[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 32



--1--

Not really sure why this one didn't do it for me. It's got some interesting ideas behind it, for sure. There's a few really fun ideas about how best to open yourself up to people while still protecting yourself. But, man, a messy episode to explore those ideas.

--2--

And, yeah, that's why it didn't work for me. Glad I wrote that paragraph! It's too messy of an episode.

Like, the core threads, the Mari/Sawada and Takumi/Yuuji stuff, yes. The idea of Sawada feeling conflicted about his nature and choosing to snuff out his humanity, that's a perfect story to tell while Takumi's trying to find a reason to patch things up with Yuuji.

And it plays out great, too, with Takumi trying to listen to opposing points of view, to let people explain themselves. I always love when a Kamen Rider wants to hear from a monster instead of just fighting, and the why of that is so present in this story. Takumi needs Sawada to make a case for amnesty. He wants Sawada to convince him. He's ready to fight, but he'd prefer not to. It's optimism, tempered with pragmatism.

But then it all goes sideways, with Sawada brutally attacking Mari, trying to close that door and embrace evil. It's a scene that's a little hard to watch. There's the physical violence, sure, but there's also Mari's confusion and despair. It's tough to see someone get their hopes crushed, even if we're very much in a Hopes Crushed phase of Faiz.

--3--

All of the Sawada/Mari stuff, it's really there to add more complications to what Takumi and Yuuji are dealing with. Well, mostly Takumi. He's trying to decide if he should view all Orphnochs as enemies, and Sawada makes that sort-of an easy Yes.

Once again, I like that Kusaka's shown to be right in this situation. There's wanting to see the best in people, and then there's being reckless with your sympathy. Sawada killed two Ryusei School alumni, and had threatened Mari's life just a few days earlier. (Plus the dozens of kills to which Mari wasn't privy.) He's a member of Lucky Clover, the definitely evil Orphnoch group. He also just killed Saya, which was the reason Takumi was so conflicted about Orphnochs in the first goddamn place. It is literally the thing that started this storyline. Like, this was straight-up a bad call by Takumi. Sawada should've been given a wide berth, not a clandestine meeting.

(I mean, I'm okay with it on a storytelling level. Takumi was letting his desire to patch things up with Yuuji maybe cloud his judgment here, and Mari was 100% not taking no for an answer. Kusaka tried to help!)

For Yuuji, he gets his answer from Takumi through Kaido and Keitaro, which is naturally garbled. Takumi's "I was a fool to trust you" comes back as "Fool." It's heartbreaking, to Yuuji. Someone he trusted is laughing at him.

It gets worse (trademark Faiz) when Yuuji sees what's happened to Mari.

Holy shit, Kusaka lying to Yuuji and blaming Takumi. Highlight of the episode, by the way. It's not just that Kusaka lies to Yuuji about what happened to Mari, claiming it's Takumi who attacked her. It's that he leverages Takumi's guilt, so when Yuuji asks Takumi if he's the reason Mari's injured, Takumi says yes. It's so goddamn clever of Kusaka.

Honestly, man, all issues I had with this episode aside, it's a great continuation of Yuuji and Takumi's dissolution. It's these little decisions, little recriminations, that keep pulling them apart. That stuff came out great.

--4--

It's just, man, a really distracted episode.

Like, prime example, Mari's beating at the pier. Huge, emotional moment. Mari, bloodied, watches the symbol of her friendship with Sawada burn as she passes out. Next scene, Kaido and Keitaro are having an adventure in the city!

Tonally, it's an insane swerve. There's a reason it's in the episode, it's more about the innate humanity of Team Orphnoch, but it's a massively distracting shift.

At least that scene has a reason to be in this episode, because, I love Houjou, but what in the hell was that Delta scene doing here? The only Lucky Clover stuff that works in this episode is the Kageyama scene, because it's directly supporting the key plotline of the episode. The Houjou and Kitazaki scene, it's like they're filling a quota. It doesn't do anything for the main plots in this episode, and it doesn't do anything to set up another plot. It's just a wacky scene of Houjou and Kitazaki's rivalry, but it's got no reason to be here.

--5--

There's a real lack of discipline to this episode. There are some smart ideas, and good scenes, but it's just not structured in a way that feels right. Too many side plots, maybe? (I don't know that you needed the Keitaro and Kaido stuff, even if it fit in thematically.)

And yet, I'm not sure that what works in this episode is enough for a full installment? The Yuuji and Takumi stuff is good background material, and it's about the two main characters. But the Sawada stuff, maybe it didn't need to be two episodes as the main-ish plot? Maybe it's too thin? It doesn't help that Sawada's been around for only a couple three episodes before we're supposed to feel for his plight.

I don't know. I liked what this episode was saying, but I didn't really love how it said it.