[Sh Ranger]

It's a cool idea to have the World of Agito as a sequel to the World of Kuuga, since those two shows are loosely connected. This arc just takes that concept to the next level, by having actual fights between the Unidentified Lifeforms and Unknowns. Even Yuusuke using G3-X is meta, since that suit was based on Kuuga. Speaking of Yuusuke, he's the real MVP of this arc. After how much of a bystander he was in the World of Faiz (which doesn't get a Kamen Ride here, what gives Decade!), it's nice to finally see him get some more development. Especially since it involves him scoring hero points against Kaito. Even though G3-X is basically a downgrade for Yuusuke compared to the lightweight and versatile Kuuga, I commend him for wanting to honor Yashiro's invention. He also learns to accept that what Yashiro needs isn't him, but his counterpart in this world, Shouichi. So there's a good moral about moving on and not getting too stuck in the past and Yuusuke's and Kivaala's friendship gets a few cute scenes as well. Enjoyable arc!

Agito is 17/19 in my Heisei Rider Ranking, just above Kuuga. I agree with Die's assessment that Agito is a better Kuuga, which makes sense considering how Inoue wrote the best episodes of Kuuga IMO. Although I think Hibiki is also a better Kuuga, in a different kind of way. Man, even this paragraph is talking more about Kuuga than Agito! Well, one improvement with Agito is the villains. The Unknowns are boring characters, but as a faction, I think they're more interesting and philosophical than the unambiguously evil Unidentified Lifeforms at least. The summer movie is just awful though.

It's also pretty unique to have Ashikawa Shouichi be the counterpart of the whole Rider trio from Agito, who are all represented in his name. He goes from G3-X to Exceed Gills to his true Agito form. So it's like what if Hikawa was a dormant Agito and had to learn how to control that power, which is an intriguing concept that I think would have been cool to see utilized in the show, so I'm glad they did it here. Similar to Tatsumi Shinji, he seems to be a little edgier than his usually plucky main counterpart.