[Fish Sandwich]

Faiz 27-28:

I really love the way Delta is just this mysterious figure for a few episodes, always popping up slightly out of focus or occasionally creeping around in bushes. Something about that air of mystery really adds to the weight of a new Rider debuting. It's cool. Much like these episodes, which have a ton going on, even by this show's fairly high standards of stuff happening.

You've got the scenes with Takumi and Kimura, which do an astonishingly good job of getting into the kind of character Takkun is. You get to see a lot of different aspects of his personality in play, including both the good parts, and some of the uglier ones that haven't been as apparent lately, since he's largely accepted Mari and Keitarou as his friends, and is even starting to begrudgingly allow Kusaka's presence. Actually, I always thought it was funny how well Faiz and Kaixa tend to work together given all the stuff that goes down between them. When they have a common goal, they actually work towards it without too much friction. Unlike the Ryuusei children, who really need to get their crap together. This Delta Gear stuff is getting them way too worked up. It's a shame there isn't some guy out there that would be able to handle the Delta Gear's addictive power. Someone perfect for the job, too mellow, too utterly wimpy to ever hold any delusions of grandeur!

Well, I guess we'll just have to make due with Kitazaki for now. He is pretty mellow, at least. The new villains here are both super memorable. Kitazaki's been hyped up for about a fourth of the show by now, and he doesn't disappoint. He's creepy, and so powerful he can destroy things basically just by existing. Sawada is someone I'll probably want to wait until his story wraps up to really talk about, but for now, I'll say he has one of my favorite monster designs in the series. I think it's entirely down to the creepy cyclops look, but what can I say? That always works for a bad guy.

Oh, and I don't have a smooth transition for this bit, but I love how proactive Mari is when she gets held hostage here. It wouldn't have much effect on how the story plays out either way, so props to Inoue for specifically having her cut her own ropes with a piece of broken glass, which is a lot more true to her personality than if Takumi just sliced them open when he got there or something.

では、今回もちゃんとやってるファイズ翻訳ミスコーナーです～！今日の翻訳ミスはこれだ！



「お前らを見てればよくわかる」

This cutting remark should be more along the lines of "That's obvious enough looking at you two". Kusaka is saying this in response to Kyousuke and Arai, who have become total jerks after using the Delta Gear, talking about how Delta's power, like, totally chaaaanges people, man! Kusaka is mocking them for being petty degenerates. Which I know is rich, coming from him, but that just lets you know how low these guys have sunken.

W 27-28:

Okay, I might have undersold how much I actually like Accel. First of all, just to get this out of the way, that suit is gorgeous. The sharp lines, the delicious crimson color, the way the blue visor pops, it's pretty much perfect. He looks like the protagonist. It's basically a checklist of tried and true Heisei Rider design elements, which is the perfect contrast to Double, a design that made it a point to be both its own unique thing, and a Showa throwback. The contrast then extends to the characters, with Ryuu being the hot-blooded supercop who seems like he could headline his own show, as opposed to Shoutarou, the hard-boiled(ish) detective who does.

The way the show bounces the focus back and forth between them in the middle of arcs is impressive, and in the 10 episodes Accel's been around so far, I've yet to feel either one was ever overshadowed by the other. Which is all the more impressive for these episodes, which deal heavily with Ryuu's desire for revenge, offering up a satisfying character arc about him coming to further understand what it means to be one of Fuuto's Kamen Riders. It's intense. It's dramatic, and all throughout Shoutarou and Philip get plenty of great moments too. This is another one of those W arcs that just totally hits it out of the park.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshToku

That's the one with the puppeteer, right? For some reason, the image of Accel doing his Maximum Drive against a tiny wooden doll was one that really stuck with me.

Yup! And that's definitely a memorable target for a finishing move.