Wizard Episode 48: "The Philosopher's Stone" Discussion
 

NOTE: Wizard 49 will not air until 9/1/13

Did you really have to have the text that said "Wiz" be yellow? :lol

Galvantula, don't forget to add a poll, buddy :). I was gonna wait for the RAW to come out before I posted the discussion thread :lol

And that is why you lose the showdown. :p

Crap, I knew there was something missing! I'll go add one ASAP!

No, cause the sentences in the beginning post would be clear about what is actually going on in an episode, since I would've seen it already :lol

Huh. I thought it was this week that the show was preempted, not next week. Not going to complain that we get new Wizard this week after all. :thumb:

If they can crossover with Den-O to stop that abomination from ever happening then this may just be the best season of Kamen Rider ever.

I think it should be official. Either we premake these threads. Or have Mod make it...

Fun Fact: Masahiro Yamamoto/the Green Mage's wife, Aya Yamamoto, is portrayed by Miyuu Sawai, who played Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

That's fitting. The woman who played his love interest, Hinaka, on Hibiki famously played Usagi in a series of stage musicals.

Wow. Just wow, that was a fantastic episode. About halfway through of course you put the peices together about Fueki's plan. But to hear him break it all down, as though the entire ordeal was so logical to him, man that was good stuff. This show really hit it's stride in the 30's and has seriously not looked back.

Is there a YouTube link available for the subs yet?

Everything's really coming together nicely at the end, yeah. Wizard is going to be the kind of show where you're able to look back and see that, even if some arcs don't really contribute a lot to the overall plot, they still at least fit into the final plan for what the villain was trying to accomplish (unlike, say, Fourze). I think Wizard is going to be a series that works better when viewed in marathon as opposed to weekly, too. It's still got some serious issues, but these last few episodes are really bringing it up in my opinion.

Plus it has Todoroki transforming again, and that's always great.

I wish Mayu's skirt didn't make me feel like such a dirty old man, though. :(

Agreed, except for the "old man" part (I feel like an immodest teenager).

So Toei's thing this year was crotch hands and akward camera shots of female heroes? Ok?????

I want to see the endgame for this and if Infinity dragon shows up. Really intredting in the ending but I hope it doesn't turn into Ryuki where it all is built on one character that was terrible. I haven't seen past episode 41 of Wizard, so I can't comment on how decent of a character she is or becomes.

That was a pretty good episode.
I liked seeing the pieces of Fueki's plan all coming together. I'm gonna have to look back and see if his plan really does make sense in the long run, but I am starting to see why Wiseman only ever directly confronted Haruto once.
The only thing that's currently gone unexplained is why the Phantoms followed him to begin with.

As for the episode itself, Haruto isn't being logical. Fueki told Haruto to his face that Koyumi was dead. Why is he still conflicted concerning her?

Emotional attachment. Haruto grew to care for Koyomi when he kept her alive, treated her like a normal human being and a family member. During this time, he also fought against a group of monsters that would reproduce by killing others with the despair within them. Now faced with the knowledge that he can save Koyomi, but that all of the suffering he witnessed was her fault, he would be conflicted about what to do.

Oh, and may a paperclip slice your finger, TV Asahi, for making us wait two weeks for the next episode.

The arrogance of genius. He felt exempt from any consequence for anything he would do because he feels superior.

And would this be the first time that an actor gets to play two different Kamen Riders. I mean of course Yamamoto who was Todoroki in Hibiki and now Mage.

Because they thought he was trying to make more of them. Not much more to it than that.

No, there have been a few before now: Raia/Rider 2, Drake/V3, Zanki/Ixa, and Kiriya/Zeronos.

Yes, there is.
Medusa was the only one who could sense Gates. Logically, they should have followed her.

But Wiseman was the one who knew how to perform the Sabbat.

And she also wasn't leader material. She needed someone to follow. The Wiseman persona gave her existence the direction it needed for her to feel accomplished, that's why she devoted herself so fully to him.
Yes. He was the only one who could ensure the survival of their race so of course they would follow him. But as with many evil organizations or groups in a toku, the evil leader is usually the evil leader because he's scary and powerful.

I can't see that part of the Mage costume as anything but a skirt, so it was pretty weird seeing it on the two guys :lol

Anyway, another fantastic episode. I love villains like Fueki who believe their own "good" personal goals are worth the expense of others.

Okay, so I am avoiding spoilers at all cost as I haven't watched 46 and 47 yet, but i need to know, does 48 continue right off of 47 or does 48 start the next 2 parter? Just curious as I am trying to figure out if the stories are going to be 46-48 and 49-51, 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, or 46-47 and 48-51.

It continues directly off of 47.

Wow, that was terrible, huh? I guess I should be impressed that the episode managed to explain everything without actually answering any questions. I'm not a Phantom, I used science to become one and wield magic! What how? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgR3N8y4boQ

Haruto you were chosen to be a Wizard, because you would power Koyomi, who is actually the Philosophers stone! What, why? And how? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgR3N8y4boQ. This plan is almost as ludicrously overcomplicated as Golgom's are and somehow the plan seems to have even less purpose and direction.

Haruto was such a dick this week, even with all the haters out there you can't say he is a passive protagonist like so many other Riders, yet here he continued to refuse to act and shit spiralled out of control because of it. It's funny, Nitou went from pointlessly standing in the background, being another unneeded comic relief character to becoming the more active, more herolike Rider.

Not to mention that Haruto has completely forgotten everything he learnt about friendship and sharing the load, fuck man I try so hard to defend you and I genuinely love you but come on man, work with me here.

Everything else? Koyomi really is a fucking TERRIBLE actress, coupling that with how much I don't give a fuck about her made most of the episode as unintentionally hilarious as it was dull. Anyone else think of this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOrEmWT3pUQ. That being said, I can't work out who is the worse actor, her or Fueki.

Also, this should be Koyomi's themesong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvsMPOfblfg

He didn't use science to become a Phantom. He used it to create one. Given the proper materials, (which Kamen Rider has proven time and again that it has access to said materials,) it is totally possible to create a Phantom in a laboratory and implant it within yourself. Really, I would only be concerned by the fact that a physicist was doing the work of a geneticist, but I can believe that desperate times would inspire Fueki to learn about genetics.

It's not so much that Koyomi is the Philosopher's Stone, but that she holds it. It acts as a battery, and Haruto recharges the power, much like an alternator does with a car battery. As for the why, that was clearly outlined in Episode 46, when Fueki said he would save Koyomi no matter what it takes. He elaborated on it in this episode as well.

What do you mean he refused to act? He sent out the PlaMonsters to search the city for a week, went to Sora's home to investigate himself, and confronted Fueki in his own home. If anything, you could complain about Mayu not doing anything when Sora had her in a choke hold and instead of transforming, which she was fully capable of doing, she didn't do anything. Mayu is the one who hasn't been doing much, but I can excuse that because they gave a reason.

He has been sharing the load. He's been more open these past few episodes than he has hroughout the duration of the series.

I don't really have a problem with the acting (I actually really like Fueki), and the focus on Koyomi doesn't bother me, but that might be because I'm a bleeding heart.

I can't object that point.

I've added letters to each point so I can address each as multi quoting is a pain.

A) Yeah, but what the fuck does that mean? Nothing about this shows mythology makes any kind of sense. I mean slow down with the making yourself into a Phantom with "science" shit, I still have no fucking clue what a Wizard is yet. A Phantom host who uses Rings? Yeah well that tells me what they are but how or why, I guess those aren't important.

B) Yeah but according to the show, Fueki just shoved the stone into her or whatever because he could. How could he? Science I guess. This plan makes no sense. They clearly outlined what the philosophers stone did and why people needed it in shows like FMA but Wizard thinks an explanation is dramatically saying 'sabatt'. I love the idea of a man driven to despair and falling into a world of dark magic and twisted science to bring her back, but it's just handled really poorly and makes me want to watch FMA instead.

C) When Mage Green was being taken away, he just stood there like a deer in the headlamps, while Nitou was the one who actively tried to save him. I know Haruto is falling apart but come the fuck on man.

D) And then when Rinko, Beast, Mayu, Shunpei are trying to help, he claims he needs to do it alone and just leaves them all behind. Completely going back on all his character growth that made and stressed the point that he DOESN'T have to do anything alone. And he never should.

Frankly, it's quite simple. He grew a Phantom in a lab, and implanted t within himself. A wizard is someone who has a Phantom inside of them, and channels its power through the use of rings and a WizarDriver. How does that work? Let me quote myself:

This is what it can do.

Actually, Haruto went after Masahiro (Mage Green) not long after Nitou. The only thing that stopped him from doing more was Nitou crashing in front of him.

Sometimes, you just feel like you have to do things on your own, despite what you learned. Whether or not that is a flaw depends on the situation.

I still don't see why so many people seem to love Mayu. She had a pretty generic revenge plot and aside from that...she really has nothing, and this episode shows that even more tbqh. I can't help but feel that all the love she gets is because "omg a female Kamen Rider" since so many people felt that we had to have one..because reasons.

I'm actually a bit indifferent towards Mayu. I don't love her, but I don't hate her.

A) Yeah but you're quoting fan theories and telling me the what, that still answers none of my questions. Same with the philosophers stone, I know what it does but I have no idea what it does in this show. That is my problem with this episode, this was supposed to be the everything comes together episode and yet nothing got answered.

B) That is fine, but the arc where he learns he needs to share the load JUST FINISHED, so it looks like he's gone back on it already. It's bad pacing and makes him look like he's learnt nothing.

Double post

Good thing Mayu's actress is of legal age or I'd really feel dirty for checking her out. I am into legs and she's got some of the most gorgeous legs I've ever seen. Ahem.. back to the episode...


It's so good to see the story really picking up the pace now that the identity of the Wiseman has been revealed and his plans are put into motion at a rapid pace. Fueki's revelation of his plans to Haruto was one of the best moments of the show, as it really ties all the plots together nicely. Like what Koyomi really is, why Wiseman would work with phantoms, and how did he become a Wizard when he's just a scientist.

Now that Fuegi's got 3 of the 4 Wizards needed for another Sabbath, it'd be interesting to see how he can nab Haruto for his forth Wiz to begin the ceremony.

I agree with you to a point, but I think her presence does rob Haruto and Nitoh's screentime, so the writers have been keeping her very low key ever since her sister has been killed. It seems that they really don't know what to do with her character aside from that story arc, and now they are just going to throw her in with other Mages and be done with her. Such a shame cuz I really think she revolutionizes the KR by becoming a regular on the show. Hopefully we'll have other KR shows where a female KR is introduced from day 1.

Gaim supposedly will have a female rider from the get go. Though most people will debate whether that 5th rider is indeed female because "it doesn't look female enough". I'm hoping that is the female rider.

But I do enjoy Mayu quite a bit. It just irks me that she was given the generic costume. The one who willingly wanted to become a wizard in this world gets shafted with the generic mage costume from Magic Land. But Yuzuru and Yamamoto who don't want to be wizards at all get personalized color schemes. I really want to see her step up and do some more of the fighting but it feels like they really had no idea what to do with her since they probably already knew they'd have Wiseman/Fueki kill Medusa.

I initially liked Mayu because I was hoping for her to reinvigorate the series. When that failed to happen, I'm just holding the dead pool for her.

Until we see evidence of a female KR in Gaim I am still not convinced.

I think all the mages revealed so far each has a color tied to elemental. Mayu is Yellow/Earth, Yuzuru is Blue/Water, and Yamamoto is Green/Wind.

But Mayu's Mage suit isn't anything. Her costume is literally the same one that all the generic Mages in the Magic Land world and movie use. The only difference is that the Magic Land mages have capes to signify rank between captains and soldiers. Her costume got no love but Yuzuru and Yamamoto got special colors.

I highly doubt that was their plan from the get go to have Wizard be red for Flame and the 3 Mages that would accompany him for the sabbat be the other 3 colors and elements. There's no evidence they have elemental abilities at all. It's coincidental that that's how this has played out. Once they used a generic for Mayu they knew they had to signify the other 2 so a simple color swap worked but it's a last second after thought, that's all.

You have a point. I think the Mage design is awful and it saddens me to see Mayu wearing that POS.