Oh, wow. :lolol :lolol :lolol :lolol :lolol

Episode 20 really highlights the dangerous mentality of Accel refusing to be questioned, in how he rejects and berates W for trying to reason with him he's relentlessly brutal in trying to take down Makiko, the supposed Dopant, in her human form due to her taking everything away from him as W Memory owner.

According to Shotaro, the value expected from Kamen Rider is to hate the criminal act, not the criminal itself - which means not killing someone after they no longer pose a threat. And ofc, at this stage, Accel berates Shotaro as naive (yeah, half-boiled is just the substitute mockery for this) and attacks. Even Akiko, who shills Accel before, now instead jumps in Shotaro's defense, and Accel de-henshins, but declares his hatred against Fuuto again, claiming that the city and people there are rotten. If Terui refers to 'rotten' here as in people who object to him, including condemning non-toxic flaw like being "naive", then he'd possess self-righteous views, "with us or against us" mentality, telling them they have no right to stop him after finding the supposed monster, viewing everyone but him as in the wrong.

Even Akiko too laments that the 'cool, sharp, and capable' Terui have really violent side, reminding that in that kind of person, negative traits aren't the part of their coolness (e.g. "chad") and can't be played up as admirable like Terui's brutality, despite some audiences doing so. Philip suspects personal connection between the freezing attacks and Terui, while describing hard-boiled as those who ruthlessly pursue their belief, having iron will, which refers to Terui. This one's not shilling though, more like talking about why being hard-boiled doesn't actually work, going against Shotaro's values - a deconstruction. Phillip outright labels Accel as insane - Terui lashes out again for being a "know-it-all" regarding his feelings, but Philip's rational is put in good use here, he acknowledges that, but is also why Terui had to tell them to actually solve the problem, the very reason he hired the protagonist trio. W claims that Accel losing composure reduces his fighting effectivity.

Makiko's son Kiyoshi being cold to his mother, made Accel jump into the conclusion that Makiko is so despicable that the son won't defend her and resumes his attack. Accel also assumes Shotaro lets the supposed criminal continue her attack unprovoked, which seems to be how the Fuuto people is 'rotten' in his eyes, and Accel claims he's just doing his job as officer. W points out that Accel was only fighting for vendetta, though Accel admits that as he reverts to Terui. Duty as officer? More like Terui knows nothing/being blinded about that, as murdering criminals constantly with no trial or conviction is a criminal act itself, especially that it comes from a cop himself, not from a vigilante.

Which, as Shotaro pointed out, the consequence of revenge and violence is that being blinded by it so much that Terui almost killed the wrong person, after telling his story that his family was killed by a freezing attack and his father bringing up W Memory... Especially in series like W where the Dopants are like Riders, only strong in their Dopant form, but is completely normal in human form which can be easily subdued. And contrary to popular belief that when someone is angered so much (except those that literally have anger as actual superpower) they can mow anything in their way, the reason why those traits are often glorified by fanbase and wish heroes tap into that more, instead you won't be able to keep clear head with W saying it reduces Accel's fighting capabilities.

Their clearer head allows to reveal the truth that the real reason of Makiko's infamy is due to Kiyoshi, finally gets through Terui's thick head that he almost killed an innocent (while the real culprit of Terui's family is discussed by Saeko and Wakana). By that Terui is still disgusted but conflicted at Shotaro's "naivety". Akiko admits to him that Shotaro is half-boiled, but the scene plays it out as acknowledging it as endearing part of Shotaro instead, reminds me of Kagami in Kabuto being 'praised' for his idiocy due to him rushing to do the right things. By this, Terui handcuffs Kiyoshi instead, Shotaro at least succeeded making Terui change a bit to play by his rules (actually law rules are like that in the first place) there, with his half-boiled traits held in higher regard (even Shotaro only calmly denies it there).

About that contradiction, unfortunately the consequences of those trait isn't always shown in other characters possessing those traits in other media, or worse, in addition to portraying actual morality - compassionate stances, as being ineffective (while thinking that being heroic/moral is simply destroying evil), where their accomplishment feels like because it's "plot armor" or handed to them. Even though mistakes may occur, some people may insist that, it's not those "hard-boiled" traits that caused the problem, they just needed to change some key decisions and it'd end well. About what you said before of something like impulsiveness or recklessness saving the day, those too can lead into unpleasant outcomes like Terui did here eh?

Like most of the secondary Riders, Terui's initially an anti-hero, as while he's a cop doing his job (not a corrupt one), he had several unpleasant traits like being driven by personal reasons like hatred and revenge, the brutality and violence in carrying his will, and the self-righteousness to reject reasoning until now, all which are needed to be kept in check. Even if anti-heroes are subcategory of heroes, doesn't mean they don't have to work towards becoming better persons all-round, though indeed Terui concedes here after he did dismiss people like Shotaro as naive. For what you said of empathy clouding a person's judgment, it just proves that goody two shoes aren't perfect unlike what people complain about them, they're also flawed (which they should work upon, commonly naivety for KR), albeit those flaws aren't making them lean to grey morality unlike hatred.

SHOTARO HIDARI HARDBOILED DELUSION DIARY EPISODE 5 - “WHAT IF RYU WAS A PRIVATE DETECTIVE?”

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I mean, just look at that title, and then look at that screencap. Look at how this thing moves from What If Ryu Was The Main Detective For The Narumi Detective Agency, all the way to Shotaro Has Accidentally Shot And Killed A Bird Dopant That Is Also A Beloved Police Detective. Just… just let that settle in. Really marinate in that thought.

This was easily the best Delusion Diary yet, and one that’ll be hard to top going forward. Shotaro’s inability to dream of a life that affords him the respect of his friends and coworkers continues to be a hilarious and depressing expression of his psychological shortcomings, and his nightmare of being Santa is incredibly insightful. (Santa is a fun dude that no one cares about, and his gifts are generally overlooked due to his clownish exterior!) This whole thing is a riot, and yet it makes me very sad for Shotaro.

That said, it completely tracks that Shotaro’s coffee is too sweet, since he is a child.

I have to agree, this was the best one yet.

Usually we have some degree of control or some kind of favor towards Shotaro's side before it goes off the wall. The delusion is compromised from minute one and that makes it so much fun. Ryu in Shotaro's attire is cursed btw. From Shotaro being Santa-chan to Bird Dopant Detective (I love the badge being accurate), to Shotaro killing said hard-working officer of the law.

Genius, all of it.

Also again, some fun lore tidbits like seeing what Shotaro's coffee preferences are. Though considering he enjoyed Terui's coffee in the last episode...

Speaking of lore though, I wasn't expecting Akiko's absurd offers towards Terui to shift into Shotaro actually crunching the numbers and wondering if he's actually being paid properly. I honestly hope so considering how much work he does!

This is going to be a hard one to top for sure.

I'd think Akiko was underpaying him, but I'm pretty sure that Shotaro is expensing more ridiculous stuff than Terui ever would. Windscale clothing isn't cheap!

Ah, right, I should probably actually say something about the Accel two-parter, yeah?

When I first saw it, I remember being overall fine with it, but now, on rewatch, I kinda have mixed feelings on it.

And maybe it's due to the difference between subs or whatever, but when it came to this watch, I ended feeling as if I did't quite know what these two episodes were trying to say, if anything.

Like, the first part especially has every character noting how cool and smart and effective Terui is, but yet, if you bother to compare his performance to like, any other episodes, he's actually going about things really ineffectively while being a petty asshat to everyone.

Sure, I'm like 70% positive that that's the point, that the show is trying to show just how unbearable dealing with a stereotypical "hard-boiled" type would be in reality, but again, you have every character singing his praises throughout a majority of the run time. Meaning the characters are saying one thing while the narrative is saying another.

On top of that, this is now a rewatch, meaning that I now have the power hindsight. And while the two episodes work well enough in isolation, what with Terui's' arc being about how his desire for revenge blinded him and how he manages to come around in the end, in terms of series composition is ends up not being too great given that this whole arc, which only took two episodes, will now be repeated again but stretched out way longer.

So, yeah, mixed feelings overall. Still a better debut than a certain other character we'll meet in a year, atleast.

To me, these episodes are definitely about spotlighting Terui's badass grim determination, only to reveal that we're really spotlighting Shotaro's decency and empathy. I don't know that I feel like there's any huge disconnect between the narrative and the characters (Akiko pretty quickly flips on Terui once he tries to murder someone), but I can understand finding Terui's insanity to be too mcuh.

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 21 - “THE RETURN OF T - THAT MELODY DOESN’T SUIT A LADY”

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This one was… not great. It’s methodical in its build-out of Detective Kujo, but it’s all in service of both a plot that’s blindingly obvious, and a theme that’s sort of unnecessary.

Let’s do the second one first, as we always do.

I don’t know if the second story we get with Terui in a lead role should be The Perils Of Seeking Vengeance. Like, it would be nice if the show let him have a single other characteristic before immediately contrasting him with a potential love interest that is compromising her integrity in order to hunt down the people who stole her happiness and killed someone close to her. I think it’s maybe okay to save that until Episode 23, maybe? At the earliest? I mean, Terui isn’t going anywhere, and we ended the last episode with him being confronted with the horrible cost of his crusade vis a vis almost murdering an innocent woman in broad daylight. His vendetta hasn’t gone anywhere, and clearly isn't going anywhere, so maybe we can get a two-parter that’s a little less His Only Deal, you know?

It doesn’t help that we spend a ton of time to set up Detective Kujo’s backstory, lost love, and cast of victims in the first half of this episode. (For a story that feels like it’s going to tip too much into The Terui Show, this one goes all in on The Kujo Show.) It’s all sort of bland, and not exactly distracting – it’s pretty apparent from Kujo’s first appearance, right after the Triceratops Dopant splits, that she’s the mystery murderer. Everything after that just feels like it’s delaying the inevitable, and it doesn’t help this episode’s deliberate pacing. Tons of info to set up the motivation of a two-episode character, and it just doesn’t feel like time well spent.

It’s sort of an overall problem of this episode being overstuffed. Kujo’s given a ton of setup, and then Terui’s given a bunch of scenes with Kujo, and it all… again, it’s all too much, too soon. We just met this guy, and now he’s having a doomed romance that’s about His Only Deal, with the remaining Double cast left to orbit two other characters’ stories. This thing feels like it should’ve been a Kamen Rider Accel TELASA mystery around the summer movie, not two in-series episodes of Double directly after Terui debuts.

It’s not a total waste, though. The action’s strong, Mick shows up, Terui and Kujo have genuinely good chemistry, and I absolutely love that Shotaro’s way in to this story is that he just wants to humble Terui, the end. There’s some fun around the edges of this one, but the ratio of Fun to Kujo’s Life Story is way out of whack. At least they didn’t drag out the reveal of her being the Dopant past the cliffhanger?

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

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-Like, I swear it’s not just me remembering how this one goes – it is SO OBVIOUS that Kujo’s the Dopant, and it made me roll my eyes when Shotaro’s like The Most Likely Suspect Is The Dead Man, Not The Alive Woman Who Spent Two Minutes Angrily Defending His Honor.

-We check in with Wakana and Saeko… and that’s basically all the scene was. Not a great use of two fun characters, but I’m surprised they managed to shoehorn them into this packed episode.

This was the first episode of Double I saw, so I’m going to have something of a bias towards it. Mostly, I like how we have an English-speaking character who actually speaks English, rather than slurring them badly.

And speaking of guest stars, it’s Koichi Sakamoto’s directorial debut for Kamen Rider (having previously done Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie for the Ultra Series), so we have two beeps of the…

Sentai-lert!

First up is our main guest Aya Kujo, portrayed by Ayumi Kinoshita, who previously portrayed a police detective with an amount of English dialogue in Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger and a girl looking for revenge who has a disguised identity in Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds. It’s not the last time we’ll be seeing her in these Phase 2 rewatches either.

And the old guy who’s a decoy antagonist is played by Hiroo Ohtaka, who’s had a few minor roles in Rider productions (basically, he was the old dad in the Faiz movie and Prof. Odagiri in the Type Tokujou special from Drive). But in Sentai, he’s had some more substantial roles, namely the big bad High Bishop Gaja in GoGo Sentai Boukenger and a recurring oden cart owner in Avataro Sentai Donbrothers.

I didn't know this was hist first Rider gig, but I knew it was him. I wouldn't say he single-handedly kept Ayumi Kinoshita and Nao Nagasawa employed through the '10s, but he did a lot of projects with them, up to and including that movie they did together that I completely forgot about until I started writing this post. If I see either of them show up during this period I assume it's because Sakamoto is behind the lens.

Jasmine is an ESPer. By coming into contact with the same surface as someone, she can read their thoughts.

An ESPer and a Signer...

There's certainly a time and a place for recklessness, usually when there's no other options, or if the opportunity is too important to miss out on. However, attempted murder of a suspect is not only reckless, but also stupid to cut off a potential source of intel and illegal since the suspect was unarmed. Especially for a cop who's supposed to believe in justice and strive to protect everybody, the innocent and guilty alike.

That's weird, I recalled the Triceratops arc coming later than this and I've already watched this show twice. Maybe it's like you said, that the revenge plot feels too soon after Terui's debut. I did enjoy this arc though, despite the mystery being, yeah, a little predictable. Most of the fun is probably getting to see Accel do more cool stuff.

Poor Shoutarou though, he's been active as Double's left half for almost a year now with no girls interested in him, while Terui barely showed up and already has a love interest portrayed by Kinoshita Ayumi.

Fun Fact: Watanabe Aoto (Tombo-Ohger) also has a crush on Kinoshita from when he watched Dekaranger as a kid.

Then it's pretty appropriate that this is your 2500th post. Congrats!

Umeko is not an ESPer. She cannot read their thoughts.

Masquerade seems to be the easiest-owned Gaia Memory and the most mass-produced, but it's all quantity, the power-up is a letdown of only changing your head, so much that a gun can put them down too as Aya did. They're not even safe from the body being actually destroyed (as shown in Accel's Dynamic Ace Maximum Drive, 3 slashes that form the letter A)... but that'd mean a main Rider killed several humans? At least the numbers should still distract Accel enough for Himuro to escape, his death was unrelated as it's him encountering Triceratops Dopant.

And despite Aya claiming Mizoguchi got falsely accused due to them trying to discredit and eliminate him, suspecting Himuro and Akutsu behind that. Makura jumps to the conclusion that Mizoguchi is terrible for trying to get revenge and not abiding by the law to only apprehend culprits. This was something that is similar to what W claimed to Terui before. though he's right, he instead gets punched by Terui again, and Phillip explains that moral posturing can offend others. This shows that there are other things that need to be considered when saying something other than what you said is right; moral posturing is done to gain some advantage (and not necessarily supporting that viewpoint), like an effort to have people like you or admire you in some way...as this can apply to politicians, this is probably also the reason Miyabi from ep. 5-6 got hate.

For once, Shotaro and Makura can be on the same page. Makura has a crush on Aya, and wants to outdo Terui to show off to Aya, where Shotaro finally accepts the case to humble him. They even had a handshake. When Aya talks about her past with Mizoguchi and his whistling, Terui notes about his change to be consumed by revenge, which he likens to himself against W Memory user. Seems their similarity is only limited to how Aya and Terui are ace cops, though the only romance is Aya with Mizoguchi.

There's also Makura's crush on Aya amplifying his incompetence to blow their cover by immediately putting Akutsu under arrest, where he flees instead. This would get him appropriately reprimanded by his crush instead. Though Makura suffers from bad luck, he's also kinda a dick for a good amount of time, like that accusing or pushing Watcherman to the wall, which sometimes makes those deserved - like the slipper slap from Akiko for his behavior there. The cover was about how Triceratops has a completely male voice, albeit there's already a red flag in Aya telling the team to split up several times, and as she's not seen again, Triceratops appears, as well as the beginning where Triceratops disappears, then Aya appears. As well as Aya's right leg being injured after HeatMetal attacks Triceratops there.

Wow, you started with Episode 21? I'd love to hear why!

It is legitimately fun to see Terui in a less violently deranged context, yes. He gets to crack a couple jokes, and generally be present for other people in a way that the last two episodes didn't afford. I just sort of wish his performance was in a different story!

Shotaro and Makura have finally found common ground: the ongoing humiliation of existing in Terui's shadow.

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 22 - “THE RETURN OF T - THE UNDYING MAN”

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Sure, it wasn’t a very good episode; and sure, it featured a ridiculous character turn and a garish conclusion where Accel gets a new toy for no real reason; but here’s the good news: at least no one involved learned anything.

Boy, this one was just a complete misfire for me. While the first part wasn’t great, at least it was trying to say something about Terui’s crusade through the arrival of Kujo. Terui’s warped his life to get vengeance for the dead, and Kujo’s doing the exact same thing. The tension of that, and the ways Terui both appreciates Kujo’s dedication while feeling alarmed by their similarities… I mean, it’s going to be fun to see that get paid off, at least. How does this show condemn Kujo’s vendetta while allowing Terui to work daily for his fateful confrontation with his family’s killer?

HA HA, who knows, because this episode sidelines Terui for a huge chunk of it, and then pivots Kujo’s vengeance towards a vague supervillain plot, complete with her going to work for the very organization she swore to destroy. Terui never articulates a better difference between their parallel outlooks than My Vengeance Is The Okay Kind, and Shotaro’s primacy in this episode robs the story of whatever spark it had in the first part. We just have Shotaro being half-boiled, and paying the price for it. Nothing that teaches anyone anything, at all.

It’s maddening, because it renders any time spent with Kujo as moot, since she just goes crazy in the end. Saeko explicitly states that overuse of Gaia Memories renders the user into a crazed monster, so we’re not even allowed the narrative weight of Kujo choosing her own fate. Nope, she’s a drugged lunatic, and that’s that. (I mean, you could say that she chose to use the Memory, and that was her downfall, but that wasn’t at all the story we were in for 75% of the story’s runtime.) Why bother with her tragic background, if she doesn’t give a shit about it in the climax, and there’s no epilogue where she reflects on it? Why make her complicated, just to flatten her out to Cackling Psychopath at the finale?

And that finale… boy, not my fave! Terui shows up just to be the grim executioner of the woman he barely shared a single scene with in this episode, and any empathy you might hope for from Team Double is left to Terui’s judgment. But then there’s a new cannon attachment for Accel? And he blows up the giant version of the Triceratops Dopant? And that’s how we end this story of regret and rage?

It just… it all feels like a massive waste of time. Kujo’s only value in the larger narrative is what she reflects of Terui, so it’s frustrating to see this pivot to a much less nuanced story of Shotaro being a well-meaning sap. (He just immediately assumes Kujo’s turning herself in, and does not investigate it at all! Wow! Great follow-through, bud!) There’s… there’s nothing here, which is such a weird thing to say after so much time spent on Kujo. Terui might as well have offed a random Dopant, and Shotaro just sort of shrugs everything off as an unfortunate but unpredictable outcome. And this wasn’t even a Shotaro story in the first place!

I really didn’t care for this conclusion. No thanks! Moving on!

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

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-I hate that Shroud appearance! So much! Completely dumb!

-There’s a minor thing that happens in the background that I want to mention. As Terui leaves the police headquarters, he passes by what looks like a man scuffling with a guard. I’m 99% positive that the man is Shotaro, but it’s never followed up on in this episode. (According to Jinno, Shotaro already came and left.) I… feel like this comes up in a later episode, but I can’t remember when or why. If you do, please don’t tell me just yet!

This was definitely a two-parter. At least we got the cool Triceratops Dopant suit, which unfortunately gets sidelined for a giant CG monstrosity in the show and in Memory of Heroez. I forgot the giant form was in Memory of Heroez and thought Triceratops just wasn't in the game at all. They really should've just stuck with the standard suit.

Also we get a new bike attachment I guess? I forgot how sudden most of Terui's stuff is thanks to Shroud who made me laugh at how she just, appeared, this episode. At least Fang had an episode of build-up before actual use.

That being said, I did basically remember that our guest police woman was our Dopant near immediately. She just appears way too conveniently after Triceratops runs off that I wonder if I was even shocked at the conclusion of the first part of this episode.

Also I forgot how kill happy Ryu is. The dude just goes straight back to executioner mode and the odd part is like... we're not addressing that? No for some reason Shotaro's hung up about Aya's morality or something and not... Terui was going to just kill someone. Like even Philip was alright with it and like, "Guys, you just had a conversation around something similar when you first met Terui, like what?"

Next is... I completely forgot how stupidly twisted Aya's goal becomes? When she went to threaten Saeko and I saw it play out I'm like "Oh right she's basically going full in on being a corrupt cop, get on Museum's good side and her plan is to basically take out all of the heads when the time is right but she goes crazy". And the show goes nope and instead says "Yeah no she's decided the city is the problem cause of overdosing on Triceratops".

Shame I didn't jive too much with this one outside some fun little scenes and interactions (Makura's antics with the Narumi Detective Trio was great) but man I wish the Triceratops suit had been used in a better story.

It is indicative of how thoroughly misguided this episode's conclusion is, that Kujo turns into a rampaging giant Dopant mostly because the show needs a reason for Accel's New Toy to show up. It sucks!

It's less I started with it, more that I watched it on a whim before watching the entire show.

As for the conclusion, I basically read somewhere that it completed a parallel between Accel and Double that the first two Dopants we see them face are one with elemental powers (Magma/Iceage) and a dinosaur themed one that transformed into a "one-winged angel" form (T-Rex/Triceratops).

Also, Terui gets a tank attachment. Just how is Shroud funding his equipment?

Either she's a major shareholder of Windscale or good old Kickstarter. :lolol

Triceratops reveals her present motive that she'd expand her vengeance into the whole Fuuto itself (the answer for above, she's not about Museum, but about the city itself, and Terui also declared to hate Fuuto in his debut), still related to Mizoguchi, due to him loving the Fuuto, but the city didn't return the favor, with how the city was "ungrateful" to Mizoguchi. For all the similarities between Aya and Terui, she'd, unfortunately, take his worst trait too of being consumed by revenge in her personal agenda against the Museum while being on the police force, and she's actually a reminder about how Terui might end up had he, probably had he not met Shotaro despite his refusal for questions. Even Terui laments about Aya being too consumed by revenge to save her, and, well, about him seeking his family's killer, there'd be a difference between seeking revenge and putting down a threat.

Yeah in this case, I side with Philip. Philip points out that Shotaro lets wild animal escape to the city. Shotaro denies that it's about the Gaia Memory corrupting the users, but Aya intends to fight Museum by her own will and that she can beat the influence of Gaia Memory. Even if you'd want to treat them as human, they have to be made sure that they're put in situations where they can't harm anyone, other than quick optimism from Shotaro due to Aya's declaration. At least it's not done due to perverted approach for females. But Philip does have softer approach, he now claims that Akutsu and Himuro should've been taken to the court, before Phillip would prefer for criminals to be finished off. And there's big misinterpretation that Shotaro thinks Aya visiting a police station means she turned herself in, therefore he slacks off. But now Philip calls out Triceratops for abusing Shotaro's trust.

Shotaro did find Aya at the site of Mizoguchi's death, which For once, Shotaro earns a compliment for being an ace detective from Aya, after mostly Phillip's the one who got compliments, due to finding Aya at the side of Mizoguchi's death. And about Aya's fight with Saeko, seems that Saeko just outright lost to an MOTW, albeit it's savvy to knock away Taboo Memory before she morphs, but Aya corners Saeko and seems to be just really winning against major villain. Wakana is concerned for her sister here, so she wouldn't hate her for the abuse in their childhood (as well as rough treatment last episode)? Like Terui too, Aya wants a leader role, like how Terui doesn't want to be questioned and that he's in charge of Special Crimes Unit, as well as to hide her crimes by getting rid of the Agency trio.

Shotaro's habit it seems, like the Miyabi/Asuka case in ep. 5-6. Aya's outcome isn't really told and just had Shotaro assuming the best of the situation, though it's plausible that it'd be her downfall at that point, considering that Makura laments about her potential, if she didn't get herself the Gaia Memory, but she'd be his inspiration to work hard. Aya bears resemblance to Marina/T-Rex Dopant, as both seek vengeance, but also get a dinosaur Dopant form that can enlarge itself.

Interesting! Thanks for the clarification!

Shotaro is genrally overlooked, yeah. I think I'd always say Shotaro is the better detective of the two, because he's not just (basically) plugging terms into a search engine until the result is produced. Shotaro actually has to go out and find clues, as well as understand people well enough to determine what information is most relevant to the search. He only looks like a joke!

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't find their interactions romantic at all. I felt it was more that they reached a mutual form of understanding and respect than anything.

Shotaro has no in-universe reason to suspect her, having just met her, and through Terui at that, who also appears to trust her. It's a case where he doesn't start with all of the details, so he's going by his faith in others as he usually does. Honoring the dead isn't exactly a foreign concept, either.

It was to help establish the bond between Wakana and Mick.

In context of the singular episodes, he always has. In context of the series overall, we learn the reasoning later on.

He's stopping Kujo both due to his duty as an officer as well as seeing how far she's fallen, like how he did when he almost killed an innocent last two-parter. Shotaro even directly brings that up at the start of the episode when Terui attacks an un-transformed Kujo.

Not at all the case. It's made clear that Kujo was already a vengeance crazy lunatic to begin with. The Gaia Memory overdoes only exacerbated the problem. She chose her fate long before getting drugs involved.

We had all of Part 1 for that.

Shotaro shows empathy when telling Kujo to turn herself in and letting her walk off. He also shows empathy for Terui in letting him handle the situation, seeing how important the whole situation is to him.

A Kamen Rider episode ending with a new toy and a fight. Boy, what a shock.

Except that he does. He stakes out the Police Headquarters to make sure she shows up. It's his misguided faith that gets him to leave the scene early. Maybe not investigated in the most thorough way, but still investigated.

Not really sure what separates this one from any other.

You're fine to not like these episodes, but alot of these complaints I just really don't get.

So it would seem! Thanks for the feedback!

No offense, but I recall from the Hibiki thread that you often criticize CGI monster fight scenes, so part of this seems like more your problem than a fault of the show.

But yeah, this is the debut of Accel's Gunner A, which is blue to match his eye! :p

More importantly, this is the first time we hear Accel's lyrical theme, Leave All Behind, which apparently was only ever used twice in the whole show, sadly. What's your opinion of this song?

It's fine if you want to see it that way, but I honestly think it's more to do with how the scale of the final battle misses the human drama that had been set up over the previous 40-odd minutes. We started with a nuanced story of revenge and rage, and we end with Terui cannon-blasting a giant CG monster in the face. It's not as emotionally rewarding, to me? But, sure, it's all subjective. Could just be me!

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 23 - “L ON THE LIPS - SINGER-SONG RIDER”

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I think I just fundamentally like these sorts of stories – stories of singular obsessions and small-scale disasters – better than apocalyptic threats and bloodthirsty monsters.

There’s just something more appealing to me about watching Shotaro and the rest of the gang have to solve some low-stakes mystery, with an obsessed fan, a deluded performer, several Celebrity Guest Judges, and two pissed-off idol singers. It speaks to the community of Fuuto more than any rampaging psychopath, because it’s about the interconnectedness of every random citizen, and how their hopes and dreams change the fortunes of each other. Some lunatic with a vendetta (hero or villain!) creates a set of stakes that are simple to parse, and direct to confront: a villain needs to be stopped or more people will die. A mystery like this one… it’s not the end of the world if Team Double bails on it. The Liar Dopant’s a problem, but more in the scammer sense of things. No one’s died yet, or is likely to. But the pursuit of truth and justice becomes more intriguing for how optional it is here. Team Double throwing itself into a story where maybe four people are going to live slightly better lives, and that’s it… I don’t know, I really like that. I like how much harder the story has to work to make those stakes feel worth pursuing.

It usually means the story has to get uniquely weird, and boy does this episode deliver on that front. This episode leans into all of its singing cast members, for sometimes tenuous (but always fun) reasons. Multiple songs this time out, and if they aren’t particularly appealing to me, I can definitely appreciate the ridiculousness of The Masked Singers just hopping on stage to test a Philip theory. And SPILK! How can you not love an episode that invents a horrible new form of music, and gives it the dumbest possible name? It’s all batshit ideas this time out, but every single one of them adds detail to a story of delusion and desperation, which is thankfully not lost on Shotaro.

That’s maybe my favorite touch in this one, how both Shotaro and Akiko immediately see the similarities between Jimmy’s deluded grandiosity and Shotaro’s cosplay detective nonsense. It makes Jimmy into less of a constant joke, by suggesting that Jimmy’s naive bluster is a product of his vulnerability and sensitivity, just with zero self-awareness. (I love when this show lets Shotaro be sort of pathetic!) Like, Jimmy’s never annoying in this, despite how horrendous his music is. He’s sweet in how dumb he is, how blinded by optimism he is. Shotaro’s got that same thing, where his cosplay detective stuff is charming in how ridiculous it is, instead of being aggravating. Setting these two up in one story is such a fun idea.

Again, I just like these dumb little stories that don’t, like, matter. I don’t know if they’d all the time work (I think you need the stories of killers and death in order to make the series-long stuff land?) but I like getting a couple episodes where the resolution is less about defeating one homicidal adversary, and more about figuring out the best way to improve a stranger’s life. That’s real Kamen Rider storytelling to me.

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DIE-A MEMORIES

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-Yeah, the songs in this one… not my thing? Just not musical genres I’m super into. I’d be curious to hear if y’all found them to be good or memorable.

-Terui briefly wears a black leather outfit over a blue t-shirt, and it felt viscerally wrong to me. It was Player 2 Terui, and I wanted to write a strongly-worded letter to Toei circa the year 2010 and ask them to restage that scene with the correct Terui costuming.

-Adding Terui to the team for W Cave scenes necessitates using its multiple levels for staging, and that’s so nice to see. It makes these largely expository scenes into something more visually dynamic.

Maybe that's the point. I think Kujo going CGI could be symbolic of how she became so obsessed with her quest for revenge that it came at the cost of her humanity. It could be like a warning to Terui, that he needs to be careful not to become a berserk CGI monster himself. Pink Triceratops is the inverse of White Whale, I guess. But that's just my take and I respect that the execution here doesn't appeal to you.

What about Leave All Behind though?

I mostly remember this for TV-Nihon’s April Fools video from 2010 being a gag sub of the first few minutes (among the highlights are “Fuutic Idol is a talent show for people who cannot sing”, “If you vote for us, we will show you our bodies” and Shotaro having had an affair with the female judge, which she uses to blackmail Q+E into a contract). And talking of the judges.

Special Guest Alert!

So two of the three judges are the couple that signs the show’s OP (hence the modified opening credits showing them singing it), but the third, Simon Cowell-esque judge is the late Ichirou Mizuki, the “Emperor of Anime Songs”. He’s only one of three artists to have done all of the main 4 Toku franchises (Ultra, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Metal Heroes) (the others being Isao Sasaki and Shinichi Ishihara). Within Rider, he sung the OP and ED for Kamen Rider X, Kamen Rider Stronger and Kamen Rider (1979), along with insert songs for Kamen Rider (1971) and Kamen Rider Black RX. He wasn’t keen on theme songs that didn’t name drop the show or relevant terminology, which is probably why he never did anything song-related for Rider in Heisei or Reiwa (since they switched to that type of songs with Ryuki).

As for the songs… I liked the cover of Finger on the Trigger more than the original, mostly because I found it more memorable

That's an interesting interpretation, but I'm not sure there's much on screen to support it. As soon as Terui shows up, he's just like It Is My Grim Responsibility To Destroy You, and there's no real reflection on his own desire for vengeance. One of my bigger complaints about this story is how quickly it abandons its main utility, which is using Kujo's story to force Terui into some self-analysis. Instead, her vengeance is portrayed as The Bad Kind, and then she just goes crazy because of a USB drug metaphor.

But, y'know, I totally understand trying to read something into a scene! It's a good choice!

It was okay? I wasn't really into the scene it was playing over, so I didn't give it the best listen.

Neat! Thanks!

I think there's a solid idea for a TTFC series where that thing and Ixa's barrel-throwing dinosaur tank do odd jobs while trying to break into show business.

First thing I thought when I saw those two put on the eyemasks were Ninja Turtles. :lolol
Obviously, the colors are a nod to Luna Trigger, which was a nice touch.

Okay, I'm glad it wasn't just me.

Hell yes. :lolol

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 24 - “L ON THE LIPS - YOU’RE THE LIAR”

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Pretty fun episode about the ways love warps our perception; also, an episode that is just insane to try and describe scene by scene.

Like, trying to talk about the thematic stuff… I don’t know, why? I appreciate that it’s there, and it completely helps make the Saeko/Doctor Slenderman (I forgot his name) stuff feel like it belongs within a hundred miles of this episode, but I can’t pretend it’s what anyone’s going to remember from this one. So, lemme quickly dispense with it, so we can talk about the high volume of batshit sequences in this episode of fanatic obsession and misunderstood attraction.

It’s nice that this one can end with the realization that Jimmy and Yukiho aren’t in a parasocial relationship, they’re in a burgeoning love story. It’s a testament to how we lie to ourselves to avoid putting ourselves out there, and mistake our own desires for something else. That, along with the Liar Dopant’s crush on Wakana, and Doctor Slenderman’s whole Maybe Inappropriate For Kids medical examination of Saeko’s Maybe Inappropriate For Kids Dopant form, gives us an episode that runs the gamut of love stories: from unrealized puppy love to Basically Second Base.

Okay, now lets talk about the gaudy amount of ridiculous nonsense in this episode, and how it is maybe an early highlight of W’s run.

Like, highlight of the highlights has to be Shotaro chasing after Jimmy on the beach, with voiceover of Shotaro mentioning how weird it is for these two to be chasing one another on a beach at sunset while carrying a white guitar as birds take off. It’s very weird! But it’s the best thing, because it’s all Shotaro trying to tell a deluded try-hard that he knows what it’s like, and to maybe stop leaning into every melodramatic idea in his head. (I love that this is basically Jimmy’s version of Shotaro quitting both his jobs in the Begins Night movie, and Shotaro immediately knows what stupid way he chose to theatrically turn his back on the past, so he knows where Jimmy would be. Amazing.) It’s a charming sequence that leverages Shotaro’s most embarrassing/memorable traits to help a deluded fraud realize that the point of art isn’t fame, it’s expressing what’s in your heart. This is Shotaro telling a guy not to let other people’s perception change your dreams, and it’s as sweet and poignant as it is vaguely regrettable. (Shotaro could maybe stand to dial back some of his cosplay detective stuff!)

Beyond that, we get the iconic climax of Philip dressing up as Wakana, because – as Terui of all people points out – Philip actually cuts a more Wakana silhouette than Akiko does. (Not wrong! Philip’s a great Wakana!) It’s a neat idea, tricking the Liar Dopant, and it just plays into this two-parter’s hard work on crafting a story that’s both clever in the moment, and thoughtful overall. This was a weird story, but one that is remarkably coherent and always kept a sense of stakes. One of my favorite W two-parters! Truly!

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DIE-A MEMORIES

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-The Saeko examination scene… hoo boy. INCREDIBLY horny, at a level where I sort of can’t believe it made it to air. Dude is basically drooling over the Taboo suit – itself pretty goddamn risque! – while he grips and caresses it. Fun twist that his kink is Dopants, but, like… my dude. At least Saeko was also into it?

So something an earlier comment made me realize... the Triceratops two-parter not only gave us Leave All Behind, but also if I'm remembering correctly, our first look at Cyclone Effect Acoustic. Which uh, given what it's paired with in people's minds when it comes to W, feels weird that it was part of a scene where Terui and Triceratops Cop were talking to each other. Leave All Behind's a fun song but it definitely felt out of place in the climax tbh, mostly in that it just did not fit with the action.

Anyway Liar Dopant time, in which we get an absurdly funny but powerful Dopant power if used correctly. The fights it has with Accel and W are fun because he's not really the strongest, but he makes up for that with his abilities.

The guest's this week are rather nice, Jimmy and Yukiho had a real nice story, and because neither were the Dopant, the two ended up having a happier ending than most other guests do on this show.

Like with Movie War 2010 and Accel though, I forgot how this show loves to build up to its next plots sometimes? Weather Dopant Doctor Dude I knew was introduced alongside Accel. But I forgot how they keep him and the Weather memory relatively sparse until this set of episodes. I recognized him instantly when Yukiho goes to him for a standard visit. So I was impressed by them deciding to use an incidental doctor visit that the cast visits to leave the scene open for Saeko to enter. And once she enters it's quickly revealed to us exactly who he is.

That being said I mostly remember these episodes because of the singing contest portions, more specifically Finger on the Trigger. Mostly because the Cover Version that our Kamen Singers perform was never actually released during W's run for some reason. It took us like a decade later to actually get it via a Heisei Rider Music set in 2019. I will also point out that while Androzani hit all the Rider related bases with Ichiro Mizuki, I still want to mention that he is of course the iconic singer for the theme of the classic mecha show Mazinger Z, which is where his "Zeeeet!" tick comes from.

They do! And I like that the end of Jimmy's story is that he gets a job and falls in love, while maybe still making music at some point in the future maybe question mark. It's different than the typical He Pursues His Dream No Matter What ending that we usually get, which is a nice way of saying that Jimmy's musical ability is so non-existent that maybe it's okay if he just makes music as a hobby.

He's just... he's just astonishingly bad.

And perhaps Shotaro's still better than most of the other main Riders, at least in audience's eyes. Many main Riders can be consistently degraded by audience as naive, idiot, childish, incompetent, out of depth, and other insults due to their compassionate stances, and dismiss anything they do as the story favoring them or plot armor. Shotaro doesn't really get this from the fanbase, though they seem to not differentiate Shotaro and Philip much.

The foreshadowing about Liar Dopant's true identity, Sachio Sawada giving a caligraphy that mocks Shotaro (as half-boiled) and Akiko (as bankrupt), which means he knows enough about those 2, rather than Yukiho who is fond of Jimmy and gets suspected by Shotaro as the one who made Jimmy win. Yukiho indeed pays the Liar Dopant to make sure Jimmy wins, but Sachio is the Dopant, but Yukiho also begs to spare the Dopant for Jimmy's sake. About the crime, Liar Dopant feels like the Cockroach Dopant back in the Heavens' Tornado 2-parter. This 2-parter does seem to focus just on the specific consequences rather than the crime act, of Jimmy's horrible singing causing pain, but Sachio seems to agree on anything his clients ask as long as they pay him enough, so I can already see the disastrous result of a money grubber who holds power, like what if someone asks him to frame someone as evil by making public believe that, leading for a disliked innocent to be executed for example..

From my experience, I've seen the gag of an artist being destructively bad in animations, but a live-action example in W here is no less wacky (including the shaking effect of the surroundings) compared to those. The guest stars here are related to music TAKUYA, Ichirou Mizuki (the only one with named role as Onuki Ichirota), and the W-B-X singer herself Aya Kamiki. The song performed by Kamen Singers is "Finger on the Trigger", W's insert song. About the Fuuuuuutic Idol show, Wakana watching it (as fellow singer) puts her at odds with her family members who seek W Memory holder. Ryubee thinks she still needs to grow up in contrast to what he thinks for Saeko as being grown woman. Ryubee's the kind of parent who restricts the child's interest if it's against their wants, albeit not really strictly here. I guess despite Saeko's jealousy, Wakana had her own restriction as well like her interests in 'distracting'/'childish' things here.

Yeah it's the reason Jimmy pisses off Shotaro, probably about how he's actually half-boiled despite trying to be hard-boiled. Jimmy is just outright horrible for general people in his field though, while Shotaro does have legitimate competency like here swinging on a chain to kick Liar off, an expert combatant in general as highlighted in Joker. Dunno if it's a case of purely irrational hatred or about how Jimmy makes a big mess without acknowledging it. And true the praise gets into Jimmy's head, he has an inflated ego, to talk down Shotaro before they sing as well. What finally gets through Jimmy's head was the Liar Dopant mocking him as untalented, and even those who like him, Yukiho, also claims Jimmy's so untalented and won't win without his help.

Well about stories of killers and death, indeed, it's the mantra of "if it bleeds, it leads" which is the reason why murder is the most highlighted crime in stories like detective mystery here, or other violent crimes like war and destruction. This also even applies in real life to have news only focus on negative stories like this to get more coverage, which I think is what fuels the bleak view on humanity and life (this mindset can be the fuel of some well-intentioned extremist villains' actions too). But crime is far from being only limited to murder, and villainy isn't about body count competition. This seems to also make some think a villain is innocent if their crimes don't kill anyone which just, downplays any other action. Stopping murders is also about, improving a stranger's life, so they can lead a fulfilling life and that their loved ones don't lose an important person, and there are many other ways to ruin people's lives other than murder (Shotaro's trigger is making people cry).

There are maybe several things, constant criticism, which may be are also Die's pet peeves rather than a fault of the show, though ofc, evaluating shows can be something subjective, just that those criticisms tend to be agreed upon by the majority of those who reply here. Otherwise, I too think that CGI is a sore spot for KR as well most of the time, because they aren't the most well-done effects. Albeit, CGI is commonly a mockery in cinematic experiences in people's eyes too, of which I don't know the reason why even if they blend perfectly with the surroundings. I can agree if the CGI reduces the authenticness of the actor's raw performance in fighting and done for safety, but about those that inherently require CGI....

Yeah, it seems like Wakana always got a lot of latitude to be a more carefree girl, since Saeko was around to take care of the family business. Ryubei's always inclined to indulge her, even if he's expecting her to be a little more responsible. As far as rebellions go, I think Rybei's okay with her enjoying a dopey TV singing competition.

This scene looks romantic without context, but I guess Shoutarou's concerned that it doesn't look hard-boiled for him to have to pursue Jimmy in such a way, as a hard-boiled person should probably be chased, not chasing. However, Shoutarou just wouldn't be Shoutarou if he stopped enjoying being a detective, so the moral he and Jimmy should probably learn from this is to stop seeking others' approval. Anyway, pretty sure that beach is the same one that Hibiki walks across in Shounen Yo?

Well, Taboo is a nonstandard design, so I also appreciate how she looks more unique compared to the average humanoid kaijin. Sucks to be Kirihiko though, he's only been dead for 6 episodes and Isaka's already managed to get this close to Saeko.

Saeko does not seem like the type to get broken up over a husband she murdered for being a morally-conflicted turncoat, no. She honestly makes more sense with this new guy!