[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 40 - "ENCORE: RETURN OF NAGO'S IXA”



Hmm.

There's a scope to this one that I enjoyed, as it spends a lot more time on how the supporting cast reacts to the whole Wataru Is A Fangire development. The previous episode was mostly focused on how Wataru felt about it, and how he wanted to use his dual-heritage to unite two worlds that would rather kill him than listen to him. This episode is a lot more about what Wataru's status means to his friends, though, and that's very welcome. I love that we get to spend so much time with Nago, Megumi, and Shizuka. The last two have been especially overlooked lately, so I'm glad they're getting some attention.

It's just, a lot of this episode is about Nago becoming IXA again, and Kengo losing IXA, and I don't know that this development clears even the incredibly low bar of Shima's previous IXA disbursements. Like, emotionally? Great episode. Narratively? It feels rushed and illogical. And, again, that's illogical even by Shima's normal standards.

Shima treats Kengo's inability to defeat Kiva and Bishop while being shot at by Nago and Megumi as, like, an unforgivable failure. It's so unforgivable, and so detrimental to killing Kiva, that Shima has no choice but to give the IXA Knuckle back to Nago... the exact guy who not only loudly defended Wataru, not only took shots at Kengo to give Kiva a fighting a chance, but just told Shima that there was no point in fighting Kiva.

That... what?! Nago is literally the last guy you should give IXA to if you're serious about defeating Kiva! There is zero logic to giving IXA to Nago in the current circumstances! Hell, there's zero logic to taking it from Kengo, since it's not like Kengo lost; Wataru ran away. This was only a setback, not a failure, and Shima's completely giving up on Kengo for the most ridiculous reasons. It's a decision that makes no sense in-universe, and it exists just to get Nago into danger at the end of the episode. It's clunky as hell, and I really disliked how clumsily the show moved its plot forward. Bad writing!

The rest of the episode is better, though. Seeing Wataru regress back to his Episode 1 self in the light of his attack on his friends is appropriately traumatic for both him and the viewer. He's unable to trust himself, so he can't be around the very people who'd help him trust in himself again. It's a rough episode, never more so than when he's telling Nago that he'll never fight as Kiva again.

The way it's shot is just heartbreaking. It's Wataru walking away from the camera, and telling Nago that he's thankful for their friendship, and that he wants Megumi to know he's sorry. You can sort of hear Wataru's voice breaking, him holding back tears, but you can't see how much it's hurting him to even exist in the same space as a friend he attacked. It's enormously affecting, misting me up a little bit. Wataru's worked so hard this entire show to be a good man, to be a good friend, and now he feels like he can't be either.

Nago and Megumi and Shizuka, though, are not willing to give up on him. It's a fun little plot, a very Kamen Rider Home Alone adventure, and it's as heartwarming as the Wataru plot is heartbreaking. The way the two plots combine keeps anything from feeling either too silly or too morose. Wataru's struggle is given the proper weight, while his friends' dedication feels charming and whimsical. It's as solid a way to tell this part of the story as I can imagine.

I haven't spent a lot of time talking about the 1986 plots, mostly because I feel like I'd just end up recounting them and saying That Happened. They're not really saying much new, even if they're finding new ways to say it. That's more or less where we're at this time, with Yuri wanting to kill Maya, and Maya pitying Yuri.

They get a cool fight scene in this part, which I dug, but I'm finding that whole plot unnecessarily dragged out. Yuri keeps wanting to confront Maya instead of Otoya, and... I mean, I get wanting to tell that story. I get wanting to take a swing at Yuri putting the blame on the other woman, rather than admit that Otoya isn't the man she hoped he'd be. Having Yuri think that eliminating Maya would fix everything with her and Otoya is the sort of violent thinking that Yuri is known for, and the sort of zero-tolerance Fangire policy her family pioneered.

It's just, I sort of can't believe we haven't had much in the way of Yuri confronting Otoya? Or Otoya deciding between the two women? It's this weird limbo to the triangle that keeps me from understanding what Otoya and Yuri are thinking, and why they're resorting to toku fights instead of talking. Which, yeah, okay, it's a toku show: fights are how they talk. But we've had multiple episodes of Yuri lashing out, and maybe twenty seconds of Yuri/Otoya dialogue. The longer the show punts on them having the argument they need to have, the less I can care about them as characters.

That said, Maya! Still great! I love how much she clearly thinks Yuri is a cool lady that got a bum deal, and that she doesn't need to kill Yuri when she's already beaten her for Otoya. When Yuri calls her out before a duel, and goes over her identity and credentials, Maya gets this look on her face, like Oh Neat Are We Doing Intros, and it's the exact right energy for her as the other woman. She's the better match for Otoya, and Yuri isn't. She lost. The end. The idea that Yuri would keep fighting actually makes Maya like her better as a person, because it's so unnecessary. It's so cute and friendly that I genuinely hope Maya and Yuri can put this Otoya thing behind them and become friends, because they are great together. Otoya isn't worth the loss of female friendships!

So, yeah, good episode for all that non-IXA storytelling, pretty lame for the IXA storytelling. Unfortunately, a lot of this episode was given over to IXA storytelling! (There's also a scene where we find out that Shima raised/”raised” Taiga at Maya's behest, and I can't even begin to tell you how much I don't care about this development occurring this late in the series.) The IXA moves are all obvious plot machinations, and they don't feel based in character, and that's a letdown. This show had been so good at creating dilemmas out of character choices, and then this one's like What If Shima Reinstated Nago For No Good Reason So He Can Get Murdered. It's sloppy in a way the show had avoided for a while, and that's a bummer. Good episode otherwise!