[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 22 - "OVERTURE: AN INTERSECTION OF FATES”



God, I just found this story exhausting. The second part saved it from being a complete disaster, but it managed that by also being about 80% less fun?

Like, this episode drills in on the Wataru/Mio and Otoya/Yuri plots from last episode, to the exclusion of nearly every other entertaining element. Nago bugs out almost immediately, rightly horrified at the thought of being in another episode for this story. Kengo is an incredibly gracious friend, cheerfully stepping aside when his date with Mio goes terribly, but then he's done in this episode. Megumi is a pseudo-matchmaker, but it's a part that could've been played by Shizuka or even Kivat. All of the crazy 2008 personalities that supported last episode in some incredibly delightful ways, they are way underutilized in the conclusion.

And, sadly, the show doesn't do a whole lot with the Wataru/Mio pairing. They're cute, and it's a nice little moral about letting people engage with the world at their own pace, but it's pretty dull in practice. There's no real spark to their scenes. It's two sweet kids having a sweet afternoon, and I'm not mad at that, but there's not really any tension. Mio feels confident, but she's still too clumsy to keep her job as a waitress, so she sort of gives up on herself (I guess it's not a nice little moral?) and sort of breaks up with Wataru. It's mostly about her coming out of her shell and regretting it, which makes Wataru more of a coach than a boyfriend. He's totally supportive, but it doesn't work out, and I'm just... okay? I guess? It's barely asking anything of either character, and it's too weightless to get emotionally invested in. I love that actor who played Mio, but I honestly couldn't care less if she didn't come back to the show after this.

The 1986 stuff is mostly in the same boat, sort of weightless and pointless, but that's actually an improvement over the previous episode's bleak outlook on Yuri's sense of self-worth. Here, she makes up her mind to put her career ahead of two men she sort of tolerates and maybe finds attractive. It's... I mean, my problem with the last episode's turn was that the best case scenario was that this thing would conclude in a way that negated itself, and that's pretty much what happened. No one's really better off than they were at the end of 20, and all we got was a creepy take on courtship. This episode wasn't nearly as funny as the previous one (the whole Otoya Is Being Fleeced plot was basic and obvious, and the two men's rivalry was mostly cordial instead of hilarious), but it also wasn't as dispiriting. Largely and hopefully forgettable, that's where we're at.

And that... god, worst two episodes of this show so far? The 1986 thread is all about possessive men, and the 2008 thread wraps up with a clumsy girl blaming Wataru for making her happy (?), none of which I'm aching to see the show follow up on. Nothing ends up permanently tainting the show, which is both the nicest thing I can say, as well as the meanest. These two episodes were either horrifying and fun, or unexceptional and dull. Not anything for anyone involved to feel proud of!