[Kamen Rider Die]

MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 45



There's an idea in this episode I like a lot.

The Spooky Man is robbing Agitos of their Agitosity, starting with Kino, then onto Ryou. At the same time, revelations about Yukina's possible role in Mana's dad's death cast an unflattering, untrustworthy light on the heroism of Agitos. In the midst of these dual dilemmas, Shouichi experiences a crisis of conscience, crushed under the weight of familial guilt and convinced of the corrupting influence of power. In the exact moment when he's all that stands between victory and defeat for the next evolution of humanity, any action he takes feels like an attack on those he cares most about. Our only hope has lost all of his.

Like, shit, that is some weighty stuff! That is a meaty episode of a superhero show! It's an idea absolutely worth exploring, the ways power can feel like a burden to the kind, whether power itself has morality, how best to protect people and maintain your soul. I think putting Shouichi through an emotional wringer like that, especially with five or so episodes to go, real smart idea. Makes perfect sense to do.

It's just, the execution. Not super big on the execution of that idea.

There's really two problems. The first, I can't buy into the Yukina Killed Mana's Dad Because She's A Violent Agito theory. There's no proof, everything's super circumstantial, and at least one character has outright said that that's not what happened. So, using something I really really doubt as the way into this story, it's a lot to overcome. Characters like Houjou and Shouichi leaping from the evidence that Mana's dad was killed with mutant powers, all the way to Yukina, it feels so forced to me. It couldn't have been any other mutant? Of which there have been dozens? It has to be this one mutant, killing him in a way that Full-Blown Agitos usually can't do? It's like it needed to be Yukina to motivate Shouichi, but no one could figure how or why, but they just went with it for plot reasons.

Speaking of! The other big problem for me in this story is Mana's reaction. I don't get it, at all. We did a whole story earlier this season where Mana thought Shouichi killed her dad, and she decided he probably didn't do it and she wasn't going to blame him for it. Now, dozens of episodes later, she's convinced it's his sister who's to blame, she can't even look at Shouichi, and she hates Agito? I don't understand why she'd behave that way. It feels wildly out of character. Shouichi jumping to that conclusion and blaming himself, I think it's dumb, but I can sort-of see it if I squint. If he was the only one to propose that theory and couldn't be dissuaded from it, I can forgive a little bit of narrative expedience in order to get to some good drama. That's one thing. Mana, though. I don't get how Mana can buy into such a flimsy theory AND hold it against Shouichi. It, again, it feels like a way to get Shouichi to doubt himself, and it's effective at that goal, but it doesn't make any sense. It feels 100% plot driven.

I like the ending a lot, though, and I do like the core concept of the story. The ending is epic and memorable in all of the best ways. That grim nod as Shouichi knows he won't be Agito any more, the shocked look on the faces of his former allies, it lands so goddamn well. I just, I don't know if the journey to get to that point makes, like, any sense whatsoever. Definitely felt the hand of the writer on this one real hard.

Other than that stuff, what was in this one? Oh! Hikawa's back! Another great scene with Team G3-X eating and being weird, loved it to pieces, but I don't really know where the Hikawa's Blind thing is going. I assume we're meant to think he's developing Agito powers, but I honestly just thought he had a concussion? Maybe several concussions? Dude gets tossed around in that metal helmet a lot. Can't be good for his brain, and it would actually explain Hikawa's personality completely.