[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 35 - “DREAMS, A BROTHER, AND BIRTH’S SECRET”



AND BIRTH’S SECRET:
Let’s go back to this format, because this episode has three things in it that don’t super overlap yet, at least in a thematic sense. The most sort of random of the three is Date’s terminal case of Brain Bulletry, which has chosen this episode to make itself an immediate and deadly obstacle. (It sort of ties in with what’s going on with Ankh/Shingo, as a way of talking about how precarious everyone’s ability to contribute is becoming, but that feels like a bit of a stretch.) I like, as always, that Kougami completely doesn’t care about everyone’s ulterior motives and secret histories; on the contrary, he thinks they’re SPLENDID! or whatever. While Date fears losing access to Birth as the result of his, uh, lead poisoning, Kougami’s typically Do As Thou Wilt, As Long As It’s Weird. Kougami is as keen as I am on this show putting people in dramatic danger!

There’s not much for it yet – Date cops to it, and loses a couple fights to his encroaching brain death. We’re not really in a story that can make it a priority (see the next two sections), so it feels a little underserved here. It’s very much a Date/Gotou story that’s happening parallel to the rest of the episode, without ever quite feeling looped into it. (I don’t think Team OOO shares any non-battle dialogue with Team Birth this time out?) It’s an interesting plot, but it feels fairly dropped into this episode.

A BROTHER:
The bigger issue, in regards to health issues derailing the battle against the Greeed, is that Shingo is… getting better?

As ticking clocks go in this narrative, it’s easy to forget that Shingo’s basically inevitable recuperation will mean that Ankh gets evicted from his comatose (?) body, which will render him incredibly vulnerable to any number of former friends -slash- body parts that might wish him ill. Like, this is objectively a good thing for characters like Hina and, y’know, Shingo, while still being pretty bad for Ankh and Team OOO’s effectiveness in combatting the Greeed. It’s a great twist because it’s not a clear win. Hina definitely wants her brother back! But that means Ankh is pretty screwed, and Eiji probably along with him.

It’s a testament to how complex the relationships are in this episode, that A Guy Survives A Car Accident And Possession is a plot point that sets up a tense cliffhanger. There’s so much going on between Uva, Kazari, Maki, Ankh Lost, Hina, Eiji, and Ankh that we’re kind of rooting for and against everybody. I felt most connected to Kazari this time out, since he was more intrigued about everyone’s weird plans than he was about protecting himself, so he “lost” a bunch of Mezool and Gamel’s Medals to Uva, just to see if Uva could actually resurrect them. (I genuinely loved how broad and theatrical Kazari was with his whole WHOOPS I Guess I’ll Go thing at the park, as he shows up just long enough to take one hit and cough up four Core Medals. I almost wish he’d just flung the Medals at Uva’s head, Faiz Accel style.) This is an episode with a million moving parts that leverages all of the various character work done in the first 34 episodes, and it works like a dream.

DREAMS:
Speaking of!

One of the more interesting things from this episode is how it talked about the difference between Desire and Dreams. A desire could be something like Food, or Fighting, or Friendship – not just F words, but also not not just F words. Desire is maybe something that can’t ever really be quenched, and just has to be managed through your life. There’s no endpoint for desire, beyond irrevocable trauma during a civil war, and even that isn’t a sure thing. But a dream? A dream’s just a goal, and you can achieve a goal. Winning a race, having a hit record… this stuff is what you work toward, and maybe one day you get it. It’s something you can reach out and grab.

I honestly don’t remember if we’ve heard of Hina’s fashion industry dreams before? I imagine we have, but it didn’t matter more than just tiny character details whenever it might’ve popped up. (I don’t recall any plots hingeing on Hina’s knowledge or love of fashion?) Having her dream of a career in fashion come up against her reluctance to leave Shingo, and then have that dream maybe destroyed in a way that resurrects Shingo, knowing that said resurrection is probably Game Over for Ankh and a huge setback for Eiji… good way to talk about the power of dreams, and how the pursuit of them can lead you into weird places!

Really, though, it’s nice just to have a little conversation between Eiji and Hina about pursuing dreams. It’s just a cute scene. I like how the two of them, outside the constant danger of the Greeed, can talk about how their lives are standing still, and how that’s maybe something that needs to stop soon. Hina’s reluctant to pursue a dream that could take her away from Shingo, while Eiji’s reluctant to decide on a dream that might crush him again. (Look at how fast he changes the topic when Hina brings it up!)

Super stuffed episode of OOO, and not all of it felt like it was part of the same story, but I have zero complaints. Excellent episode!