[Kurona]

Kamen Rider OOO Episode 15





This is such an action-packed episode.

But let me say this to start: no Ghost episode today. I really wanted to, but I work at a Supermarket and we're currently in the run-up to Christmas so suddenly my schedule's been loaded with more hours than Kougami has medals! It's fine, really; more money means more toku toys I can buy, but it does mean that I have a little less time to cover these episodes, as full disclosure; it actually can take me up to two hours to watch, process and write up something about each one. I do want to keep on top of it especially because I really want to watch the Christmas episodes on Christmas, but it just means the Ghost episode will have to wait a bit.

Anyway WOW SHIT HITS THE FAN OUT OF NOWHERE! Though I mean, I guess not totally out of nowhere? OOO is a show that's pretty effortless and casual in setting up its status quos and creating situations where anything can happen, so I don't exactly need a lot of set-up to buy into "Maki casually mentioning he's curious about all the core medals being collected provokes Kazari into hijacking a cell medal truck with the other Greeed". It's just what these characters do, y'know? And it's fun seeing the four come together again - they're still very down on their luck and scrabbling for any advantage they can, but together they're a threat, and their interactions with Kazari are genuinely interesting; though I'm really liking how Mezool and Uva feel almost like friends now? They've grown into allies with mutual respect in their time working together and it's fun seeing just how much synergy they've got beating up OOO. I'm a sucker for this stuff! It stands out even in an episode where so much is going on; Ankh's discovered one of his Core Medals, Izumi's in danger, Kazari and Maki are planning stuff and it all converges on what feels like a season finale. Suitable for the end of the year!

The real star of the show of course is Eiji and Ankh's relationship. Things just keep getting more and more tense between them; their being allies was always a single step away from chaos and I adore every moment it does indeed snap. Ankh's focus on his core medal putting Izumi in danger would be juicy enough on its own, but the way Eiji resolves it is just... I love it. I love it so much. Despite being OOO and literally fighting monsters every day, Eiji just isn't much of a violent person -- Hina might solve problems with Ankh with her fists (and I support her and love her every single time she does), but the way Eiji looks like he's going to punch Ankh... only to then hold back and say "hey want a year's worth of ice cream" is so so good. At every moment he's trying to appease everyone around him; trying to please everyone without letting it comes to violence while being savvy enough to know what will work and what won't. It coming in an episode that starts with Chiyoko bringing up a 20,000 Yen bill for Ankh's Ice Cream is the cherry on top. It's always nice to see these two come together, even (or perhaps especially) over something so petty.