[Tokumonkey]

I just watched the final episode of Kamen Rider Ryuki for the first time.

What the HELL?! (Obviously, SPOILERS follow.)

Okay, I appreciated that this Rider series killed the titular Rider in the next-to-last episode, and that's actually the end of him (as a Rider.) I appreciated that the creators were trying to put some art into the series finale.

But the whole world getting kinda-sorta-reset-but-not? Spectacularly unsatisfying. I might've bought it if they hadn't shown Megumi working at the Ore Journal. She only joined the staff late in the war. The episode posits that we've returned to a time when the Riders are all alive, and in which Shinji and Ren have never met. Megumi being on the Journal staff craps all over that notion.

Asakura got blown up several episodes before the finale... and then was totally fine two episodes later (with no explanation... oh, look, there's a smudge on his cheek) so he could commit suicide-by-police.

Is it Ren who wished everything back to the way it was? Or are we just supposed to assume that some combination of Shirou and his sorta-dead sister are incredibly powerful, insane psychics who can do this sort of thing on a whim? And who the hell is going to wish Asakura back to life?

UGH. I want to love Ryuki as a series, but it kept failing to commit itself to its initially-brave choices. It was full of elements that I liked, which make the elements I didn't that much more frustrating. I don't even know what to blame. I'm guessing that the creators wrestling with the network over content might have been a factor.

I think I'd've liked the series as a whole better if it hadn't used the Cosmic Reset Button at the end. As it is, it appears none of the growth Ren, Shinji, and Kitaoka experienced ever happened, but oh, wait! Yui is also dead, and nobody cares.

*facepalm*