[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 9 - “SOAKING WET, THE PAST, AND THE BLAZING COMBO”



SOAKING WET:
Watery explosions, shark Yummies that glide through concrete, a climactic battle in a river… you bet we are in a Mezool plot!

I say that, but the Mezool part of things is pretty minimal? The seeding of the Yummy nest happens before the episode starts, her first appearance is at the midpoint as she’s killing time with Gamel and Uva, and her involvement at the end of the episode is quickly truncated by the debut of Latorata/Ratorata (you do you). This isn’t really a story about her subject yet, and it’s definitely not a story about her.

THE PAST:
It’s a story about Eiji’s Tragic Past, and it’s a good one.

It’s so refreshing, the way this show never lets you get tired of inevitable reveals or whatever. It’s never precious with story, and I love that. Any other show would’ve let the mysterious Doll Man slink off as a cliffhanger, but this show adds a final scene where he’s named as Dr. Maki, and introduced as the head designer of Kougami’s Medal System. They just tell you! Right away!

And it’s the same way with Eiji’s frequent flashbacks about a crying child in a war zone, or how he knows that a bomb’s been set off. Hina clocks the second one two scenes later, in case you missed it, and the first one hasn’t really been beating us over the head. But we’re a fifth of the way through the series, so why not give us a little more background on Eiji?

It explains everything about his need to help people, that time where he could only reach out. Eiji’s guilt is a huge motivation for him, but his heroism is in how he didn’t let it crush him, or darken him, or see any futility in only being able to reach out a hand. Even when he’s clearly trapped in his flashback around Hina, he quickly recovers and finds that old Eiji charm to put her at ease. It’s sad, that he has to do that, but sort of sweet that he can still find it in himself. He’s clearly still grappling with a lot, and masking, but there’s a logic to it all that’s built around trying to be there for people.

AND THE BLAZING COMBO:
Plus, he can turn into a blazing cat hero!

First full appearance of Latorata/Ratorata (you do you), and it’s as brief as it is dazzling. This isn’t the climax of the story, it’s the midpoint, so trotting out Cat Combo feels a little less astonishing than The Ultimate Combo. OOO uses it to defeat one (1) Yummy, and fend off two relatively low-powered Greeed. It’s not exactly as though his back was against the wall; it all just felt sort of Well He’s Got A Combo So. It’s a good combo! I really like it! But its presence here is sort of the negative side of what I was talking about earlier – I’d’ve maybe saved this one until it felt more vital?

(I mean, Eiji passes out from the strain afterwards, so the show is trying to make the point that it was dumb for him to go to Cat Combo so recklessly, but there’s no actual consequences, so I’m going to stick with thinking they could’ve held it off until Episode 10.)

I like it a lot, that suit. The gradated yellow against the solid black gives it some character, and the big claws getting flipped out as weapons is exciting. The big shiny head being a big shiny weapon is another deft touch, and I like that it sells this Combo as being powerful.

It’s a good suit! But it’s not the best Cat thing in this episode!