[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OUTSIDERS EPISODE 2 - “PROPHECY OF DESTRUCTION AND DESAST’S AWAKENING”



RIDE PLAYER NICO!!! Five-star episode, no notes, A+++.

If we don’t factor Nico in, though: Nonsense. Glorious, wonderful nonsense.

I genuinely don’t even understand the sides in this story, and I can’t tell if that’s brilliantly staying on-theme or just this show’s regularly haphazard approach to narrative. Horobi and Nico are on one side (for Zein?), while Ark is on a different side (against Zein?), and Foundation X is on one of those sides – but I can’t tell which one. Also, there’s everyone from Episode 0, who I think are on the Anti-Zein side, but maybe not. It’s all just a mish-mash of psychopaths and zealots, and I’m enjoying it probably twice as much as I’m understanding it.

Like, you’ve pretty much already got me sitting forward in my chair when I get to say the words Kamen Rider Desast, you know? Love that! Love everything about that! The road to get there is a little less polished and thoughtful than his arc with Ren on Saber – not sure we needed Ren’s Kagerou; this episode sort of misunderstands the reason Ren fought Desast to the death originally – but there’s still plenty to like about a story that wants to talk about Next Chapters, and does it with Saber guys.

Desast gets brought back to a life he never liked, outside of dueling with Ren, so he just goes right back to doing that. Meanwhile, Ren trained to prevent an apocalypse, prevented an apocalypse, and just kept training. It’s pathetic, for both of them, and they sort of realize that. Getting to watch two of the most historically non-introspective Saber characters try and sort out their lack of ambition, and reframe it to be a way of pushing each other forward… I like that. I like that this frequently dumb, regularly impenetrable show about All Of The Toys wanted to do a follow-up story that’s about how hard it is for us to consider new starts in our lives. It helps when we embrace that change and create a new version of ourselves, just like Desast learned.

Beyond that compelling and brisk story, it’s a lot more of the weirdly amorphous apocalypse-prevention stuff that I can’t really get a handle on. (Zein wants worlds to combine? Or not combine? But they’ve already combined? Or could combine worse somehow in the future?) Except I pretty much could not care less about the plot, because NICO IS BACK, and that’s all that matters. I’m sure I’d heard about it a year ago, but I’d thankfully forgotten, so I got to shout HOLY SHIT NICO IS BACK at my monitor as soon as she stepped in front of Horobi. (Also, Horobi’s back, but that’s just okay.) My favorite Ex-Aid character, back after FIVE YEARS – broke my heart that Nico Snipe couldn’t show up for Girls Remix – buys a whole lot of goodwill from me.

NICO! BACK! I can’t wait for Episode 3!!!