[Kamen Rider Die]

And that's a wrap on Masked Rider Agito!

It was a fascinating series, I thought. I know people are always like, You Have To Watch Kuuga At Some Point, but I feel like Agito is way more interesting, for both its successes and its failures. It has this sometimes-exhilarating, sometimes-infuriating way of reaching for something unique or idiosyncratic and just knocking it out of the park, but half-assing and underwhelming on, like, basic Kamen Rider stuff. I've never seen a more intriguing mix of genius and ineptitude.

Where it succeeded, for me, was in the small moments. The character beats, seeing any combination of characters playing off of each other, that was great. And any story that kept the scale small, focused with precision on a character or two, I thought those stories were this show at its best. All of the new flavors this series brought to the Kuuga template, the warmth and humor especially, it created a Kamen Rider show that felt incredibly fresh. I cared so much about these weird nerds, and I'd watch them in just about any kind of show.

It's just, the basics, man. There are some fundamental expectations that a Kamen Rider series should be able to meet, and I think that's where Agito really dropped the ball. A lot of the stuff in the beginning, the weird structure with the dials where Spooky Man's DNA pops out, no one ever explains where that came from or why it worked the way it did. The storm that engulfed the Akatsuki-gou, the appearance of Agito Jesus, why he was dead, I don't think anyone even tried to explain that stuff. But there was all this time spent tying up backstory about characters who were dead before the show even started, so, why wasn't time spent on this show's established mysteries? Why was all of the Unknown stuff left so placeholder and vague, when that's nominally what the point of the show is, Agito overcoming this specific threat? And so much of the show was just a monster shows up, a whole bunch of other stories, and then Agito defeats the monster. And, like, I really enjoyed that "a whole bunch of other stories" part! But I don't think it's weird to expect the Agito Fights A Monster stuff to also be worth watching? I wonder sometimes if the character stuff was really that good, or it just seems better compared to the shrug of a villain we got.

Everything Spooky Man did felt perfunctory, rarely exciting or intense. It was like the monster stuff was an obligation the show felt disinterested in, so they rushed through or skipped over it as much as they could get away with. I'll remember little moments, Hikawa and Shouichi eating ice cream, but I don't know if there's a fight or a monster or a villain scheme (outside of Kino's) in this show that sticks in my brain. It's all adequate, in so much as there are monsters and a Masked Rider fights roughly one each episode, but that part of the show never seemed able to meet the ambitions of the character storytelling.

(The one thing I don't get about Spooky Man's plan, and I kind-of love that the show never gave him another name so I don't ever have to stop calling him the Spooky Man, is why Scorpio to alter and inflict terror with. Why not Gemini? Gemini's all about duality, about humanity showing one face but hiding another. If people are going to be murdered by doppelgangers, or as a result of their hidden fears/desires, why not use Gemini and make it thematically coherent? There are more than enough stars in that constellation to make a big, imposing X. It's such a weird choice for this show to make.)

But, hey, I don't want this to sound like I didn't like Agito. I really did. I think it's sweet and kind in a way that Kamen Rider series rarely are. It's just that the things I'll remember fondly will definitely be taking up space with the things that I felt underwhelmed by.

How did Agito work as a series for all of you? I think, maybe more than any other Kamen Rider series, I'd love to continue to unpack what worked and what didn't on this one. I'll go through moments where I love it, and that'll be followed by a moment where I... not hate it, but can see more of its flaws. Super interested in what everyone else got out of this show. Don't be shy!



Anyway, that's all I've got in my head right now about Agito. Thanks for hanging out and talking about it, or just following along. I don't know if this was... I'm not sure I made a lot of sense, or was any good on this one. Felt less confident, especially in the later episodes. Felt like I wasn't really getting my arms around it, or couldn't explain my thoughts that clearly. I don't know. Complicated feelings about these write-ups, which I guess is appropriate for Masked Rider Agito.

I'll be on a bit of a break before starting up Ryuki. I'll still be around the boards, for sure, but I gotta catch up on some non-watching-Kamen-Rider parts of my life for a few weeks. I'm going to lose four or five days to the C2E2 convention next week, so that don't help. Mostly I've got to recharge my brain, rest it up, to be able to really try and appreciate Ryuki. I'm very excited to start it in mid-March. Hope to see folks back on the boards for Kamen Rider Die watches Masked Rider Ryuki!

Thanks again!