[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 38 - “VISITOR X - IN THE NAME OF THE MUSEUM”

This was an episode that was largely about moving pieces around, and providing crucial character information, but I think I more appreciated how it tried to maintain a consistent theme beneath all of those revelations.

Like, I dug that everything came down to that Sokichi quote about the peril of indecision, and how not making a decision is probably worse than making a bad decision. Philip, Wakana, and Neurotaki are all characters that want to have everything, and can’t quite bring themselves to… Wait, no. I don’t– I don’t really think that theme carries across like I want it to.

Philip is so upset that he stayed up all night, as Akiko wants to take photos again, but due to familial-like bond (against Philip's family issues) between the main trio, which convinces Shotaro and shortly after Phillip. Not waiting for Terui too? Akiko only sees Wakana as one of the evil Sonozakis to convince him not leaving, but Shotaro implements Sokichi's teaching about 80% of man's job is being decisive. Finally brought up again from very early part of the series in ep. 4 (Philip's freezing at 'family' word, treating Shotaro and Akiko as substitutes), Philip does treat the other 2 like a family, but it's also Wakana asking him, thus he's still indecisive... earning a slipper smack from Akiko (hope it's intended as a get a hold of yourself technique for his blabbering around), so they decide to take Philip to Fuuto Station.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Philip’s story is definitely about indecision. He doesn’t want to abandon his friends, but he can’t leave Wakana when she’s so scared and vulnerable. He needs to get off the fence, even if it means making a drastic change to his life. But the other two characters? Wakana and Neurotaki? They know exactly what they want: to escape from the danger of the Museum. They’re stymied – Neurotaki, by a Dopant assassin; Wakana, by her and Philip forgetting that cell phones are a thing – but they begin this story with a clear and actionable objective. Hell, Neurotaki actually gets what he wants, by seeing that his family got by fine without him! I wish this thing was held together by a common theme, but it really isn’t.

Neurotaki? Is that Yamashiro? About said family, the son's name as Tsubasa and the mom's name as Yoko, but unfortunately Grasshopper Woman appears beside him. Ironically, Yoko would be the name of Grasshopper Woman's next acting in Kamen Rider. Yamashiro admits his actions and claims he erased the memory about Philip's family. Shotaro continues the question to Yamashiro regarding being forced to work, where it's actually Yamashiro being tempted to Ryubee's funding and resources. Philip just asks him again if Yamashiro knows his family, which he doesn't as he didn't touch the specifics. I guess Philip being mostly logical leads him to straightly ask the needed information instead of doing 'unnecessary' retribution to him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And that’s the big reveal of the episode: Philip is the son of Ryuube, and the brother to Wakana and Saeko. As I’ve watched this show before, I can’t pretend it was some bombshell, but I appreciated how it was quickly digested by the team and allowed to impact the unfolding adventure. This wasn’t some cliffhanger swerve, it was a data point that helped add weight to an immediate dilemma. I like when that happens!

Indeed, Philip is Raito and the Wakana's comforting little brother he referred as. So Phillip and Wakana being comfortable with each other isn't an incest build up... but an actual family bond build-up, even the show didn't intend to use it as shipping. With Nobody's Perfect playing once more, Phillip's decision is clear now, to be together with Wakana at the outside of the city. Shotaro only warns about his path being difficult one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

On a rewatch, I feel like I can be a little more generous to what the show’s doing with Wakana. Her leaving wasn’t a Kirihiko-style morality clause, where the reality of what the Museum is up to became a line he couldn’t cross. She’s running away from home because she’s scared of her dad. She’s seen what’s happening to Saeko, and feels like she’ll be next. That’s it. She’s a scared child, and she’s trying to run away from her problems. (I mean, reasonably so! Definitely feels like a good reason to leave town forever!) Once Ryuube explains her importance, and plays to her ego and need for safety, it makes sense that she’d choose to stay at home. He only needed to stop creeping her out, and she’s inevitably going to stay where it’s comfortable.

Otherwise, here's finally revealed what are the Sonozaki's (supposed to be) up to, feeling that the Museum caretakers hold a big responsibility for the world as the planet's fate rests on them, thus Wakana cannot be 'selfish' anymore. So Ryubee got a sense of being a well-intentioned extremist in his Museum control for the planet's sake, though of course it won't justify the means to achieve that. And now, Saeko had lost everything. The cold, ruthless, and manipulative villain is finally, broken by circumstance, but the audience being satisfied or not depends on their view (Saeko brought this to herself though), albeit Kazu offers a chance for her to rise back, but she's turning into his servant. Another crushing position for someone's usually dominant like using Kirihiko as her lapdog... including him taking her family surname.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Where I have not grown more generous to what the show’s doing with Wakana is how she immediately tries to kill Philip. It’s such a gigantic change to her character from the last EVERY EPISODE that I don’t think the show can possibly come up with a reason why she wouldn’t be slightly more sensitive to Philip’s predicament. (There’s maybe a read on it where she’s angry that Philip never showed up at the train station, but neither of them ever mention it, and it’s not like she joined Ryuube out of spite.) I get that Wakana’s all in on being the main Museum heavy, but I feel like there could’ve been a bit more nuance to her change. Although, it’d arguably be out of character for this show to provide any nuance to a change in Wakana’s portrayal, so maybe I should at least be applauding their consistency.

I agree for this, where though yes as Akiko said she's one of the evil Sonozakis, this kinda feels 180 from setting her as different from others after Philip got through her like saving Kirihiko (though I also thought Wakana's keeping Philip to herself before too, to selfishly take him away regardless of others who also value him), as she's clad in an all-black outfit, and underwent a personality change, calling Phillip Raito and tried to kill him as Claydoll. Philip calls Shotaro to henshin, and due to Philip alone being there, FangJoker returns. The only explanation she gives to them is that she understands her duty and Raito should do as well. The woman in black then insists the man in white a.k.a Kazu to talk to her instead of Ryubee for business needs. Another emotionally devastating moment for Phillip, though that'd mean Philip surely stays with the main cast.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

DIE-A MEMORIES

-I cannot believe that we still need to have Jinno and Makura knocked out before anyone can Henshin, but, hey – at least we get Jinno AND Makura again!

Makura throws his weight around against a powerless suspect by yelling. He's not nearly as cool as he thinks however, as Jinno sends him to buy tea. And after this, Yamashiro actually talks, where he was kidnapped in his son's 7th birthday, but he abandoned his family for research, thus now he wants to apologize but he feels he had no right to see them. So despite Jinno being a joke at times, he's still more sensible than Makura, and again, a showing about how mean and strict ways don't always work if you want to get something out of someone, contrary to the belief of how success can only succeed if they're built in strictness, meanness, harshness, etc. It can instead make others less likely to listen to you, shown in Yamashiro only talking when the yelling Makura's out of the scene. And second time Jinno got beaten up by another female "cop" (disguised Grasshopper) using kicks, and being choked with her thigh as she changes into Hopper.