[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 11 - “V FOR VENDETTA - INFECTED VEHICLE”



Boy, I bounced off this one pretty hard. It’s not a bad episode or anything, but I found it incredibly dull. Beyond one good scene, and the image of a filthy Chevy Trailblazer as some sort of righteous instrument of vengeance, there’s precious little for me to even care to talk about.

Lemme start with that one good scene, though! It’s the interrogation room scene with Makura and Jinno. I love that Makura’s all We’ve Got You Now Shotaro, and then Jinno just comes and makes Makura fetch them lunch. (With double portions for Shotaro!) It’s a charming way to incorporate the police into a story that has a rapidly rising body count, while delivering some early clues for Shotaro to investigate. I just… man, I like the energy between Shotaro and Jinno. Jinno’s has such a professional camaraderie with Shotaro, while never really treating him like a peer. He just sees a well-meaning guy who can make his own job easier, and that’s worth some of his time. It’s a fun energy, man.

The rest of it was all just sort of there for me. Kouhei’s looking for revenge, the gangsters are clearly culpable, and there’s only a little bit of discussion as to whether killing a bunch of dudes is justified. (Spoiler: it isn’t!) The gangsters don’t stick around long enough to be more than a body count, and Kouhei’s defined solely by his need to vehicularly manslaughter for a sister we’ve never met. It’s all the vague shape of The Hollowness Of Pursuing Vengeance, but it never rose above that for me. There were no fun details, or clever moments to become more than just A Story About Revenge. (Even Akiko’s illness thing… fine, whatever.) Kirihiko showing up might as well be to fill some quota, for all he contributes to the plot.

The twist at the end, that the Virus Dopant is a different person altogether… good twist! Interested in how that rolls out! But it’s nothing that made the first 22 minutes of this one more fun to talk or think about.

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DIE-A MEMORIES



-The Fuuto PD Headquarters! We will be spending a lot of time here in just a couple weeks, and it’s a fun building. I like the water feature up front! Could house an Anomalocaris assassin, but it’s tranquil enough to be worth the risk.