[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 14



--1--

I mean, first of all, Fish Sandwich finished his Kuuga rewatch, and holy shit. If you've suddenly got some free time because of the Zero-One hiatus, or, uh, the world, I would queue up the recently re-subbed Kuuga on TokuSHOUTsu and use Fish's thread as a guide to one of the most celebrated Kamen Rider series. It's astonishingly thorough, made even more so by insights from Kurona, DreamSword, DreadBringer, FreshToku, and so many others. Plus, it's got people taking drive-bys at me, which is one of my favorite things to read. You owe it to yourself to give it a read. It's the healthy thing to do!

--2--

Meanwhile, I've got this episode of Faiz to talk about, and... it's okay. Anything after last episode's fever-dream intensity was going to feel like a step down, and this one sort-of steers into the skid by not really trying to craft a banger. It's a slower episode, with a couple good scenes and a lot of atmosphere, but not the most memorable of installments.

--3--

The big lure for this episode is more Kusaka, and it's got a nice sense of tension to it. Kusaka's quickly winning over the rest of Team Faiz, getting invited to live with them due to Keitaro's fan tendencies and Mari's rarely stated but common-sense policy of Yes The Tall Handsome Athlete Who Carries Around A Photo Of Me Can Stay The Night. Takumi, however, upgrades his irrational hatred of Kusaka to very rational distrust.

I'm, obviously, way more of a fan of Takumi losing his goddamn mind over Kusaka for no logical reason other than Takumi's regrettable psychology, but what's here definitely has more meat on the bone. It's becoming clear that Kusaka's altruism and decency is a little bit exaggerated, and his methods of avoiding questions he can't answer are huge warning signs for Takumi. It's funny if Takumi's mad at a dude that's better at him, but it's way more dramatically interesting if that hatred starts to make Kusaka's mask drop, the suspicions that Takumi won't keep secret dissolving Kusaka's veneer of respectability.

All of that is another way of saying that even a broken hero is right twice a Kamen Rider series, and Takumi's antagonism towards Kusaka may be warranted. I mean, it's definitely warranted, that dude's got capital-s Secrets, but what's in this episode is mostly Kusaka's overly-ingratiating behavior and heroic platitudes turning to sweaty accusations and bug-eyes under Takumi's intransigence.

The arc of Kusaka's slow collapse, it's a pretty great set of scenes. You've got the opening scene, with Kusaka acting the accidental hero, thrust by fate into the spotlight, oh please save your applause I'm but a humble man who blah blah blah. It's enough to make you gag, which is maybe the first thing that pings Takumi's radar. Kusaka's vague denial when questioned about the Ryuusei Cram School For Gifted Youngsters class reunion ("Go Meteors!”) serves as additional proof that this dude is probably a liar. That suspicion curdles into a big ol' Takumi pout, and my favorite visual of the episode. As Kusaka is humbly, so humbly, accepting the role of Kamen Rider Kaixa, he's lauded by Mari and Keitaro, flanking him on the couch. But Takumi isn't onboard, and the camera takes sooooooo long to pull back and get Takumi into frame, since he's seated about twelve feet away from the rest of the group, pouting at the dinner table. It's a beautifully done gag, with Takumi basically in another room, so reluctant to even breathe the same air as Kusaka. The next Takumi/Kusaka scene is the clincher, though, with Takumi telling Kusaka a) I hate you, b) because you're definitely a liar. And Kusaka just starts to lose it. Here's a guy that he can't bullshit, can't win over, and he's holding back a disturbing amount of rage that he wants to level at Takumi. But then the rest of Team Faiz shows up, and he's all smiles, all Me And Takumi Are Just Being Friendly Rivals. But then he's definitely willing to let Takumi get murdered by an Orphnoch at the end, so, maybe this Takumi guy is right?!?!?!?! Rough times ahead for this show's two or less Riders!

--4--

Although, Team Orphnoch isn't doing so hot this week, either. Kaido's committing himself as a lover, not a fighter, while Houjou takes aim at all disobedient Orphnochs with the deadliest weapon of them all: poetry!

It's a solid entry for the Orphnochs, mostly on the strength of that final fight. (The Kaido/Mari scene is very cute, too.) Yuuji tells the group early on that they need to understand that his decision to not harm humans puts them at odds with Smart Brain, and there will be repercussions. Those repercussions are that Houjou will show up to beat the shit out of a fully-Oprphnoched Kaido without even transforming.

It's so, so great. It's a classic You Go Big By Going Small dramatic move, where the fact that Houjou barely even has to fight to destroy Kaido is the most terrifying display of power imaginable. And he kicks his ass with Yeats! Just trounces him with an Irish poet!

Once Yuuji and Yuka show up, the fight becomes truly memorable, as three Orphnochs are no match for the nearly untouchable Houjourphnoch. There's some stellar choreography here, with Houjourphnoch constantly able to position himself in a way where one of his opponents takes the hit instead of him. It's all tactics, all strategy, and it makes him look like someone who can take three monsters without breaking a sweat. It's Yuka's interference that stops the fight, though, with Houjou clarifying that he's only after Orphnochs who won't kill humans... so she's in the clear.

Yuka's complacency has been one of the more interesting stories of the three Orphnochs, as she conforms herself to whatever role best suits her teammates. Even when Yuuji's looking for affirmation from the other two that they understand the risk and believe in his cause, Yuka's basically Uh Sure Whatever You Think Is Best. Not exactly a ringing endorsement! (Also, Yuuji's next line is that Yuka definitely wouldn't kill anyone anyway. Hilarious!) Her... I don't know, self-actualization, that's been a nicely simmering subplot, and I'm interested to see if the show's ready to bring it to the fore.

--5--

And that's a lot of what made this episode a solid-if-unexceptional one, the feeling of things ramping up, almost getting to the good part. What's in the episode is still entertaining, but it's a more subdued, tense version of what Faiz usually does in a more bombastic way. It's a little less of what I'm looking for in Faiz, but I still had a good time with it.

Now go read Fish Sandwich rewatches Kamen Rider Kuuga!