[Kamen Rider Die]

MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODES 32 - 33

These episodes are a great mix of emotional storytelling and big plot reveals, but it's really one episode of one followed by one episode of the other.



I really enjoyed the first part, centering its story on a teenage girl's need to balance her commitments to others with her need to grow as a person... as well as making a huge deal about just how badly the men in Mana's life understand her.

Okay, not Shouichi. As always, Shouichi is generous with his feelings, trying to get Mana to see not only her options, but the support she has waiting for her. That emotional honesty, it's super refreshing to see. It's such a core part of this show's identity. It also reinforces that it's not up to Shouichi or anyone else to make Mana come home, she has to feel comfortable with that on her own. It's a very brave choice, for the show to have Mana's decision-making be such a prominent part of the story, to let her keep her agency, and it really elevated this story for me. Like that last two-parter, this one's about her needing to navigate her own feelings, and Shouichi's support-without-advising, that's a good way to have him involved in what's really Mana's story.

I mean, the other way in to Mana's story, Hikawa and Uncle being lunatics, that was golden. Having Hikawa and Uncle just be hilariously awful at understanding how to emotionally support a teenage girl, so perfect. Trapping them on a little boat to work through their anger, their fear, their regrets... it was a very, very funny way to cover all of the ground they needed to in order to wrap up the Mana Leaves Home plotline. I would watch a thousand episodes of Uncle and Hikawa trying to understand teenage girls. A hundred thousand episodes.



But it can't all be two grown men knowing exactly what value of glassware a teenage girl would be. (If only!) No, we're entering the final phase of Masked Rider Agito, so this one's a packed episode, full of reveals and returns and revelations and, sadly, retreats.

Truegami lays out a bunch of the Mutants story, linking together the idea that all Mutants may eventually evolve into Agitos, and the Unknown are trying to stop it by killing them all off. Spooky Man (is anyone from the police trying to put him on trial for the murder he confessed to months earlier?) gives a bit more clarity to his motivations. If I'm understanding him correctly (ha ha, probably not!) he wants to empower the Unknown to wipe out the Mutants, leaving some of humanity intact? I think? There'll probably be a few more Spooky Man speeches to come, so hopefully that'll nail it down for me. Overall, the mega-arc stuff feels like it's coming together. I get a little bit more of what each side wants, anyway.

There's not a lot with most of our other characters, Team G3-X and Houjou, Uncle, Taiichi, because the bulk of this one's about Shouichi having to face the monster that killed his previous self.

As a show, Agito doesn't really treat the fights as very difficult for its title hero. Rarely does a monster get the better of Agito, and if it does, the next fight puts it away without too much hassle. Unlike Kuuga, we've yet to see a Rising-style upgrade to deal with the Unknown. Agito just, like, fights and wins. He may need a hand if multiple enemies show up, and occasionally he needs his bike to henshin, but it's never a big part of the story, how to defeat the Unknown. Just kick 'em 'til they explode. Kamen Rider 101.

So it's huge to have Shouichi terrified at the sight of Manta Unknown, to flee in fear of his life. (I honestly can't tell what animal it's supposed to be, so I'm going with Manta Unknown.) That primal terror, it's not the hilarious physical comedy of Houjou's escape from the third-weakest Unknown. (Series high-point, maybe?) It's a statement of severity, an acknowledgement that, for all intents and purposes, this monster already killed Shouichi once. It takes what could feel like a stall, an episode-long wait for a rematch as Shouichi does his best to ignore his fear, and gives it a sickening inevitability. The monster that ended him once is back for more. Shouichi was lucky to get a second chance at life. How many other people can say that?



OH SHIT GILLS IS BACK AND HE'S HERE TO FIGHT WITH AGITO IT'S HAPPENING IT'S ALL FINALLY HAPPENING