[Kamen Rider Die]

SSSS.DYNAZENON EPISODE 7 - “WHAT’S OUR REASON FOR COMING TOGETHER?”



It’s the big full-episode debut of Gridknight! The return of Anti/Knight! The return of Music Note/Second!

So, of course, let’s talk about other stuff first.

I really enjoyed how the resolution to the team’s dysfunction from last episode was resolved not by some grandiose speech, or multi-person dedication to a shared vision of justice, or death’s-door vow from an injured teammate, or whatever you’d normally get from a toku show that’s doing a Team Needs Repair arc, but just through, like, spending time together. It reinforces that people’s natural state is to find harmony with one another, and that disharmony is resolved through letting our inner compassion and default humanity bubble up to the surface. All the shit that inflicted the team with Climactic Tension last time out is still there, but it’s easily overcome by empathy, by listening, by acceptance, and by proximity. They’re just sharing their pain with each other, in the hopes that it gets easier to carry as a group. It doesn’t need to be talked about, really, because the bonds between these characters – specifically Chise/Koyomi and Yume/Yomogi – are stronger than the things within them that crave isolation and negativity. They inherently want to be there for each other, and given enough time, they will be.

Which is also sort of the story between the Gridknight Alliance and Team Dynazenon! We kick things off with the natural Heroic Rivalry vibe, because a) Knight’s in this story, and that’s his equilibrium, and b) Dynazenon kind of don’t make a good showing for themselves from last time? Dynazenon is injured, discombobulated, and Gauma’s at his most aggressively Gauma, so, yeah, I would probably also sneer down my nose at how ill-equipped these kids are for battling kaiju. But, at the end, Knight can’t help but respect anyone who refuses to give up, or who wants to improve, so they team up for a big ol’ battle against the resurgent and warm (?!) Kaiju Eugenicists, demolishing the two-in-one kaiju with synchronized attacks, like you’d expect.

That whole kaiju plot was, weirdly, just what I expected? It’s like a speed-run of the Gridman/Anti stuff from Gridman, and it was maybe the part of this episode I was least into. I like Knight here – older and chiller but still basically a stand-offish prick – but his side of things felt like a stamp of Toku Action approval that genuinely doesn’t mean that much to me, when little things like Yomogi crying over Yume’s story, because he cares about Yume, and Yume cares about Kano, so now Yomogi cares about Kano… man, that’s what I’m here for. A tough frenemy who supports you in battle is fun, but a close friend who shares your trauma in the middle of the night is better. I’m glad this episode could have both, for the people who approach these shows differently, but I know which part meant more to me.