[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Anyway, I find myself appreciating these two episodes more with time. I originally watched them right after Wizard's actual finale, which I thought (and still think!) ended on a great note, and even knowing the whole Basically A Decade Two-Parter thing going in, it still needed some distance I wasn't giving it. I'd give my overall opinion on it, but, uh, yeah, it's just the same one I give to most Decade two-parters. Very fun, cute little story; probably not to something to analyze too deeply, yet also weirdly clever in its meta themes in spite of that.

I'm sure I had a similar poor appraisal of it on my first viewing -- it's just a super-weird story to do right after the really stellar final arc of Wizard -- but with the added drawback of not having seen Decade, and not getting the whole Decade structure. It felt random and tangential, Wizard-but-not-really.

The thing is, finally being fluent in Decade's very specific storytelling decisions had me getting on this story's wavelength to a much greater degree. When I could only see the Decadeness of it, I appreciated what it was trying to say about Wizard, both as a show and as a character.

...Of course, watching a previous series shouldn't necessarily be a prerequisite for enjoying a current one, especially in a franchise that's normally as siloed by seasons as Kamen Rider is, so I don't begrudge anyone who wanted more of Kamen Rider Wizard's narrative in their Kamen Rider Wizard episodes. For me, I liked the mix of styles, no pun intended.