience. The fight with the Grongi being over doesn't mean Yuusuke is done making people smile, it means he can finally get back to it. This bookend with the first episode, it's a touching resolution to the journey of a hero who refused to ever give up on his ideals. That triumph of the human spirit, of compassion and selflessness over cruelty and ego, that's what Kuuga is all about to me. However much Yuusuke has suffered, he won't ever stop moving forward, he won't ever forget why he does it, and for a show meant to inspire, there couldn't be anything more fitting. The whole scene, from the juggling, to Yuusuke walking off, all with the ending theme, Yuusuke's theme, playing both verses over it all, lyrics perfectly complementing the scene as Yuusuke finally manages to take everyone to that future without suffering or fighting, it chokes me up in ways few things can. It's beautiful what they accomplished here. The superhero show that rejects violence as something to be glorified, putting its money where its mouth is, and doing an entire episode where the hero never, ever transforms. Where there's not a single fight scene to be found. No costumes. No bloodshed. Just all the people we've grown to care about over the past year, finally able to live out our hero's dream of a world where everyone can be happy. And it's still every bit as interesting. It's as perfect a finale as a Rider show could have, and they did it all without ever feeling the need for any grand final action scene.

I didn't quite expect to have this much to say about the finale. I mean, I knew it'd be a lot, but I've always considered "Kuuga" and "Yuusuke" to be a package deal (and obviously they are), and I thought I'd have more to say about the former. Instead, this is by far the longest I've gone on about a single episode. Part of that is because I couldn't seem to help myself from summarizing nearly every single scene in order. Maybe that's down to me knowing this is the last time I get to do this, but I think what that really speaks to is how sublime the structure here is. I almost certainly could've trimmed this down, but I was too mesmerized to even consider that. I think the sheer volume of this one expresses how I feel as much as the words themselves. Hopefully you all don't mind indulging me here. I can be pretty harsh of finales when I think they disappoint even a little bit, but you'd never know that judging by this post. Every single scene here, they earn the episode's title by focusing so squarely on making a final statement on why Yuusuke, and not Kuuga, is a hero. Each has a unique point to make, and in the process, they follow up on what the extensive roster of supporting characters is up to as well, giving them the closure they need. Punctuating them all with subtle progressions of that blue sky motif, gradually building up to the eventual reveal of Yuusuke himself at the end, it's beyond punchy. The restraint it took to hold back directly showing Yuusuke for so long pays off brilliantly, because you feel his presence the whole time all the same. It's easily one of the tightest written episodes of the series, with everything pulling in one direction precisely and without waste. I always loved this episode, but I'm a little astonished to go back and realize that I might love it a little more than even the previous one. It's a tough call. You can't really have one without the other, but if there's a single episode that most represents what this series is all about, it might just be this one, and you couldn't ask for anything more of a finale.

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THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

The last episode holds the record, but this entire trilogy milked the thumbs budget for everything it had left. A fitting way to say goodbye to an amazing series.

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Total thumbs up count: 124+9 = 133

And with that, this adventure is just about over. You'll notice I haven't covered the handful of odds and ends Kuuga has, like the Super Secret Video, but to be perfectly honest, I need a break from writing about Kuuga. I'd love to come back and tackle all that stuff at a later date, but for now, I'm wrapping things up with some "final" thoughts on the series as a whole. This is it for the time being.

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I never found much time to talk about it here, but I really love Kuuga's opening and ending themes. They're a perfect paired set. The awesome OP always gets you pumped up with that dun-DUN-dun-DUN *pause* dunnnnnnnnn~, and its lyrics about how awesome Kuuga is. The ED, in contrast, is a much more gentle tune reflecting Yuusuke's hopes and dreams. I'm the slightest bit more fond of the ending sequence, which you may have gathered from the fact that my signature image this entire time has been that first frame of Yuusuke napping on the ground, finding some peace in his often chaotic life. It's always really stuck with me. That doesn't mean the opening is any less great though, and I don't think it's any secret that one of the coolest things about it is the meta layer to all the lyrics. It's as much about Kuuga the show as it is Kuuga the character. There's one line in particular from the second chorus that sums up what the series set out to accomplish. As per the (excellent) official translation, it goes "Racing to the top, I'm here to change all of this". A bold statement for a song that would've been written before the show even premiered, but here's the thing. Kuuga did change all of this.

The impact Kuuga had is something that deserves to be appreciated. It's not hard to argue that when it hit the air back in 2000, there genuinely wasn't anything else that could come close. It really was at the top. This was no halfhearted reboot; it was a complete reinvention of a vintage franchise that catapulted it back into the spotlight, where it has since remained, uninterrupted for two decades straight at this point. That success is up to each individual show too, of course, but I think merely saying Kuuga got the ball rolling would be an understatement. It sent that thing flying. It was a wildly experimental show that took more influence from shows like ER than it did anything relating to tokusatsu. It remembered to respect the roots too, with copious amounts of throwbacks and thematic similarities, and I think that's another reason it went over so well, but in terms of production style, it was uncharted territory all the way. The more cinematic direction, the deeper, more rounded characters, the fondness for two-parters, which allowed for more complex stories, and the subsequent ability to have episodes that don't need to end with the hero blowing up a monster every week. Many of the things we take for granted in Kamen Rider now, Kuuga was the first to try, and it proved the viability of this stuff all on its own, resulting in a series that exceeded expectations, becoming popular not only within its target demographic, but beyond it as well.

But all of that, it's just about what Kuuga was, and I'm even more interested in what it still is. The thing about Kuuga is that, despite putting down the groundwork for so many future shows, I also consider it to still be a truly singular, distinctive piece. There still aren't any shows quite like Kuuga. The kind of uncompromising, borderline counterculture attitude it had was something no other Rider show could've ever gotten away with. It's a moment in time that won't ever be replicated. You can point to all the individual elements that have gone on to be used later down the line, or other stories from before it shares similarities with, but the specific, unique mix that is Kuuga is entirely its own. It's bursting at the seams with raw artistic vision. A show that respects its legacy, itself, and the viewers all enough to question everything that's taken for granted in a show like this. Why don't the police ever get involved when monsters start attacking? Why can't characters have more real problems? Why should violence be something to be celebrated? Kuuga is often described as "deconstructive", which I think can be a pretty loaded word. There's often a negative connotation to it. A show that just sits there telling you everything you like is dumb and you're dumb for liking it, that would be rude at best, and intolerably self-satisfied at worst. It's not inherently a good thing, but it's great for Kuuga because of its pure motivations. The biggest creative voices behind the show were all people who grew up on the very shows they were challenging. They loved the stuff. It wasn't a matter of claiming superiority, despite the boastful theme song. They asked those questions not out of hate, but because they believed the answers would lead to an interesting story in its own right. That it could provide an opportunity to grow into something even better. It's good to look at things from a different perspective sometimes.

And Kuuga's perspective is exactly what remains wholly original even all these years later. No other hero show is anywhere near this dedicated to its message. It's easy to file that message under "pacifism", and call it generic, but that's doing a disservice to how thoughtful and considered Kuuga's story is. This kind of subject matter can be inherently difficult for an action show to handle without coming off as hypocritical, and that's why it's a good thing Kuuga's take on it is so precisely tailored to examining the very nature of superhero narratives. It's not telling you fighting is bad, period. It's asking the audience to consider how readily they leap to it as a solution to problems. How we put on a pedestal these characters who excel at fighting, worshiping them at courageous heroes. Kuuga's main message, to me, the specificity that sets it apart from the pack, is in how it says that it takes far more courage not to fight. Wanting to simply hit things we perceive as threats, or that we just plain don't like, is basic human instinct. It's not special. It's easy. But controlling those impulses, taking the time to think things through calmly and rationally, trying to understand the things and people around you, all of that can be extremely difficult at times, and that's why maybe it's the kind of thing that truly deserves to be venerated.

This line of thinking feeds into every facet of the show. The word "justice" is never used a single time, likely because that's a word easily appropriated by people who refuse to listen. The Grongi are just ordinary ancestors of modern humans turned into creatures in the same way Yuusuke was. The only true difference between them is in what they choose to value. And what Yuusuke values, what makes him the hero, is that he'd never call being Kuuga "cool". His most heroic feats all revolve around him helping others out without even needing to be Kuuga. His real worth is in his ability to inspire the people around him, and to help out those in need by engaging with them on a personal level, always showing deep empathy for their problems. Those are his talents. It's the same deal for everyone that supports him as Kuuga. He's surrounded by people like Sakurako, Enokida, Tsubaki, and Jean, that aid him using their brains, rather than their brawn. Even the police, who try to participate in the fighting, are most helpful when it comes to applying their investigative and organizational skills to take control of the situation. Kuuga actually hitting a monster at the end of the episode is an important part of this routine, but it's only one part. From a main writer most known for Super Sentai, I suppose I should expect no less, but there's a very strong sense of teamwork in Kuuga. The Grongi are defeated not because Kuuga is a better fighter than them, but because they do things alone, competing against each other, while the humans work together in harmony, always valuing what every single person has to contribute. We have the potential to be like the Grongi ourselves, but we can also choose to be something better. If we persevere, never forgetting our ideals, we can rise above any cruelty and misfortune that comes our way. That's the meaning this show imbues the thumbs up with, I think. When Yuusuke or somebody else flashes it, it's a reminder not that things will just magically be alright, but that even when things are going bad, it's important to give it your all anyway.

If I had to sum up Kuuga in a word, it'd be... "healthy", maybe? A strange choice, I know, and there are plenty of other good options, but that's a thought I'd keep coming back to every now and then as I was writing these posts. I first watched Kuuga give-or-take 8 years ago, and, thinking back on it, I feel like it's kind of shaped my life more than I realized? In a really positive way, to boot. I mentioned how that shot of Yuusuke looking miserable in his final fight with Daguva left an impact on me, but, after writing that, and thinking about it even more, that one scene might well have gotten me questioning everything I thought I knew about action stories and superheroes. Nowadays, I'm way into like... I mean, Ghost is my favorite Kamen Rider show. The one with magic empathy hugs and the constant emphasis on debating conflicting perspectives in a respectful and productive manner. One of my favorite tokusatsu heroes ever is Ultraman Cosmos, the one whose defining trait is his fighting style that revolves around pacifying monsters without lethal force. I was never some huge edgelord obsessed with blood and gore or anything, but my tastes after Kuuga started leaning more and more saccharine. I started placing more value on stories that themselves placed less value on action for action's sake. Going back, I think that's a sign of how much I was listening to what this show had to say to me. It shares more DNA with my other favorites than I would think at first from how different it can be in terms of tone and style. Again, it's a "healthy" show. One that cares about you enough to ask you, more than anything, to just think a little deeper about things, even as it still provides all the thrilling hero action you came for. Kuuga was a show that was happy to exist, and it wanted that existence to mean something. At least for me, I definitely think it did.

I suppose that's about all I really wanted to say about Kuuga. Or at least, I have to stop eventually, right? I mean, I've got 49 episodes worth of other thoughts that have touched on a variety of other points. The tone, the style, the characters, the action, the heart, there is a whole lot to love about this show, and I'd like to think I captured that somewhere in all this rambling. This project was a pretty big undertaking for me, and without that affection, there's no way I ever would've seen it through this far. Going in, I was honestly a bit worried about going back to Kuuga after so many years. Was I overselling how good it is all this time? I mean, I forgot so much of it. Maybe everything between those first and last few episodes was totally unmemorable and not that great? But it was great. Aside from the mildly (mildly!) uneven second quarter, darn near every arc in this show gave me more than enough to talk about. Tons and tons of extremely well done stories with compelling narratives filled with great dramatic tension and heartwarming exchanges between endearing characters. Some of the episodes of this show I remembered the least turned out to be new favorites after seeing them again. Kuuga has always been one of my favorite shows, and now that's even more the case.

That alone makes doing all this worth it, but I could've gotten that simply from rewatching the show. Writing about it like this was something else entirely. As always, I am extremely grateful to everyone who not only stuck with me on this whole ride, but actively enjoyed doing it. I wrote a ton about Kuuga in the process. Way more than I could reasonably expect anyone to take time out of their day to read. This thread has been an eclectic mix of opinionated recap, thematic analysis, trivia, the odd gag here or there, counting... It's basically unthinkable it would have any appeal to anyone. So if you did find that appeal, and feel like you've gotten something positive out of the experience, the honor really is all mine. Again, I'll probably come back here to talk about the leftover stuff like the Super Secret Video at some point, and I'm also more than happy to keep discussing the show here with anyone who wants to, but until then, thank you all so much, and here's to your smiles.

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