[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

This is maybe my favourite episode in Den-O?

It's certainly the one I find myself remembering the most, at least; which is pretty fitting given the show, but I think it's the single one that encapsulates everything I love about Den-O. The sheer weight of silence that runs through most of the episode, how very not Den-O it is to see Momotaros like this and how chillingly silent the Den-Liner is; only for that burst of energy to come roaring back with a form as intense as Climax, all brought on by a flaming effigy of their train running through Momo? It's beautiful. It's art, it's fun and it's wonderful and I always find myself coming back to it in my memories of this show. It's nothing overly complex, but it's just... it's just nice. This show makes me feel some things

The best decision this episode makes is to have Owner go Nope They Dead real early in the story. It changes it from a story about trying to avert disaster into one that asks you to feel the weight of the people in your life, how they draw so much out of you - good AND bad - and that story is way more Den-O than any other story could've been. Even Ryotaro's training montage is half about him trying to honor his friends by being a better Den-O, as well as him knowing he'll have to carry more of the weight without them around.

The middle section, where it's the opposite of the parties at the bookends, yeah, pretty great. Somber and funereal, just a bunch of imagination monsters from the end of time waiting around to die. It makes great use of that train set, where it feels chillier from the lack of noise; sterile and hollow. The stakes in this one are hard to suspend your disbelief on, but that middle section gets me to feel it.