[Kamen Rider Die]

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 43



There's this sadness at work in this episode of Ryuki, despite all of the laughs and fights. At least, god, I found some of it really heartbreaking.

Toujou and Sano are not doing great. Toujou's killed his mentor with an eye on true heroism, only to get his newly-solo ass kicked first by Asakura, then by Kitaoka, then by Asakura and Kitaoka. Sano's looking for a team to join, but he's ignored by Toujou, beaten by Shinji, mocked by Kitaoka, and threatened by Asakura. (I guess, even at his lowest, Sano knew to steer clear of Ren.) This whole episode is the two newest Riders getting frozen out and hunted. It's open season on Tiger and Imperer.

But, y'know, it's also the establishment guarding itself against outsiders. It's one generation mocking the next. It's people who can't find their footing, can't get a way into the game, being told they lack motivation, they haven't earned a chance, by the people on top.

That element of the episode, how locked out Sano and Toujou are, I thought that was a really sad way to tell their story. The fact that all they have in the end is each other, that nobody gets them or wants to get them.. I don't know. I thought it was a compellingly bittersweet ending. I'm not sure, exactly, how the show's trying to come down on the Kids Today Amirite undercurrent of this episode. I'm not sure if they're trying to garner sympathy for the kids, or lump them both together to wag a finger at the poor character of today's generation. They picked a couple of complicated kids to try this story with. Tiger and Imperer, they pretty much made their bed before this one. Tiger had plenty of opportunities to make his mark, to find a role, but he destroyed those chances in a bid to feel important. Imperer could've served a number of higher causes, but he became a joke by selling out early and often. These are not really two characters that deserve sympathy. But, man, they got it from me in this one. Toujou's realization that he's totally on his own for the first time is brutal. Sano's (well-deserved!) beating at the hands of Shinji, the sweetest Rider, was a clear sign that he was thoroughly screwed. They are both isolated and in danger.

So them together at the end, I liked it a lot. They don't have much in common, but they're two kids who don't have a future, two kids that no adult respects, and I think I'm rooting for them a little bit now. Hell of a job pulling that out of me, show!

For the rest of this episode, uh... not much to say? Shinji and Ren run around Mirror World looking for Yui, who's still silent and powerful and Shiro-Lite. Nothing really happens in that plot, but I assume that's going to be dealt with shortly. Oh, and there's zero Reiko in this one, so it's zip for the Ore Journal investigative stuff. Pretty much just Toujou and Sano against the Adults this time out, and, yeah, way more affecting than I thought that story would be.