[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 22 - “CHOCOLATE, CONVICTION, AND THE POWER OF JUSTICE”



More than anything, man, what a visually impressive episode this was.

Every beat of the story feels plussed by the direction, whether it's adding a surreal overlay to Kanbayashi’s Yummy-assisted mission of vengeance, or a melancholy grounding to Eiji’s fears that unchecked righteousness can end in bloodshed. (Sort of makes sense that the guy whose origin is based on the consequences of a civil war would maybe not feel super great about people lashing out in the name of what they think is right!) The camera moves never feel showy, either – the way the Grasshopper Yummy keeps appearing from inside the frame is all about how it’s the conscious manifestation of Kanbayashi’s desire, always with him, not some hidden aspect that’s been weaponized against his will… as well as just being the coolest shot ever. Whole episode is just incredibly fun to look at.

The story itself… sort of a mixed bag for me?

I liked the Eiji part the most, probably. Him having to explain to a guy that doing the small things reliably is better than doing the big things eventually is a nice little Eiji-specific message. It values less ostentatious things like, uh, not abandoning your family for an indefinite amount of time. (I liked this story despite Kanbayashi’s plot being sort of a weirdly typical story about Dads Abandoning Their Families, which is kind of a horrifying recurring plot in Kamen Rider stories. But at least he’s not just randomly dead before this story even begins?) Eiji stories are at their best for me when he saves the day by clumsily imparting his authentic advice to someone, rather than suiting up as OOO for a pyrotechnic finish. Again, it’s just doing the small bit of good that’s right in front of you, rather than saving it all up for some heroic battle.

Meanwhile, we’ve got the Takashi/Gotou stuff, and I just… I sort of can’t ever really get inside Gotou’s head? I’ve harped on this before, but the actor just really doesn’t do it for me. I can’t tell if it’s his limitations as a performer – being unable to portray the mixture of Determined and Lost that the story has him in – or if he’s just making choices in the scenes that I don’t think match the energy of the show. (Like, I don’t know if Gotou is an Asaya Kimijima problem, or a Kamen Rider OOO problem.)

But this one kind of fell apart for me in that final Takashi scene. The idea of staying true to your desire no matter what is a good one… when it’s something relatable like Hoping Your Dad Comes Home. That’s cool! That is exactly where you want to be emotionally, instead of thinking too big about how to force your dad to come home by punishing evildoers -slash- litterbugs. Letting that mirror Gotou’s growing realization that it’s not his job to save the world by himself – instead, letting him work alongside everyone else to achieve more – is a very interesting way to dovetail both plots, but it just… I don’t know, it didn’t fully land for me. Gotou’s idea of Saving The World still feels hopelessly childish to me, and more in line with the tragedy of Kanbayashi than the wide-eyed belief of Takashi. Gotou’s thing is weird! It’s weird for him to want it, and I don’t know that the character has me on his side the way the show assumes.

Other than that (which I’m totally admitting is more about my enjoyment of a performance than it is an indictment of the story), I liked this one a lot. The direction is faultless, the Eiji/Kanbayashi stuff totally clicks, and all of the Date/Gotou stuff gets me closer to caring about Gotou than I’ve ever been before. Solid conclusion to a great story!