[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 26 - "THE TICKET TO GOD'S LINE”




Hey, let's talk about the Yuuto/Ryotaro plotline in this episode, a.k.a Literally The Only Thing I Can Talk About From This Episode.

(Holy shit, this thing is just one gigantic ad for the film. While I appreciate the change from having the film be some weird-ass AU thing and actually trying to enhance and expand the world of the TV series, a change I'm certain I'll be talking more about once I watch the movie... this is too much! This episode had me longing for the days of the opening credits dropping in some movie footage as the only acknowledgement of there even being a film, so I could avoid the hard-sell of this movie pitch. I'm actually a little less excited to watch the movie now, because I feel like it cost me at least half an episode of Den-O.)

It's nice. It's the inevitable storyline where Yuuto learns that Ryotaro is more heroic than he appears, and Ryotaro learns that Yuuto is more empathetic than he appears. It's them both learning that they've maybe unfairly judged each other. It's sweet.

It's a plot that excels in its specifics, because the overview is such a goddamn template by now. Literally every show with two or more Riders needs to do this story. We even got a version of it earlier this series between Ryotaro and Momo! These two guys don't think much of each other, but then they learn they're more alike than they thought. Tensions have thawed somewhat, roll credits.

It's the little details, though, that make it still somewhat enjoyable. (Somewhat! This is not my favorite episode!) Yuuto getting to see the lengths Ryotaro will go to as Den-O is the less compelling part, since it's a story we've gotten a few times before, but I'm never going to be too down on an episode where Ryotaro honors his commitments and takes down an Imagin. Honestly, it's just nice to see Sword Form get some screentime again? I feel like every other Form has been getting the spotlight, and when Ryutaros cuts the line for the big fight in this one, I was channeling Momo's frustration. But then Ryuta gets bored, Ore Sanjou, and Sword Form gets the climax. Fun fight. Sometimes I'm easy to please!

Yuuto's empathy, though, that was the nicest part. Ryotaro getting to see those flashes of Sakurai in Yuuto, the passion for astronomy, it's a great way to show Yuuto's hidden depths. My favorite part is the... I don't know, the aftercare that Yuuto does, same as Ryotaro would. Yuuto knows the Imagin is defeated, but the job isn't finished until this brother and sister get to have a nice night of watching a meteor shower. (Yuuto is such a giddy nerd about when meteor showers are visible in Japan! It's adorable!) It's the continuation of Ryotaro's victory in that earlier Yuuto Vs Ryotaro two-parter, where the mission and the calling are two different things, and Yuuto feels that same need to help people as Ryotaro does. Which, Ryotaro kind of learned it from Sakurai, so that makes sense.

Time travel! It's a lot to deal with!



THE BAGGAGE CAR

-I'm watching the movie tomorrow. I was going to wait until watching the concluding episode of this tie-in, but I don't think I can do one more barely-sensible Just Go With It episode. This one felt like I was being penalized, so I'm just going to try and get some context for all of this, no matter what it does for my viewing of 27.

-I don't know if this is a plot the show's going to come back to in 27, but that whole Milk Dipper thread went absolutely nowhere? It's just some kids on break? I thought, bare minimum, we'd see the hospitalized sister brought to Milk Dipper to see some stars. The two Riders decorated and everything! The way the show ended up going, the Hope Hill stuff, was probably better, but it's weird how extra-unimportant the Milk Dipper scenes ended up being.