[Kamen Rider Die]

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 41



This is it! The final ten episodes of Ryuki start here! We're in the home stretch! The endgame! The countdown to the finale starts here in a pretty arbitrary way, I guess, because I have no idea if the showrunners consider "80% done" to even be close to the end of the show!

Watching the Phase 2 Heisei shows, I got to feel the storytelling rhythms pretty well by a certain point. Act 1, Introduction. Spend a dozen episodes setting up the Rider, the supporting cast, the gimmicks, the premise. Winter Movie. Act 2, Expansion. The secondary Rider(s) gets some storylines, maybe some lieutenant villains show up to round out the bad guys, an upgraded form for the main Rider. Spring Movie. Act 3, Escalation. Big reveals about the nature of the villains, some hidden secrets about our main cast, conflicts between the Riders, a shift in the status quo. Summer Movie. Act 4, Resolution. The run up to the end, and the conclusion of our story.

That was the formula I was used to. With the Phase 1 Heisei shows, with (currently) no mid-series movies, it's harder to get that indication of what gear the story is in. Like, this episode of Ryuki, it's so close to the end that it feels like we should be moving to wrap things up. But, hey, here's another new Rider, and his whole thing, while the other characters mostly take a break after the big battle of last episode. I'm worried they're not leaving themselves enough room to wrap things up.

And, I mean, that feeling of Isn't Too Late In The Show For This Story, that's about the only thing I disliked about this one. It's a very funny episode, first off, with some neat character pairings.

Let's see what we've got!

ASAKURA AND KITAOKA: One of the things I liked about this episode is how, like, collegial all of the Riders are in this episode. It's maybe out-of-character (it's definitely out-of-character), but I liked how sportsman-like everyone was being about Rider Battles. (Well, one exception, which we'll get to.) There's a lack of darkness to this one, less of a life-or-death feeling to the competition. Having Asakura get info on Toujou from Kitaoka, never threatening him or even touching him, it's a great new energy to their rivalry. There's a thread of deal-making, of extracting favors for mutual benefit in this episode, and it starts with this sequence. Kitaoka's completely willing to sell out the other Riders to Asakura, and Asakura is fine putting Kitaoka on the back-burner if there's a dude he wants to murder more. Win/win for these two.

ASAKURA AND SHINJI: Just a bonkers storytelling move to have Asakura walk into Ore Journal to grab a quick five with Shinji, and I love it. I love seeing characters in unusual settings, and it might never be weirder than a wanted lunatic walking onto the newspaper set. (I guess Atori would be weirder, if only to see Asakura get curb stomped by Auntie.) I kind-of love how Asakura assumed Shinji would give up Toujou, despite the audience knowing that there was zero chance Shinji would ever help Asakura track down another Rider. It's a bit of a narrative dead-end in this episode, but I really like how casual the energy was between Asakura and Shinji. It crackled with This Should Not Be.

REIKO AND KITAOKA: Always, forever. The stars of the show, in my mind. I never get tired of Kitaoka's bullshit and Reiko's lack of tolerance for said bullshit. I wasn't a huge fan of the slow accrual of details to get Reiko to figure out the plot of Episode 1 of Masked Rider Ryuki, considering we are now on Episode 41, but I do like that she put it together with the help of nothing but a crack team of journalists and a lizard. There's an undeniable sense of accomplishment to that, something the performances really harness into forward momentum for the show. Which, again, none of this was new information about mirrors and their monsters, but new people knowing it starts to change the game. It upsets the precarious balance, making conflicts escalate. It puts Reiko in the crosshairs of Tiger, and forces Kitaoka in a confrontation to protect her. I'll never, ever love Reiko Gets Knocked-Out Just Before Rider Battles, so that was a bum note, but all of the Zolda/Tiger stuff was great. Kitaoka starting his Henshin in a window's reflection as the blinds go up to reveal Toujou starting his own Henshin, awesome. Awesome. Top 5 moment from Ryuki for me. The fight that follows is short but sweet, with Tiger maintaining his dominance.

REN AND KITAOKA: It's fun to see these two assholes play off of each other, so I dug that it was Ren to intervene and keep Tiger at bay. Also, nice call back to the post-Zolda/Knight fight, with Kitaoka wondering if Tiger was too strong, or if he'd gotten weaker. After a quick Let's All Remember Kitaoka Is Dying trip to the hospital (where a doctor just flat out tells Ren, who is just some guy who brought Kitaoka to the hospital, not a husband or family member, exactly what is wrong with him, do the Japanese not have a version of Hipaa or what, are they just pulling people aside and saying Hey Do You Want To Hear What's Wrong With This Guy, I mean why did they even tell Ren what was wrong with Eri, that's her information to give out, does Ren just have a face that doctors trust, seriously, a million questions about this), we get a cute scene of Ren and Kitaoka having that same genial sportsmanship we've been getting all episode. I really love it, them being chummy in a way that still tells you they'll kill each other soon enough. This whole episode has a, like, halftime feel to it, where no one's forgotten the stakes but everyone's okay with a time-out.

TIGER AND PROFESSOR: Well, y'know, not everyone. Tiger's getting a little disillusioned with Professor in this one, you can tell. Tiger has yet to encounter a problem that can't be solved with an incredibly judgmental Final Vent, and that's causing a bit of friction in the Second Secret Science Society. It leads to a great scene, with Professor desperately trying to keep this train on the tracks, despite Tiger not really grasping why. It's creating an interesting space to deconstruct Professor's whole argument, that you can sacrifice some to save many, as Tiger keeps upping the bodycount. If one person is a worthwhile sacrifice, how about two? How about four? Fourteen? Four hundred? The incremental way that Tiger's embrace of violence chips away at Professor's cost-benefit heroism, it's much more compelling to me than some grandiose Shinji speech. I mean, I'm sure it'd be a great speech! But this is better.

IMPERER AND WHOMEVER: Imperer is the best though. (Just, "impala" and "emperor"? Am I getting that right? It's a fun portmanteau, if I am.) I adore the concept of a mercenary Rider in this story. It's totally unexplored territory, and the approach the show takes with Imperer's character, five stars. His ingratiating interview shit, great. His showmanship to get the job, great. How he immediately gets the read on the whole battle as breaking down to a couple main sides, super smart. I'm deeply curious about this dude's backstory, why he entered a life-or-death supernatural battle if he really just needs a steady paycheck, which is exactly where I want to be after a new Rider is introduced. Also, comedically, I love his energy. I love how over the top he is, how every comment is flattery. Every scene was cracking me up. The fact that he has business cards!

This episode was a blast. I don't know if it feels like there're only nine episodes left, though. With this one, it felt like it could run another twenty or so. I might be okay with that! That feels a little horrible to say, what with the various death sentences hanging over the cast, but it seems like maybe they're having fun with that now?