[Kamen Rider Die]

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 39



Man, what a difference a couple of episodes makes! If last episode was a solid course correction after a real weak outing, this one's firmly in Damn Near Perfect territory. Some smart writing, a few fun teases, terrific action sequences, and a great use of the cast.

Even Yui! In an episode that's got two main storylines that're basically Yui: Threat Or Menace, it's a little weird that she's talked about far more than she's seen. I actually thought that there was a reason behind that, that she'd had something happen to her off-screen, but ha ha NOPE she's just something for men to argue about for two-thirds of the episode, same as always. But! But once she's chased by a mirror monster, she gets (a very small amount of) agency, activating some weird powers in the Mirror World and getting saved by a Sort-Of Troubling Bit Of Cultural Appropriation Slash Stereotype Just I'm Not Sure Having A Native American Warrior Is A Great Choice monster. All the while, she's thinking back to her and Shiro as kids, drawing pretty much all of the Contract Monsters on Ryuki. That... I feel like that's going to be important! The whole thing with Yui in the mirror-version of Kamen Rider Warehouse, she doesn't really do a lot, but it feels more like she's got ownership of her story than, uh, maybe ever? It feels like it's valuing her reaction to what's happening as a primary consequence, at least. It's usually like it is in the first two-thirds of this episode, dudes arguing about protecting or destroying Yui, but this one felt like it valued Yui as more than a plot commodity. Really nice surprise!

That said, I really enjoyed all of the scenes of men arguing about Yui. The Second Secret Science Society continues to pay dividends, sparking some of my favorite challenges for the main cast.

Shinji and Tiger, very strong stuff. It's fun at first to see Shinji try to be a mentor, to try and bridge this empathy gap he has with Tiger. Shinji's someone who's demonstrative and forthright, so it's cool to see him have to play off of the unnerving and false Tiger. You don't find out until the end of the episode that Tiger's been faking (to some degree) everything he's been saying to Shinji, but even before that you kind-of know. The performance is all big smiles and dead eyes, this weird feeling of ingratiating interloper. There's no connection, and the things he says feel constructed, rehearsed. When he drops the mask, it's fascinating how little of his behavior changes. Yes, he's going to kill Shinji, and yes, he despises Shinji's weakness, but he's still going to feel sad. Oh, not because he's going to kill Shinji, but because Shinji's weakness made him have to die. Tiger's view of heroism won't allow Shinji to disgrace it. This kind of antagonist, he's got so many intriguing steps, from his awesome costume to his distant behavior to his heartbreaking betrayal, and he's really helped the show elevate its game.

I still don't love where the show has left Ren after Eri's recent flare-up of EGS (Endangered Girlfriend Syndrome, the only known cure is a penultimate episode), but they throw him into stories with a couple characters that help... not fix what I didn't like, but put it into a more appealing relief. His first scene is with Shiro, who, as goddamn always, needs someone to go help Yui. (I am honestly unclear why half of the cards in Riders' Decks aren't, like, Buy Groceries For Yui Vent or Tell Yui Her Hair Looks Good Today Vent. Just be more upfront with how this whole thing is about his sister being taken care of.) It's in that scene where I feel like Shiro sees a lot of himself in Ren, someone who's willing to damn everyone else, even himself, to save the person he cares about. It does a lot to, my jokes aside, humanize Shiro's actions, in a way that him being a Mirror Creep sort of obscures. It's also great for Ren's character, to have Shiro act as a Worst Possible Version of Ren, someone that he's on the path to being. It's a great little scene.

The scenes he has with the Professor, it's like the flipside to his scene with Shiro. The Professor (I'm sure I'll remember his name someday, but it ain't today) is the opposite of Ren. Ren loses himself in isolation and brooding, while the Professor is a gregarious family man. Ren's quick with threats and loath to explain himself, while the Professor gives honest explanations and tries to avoid conflicts. But, the big one is how they view sacrifice. Ren's a guy who will burn everything down to save the person he loves, while the Professor will look at the costs involved and decide what can or should be saved. There's a logic to the Professor that's the opposite of Ren's emotional decision-making. Way more than the debate about sacrifice we saw in the past between Shinji and the Professor, the Ren/Professor conflict feels more vital, more direct. Pairing them up, it's fantastic.

All of that work on the character pairings and the thematic opposition, it made the fights really pop. The Knight/Alternative one was the best, with some early Knight ass-kicking giving way to a huge Taskmaster-esque rally from Alternative, incorporating his photographic memory to predict Knight's attacks. It's got a nice sense of storytelling to it, where there's a well-delineated and clearly explained change in momentum, instead of the typical Bunch Of Moves Final Vent. The pacing for the fight was good, with a fun mix of sword moves and card effects, and it was all refreshingly coherent. (I don't want to make it sound like Ryuki fights are something I suffer through. I genuinely enjoy watching masked superheroes beat the holy hell out of each other with crazy effects from cards. It's just, this one seemed to have more thought put into what was happening when, a good rhythm to it.) The Tiger/Ryuki fight was a little less flashy, a little more Monsters Are Tough To Fight Wait Final Vent, but the cruelty to Tiger's beatdown of Ryuki was a great twist. Or, not cruelty... nonchalance? He's just stomping Ryuki down and telling him he's a disappointment, whatevs. Great storytelling in all of the fights in this episode.

This was an overall stellar episode of Ryuki, and I didn't even get a chance to talk about the awesome Reiko/Kitaoka stuff! Well, real quick, defining interaction between the two of them: He's trying to get her to give up on investigating Asakura, telling her that things that are difficult to learn are usually too dangerous to know. Her response is that it's literally her job to learn difficult truths, and, hey genius, it's a lawyer's job, too. It's the perfect comeback, and I maybe actually out-loud cheered when she said it. I want a million more scenes of hard-charging reporter Reiko and Kitaoka, her Guy Friday. It's the best, all of these scenes were amazing, this show's so good again, I love talking about it so much you guys.