[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 46 - “GREEED EIJI, DOUBLE BIRTHS, AND ANKH’S DESIRE”



So, let’s dispense with the Double Births part first, because it mostly exists in this episode as a thing the main plot can cut away to, in order better control the tension. The subplot here could’ve been Cous Coussier’s diminished staffing for an Italian Night menu (who will wear the Leaning Tower costume?!), or Kougami’s attempts at birthday cupcakes (he just starts crying uncontrollably), but instead, it’s the triumphant if strangely underplayed return of Date Akira.

Always a delight to see him, and I certainly feel an amount of pride at him supporting the Chicago Bears upon his heroic entrance. (The 2010 season was a pretty good one! 11-5, with a trip to the NFC Championship game! We definitely don’t need to talk about who the Bears lost to that kept them from going to the Super Bowl!) While I don’t want to downplay how good it feels to have Date show up in the nick of time to give Gotou a hand in defeating Gamel, it’s such a second place plot in this episode that I kind of can’t muster up more than a Welcome Back, before immediately thinking about other things.

Things like Ankh and Eiji.

This show’s yearlong focus on their complex relationship continues to captivate in its endgame, where the vague machinations of Maki’s insanity and the other Greeed’s dwindling numbers feel like minor details of some previous storyline compared to the massive weight and significance of the Eiji/Ankh conflict. There’s for sure clear and compelling stakes – The End Of The World, for one prominent and oft-referenced example – but those things are academic and barely hold attention, when there’s all of the emotional stuff between Ankh and Eiji coming to the surface.

Just like last time, it’s the Ankh portion that feels the most heartbreaking and frustrating. After episodes of dancing around the main point of contention for his friends, Ankh flat out asks Hina to let him keep Shingo’s body. It’s easily the most vulnerable Ankh’s ever been, and that vulnerability makes it even harder for Hina to tell him no. She has to, obviously – giving Shingo’s body over to Ankh is consigning Shingo to death. But telling Ankh no is also consigning Ankh to, at best, a shadow of a dream of an existence. It’s telling Ankh he doesn’t deserve the life he’s stumbled upon, because someone else deserves it more. Hina has a chance to save Ankh, to end the battle that’s destroying Eiji, but she can’t do it at the cost of her brother. The impossible position she’s put in is one of the best story decisions this show has ever made. Where another series would keep things laser-focused on Eiji and Ankh, this smarter, better show opens things up to let Hina face the same grueling, despairing decisions that the boys are facing. She’s in this, too, and the show never lets you forget it.

The Eiji side of things is great, if a little less grandiose and emotional for its continued inability to get Eiji out of the self-destructive rut the show has been highlighting over the last few episodes. But if it's (slightly) lesser than Ankh's story, it's still thrilling and touching in its own right. Having Eiji thank Ankh, mid-battle, for giving him a year to help people as Kamen Rider OOO is one of the best Eiji moments in a series replete with exceptional moments for that character. Even as Eiji is trying to save the world from the Greeed, even as he’s in a brawl with Ankh to regain the OOO Driver he needs to end Gamel’s rampage, he still empathizes with Ankh’s desperation to live. Having Eiji struggle with his Greeed identity in alternating scenes with Ankh’s acceptance of his need to live like the common people do, it’s another super smart thing this show does. The obvious symbolism is the Greeed arms they both share; the fun thematic stuff is in their criss-crossing levels of humanity.

(Speaking of symbols: boy, super big fan of how the show makes the Medal Holder such a prominent part of Ankh’s story here. The fact that it’s a gift that Hina made for Ankh – a thing someone gave him – is so smart in how it allows the narrative to loop Hina back in on all of this. Also, I love that in the beginning of the scene that establishes how much everyone has meant to Ankh in an attempt to evoke the audience’s sympathy, Ankh still leaves the fridge door open after getting his ice cream, because he was only thinking of himself. Some things will never change!!!)

I loved this episode. It’s a Feelings Fight on the beach, where Ankh’s refusal to surrender his existence runs up against Eiji’s inability to value his own. The way these two characters’ stories keep rhyming and commenting on each other as the series winds down… gosh, it’s really the best.