Wizard Episode 36: "The Myna Bird Speaks" Discussion
 

You certainly have a flair for the dramatic. Thanks to your summary I'm looking forward to seeing who is our mystery Phantom.

Dammit Ozue. I'm all excited now. >=/

Is it... Nito?

Interesting episode. It plays around with the usual format just a tad, putting Rinko and Shunpei more front and center, though I don't think any Shunpei haters are going to think any better of him. Though frankly Rinko's seemingly an awful detective so she doesn't come off well either. She only finds the arsonist suspect because he keeps walking in front of her, and only at the same time as Shunpei, a known idiot.

The twist with the identities of the Gate and the Phantom were interesting, but with the latter it kind of brings up other questions, like what is his human form then? His name is Raum, which wikipedia says is also

"In demonology, Raum is a Great Earl of Hell, ruling thirty legions of demons. He is depicted as a crow which adopts human form at the request of the conjurer."

The best part by far was Haruto's interaction with Wiseman, although we didn't get much if any new information. The mana-stealing trick was neat, but we already saw Medusa do that. Interesting that two of the senior Phantoms can do that, as well as Beast(essentially).

Was an alright episode, it has the misfortune of following one of the best little arcs in the season so far, but it was fun enough.

Honestly, not as good as the last arc, but I wasn't expecting it to be, as I doubt Wizard will ever reach that high again, at least not until it's nearly over, and I'm doubting it even then. Despite this, it's still better than Wizard has been, as it wasn't boring like most episodes had been.

Seeing Haruto starting to get serious was a nice touch, something this series definitely needed, now that we're probably in the last 12 episodes. I also found it neat that instead of just defaulting to Infinity, like most Riders after they get there Final Forms, he atleast used some of his other forms for various things.

As far as the plot goes, I was kinda disappointed with the Gate not being the Arsonist, as it would've been cool to see a Gate who really wasn't someone worth protecting. Him being an Otaku, judging by his room at least, was a kinda a fun twist, though. Also, Shunpei decides to man up, although in his own special way.

I was really hoping the gate was also a criminal. That would have been a nice moral dilemma for Haruto, having to decide if the gate was worth saving.
Of course, that didn't happen, unfortunately...

The episode really wasn't anything special, focusing on slapstick between Rinko and Shunpei, though I did like the brief confrontation between Haruto and Wiseman.

So, for that moment, I'll rank it an average.

man can we have the new rider now? the show has gotten beyond annoying now

Rinko must be one helluva detective, it was quite obvious the phantom was the bird, I mean I figured that out as soon as it starting saying despair over and over again

and is it just me or did they reuse the pheonix suit to make the phantom for this episode they look to have alot of the same parts

So basically an interesting episode plays out in the background while we instead focus on a criminally unfunny goofball comedy starring the worlds worst detective and the worlds most obnoxious and useless side character.

This has to be like the worst episode I could have caught up to a series on.

Those were my thoughts.
The Haruto and Wiseman thing could have filled the entire episode, easy.

Hey Rinko, just get yourself fired. I know finding a new job will be hard but at least you won't have to pretend you're a remotely competent detective any more.

Very meh episode, although the brief Haruto/Wiseman exchange was fun. Looks like when they properly cross blades Wizard is going to get owned.

And considering what a crucial moment for the series this marked, it was down played to such ridiculous extremes you might blink and miss it.

The handling of the villains in this series has been meh in general honestly. Gremlin turned out to be a far more interesting character than Phoenix which only makes it seem even worse that they awkwardly killed off one of the Generals half way through the series for another one to come out of nowhere.

But even then both Medusa and Gremlin have yet to really impress in their Phantom forms with neither having a particularly memorable unique power or fighting style, unless crappy CGI hair and scissor swords does it for you. Honestly that has been true of every Phantom for me, with their human form, personality and gimmick being far more interesting than anything offered on the Phantom side.

I just hope that when Wiseman actually becomes relevant to the show he is the main villain in, he actually gets to do something memorable in his Phantom form.

I really found the most interesting part of the episode that Wiseman transformed into his Phantom form before confronting Haruto.

Anyway, none of the villains have been doing it for me, with Phoenix being the only design to wow me.
I'll agree that their human sides tend to be the more interesting point of the Phantoms.

I just hope Wiseman and the White Wizard don't try to pull some last minute twist.

A lot of slapstick comedy between Rinko and Shunpei. I like Rinko a lot (despite her imcompetence as detective) and I think it's a bit refreshing to see episode focus on her for once. I rate it excellent because I got a kick out of seeing Rinko and Shunpei fighting with each other. It's also nice to see Wiseman dispatching Haruto so easily, even when he's in the Infinity form. The villains in this show are definitely not a pushover like Kyoryugers.

I really wished I hadn't guessed the twist with the Phantom, it's an interesting idea but turning it into a twist that's so easily figured out ruined it for me.

Not just that right but they actually ruined the twist. The concept that animals could become Phantoms raised really interesting possibilities, especially when you think of villains like Caitsith.

But nope, they just have the power to turn into a very specific bird. I mean they could turn into a cool predator bird or something but nope...just this bird, here.

Wow.

But the problem arises when you simply ask "Why is Shunpei intentionally sabotaging Rinko?"
I know he wants to her to accept his apology, but what is going through his mind when "There's the arsonist! Let's push and trip the detective, who's job rides catching him, just so the same detective will accept my apology for putting her in this mess to begin with!"

Anyway, I'm still disappointed that the gate wasn't the arsonist.

Reason #37423647236736637462742786 why Shunpei is an awful character.

It's like every time I try to defend Shunpei he'll do something stupid like this that just makes me face palm and hope the next arc will do him better...

I like how he went from brave and mature in the Grandma arc to this massive arsehole we have now.

How are these even the same people?

It depends of who is at the helm writing wise for the episode.

Because he's a fucking moron. I think this episode is the best indication yet of how Shunpei can really drag the show down, especially when contrasted with everything in this episode that worked.

Anyway, I really liked this one. The Shunpei/Rinko stuff was dumb and all, but everything Haruto was doing was really great. Loved the confrontation with Wiseman, loved his interaction with Nitou, and I even loved his one scene with the two idiots where he just got fed up and left (honestly, I think Haruto is probably the funniest character on this show when he wants to be - mostly because, as I've said before, he's just great at pulling off subtle humor).

Agreed. It was cool to see that even though Haruto has become immensely powerful, Wiseman can flick his wrist and dispense with him. And Haruto definitely has the best understated humor of anyone on the show.

Huh. I woulda thought with the Super Hero Taisen Z teasers over with, they'd have tweaked the opening to feature Infinity Style.

EDIT--oops, posted this thinking it was the discussion thread for Ep #37. Sorry.