[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 47 - “THE REMAINING U - PHILIP’S CASE”

One of the first things I wrote in this thread was that W is really the story of Fuuto. While this two-parter is way more about Shotaro and Philip than anything else (like a hilariously masked Santa, ‘cause the actual actor definitely wasn’t at that party), the idea of Foundation X being outsider investors, with no feelings whatsoever for Fuuto, is pretty great to have at the end of this show. They don’t belong here, and that’s the biggest reason to fight them. They exist to profit off of their myriad strategies, but they don’t care which one is the most profitable. Where the Museum was woven into the fabric of Fuuto, and represented an aspect of it that Double couldn’t easily excise, Foundation X is here to be the slick, gentrifying outsiders that don’t care about the spirit of Fuuto, or the core identity of the superhero show it’s based in. They’re completely Not Wanted, so they make for appealing foes.

In this 2-parter, there are no victim of the week client, thus, Philip pretty much acts as the client here to ask them to save Wakana. Shroud has grown out of revenge, unlike Saeko who can't get even with Ryubee and Wakana anymore, but she's still alive, thus now she only confirms Shotaro humanized Raito who was only an entity of data and a reveal she hired Sokichi to save Shotaro. For Shotaro being a wild card, it's not all good though, as he screwed up Sokichi's plan to rescue Phillip, which eventually cost Sokichi his life, which he claims as his responsibility to save Philip, as a duty left to him by Sokichi. To make Philip's last moments a beautiful one, seems Akiko did it better and understand him better to celebrate Philip "going to school overseas" which made Philip smile. Shroud's explanation is confirmed as Philip admits that he was never interested in human relationships, refering himself as little devil for that, but due to Shotaro "bringing him to Fuuto", he now loves the city and the party participants there, getting cheers.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Like, what else could you do for a final W story than have Philip accept his imminent demise with grace and heroism, while Shotaro rages against both the cruelty of fate and the seeming-tranquility of Philip’s acceptance? A story where forming Double to save Wakana, Philip’s fondest wish, is the very thing that might kill Philip off for good? C’mon, that’s a hell of a hook for the last ride Shotaro may take with the devil.

Saeko ironically earns more similarity to Wakana, as now her attractiveness helps her to be well-known (as a bike racer), which sounds as if she can now battle with her sister's Healing Princess. About Wakana being a plot device, even Saeko feels like she's treated as a commodity by Kazu, as she protests that she can go anywhere she wants. Is it the series directly pointing out how Wakana is treated? The track she's racing in is Twin Ring Motegi... I wonder if the track is purposely chosen to fit the series theme; 2-in-1, and Motegi has a road course and an oval, making it a 2-in-1 track (like how the main Rider is 2-in-1), the reason of it getting a 'Twin' moniker.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

This whole thing… man, so much better than I remembered it. I love how heavy this one is with Team Double, and I honestly dug Kazu’s whole Nothing Personal take on corporatized armageddons. There’s always a chance that the conclusion lets me down, but this is off to a stellar start.

Kazu wants to eliminate everyone with low compartibility (and Kazu got 98%) to Gaia Memories to purify humanity, by turning Wakana into a data and installing her on one of Foundation X's satellites. Seems he has a survival of the fittest mentality (feels like Giff in Revice, though ofc Giff's hate is much more vocal). Kazu also only values clear strengths like power or intelligence, to only compliment Philip's insight when he calls out him treating Wakana as software. This is even exploited by Kazu as his consciousness synchronizes with Wakana's due to the foiled Gaia Impact, making his grief triggering something in Wakana as well. Thus Kazu finds a new solution to awaken Wakana, by provoking Phillip further such as killing Shotaro in front of him. Philip's humanity is portrayed as weakness here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

DIE-A MEMORIES

-While I’ve come around on Foundation X, it’s for sure in a So Bad It’s Good sort of way. I 100% do not think that Foundation X is here to represent the ways real estate investment groups hollow out the character of towns and cities, but at least it’s a hook that helps me care about their presence. They’re just a bland group that’s funding a bunch of projects without caring too much about any of them, which is maybe not the tone you want for your villains across multiple series? The Indifference Of Capital? It’s okay if the show can support it thematically (Geats, Zero-One, Ex-Aid… the stuff Takahashi likes to talk about, is what I’m saying), but W doesn’t really spend a ton of time on the soul of Fuuto, outside of Kirihiko’s storyline. And, shit, they’re already moving on to Medals, so that does not add a ton of heat to this Gaia Impact story!

Controversial here to compare W in a worse light than, something coming from Takahashi. Takahashi is a hack and should always be talked down - you can't talk about Wakana being treated as plot device, but of course you must constantly mock how degrading it is for Tsumuri to be hunted as the next Goddess. I guess ofc, Foundation X would be the W version of usual "KR has bland villains" albeit it's not the main force (though didn't expect you to show more appreciation on Kazu), but indeed the Sonozaki stuff hasn't ended yet (for the complains about it not satisfying before), even if Shotaro did save Phillip and foiled Ryubee, the latter still had a noticeable impact of the heroes, with Philip's current state due to Ryubee's plan before, as he enters the fountain. Ryubee's plan is likely to succeed via Kazu by re-activate Wakana's now-cellularly fused Claydoll Memory. And of course, Saeko, Wakana, and Shroud's status are still touched upon now, near their last moments.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

-Favorite touch, though, is that Kazu’s Henshin for the Utopia Dopant is him butterfingersing his Memory out of his hand, like he does with everything. Cute!

Kazu has an actually safe transformation, as Utopia's sheer power causes everyone around him to levitate and get pushed away. Utopia displays sort of like upgraded version of Weather's, Accel's arch enemy, and he's pitted against Accel as well, trapping him in a tornado with lightning. At least Utopia (who'd be another anticlimatic final boss) is stronger than Weather, as unlike with Weather, Utopia can keep up with Trial, and Utopia takes both Accel and Wakana skywards (bursting through the roof), using a brutal move on Accel, slamming him into one of the factory's steels, reverting him to base Accel. Utopia's overall power is ability to grant wishes and absorbing the aspirations and ambitions of others, and demonstrates it by setting Accel on fire, which continues even to Terui as human.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

You're right. Getting a full on blast of Terror's' ooze which is what causes the fear in the first place? Zero weight or progression in that. If only we'd had previous instances of seeing Dopant powers work that way. Like with with Old, then maybe it'd have some weight to it.

It's just his type of battle prowess. Dopants are varied in that. Many harms physically, either with physical force or by other stuff like burning them, but this one attacks mentally. Mentally harming someone so that they won't henshin can be more effective than fighting Kamen Rider W trying to get them to de-henshin.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Philip fears learning his past, but decides to do so and comes out handling it well enough thanks to the people he's grown bonds with. Kyoko fears what Terror Dad might do to her, but by sneaking into the compound she's what ultimately saves the day. And of course there's Shotaro, who despite being full of fear toxin is able to pull through, showcasing that, outside of his fear powers, Terror is ultimately just an old man who can't fight worth anything. And it's double great because, throughout the whole show, we've never actually seen Terror fight anyone directly. He's always just hit them with the ooze and teleported around. It's all a very fitting way to showcase what exactly courage is and how it can pay off, and I dug it a lot.

Far more than just Terror, generally many people in Kamen Rider are average joes granted power. Indeed some are fighters from the get-go or grow into one (e.g. some main Riders like Kouta), but many should be non-fighters throwing power around (e.g. many of MOTW Dopants are suddenly granted power too). Don't think monsters without sentiences (should be many, like Mirror Monsters) are those who can fight well either, they are just strong enough physically to be a threat. Having vast amount of power doesn't mean you're a good fighter and it applies to far more than just Terror (Terror Dragon can also count if it has separate consciousness).