[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO - THE CREATION OF BIRTH X PROLOGUE



I like how these two OOO 10th short films each build out a slightly different side of the original OOO experience – the earnest melancholy of the Eiji/Ankh/Hina group, and the cheerfully deranged pragmatism of the Kougami Foundation.

It’s such a weirdly specific energy, and I feel like it trickles down from Kougami’s place at the head of the table. He’s stern, and mysterious, and childlike, and delusional, and scheming, and manipulative, and supportive, and and and. His giant personality allows for a lot of ways into this story for his employees, but they all still feel like employees. Satonaka grumpily acquiesces to a return to duty, but she a) immediately does it, and b) makes a case for self-care in the midst of an/the apocalypse. Date’s probably just here because he got another bullet lodged in his brain over the last 10 years, but he’s so goddamn jazzed to see everyone again.

The biggest section is given over to Gotou, which feels like a personal offense, but it honestly grounds this whole thing in a very cute way. In a single 60-second monologue, Gotou gets to showcase how much he’s changed over the last 10 years – valuing the safety of his family over the needs of the world – before completely flipping that around to get back to his original heroic motivation from the TV show. It’s kind of dumb, but Gotou’s always been the most confused and conflicted member of the Kougami Krew, the one most in need of guidance and/or a swift kick in the ass, so it totally tracks that he’d accidentally become everything he hated, before his (presumably long-suffering) wife reminded him of his entire ideology from the original series. What a dope! I love it.

The introduction of the new Birth X System or whatever, it’s fine, it’s an ad for the movie, I get it. But boy, I really liked getting to spend some time with the working class side of things.