[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 34



--1--

If I was a betting man, my money would've been on Kusaka as a secret Orphnoch. That idea, of him being an Orphnoch who loathes other Orphnochs, it's poetic. It feels like it'd be how Kusaka would deal with his turmoil, you know?

If I was spreading that money around, I'd probably play the range of the Ryusei School alumni all being secret Orphnochs. Mari, for sure, after last episode. I mean, the first episode of the show has a dead person getting up as an Orphnoch, so why not now? Also, Orphan Daddy is a big ol' Orphnoch, and we've still got no idea what he's been up to all this time, so maybe he did some secret surgeries to make them all Orphnochs? Or there's the reunion no one will talk about, maybe they all got turned there?

So, yeah, those were my Back Of The Mind guesses. Nothing I was certain of, but definitely things I felt like the story was supporting.

Takumi, though. I mean, goddamn.

--2--

It's tough to talk too much about it, since it's really only established at the end of the episode. It's pretty heavily hinted in the middle, when Takumi goes to see Murakami, but nothing concrete. When Murakami says that Takumi can't be in Lucky Clover unless he's an Orphnoch, there's a look on Takumi's face that reads as resignation, but that resignation has two different possibilities. There's the resignation where the Smart Brain door is closed to him, and he'll have to find some other way to bring back Mari. Maybe enlist Yuuji, who's starting to think he might've misjudged Takumi? Maybe.

But there's this other read, one where I'm like Yeah But No, where Takumi has resigned himself to be outed as an Orphnoch. It crossed my mind for, like, a second, but I dismissed it. What the hell would that mean if it was true? What would it do to the show to have him be an Orphnoch in secret all this time? What lunatic would blow up his own premise like th--- oh, yeah, right, it's Faiz.

It's such a ballsy move. I don't know what it means yet, but I'm dying to find out.

--3--

It helps that it's not like the show was killing time before this reveal. Not in general for the series (well, the last couple episodes weren't my favorites), and not for this episode. There was a lot I would've normally written about this episode, before the last couple minutes played.

Stuff about how Takumi's heroism has a purity that Kusaka's lacks, based on what each man will do to save a friend. Takumi doesn't wallow in self-loathing, despite Someone Is Dead Because They Were My Friend being his worst nightmare. He gets his ass kicked by multiple people, but that's only when he thinks there's nothing left for Mari but his penance. As soon as an opportunity presents itself, he's all in. Even when it's a plan that Kusaka's like This Almost Definitely Won't Work, Takumi wants to try it anyway. And, man, Kusaka has a point about it being sort-of a leap, plan-wise, but he doesn't bail because the plan wouldn't work. He bails because if the plan does work, he can't be Kaixa anymore. He tells everyone that Mari means everything to him, but in this one he confronts the reality that he loves being Kaixa, that he wants to destroy Smart Brain, more than he loves Mari. It's a great way to reassert Takumi's core heroism at a time where he only wants to be seen as a failure, and to reassert Kusaka's selfishness when everyone views him as their savior.

Or, I could've talked about how Mari's death doesn't feel that much like a fridging, since it's not really about vengeance, it's about grief. It motivates Kusaka and Takumi to try and save her, but that's around the edges. Most of the episode is about Takumi's self-hatred and grief, or Kusaka discovering the primacy of his need to be powerful over his need to possess Mari. It succeeds dramatically by treating Mari's death as a real, sincere thing. Saving her, bringing her back, it's viewed as nearly impossible. She's allowed some dignity, rather than immediately becoming some totem of Manly Suffering. Like, her death means something because Mari meant something, not because it empowers someone else. It's a fine line, maybe, but I thought the show stayed on the right side of it.

--4--

There's also some good little bits with Kaido and Mihara, two refreshing views on empathy and responsibility.

Kaido's story is a comedy right up until it's a tragedy, which is one of my favorite moves. It's all this time swelling Kaido's head, so this kid can tell him he's not a hero, he's a failure who let the kid's parents die. Not 100% sure where this thread is going, but it's got a fun swerve to it.

Mihara, I really do love how much he doesn't want to be in a Kamen Rider story. Jesus, why would you? Every series seems to have a story about The Heavy Burden Of Being A Kamen Rider, and, like, Mihara acknowledges that! He gets it! He doesn't want that burden! It's still super funny that every other Ryusei School alumni ("Go Meteors!”) is raring to get murdered, and he's totally fine running away forever. What in the sweet hell did Orphan Daddy teach these weirdos? Were their active shooter drills about running straight at any gunman? Mihara seems like the only one who'd rather, y'know, live, so of course he's our new Delta. (TV-Nihon made this episode's splash image Delta and Mihara, so that turn in the story wasn't much of a surprise.) I liked how defensive his fighting style was, how he cowers a bit in his stance. I'm sure he'll be immolating monsters in short order, but he had a fun No Thank You aura that I dug.

--5--

Hard to talk about that other stuff, because Takumi is/was an Orphnoch! That... I feel like I've barely talked about anything else in this episode (that was largely good, save for any of the scenes with just the Ryusei kids) because, like, that ending!

(I mean, I didn't do more than touch on Yuuji starting to figure out he's been wrong about Takumi, and that's my favorite character pairing!)

Takumi's an Orphnoch!

Holy shit!