[Switchblade]

As far as first episodes go, I think W's premiere is one of the all-time greats. It's relatively rare that we start with an established Rider instead of someone getting the belt for the first time, but it has some advantages. We do get a bit of Begins Night to start with, but mostly we're looking at a Shotaro whose fully realized as a detective and a Kamen Rider, with Akiko serving as the audience surrogate who's just seeing this world for the first time. I like this because it allows the show to focus more on the mystery and how Shotaro and Philip handle their cases, saving the recap of how they first met for later. It's a better primer for W's premise.

Shotaro may be my favorite Rider protagonist. There are a few challengers, but it's hard not to keep going back to him. He's just such a fun mix of the noir detective artifice on top of his real, much more immature personality. Renn Kiriyama does such a good job with the role, too, and I'm so glad we've gotten to see him come back to it so many times.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Rewatched episode 1, and boy, I had almost forgotten how much I used to dislike Akiko.

I used to be in the same boat, but I've re-evaluated my opinion of her in a much more positive direction. Part of that is that looking back on the show I can remember how much she grew on me and that makes me appreciate her early appearances more. Another part is that I've seen all the shows that came after W and compared to Shunpei or Onari, Akiko is far more tolerable.