[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 32 - “THE B BROUGHT BY THE WIND - NOW, AMIDST THE RADIANCE”



I love that W decided that at Episode 32 – 65% of the way through the series – to do an entire episode about What Is The Point Of Shotaro.

It’s honestly a fair topic of discussion, despite loving the character and performance. Philip’s the powerhouse of the team, after all, with his search engine brain and super-genius tech skills. Hell, the strongest Double form for the first 31 episodes was the one Philip piloted, not Shotaro. Add in the fact that the series-long Sonozaki plot lands entirely on Philip’s back, and it’s clear that Shotaro is the least necessary member of the partnership.

And even within the narrative… like, he’s maybe holding Philip back? And he’s maybe less good at this than Terui might be? It’s an ugly thought, but it’s hard not to be persuaded over the last two episodes that Shotaro is a delightful clown at best, and a bumbling amateur at worst – certainly no one that should be in the crosshairs of murderous Dopants and scheming criminals.

But, of course, that’s the point of this whole story. Shotaro’s here because he’s the guy that isn’t a superpowered genius; he’s here to add humanity to Philip’s god-level view of things. Shotaro’s value is in his empathy and commitment, two things born from his lack of innate value or strength. He has to work for his place in things, which means he’s never going to settle for what he’s currently capable of. His weakness isn’t in his lack of power, it’s in his lack of confidence. He folds because he doesn’t see his own worth, and recognizing his contribution is the final hurdle he needs to clear to meet Philip’s newfound evolution.

It’s a nice conclusion to Shotaro’s Worst Day, because it’s not at all about him gaining power or doing a training montage or whatever. There’s no sudden jolt of power that makes Shotaro into Philip’s equal, there’s just Shotaro being the partner that Philip needs him to be, no matter what it takes. It’s a climax that’s about finding a connection, and realizing that you sometimes have to work to make things stick around, but the first step is agreeing that the partnership shouldn’t end. That takes Philip acknowledging that Double is about more than being the most effective hero (boy, is it ever not about that!), it’s about what Philip and Shotaro bring to the table as a team. Effectiveness can be learned, chemistry can’t. Even Terui gets that!

And then there’s the Dopant story, which maybe loses some nuance in its escalation into There Are Two Of Them fight scenes and pyrotechnics (Zone Dopant is such a cool design), but still allows for a spectacular coda to Shotaro’s investigation by having him try and salvage Bitou’s faith in Bell – by getting her to confess and apologize, rather than Shotaro going to Bitou and breaking his heart – with the same amount of kindness that Sokichi practiced. It’s a conclusion to that plot that’s all about Shotaro being 100% the guy he thinks he’s pretending to be, which is as sweet a win as I think that guy could get.

This one’s a little less noir and a little more superhero, but collectively these two parts absolutely crushed it. Killer spotlight for Shotaro, one that managed to raise him up without ignoring his many hilarious defects. He’s the least necessary character on the show, and that’s why he’s the perfect star for it.

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DIE-A MEMORIES



-CycloneJokerXtreme!

-First off, I wonder if the Xtreme name came from the theme song, or the other way around. Like, did the song get commissioned, and the producers were like We Should Do An Xtreme Upgrade, or was Xtreme already planned and they had the songwriters focus on that?

-I really like the suit. Making the middle section a prismatic silver keeps the prominence on the Cyclone and Joker sections, while still providing a new color palette to play with. And I love how it uses Ws and Xs throughout the suit, in subtle ways: the W shoulderpads (not too big, even!), the X wrist and ankle guards, the way the W on the forehead splits into a W on top and then an X overall. It’s great, unobtrusive theming.

-Not a huge fan of Prism Bicker, though. I like the addition of a sword and shield, but that shield is so goddamn dinky. If it was even 25% bigger, I’d probably love it. As it is, it feels like nearly any blast is going to overpower it. It's like he's wielding the DX version, instead of the CSM version. Bigger Bicker, thanks!