[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 48 - "OPPOSITE GOODBYES…”




I honestly don't even know what I think a Den-O finale should look like. I'm not sure what I'm even comparing this story to, that I'm finding it so underwhelming.

This one fares better than the last for me, simply for how focussed its storytelling is. There's a better pace to this one, where the mood stays grim and the stakes are high. Our heroes have lost a friend, and then they lose their home, and then they lose another friend. It's bleak! It is an appropriately bleak penultimate episode!

It's also one that has a tough time keeping a relatable emotional throughline, and that makes it an episode that isn't as frustrating to watch as 47, but still isn't as rewarding to experience as 46.

Like, this is one where Kai is just massively, apocalyptically sick of trying to puzzle out what the hell is going on with Airi, Sakurai, the Junction Point, etc., and I found that simultaneously hilarious, intensely familiar, and sort of indicative of how this show is such an ill-fit for Cataclysmic Finale. Watching Kai just declare his being So Over this stupid plot, the twists and turns and Time Nonsense of it all, in favor of just obliterating the present and letting the aftermath determine a victor... I loved the catharsis of that. I loved that there was a villain who feels as frustrated as I do, and is ending the show before it can throw one more unexplained/underexplained/undeveloped/underdeveloped plot twist at us. Much like Urataros and Kintaros sacrificing themselves at their best rather than withering away and dying, I like that Kai is sacrificing this show, that has so lost the charm of its past with me, while I'm still able to remember how much I love these characters.

And I do still love them! Urataros getting one last chance to be a lying scumbag while really just acting as a lying scumbag to trick the villains, that's a nice send-off for him. It's a slim-ass story, unfortunately. There is literally zero chance that Urataros is actually abandoning his friends to throw his lot in with Kai. Ryotaro eventually brings this up, sort of, but there's still a bunch of the early part of the episode that is trying to extract tension and drama out of a pretty unbelievable heel-turn, and that's a little insulting. Like, there's a reason why Ura's turn works on characters like Momo (an idiot) and Ryuta (a child), and maybe even Hana (looking for reasons to distrust Imagin) or Naomi (mostly just confused). But it shouldn't work on even the youngest viewer, so the episode holding off so long on Ryotaro's confirmation/cover is a bit of a drag. Still, it's cute to watch Ura manipulate the Mole Imagin, and him sacrificing himself at the end... I don't know, it's a thing the show is just going to keep doing. Not something I'm into, but pointless to complain about. Feels rushed and plot-driven rather than character-driven, whatever.

Speaking of plot-driven! Airi and Sakurai were secretly protecting their unborn child, and I literally don't know what I'm supposed to do with that information at the second-to-last episode of the series. They, like, Temporally Aborted it to keep it safe from the Imagin? And Ryotaro's supposed to Memorially Unabort it at some point after the Imagin are defeated? Am I getting that right?! Typical for Kobayashi, that seems like an enormous piece of context that is coming so far after it'd be useful that all I can do is absorb it, bug my eyes out, and move on. It is so impossibly late in the game for me to see it as anything other than a data point, like Airi is telling Ryotaro that she is hiding a medium-sized chocolate brownie from the Imagin that he'll be responsible for eating someday. Okay, lady! You got it! Hypothetical Baby! Sure, sounds great.

Anyway, hi, I'm still not into what this show is trying to do with its finale. It didn't bum out as much as last night, which I appreciate. I don't need to hide from my feelings about it again, so that's cool. Maybe I'm totally wrong on all this, and it's great, but I don't care. I'm watching it, and literally the only part I was able to relate to was Kai just wanting to raze it all to the ground. This show... I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it? In the past? I liked the imagination monsters from the end of time and the little problems they solved for people. I liked the messages about how to manage your emotions, or how to draw strength from bad memories. I liked the quaintness of it all, how much of a fun adventure it was to go on. This isn't any of that. It's a series that excelled at being small, choosing to go big at the end out of... obligation, or expectation, or misguided faith in their own production. It's like attending an intimate dinner party in a ballroom, and I'm just not enjoying it.

Rooting for Kai on this one!



THE BAGGAGE CAR

-Have I mentioned Yuuto's recent haircut? It's a good one! It reminds me a lot of Kota Ibushi, one of the greatest wrestlers alive, and that's not a bad thing to be reminded of.

-Tomorrow's the finale! Oh boy!