[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 7 - “A BAD HUSBAND, A TRAP, AND A JACKPOT”



A BAD HUSBAND:
Takeshi, obviously, with his desire for money at the expense of his marriage, but… maybe also Eiji or Ankh?

It’s nice to do a little story about a bickering couple and contrast it with a story where Ankh and Eiji never share the screen together. Most of the danger our two heroes are in is because there’s no teamwork or communication going on. Eiji is working at Cous Coussier and trying to solve Momoko and Takeshi’s marital squabbles – or at least, y’know, keep Takeshi from being beaten up – while Ankh is scouring the internet for more Core Medals. There’s no sense that either of them is concerned with helping the other, until they both need help, and then it’s too late.

I’m probably reading too much into this one? I really want this to be a paragraph delineating all of the parallels between the married couple and our OOO partnership, but it feels incredibly flimsy. Eiji and Ankh aren’t bickering in this one (like normal), they’re just completely separated. I’m sure Takeshi wishes he was separated from Momoko for this one, but he’s definitely not. It’s just him getting chased by her, and him wanting to win a whole bunch of money for semi-understandable relationship reasons we’ll probably get into next time. This one’s just them fighting, and the heroes in separate stories, and it never really feels like it connects in the way I’d like it to.

A TRAP:
Most of this story is setting up the twin perils Ankh and Eiji are facing, with a heavier emphasis on Gamel’s part of this Greeed scheme.

It’s basically just to be a big dumb distraction, and he does that effectively; that’s to say, this is a fairly dumb plot. We’re a million miles away from the comparatively deep story of a lonely girl trying to fit in with the crowd; instead, we’re in Pure Id territory, as Gamel just wants to watch people get hit by stuff after watching Momoko throw a shoe at Takeshi. It’s just AGAIN as the A-plot for a toku episode.

I didn’t completely hate it, though? There is some legit fun to be had with a million quick edits of extras getting hit in the face with debris, or buckets slammed onto their heads. But it’s not much more than that? It’s supposed to be a distraction from Kazari and Uva’s attack on Ankh, but it takes up the majority of the runtime. The lazy distraction is most of this episode, and that feels… inconsiderate to the audience?

The Ankh part is interesting, since it relies on Ankh not having been around for the Leather Guy part of Eiji’s confrontation with Uva in the previous story, but it’s not a plot with a bunch of moves. Uva instantly goes HA HA I’M UVA and then Ankh’s boned. The danger is more intense and personal, but it doesn’t help this episode to have the two dumbest Greeed be the ones directly interacting with our heroes.

A JACKPOT:
Takeshi’s lottery win, sure, but also A BRAND NEW MEDAL!

It’s the Lion head from Latorata/Ratorata (you do you), and its presence here is to blind the enemies with how awesome it is. I mean it makes sense – it’s maybe my favorite combo for OOO, and its head alone is something to stand in awe of. The new Medal allows Eiji to turn the tables on Gamel and his Yummy, sending them scurrying away into the next episode. It’s not a win, but it at least makes the Lion Medal feel advantageous to own.

…especially since Ankh is presently being drained of Medals in the B-plot! Which we’ll deal with tomorrow!