[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 41



--1--

I absolutely recognized that stunning head of hair: it's Truegami, the "real” Shouichi Tsugami from Agito!

I wonder how it feels to be someone who worked on Agito, someone who might currently be looking for work, and see another Agito dude get a role on Faiz. I mean, Houjou, sure, of course. I'm not sure why that guy stopped getting cast on Kamen Riders. But Truegami? If you're one of the Akatsuki-gou mutants, I wonder if you're feeling a little resentful.

--2--

Man, this episode was a blast. A hundred percent back to where I like Faiz as a show. The happiness feels earned, and the tragedy feels inevitable. Everything feels organic, consequential. It's no longer weird outside forces pulling people apart or drawing them together, it's all character logic and emotional dilemmas.

I mean, a Yuka spotlight episode? That reaffirms that she's killed a whole bunch of people? That digs into whether or not she's fooling herself by embracing a human life? Hell yes.

I'm really into the idea of Lucky Clover recruiting Yuka. It was teased a million years ago, but since then it's mostly been left alone. Here, she's a natural choice after losing Sawada and having Kitazaki on the shelf. She's powerful, subtle, and notoriously conflicted. With the right push, she's someone who could do a lot for Lucky Clover.

And that right push is probably a full-on tactical assault, I guess? Jesus, it's a million cops who swarm her outside the park. It definitely feels like the type of impossible situation that's going to activate Yuka's well-known Fight Or Flight Or Massacre response, and that makes for a suitably tense conclusion to the episode.

It's just, how do the cops know about Orphnochs all of a sudden? I'm not sure if this is a plotpoint (as I'm hoping) or a plothole (as I fear). Nothing's been public about Orphnochs, as far as I can recall. It could be that the cops have known more about all this than Soeno was privy to, so a special team of Orphnoch hunters could make sense. Or it could all be a Smart Brain ruse, making Yuka feel like Lucky Clover is the only way to protect herself. I hope we find out soon, ‘cause that was something that stuck out to me. Otherwise, I'm really excited to see where this all goes.

--3--

Overall, though, man, this was a very sweet epilogue to all of the last arc's misery. Like I said, the happiness amongst the cast is so earned. Takumi is coming home, and he's going to stay this time.

It's heartwarming, you know? Emotionally, seeing characters you love exist in a state of perpetual gloom is... I mean, I don't love that with the world being the way it is right now. It's grueling, to feel that way. So this, them all healed and happy, it's great. I mean, shit, the look on Yuuji's face when Takumi calls and asks him if he needs any laundry done! Or when Yuuji's all I Knew You Could Do It and Takumi's all Aw Shucks I'm Still Not As Good As You... like, the chemistry on display! (Mari is such a third-wheel in that scene!) Astonishing. TAKKIBA FOREVER!

And, like, a big thumbs up to reigniting the romantic hijinks of the Keitaro/Kaido/Yuka story. It's all so goofy, but it's something this show has proven pretty adept at juggling. Plus, I think it's a necessary counterbalance to all of the Orphnoch shit that Yuka has to go through later in the story. I like seeing her trying to get a boy to like her, while letting another boy know that she doesn't like him. (The way she calls Keitaro a child for not wanting to eat onions! Fantastic!) It grounds her character for me, makes her real in a way that gives so much more gravity to her world collapsing later. She's a complicated character, and I love that this episode gave her so much to do.

Just, seriously, such a sweetly entertaining episode. Very thankful for it.

--4--

Also, look, credit where it's due? Kusaka was completely on his asshole game this episode.

First, he gets an AOE Snark Attack in on both Takumi and Mihara to kick off the episode. In one bit of dialogue he sarcastically thanks Takumi for finally finding the resolve to fight while staring Mihara dead in the eyes, then tells Takumi that his resolve is irrelevant because he's still an Orphnoch and he'll eventually betray them. I mean, come on. How am I supposed to be mad at someone who's that great at running people down verbally?

And then, and then, when everyone's at the park? It's just the six original members of Team Faiz and Team Orphnoch enjoying each other's company, but as soon as Yuuji and Takumi start flirting, THERE'S KUSAKA, tagging along just to tell people they suck. It's.. perfect? It's the best deployment yet of Kusaka's very particular set of skills, which is being the worst person alive.

I'm not saying I've, like, forgiven him or anything, but holy shit he's so remarkably awful in this episode that I was dying.

--5--

Real top-flight episode. Everything felt like it was pulling in the same direction: the fun hangout stuff, the cop stuff, the Lucky Clover stuff... even the Mihara/Rina scene basked in the warmth of everything working out for a minute.

It's just, it is such a relief to not be worrying about this show anymore. I never know if an episode not working for me is an episode not working for me, or if it's the first episode not working for me. This one was great, though! It was using all the right muscles to tell a very Faiz story, and I dug it. I'm glad I didn't lose faith in their ability to tell stories I'd like!