I think it's more that Ryubei is super pissed that Isaka just unilaterally decided to tamper with Wakana's Driver -- which is why he abducts Isaka for Terror Tea Time -- but is also curious as to whether Isaka's theories are valid. Like, everything the Sonozakis do in this show could be filed under In Defiance Of God And Man, so it's not like Wakana's been safe and sound up 'til now. While Ryubei wouldn't willingly subject Wakana to such a risky procedure, now that Isaka's pulled the trigger? Well, maybe we'll see where it goes...

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 30 - “NIGHTMARISH H - WHO IS THE PRINCE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double30a.png

Best part of the episode, hands down, is the bit with Akiko back in Osaka. It’s exactly what I wanted from the last episode – a chance to explore Akiko’s psychology, freed from the constraints of the normal W aesthetics – but with all the humor the show opted for originally, as well. Shame that’s not what this episode was about!

It’s an episode committed to a lot of setup for storylines to come (the Xtreme Memory in particular, and Shroud in general), alongside a mystery plot that requires you to care about two hilariously unlikeable characters. I sort of remember where the Shroud stuff is going, and I still found it all to be a total drag – she shows up out of nowhere and forbids Philip from being friends with Shotaro, and it’s just weird. She’s weird! She’s got zero credibility, and instead of providing a single compelling argument in favor of dismantling the entire premise of the show, she just acts even more mysterious. It’s dull, and the dramatic appearance of yet another Deus Ex Memory doesn’t exactly help make things feel more tethered to basic storytelling concepts like Cause And Effect.

The Himeka mystery is slightly better, in that it at least tries to sketch in two completely insane characters, but it leaves a lot to be desired. The culprit’s exactly who we all thought it was from the first part, the one living dude from her research group, and he’s doing this to punish Himeka for being sort of endlessly flirty. It’s a good villain for Double to fight – a guy who thinks he’s righteous, but is really just an entitled, possessive creep. The problem is… Himeka’s also sort of terrible? Definitely less so than the guy who terrorized a half-dozen people (and counting!) into comas, but she’s a depressingly deluded woman who treats every guy like he’s her knight in shining armor, despite not being interested in any of them. It’s funny in the first episode, but in this one… like, yeah, let these two self-centered jerks be happy with each other, I guess. As a friend used to say, at least then they’re only ruining one relationship.

But, again, that middle Akiko section… it’s the best. Seeing that her instinctual refuge is Osaka, where she has autonomy and everyone exists at her cadence. Her desire to be treated as a hero, so she Henshins into Double with Shotaro. (And Shotaro’s her dad! Because of course that’s how she secretly sees Shotaro! And would never ever admit out loud!) The whole sequence is like the best kind of HBV, where it’s all a joke until you realize it’s true. I wish this whole story had been as smart and funny as the Akiko dream sequence.

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double30b.png

-The Xtreme Memory! I hate that it’s what gets Philip out of the cliffhanger, and that sort of ruined that side of the episode for me. The plotting was so good, and then A Magic Bird USB Drive Teleports Philip To Invulnerable Safety is such a letdown. It doesn’t come totally out of nowhere, since Xtreme was hovering around in the previous part, but it still feels like a lazy cheat. (I am not a huge fan of Shroud’s tech popping up out of nowhere to keep our heroes from having to think their way through or around problems!)

-And Shroud… I definitely groaned when she showed up in the Xtreme Zone. I find her lack of helpful exposition – constantly, perennially, indefinitely – to be my least favorite serialized storytelling trope. I bristle at stories* where one character could just say what’s going on, but doesn’t for nebulous, frequently obfuscated reasons. If Shotaro’s some huge threat, say why! Right now! At least make up something to distract the audience, instead of saying Because like that matters at all. I do not like how Shroud is being used to date!

*non-Faiz edition, because Faiz is about miscommunication and how we struggle with being honest with each other

How exactly does one think their way out of getting roasted by a bolt of lightning while unconscious...?

Anyway, I really don't have much to say about this two-parter other than I found it to be a decent bit of fun for the most part. And really, that's all I needed.

That's what makes it a fun cliffhanger!

Huh, interesting. I used this trick for one of my fanfics as well, except that my inspiration was Deka Break instead.

Makes sense that Shoutarou would immediately become a Jidaigeki fan when he realizes that samurai can be just as hard-boiled as detectives. I guess he might've had a poor first experience with the genre and assumed it was all the same, so it's good that he keeps an open mind here and discovers that there's also a style of Jidaigeki suited to his refined tastes as well. Phillip even makes an obscure reference to Shoutarou's similarity to Kaze No Saheji in Memory of Heroez.

Yeah, it sounds like a typical creepy thing to complain how Himeka sends false signals, but in this case, calling everybody a knight in shining armor and all the hugging is pretty confusing. While Nightmare gets brought to justice by a rare Metal Illusion, Himeka hasn't exactly done anything illegal or learned anything, so she's basically free to keep misleading people like this. Not surprising that poor Shoutarou is totally done with this at the end.

She lives up to her name at least. Unfortunately, she doesn't have much of a compelling case to convince Phillip to split with Shoutarou, since we all know Shoutarou's totally harmless and chill, as long as you don't plan on making someone cry. But I'll save this talk for later, when Shroud's willing to be a little more transparent (not as much as Lily though).

It's a story where I'm not even sure what the audience is supposed to have learned from all this. There's a brief moment when it looks like Shotaro is getting through to Himeka, helping her see how she's put her childish fantasies above the feelings of those around her... but then, nope, she's exactly the same as before, cue typewriter noises. I don't think a Kamen Rider adventure needs an explicit moral or lesson in it all the time, but it's especially rough to not have one in a two-parter that's otherwise anchored by teases for upcoming stories.

Dang, this did not hit for me at all, and now I'm remembering why I only remembered the Akiko W part as vividly as I do. Pretty sauceless as far as like Dopant Plots go tbh.

Even checking up on the Sonozaki's was kind of a waste this time for me because, man, I really do not care for the stuff they're doing with Wakana. Not to mention Isaka, while a powerful Dopant, really just only has that going for him, there's nothing that's really hitting me about him other than waiting for Terui's inevitable runback against him.

Surprisingly I was actually fine with the Xtreme Memory stuff, considering what's coming up it's nice to see that they're at least sliding it in advance. Shroud continues to be amusingly mysterious and obtuse. And tbh I wouldn't say the problem is Xtreme itself in resolving the cliffhanger but deciding to make the cliffhanger like that in the first place.

There was really no reason for Isaka to just randomly show up since there was no real indication of him planning on showing up (searching for Nightmare) prior. Plus I have to question our detective agency's smarts given they just decided to leave both W and an unconscious Philip in the middle of an open field.

I vividly recall being eventually furious at Wakana's plot -- we'll see how it lands for me this time! -- but I definitely have not been enjoying anything the show's done with her since Kirihiko bit it. She's not really given anything juicy to do as an uncertain lieutenant, and the whole Philip/Wakana subplot has gotten a couple minor check-ins during completely separate plots. Now she's just some inappropriately giggling lunatic? YAY.

I don't wanna harp on this too much (folks didn't have a problem with it, that's cool), but I feel like any cliffhanger should be written with an eye towards getting the characters out of it naturally. If a whole new character/item needs to appear to bail them out, I'm always going to feel cheated as a viewer. Not to write this one for them, but: REVOLGARRY. Akiko summons it in her dream, so why not have her summon it to escape Isaka? Or just have Shotaro wake up a couple seconds earlier and do it for them?

I mean, there's an answer to all of these questions, and it's We Need To Introduce Xtreme Memory. I'd argue the show could've done that in a separate storyline with better build-up, but it is what it is. Just a pet peeve of mine, I guess.

Weather shrugged off Accel's tank like nothing. I doubt he'd struggle with Revolgarry.

Okay!

EDIT: Let me take another run at this, because that came off more curt than I like.

When I bring up things in an episode that disappoint me, the thing I'm least interested in doing, ever, is trying to come up with an alternative story or plot or twist. That's the writers' job, and I'm a viewer. My role is to watch the show, not come up with a better/different story. (That's what fan-fic is for!) All I'm interested in doing is pointing out how a particular story decision made me feel, not try and litigate the options available to the characters. It's all a story, and I didn't care for the story they chose to tell.

Honestly, all I remember from this two parter is the dream sequences. I like that they went as far as making wooden Gaia Memories marked with kanji, and had the usual guy say the close Japanese equivalents to Cyclone and Joker (Shippu (Gale) and Kirifuda (trump card).) for that sequence.

That was neat!

Main thing I remember about this one was Akiko's dream and TV-Nihon doing a very '00s-era TV-Nihon job of awkwardly butchering the text that appeared after Akiko dream transformed. This was around the time that I ended up dropping TVN for the W-Time subs. I was getting tired of waiting a week for fancy fonts and stilted dialogue.

So yeah, Himeka is fucking awful desuuu. I kind of want to be a little down on the show for victim-blaming when it went after for leading on the guy whose name I never bothered learning, but honestly she's just kind of a terrible person. I wouldn't call her a sociopath, but projecting her desires for a prince on to literally every man she meets (who isn't Makura) with either no ability or no willingness to recognize how that affects them is at the very least extremely problematic. Girl needs some serious therapy desuuu.

So this'd be the standard of villain complaining that you do, Shroud and Isaka (the second one). About Shroud forbidding Philip to be friends with Shotaro, it'd be something important later, in my favorite 2-parter of W. Shroud is established as thorn on the Sonozaki family's side, that Ryubee knows Shroud has made her move with that Xtreme Memory. And currently she's directly interacting with Phillip who's still inside Xtreme Memory, but healed fully, claiming that Phillip can't die for being too important (indeed, other than this he hard carries the cast in most of the cases, poor Shotaro being seen as useless compared to him). Thoughh Xtreme Memory also saves Shotaro later. There are still some W forms that haven't revealed their Maximum Drive yet, and LunaMetal is one of them, so W performs it here, the Metal Illusion where W forms several golden rings with the stretching Metal Shaft as projectile attack. Though still not that spectacular, I like that the attack is a bit different from usual ability unlike Metal Branding.

Shotaro figures out that Himeka calls every one of her research partners as destined prince, which Himeka admits, to anyone that treats her nicely. Other than another reference to Snow White and Seven Dwarfes, this is a case of someone who really needs to get over themselves in love situation, and I suspect naivety for Himeka to assume that being nice = being in love. But Himeka's not only one who needs to get over themselves, as Shotaro warns that there are those who take Himeka's words to heart, and also turning into a monster and tries to get rid of his rivals with sleeping sickness. And after Hajime got arrested... Himeka didn't really learn her lesson as well, still continuing on her declaration of love to those sleeping sickness victims, or she tries to convince them that she favors no one to prevent another fight for her like what Hajime did. And for Terui, he's more gentle in his approach to a criminal here (even compared to Makura who tries to block Himeka).

Dunno if it's related to Osaka stuff, but Akiko's established as someone who talks in her sleep. Shotaro attempts to lucid dream again, but Akiko reminds him that Nightmare won't enter his dream again. Apparently Akiko's voice didn't only reach him, she's aware of what Nightmare said earlier. Akiko's sleep-talking is proven in her try with Shotaro getting engaged to her plan. Due to her sleep-talk being clear, Shotaro can contribute as well to remind Akiko about her objective (irl wise, shouting to her sleeping self). It's lucky that Akiko doesn't only come across Nightmare, but also have protection with a Double Driver on Akiko. Another female Rider! But Nightmare just punched her once.. and Akiko dehenshins, whining that it hurts. That's what expected from fighting as Rider y'know, it's not always you who got the upper hand. It refuted my feelings that Nightmare boasts that everything other than him is illusion in a dream, so he apparently lets others gain upper hand to toy with them.

It's real weird! We get 90% of a real character arc, and then the swerve ending of her learning absolutely nothing and the heroes walk off shaking their heads.

Yeah, he really seems to enjoy playing the monster. If your victim turns into a Kamen Rider? Sure, bat it around for a little while.

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 31 - “THE B BROUGHT BY THE WIND - TO PURSUE THE BEAST”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double31a.png

Ha ha, man, they should’ve saved the Nightmare Memory for this episode, since this whole episode is Shotaro’s worst fear come to life.

And it starts off so great for him! Here’s some gritty old guy (41 isn’t that old, but this dude plays it like he’s 60) that used to know Sokichi, and he needs Shotaro’s help. Dream come true! Shotaro gets to pal around with a real wethered tough guy who knew his mentor, gets to show off his hardboiled detective skills, gets to revel in the manliness of taking a fall for the woman you love, maybe even sock a crumb-bum in the kisser… it’s what Shotaro has been building up to for 30 episodes – this is his final form.

So, of course, everything constantly and thoroughly goes to shit for him.

It’s really great to see, honestly. It’s a crucible for Shotaro, to work with a guy like Bitou who completely doesn’t care for his cosplay detective nonsense. Worse, it’s a guy who doesn’t care for it because he knew the guy that Shotaro’s pretending to be; this isn’t just some dismissal of Shotaro’s demeanor, this is a guy who is outright telling Shotaro that he doesn’t measure up to Sokichi. The dynamic arguably makes Shotaro even more difficult to work with than normal, since now he’s desperate to gain the approval-by-proxy of Sokichi by solving Bitou’s case. Just when Shotaro needs to be at his most collected and effective, he’s making half-boiled observations and blundering into a decade-old noir romance that he can’t seem to treat with the proper gravity.

Oh, and Double is also a total embarrassment this episode.

We are just instantly launching into Shroud’s Terrible Prophecy, and I’m okay with it? I like that, even though we don’t know exactly what’s happening, something is happening. This isn’t weeks of Philip fretting over Shroud’s insinuations while Team Double slowly buckles under unaired recriminations and terrible secrets – we are immediately in a story where Philip and Shotaro cannot act as Double, period. While it means we’re robbed of Double kicking ass this episode, it’s a fair trade-off for Philip’s anguished looks and a completely botched Maximum Drive. (In front of Isaka and everything! They’ll never hear the end of it!) The whole team is in the deepest of shit, and Shotaro might be the cause.

It’s an exquisite episode, even discounting how tense and thrilling Shotaro’s Worst Day is. All of the Sam/Bell/Maru stuff is pitch-perfect noir, with just the right amount of Aimed At Kids to keep it reasonable for a Bear Dopant to pop up at a pier and try to murder a cosplay detective. There’s gravitas to Bitou, intrigue to Bell, and theatrical oafishness to Maru. It makes every scene with any of them into an appealing one, and the more of them get to be onscreen at once, the better.

Such a terrific installment of W. The superhero action was captivating, the central mystery was tonally excellent, and the long-form series stuff was not even a tiny bit annoying to me. Perfect episode!

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double31b.png

-I legitimately thought OOO was debuting in this vision, and that I’d somehow forgotten the TaToBa suit was teased this early. Nope, it’s our first (blurry) look at CycloneJoker Xtreme, a suit that’s one of my favorite Final Forms. It’s not my favorite Double suit (it’s actually maybe my least-favorite Double suit?), but as far as Final Forms go, I think it executes its concept in a legible way, while not going crazy over the top like a lot of Final Forms. We’ll talk more about it soon! For its appearance here, I like that we’re already treating it like some all-powerful future for our heroes. Definitely sells the gravity of the situation, but in a way that teases a less horrible outcome.

Character named Bell whose husband is a Beast Dopant? Hmmm.

Speaking of Bell…

Rider-lert!

With the twist here that both people I’m bringing up appeared in LATER instalments.

First off, Ryoko Gi, who plays Bell, was married to Tomoyuki Dan, the guy playing Isaka. And she later played the Hokuto PM in Build.

And Katsuya, who plays the Dopant of the fortnight, was previously the chef in the “Dark Kitchen” two-parter from Kabuto, and later had a recurring role on Zero-One as the mangaka who outsourced his art to AI (a plot point that aged well).

General plot musings next time.

Neat! Thanks!

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 32 - “THE B BROUGHT BY THE WIND - NOW, AMIDST THE RADIANCE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double32a.png

I love that W decided that at Episode 32 – 65% of the way through the series – to do an entire episode about What Is The Point Of Shotaro.

It’s honestly a fair topic of discussion, despite loving the character and performance. Philip’s the powerhouse of the team, after all, with his search engine brain and super-genius tech skills. Hell, the strongest Double form for the first 31 episodes was the one Philip piloted, not Shotaro. Add in the fact that the series-long Sonozaki plot lands entirely on Philip’s back, and it’s clear that Shotaro is the least necessary member of the partnership.

And even within the narrative… like, he’s maybe holding Philip back? And he’s maybe less good at this than Terui might be? It’s an ugly thought, but it’s hard not to be persuaded over the last two episodes that Shotaro is a delightful clown at best, and a bumbling amateur at worst – certainly no one that should be in the crosshairs of murderous Dopants and scheming criminals.

But, of course, that’s the point of this whole story. Shotaro’s here because he’s the guy that isn’t a superpowered genius; he’s here to add humanity to Philip’s god-level view of things. Shotaro’s value is in his empathy and commitment, two things born from his lack of innate value or strength. He has to work for his place in things, which means he’s never going to settle for what he’s currently capable of. His weakness isn’t in his lack of power, it’s in his lack of confidence. He folds because he doesn’t see his own worth, and recognizing his contribution is the final hurdle he needs to clear to meet Philip’s newfound evolution.

It’s a nice conclusion to Shotaro’s Worst Day, because it’s not at all about him gaining power or doing a training montage or whatever. There’s no sudden jolt of power that makes Shotaro into Philip’s equal, there’s just Shotaro being the partner that Philip needs him to be, no matter what it takes. It’s a climax that’s about finding a connection, and realizing that you sometimes have to work to make things stick around, but the first step is agreeing that the partnership shouldn’t end. That takes Philip acknowledging that Double is about more than being the most effective hero (boy, is it ever not about that!), it’s about what Philip and Shotaro bring to the table as a team. Effectiveness can be learned, chemistry can’t. Even Terui gets that!

And then there’s the Dopant story, which maybe loses some nuance in its escalation into There Are Two Of Them fight scenes and pyrotechnics (Zone Dopant is such a cool design), but still allows for a spectacular coda to Shotaro’s investigation by having him try and salvage Bitou’s faith in Bell – by getting her to confess and apologize, rather than Shotaro going to Bitou and breaking his heart – with the same amount of kindness that Sokichi practiced. It’s a conclusion to that plot that’s all about Shotaro being 100% the guy he thinks he’s pretending to be, which is as sweet a win as I think that guy could get.

This one’s a little less noir and a little more superhero, but collectively these two parts absolutely crushed it. Killer spotlight for Shotaro, one that managed to raise him up without ignoring his many hilarious defects. He’s the least necessary character on the show, and that’s why he’s the perfect star for it.

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double32b.png

-CycloneJokerXtreme!

-First off, I wonder if the Xtreme name came from the theme song, or the other way around. Like, did the song get commissioned, and the producers were like We Should Do An Xtreme Upgrade, or was Xtreme already planned and they had the songwriters focus on that?

-I really like the suit. Making the middle section a prismatic silver keeps the prominence on the Cyclone and Joker sections, while still providing a new color palette to play with. And I love how it uses Ws and Xs throughout the suit, in subtle ways: the W shoulderpads (not too big, even!), the X wrist and ankle guards, the way the W on the forehead splits into a W on top and then an X overall. It’s great, unobtrusive theming.

-Not a huge fan of Prism Bicker, though. I like the addition of a sword and shield, but that shield is so goddamn dinky. If it was even 25% bigger, I’d probably love it. As it is, it feels like nearly any blast is going to overpower it. It's like he's wielding the DX version, instead of the CSM version. Bigger Bicker, thanks!

For being my first experience to the concept of final forms, Xtreme ends up working in a lot of ways. Honestly revisiting these episodes definitely helped remind me that W Xtreme is solid in all areas.

I love how Shotaro and Philip's partnership is the key to this story and their eventual achieving of their final form. Philip's growing stronger, Shotaro can't keep up, and that's only the most minor of issues that piles up on what becomes one of the biggest low points for Shotaro in the show thus far. Dude has it rough all the way through, but despite all that, despite his shortcomings, he still stays true to himself and with Philip acknowledging that alongside Shotaro himself not giving up despite it all, they're able to break past their prior limitations.

So yeah, basically centralizing the entire debut of Xtreme around the two? Smart move. The fight itself is fairly simple but it definitely shows W's new form as a powerhouse, especially with his fancy new toys. It's also fitting that in a two-parter about partners, we get a Dopant Duo to challenge them. Zone's a fun looking Dopant and a very powerful ability, which is a shame we don't get to see it that much.

Onto some minor things though... I forgot that this was the episode that basically establishes that Living Connectors can just be, hidden? Well except for when the Gaia Memory is activated. It's a weird quirk but something interesting to note.

Also man, the Sonozaki Scenes during the Nightmare Dopant case are very pointless now in hindsight. Mostly the Wakana portions, purely because like... she's just a giggling brightly dressed girl for like two episodes and then she's just back to her usual self for this two-parter? It's such a weird thing to witness.

My favorite Upgrade Form stories are the ones that try and tell you what the whole series is about -- Revice Thunder Gale! -- and CycloneJokerXtreme is that quality to death. It's a story where the partnership is tested, and then the resolution is that the partnership doesn't have to ever really achieve anything; the success is in what the partnership already was. Xtreme's arrival is a testament to their bond, not to their power. Such a great debut story for a new suit!

(Also, yeah, Wakana's fine now! The end! HOORAY.)

I mostly remember this two parter for the fact that Zone is essentially a Bakugan Trap in terms of appearance, and I really like non-humanoid monster designs.

As for a general opinion… Xtreme’s pretty cool, right? (I’ve got nothing else to say. Check back next episode)

I'm guessing it was the little glimpse of green on the right leg that tricked you?

Since you brought it up, here's my ranking for Double's forms in the show:

1) CycloneJoker
2) LunaJoker
3) LunaTrigger
4) CycloneJoker Xtreme
5) CycloneMetal
6) CycloneTrigger
7) FangJoker
8) HeatTrigger
9) LunaMetal
10) HeatMetal
11) HeatJoker

Shoutarou is the man with the courage to ride with the devil.

He may not be a genius like Phillip, or hard-boiled like Terui, or even decisive like Akiko, but that courage is all he needs to turn weakness in to strength. That's a quality Shroud doesn't understand and Shoutarou himself doesn't fully appreciate either, but that's the reason why he's the only person who can truly be Double's left half. If Phillip's gotten stronger, it's only cause Shoutarou believed in him. Shoutarou took a gamble on the devil on Begins Night and got a true partner out of it. A leap of faith, just like how he solves cases with his hunches. Now Phillip believes in him with a hunch, so of course the solution to their power imbalance was for Shoutarou to believe in himself as well.

For sure.

It is!

It was actually the shape of the mask -- it's got that Taka shape to it, and I sort of forgot for a second what CycloneJokerXtreme looks like.

Well said! Shotaro's got a strength in his convictions that's unmatched on the show; the problem is that his convictions don't tend to include Betting On Himself, so he's very quick to pack it in when confronted with his failings.

Other than it might being funny, Bitou does have an attitude problem which seems expected from someone imprisoned 10 years, but turns out he just took a fall for someone he's in love with, Suzuko. turned himself in Maruo's place. Sokichi not saying a word to him for that. For once, Shotaro didn't get hit by Bitou due to him being right, albeit Bitou's still gruff about it (him overall after 10 years sentence). Akiko found the bear carving, but Isaka as weather comes along to attack them again. The reason why Bitou always stands up for Suzuko, like Maruo's treatment of pushing him or Makura rejecting her answers.

So he has a gag similar to Akiko's slipper, finger snapping Shotaro between his eyes. Can't ever go right for him, as he got finder snapped for kicking him out for his suspiciousness, taking the case as it involves Sokichi for being a rookie, for mumbling out loud, for questioning the nickname of Bitou's circle, warning Bitou about Maruo. Except when Shotaro deduced that Bitou's in love with Suzuko. Makura also, as usual, got hit by this due to rejecting Suzuko's answer when interrogating.

Demonstrated in the power surge of the Cyclone Memory? The trouble is more prevalent in the battle as the power surge on the right (Cyclone) side made W's power imbalanced, hindering their battle. Philip warns that Joker isn't powerful enough to be paired with Cyclone, but W tries Metal and it still fails to stop the imbalance. W de-henshins, but something strange happens to Phillip as he wakes up, but in an empty Gaia Library with W, but having a band of light down the middle of his body approaching, before he wakes up properly. Shotaro thinks Phillip only needs to tone Cyclone down, kinda dismissing the warning. Even trying FangJoker to get around the power surge, it still failed.

Because he's EXTREEEEEEEMMMMMEEEEE :lolol
Really though, Cyclone Joker Extreme is a nice design. I love how they went Kikaider 00 with it while maintaining the key design elements.

Oh dear sweet Shadow Moon what have you done? MY EEEAAARRRSS. :lolol

Why? Why would you do this?

The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma.

SHOTARO HIDARI HARDBOILED DELUSION DIARY EPISODE 8 - “WHAT IF AKIKO WAS A HOUSEWIFE?”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/hdd08.png

It is very funny to me that we have a Delusion Diary on the topic of Akiko getting married, with only 17 episodes left to go in the series, and a) Shotaro never considers the possibility of Akiko getting married to Terui, and b) Terui doesn’t show a preference towards Akiko getting married in the future. Kind of hard to feel like the show always planned on Akiko and Terui getting together, if this is how the concept first got handled.

But it’s non-canonical, and still very charming. Since it’s covering the last four episodes, it starts off as a gritty crime drama before devolving into a slapstick samurai duel. It’s one of those Delusion Diaries where Shotaro is 100% along for the ride, sputtering ineffectually at diegetic stagehands and mysteriously-resurrecting husbands. His reactions to every increasingly bizarre turn are matched by everyone else’s commitment to playing their nonsense as straightforward as possible. It’s exceptionally funny, even for the type of ridiculous idiocy these shorts traditionally get up to. (Akiko suddenly having a revolver!!!)

So, yeah, solid short! Just sort of surprising that there’s no sense of Terui-interest – in either direction – during a story about Akiko being married.

(PROGRAMMING NOTE: My next week starts off incredibly packed, so I’m jumping ahead on this one because Monday night is almost definitely going to be a night off. Thanks for your understanding!)

I enjoy how even two episodes later, Shotaro's delusions are not safe from him binging an old-style Samurai show from the Nightmare Arc.

Shotaro's delusions have some real Thank God I'm The Only Normal Person Here energy, which feels so utterly dead-on to his character that I'm always a little reluctant to cite these specials as being non-canonical.

This arc reminds me a bit of Raymond Chandler's "Farewell, My Lovely." That was also a book that concerned a man getting out of prison and trying to reconnect with the woman he loved, only to learn the hard way that she wasn't who he thought she was. Ended a lot worse for him than Bitou, but this is maybe the arc of the show that most resembles one of Chandler's specific novels.

Good suit, but I remember there being something janky with the Figuart. No idea what, but a lot of people were disappointed with it back in the day.

Doesn't bother me, personally, but I've spent the last decade watching modern Ultraman, where they usually don't even bother trying to make the weapons look like they were sized for an adult.

For fanbase though, Akiko would be the one seen as least necessary member, she's considered useless, or a load, with them viewing her as leading the team to trouble (Shotaro fights as W and is the hidari half of it). For this part, even the other 2 does not approve of Philip's move of asking Terui to become his partner, that it's stupid question for Philip, and Akiko, as what she did in ep. 4, calls out Philip again for degrading Shotaro (as weak), defending him that Shotaro isn't merely a tool to fight as W, his... half-boiled persona also makes things work. Now again his half-boiled trait is viewed in a good light, and indeed, even though he can't live up to Sokichi, he can be impactful in different way, like his moral being something that kept Terui in check from killing an innocent.

As being W can't work, Phillip can only hand Accel his Cyclone Memory for him to use with Engine Blade, performing a Maximum Drive with green-wind slashes which are enough to keep Weather at bay, losing the bear carving. Now I wonder if the reverse can happen, with W using other Memories than the 6 they use, if W uses Engine then he'd got lighter grey side other than Engine's power? Terui actually thanked Phillip and praised the memory, while keeping his stone-faced expression. This also alarms Phillip about how Terui can withstand Cyclone's power, bringing back Shroud's words before that he suspects his true partner is Terui. Shotaro had a mental breakdown over the fact that he can't become W anymore, even ignoring Akiko's invitation to go back from the bungalow.

Sokichi's message on the bear carving, "Nobody's Perfect", intended to expose the truth to Bitou (about Suzuko being true culprit) but not emotionally hurting him, but it's intended for everyone like Shotaro believing in Suzuko. This is a reminder of how, as Sokichi said, humans aren't perfect and they can make mistakes, but that's something ok, they don't deserve contempt for it, either from others or themselves. It reminds Phillip as well that W needs Shotaro's kindness, as it's not intended to be a perfect killing machine. Being a Kamen Rider prioritizes helping others, there are wide range of morally good trait and deeds in addition to “saving people” (by beating up the enemy) that should be displayed (also why I like mundane utility trope for superpowers). Like what Shotaro remind Terui in his debut, being a Kamen Rider isn't about hating the criminals and exert overboard punishment, but only the criminal act.

The bear carving's purpose is finally seen here, it holds Zone Memory, and Shotaro exposes Suzuko that she's a Dopant. Sokichi hid the Zone Memory there, where Suzuko used that while Maruo used Beast to attack. Shotaro insists for Suzuko to apologize to Bitou for sacrificing his 10 years seemingly for nothing, but obviously, being in position of power (this time's true as no W for Shotaro; either 'Double' or 'Win') Suzuko is ecstatic of getting her Memory back, turning into Zone Dopant to teleport Shotaro into heights outside the building in a chessboard motif. Big mistake for Shotaro, revealing a Memory in front of its user without countermeasures as he can't be W. Zone leaves and drops Shotaro above a canal. This is kinda plot armor, don't see why she'd leave him in a relatively safer place from heights (albeit tbf fall from heights to water will still injure or kill), and she even claims he can grind his teeth in afterlife (indicates intent to kill). True as mistakes are the way to learn lessons, as well as despite that nobody is perfect, doesn't mean they should stagnate and improve themselves, like keep the moral approach but prepare countermeasures better.

The form is linked with the infinite knowledge of the true Gaia Memory as well, shown in W's Crystal Server, the iridescent band going down the middle of W's body. Due to said knowledge, W is able to analyze every aspect of the enemy... knowledge is power indeed, fight smart, not only fight hard (albeit all the knowledge are just handed there). Among its finishers, I'd tolerate Bicker Finalusion (the energy beam one) better, but I'd wish that for hyped up 4 Gaia Memories usage, the Bicker Charge Break would be more spectacular. Probably showcasing each of the Gaia Memories ability, like creating fire tornado + thousand cuts using spiraling stretching sword.

And the devil is Philip, the 'little devil'. For here, yes, this is the testament on Shotaro being the heart of Fuuto which Philip finally acknowledges. And for Shroud not understanding him, obviously villains can't comprehend why virtue is valuable, they look down on virtues as weakness, that is why they champion and celebrate their cruel ways (even for good intentions). And many fanbase also look down on these traits perceiving them as soft and wouldn't get it no matter what. Well, though Shroud opposes Ryubee, she does it for revenge and doesn't care how many innocents would it take to get her revenge as other than technically aiding Terui and the main cast, with her also pushing them to embrace destructive tendencies more, she's the one behind Isaka as well (including his murder of Terui's family), and Isaka's shown to want to oppose Ryubee as well. O̶u̶t̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶a̶u̶g̶h̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶f̶f̶,̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶K̶e̶k̶e̶r̶a̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶.̶

It's not a big deal, but there was a point when Double was blocking Zone's attacks with this dinky shield and I thought Imagine How Easy This Would Be With An Adult-Sized Shield.

Ha ha, the "fanbase" can say what they want, but I'd give Akiko the nod over Shotaro. She's the Chief!

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...4d78ff9bac1e9&

This is like 25% relevant, but allow me to present Tomoko Fourze in the Shoutarou cosplay.

Tomoko cosplay is always relevant, in any thread.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/legend/megamax8.png

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 33 - “Y’S TRAGEDY - THE WOMAN IN SEARCH OF YESTERDAY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double33a.png

Remember Kirihiko?

It’s kind of amazing to think of how little has changed since he was killed. An episode like this should feel like dredging up the forgotten past, but instead it feels like you could’ve done it the episode after Kirihiko got, uh, forcibly divorced. Isaka’s no factor in this one. Terui’s here, but only really in an Additional Kamen Rider way, not in any sense that affects the trajectory of the mystery. Wakana’s pissy about Saeko, which is a thing from practically the debut episode. And Shotaro is in full-on Cosplay Detective mode, ready to play up his deductive skills for a pretty girl. The show hasn’t really budged an inch since Kirihiko left, which is either a testament to Shotaro honoring Kirihiko’s memory by preserving Fuuto in amber (or at least the amber light of a sunset), or it’s this show not really having distinct phases of aesthetic/structural design. You choose!

But here’s Kirihiko’s sister, arriving in Fuuto to trick Shotaro into trying to murder Saeko, and all for reasons that demand a second part to this mystery. What looked at first like a simple story about revenge, actually turns into… a try-out for the Museum? I don’t really understand the Why yet (Yuuko is actually a fake identity designed to manipulate Shotaro, so it’s hard to say if what Yukie actually wants is to be a Museum officer), and the How is equally mystifying – why doesn’t Saeko get out of the way of the attack? There’s showing strength by not canceling an event after a threat, and then there’s standing there while a Maximum Drive is being targeted at your face. I can see why Yukie would assume taking out a top Museum lieutenant could be a power move, but why does Saeko just stand there? Weird sequence.

I did like the episode overall, though. Yuuko and Shotaro have instant, charming chemistry – the two of them playing as cats was really sweet. The low-hanging fruit is pointing out that OF COURSE Shotaro would fall for a woman who wears a hat well, but he really seems to enjoy her willingness to embrace absurdity in the pursuit of an objective. She’s fun, in the same dumb, embarrassing ways that he’s fun. They’d’ve made a fun couple, if she actually existed.

Really, though, this isn’t an episode for delving into Yuuko/Yukie’s relationship with her late brother, or with her employment goals. It’s an episode for a pretty appealing action sequence… or is that two action sequences? The gimmick of running the fight back a second time, with Shotaro accidentally going on a rampage, is incredibly fun to watch. Keeping all the same choreography and dialogue is disconcerting, with a kind of hilarious inevitability that gets more tense as it goes along. As far as Dopant powers go, this is one of the most compelling and cinematic. Not sure what Yuuko/Yukie’s whole deal is yet, but I like her strategy! It’s honestly smarter than Isaka’s stuff so far!

So, yeah, pretty fun episode for the Dopant scheme, but a little weird how much Kirihiko’s sister appearing doesn’t feel like a call back to a show twenty episodes in the rearview. I guess Team Double’s stability should be praised?

—

DIE-A MEMORIES

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double33b.png

-A lot of very lovely images in this one, so naturally it was an Ishida episode. Take a look at those two screencaps, and then add in the rooftop gangster scene, all the cat search stuff, and the entire attack on Saeko’s conference. Amazing!

-I definitely, definitely remembered this setup – that Yuuko was Kirihiko’s sister – so the eventual reveal was not as much of a bombshell for me as it was for Shotaro. That’s about all I remember, though, so next episode should hopefully be a bit more surprising to me.

I think I really liked this two parter, probably because the idea that Kirihiko was mostly forgotten after his death didn’t fully sit with me. It’s nice to see someone cared enough to avenge his death. Even if their method seems needlessly complicated.

And I’m commenting, so you know I’m ringing the…

Sentai-lert!

Specifically, our guest character Yukie is played by Kaoru Hirata, who previosuly held the supporting role of Yuka Yamazaki in Mahou Sentai Magiranger (the one 2005 show Seitchblade has a full-on sitcom arch nemesis sitch with).