[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 18 - “DESTRUCTION, REASON, AND EEL WHIPS”



DESTRUCTION:
Shiratori’s motivation is exposed, and it’s eminently relatable to everyone except Eiji. (Even Ankh is like Yeah That Tracks!) She’s a teen girl, and she has a crush on an older man who completely does not see her in that way. Why wouldn’t she want to destroy everything?

It’s a sweetly sad story, this girl who realized that she had an unrequited crush but still couldn’t help dreaming of both requitement and crushing. She swooned over a man and wanted to destroy her rival, even though literally no one else knew they were in this teen girl’s story of heartbreak. (I especially like that her teacher and his wife never learn about how Shiratori accidentally put them both in danger. This is a story about her choices, not anyone else’s culpability or judgment.) Shiratori’s Yummies are just her adolescent rage and shame bubbling to the surface, which makes her the most perfect victim yet for these autonomous metaphors.

Her motivation is the entry into the real story happening here, but it’s honestly not the part I’m most going to remember.

REASON:
It’s the first full Birth story, so what I’m probably going to remember is how Date solves this problem, and how his worldview finishes fleshing out the basic OOO dynamic.

Where Eiji constantly reaches out to pull people to their feet, Date exists for those occasions when you have to pick yourself up off the ground if you want to have any hope of getting better. Eiji shouldn't fight this battle for Shiratori, and Date gets that. Date is a guy who understands that needing help and needing a chance to help ourselves are two very different things, and self-reliance exists alongside the selflessness of someone like Eiji.

Date is like this liminal space between Eiji and Ankh, preaching a Do What You Think Is Best ethos while cautioning it with a But You Gotta Live With It warning. It’s about desire as a resource to be harnessed, but also a temptation to be wary of, making him another great addition to this show’s nuanced take on human want.

AND EEL WHIPS:
He’s also a great addition to this show’s awesome action sequences!

It’s nice to have an additional participant for some of these fights. Ankh’s there, but mostly as a coach. He throws Medals and offers strategies -slash- scolding, but he doesn’t really get to battle anyone serious. (I definitely feel like the show’s growing reliance on Pseudo-Yummies was just to give Ankh something he can brawl with.) Birth is another Kamen Rider, so he can actual fight monsters.

I continue to enjoy his different capabilities! Where OOO relies on quick form changes in a vaguely magical way, Birth is just grinding it out with a limited toolset running off of a finite power source. OOO can keep using Core Medals forever, but Birth has to pay out for every upgrade or weapon he generates. It allows for a more methodical pace alongside the rapid-fire OOO stuff, and there’s some really harmony as the show cuts between them.

Oh, and OOO used the Eel Medal for part of this fight! That was neat!