[Magnugiga]

^That reminds me I still haven't seen Build's V-Cinemas stuff, which... I'm not eager to do anytime soon. Even the Be the One movie I found rather underwhelming and forgettable.

Meanwhile, I've just seen more of Ryuki, up to episode 31 now. Man, I love this show.

Ryuki (along with Kuuga) did something unusual for the franchise: made a Kamen-Rider-help-a-child episode that I can love. It helped that the child actor was pretty believable for once, and bounced off really well with everyone that interacted with him. The 'lesson learned' portion of the story is what ultimately made it really work, the gentle deglorification of violence that's on brand with the show's philosophy and deconstructive nature. Very well-executed.

Oh, and the show also has comedic filler episodes that actually made me laugh! The whole Yui bustling through the suspect's apartment + the Triple Salesman sequence in the first episode was just brilliant comedic set pieces, and while Megumi's character in the second episode was a bit much, her interaction/rivalry with Goro alone made the whole episode worthwhile.

Asakura's portion with Reiko and his brother worked pretty well for the show's purpose in portraying him as an enigmatic monster. Odin also made his entrance, though he did zilch besides looking majestic and basically directing a recap episode. I'd rather have his first appearance being late in the show, although there's a sad (and foretelling) poignancy about how Shiro did all that just to not have that picture of Yui ripped.

(In my hypothetical version of the show with all 13 Riders featured, this stretch of episodes would be the ideal time to squeeze in Femme and Verde. You can rewrite Asakura's backstory to involve Miho's sister instead, and Verde can be inserted during the time Shinji and Kitaoka spend together. Ideally, Verde would be eliminated pretty soon, while Femme [and eventually Ryuga] would stick along until around the penultimate conflict. Well, it may not necessarily result in a better show, but it's kinda fun to think about~)