[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER BUILD MISCELLANY: ROGUE 1 - 3



Rogue was an interesting series, or special, or whatever. Not strictly necessary, there's nothing in it that answers some mystery from the series, I can't think it's anyone's favorite Build thing, but it's worth watching for a few good jokes (entirely in the first episode) and for a comprehensive, if slightly miserabilist and brutal, look at Gentoku's evolution/devolution into Kamen Rider Rogue.

I've said before that I like the Tragic Rider archetype. A misguided villain who reforms into a hero, that's always got some juice in it. Why did they decide to pursue villainy? What lengths will they go to? What is their goal? How do they view the Riders? What's a line they won't cross? What makes them team with the heroes? What's the final moment when they turn their back on evil? How do they atone for their villainous past? I love that shit. The Rogue specials don't hit all of those points, but they drill into two for Gentoku: What lengths will he go to, and what is his goal?

Through the show and these specials, it's demonstrated that the thing Gentoku always wants, be it when he's deranged because of Pandora's Box or when he's deranged because of what he did because of Pandora's Box, is for Touto to be strong. What's interesting to me from these specials is how his goal doesn't change, but his motivation does. In the first episode, he's motivated by pride. Touto needs to be strong, and he's the one to make it strong. He's the most capable, most prepared, most dedicated. With enough power, he can be the one to unite the nation and Make Touto Great Again. That ends up not working out (understatement!), and he's reduced to a prisoner, getting the shit kicked out of him like clockwork by a filth-encrusted maniac. Here, his motivation changes into, of all things, certainty. He is going to survive this, he is going to become a Kamen Rider, he is going to retake Touto. It's not faith, it's not a belief, it's destiny. Nothing can hurt him, nothing is going to stop him. It's inevitable. And it is! He withstands, he triumphs, he gets his shot at being a Kamen Rider. In the final episode, his motivation crystallizes into determination. He sees the costs of choices, he understands what he's done, and he accepts it. This is who he is, this is what he needs to do. No apologies, just results. This is who Kamen Rider Rogue is.

Obviously, the character keeps growing in the show (it's Build, no one stays the same), but these specials end up being a nice snapshot of the first half of Gentoku's story. It's, again, nothing we didn't already know. There's nothing in here that changes our view of Gentoku or his story. It's a lot of dot-connecting and blank-filling. The few new characters who appear are 100% going to die, you know it as soon as you see them. It's still entertaining, if not wildly so. Most of the last two episodes are just wallowing in the abuse of Gentoku, and a little of that goes a long way. The first one has some good gags, all of that karaoke stuff is priceless (he's a really bad singer), the fact that he takes one last spoonful of strawberry parfait before he leaves to stop Takumi's illegal human experimentation, I mean, chef's kiss. It's not the funniest version of Gentoku the series has to offer, but there's at least a few flashes in here.

But I respected what these specials were trying to do, in taking some swings at how Gentoku's descent into brutality and rage happened. I'd've liked to have it end on a bit of an up-note, some indication that redemption was possible, but I guess that's not what they were trying to do. On its own terms, I had a fine time with the Rogue specials. Not a home run, but more Gentoku is always welcome.