[Fish Sandwich]

Hey, it didn't even take me a whole year to do the next one of these! I guess there's not really much preamble to get into this time, either. I'm fairly committed to working my way through watching the original Kamen Rider, I'm weirdly attached to this idea of doing it super slow for some reason, and I'm all too happy to periodically resurrect this thread to keep a sort of log of my progress, especially because it'll help jog my memory when I get back around to this show probably a year from now.

But as always, the most important thing is that I just want to talk about these episodes I'm watching to hopefully get someone else excited about going through a classic show like this themselves. So just like last time I did this, I've got thirteen episodes worth of thoughts, all in one big post, this time about the stretch of the show defined by Colonel Zol's presence as a recurring villain. Which makes it sound like a particularly iconic stretch of episodes, but I'm pretty sure at this point I'm going to be able to say that about any of these batches I've watched.

27 - Oh man, what an episode to come back to. This has gotta be a definitive plot for what Shocker is all about as a group of villains. It's almost comically pathetic at the start, where the first thing they do in the story is lure a bunch of small children into their van by telling them they'll get to meet Kamen Rider, but nothing reminds me why I love to hate these fascist goons quite like the scheme this leads into -- brainwashing all those kids into becoming Junior Shocker, their own little youth league of indoctrinated soldiers. That first scene had me expecting a simple stranger danger sort of moral, if anything, but this is so much more true to the kind of stuff that inspired Kamen Rider to begin with. You've got all the typical elements like a neat monster in Mukaderas, but while the hypnotizing centipede baddies and whatnot keep everything as light and adventurous as usual, even as we have literal children being instructed in the proper use of bombs and firearms, it's also even more obvious than normal that there are very, very real ideas behind this show, and I love the balance they struck here. All that, plus just the tiniest bit of character-building with Taki mentioning he doesn't have a family, and the return of two bonus monsters from the initial 13 episodes who I *totally* did not remember before looking them up, because it's kinda been a hot second since I watched that chunk of the series!

28 - This one is definitely more of a base level kinda episode for this show so far. It doesn't outright bungle anything, but none of its many disparate elements manage to truly stand out. I ended up finding myself wishing the story would have a bit more fun with itself at every turn. Mogurungs's expected mole shtick of dragging people into the holes he burrows is fine enough, but neither his weird periscope eyes or his army of mole-people servants end up playing as much of a role in the drama as I'd want. I'd expect those eyes to satisfyingly turn out to be some secret weak point Rider has to exploit or something, and a convenient serum for turning the mole-people back to normal deprives us of seeing Rider having to do anything as cool as facing off with some huge group of mole monsters. (Though granted, I don't expect them to spend the money on more than one suit there.) Kamen Rider rushing onto the course of a motorcycle race to save Taki after Shocker sabotages his bike is a swell concept, but I can't help wanting it to be this more elaborate sequence where Rider would start at the back of the pack and basically accidentally win the race, just to get to his friend, all while the other racers and spectators watch in disbelief. It's like every plot beat in this episode just feels a tiny bit too easily resolved, and it makes what should be the distinguishing features of this story come off somewhat limp. Granted, you do get to see Kamen Rider with a sword -- and then with *two* swords -- during the fight scenes, so I suppose it's got some solid escalation going on there. Can't go wrong with a sword-wielding hero!

29 - This one is no less basic, but a lot more focused, which left me feeling far more enthused than the previous episode. We've got a delightfully cruel Shocker plan, with them pumping lethal amounts of electricity into their latest kidnapping victims, all in order to find someone who can take that kind of voltage and make them into an electric person that'll go destabilize society by electrocuting politicians to death with a mere touch. Utter madness, on so many levels. I love it. The kidnapper in question, Kuragedarl, is also a very fun monster, simply because of the cool alien-looking design, how that meshes with the usual horror style attack scenes, and the charming way it does not at all mesh with the weirdly cute voice. There's also a simple emotional thread that carries all the way throughout the episode, starting with a kid trying to catch photographic evidence of our aforementioned jellyfish monster, and ending with Shocker tying his mother up on the usual cheap white cross so they can blow her up along with Rider when he comes to save the day. In terms of action setpiece moments, it's mostly a greatest hits collection of familiar things like fighting in water and exploding secret bases, so there's nothing all that unique there either, and yet the cohesion of the narrative somehow makes it totally palatable. Not a particularly special episode, but still a fun one.

30 - I understand the practicality of Shocker's plan here even less than usual, which only makes me like this episode that much more. Turns out Colonel Zol has had this whole ridiculous scheme cooking in his back pocket where, provided a scientist researching a way to revive trilobites in the modern age succeeds in his goal, he wants to use that research for evil to create some kind of blood-sucking trilobite monster called Zanbronzo, which will help Shocker conquer the world because... uh, because it's a blood-sucking monster! And they couldn't just do a leech monster or something because... uh... because it's not anywhere near as entertaining as the trilobite plan? While the scheme itself is nothing to take too seriously (and again, I mean that as a good thing!), the way it plays out makes the villains fun to hate on a more personal scale than usual, which I thought was cool. A lot of the narrative focuses in on Zol just stringing along this poor scientist in typical bad guy fashion, constantly making promises he has no intention of keeping, all to ensure his hostage's cooperation in the moment. It's a more intimate dynamic than the usual mass-kidnappings are, and it makes for a satisfying turnaround when the scientist manages to flip the script by the end, revealing he deliberately sabotaged the monster, beating Zol at his own game. Kamen Rider also continues to beat Shocker foot soldiers at their own game by once again borrowing a sword for a significant stretch of the climax. I'd say I'm surprised he doesn't just keep one of those on hand by this point, but then, the bad guys *are* kind enough to keep bringing loads of the things his way whenever he needs a weapon.

31 - You know, at this point, it might be more worth noting when an episode comes along where Kamen Rider isn't grabbing a sword for some swashbuckling action. Ichimonji's so eager to swing a blade around at any opportunity that he even does it before transforming here! Anyway, this episode is pretty great. You've got a mountain climber putting up a fight against an anteater monster right at the start, which I almost thought would be the most memorable thing in this one, but it has so much more to offer than even that. Arigabari brings the show a bit more back to its creepy roots in the first half, being introduced as the danger that awaits at a mountain all the locals are afraid to go near, for fear of never coming back, and he goes on to terrorize people by brainwashing that aforementioned mountain climber to spread his evil bacteria (melodramatically called "the Curse of the Amazon"), which gets us scenes of his little brother wondering why he's acting so weird, and then discovering him going out in the middle of the night to feed on ants. It's great, and so is the nighttime mid-episode fight, which actually sees Kamen Rider defeated, and quite thoroughly, at that. The back half of the episode then has a completely different, but similarly strong appeal, where we get to see Ichimonji bummed out about how he's failed, only to inevitably turn things around in the rematch, having been helped along by some training with Taki, and motivated by his desire to help a child. Again, it's all real great material. The episode hooks you in early, brings things to a suitably tense low point for the heroes, and then gives you that catharsis of them working to achieve that victory in the end anyway. It's everything a story in a show like this should be doing, all done very well.

32 - Shocker's plan is extremely practical for once in this episode, which might actually be a problem I have with the story? They've got their people-eating flower monster Dokudarian kidnapping women to use as their labor force in a plan to create a super deadly poison they're going to make into a mist that can gas a city to death overnight, which is pretty hardcore. Maybe a bit too hardcore! I don't know, it's good to be able to take the bad guys seriously in terms of being able to root for the heroes and all, but I also want there to be some kooky twist in there to make the episode more fun, and there just isn't really anything of the sort here? The villains are too competent to be silly, and the heroes have no room to goof around as a result. They'll come up with a plan like sending in some undercover operatives to Dokudarian's flower shop, only for Shocker to immediately see right through that, and basically all their follow-up plans, until we reach a climax where, inevitably, Ichimonji is tied up on a cross and about to be burned alive. And then the heroic turnaround ends up being Kamen Rider simply throwing Dokudarian on the fire, which, again, very much practical, not so much fun or clever, as a way to dispose of the villain. It's a subtle thing, and I feel bad picking on what is really a totally serviceable episode of Kamen Rider, but this episode just left me with this nagging feeling that the tone's not quite right somehow. Like it doesn't have the chaotic fun plot beats you'd get out of an episode with a ridiculous Shocker plan, obviously, but it also doesn't quite have the added dramatic tension I'd expect from a story that's more serious, either? At any rate, I at least have to respect that this episode has Rider going full on reverse-grip double swords, which is arguably the coolest possible way to use swords. So that's a point in its favor!

33 - This one is cool because armadillos are just kinda cool? Armadillong is another monster who rolled his way into my heart immediately, this time thanks to his signature ability to roll up in a ball and generally wreck up the place, but even better for me, this is another episode that has a few hooks beyond that to keep things from feeling too stale. You've got a woman in a banana yellow jumpsuit running around with a bow and arrow to pursue a vendetta against the monster, which is obviously not something that happens every week on this show. It turns out Armadillong killed her entire family back in Brazil, so there's a whole revenge angle that doesn't ~particularly~ go anywhere, beyond her being happy that Armadillong is defeated at the end, but she's around for the whole narrative and gets to help out Taki doing hero stuff, which is cool! There's also a bit in there where Yuri gets captured by the bad guys, but is able to covertly leave a trail that allows Taki to find the base she's being held at, so once again, for what it's worth, I appreciate the story's attempt to allow the women in it at least some modicum of agency. Despite going out of its way to remind us that Shocker are the kinda guys who will totally slaughter a whole family for no reason without remorse, this episode is exactly the kind of fun story I'm talking about wanting from this show. Rider even takes down Armadillong by just hitting the poor guy in his unarmored tummy, and that's an adorable weakness to give an armadillo monster.

34 - More fun twists on the formula in this plot! The actual toad monster, Gamaguiler, doesn't leave a particularly huge impression, unfortunately (it feels like any random monster could fill his role), but everything going on around the bad guy this time is where things get more interesting. Shocker's latest scheme is to split Japan clean in half using a nuclear bomb, and amazingly, someone besides the heroes have actually caught on to the plot. Right away, you've got a researcher named Origuchi actively bringing Ichimonji into the story, shocking him with the knowledge of not only Shocker, but also his secret identity as Kamen Rider. It sets the stage nicely for Origuchi's whole character, as someone who is surprisingly on top of things throughout. He's not only looking to foil this one particular scheme, but is planning to expose Shocker's existence to the world at large, even managing to find a witness to their crimes who caught a glimpse of the organization's enigmatic leader. Inevitably, by the end, the status quo is preserved, of course, but Origuchi and our usual heroes do a heck of a job hanging in there for the duration of the story. Origuchi's got some pretty thorough security for his building, and even when Shocker goes after both the witness and his daughter, Taki and Rider manage to get them back in safe hands before we've even reached the climax. We get so, so close to seeing that tantalizing reveal of Shocker's leader, even, only for the sci-fi machine Origuchi is using to project the witness' memories to explode, and for Shocker to inevitably bust in his house, wipe his memory, and burn all the incriminating documentation he's gathered. Bummer! But even so, everyone is alive and well by the end, and there's still the victory of Rider stopping that bomb plot by heading Shocker off at the secret airfield where the explosive device is being delivered. That part was also *extra* fun for me, because I realized partway in that it was a scene I'd recently witnessed rewatching Fourze's DVD/Blu-ray quiz segments. So in the spirit of those amazing bonus features, instead of simply saying what happens, I'm going to ask *you*, the reader, what you think the miracle attack Kamen Rider pulls off is. Does he ride the Cyclone atop the plane? Does he use a Rider Jump to charge into the plane, blowing it up in the process? Or does he suddenly pull out a rifle and shoot the plane down? Your hint is that the answer is every bit as amazing to watch even when you know what's coming.

35 - Arichidmedes! Now there's a monster for you. Just a big scary person-sized queen ant going around melting people with acid and commanding her legions of killer regular-sized ants to attack people, which might not sound that intimidating at first, but really think about how freaky it'd be to have that many ants coming at you at once. I'm not just talking a group, or a squad, I'm talking legions of the little pests. This is one of those episodes that succeeds simply by making the bad guy of the week feel sufficiently threatening without needing to do too much else to entertain. The monster's got a clear motif, and abilities drawn from it that are more than enough to make trouble for the heroes for a hair over 20 minutes. The episode's got a lot of that classic creepy atmosphere in the right places, down to Ichimonji bringing a mysterious giant egg from a Shocker base to Tachibana and the gang, which naturally leads to it mysteriously glowing and ants showing up all over the place. But of course, this show is about wacky fun a lot of the time now, so the relief of Kamen Rider putting a stop to all this rising tension comes complete with him doing most of the climactic fight while dealing with the amusing handicap of carrying a big egg in one arm. And you can't go wrong with the extra karmic demise of Arichimedes falling into a pool of her own acid after getting hit with the usual Rider Kick. I liked this episode a lot, for how simple it is. It's probably more effective the more grossed out you are by insects, but this is one of those bad guys I can easily imagine genuinely freaking out some child back in the day, which isn't always the case.

36 - Egyptus! Now there's a monster for, well, maybe more for me, this time, than anyone else? Instead of being threatening and scary, he's more cool, yet also endearingly dorky, which is a contradictory mix that's very much up my alley. Even Shocker's plan with him reflects that dichotomy. They revive a 4000 year old mummified fire-breathing monster from ancient Egypt, and instead of wanting that guy for his immense strength, he's mostly just there so he can tell Shocker where some ancient treasure is, because they want some cash. And then it turns out even a plan that dull hits a snag when it becomes apparent that Egyptus doesn't speak Japanese, on account of being, you know, an ancient Egyptian monster. So the primary dramatic thrust here is that Shocker is looking to kidnap some professor or another to translate, leading to scene after scene of a grumpy bird-faced mummy dude breathing fire while constantly shouting angry gibberish. It's awesome. I don't know if Egyptus could be considered menacing or not, despite his first action in the episode being to burn a random Shocker grunt alive, but he totally steals every scene he's in as far as I'm concerned. It's mostly the angry gibberish, if I'm being honest. The real beats of the plot, they're admittedly nothing too special by this point. Shocker trying to exploit some smart guy by kidnapping his loved ones is nothing new, and Egyptus doesn't even get defeated in any particularly clever way... I guess the big setpiece sort of moment is Rider getting chased down by a car Egyptus is the passenger in, but like, exciting as it may be, that's not even a gimmick that has anything to do with Egyptus' motif. But then I picture Egyptus angrily shouting gibberish and breathing fire at me for daring to complain about the episode he was in, and suddenly I realize, this episode is clearly awesome anyway, simply because Egyptus is in it.

37 - You know, I didn't remember it as vividly, but bits of this episode were also used for one of those Fourze quizzes, which was giving me a weird sense of deja vu for a while before I realized why part of it felt so familiar. It uh, it doesn't help that a lot of other parts of it already feel pretty familiar. It's another episode revolving around a flower monster and Shocker's plan to spread deadly poison gas around, but I thought this one was more enjoyable for whatever reasons. Maybe it's because the tone keeps things a bit lighter, with the crux of the drama being a kid who witnessed Torikabuto killing a guy at the start, and is thus targeted by Shocker to prevent him from blabbing about their plans. So instead of scenes of like, forced labor, you've got a kid trying to get his mom to believe his crazy story about a flower monster, and Shocker luring children in with promises of a monster autograph session. A bunch of old monsters beating up a bunch of literal children is horrible, but it's also such a pathetic act of evil that, combined with the context of a monster autograph session, it loops back around to being that sort of goofy fun I'm after. Plus, if you hate the bad guys that much for picking on kids, rest assured they became the only victims of their own poision gas plan, thanks to Taki's intervention, so the whole karmic demise thing is covered too! Torikabuto himself also gets a delightfully brutal defeat at the hands of Rider, where, after a neat fight on a rooftop, the monster gets the usual Rider Kick, only for him to then immediately get Rider Punched clean off the building, which was amazing.

38 - Apparently Toshihiko Seki got kidnapped by Shocker back in 1971! There's this whole thing about him being a marine biologist who developed a ray-themed monster named Eiking, but like, obviously that can't be the real reason they wanted him. Shocker clearly knew how successful Den-O would be 36 years later and was just looking to take Momotaros out of the picture before then to deal a huge blow to the future popularity of Kamen Rider. Or, you know, it's just some guy with the same name. But then maybe Shocker got them mixed up too and just decided to roll with it, you don't know! Jokes aside, naturally, this is another story putting focus on Shocker being huge jerks to some scientist guy they need for their evil plans, complete with the usual kidnapped daughter and everything. It didn't actually feel too redundant, though? Seki enters into the plot as someone Shocker already got to a couple years ago, having finally found his chance to escape, and even his haggard appearance alone speaks volumes about the cruelty of this show's villains. I point out Shocker is always taking advantage of random scientists like it's just part of the formula, and it is, but it's also another one of those legitimate thematic underpinnings, and that's a huge reason the scripts are always going back to that well. If you're a smart enough person in the world of this show, Shocker will just show up one day, steal your whole life away from you, and treat your intelligence as nothing more than another resource to be used up and disposed of as they please. I maybe take that for granted when I only look at it as a shortcut to a monster plot happening, so I have to give props to this episode for doing a good job of making me actually stop to consider the implications of these things for once. It's a pretty good episode all around. Eiking is another suitably tough baddie, and I appreciate that the script goes out of its way to give Ichimonji something of an arc, with him once again having to deal with a notable failure.

39 - Man is this episode ever a thriller. A legendary episode that lives up to the legend. It's like, okay, I've always known this as the one where Colonel Zol reveals himself as Ookami Otoko and inevitably gets blown up in a climactic fight with Rider, but it's so much more than just that. The entire runtime is stuffed with enough fun and exciting ideas for several episodes, and it's all here in this one amazing package, without a dull moment in sight. You've got a spooky initial nighttime attack by a wolf man. You've got the mystery of what this mysterious wolf plan Shocker has going actually is. You've got Zol busting out his mastery of disguises to throw Ichimonji and Taki off the trail. You've got the heroes pulling one over on the wolf man when he tries to kidnap a little girl who witnessed that initial scene. You've got a cool nighttime fight with the wolf man versus Rider following on from that. You've got Ichimonji getting back on the plan's trail by grappling with one of Shocker's agents, hanging precariously off the side of a helicopter the whole time. You've got Zol throwing a party that Ichimonji and Taki are all too happy to crash. You've got Zol seeing right through them! You've got them seeing right through Zol! You've got Zol revealing that he was the real wolf man in the title the whole time! You've got him getting taken down by an epic Rider Punch! And then, finally, you top it all off with Kamen Rider showing up to the local nursery school to make some children's Christmas wishes come true! Holy crap, this episode rocks. I just tried to list off pretty much every last element that makes it such an entertaining time, and maybe that was a mistake, because just saying what cool things happen took me about as long as any of these episode writeups before I even started digging into the why of any of it. But do I even need to explain why? Is it not obvious that they went all out to make Colonel Zol's last stand as incredible an outing as they could? It's about as great a sendoff as you could possibly have for the show's first big recurring villain, a heck of a present to literally air on Christmas, which means it's also a great sendoff to Kamen Rider's 1971 run, and what's more, it's just a dang nice way to end the next chapter of my leisurely paced journey through this series.