Minami thing aside, I didn't think Yuji had a lot of dialogue uttered to Hanagata. Also for the Hanagata thing you listed there, he founded Smart Brain to try to evolve humans. As a part of his agenda, he took in orphans and had them be experimented on to be observe their evolution as a potential Orphnochs without being initially killed. But for the giving belts parts, he realized the error of his ways and attempted to stop humanity from becoming the monsters by taking the belts which initial purposes were to protect the Orphnoch King and gave them to his students in hope there would be the time they could oppose the Orphnoch and the King, observing them behind shadows for years. So yeah, the only thing that isn't deep understanding of morality was the experiment part, but he realized the error of his ways.

Obviously, we all know Kusaka is awful, the series has gone a lot to show his true colors to the viewers, and his death last time is meant to be karmic (did you read my post detailing about how it's karmic? taken from other sources of info, but it's how it is), especially that, it's at Yuji's hands, where the heroes after his death are now mostly dealing with the fallout of his constant sabotage of their efforts to unite, most notably Yuji's heel turn, which means at least Kusaka is quickly forgotten. But Kusaka has a good reputation among the cast, namely because of him being a high-functioning sociopath; exceptionally charismatic and manages to keep his true nature hidden from nearly everyone (except Takumi), and a skilled manipulator, Keitaro never really knew about his true colors. And to Ryusei School other than Mari, they're the most tight-knit companion in the series, obviously other Ryusei School alumnus like Mihara and Rina's gotta be on good terms with Kusaka (what I wonder is how Kusaka feels to them), especially that for what's shown, Kusaka's never shown to be hostile to the Ryusei alumnus, other than those who targeted Mari (though I wonder that, the reason Kusaka's such a yandere to Mari is because she's his only friend when they were little, but as you've said here, at least others like Mihara thought of him as a pushy older brother, I wonder if he slowly turneed it around with his cruel manipulative skills he gained from the tragic past). And for Kaido being main Rider, some people asked for him or Yuji to be Delta instead of Mihara. But yeah, Kaido is dickish on Takumi's (or most standard secondary Riders) level where they're just dicks, not on Kusaka's level where it's full-blown psychopathy; asshole =/= villain. Now I understand of Kusaka not wanting to tell Mari anything that he treats her inappropriately, but I don't know why Mihara tells Rina but not Mari (out of care); because I'm sure that Mihara probably should care for Rina more than other Ryusei School alumnus including Mari.

Why don't tell Takuma? He has a huge crush on Kageyama and his hobby is trying to impress her. Probably he's gotta think the same way as you do regarding her. And yeah you only said things about her now, while praising Murakami previously (even at his "anticlimatic" death). And for Kageyama, something about her; she can be the "mother" of the group, without taking away her sadism and cruelty. The Lucky Clover was mostly managed by Murakami (who is not a member, but a head of Smart Brain), but probably as he died, for now, Kageyama's guide stands out even more. And for Kitazaki, this is what I'm talking about for actually the final reason why he's Faiz' version of Ouja; for all the power and screentime he has, at the end he's still a small fry and a big bad wannabe, where he thinks and wants to be the strongest, but he's all big talk with Orphnoch King. Though it bums me out that he met him when he was weakened and didn't even try to strike him. And Kitazaki being so utterly cruel also bites him in the ass here other than his narcissm to prove himself as the strongest by killing the King just to prove him so despite it would kill the entirety of his race (like Daguva, not caring about his own race), that now Kageyama works together with Takuma to betray him, and as another catharsis factor moment; Takuma beating up a powerless Kitazaki, a clear revenge of anything he's going through. (̶l̶o̶l̶,̶ ̶m̶i̶s̶t̶y̶p̶e̶d̶ ̶T̶a̶k̶u̶m̶a̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶T̶a̶k̶u̶m̶i̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶o̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶1̶ ̶l̶e̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶w̶a̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶F̶a̶i̶z̶)̶

Yeah, but the fight or die part is separate from the character's problem, because it's the biological body Orphnochs have. The character part which embodies the "more nuanced ideas than Survival" can be remain unchanged, but Orphnochs have to exist as per Kamen Rider show, and the writers make Orphnochs have this mechanic for their body. For Lucky Clover, as I said above, surely not Kitazaki, he doesn't care if he dooms his entire species just to prove he's the strongest. And just because they partly also want to stay alive, doesn't mean what they do aren't vile like their supremacist belief and schemes on humans (as Orphnochs are human's evolution) and encouraging them to be as cruel as them; as a must for Orphnoch behavior, and it's probably like Kusaka too for killing Orphnochs to humanity, what they do are probably just cruelty, but is also incidental in keeping their race alive. And well, that you said Orphnoch King's machinations are isolated from Team Faiz, this episode you got to see the kid they're taking care of, being attacked by Takumi, who fights with Yuji that wants to preserve his plan of keeping and awakening Orphnoch King (the one thing's missing is Mari never knowing the only boy she liked kidnapped her), both characters they've known well (and Teruo) seemingly much darker than they think. I guess if Takumi and Yuji had a dialogue about their current clash (Yuji thinking its better to live as an Orphnoch and Takumi refusing to throw away his humanity) it'd still feel like argument?

Obviously, there's going to be the threat of Orphnoch King. Kamen Rider's gotta have a final boss (we haven't seen Blaster Form for forever! I didn't expect the series to have so few appearences for the final form). And for Orphnoch King, for an enemy, he sure has a design that resembles traditional (show) Kamen Rider more, than the Riders itself (like previously, Ryuki's Alternative compared to other Riders). He has a grasshopper motif with a scarf, he resembles Ichigo, the first Kamen Rider. Also for Teruo, it seems the difference of him compared to other Orphnoch is that his Orphnoch form is separate from his human body where it's more like a monster assist (like Faiz' Auto Vajin). I wonder what if Teruo's human form is attacked while the Orphnoch King is unleashed. And haven't said this, but Teruo's insolent behavior wasn't done for nothing; because he's truly evil as the Orphnoch King.

I don't know if you're intentional.... but typing it as "he fall off the horse", when Yuji himself is the Horse (Orphnoch), lol.

How about explanation for Sawada then? Or Mr. J.

Sawada is a pretty good villain, I guess, although the show never quite makes up its mind on whether or not we’re supposed to hate or pity him. Mr. J isn’t really around long enough for me to consider him one of the show’s major antagonists. Teruo is in more episodes than J and has about as much dialogue.

The King is still a kid after all so wanting to eat Kitazaki like a bunny is appropriate. Takuma freaking out over it does manage to make that scene both horrific and humorous. It's also a relief knowing that a depraved guy like Kitazaki is a threat no more. Attempting to mutiny the King works in the heroes' favor but the reason he's doing it is all wrong, like everything else he does. He doesn't care which side goes extinct as long as he's entertained. He's the most uninhibited hedonistic kind of person there is and right now, that's no good for anybody. He doesn't understand that his teammates are lawful evils who are clearly going to turn on him for disobeying the president. He brought this punishment on himself.

Takumi's in a difficult position here. He thinks the End Justifaiz the Means, that he can murder an innocent kid to save humanity. But no hero would want to have to do something like that. He's reluctant and I'm kind of glad that Kaido and Kiba stopped him before he convinced himself to go through with it since that's not a guilt he would be able to get over easily. He has enough burdens to deal with. It doesn't help that he's having another breakdown at the time, believing that Orphenochs must die. He's right that it's the most effective way to save humanity but focusing on the objective and acting too dispassionately to accomplish it makes him less human by denying an Orphenoch the right to live which isn't the Takumi we've come to know. Takumi has to be a hero this late in the show, he has to act honestly and fight not just for the greater good but the good he has in his heart as well. That's the only reason why humanity is worth defending.

Whoa! That's some fun trivia. Thanks!

Honestly, it's just a problem in the plotting of the episode. It's bad writing on Inoue's part.

Kusaka's found dead on the beach by Mihara and Takumi. The next logical person who'd need to be told was Mari. But the problem is, dramatically, it needs to be an in-person scene. Having Takumi just call up Mari to say that Kusaka's dead is a horrible scene. He has to tell her in-person.

The problem is, the Mihara/Rina scene happens before the Takumi/Mari scene, and that means that Rina's naturally going to want to talk to Mari about it. And there're a few ways Inoue could've addressed that, to keep the Mari scene with just Takumi and Keitaro. (That scene shouldn't be about the Ryusei kids, it should be about the core team's internal grief and Takumi's self-loathing. Two more characters makes that harder to do.) He could've had Mihara say that Takumi was going to tell her, or that Mihara wanted to tell Rina first and they'd go over there next. Both totally normal things to say and do. But Inoue instead opts to have Mihara suggest that they never tell Mari, which a) is completely insane; b) totally pointless, since the scene after next is Takumi telling Mari about Kusaka; and c) it makes Takumi's information have to include a kind-of accidentally cruel Did No One Tell You component.

It probably should've been either a different line of dialogue for Mihara, or moving the Mihara/Rina scene a little later in the episode. But then, that'd be tough because it's largely expository (it's really just telling Rina that Kusaka was killed by Orphnoch, which serves to frame the Smart Brain scene that follows) and it doesn't matter once Mari finds out. Basically, it's a scene that made more problems than it solved.

Alternately, I really really like the idea that Mihara is trying to become the new Kusaka, and this is how he does it. He's got this moment at the end of the scene, where he wishes for Kusaka to live on inside him, and all I could think was that Mihara just heard a tiny voice in his head saying, "Just keep lying to all of your friends for no reason!"

I got a lot of favorites, man! It is not a zero sum experience, enjoying characters on these shows, but I can only talk about so many at once!

The other thing is, this is like a living document? I'm not at the end of a story, picking favorites and criticizing losers. It's something that changes as stories change, evolves as the characters evolve. Sometimes it's immediate, sometimes it takes a while. Kageyama snuck up on me a bit, and it's only near the end where I fully appreciate what she brought to the table.

The problem is I don't feel like I'm hearing a dialogue between Yuuji and Takumi, because Yuuji isn't on the show anymore. I'm watching a conflict between Murakami and Takumi. I'm hearing Murakami's smug dismissal of Takumi's beliefs, and that's not a conflict I'm nearly as invested in as Yuuji's conflicted nature versus Takumi's conflicted nature. They were like two halves of a whole, and now it's just Good Guy versus Bad Guy and it doesn't do as much for me.

(Like, I don't want to dwell on this, but Yuuji backhanding Kaido was the most Okay So You Don't Want Me To Care About Yuuji Anymore Got It scene they could've done. It's like when Kusaka hits Mari. It robs that character of so much remaining goodwill.)

I don't even know if I feel like they're doing it for Smart Brain, so much as they really don't want to die. Like, I think Houjou and Kageyama decided on their own to take out Kitazaki, because he had no grasp on the stakes of this fight. In a battle with this much that can go wrong, and how final the result would be, Kitazaki's a liability they can't afford.

Yeah, I don't love some of the overall elements of the final string of episodes, but I do love the dilemma that Takumi's in. Like, he kills this kid and dooms himself (spiritually and physically), or he dooms humanity while saving his own life. These options are impossible, and I actually am looking forward to how the show resolves them.

Everytime you hear a toxic thought in your head, that's him. That's Kusaka.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 50

--1--

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It's a good ending. It's a good ending.

I wouldn't say it redeems the choices the show made with Yuuji, though. There are ways to read into his decision to be a cold-blooded corporate asshole. You can see it as an emotional breakdown, hiding in cosplay because his worldview was shattered after the death of Yuka. It's just, there isn't much in 47-49 to support that. At least, not enough to declare it as a definitive motivation. Equally likely is that Yuuji's just a massively out-of-character dick now. (He is horrible to absolutely everyone in his orbit, and that's tough to square with a view of him as conflicted and hurting.) The fact that both of those are possible, that's not great storytelling. I don't think I'll ever fight for the Murakami Junior stuff.

But there's a back two-thirds to this episode that does some incredibly smart things, makes really good storytelling choices, and completely lands the ending for me. It was bumpy! I thought we wouldn't make it. But we're here, we're safe, and I'm happy.

--2--

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The absolute smartest thing this finale did was say that the stuff from 47-49 that sucked? It doesn't matter. It never mattered.

The Ticking Clock is irrelevant, because everyone dies at some point. Sometimes it's soon, sometimes it's later, but life ends. The important thing is to cherish what you have, to give it meaning. And, whether that's fighting to save humanity, spending time with your friends, becoming a private investigator, or just doing laundry, living life is inherently meaningful. Existence is its own reward. Fighting for dominance, fighting for survival, it's bullshit. It's a distraction from what you have around you, what you're better off thinking about.

The Orphnoch King is irrelevant, beyond being something to have a fight against. Teruo doesn't factor into the story at all, permanently transforming into the Orphnoch King early in the episode. As a character, the Orphnoch King isn't one. He's a force of nature, a metaphor. He's all the ways we lose sight of our connections with one another, how we allow our fears to divide us, how we view things like safety and happiness as finite resources, stolen from one person to give to another. With friends at our side, with a refusal to view him as legitimate, he's easy to defeat.

Smart Brain doesn't really have a role to play. Lucky Clover doesn't really have a role to play. It's a story about Takumi and Yuuji, at the end. It's a story about acceptance.

--3--

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The Yuuji/Takumi fight is perfect. It's a perfect fight.

Technically, visually, it does everything you want it to. It's beautifully shot, and, as the clear centerpiece to the episode, it's given plenty of room to breathe. They do so much with it, and it's a big reason why this finale worked so well for me.

There's a little bit of build-up, before things get started. It's them having a human face-off, a final moment to say This One Counts. There won't be any holding back, and no one's coming to save them. You see Yuuji's facade crack for the first time since 46, and it's crucial to feeling anything for this fight. You need to see some flash of Old Yuuji, some reason to feel conflicted about this final Faiz Fight. It does a great job setting the stage.

The battle starts as a Rider battle, Kaixa versus Faiz. There's clever gimmicks, like Faiz using his Shot to bust out of Kaixa's Slash. It's small, as Rider battles go. It's not a big pyrotechnic extravaganza. It's measured, though. Longer takes, more meat to the fight.

It transitions next into an Oprhnoch battle, Horsepower versus Wolfeyes. It's more brutal now. Yuuji's anger is spilling out, screaming himself raw. Takumi switches up into Faiz Blaster, and uses Yuuji's rage against him. He gets in close with his blaster, taking Yuuji out of his Orphnoch form and giving Takumi a perfect moment to end Yuuji's life by his own sword.

But he stops short. He refuses to kill Yuuji. Not because they were friends. Not because he doesn't think Yuuji believes every single thing he's said and done over the last four episodes. Not because Yuuji is good. But because Takumi protects humans.

Humans just like Yuuji.

And then the episode does the smartest goddamn thing in the whole goddamn series. There's a screen that the camera's been shooting through during this moment, slightly obscuring Takumi's statement. But as he finishes, as he reaffirms his belief that all humans matter, that every life deserves to be lived, he walks through a hole in the screen. He's liberated, assured. He doesn't hate himself, question himself. He’s freed from the rage and self-doubt, and he walks away. He walks away from Yuuji's anger and justifications. He leaves Yuuji, trapped on the other side of the screen, screaming and crying at the injustice of it all, at the idea that Takumi won't sink to his level, won't validate his bleak worldview. And in doing so, Takumi saves the day.

Yuuji ends up joining the fight against the Orphnoch King, proving crucial in ending the King's threat. And, like, I get it if that turn (or re-turn) doesn't play for people. But, god, I thought it landed so well. It's Takumi being the icon to Yuuji that Yuuji always was to Takumi. It's Takumi finally feeling certain in his choices, in himself. It's Takumi's accepting someone, even if he doesn't agree with them.

That idea... it's kind-of everything I wanted this show to say in the end? One of the best things we can offer one another is a chance to be happy. You do that by giving people support when they want it, and you let them make their own choices. Rigidity, expectations, judgment, these things trap people, leave them angry and scared. Accepting people, letting them feel like they don't have to be afraid of themselves, that's a gift we're all capable of giving each other. Takumi doesn't win the day by using the Faiz belt or his Orphnoch powers, he wins it by letting someone know that he wants them to have a chance at happiness, wants them to live their life.

That's why he's a hero.

--4--

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The aftermath is sweet, if a little scattered. It's just checking in with every survivor, giving them each a little grace note.

Rina and Mihara are going to keep looking out for orphans, giving them the stability and support that turned them into two boring but essentially good people.

Kaido is off into the world, bruised but healing. Teruo was someone he failed to protect, and that's going to haunt him. But now he can be haunted by it, because he's a hero. He even said Henshin when he transformed!

Soeno is retiring, irrelevant but happy. He represents the group that never really contemplates a world outside of themselves, never considers the indignities an outsider group feels. He doesn't deserve to be unhappy, but his happiness comes at a cost he never knew other people paid.

Houjou lives, so I didn't end up having to hate this show. Kageyama also lives, ditto. They're both left at different ends of the spectrum: Houjou cowers as a human, abandoning his identity due to fear; while Kageyama luxuriates in power, confident in her supremacy.

--5--

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Team Faiz, though... they're relaxing, they're happy. Sure, things were tough for a while there. They've been scared. They've suffered losses. (RIP Faiz CyKill, also I guess Yuuji) But they're together, and they've earned their happiness. Takumi even has a dream, and of course, it's Keitaro's dream. The joke of the beginning of the series became the moral of its ending. Takumi wants the whole world to be happy.

He definitely started with me.

It's a great episode, and a terrific end to the series. It's frantic and weird and heartfelt and funny and it's thoroughly unique. There's a gag where, as they're about to infiltrate the Smart Brain hospital and save Takumi, Keitaro drops an iron he brought with, and the camera stays on the iron as he runs back to pick it up. A dumb gag in the final, wall-to-wall episode. They didn't have time for the opening credits, but they sure as shit made time for that joke. Faiz!

I cannot tell you how happy I was to see this episode do the work. I honestly didn't know if they remembered how to make an episode like this, that ticked along with surface pleasures while simultaneously excavating all this thematic gold. It's a relief, to know that Faiz ended as well as I'd've hoped. They made a bunch of choices I don't think I'll ever love, in service of an ending I adored.

The ends did justify the means.

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Nicely done. By the way, Itsuro's new boss at the construction site is THE Toshiki Inoue who wrote this show. And Agito. And Jetman to name a few. :lolol

Thanks!

Also, thanks for the trivia! I figured he had to be somebody, but I didn't recognize him. I like that his scene is him torturing Houjou, which, Inoue.

I don't know why I chose to read most of this episode's commentary/review in full, maybe because the image of Yuuji holding the Orphanoc King while his power fades and Takumi is directing a rider kick straight at the both of them, or maybe I just like endings/spoilers.

Just reading this I felt the themes assert themselves. The ideas that all life matters and that no matter what we owe it to one another to forgive, not forget but to give those hurt by a system a chance to change. I don't know maybe I'm reading too much into this but I just get the feeling Faiz is all about change and realizing who you are both through falling down and stepping up. (also something about the failure of justice and how"justice" or killing Yuuji in this case, would've doomed the day. So there might be something about reformative justice in there)

Again all these feelings are based purely on all of y'all's posts.

Good points!

There's definitely stuff in here about how systems that can't account for new ideas, new perspectives, are destined to crumble.

There's also a lot in here, in this show, about how viewing our differences as exclusionary is missing the beauty of being human. We're constantly told that humans and Orphnoch can't coexist, that they're too different. The reveal that Orphnochs and humans aren't different at all, that's such a key message in the show. Takumi's final appeal to Yuujii, the reason he spares him, is to drive home to Yuuji that it's only us versus them if you make it that. That people being different, it's not a fate to avoid or something to overcome, it's just who we all are. Everyone should get a shot at living the life that makes them happy.

This was a super interesting show to watch during Pride Month, you guys!