[DreamSword]

Won't lie, I don't have high hopes for this two-parter, as it deals with subject matter that I super don't care for ontop of being incredibly cliche in how it's handled at that. The fight at the end was cool atleast? And the omakes after the credits are always fun.

[Frontier]

Terui! And he's busting up thugs like the trash they are without needing to transform! What a way to introduce our Second Rider!

It's so surreal hearing Makoto Furukawa as Terui. Like, it's Tada Banri and Miyuki Shirogane voicing Kamen Rider Accel of all people!

He said the line! Though I prefer when it's translated as "Don't Ask Me Questions!"

Philip is taking over the investigation and catching Meganeura, who turns out to be a violent and mean gamer whose handle is Murder who has it out for Megu because she beat him (even when he was using more modern controls and cheats) in a game with her character. What a jerk.

I love how Monako threw in there that Shotaro was "pretentious." Like, she's not wrong, but the dude just got himself severely hurt trying to protect you.

Tokime is beating herself up enough over what happened, she doesn't need Philip treating her like she's barely more useful than air.

So Aurora Dopant, or Bando, is trying to create a society of evolved Dopants? And he's using Meganeura as a test run? I guess he and his group aren't your average crime family.

Monako doesn't want to be Megu again, but Shotaro will fight any injury if it means giving an inspiration pep talk and having someone realize the truth about themselves...which in Monako's case is that, while she doesn't love being Megu, she loves making the fans happy. And that's enough reason for her to become Megu. And I love how Tokime looks like she could listen to Shotaro talk all day and then Shotaro collapses from his injuries again.

Akiko finally puts it to words that Philip is just jealous of how close Shotaro and Tokime are, because Shotaro is his partner, and Akiko is more than happy to educate Philip on the existence of BL.

Tokime notices how obviously suspicious Maji-P is...but it turns out he was so obvious intentionally, because the real conspirator is actually the head of Megu's makeup team who resented her for having so much success despite not enjoying it, while she never got her big break. So she enlisted Murder for a revenge plot. Such a petty and cruel reason to attack Megu, but the way she breaks down shows that she realizes the weight of her crimes.

So we've got a Megu changing scene where she takes her shirt off and we get to see her in a bra, and we've got Meganuera's drones ripping Tokime's top and basically exposing her boobs for all too see. This really is the most boobs in a single Kamen Rider show I have ever seen.

Tokime isn't about to fail this time, and she manages to free Megu from Meganuera even when he drags her into the sky! Although right when Meganeura is about to finish them off...Fang shows up to save both ladies and herald the arrival of Philip as FangJoker to finish Meganeura off in the next episode! Can't wait!

Radio personality Tokime! She's surprisingly good at it, and she gets a direct question to Terui about whether he counts as a Kamen Rider when he transforms into a bike rather than rides on...which gets the response you'd all expect.

[SPLIT LIP]

Hell yeah, FangJoker! Hopefully we get to see the actual transformation next week.

Not sure how I feel about the resolution between Tokime and Philip... mostly because Philip was absolutely right. Tokime is just a random girl who showed up, got slotted into their dynamic, and then royally screws up at the worst time. She doesn't actually do anything, either. I would be a bit more sympathetic if she didn't then snap back at Philip with a nonsensical retort. Philip was fighting as W, all Tokime had to do was not leave the client alone. She doesn't really have a case, yet manages to get sympathy and an apology for basically nothing. It's good that she tried to save Megu but it felt very ham-fisted. I recall her being similarly flat and purposeless in the manga and that hadn't changed by the time I reached the end of the fanlations. She's really just there for fanservice and causing somewhat pointless drama.

Then again it does make Philip come across as an even bigger person that he acknowledged his jealously, processed it, and was man enough to apologize. It's reminding me why I love post-series content like this. Philip has matured emotionally, and while he's not exactly what you'd call "normal," he's lacking the arrogance he once had and is committed to his job and his partner enough to set aside any personal feelings. I don't feel like early or mid-series Philip would be this self-aware and humble.

Also finally we see Terui Ryu and... they didn't even try to get a VA who sounds like him. Still, he rocks, and I'm with Akiko on watching him shoot the bugs. Due to my hazy memories of the manga I didn't expect Fang at the end and thought it might be Accel but oh well. I do know Terui gets time to shine later on.

The villain was also something I forgot. I'm actually surprised how not mean-spirited this take on an angry gamer is. Not as risen up/bottom text as I expected. He's not pitiable because he's a gamer, he's just an asshole and his chosen outlet is never called into question. Megu never had to say "they leveled up." (shoutout to circa 2010 SVU and it's sophisticated accuracy in regards to human interaction) He's still less of a douchebag than LTG though so he's got that going for him.

[Frontier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

Hell yeah, FangJoker! Hopefully we get to see the actual transformation next week.

Not sure how I feel about the resolution between Tokime and Philip... mostly because Philip was absolutely right. Tokime is just a random girl who showed up, got slotted into their dynamic, and then royally screws up at the worst time. She doesn't actually do anything, either. I would be a bit more sympathetic if she didn't then snap back at Philip with a nonsensical retort. Philip was fighting as W, all Tokime had to do was not leave the client alone. She doesn't really have a case, yet manages to get sympathy and an apology for basically nothing. It's good that she tried to save Megu but it felt very ham-fisted. I recall her being similarly flat and purposeless in the manga and that hadn't changed by the time I reached the end of the fanlations. She's really just there for fanservice and causing somewhat pointless drama.

Then again it does make Philip come across as an even bigger person that he acknowledged his jealously, processed it, and was man enough to apologize. It's reminding me why I love post-series content like this. Philip has matured emotionally, and while he's not exactly what you'd call "normal," he's lacking the arrogance he once had and is committed to his job and his partner enough to set aside any personal feelings. I don't feel like early or mid-series Philip would be this self-aware and humble.

Also finally we see Terui Ryu and... they didn't even try to get a VA who sounds like him. Still, he rocks, and I'm with Akiko on watching him shoot the bugs. Due to my hazy memories of the manga I didn't expect Fang at the end and thought it might be Accel but oh well. I do know Terui gets time to shine later on.

The villain was also something I forgot. I'm actually surprised how not mean-spirited this take on an angry gamer is. Not as risen up/bottom text as I expected. He's not pitiable because he's a gamer, he's just an asshole and his chosen outlet is never called into question. Megu never had to say "they leveled up." (shoutout to circa 2010 SVU and it's sophisticated accuracy in regards to human interaction) He's still less of a douchebag than LTG though so he's got that going for him.

To be fair, I don't think it was 100% her fault. It seems like either something about Meganeura or Aurora forced her into a trance so she couldn't control herself, and we see here when she's actually able to be active she managed to nab the second culprit and free Megu from Meganeura...they of course still needed W to show up other wise this wouldn't be much of a Kamen Rider show.

It feels like she's really trying hard now to live up to the faith Shotaro has placed in her and her new identity as his assistant.

[DreamSword]

...So in other words, he did exactly what is expected of competitive fighting game players, and considering he strategy was easily defeated, it's clearly not as much of an unfair advantage as what the episode tries to make it out to be.

Add to that the continued idol cliches and how Tokime really did not have a case(we as the audience know the situation wasn't her fault, but the cast sure as heck wouldn't), and yeah, I still just can't get into this one.

And I guess the anime is gonna be all three-parters now? I'm fine with that, since the pacing itself hasn't been bad so far. Was also a bit disappointed in the FangJoker Henshin, but maybe it'll be improved next episode.

[Kurona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

...So in other words, he did exactly what is expected of competitive fighting game players, and considering he strategy was easily defeated, it's clearly not as much of an unfair advantage as what the episode tries to make it out to be.

Usually this would annoy me, but this is also coupled with them saying he literally changed the game's code which is the much more important factor (how that actually works when it's not his console or even game is beyond me but alright), and... it seems to be playing on the idea that yeah it's fine but it's cheap? Like just considered a really lame exploit, coupled with how he was acting like a big shot

[SPLIT LIP]

Yeah I took it more as "he's a cheater who is also generally a cheap player and obnoxious turd all around," rather than accusing him of poor sportsmanship purely for using exploits.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

Usually this would annoy me, but this is also coupled with them saying he literally changed the game's code which is the much more important factor (how that actually works when it's not his console or even game is beyond me but alright), and... it seems to be playing on the idea that yeah it's fine but it's cheap? Like just considered a really lame exploit, coupled with how he was acting like a big shot

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

Yeah I took it more as "he's a cheater who is also generally a cheap player and obnoxious turd all around," rather than accusing him of poor sportsmanship purely for using exploits.

Fair enough, though I feel that, if they really wanted to emphasize the cheater aspect, maybe lead off with that in the accusations? Plus, if he really did somehow modify a game/console that wasn't his own to begin with... he's really bad at it considering he still lost. The accusation loses alot of weight due to that. If anything the accusation of being a cheapskate would be more true of Ms. Idol, considering she oneshots him during the fight.

[Daikaijuman54]

Terui! Enough said.

Yeah, I was kind of hoping the case would get more interesting this episode, but alas, not really. We got some nice moments here and there, and some Villain Background for Bando, but the case is kind of whatever. Though it does kind of fit the Phillip arc with Tokime in a way, so I guess it has that going for it. But hey, it can always surprise on the last episode, not that I mind one way or the other, since I'm not an idol fan anyway.

We're getting FangJoker in the next episode, whoooo! Also, do not mind Terui's voice, again, these voices kind of work as older versions of the cast, which I appreciate.

And then there's a cute little radio show segment with Tokime (are you from the future?) interviewing Terui on one of the most darndest questions yet. Love how the Road Dopant is now a recurring character.

[SPLIT LIP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Plus, if he really did somehow modify a game/console that wasn't his own to begin with... he's really bad at it considering he still lost.

That would explain why he was so pissed.

Though given we're not told what he did to cheat it could've been something like "gave himself extra health" or something not obviously game-breaking. Cheaters don't always make it obvious how they're cheating, especially if it's going to be live and they're pretending not to.

Reminds me of how Elden Ring's PvP was inundated with cheap bleed builds and PC players modding the physick to give multiple buffs but would still get stomped by actual good players. (y'know, before PvP died)