[Kamen Rider Die]

As Kamen Rider Decade loops back around to the horrible fate Natsumi foresaw in the premiere, so too does this thread loop back around to welcoming back ZATYME for the final two episodes!

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KAMEN RIDER DECADE EPISODE 30 - "RIDER WAR: THE PROLOGUE”
Team Decade lands in their last world: The World of Rider War! Blade and Kiva are amassing armies, and nothing Tsukasa or Onodera can say will get them to cooperate. That leaves Tsukasa to try and stop Dai-Shocker by himself, and he almost manages it until he's confronted by... another Kenzaki?! Will Tsukasa be able to gather the other Riders to help him save Natsumi from the clutches of Apollo Geist, or will Decade be finished off by the people he thought were his friends?

KAMEN RIDER DECADE EPISODE 31 - "THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS”
With Tsukasa reeling from defeat, it all feels hopeless. His allies have abandoned him, and the universe is telling him to hang it up. But after a pep talk from Photo Studio Hayao Miyazaki on the importance of valuing your friendships, Tsukasa heads off to save Natsumi by himself. Except... he's not by himself at all. He's got Onodera, and Kaitou, and the A.R. Riders he's inspired along the way. Together, they all commit themselves to making their friendships last longer than their hardships, and to enjoy what they can of whatever good fortune they're given. Then a bunch of Riders show up to murder Tsukasa, THE END.

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KAMEN RIDER DIE: Look at it! Look at our shiny final moral!



ZATYME: I thought this was our final moral though?

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I wish it was that Tsukasa thing!
This was something that both made me happy, and then made me so angry that I wanted to punch someone in real life.

ZATYME: you can tell that they were hoping to have more episodes than the intended 31

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Instead... like, the goddamn BRASS BALLS it took to do a moral about Shitty Endings Can't Change A Good Journey, in a story with an intensely shitty ending.
It's a kind of critical aikido, where complaining about all of the series-long flaws that cripple this two-parter is also missing the entire point of the two-parter.
The madder you get, the more valid the story's point becomes.
I hate it so much!

ZATYME: yup they legitimately went "the journey is more important than the ending.... oh and be sure to catch the TRUE ending of the show only in theaters this Christmas!!!!"
there is a reason that the following movie wars have the retuning casts plot be a post script story and not you know the ENDING of their show

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Like, honestly, I love the idea that Photo Studio Hayao Miyazaki lays out here. I never felt like Decade The Series needed a resolution. The opposite, actually! I liked the feeling that it'd never end for these kids, the post-Nine Heisei Worlds thing where they just keep having adventures forever. So trying to get Tsukasa to realize that a reward or whatever is irrelevant when it's literally The Friends He Made Along The Way that matters, I do love that.

ZATYME: and if I remember right Toei got in legitimate trouble with parents over the ending of Decade as well

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Good!

ZATYME: but yeah if Decade ended with the Summer movie's plot that would of been an excellent moral for the ending
instead we got this .....advertisement for a movie

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, or just... there's this really easy lesson about experiences being more important than outcomes, and that's a great Kamen Rider message. Don't shy away from trying new things, or meeting new people. Let yourself try out a lot of things, and that can help you make a better version of yourself in the future. A hundred times, YES.
But there's a difference between an open-ended resolution, and completely punting on your season-long arc.

ZATYME: I refuse to call it an ending as there's no closure even in an "The Adventure Continues" sort of way it just feels like it's a part 2 of 3

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's a complete cliffhanger!
And, worse, since it ends where the series starts, it sort of feels like the entire series is just a prologue for a movie?

ZATYME: and the best part of it (Kaito shooting Tsukasa in the face) was left out of the special edition in favor of the episode 1 rider war footage
this is the trailer that aired after the special editions finished airing if I remember correctly

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I mean, there're a million questions about what these episodes say about the series arc, but we'll save those for a little later. For now, setting aside the final few minutes of this series, what did you think about Tsukasa's story? Him as a character. Did you feel like this two-parter captured anything about his evolution?

ZATYME: it kind of did
it showed that he was truly hurt by Kazuma and Wataru not wanting to join forces with him to defeat Dai-Shocker
showing that he truly does view the riders he helped out as his friends and the fact that they rather continue fighting on the slight chance of survival instead of what (decade and crew think) will actually solve the problem has to hurt and even if they view him as their enemy he'll still fight in what he thinks is their best interests
and when Asumu and Wataru attack him he doesn't bother defending himself

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I still think the Inoue episodes best defined Tsukasa's But Why Heroism, where it's about protecting people's journeys, allowing them to find a place they fit in, just like Tsukasa is trying to do for himself. With this story, it sort of zeroes in more on Tsukasa's isolation, and how his lack of a world to protect means he'll risk anything to protect his friends because they're his world.

ZATYME: for all of his attitude, Tsukasa comes off as a very loyal person to his comrades in this 2-parter I mean he even hesitates a bit on saving Natsudurian due to it possibly erasing her from existence

KAMEN RIDER DIE: His friendships are literally all he has, so there's nothing he won't risk or sacrifice for them.
That's a sweet final beat for him as a character, I thought. Seeing what he really values.

ZATYME: and considering the main plot of the black episodes was saving Natsugrape's life it's further evolution of that and doesn't come out of nowhere

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, I got a lot of complaints about this story (sorry, Photo Studio Hayao Miyazaki), but I think there's a nice bit of closure on Tsukasa's emotional journey. It deprioritizes Being Rewarded or Finding The Truth, in favor of just valuing what he's already achieved, and taking comfort in the people he befriended. If the story had ended on that, I'd've been content.

ZATYME: if only the story ended with Apollo Geist's death

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, if only. Hey, speaking of that final duel, can we talk about the scene that preceded it? Like, how great was that Tsukasa/Kaitou scene?!

ZATYME: I'm glad we had our first official same sex rider couple back in 2009

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's the most emotional I got over this entire season, maybe! Kaitou sells the shit out of his need to keep Tsukasa from getting killed!

ZATYME: Kaitou went from a complete asshole rival to Tsukasa's friend and it doesn't feel forced
especially as Kaito did lament that he feels he doesn't have any friends in part one before affirming that he does in Tsukasa at the ending of that part

KAMEN RIDER DIE: When he shoots the Apollo Geist Formally Requests That You Join Him For Not A Trap invitation after Tsukasa says he's going to go even if it's a trap, and Kaitou is tearfully telling Tsukasa that he basically can't lose what he's found in his relationship with Tsukasa, I was as energized as I've ever been on this show. Kaitou's... the actor is so good. He's probably the best actor in the cast, and he imbues this weird treasure-hunting Terrible Boyfriend with so much pathos and regret. I loved that moment more than maybe anything else in the run of this show. Holy shit.

ZATYME: yeah it really feels like he had this big revelation at some point between finding Asumu in episode 30 and joining in to help Tsukase at the end of the same episode that yes Tsukasa and to a lesser extent the rest of the cast are in fact his friends

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Which, hey, let's talk about our returning A.R. Riders!







ZATYME: I feel like there the morals of those arcs are the reasons that they were chosen for this story

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Absolutely.

ZATYME: as Blades was about fighting for your friends and Kazuma remembering that speech was why he and Garren went and helped Tsukasa out in the end

KAMEN RIDER DIE: And, really, these three A.R. Riders all brought out the best in the Team Decade Riders. Wataru was the one who connected with Onodera in his first mission with the team. Kenzaki was the one Tsukasa was closest to, the one he got most invested in helping. And Asumu was the character Kaitou inadvertently developed a friendship with. Of all of the A.R. Riders, these three mean something to our Riders.

ZATYME: that's also a good point on top of their morals being the most relevant they're also the ones our cast became the most invested in
could you imagine a version where it's Ryuki, Kabuto and Den-O for the final 2 parter?

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Ha ha, OH GOD. With these three, there's a sense of stakes. We don't get to see their worlds, but we can see how much they're willing to compromise in order to protect those worlds, so we feel like there's a real threat.
It's an elevation over the usual Decade threat level.

ZATYME: and we get to see most of their friends die and in the case of Leangle and Garren they die AGAIN

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Nice to see Blade made up with Leangle. For a while, anyway.

ZATYME: I mean Sakuya and Mutsuki straight up died at the end of the Blade arc these are most likely random people in the suits

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I'm just assuming that the new Leangle also had a contentious relationship with Blade, as Leangles are famous for.

ZATYME: yeah most likely

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's pretty much how their Drivers work?
All betrayals.
All the time.
Anyhow, the other thing I liked about using Wataru and Asumu is that they're kids. It's super tough to watch kids not trust Kamen Riders, and it's super tough for Riders to fight kids. Asamu and Wataru represent the future that Riders fight for, so watching that future fight Decade is some dark storytelling.

ZATYME: also was Rising Ixa the first secondary rider final form we saw in the show (that wasn't from necessity like Exceed Gills)?
also it feels like if it were any other riders left than the two kids they might doubt Kenzaki's words more about it being Decades fault

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Speaking of other Kenzaki!







KAMEN RIDER DIE: We got us some Actual Special Guests for the finale!

ZATYME: one touch I like about Kenzaki is that he's dressed like Tachibana was in the missing ace movie all black suit and shades

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Oh, good catch!

ZATYME: as Tachibana was the red herring for that movie for the identity of the killer and thief of the four kings

KAMEN RIDER DIE: True. Maybe this Kenzaki's from the Missing Ace world?
(He's not, but I would laugh if he was.)

ZATYME: I also do like that on top of transforming straight to king form he's shown using the golden ace card in the buckle
it's a nice attention to detail

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, they do some smart stuff with Kenzaki's visual. It's not all solid uses of these returning actors, though. Right up front, I'm disappointed that we get Mio instead of Mari. I know why, but Mari is so much better.

ZATYME: this Kenzaki is officially an AR blade from another world of Blade
and yeah nothing of note is done with Mio they don't even using her original Fangire costume instead using a new one

KAMEN RIDER DIE: They at least give her a cooler Fangire Wedding than she got on Kiva, so that's nice.

ZATYME: yeah they did get rid of the strange BDSM overtones from the original that's for sure

KAMEN RIDER DIE: And there are actual guests this time!

ZATYME: but there's 100% less stabbing of the groom and I can't abide by that butchering of fangire tradition

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Fair. If Saga were still alive at that point in the story, he'd've been furious.
But, okay, Kenzaki.
Let's talk about him, since he's most crucial to this story.

ZATYME: and the one they do the most with from the veteran actors returning we don't vene see Realtaru transform on screen

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I get why he's here. If you need to sell Tsukasa on the idea that sometimes Riders need to abandon everyone they care about to protect both the world and the people they care about, Kenzaki is the best character to try and sell that message.
I can see the edges of how that could work in this story, but, man, I don't think this story got there!

ZATYME: he did become suicidal and wanted to die in that one novel and didn't care about the apocalypses that would happen if he did die and there was only one Joker left

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He zero percent tries to convince Tsukasa! When he is the one most capable of doing so!

ZATYME: I think he had to be introduced a bit earlier or lean into the fact that Decade fucked up in a previous arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Or just create a little room for Kenzaki to appeal to Tsukasa's guilt and fear.
The ending could still be everyone choosing their friendship over the safety of isolation, but there could be a little bit more weight to the counter-argument.

ZATYME: but I think him being unwilling to convince Tsukasa and going straight to violence is a good indicator that this isn't the Kenzaki from the show and while he looks like our self sacrificing idiot he's just as alien to us as Kazuma was

KAMEN RIDER DIE: And that feels like a huge mistake to me? It doesn't bother to leverage the main thing you get with Kenzaki From Blade.

ZATYME: oh it is
it would of been more interesting to see our Kenzaki and maybe even his Joker design try to make the argument for self sacrifice by pointing out that even without this world merging ordeal he can never see the people he cares about so he knows how much it sucks
but no we get an edgy Kenzaki who would sooner seal Hajime instead of become a Joker to end the fight in a way to help his friend

KAMEN RIDER DIE: The stuff with Wataru From Kiva is the same thing to me. I wrote it off in the beginning as being an avatar of Kamen Rider Storytelling, not Wataru-the-person but Wataru-the-narrative, but here it's just nebulous and threatening and contradictory and I give up. I give up trying to find something intelligent within this Destroyer of Worlds bullshit.
So let's finally talk about that series-long plot.



KAMEN RIDER DIE: None of the Destroyer of Worlds stuff made a lick of sense to me.

ZATYME: one thing I do like looking back at the episode 1 scene with Wataru is that he does even back then tell Tsukasa to destroy the other riders

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He does, but!

ZATYME: that it isn't something that come out of nowhere in the final episode
to show that our heroes failed due to something contrived
that Tsukasa screwed up due to the type of person he is

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's definitely there in the start. The visitation Tsukasa gets from Wataru explicitly tells him to destroy the other worlds. But there's an explanation that what comes from that destruction is a fresh start. It's a metaphor for how stories should end, to allow new stories to be told. It's about never getting so wrapped up in your past that you can't open yourself up to new possibilities. It's a thousand percent the lesson Tsukasa will learn as the series progresses.
Here, it's all I TOLD YOU TO KILL, and no one's trying to explain why that might not be a bad thing.
It's reframing something subjective into just another villainous threat.

ZATYME: at best they could make it clear that the problem is the AR worlds themselves

KAMEN RIDER DIE: They make things more unclear in the finale! MORE unclear!

ZATYME: and again it's build up for the movie that people would have to pay for a ticket or buy a seperate DVD to watch and get an actual answer on why Tsukasa fucked up major

KAMEN RIDER DIE: "The other Riders are the problem!"
"Dai-Shocker is the problem!"
"Decade's existence is the problem, somehow!"

ZATYME: When we get answers people prefer to not get them in the form of a question I mean what is this Kingdom Hearts?
at least it being Decade's fault somehow is just what Kenzaki and Narutaki believe

KAMEN RIDER DIE: If I had ever even for a second cared about the mechanics of this story's apocalypse, this two-parter would've made me feel like such a dope.
It's all people saying Decade Is The Problem without ever attempting to explain HOW Decade is the problem.
It's impossible to take anyone seriously.
Kenzaki sounds like Apollo Geist sounds like Narutaki sounds the easily-duped Hibiki and Kiva and Blade.

ZATYME: almost like there was a part 3 that was removed from the plot or something

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It makes even ancillary characters frustrating, because NO ONE pushes back on random claims by strangers that Decade needs to be murdered.

ZATYME: and I don't even feel like Movie war 2010 gives a satisfactory answer to this problem

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I am not expecting a lot at this point!

ZATYME: and you're better off than a lot or people at this point
I feel like the only reason people look back at this season with a warmer reception nowadays is due to the missteps of some other shows endings making this one look not that bad in comparison

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It was just a gigantic bummer, to see such frustrating plotting for a finale. There's some interesting things in there about experiences being more than their resolution, and how you shouldn't let an unhappy ending sour your memories, but it's buried in unsympathetic characters doing things for unbelievable reasons.

ZATYME: looking at you Ex-aid taking 5 movies to actually conclude the plot

KAMEN RIDER DIE: But, like, Ex-Aid does resolve itself in the TV show! Not 100%, but the main character arcs and threats reach a resolution.

ZATYME: oh and the other Anniversary season in the Heisei era

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Here, everyone's trying to kill Decade in a quarry while the world is disintegrating maybe, THE END.

ZATYME: yup Decade was flawed from the start as a series
only given 31 episode to ensure Rider and Sentai were offset to help toy sales for both series
only having all of 4 DX roleplay toys with only maybe 2 being worth owning
and having the original writer leave part way due to producers wanting to shoehorn in Showa rider stuff into a Heisei Rider anniversary season for the last 6 episodes
on top of I hate to say it due to liking the 2 parter but the Shinkenger arc should of been removed to help give the actual plot room to breathe

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I feel like the Dark Riders story and the Shinkenger story... they seem like the first things you'd cut, but I really feel like they're two of the best stories about Team Decade? They're about the best parts of this show: the bonds between the characters.

ZATYME: unlike some other people I actually consider the AR riders a genius idea as now they don't have to scuttle any story plans and have the plot be dependent on what actors they can get back

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I really did like the A.R. Riders. I liked the stories being about the feeling of the shows being homaged, rather than a celebration of how popular they were. Excavating things from the shows, rather than just pointing to them.

ZATYME: almost like the show should of had the full 50 episodes or something

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Nah, it just... it needed to wrap up its series arc threat. It needed to -- at the very least -- clearly explain the stakes and the options for Tsukasa to resolve the dilemma.

ZATYME: almost two thirds of the show is taking up by the tribute episodes and with the writer change there was no room for them to breath to have a satisfactory ending

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I think it finished Tsukasa's story well, but it completely fumbled Decade's story.

ZATYME: they should of from the Dark rider arc onward played with the idea of maybe Tsukasa is going about it the wrong way and maybe he's an actual threat and problem instead of just having it all shoved into Narutaki a joke of a character who we NEVER learn the shtick of an the final 2 episodes of the show
it honestly has the same problem as the 2020 Digimon Adventure reboot
the show is so obsessed with showing off the budget in action scenes to help appeal to kids and sell merchandise that it never slows down and properly explains what's going on with the main plot until the final few episodes and still has trouble explaining stuff due to waiting until the end of the show to explain what's going on

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's not a great TV series finale, no!
Was there anything else from this story you wanted to touch on? Or from the TV series as a whole?

ZATYME: as a minor detail that's easy to miss is that if I remember throughout the show the Decadriver goes from the pristine model that Tsukasa initially uses to the more worn down look it had when Natsuapple found it
sort of implying that these events are doomed to endlessly repeat and that regardless of what Tsukasa did it would happen anew

KAMEN RIDER DIE: That is a detail that I would've liked a lot more if they bothered to acknowledge it in the show, but that might mean settling on an answer for their myriad questions, and I know that they are allergic to decisiveness.

ZATYME: I mean if the original writer stayed on it might of been acknowledged

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It feels like someone in the production team must've still wanted to include it, since scuffed-up props don't happen by accident. They probably could've found a way to mention it, if they wanted to.

ZATYME: hell NatsuCabbage could of commented on it in episode 30 and having an uneasy feeling due to it foreshadowing the inevitable Rider War

KAMEN RIDER DIE: That would've been great. Anything that helped nail down details for the end of this story would've been great.
And with that, I'm off to the World of Maybe A Movie Will End This Story In A Satisfying Way, and I am not exactly betting on leaving this narrative with a feeling of contentment and happiness. But is that even a requirement of a trip you take with friends? That it end well? We'll try and figure it out as we conclude our Journey through Decade!