[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 39 - “THE RIDER DISAPPEARS AS WELL”




Spent a couple minutes trying to figure out why I found this Yuuto episode so dull. I mean, I like Yuuto? I like the idea of Yuuto trying to get on with his life instead of pining over Airi? I like the idea of Yuuto trying to get on with his life instead of pining over Airi by going to a grocery store and wrestling Deneb because Deneb won’t stop putting Mushrooms in Yuuto’s food?

That kind of storytelling is all over this episode, tons of little goofy-ass gags: the bit in the beginning where Momotaros is so psyched to get a chance at using Sword Form again to thrash some low-level Imagin that he forgets that he’s supposed to be demonstrating proper swordfighting technique to Ryotaro, so he asks the Imagin and Ryotaro to forget all of Momo’s exuberance and start over with a serious fight; Owner does spoon-flipping tricks, and then misses one, so he runs alongside the DenLiner for exercise; Yuuto kicks an empty bottle that hits Ryotaro in the face ten seconds later, dumping both of them down a hill; just so much fun nonsense in this episode.

But then it’s Den-Parado’s scheme to get rid of Zeronos (if this show doesn’t want me to keep thinking of him as Parado, it needs to not put Kai in menacingly gleeful nighttime rooftop conversations with the episode’s monster-suited monster), and… I mean, it’s a bit much. Kind of checked out at that point.

It’s just got a real Kicking Yuuto When He’s Down feeling to it, and I wasn’t into it. Yuuto’s already had his past obliterated, leaving him only a handful of people who’ll even remember him when he dies. He had just started to try and reconstruct his life, so here’s this episode to obliterate him as a student in the 90s. It feels unnecessary, stakes-wise. It’s like trying to steal something right before someone throws it away. Even killing Yuuto (or “killing” Yuuto) feels like salt in the wound for a guy who was already vanishing from existence before he was literally vanishing from existence. Like, man! Just let him have one dinner before you try to complicate his reality again!

There’s a point the show is making with all of this Yuuto miserablism, which is why I feel like I’ll enjoy the next instalment better. Den-Parado responds to Ryotaro’s angry hero threats with a simple question: why shouldn’t some pasts be changed? What if the changes could be better? The proof of his argument is at the end of the episode, when Ryotaro returns to a Milk Dipper that’s no longer astronomy-themed and Airimirer-infested, but one that’s a flowery library full of women.

And, look, I don’t know if the show’s trying to say Kai Was Right at the end of this one (I feel like Ryotaro’s devastated reaction says Nope), but seeing all the Airimirers swept away and replaced with a more welcoming, more energetic cafe? I will trade Yuuto for that! Den-Parado was right! Give Deneb a good home and do not rescue Yuuto’s past!

And, yeah, I think the show is giving this new reality the slightest veneer of Better. Airi’s happiness isn’t worth nothing to Ryotaro, so seeing her no longer tortured and conflicted over Sakurai’s variable existence, that’s going to be something he won’t just want to destroy. There’s some obvious surface benefits to Sakurai not ever being in her life, even if the show’ll inevitably come down on the side of Please Get Along With Yuuto’s Existence. I respect the lead-in with things feeling objectively better, though. Fun twist on an altered reality.

But the getting there! Not as much fun, even if I’m always glad to take a field trip back to the quarry. (Not that much quarry work this series! Bit of a bummer.) It’s just more shit the cosmos is piling on Yuuto, and Ryotaro’s righteous indignation isn’t enough to overcome how tired that plot is starting to feel. Yuuto, and the viewers, deserve better.



THE BAGGAGE CAR

-I like the implication that the other Imagins never brought Den-Parado up to Ryotaro because Kai’s a dick and they hate him. He’s just some pushy jerk in their brains and they’re like No Thanks? That’s an appropriately character-driven reason for why there was this Big Bad that absolutely no one thought to mention before. He sucks! That’s it!

-Den-Parado, obviously, does not suck. One of my favorite villain moves is when the villain forces a hero to break off a threat to go save some poor soul that the villain just put in jeopardy. He does it to both Ryotaro and Yuuto in this episode, and it’s great. It’s Den-Parado reminding the heroes of how far ahead of them he is, as well as how almost none of this matters to him. It’s Ryotaro saying that every life should be protected, and Den-Parado answering him with a shrug. He’s such a great adversary for Ryotaro.

-Deneb bowing in apology to the soda he almost drank at the grocery store is adorable.

-I can’t believe that I ended up with a bunny-themed Imagin on Easter!