[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 16 - “FLASH OF THE F - TAKE BACK YOUR PARTNER”

At the heart of Kamen Rider is the idea of using darkness to fight for justice, and Berserk Forms are the inescapable consequence of that idea. We can’t truly know what the hero is risking until we see them succumb to their denied rage and/or guilt. (Depends on the Rider!) Beyond that… just, like, so cool. I love the distorted body language and horrifying visuals that go along with a good Berserk Form debut – the scene in this one with the burning Gaia Library? Iconic. A good Berserk Form goes a long way to deepening the stakes and characters of a show.

Fang Memory is designed for Philip, thus it can go berserk to the point of almost attacking Akiko while Arms Dopant holds her hostage, as Saeko noted, to protect Phillip/Raito at all costs, while Shotaro tries to restrain the volatile form with the Joker half. Props to W's suit actor Seiji Takaiwa to convey the 2-in-1, like making the Fang half of the body more aggressive compared to the Joker half. Shotaro notes that this is Philip's fear of using Fang, Philip would still have standard decency despite can be pragmatic due to his logical approach, and it's solved by finding Philip in the burning Gaia Library. I'd say the finisher is better than the likes of Metal Branding or Trigger Full Burst, albeit still don't live up to my expectations (expectation set when watching a video of Climax Heroes' finishers).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Let’s start with the second part first! A lot of time is spent over the last two episodes to eventually parallel Fuyumi’s need to risk her freedom to save Kenji from his hardcore Memory addiction, with basically everything going on with Philip, Shotaro, and the Fang Memory. Philip’s fear of losing control in an attempt to save Shotaro is given a counter in Fuyumi’s blind faith in Kenji’s salvation, and… man, I just don’t think this episode all the way gets there? The point is that it’s irrational that Fuyumi wants to save a dude who is completely around the bend, hopped up on USB drives that are drug metaphors, but it sort of doesn’t layer as cleanly on the Philip/Fang/Shotaro dynamic as it sort of needs to, in order to feel like less of someone saying some random thing to trigger Philip’s own problem-solving skills. Kenji never once in this entire story comes off as someone worth saving, or certainly someone who is conflicted AT ALL about mercilessly gunning down anyone and everyone who even looks at him funny. (Dude sets a death trap for laughs!) I don’t know if the takeaway for Philip should really be You Have To Be There For Your Partner Forever Even If They Start Gleefully Killing People And Also Do Not Want To Stop Doing Metaphors For Drugs. Like, I think it’s okay to cut some people out of your life if they are toxic and/or homicidal, but maybe that’s too nuanced of a story for a show designed to sell toys to Japanese children.

They portrayed Philip rejecting Fang Memory's temptation in parallel to Kurata giving in completely to Arms Memory's, and inviting Fuyumi to do the same. Twin Rose had full honor among thieves, that despite Kurata's change, Fuyumi still had faith in him, to get him back, despite it being irrational, with no reason other than she genuinely sees him as partner, and this inspires Phillip with his own partnership to Shotaro. This shows that you can learn from anyone, but doesn't mean those that can be used as lesson are necessarily good people either. Great moment for Akiko in the game, holding Shotaro with a rope to prevent him falling to the spikes, even getting her hands bloodied, which is also acknowledged by the Arms Dopant. Shotaro also still blames himself for putting them in this situation. What Philip learns here isn't about the partnership, but to act irrationally for once, forgoing planning, by using Fang Memory to henshin into W's mid-season upgrade, FangJoker, despite Shotaro's protests. Yeah, sometimes too much planning can also hinder for taking too long to take action, and here Philip takes the "half-boiled" approach.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Similarly, we really speedrun our way through the Fang story here, don’t we? Fang is introduced in the film as a cool powerup, nbd, and here it’s retconned (fairly, but still retconned) as a horrible violation of Philip’s self-control and autonomy. After that, we’re only a couple Refusal Of The Call scenes away from Philip risking permanent feral psychosis for a cosplay detective, and then a beautifully shot sequence of Shotaro Being There For Philip, and then no more Berserk Form. It feels… a little thin? I don’t know if this one needed to be a three-parter, or if we needed an earlier Fang appearance to really sell the danger (the movie did not help on this one!), or what, but even the conclusion to the story… I don’t know, it’s all a little quick for me. I’d hope for more than just I’m There For You Partner, since this sort of wasn’t ever really a story where Shotaro and Philip weren’t there for each other? Philip isn’t icing out Shotaro, and Shotaro isn’t refusing to work with Philip. There’s a sweetness to the way they’re both there for each other in the end – Philip, by using Fang to rescue Shotaro; Shotaro, by rescuing Philip from Fang – but it doesn’t really feel connected to their story over the last two episodes. It’s like the show was trying to fill in the blanks for Double’s story by pasting in the Fuyumi/Kenji stuff, but, again: not really similar dynamics!

Saeko forces Philip/Raito to return due to how he's a chosen one who can help those who have him have the world in their grasp. Philip now realizes he's being treated like a property, and views Saeko as a threat due to her expression. Now he can deduce others' expression. The role is reversed between Saeko and Wakana that now, the former's the one being happy while the latter's spacing out, with Saeko planning to get Philip/Raito back. Well this'd probably make Wakana happy too. Saeko had no qualms bursting out from her exploding 360 Modena to become Taboo Dopant, really rich.. it's lucky that W saves a child with HeatMetal in front of the cops including Jinno, allowing them to restore their names.