[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER JEANNE & KAMEN RIDER AGUILERA WITH GIRLS REMIX - EPISODE 3



Ha ha, sure, okay! EVERYONE’S INVITED!

While there’s a heartfelt story here about Hana trying to save a lost and brainwashed woman in the same way that Sakura once saved her, and it’s genuinely good, I sort of can’t care too much about it. This is 100% my failing, and not the show’s. Show’s good! Show did a good job telling a different kind of story about Hana and Sakura! It’s just… all of the fan service, you guys. Sakamoto had my goddamn number on this one.

Like, Tsukuyomi alone showing up would make this thrilling for me. Everyone’s favorite overworked Time Mom, showing up late to a team-up because most likely Geiz did something colossally dumb, was a detail I had thankfully forgotten about in the year or so since this thing debuted. I love that she doesn’t completely know what’s going on or why she’s supposed to be there, but she showed up because she probably just wants to hang out with some ladies away from her Time Kids. This is like the Kamen Rider equivalent of a book club; instead of wine, it’s monster detonations.

But then we also get Kamen Rider Poppy tickling downed foes, and Kamen Rider Zero-Two artfully dodging attacks, and Kamen Rider Sabela slicing up dudes, and Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi Time Jacking a phalanx of mooks straight to Hell. We get Sawa kicking the kind of ass that only trained spies are capable of, Akiko stumbling through a successful defense, and Kanon reminding us all that her relationship with her brother Makoto has not grown even slightly more normal since the conclusion of their Saber adventure. And Lovekov finally shows up! And gets to launch a special attack with Aguilera on her back! And then the big fight with the final boss happens to Cherry-ish, the best song in all of Revice!

It’s all perfect. It’s so beautiful and perfect. I normally loathe the end of a Legend Rider event, where all the old suits get trotted out for one more Rider Kick, because it’s all empty celebration, or quantity over quality. I don’t need to be reminded of the rich history of Kamen Rider every single summer, you know? But this one… god, I don’t know if it’s sincerely different, for being a focus on characters that never get invited back for the big reunion events, or if it’s just so special to me that I can’t view it critically. I love these generally-ignored characters, and I love that they got to be in one big adventure all their own.

This ended up being as delightful as I ever could’ve hoped. I wish this had been a full series, but I will always be thankful for what little I was given. Take it from these two: