[Fish Sandwich]

Ryuki 29-30:

I forget how many other shows did this too (Blade is by far the most memorable), but Ryuki goes completely insane for a bit around episode 30. A return to the Inoue Zone gives us two separate stories focused on Kitaoka. No, hang on, that's not quite accurate. They're about Kitaoka, but they're focused on being as wacky as humanly possible. The entire show becomes a cartoon. All the usual check marks for Inoue writing Ryuki are there, like ineffectual Shinji (which is fine because EVERYONE is ineffectual here), the ORE Journal crew getting some love, and the comedy. Oh dear, the comedy. Ryuki has always had its lighter moments, but absolutely nothing here is taken seriously. You know it's all one big joke when even the Mirror Monsters are getting in on the slapstick.

Are the episodes good or not? I don't know. The tonal whiplash from watching Episode Final right before this has messed up my brain too much to think about it. But seeing Shinji, Ren, and Kitaoka turn into the Three Stooges has its charm, and I did say being unsubtle isn't always a bad thing. They certainly inject some variety into the show, at the very least.

Den-O 28-30:

Yeah, that's right, three episodes. Gotta keep those numbers nice and synced up. I was honestly hoping to skimp on talking about 29 and 30 to focus on 28, but that ain't happening, because as it turns out, these episodes were at a Climax from start to finish.

First up is still the main event though. The other half of the bun of the metaphorical sandwich that is Den-O's summer movie and its tie-ins. The upside of the movie's simple plot is that you genuinely don't need to know anything more than what you were shown and told within the show itself to follow along here. The crucial element episode 28 plays off of, Ryoutarou getting taken from multiple time periods to be possessed by the Imagin for a big fight and returning with no memory of the events, was shown more on TV to begin with. All that's left to be confused about at that point is why this big important fight happened mostly offscreen, so I have to give credit to Kobayashi for pulling this whole stunt off about as well as I think anyone could.

She also saved the best stuff for the small screen, because this entire episode is a masterpiece. You might've gathered from the increasingly gushy tone of the Den-O bits of these posts that this show just gets better and better, and that's because it does. I wasn't kidding when I said at the start this one was my favorite. Den-O improves so much from its already good start, and it hits a Climax here. Yeah, I used the same pun twice. I don't even care. It's the truth. Everything Den-O has been building up pays off big time here, and the result is the episode where I think I went from simply loving Den-O after Ryutaros showed up to being in love with Den-O.

It sure didn't hurt that the plot here is explicitly about looking back and realizing how much something you were taking for granted means to you. The premise of all the Imagin except Momotaros disappearing is used to genius effect. Seeing how everyone reacts to what's going on solidifies the bond everyone on the Den-Liner has formed over half a series, and when it ultimately comes back down to Ryoutarou and Momo again, what used to be standard suddenly feels as lonely for the viewer as it does for the characters. The episode expertly leverages the great characterization of the show to tell a story that hits all the emotional marks it wants to without "cheating" of any kind. It doesn't exaggerate anything to make it more sappy, and that actually makes it way sadder. Everyone is very true to their personalities, and because you've gotten to know them so well by this point, you're liable to feel pretty heartbroken when you notice things like how Momotaros has just been sitting in a chair avoiding looking at anyone the entire time. He doesn't need to say he's upset about things for you to get what's going on, and all over this episode are those little bits I've been talking about, that here to serve to create real sympathy for the protagonists. It all culminates in one heck of a memorable form debut, turning all that despair on its head in the most satisfying way imaginable, bringing the comedy back in force after the darkest hour, and in the process giving Seiji Takaiwa the chance to prove for all time that nobody does suit acting like he does.

It's a perfectly constructed narrative, and it perfectly encapsulates what makes Den-O a truly great show. It uses all that great humor to build your attachment to the cast, and then shows a remarkable ability to tell nuanced, emotionally engaging stories on top of that, all without sacrificing its upbeat atmosphere or ever doing a long-term tonal shift that leaves the series drifting away from its original purpose. This episode is truly first-rate, and watching it makes me feel this weird vicarious pride for Den-O, because I know it marks the point where whatever flaws it still had left have been totally ironed out, leaving the series to ride out the back half in spectacular fashion.

Case in point, the next two episodes focus on Ryoutarou trying to do some team-building with the Taros, and Yuuto and Deneb's relationship respectively, and it's evident throughout how the dynamics between the characters are all pretty much effortless for the show at this point. These guys practically write themselves. It's hard to even know what to single out, but Yuuto chucking his last Zeronos card off a bridge to prove a point about how much he values Deneb is definitely up there. Everyone in this show is just so well-realized! And they're not even using the strict two-part formula! How cool is that?! You know what, I actually am just going to stop here for now. I wanted to dig into 29 and 30 too, but this is only going to get less coherent the longer I drag it out. Hopefully I'm making it clear how awesome this show is.

OOO 29-30:

Firstly, this arc marks a pretty big turning point for Maki, so I should really take the time to mention what a wonderful and unique character he is. I've mentioned a few times now that I feel OOO has a habit of throwing the cliche and the trite out the window in favor of doing its own, way more fresh and interesting things, and everything about Maki's character is the epitome of that. You simply can't slap a label on this guy and have it truly fit. He's certainly no hero, but is he evil, or misunderstood? Is he silly, or is he serious? Is he friend, or is he foe? He's none of that and all of it, and that's what makes him so great. The show portrays him in this very three-dimensional way where it kind of lets you draw a lot of your own conclusions on that kind of meta stuff. Because of the way OOO is written, simply having him be a character who acts according to his own developed and fleshed out motivations and beliefs was its only real priority, and that's more than enough to keep the show exciting.

Secondly, we get quite a bit of backstory here, which is a perfect opportunity for me to further point out how incredibly natural OOO's writing feels again. I've touched on this too, talking about Birth and the Candroids and everything, but I'm constantly being blown away by how much I believe everything about the world OOO takes place in. I haven't totally pegged why that is yet, but I honestly feel at this point that OOO almost certainly has the most well-developed setting of any Rider show. It never feels like any of the things that exist are taken for granted, and it also never feels like it's making crap up as it goes along. It gives you all the details you need and exactly none of the ones you don't. I'm pretty sure the original OOO doesn't have a name even in some obscure guidebook, let alone the show, and that's great, because who cares what his name was? What's important is how his actions lead into the present day story, and they clearly put the thought into how those dots connect.

And thirdly, I can't get over that I'm saying all this about a pair of episodes involving a ridiculous panda monster going around terrorizing people. OOO really is like, the absolute essence of why tokusatsu is awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshToku

Also while those cameos in the middle of the movies have probably never been the best way to go about it, Fourze in OOO's is probably the best. You see him both in and out of suit, and he has a fun interaction with our current rider.

Oh, definitely. It manages to not actually feel too arbitrary simply because the scene itself is so fun. The fact that Eiji and Gentarou do get to interact the whole time and build some chemistry also makes it feel more connected to what's going on than a lot of the other ones.