[Kurona]

Kamen Rider OOO Episode 13





Even when I have little to say about it, I love this show.

This is another one of those times where we've got a set-up to next episode's conclusion, so it's hard to really say anything beyond wikipedia article-ing, so can I take this chance to say that this show is just fun to watch? The character dynamics are set up perfectly and naturally play out into something that's just... that's just so enjoyable! Highlights as of now for me include Gotou being forced into stupid menial jobs; Hina and Eiji laughing together about Ankh; Dr. Maki's body language going out of its way to be weird when he's otherwise speaking in monotone; and Chiyoko going absolutely wild and crazy in her own restaurant. I have to imagine she was just always like this and that's the entire draw of Cous Cousier to begin with -- I'd sure as hell go there! It's very easy now for me to see what it was I loved about this show; I'm a sucker for characters above everything else, so something as bursting with life as OOO is perfect for me even before we get into deeper meaning!

And there's details beyond that that, yeah, I'm just gonna take this space to note them because I'm not sure what other chance I'll get. I remember of course that Ankh and the rest of the Greeed can sense a yummy, but I only really remembered it as them having some sort of innate sense... but what they're picking up on is the sound of their cell medals clinking. That is so amazingly perfect and is maybe one of the best descriptions of the Greeed I can imagine; literally having a fine-tuned sense to the sound of money. Talking of the Greeed, how have I not mentioned their awesome-as-hell curtains? It is such a bombastic sense of style it almost wraps around into being pointless but it adds so much character and theatrics to any scene they're in -- I think Tokusatsu has a charm very similar to a panto or a stage play, so going with things like this fits like a glove. It doesn't make any sense to anything going on, it's just here to look cool and be memorable, and that's why it's amazing!

I guess going off of that, something else I'm realising I like about OOO and other shows like it from around this time; something that's unfortunately missing I find in most modern Toku outside of Ultraman? The appearance of Kamen Rider is an event. It's saved till the very last, there's always so much time dedicated to medals being slotted in; there's a lot of untransformed fighting and investigation before then with many allies like Ankh and Gotou who can't transform; there's a wonderful fanfare to it all. It'd be nigh-impossible to do something like that these days with how many Riders are running around and how that's just treated as the norm, and that's fine and fits shows like Ex-Aid and Saber; but it certainly feels like... this is a show about human lives first, and that strengthens the Rider portions. I'm still not sure how to put it, but I've got a lot of feelings about how this era of Rider handled things.



Kamen Rider Ghost Episode 9





Lots going on in this episode!

You've got the Benkei eyecon (leading to all 15 now existing); you've got a big lot of backstory focus; a new villain entering the fray; and they even throw in Takeru learning why Specter's fighting just for free. And somehow it all works out! I'm a big fan of when an episode is able to balance so many things at once like this; I've previously praised the likes of Zi-O's Blade tribute for it and I'm getting similar vibes here (just, without the Undead).

I'm particularly in love with Takeru and Makoto here, though -- on Takeru's side, he's at this point decided that he's going to help Makoto do whatever he wants, and that's a decision that hits when it concerns someone who's done nothing but attack attack attack since his debut. It speaks a lot to Takeru's faith in everyone around him and especially in the friend he once knew - and maybe how desperate he is as well? And with Makoto, there's one particular line I love in all this -- Takeru's accusation that he's forcing himself to act like this. A lot of Makoto's acts and behaviour so far have felt over the top, so Takeru seeing through it like this makes the whole thing seem so much more clever. It's easy to believe Makoto disregarding everything else he cares about because he thinks it'll get in the way of helping the person he cares for most; contrasted with Takeru who he's constantly derided for taking on a lot of goals at once and caring about too much. This is the sort of primary/secondary rider drama I love!

The Benkei Eyecon I recall kinda getting glanced over compared to the others... and true enough, there's a lot more focus going on here. At least Billy got saved by featuring in a whole 2-parter for some reason, but here it's difficult to see Benkei being assigned to Igarashi as anything other than "he's just the last toy they had to promote". Granted, I don't know a lot about Japanese history so maybe Benkei is very apt; but nothing in the episode really tells me anything about the guy beyond "he had a friend" that would link him to Igarashi. Talking of Igarashi... I wanted more of him! It's tragic to see him killed off like this so easily when he's exactly the sort of character Takeru would act off of perfectly; an old friend of his dad's who'd lost all hope. It's at least nice to see a contrast to Saionji blaming Ryu for everything last episode, but it feels so glossed over for what it is. Only real negative in an episode otherwise packed with good moments.