[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 17 - “FAREWELL TO N - THE MEMORY KIDS”



Kirihiko! What is there not to love about this principled Wife Guy doofus?

He’s the perfect foil for Shotaro. Kirihiko’s as image-obsessed as Shotaro, but in a more refined and dignified way. Kirihiko loves Fuuto like Shotaro does, and he even designed the town’s mascot. He cares about Fuuto, but in a way that prioritizes a potential glorious future over a chaotic and violent present. He’s a Shotaro that didn’t have the steady hand of Sokichi to guide him.

It makes for a fun secondary plot to this Afterschool Special of an episode, where Shotaro and Akiko attempt to reach a group of wayward youths who are hooked on USB drives that are drug metaphors. There’s not much to the angle besides the joke of Shotaro acting like he’s 60-years old all of a sudden – there’s not much to Touma than the panic of writers in 30s and 40s who can’t connect with teens, and Akane's currently just, like, Going Through A Phase. It’s not an episode that really builds out its mystery plot with a ton of nuance or specificity. (Like, Team Double is only a single Queen & Elizabeth guest appearance away from completely getting to the bottom of Akane's disappearance.)

But it does form an interesting idea of how you can care about something, but be so distanced from it that you don’t understand it. Kirihiko loves Fuuto, but his marriage to Saeko (and overall striver ethos) make him see Fuuto less as a collection of lives and more as a balance sheet, to be managed and eventually cashed out. It’s the same with Shotaro and Akane, where he just assumes she’s going to be a sweet kid forever, instead of growing into a complicated teenager.

I don’t know if it’s an idea that, y’know, goes anywhere this time, though. Kirihiko’s concerned that kids are getting Gaia Memories, instead of the usual cautionary tale scumbags and lunatics, and Saeko barely tries to even mollify him with assurances that it’s being looked into. (I appreciate her not just laughing in his face, like she clearly meant to.) But it’s not really a story that does more than allow for some character growth to be applied later to Kirihiko. We’re clearly setting up to a breaking point for Kirihiko, but this episode is all setup for that moment.

It’s an intermittently enjoyable episode, though. The Memory Kids stuff is vague and uninteresting, but Kirhiko’s spotlight is entertaining and offbeat enough to make up for it. I love how much him and Shotaro could be best friends, if it weren’t for the whole Drug Metaphor Kingpin thing.

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DIE-A MEMORIES



-What’s that? A handsome, effective detective rookie is coming to town? What a normal thing to talk about as a scene begins! (I kid, I kid. As far as teases go, this one’s barely obtrusive.)

-The whole Fang subplot in this one is peak W for me. It’s goofy, colorful, and eventually completely awesome. And it ends with a definitive Akiko Can’t Catch gag!