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#11 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 11,354
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The show gave me a lot of "never lose hope" vibes and I think it's great that the showrunners went with it, definitely a positive message to instill to viewers if that was what they intended. Magical Girl Beast antics aside (the major aspect I love about this show), I really felt that was what they intended when the three Kamen Rider Mages overcame their despair and got a hold of the power to fight against the Phantoms.
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![]() Last edited by Sunred; 12-31-2024 at 09:38 PM.. |
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#12 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,953
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Episode 2 -- "I Want to Be a Wizard"
It's interesting to note that the next two episodes are the only two in the series to have two credited writers. Naturally, Tsuyoshi Kida continues on from the first episode, but he's also joined here by Junko Koumura, writing her very first episodes of Kamen Rider. Koumura, the way I've heard it told, was for all intents and purposes just as much the "main" writer for Wizard as Kida was. While I don't know enough to say if she had any more or less influence on things like the overall direction of the story, I understand Kida's schedule was rather tight at the time, which would certainly line up with the fact that, counting these two, Koumura ended up writing a whopping 22 episodes of this show. I'd like to speculate about why this particular story ended up being a more active collaborative effort, but even though I have a couple theories, I don't have much concrete info to make that anything more than aimless guessing, so there's not much point. Regardless, after a brief bit of recap narration, this one starts with a visit to our heroes' antique shop home for the series, Omokagedo. ![]() Another one of those tiny joys of Wizard I have to mention: having the Machine Winger chilling in a lot of the establishing shots of this place. Super easy and effective way to create that instant visual impression that this is Kamen Rider's home, and lets the bike contribute something to an episode without even needing the engine on. The choice of an antique shop is also rather on point? It's another one of those thematic things. Antiques are things that are old, of course, so it kinda vaguely fits in with the idea of a hero using the ancient power of sorcery or whatever, but more than that, there's often an aspect of sentimental value to them, and the idea of things from the past people want to hold on to is all over the storytelling in Wizard. It's also just a nicely warm setting that's perfect to come back to and rest up after a hard day fighting bad guys, and that's exactly what Haruto is doing in the opening scene here, which both starts and ends with him sleeping. Starting that way to emphasize that magic for Haruto uses energy in much the same way physical activity does, and ending that way to emphasize that the powers of Wajima's new rings are a mystery right up until they're first used. It's a simple expository scene since the show is still establishing the world, but I'm a sucker for doing cute things with narrative structure, so having that whole bookends deal going on elevates it a lot for me, almost like it's some little skit in its own right, even if that's definitely overselling it. This is also where we first get the usual opening sequence, so I'll go ahead and talk about that now. ![]() The introductory narration and the associated visuals are real classy. It makes Haruto seem like a big deal, and through considered word choice, manages to condense a lot of important information about Wizard into a speech no longer than this sentence. Makes me a little envious, honestly! The opening proper is also up to a high standard. Life is SHOW TIME is an infectiously upbeat tune, bringing the cheer the way Wizard brings hope, with lyrics by Shouko Fujibayashi that incorporate a lot of relevant imagery for the series, and still find room to touch on more layers of the story without sacrificing the positive vibes. I'm probably not done directly referencing those lyrics in this thread, either, which says a lot about how well they fit. With the occasional exception, the director of the first episodes of a Rider show is also responsible for the visuals of the opening, and I find Nakazawa has exceptional talent in that department. Even just talking about Wizard, there's a fantastic tempo to the cuts, with every image being held for exactly the right amount of time, and all of those shots are very appealing visually. What really bumps him up to that top tier though is that those gorgeous and well-cut shots are also frequently very meaningful. ![]() Take, for example, the motif going on at the start where Haruto and Koyomi are put against a blur of urban commotion, isolating them from normal life because that isn't the world they're a part of anymore. Supporting this idea, in that same series of shots, Rinko and Shunpei are pulled out of that blur to join the two of them, because unlike Haruto and Koyomi, they're ultimately ordinary people who simply happen to get involved. And there's still more going on even in just those shots! But as much as I'd like to continue raving about how well Nakazawa condensed the broad concepts of Wizard into these abstract compositions, I should probably get back to talking about who Shunpei even is! Shunpei Nara is the young man whose first scene in the entire show is him getting roasted by literal children for being too childish, which is probably something to remember if you ever find yourself thinking the show didn't realize what it was doing with him. Shunpei dresses more like a little kid than most little kids you'll see, all bright colors, complete with a big neon backpack like he's on his way to catch the school bus. And really, it's another example of how nicely visual Wizard is, because the contradiction of his appearance matches his personality perfectly. Again, actual little children in-universe find his innocence and purity to be cringeworthy. The dramatic irony here is that while Shunpei is introduced pretending to use magic to help someone out, he's a main character in a show about a guy who helps people out using magic. ![]() This story's Phantom, Hellhound, shows up real quick to target... well, technically they keep it ambiguous since Haruto doesn't know at first, but I mean, if you saw last episode, you can probably guess who the Gate is. At any rate, Haruto is on the scene in typical fashion, speeding into frame on his bike and immediately popping a wheelie to smack the monster with the front tire, like any self-respecting Kamen Rider would. As soon as Shunpei overhears that he's a wizard, he's as captivated by the cool hero as is he scared by the villain. Being captivated by Wizard fighting is only natural, I suppose. This is just the middle of the episode appetizer action, and already he's doing a sick wirework stunt to spin-flip off of Hellhound's sword. Not to mention dramatically leaping onto a nearby rooftop for a dramatic zoom-in shot over Hellhound's shoulder that I think sort of betrays Nakazawa and Ishigaki's Sentai roots? Well, I think it's more like a classic general Showa toku hero thing, really, but that's exactly why I'm pretty sure you're more likely to see it in a modern Sentai than you are in a modern Rider. (Actually, now that I'm thinking about this more, the show's fondness for small-fry grunts with the Ghouls is probably another Sentai-ism the staff brought with them, isn't it?) Of course, Wizard's still bringing that modern composite shot flair with stuff like slicing Hellhound up while flying around on the wind, or tossing him as casually as a baseball thanks to the power of the Big Ring, which I have to imagine is a favorite for a lot of people. ![]() Despite being trounced and humiliated in so many different ways in the span of about a minute and a half, Hellhound ultimately gets away, leaving Haruto to deal with something that might actually give him some real trouble -- a particularly enthusiastic fan! ![]() Again, just in case you think the show wasn't in on its own joke, Haruto's initial interaction with Shunpei is the latter repeatedly begging to become his apprentice, and the former trying so desperately to avoid breathing the same air that he's eventually bolting down the sidewalk with a fervor ordinarily reserved for people trying to escape ferocious animals or zombies. Haruto seeks shelter at his favorite mobile donut shop, meaning the show's first scene at Hungry. Which is another topic I'm going to shunt off to the side for now! (Please settle for me tossing in a mention that the manager's hairstyle here is a homage to Fourze's head.) More important right now is that Shunpei's persistence wears Haruto down enough to at least hear him out over some donuts. This gives Shunpei a chance to properly exposit about his childhood dream of becoming a wizard, inspired by a picture book he loved reading. He was always enamored with the thought of how fun it seemed to be someone who went around helping people out with magical powers, but even Shunpei eventually gave up on the idea that such a fantasy could ever come true. Which is why meeting a real wizard is such a big deal to him. Shunpei looks at Haruto and sees everything he's ever wanted to be his whole life. And that's another great dramatic contrast, because we start to find out here how vastly different Haruto's own perspective on the matter is. He's quick to point out that it's not all fun and games, and insists that one wizard is more than enough, the subtext of which is no doubt lost on Shunpei (and perhaps the audience), not yet knowing what Haruto has been through in life. Still, despite brushing Shunpei off, Haruto is later seen staring at his Flame Ring in a manner that implies hearing all this has given him a lot to think about. ![]() ...And to find out what Haruto is thinking about, I'd better backtrack to cover Rinko's end of the story, which starts connecting to everything else right around that point. The scene right after the opening introduces Kizaki of the National Security Agency's Section Zero, a typically obstructive government man who grills Rinko for info on the wizard and also basically tells her to forget about the whole Phantom business, all of which is pretty frustrating for her. She wants to protect people too, after all, and she figures if the state isn't going to be of any help, maybe it's worth finding the wizard again. This leads her to Omokagedo, where, in parallel with Haruto and Shunpei's conversation, Koyomi ends up explaining to Rinko (and the audience) exactly how hard Haruto has had it in life. Not that she wants to be dealing with Rinko at all, mind you. While you won't know exactly why just from these episodes, there's a great a sense of how much Koyomi views Rinko as more of an intruder than anything, made most clear by a great little bit of direction where Rinko steps closer towards Koyomi, and Koyomi immediately backs away to maintain her distance. Koyomi only ends up having as much to say as she does because Rinko casually remarking on how cool having magic must be gets under her skin. (By the way, to give you an idea of how nicely cut together the dialogue in these two scenes is, Koyomi tells Rinko to never say you wish you were a wizard to Haruto literally right before Shunpei tells Haruto he used to dream of being a wizard.) While there was the slightest tease of it in the premiere, thanks to Koyomi here, the show is able to start properly elaborating on the incident that forms the backbone of the show's whole narrative -- a ritual performed half a year ago on the day of an eclipse, where countless Gates were sacrificed to create Phantoms, leaving no survivors beyond Koyomi, who has no memory of her life prior, and Haruto, who managed to contain his Phantom within him, gaining the ability to become a wizard. There's a lot about this backstory I love, and I'll have quite a few chances to talk about it, which itself gets at one of the reasons why. Most relevant to this episode's story is that it doesn't really pull any punches when it comes to depicting how massively traumatic it must've been for Haruto. It just plain looks like hell. ![]() The sun has been swallowed by darkness, there's spooky red lava lines all over the ground, and you can do nothing but watch as countless people all around you lose their lives, writhing in agony until they crumble to pieces and explode into monsters, never understanding why this is even happening. It feels like some mythic event. It's the kind of sequence that would usually just be a symbolic nightmare a character in a story wakes up from, but for Haruto, that despair was all too real. His whole character is basically defined by his ability to find hope even in a situation like that, and part of the fun of the series is gradually coming to understand why he's that kind of person. ![]() And while the incident itself comes off as a nightmare, there's an almost dreamlike quality to the aftermath, with a mysterious wizard clad in white appearing before Haruto, cradling an unconscious girl in his arms. ![]() He's called the White Wizard, naturally, although it's worth noting that title is strictly given as shiroi mahoutsukai, in Japanese, putting it more in the category of Haruto's whole Ringed Wizard thing, except this guy was only given a more marketable name retroactively, after the show ended. Back when there was nothing but this episode to go on, however, he really was a complete enigma, which made him pretty immediately fascinating to me. The visual of him holding Koyomi made it into the opening, so clearly he's important to the story, but like, it is just because he's the guy who sets Haruto on the path to fighting the Phantoms here? Who is he? Why was he there that day? This show is great at communicating through visuals, and he looks like a cool mentor character, even praising Haruto for holding on to hope, so I don't know, maybe he was trying to stop all this or something? I guess he failed in his goal then? This whole flashback sequence is there to give the viewers needed context, but in the process, it raises way more questions that it can also contextualize later, meaning the eclipse fuels a ton of storytelling throughout, and the story keeps looping back to the eclipse, further emphasizing how important it was for these characters. But I'm maybe getting ahead of myself. If you still remember after that whole detour, the point is that this is where Rinko comes to understand that Haruto is fighting to protect people because he doesn't want to see the tragedy he witnessed that day ever happen again, and once Hellhound shows back up to go after Shunpei, all three characters are ready to finally gather in one spot as part of the climactic fight scene. Which means I also have more commentary to give on Wizard's action scenes as I'm trying to talk about that stuff. Busy busy! ![]() For starters, the transformation. The basic concept of a magic circle popping up wherever Haruto points his arm inherently lends itself to a lot of variation. On top of just filming the same pose in different ways, you can change up the pose itself depending on the scene, such as here, where instead of the circle coming to Haruto from the side, he reaches him arm forward, and dashes through it in a manner quite similar to Kamen Rider Blade. Despite arriving to save Shunpei blasting bad guys with his gun, once he's transformed, the emphasis here is firmly on the raw choreography of an unarmed Flame Style going up against a crowd of Ghouls using no additional powers. This means, for one thing, a real old-school Rider #1/#2 bit where he steals one of the mooks' own weapons to beat them up with for a moment. It's also just a great showcase for the big thing that distinguishes Wizard's hand-to-hand combat from other Riders -- Wizard doesn't punch people. He's wearing huge rings all the time, after all. It's easier to forget when he's using a sword or a gun or a magic spell, but in a scene like this, he's using his hands to block attacks and stuff all without ever making a fist, and it feels very unique to watch. Instead, Wizard favors kicks, which also naturally complements the desire to have his cool robe dramatically flapping about, so it's kind of a win-win in that regard. Speaking of the robe, one of the only CG magic type things in the scene is an awesome bit where Wizard uses his robe to protect Rinko from a bunch of fireballs, because that thing is apparently fashionable *and* functional! ![]() Oh, right, and Rinko is here! She shows up to save a distracted Shunpei while Haruto has his hands full. Rinko makes it clear to Haruto again that, magic or no, she wants to protect people the same way he does, and you can tell Haruto is starting to respect that about her. And why was Shunpei distracted, you ask? I'd tell you, but I'm a little distracted myself, because it turns out Hellhound has a sweet motorcycle, which means it's Machine Winger versus Black Dog in a proper bike action showdown. ![]() It's not every day Wizard does a traditional bike action sequence this elaborate, so I appreciate them cramming so many classic bike action staples into this little sequence. There's a good amount of traffic, which always make the scale seem more impressive, especially when they flip one of those cars over so Wizard can jump over it. ![]() Since this is a duel between bikes, you've also got the technique of putting the two bikes on a trailer or whatever so they can fight each other while giving the illusion the characters are still driving. Not to mention the real movie magic, where you can stop showing the background entirely for a few shots, allowing you film the presumably completely stationary bikes while doing some ridiculous and awesome stunt like having Wizard spin around in the air to kick Hellhound's sword away. It's all tied together with plenty of shots of the bikes moving for real, and topped off with one heck of a real explosion just for good measure. Especially with the kung fu fight right before it, it's a strong episode if you want some Kamen Rider Wizard action that's less "Wizard" and more "Kamen Rider". ![]() Poor Hellhound though, going up in flames like that. Sure, it's pretty creepy that he was stalking Shunpei at the library earlier but... wait a minute! Flames? Shunpei? I almost forgot to mention! Shunpei shot some flames out his finger at a Ghoul during the ending fight! Probably a development that's important to note heading into the next episode! Episode 3 -- "Transform! Live Broadcast" First things first, this episode has the weirdest title in the entire series. The only one out of all of them to have an exclamation mark in there! Gives it a weirdly shounen anime vibe when all the rest are more like chapter titles you'd find in a novel. Not much time to spend getting hung up on that though -- just look at how much the episode checks in on before the opening even rolls! You've got everything from Kizaki making it clear they'll be keeping an eye on Rinko, to a scene at Omokagedo that will end up bookending the episode, showing how Haruto is warming up to a new face in his life contrasted against Koyomi's continued indifference bordering on hostility, all the while establishing a running gag of people refusing to let Haruto eat his donuts in peace. Meanwhile, Shunpei is playing with fire, which, as we all know, is something that usually ends well. ![]() What could go wrong, really? The neighborhood kids are finally impressed, and some guy named Tajima wants him to show off his magic on TV Yuhi! (Naturally, this is a play on the television network Kamen Rider airs on, TV Asahi, with yuuhi meaning "evening sun" in contrast to asahi meaning "morning sun". Considering the gimmick of the episode's climax, it's rather fitting to make it such an obvious reference.) Yes, things sure are looking up for Shunpei, especially with Tajima inviting him to demonstrate his powers live in the studio tomorrow. Haruto is here to kill the mood though. Shunpei is naturally excited to tell his teacher and idol that he's become a real wizard himself, but the gap between their perspectives ends up turning the conversation rather heated. I mean, he'd probably be skeptical anyway, but as soon as Shunpei mentions that he can specifically shoot flames, Haruto immediately makes the connection with the fire-spewing Hellhound, grasping the basics of the story he's in within moments, thanks to knowing all about Phantoms and Gates and all these things, because he's the hero in that story. All Shunpei knows is that Haruto explicitly told him one wizard is all that's needed, that he's telling him his magic must be fake, and that his magic has stopped working now that he's around. It's the sort of thing that's probably going to frustrate a viewer or two, but especially with Shunpei having the childlike personality he does, it's not exactly surprising that he starts to assume Haruto must be deliberately trying to get in his way. I'm impressed by a lot of the little nuances that make it work, though. I especially like how Haruto tries to jump straight to explaining that the Phantom is clearly trying to get Shunpei's hopes up just to dash them, only for Shunpei to throw that right back at Haruto, who, despite having good reasons, *is* legitimately in the middle of dashing Shunpei's hopes after proving to him that wizards are real. It's not just the touches in the writing, either! The scene takes place at Hungry again, so in a real "only in Wizard" bit of direction, Shunpei's anger is punctuated with him knocking a table over, sending a poor unfortunate donut onto the ground with it. ![]() That night, back at Omokagedo, Haruto once again finds himself left with a lot to think about after talking to Shunpei. The story takes a pretty interesting direction, because rather than choose to focus on Shunpei's lack of context and inability to understand what Haruto has gone through, things instead end up centering on Haruto's lack of context and inability to understand what Shunpei is going through. It becomes less about assigning blame and more about empathy, with Haruto realizing that, since he became a wizard without ever wanting to be one, he might not have been considering how what he said earlier must come off to a person who always wanted to be a wizard but never could be. Wajima is there too, lending an ear in his first big fatherly scene in the show, reminding Haruto of the day they first met. So in another bit of efficiently and naturally placed exposition, we also get the backstory of how Haruto and Koyomi first arrived at Omokagedo, looking for the man who made Haruto's rings -- one Shigeru Wajima. I'm once again impressed by how the visuals alone manage to tell so much of the story. ![]() Omokagedo is a very warm set, with all the antiques and everything giving it an especially cozy vibe, so having it be pouring rain on the day Haruto and Koyomi first found that new home -- having them both drenched in water, with no umbrella to shield themselves -- it emphasizes nicely how much these two were at a very low point in their lives after the eclipse, and thus how much Wajima's generosity in letting them stay there probably meant way more than any amount of magic rings could. And he really is generous! There's an aspect where he feels guilty that his rings played a part in Haruto getting mixed up in everything, but like, I don't think Haruto even *pretends* to do any work at Omokagedo, like a lot of Rider protagonists would? Which I think says it all right there. Koyomi technically works the register, I guess, but really, Wajima just 100% wants to look after these two kids who have been through a lot, and that makes him a cool dude in my book. (Also, now that I'm thinking about this... it's totally Wajima's money Haruto buys all those donuts with, isn't it? I have to imagine that's no small expense!) Putting that tangent aside, the reason Wajima is bringing this day up in the present is to remind Haruto of when he... well, basically when Haruto established the central theme for the entire series. That day, when Wajima tried to apologize for making the rings, Haruto, in spite of all that had happened to him, simply asked Wajima for his help in preventing another tragedy like that from happening again. Haruto had the strength to focus on moving forward, rather than be mired in past regrets. Hearing him express that sentiment was an inspiration to Wajima, motivating him to continue making rings, and now Wajima, offering Haruto a new ring, uses those words to motivate him to continue his own work, rather than beat himself up over what's already done. Really full circle stuff going on here! Pretty crazy how many things this scene accomplished at once! ![]() The next day, Shunpei is at the television studio, and his big live broadcast starts, catching Rinko's attention, who then gives Haruto a call, flipping on the television at Omokagedo with Wajima and Koyomi to confirm what's happening before quickly running out to do something about Hellhound's plan, now that's he figured out where this is all heading. Tajima himself is Hellhound, and, honestly? While I can't condone the behavior itself, I have to admit, I respect his craft. With Minotauros in the premiere, drving Rinko to despair was a simple matter of smashing up a keepsake and rubbing her face in her helplessness. Hellhound, though, this guy went all out with the theatrics. Using his ability to blend into the shadows to fake being defeated by Wizard, as well as manipulating Shunpei into thinking he could use magic, then using his human identity to lure Shunpei onto a popular TV show just to humiliate him with the truth in front of the whole nation, then, as the ultimate cherry of despair on top of everything else, controlling Shunpei once more to make him burn with his own hand the very picture book that inspired the childhood dream that Hellhound has so cruelly and ruthlessly warped and twisted to his own evil ends. The malice may be reprehensible, but the showmanship is nothing short of commendable. ![]() Haruto arrives, making good use of the Sleep Ring from way back at the start of episode 2 to slip by a guard, tying up that little thread, and, on the subject of little things, I'm going to note Hellhound calls him "Wizard" in English when he enters the room. I'm going to try and bring it up every time this happens, specifically because I'm confident I won't be bringing it up much longer at all. So, with a Phantom and a Wizard fighting on morning TV, the whole joke of the TV Yuhi thing becomes clear, as this is where the episode becomes extremely meta -- you're watching an episode of Kamen Rider where people in-universe are basically watching an episode of Kamen Rider. ![]() I'd imagine this was especially surreal for a lot of people in Japan watching this episode when it originally aired, but even removed from that specific context, it's a pretty cute gag. All the reactions from the various characters are real fun, too, between Wajima noting how good Haruto looks on camera (accurate!), and Kizaki spitting out his drink as he realizes what a pain it's going to be to cover up this mess. The final showdown with Hellhound takes place right in the studio, which does wonders to make things feel fresh visually. I don't think it should ever be underestimated how much it spices things up just having different looking backgrounds than usual. Especially if that unique location is directly important to the story. It's very nice that Wizard doesn't immediately kick Hellhound out a window so they can fight in the street or something. There are also two distinct phases to the fight to make things more interesting, with Wizard basically having to tackle each of his gimmicks in turn. The studio is pretty dark at first, giving Hellhound the upper hand thanks to his shadowy abilities, but Haruto makes good of use of yet another present from Wajima, using the Light Ring he was given the previous night to brighten things up, even paraphrasing Wajima's dialogue in the process. Obviously Hellhound isn't going to get the reference, so I like that Haruto feels the need to pay tribute to the guy in that fashion anyway. Again, it's about way more than just the rings with Wajima. ![]() Phase two involves dealing with Hellhound's fire, meaning after getting the other three Styles right there in the premiere, only now does Water Style make its first appearance. ![]() And that appearance is pretty snazzy, too, being a Wizard costume! The four forms are basically the same suit, differentiated only by color and the trademark shape assigned to each element. Honestly, the way Water's diamond shapes are worked in is ~probably~ my least favorite of the lot (Flame's circles definitely feel the most natural), but it's not that big a gap, and simply being the blue one does a ton to make up for any aesthetic deficiencies by my standards. It always has been rather curious that the show held off on using Water Style for a bit after making it a point to not hold off on the others though. I'm not sure if it makes it seem more special, like they thought it absolutely needed some climactic scene all to itself, or less, like it was just the only one that wasn't cool enough to be needed in the premiere. I'm leaning towards "more", though, considering that this scene is also, again somewhat curiously, the first use of one of the show's many insert songs, and it's Water Style's own theme, Mystic Liquid. Although even *that* is merely an instrumental version here, which also means I'll save talking about the song for another occasion. With Hellhound dealt with, Haruto finally has time to turn his attention to a despairing Shunpei, meaning yet another great Engage scene. You can see development in how the two characters have sort of inverted their positions from earlier in the episode. Shunpei is broken because he now realizes he can't be that magical hero he always dreamed of, but Haruto promises to live out that dream on Shunpei's behalf. For Haruto, being a wizard is fate, for better or for worse, but meeting Shunpei, to whom that life is a fantasy, it's helped Haruto to see his situation as a gift, and not a curse. I love how that's what Haruto, who's all about moving forward, chooses to take away from everything that's happened in these episodes, and I love that Haruto offers Shunpei that solace in knowing that even though he won't be the one living it out, his silly childhood dream did come true, in a way. ![]() And that's already a fine way to start wrapping things up, but there's also the matter of the *other* reason the Engage Ring is so great. The fight between Dragon and Cyclops looks great, which is nothing too new, but one trick the show held up its sleeve last time was that Haruto can use the Kick Strike Ring with the Dragon, and the results are as awesome as you can possibly imagine. ![]() The motorcycle splitting into wings was inspired enough as it is, but having Wizard be able to Rider Kick a giant monster by having his Dragon transform into an equally gigantic foot, that's as next level as it gets, right there. Plus, the emotional substance doesn't get forgotten about once Haruto enters Shunpei's Underworld either, as the sequence starts with him briefly stumbling upon a young Shunpei reading that picture book, and then finding it on the ground after finishing off the Phantom, giving Haruto that much more of an opportunity to understand just how much Shunpei's dream means to him. ![]() All that's left at this point is for things to close out much as they started, with Koyomi now frustrated by twice the noisy interlopers at Omokagedo, as Shunpei resolves to become Haruto's assistant, now having accepted that being an apprentice is out of the question. It's another scene where a lot of really little yet significant beats all happen in such quick succession that I could dig into it for a while. It's everything from reaffirming that Shunpei is still a handful, even if Haruto is willing to put up with him now, to Rinko noticing Shunpei's also still wearing the ring Haruto gave him (a touch about those two characters I'm quite fond of!), to just continuing the whole "nobody lets Haruto eat his dang donuts" shtick right up to the very last seconds of the episode. Suffice it to say it's quite well put together, just like these episodes on the whole. Wizard's premiere is such an attention grabber that I'm not sure I've ever really given these two the attention they deserve, in retrospect. Actually taking the time to dig into it like this, this story is really every bit as considered. A ton of interesting backstory is worked pretty seamlessly into a plot that has a lot of qualities in its own right, and it's stuffed full of loads of action sequences that all have unique hooks to distinguish them from one another. I honestly thought going in I'd be able to breeze through these episodes without saying too much (relatively speaking), but I suppose, to bring things back to the theme song once again, they betrayed my expectations in the best way possible.
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#13 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,406
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I'm a little late to the party, since the first week of Christmas is busy, y'know? Anyway, Wizard is my 5th favorite Heisei Rider show and I certainly have a lot more opinions about it than I do about OOO. I didn't start talking about Super Hero Time shows on a forum like this until 2013 when Wizard was ending, so it could be fun for me to finally have the chance to talk about Wizard. Saa, Showtime da!
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Episode 1 -- "The Ringed Wizard"
I'll also take this chance to mention that, in addition to Minotauros during the opening, Medusa calls Wizard by that English name in this scene, which is one of the vanishingly few instances of this series using any sort of terminology like that. Haruto is pretty strictly a mahoutsukai outside of these rare exceptions, because that's a more natural way to refer to him if you're speaking Japanese, much like how Haruto uses familiars instead of Plamonsters, and things like that. Quote:
![]() An engagement ring represents a promise, and that much is no different for Haruto. Wizard is more than just a hero who will fight off a monster to protect you -- he's a hero who will be there, right by your side, when you're at your absolute lowest. When it's all just too much to take, when you're about to fall apart, Wizard will be there, helping you find the hope to keep moving forward. Quote:
The flashy action is also a focus of this series, however, and since Haruto dives into this place to fight a Phantom, that means we get a third distinct fight scene, this time with Haruto summoning a big CG Dragon to fight a big CG Jabberwock. The dragon doesn't seem to like Haruto either, because even here, they're still establishing threads to explore later within the surface level story being told. And when you've got a Kamen Rider whose bike transforms into a saddle and huge wings to ride a dragon with, you could probably get away with coasting by on the surface level pleasures!
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Episode 2 -- "I Want to Be a Wizard"
It's also just a nicely warm setting that's perfect to come back to and rest up after a hard day fighting bad guys, and that's exactly what Haruto is doing in the opening scene here, which both starts and ends with him sleeping. Starting that way to emphasize that magic for Haruto uses energy in much the same way physical activity does, and ending that way to emphasize that the powers of Wajima's new rings are a mystery right up until they're first used. It's a simple expository scene since the show is still establishing the world, but I'm a sucker for doing cute things with narrative structure, so having that whole bookends deal going on elevates it a lot for me, almost like it's some little skit in its own right, even if that's definitely overselling it. ![]() Quote:
Life is SHOW TIME is an infectiously upbeat tune, bringing the cheer the way Wizard brings hope, with lyrics by Shouko Fujibayashi that incorporate a lot of relevant imagery for the series, and still find room to touch on more layers of the story without sacrificing the positive vibes. I'm probably not done directly referencing those lyrics in this thread, either, which says a lot about how well they fit.
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Again, just in case you think the show wasn't in on its own joke, Haruto's initial interaction with Shunpei is the latter repeatedly begging to become his apprentice, and the former trying so desperately to avoid breathing the same air that he's eventually bolting down the sidewalk with a fervor ordinarily reserved for people trying to escape ferocious animals or zombies.
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The scene right after the opening introduces Kizaki of the National Security Agency's Section Zero, a typically obstructive government man who grills Rinko for info on the wizard and also basically tells her to forget about the whole Phantom business, all of which is pretty frustrating for her.
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This leads her to Omokagedo, where, in parallel with Haruto and Shunpei's conversation, Koyomi ends up explaining to Rinko (and the audience) exactly how hard Haruto has had it in life. Not that she wants to be dealing with Rinko at all, mind you. While you won't know exactly why just from these episodes, there's a great a sense of how much Koyomi views Rinko as more of an intruder than anything, made most clear by a great little bit of direction where Rinko steps closer towards Koyomi, and Koyomi immediately backs away to maintain her distance.
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He's called the White Wizard, naturally, although it's worth noting that title is strictly given as shiroi mahoutsukai, in Japanese, putting it more in the category of Haruto's whole Ringed Wizard thing, except this guy was only given a more marketable name retroactively, after the show ended.
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It always has been rather curious that the show held off on using Water Style for a bit after making it a point to not hold off on the others though. I'm not sure if it makes it seem more special, like they thought it absolutely needed some climactic scene all to itself, or less, like it was just the only one that wasn't cool enough to be needed in the premiere. I'm leaning towards "more", though, considering that this scene is also, again somewhat curiously, the first use of one of the show's many insert songs, and it's Water Style's own theme, Mystic Liquid. Although even *that* is merely an instrumental version here, which also means I'll save talking about the song for another occasion.
Personally, my favorite of the main 4 is Hurricane! Even the name sounds cool, like, Wind would've been fine, but Hurricane is stronger! Quote:
With Hellhound dealt with, Haruto finally has time to turn his attention to a despairing Shunpei, meaning yet another great Engage scene. You can see development in how the two characters have sort of inverted their positions from earlier in the episode. Shunpei is broken because he now realizes he can't be that magical hero he always dreamed of, but Haruto promises to live out that dream on Shunpei's behalf. For Haruto, being a wizard is fate, for better or for worse, but meeting Shunpei, to whom that life is a fantasy, it's helped Haruto to see his situation as a gift, and not a curse. I love how that's what Haruto, who's all about moving forward, chooses to take away from everything that's happened in these episodes, and I love that Haruto offers Shunpei that solace in knowing that even though he won't be the one living it out, his silly childhood dream did come true, in a way.
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Plus, the emotional substance doesn't get forgotten about once Haruto enters Shunpei's Underworld either, as the sequence starts with him briefly stumbling upon a young Shunpei reading that picture book, and then finding it on the ground after finishing off the Phantom, giving Haruto that much more of an opportunity to understand just how much Shunpei's dream means to him.
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#14 |
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I’d assume Water Style’s late appearance is because the ring comes with the Driver, and non-base forms that come with the Driver (other examples that sprig to mind) being Valen Doumaru and Gotchard OdoriMantis aren’t seen as a priority to advertise by toy companies (Another good example being Soundwave from Transformers, whose original toy came with a yellow repaint of Laserbeak named Buzzsaw who barely appeared in the cartoon)
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#15 |
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![]() Shunpei is amazing. No notes. People Haruto has married: 2
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#16 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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No such thing in this thread! I'm glad you felt like jumping in!
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I'm a big fan of giant CGI fight scenes done right and the Underworld action totally gripped me from the start! I understand why it's such a rarity, since it's the last resort after Wizard fails to stop the Phantom's despair plan and Wizard needs to succeed most of the time to maintain his coolness, but it's a cool treat whenever these big-scale action scenes get to happen and usually signals an important moment in the plot as well.
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#17 |
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As I do my best to keep my gushing over how great of a character Shunpei is contained(I make no promises for future episodes though), I thought about it, and I figured now would be as good a time as any to bring this up.
When I first watched Wizard, it was with the OZC release, and I overall feel the subs are pretty good and thus I don't feel the need to switch to another group for this rewatch like I sometimes do for other shows. And yet, Wizard is the first Rider show to come to mind when I think of shows that could use a scrub? Like, again, the subs in and of themselves are good, but there's just little bits here and there throughout the show that I feel could use some touching up. Mainly in regards to the phrasing of certain lines and making them feel more natural. Such as translating "Yosh" as "Yes!" or instead of "Yeah" or "Okay" instead of "Alright" in the context of some scenes. So again, nothing major, just tuning to how I've heard people in my neck of the woods talk throughout my life. Also, and this is totally a personal preference thing, but I would've translated Flame Style's' chant as "Heat" instead of "Fire" since what we native English speakers hear is "HEE HEE HEE" so, ya know.
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#18 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Gushing about Shunpei is exactly the kind of thing I made this thread so that people wouldn't have to contain! If you've got some particular anecdote about how it was love at first sight watching these episodes or something, by all means, I'd be ecstatic to hear it.
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#19 |
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Gushing about Shunpei is exactly the kind of thing I made this thread so that people wouldn't have to contain! If you've got some particular anecdote about how it was love at first sight watching these episodes or something, by all means, I'd be ecstatic to hear it.
Or to put it shortly: In due time.
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#20 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Episode 4 -- "The Doll and the Pianist"
It's a particularly domestic opening at Omokagedo as Wajima finishes making everyone breakfast, although before there's a chance to see rare footage of Haruto eating something that isn't a plain sugar donut, Shunpei arrives with plain sugar donuts for Haruto to immediately start biting into instead of the actual balanced meal in front of him. It's a demonstration of both Shunpei's skills(?) as a wizard's assistant, and just how deep Haruto's love of plain sugar donuts is. More relevant to the story of these particular episodes, Koyomi's blunt refusal when Shunpei invites her to have some too demonstrates how frosty she still is towards Haruto's new friends. And the Omokagedo set gives the show a perfect chance to represent that emotional distance visually, because Koyomi's usual spot at the register is a corner she can retreat to when she wants to put a literal wall between her and everyone else. ![]() She's especially moody today because when Rinko showed up right before Shunpei, she happened to walk in on Haruto and Koyomi using the unique Ring she wears to do... something. Basic context clues from the dialogue let us know that whatever it is, it's apparently a routine thing for Koyomi, and also that it's a routine she's clearly not all that fond of. Rinko is understandably surprised to suddenly see Koyomi mysteriously glowing with magical energy, but Haruto actively dodges talking about it, and Koyomi herself seems particularly self-conscious about the whole thing. She's also particularly worried when Haruto ends up having to go fight a Phantom right after all this, for reasons that are again made clear mostly indirectly in the moment. But with it being stressed again that using magic tires Haruto out, Haruto having just used magic, and Koyomi and Wajima being so concerned about him that they don't even react to Shunpei clumsily knocking over a vase, you can probably see the direction the story is heading. So what is the Phantom this time up to? Well, if Cat Sidhe were making that choice all by himself, he'd probably still be napping. ![]() This guy, in terms of raw character, might honestly be my favorite monster in the whole show. It's such a simple joke -- he's got the personality of a lazy housecat -- but that one little idea spices up the story so much. Broadly speaking, it taps into the sort of "blue collar monster of the week" vibe I always love seeing in these kinds of shows. I never cease to be amused by underlings who are the villain in a story mostly because they want to get their much more actively villainous boss off their backs, because there's an endearingly sympathetic aspect to that, even in the case of someone like Cat Sidhe, who *is* still all for violently attacking people, despite not caring for the more complicated nuances of driving a Gate to despair. Specific to Kamen Rider Wizard, right now, in these early episodes, a character like him also provides a great opportunity to flesh out the Phantom side of the story a bit more, as the inherent friction with the management gives the main recurring villains more to work with, building their own characters up for the long-term. Phoenix finds the desire to leap straight to simple and brutish violence highly relatable, but is quick to bow to Medusa's orders. And Medusa gets to show why that is, intimidating Cat Sidhe into compliance by blowing up the windows of a nearby car basically just by thinking about it. It's a scene that needs to be there simply to establish the basic plot, so I appreciate all the effort made to have it be entertaining on top of that. These episodes are directed by Satoshi Morota, who also does his part visually. There's a whole grungy feel to the junkyard they're in that's further emphasized by the camera, often shooting from weird spots and shaking around a fair bit. It's not *pretty* the way I'd expect from Wizard, but since this is a scene with Wizard's monsters, I suspect that's very much the point. I also appreciate Medusa carrying around a cute little photo of the Gate for Cat Sidhe to demonstrate his monster form by slicing up dramatically with his claws. It's a flourish that only sorta makes sense logically (you could easily make nitpicky jokes about it if you wanted), but again, we're dealing with a visual realm here. Strip away all the dialogue in the scene, and you still have that extremely clear symbolic representation of what Cat Sidhe is going to do in this story, and who he plans to do it to. ![]() The Gate in question, Eisaku Takagi, is the pianist in the title, who immediately gives off the vibe of a perfectionist musical prodigy, worried about his skills not being enough to win some contest the next day, which is great news for Cat Sidhe, who now already has a clear angle to go on with the whole despair thing. If playing the piano means so much to this guy, just cut his hands off and it's mission accomplished! Not that it's ever that easy with a wizard around. Before Haruto even gets there, there's a little Plamonster action as Garuda does its best to distract Cat Sidhe, as well as making a straightforward establishing shot much cuter by adorably flapping about in the foreground, in yet another little touch I appreciate. ![]() Once Haruto gets there, he makes his presence known by smacking Cat Sidhe in the face with his bike's front tire, because there really is no better way for a Kamen Rider to say hello to the monster he's about to blow up. Cat Sidhe actually gets a two-for-one deal on tire punches when he tries to jump onto the car Rinko is attempting to escape with Takagi in, which is twice as awesome. (For the record, Cat Sidhe also calls Haruto "Wizard" in English once here, as does Phoenix later on in the episode.) The initial bout with Cat Sidhe opens up with a good showing of his agile and wild fighting style as he takes on Wizard in Flame Style, but the real fun comes when Haruto turns the tables by busting out Water Style once more, this time debuting the Liquid Ring, effortlessly confounding Cat Sidhe as he nonchalantly lets attacks flow right through him and reshapes his body around the Phantom in all sorts of different holds, like the world's weirdest pro wrestling match. ![]() ![]() Wizard's dominance is also highlighted by having Mystic Liquid play over all this, now with lyrics. Wizard has a fairly generous amount of insert themes, with a song for each of the four Styles merely being the start. As someone who listens to toku tracks outside of the shows a lot, that kind of luxurious treatment is always fun. One of the bigger surprises Wizard had in store for me back in the day was that it quickly turned me into a fan of the Kamen Rider Girls, a group I did not think much of back when they formed in celebration of the franchise's 40th anniversary not quite two years prior. Starting around this time, though, they carved out a more defined identity by shifting towards a focus on something of a hard rock sound, and mixing that with the layered vocals that come with the idol group shtick resulted in some real magic happening. Mystic Liquid itself isn't even my favorite song they did for Wizard, but that has everything to do with just how highly I regard some of the others. I'm always woefully underequipped to dig into particulars beyond lyrics with these things, but Mystic Liquid couldn't be much better as a theme for the form it represents, flowing from word to word and going all in on that idea of a hero that isn't bound to one rigid shape, both in a more figurative sense and also quite literally. It's essentially a traditionally boastful hero theme, but with some extra class and elegance, appropriately enough for Wizard. With all that going against him, it's hard to blame Cat Sidhe for tapping out, speeding away from the scene when he realizes it's more trouble than it's worth to keep fighting. It's both lazy *and* tactically sound! The break in the action gives Haruto and Rinko some time to fill Takagi in on what's going on. Takagi's super grumpy and still mostly concerned with the contest in spite of being targeted by a monster, but he at least gets Haruto's interest by mentioning that the piano is his hope. I also have to call out how fond I am of the way this scene is blocked. Takagi sits facing away from the others, as if trying to ignore them, and Haruto faces off to the side, sitting up on the table rather than the benches, which I think just nicely highlights his general cool factor. ![]() Takagi isn't too thrilled about the idea of bodyguards he didn't ask for getting in his space, so Haruto and Rinko settle for watching from outside his apartment for any sign of danger. Rinko gets to work her detective skills a little here by having gathered some info on Takagi, revealing that while he is exactly the kind of prodigy that's been sweeping competitions since he was little, he's currently in a huge slump, failing to win any more such awards, explaining why he's so focused on tomorrow's contest, and also why he's so darn surly. And speaking of people who are very surly right now, Koyomi came all the way out to help! By which I mean to help Haruto, of course. The distinction is pretty important there. She probably took it a little personally earlier when Shunpei mentioned Rinko's excellent support skills during the earlier fight while trying desperately to make casual conversation. Koyomi seems pretty desperate to prove how useful she is to Haruto (being able to see through Phantoms' human guises), and just as importantly, to prove that Rinko and Shunpei *aren't* useful, an attitude best exemplified by the almost performative smile Koyomi flashes while telling Haruto she came because she thought Haruto would have too much trouble on his own -- i.e. "on his own" with Rinko, who's standing right there as Koyomi says this. ![]() It's probably quite the risk for the initial story focused on Koyomi, really. Especially if the previous three episodes made you welcome the presence of Rinko and Shunpei with open arms, it's easy to imagine all the active hostility making Koyomi look like a total jerk. She's presented at her absolute least flattering here, but that's also what makes the story interesting. The opening scene presents the audience with a mystery, and at first glance, it might be seen more from Rinko's perspective in that moment -- a matter of what was happening there. But as things progress, it opens up into a more complicated narrative that's as much about Koyomi's own perspective -- a matter of how she feels, and why she does. About the reasons for that emotional distance that has her pushing herself apart from Haruto's new friends, something that this scene once again makes sure to convey visually as well. ![]() Rinko attempts to close that distance (again, literally too), only to realize upon grabbing Koyomi's hand that her body is cold. Rinko's surprise at this only further upsets Koyomi, leaving Haruto to try defusing the situation by suggesting *everyone* besides him heads home. This becomes a moot point, as Cat Sidhe chooses that moment to stroll by on his way to the Gate, this time attempting to leverage his human form for some undercover action, only to be immediately foiled by Koyomi. I feel pretty bad for Cat Sidhe here, honestly. Dude was happy to bail on the whole mission and go take a nap on that car again, is nagged by his bosses into getting back to work, tries to use his head for a super sneaky new approach, and largely because Koyomi happened to be out of the house for once, it's all for naught. Haruto and Rinko lose track of Cat Sidhe after he makes his escape (again), and end up taking a break at Hungry for a chat about the situation with Koyomi. So I think *I'll* take a break to talk about Hungry! ![]() First of all, furthering the idea that Wizard maybe has an extra emphasis on the visual element, I love that the go-to hangout spot for the heroes is a shop that moves. Because we're dealing with a food truck, it can be set up at all sorts of different places depending on the episode, making it far less of a struggle to give scenes taking place there enough visual variety to last a whole year. Even if you were to shoot every scene the exact same way, it would look different every time regardless, which is quite the blessing to have. On the other hand, the routine of those scenes throughout the series is also what makes them so cozy. No matter what else is happening in the story, you can rest assured that the duo at Hungry will always try to get Haruto to eat their latest super special limited-time donut artistically crafted with love and care, and you can rest just as easy knowing that Haruto will always just want plain sugar instead. It's such a little thing, but that character trait actually endears me a ton to Haruto. I'd imagine lots of people have anecdotes like this about certain favorite characters or the like, but I tend to have pretty basic and/or unadventurous tastes when it comes to food. Like, I am *exactly* the kind of person who just orders the same one thing at a restaurant over and over again. So as minor as it seems, being able to relate to Haruto on that level made the character feel a lot closer to me right away, and I definitely think that had a positive effect on how close I felt to the show as a whole in the long run. (And yes, it's also just funny that the Ringed Wizard's favorite snack is ring-shaped.) Getting back to the story at hand, Rinko is quite conscious of how undesired the presence of her and Shunpei is by Koyomi, but Haruto is quick to say it's nothing worth getting hung up on. It's a peak into how close Haruto and Koyomi are to one another, because as Haruto is talking about how Koyomi was the same way around him at first too, it's with a familiarity and certainty that sort of seems beyond the scope of the six months they've actually known each other. When asked by Rinko how he got her to warm up to him, Haruto has to think for a second before replying that is was because he accepted everything about her. Even though he kind of chuckles a bit saying it, as though Haruto himself finds the statement a bit overblown, the truth in there is already poking through in the way he's treating all of this. Koyomi's recent behavior, to Haruto, is just stemming from things about who Koyomi is that he's well aware of, and for those same reasons, he doesn't doubt that she'll grow past it, given time. Meanwhile, Takagi has run off to seemingly nowhere in particular, followed along by Shunpei and Koyomi, with the latter telling him she'd prefer he not make Haruto's job harder. It's a line that carries both the subtext of how Koyomi perceives Rinko and Shunpei, and the dramatic irony of what ends up actually making Haruto's job harder at the end of the episode. (Frankly, there's already been a lot of fine detail like this to the dialogue in Wizard I've let slip by because I couldn't fit it in smoothly... which I guess is rather ironic!) You see, Medusa, who was watching to make sure Cat Sidhe actually did his job this time, happened to notice earlier when Koyomi was able to tell he was a Phantom, and that got her curious about who Koyomi is. Or rather, *what* Koyomi is, as Medusa reveals herself to the three of them and quickly realizes the truth. We already know who the pianist is, but it turns out the doll is Koyomi -- not a Phantom, and not quite human, but an existence that's only kept animated by magical power. Magical power that Medusa easily sucks dry, leaving Koyomi seemingly dead, and a panicked Shunpei to call Haruto, bringing the whole story together. It becomes fully apparent that Koyomi's Please Ring is what Haruto uses to share his own power with her, as he does so again upon arriving. But of course, we also know Haruto's energy isn't infinite (he even offered that to Rinko as a reason he eats so many donuts back at the start), so we've now come full circle with Koyomi worried about him going off to fight Cat Sidhe right after using so much energy for her sake. Before I talk about that fight, however, I do have to mention that Shunpei's surprise at Koyomi's apparent resurrection gives Morota his first chance on Wizard to display his signature move as a director -- throwing his actors in water. No surprise that Shunpei is his first victim on this show, I suppose. ![]() There's also the matter of yet more unexpected complications for poor Cat Sidhe as Takagi seems curiously ready to have his hands chopped off, but Haruto heroically arrives on the scene (with the gun this time instead of the bike) before it's clear what exactly all that is about. Right now it's time for action, which means, among other things, a second insert theme in one episode. Like I said, luxurious. Almost *too* luxurious, even! Last Engage is pretty much the perfect song for most climactic Wizard fights, but with all the competition, it doesn't actually get played that much. And that's a real shame, because as the theme for Flame Style, the main form, it's clearly meant as more of an overall theme for Wizard as a character, with an even more rocking sound than Mystic Liquid, and a rather unique angle to the lyrics. Rather than focusing on how cool the hero is, it's instead stressing how frightening the villains are and then begging that cool hero to come and put a stop to that, recognizing how core to the show's identity that idea of a monster driving someone to despair is, and smartly leveraging the whole language of Underworlds and Engage Rings and everything to make Wizard sound like the most awesome guy ever in an elegantly indirect manner. It's a lot more clever than just straightforward bragging, and way more the kind of song I'm thinking of when I think of why I respect Fujibayashi's talent so much. You can tell from lyrics like these how much she makes a point to really understand whatever show she's working on a song for as fully as possible, and that effort comes through in the end result. The fight itself is pretty good too! The big highlight for me is some more proper use of a unique location, as the battle taking place in a park gives Wizard the perfect opportunity to have to get a cat down from a tree, which is deeply amusing. ![]() It's ultimately a fairly short battle though, as Wizard quickly busts out the Bind Ring to counter Cat Sidhe's speed by just chaining him up in place so he can get a good Rider Kick in without any further hassle. Unfortunately for Haruto, he has to deal with further hassle as he starts running low on magical power, resulting in the chains dissipating and Cat Sidhe breaking free, bringing us to the cliffhanger. Episode 5 -- "The Final Match of the Contest" Despite the setback, Haruto is totally prepared to set aside fancy tricks and get the job done with nothing but a sword, only for the real gravity of the situation to quickly become apparent once he runs out of juice entirely, undoing his transformation and leaving him at the mercy of Cat Sidhe. Fortunately for Haruto, he's only at the mercy at Cat Sidhe, who, true to form, simply takes the opportunity to run away and slack off somewhere. In the aftermath, Takagi is quick to belittle Haruto for losing the fight, but Haruto is equally quick to see through Takagi when the subject of why he even ran off in the first place comes up. Takagi is so desperate to avoid losing at that contest that he wanted the excuse being attacked by a monster would give him to not play at all, rather than having to face up to whatever happens tomorrow. Haruto strikes a nerve by questioning why a genius-level pianist would be so okay ceding his fate to anyone but himself like that, causing Takagi to call him a loser again, which itself strikes a nerve with Koyomi. The absolute faith she has in Haruto is very apparent, so not only does it upset her to see an ungrateful Gate talking to him like that, it upsets her even more how painfully aware she is that Haruto only lacked the energy to beat Cat Sidhe because he used it for her sake. She tries to walk off in a huff, telling Haruto that it's not worth putting his life on the line for Takagi, but before Haruto can say anything to try and calm her down, he collapses outright. There's another Phantom scene at this point that has the cute gag of Phoenix being confused about the plot he's not a part of, which helps make it a tiny bit more dynamic when it's mostly there specifically so Medusa and Cat Sidhe can take stock of that plot, more than anything else. I'd probably consider brushing over it entirely, but Medusa also says "Wizard" in English in it, so it warrants mention for that alone. It might seem like a common occurrence now, but trust me, the frequency of this is going to drop off pretty rapidly as we go along. The day is winding down back at Omokagedo, which means, among other things, a gorgeous sunset color palette in Haruto's room as he rests in bed. ![]() I can try and quantify it more objectively by pointing out how the warm colors enhance the feeling of coziness or safety or whatever, and I'd probably be on the right track, but there's also simply a vibe to it I like that's not as easy to pin down in words. Staying on the objective track, then, I also appreciate that the orange is so overwhelming in this room because it helps emphasize the timeframe of the story more clearly? From the beginning of episode 4, we've essentially followed the cast through this entire single day, from morning to the night that comes after this, all leading up to that contest tomorrow. It's not like there's any worry of the viewer getting lost or anything, exactly, but highlighting the passage of time with color like this still provides a lot of extra variation in the images you're looking at, which makes this television show inherently more interesting to watch, you know? Outside Haruto's room, Rinko starts to put together the truth of Koyomi's existence, which prompts Wajima to explain things as much as he himself understands them. As best as they can figure, Koyomi is probably, in essence, the empty shell of a Gate left behind after a Phantom was born, stripped of her life, her memories, and indeed, her hope, only kept alive artificially through the magical power Haruto shares with her. And that's pretty heavy! Again, things started with the simple question of what that ring does, but now the answers being given are moving way beyond just that, and into information that starts to paint a vivid picture of why Koyomi has so much trouble letting people into her life. Why she'd feel so isolated, and why she'd try to isolate herself. Those feelings have manifested in some pretty ugly ways throughout these episodes, but put in light of that fear of being abnormal -- of not being good enough -- it's a lot harder to criticize her for that. And if all of that sounds similar to somebody else, it might be because Koyomi's not the only character in this story whose surly attitude is a result of struggling with deep insecurities. Haruto makes the parallel pretty explicit talking to Koyomi about why he's willing to put in the effort to help Takagi. His actual dialogue on the subject is so eloquently put that anything I can write will almost certainly just diminish it, but I think Haruto's kindness shows here in how quick he is to recognize the desperation Takagi is trying to hide under the surface. He's not dissuaded by the attitude because he can tell Takagi needs someone by his side right now, despite his protests to the contrary. For tonight, though, Haruto needs his rest, which leaves Koyomi to head over to Takagi on her own to try and sort things out. At least, she would be on her own, if Rinko and Shunpei didn't also follow along, themselves wanting to sort things out with Koyomi. So now they're in the room too to hear what Koyomi ends up having to tell Takagi, and that's good, because Koyomi has some pretty important stuff to say! ![]() Wizard's whole format, by nature, revolves around having a Gate in every story for Wizard to protect, but our first two Gates were also main characters. Takagi is only going to be around for two episodes, so there's that question of what value telling his story has for the overall series. In a textbook example of the format working exactly how it should, the answer is that telling a story about Takagi and telling a story about Koyomi become the same thing. The doll and the pianist turn out to be reflections of one another, so when their two worlds overlap, Koyomi eventually sees herself more clearly, and so does the audience. With Haruto's earlier words as the hint, Koyomi realizes that Takagi is terrified of facing failure tomorrow because he's trying to cling to the success of his past. This too, has value far beyond just these two episodes. Pleasant memories can be a source of hope, and something that drives you forward in life, but with Takagi, we're seeing how it's just as possible for those feelings to become twisted into a much more unhealthy longing to go back, and you'd better believe the line between cherishing a memory and obsessing over it is a topic we'll be revisiting throughout the show. Koyomi tells Takagi that he isn't living in the present, refusing to accept the person he is now, and through flashback, we learn of the time, right after the eclipse, where she was going through the same thing. ![]() When I say I'm not too confident in my ability to write about Wizard in a way I'll be satisfied with, there are probably few challenges greater than this scene. It's working on so many different levels and scales, and has such massive importance to everything that comes after and even before, that I don't know how to dig into it without making a huge mess. I guess starting small and working my out, it connects all the dots in this story as it moves into the climax. Knowing how frightened Koyomi was by what she is, the lack of memories, the skin as cold as a corpse -- knowing she was ready to throw the Please Ring into the water, right then and there, to be done with it all rather than suffer through any more -- knowing all that and then imagining how it must've felt for her when Rinko came in at the start of episode 4, it couldn't be any clearer at that point how Koyomi ended up in the mood she's been in for so much of these ones. Knowing all that also makes it very clear how much it must mean to her that Haruto promised to be her hope that day, in spite of her trying to push him away, and that *also* ties together *so* much. Not only the parallel between Koyomi and Takagi, but what Haruto told Rinko earlier about accepting everything about Koyomi, and why she trusts him in particular. In that moment, Koyomi couldn't think of herself as anything but a monster, and yet Haruto treated her with kindness, and gave her a reason to face the uncertainty of the future. And then from *there*, you might start thinking about Haruto's perspective, and realize that he was also, in that same moment, dealing with his own uncertain future, himself no longer an ordinary human, and you might start thinking about everything *that* means. About how lonely both of these people must've felt. About how that solitude, in true Kamen Rider fashion, is itself a theme throughout the show. About how important it was for the both of them to be able to be lonely together, and the profound connection that created. Maybe you'll think of Morota's love of water contributing so much visually to this end, as Haruto makes the choice to sit down with Koyomi rather than staying dry on the shore -- the choice to share what she's going through alongside her. ![]() Or at least, maybe *I'd* think of all these things! The funny thing is, in spite of all that, I also have a habit of forgetting Haruto's exact dialogue to Koyomi, which means it tends to hit me like a truck all over again whenever I go back to the episode. The sentiment that moving forward always starts with accepting the present, that part is locked in well enough. It's a big series theme and the part that's most immediately relevant to the story with Takagi, which is probably exactly why it frequently slips my mind that there's the little bit right after that, where Haruto says they should live in the present, whatever the two of them may be, which should by all rights be one of my favorite lines of dialogue in Kamen Rider. It goes beyond simply what I love about Wizard and into what attracts me so much to the entire franchise as a whole, but, uh, talking about the scene on a scale *that* large right now would probably distract from the story at hand completely. In the spirit of all the Wizard dialogue that says a lot in very little space, I'll simply leave you with the notion that everything you just read is still only a cursory attempt at me unpacking this scene before moving on. After all, it's the reactions of the characters to all this that actually move the narrative along. For Takagi, it's as simple as him not having a snide remark to respond with, for once, which tells you all you need to know. For Rinko and Shunpei, it's an opportunity to finally forge a meaningful connection with Koyomi, as three people who have all found hope in meeting Haruto. Rinko makes it clear that they're also ready to accept her for who she is, and even though she tries to play it cool, Koyomi realizes, as they all hold hands, that it might not be so bad to have this warmth in her life. ![]() With all that sorted out, all that's left is the big day, and the next morning, all the players are in place. Takagi decides to play in the contest after all, with Koyomi, Rinko, and Shunpei all watching from a balcony, and Cat Sidhe ready outside to make a mess of the show. He's even brought with him a whole bunch of Ghouls, courtesy of Phoenix (he's basically the Good Cop to Medusa's Bad Cop in this story), with it being established here that they actually come in pocket-sized rock form, so any Phantom can just carry around a squad of goons for whenever the need arises. Definitely seems handy for a monster who doesn't like doing work himself! It's chaos outside the concert hall, with civilians fleeing in terror. One man seems unfazed though. Up to this point, we've seen Haruto make plenty of cool heroic entrances, but one thing we haven't seen yet is how he applies his usual sense of showmanship to a scenario where he already knows well ahead of time where the bad guy is going to be. Naturally, he casually calls out to the Phantom, revealing he was chilling on a bench with a donut the whole time. ![]() Haruto is just a classy guy that way, and that's very much the vibe for this whole sequence, which pulls the trick of scoring the scene itself with Takagi's piano. It's one of those things that's almost harder to do wrong in a story like this? It keeps the action outside tied together with what's happening inside, reinforcing the connection between those two things (the scene can only have this music *because* Wizard is fighting to protect it), and it creates a unique feeling to this particular fight scene, simply by nature of being so different to the music you'd usually hear while Wizard is flipping around. It doesn't last through the entire fight, however, which could be considered a waste of the gimmick, but there's plenty enough to get the point across, and some other things the sequence wants to show off. The first of which is Wizard busting out the Copy Ring to deal with the Ghouls. ![]() Copy is pretty up there for me as far as Wizard's powers go! The decision to have it create duplicates that perfectly mirror Haruto's movements makes it very visually interesting, and there's something super neat about the way it works multiplicatively, with it making a second Wizard so those two can make two more, and so on, with a whole firing squad of eight total Wizards in this case. After a commercial break, the second phase of the fight is a showcase for Hurricane Style, which also means it debuts that form's own theme song, Blessed Wind. In a nice bit of symmetry, while two forms got themes from the official musical group formed for the franchise's 40th anniversary, the other two got themes from Rider Chips, the band formed for the 30th. Having been around longer, I already loved a bunch of songs by them when Wizard was new, so the surprise, again, was actually that I ended up liking the Kamen Rider Girls inserts for the show way more. Which isn't to say that I even thought the songs Rider Chips contributed were bad. I'm quite fond of Blessed Wind, as a matter of fact. The heavy guitar riffs definitely give that impression of raging winds, even if I'm not qualified to explain why, and the lyrics are in a nice middle ground between Last Engage and Mystic Liquid, with the emphasis of the latter on the elemental theme, but also maybe more general Wizard-related lines than it. I may prefer other songs in this show, but it's not like you can go wrong with this one. Hurricane Style itself ain't nothing to sneeze at either. ![]() First of all, it's kinda awesome that it's specifically Hurricane instead of just "Wind" or something? I assume it's to make it sound more powerful, and frankly, mission accomplished there. Aesthetically, too, it's a winner. The triangles on the chest especially work great, with both sides of the coat working together to create one big triangle out of the smaller ones. And then, as this episode shows off for the first time, it has its trademark use of the sword in that sick reverse grip, which everybody knows is the coolest way to use a sword. And then in the visual interest department, having it fly by literally riding on a hurricane means the way it moves on screen has a distinct feel from a ton of other flying heroes, and managing to stick out in that crowded category is pretty darn impressive. Add it all up and -- while I don't have a particularly firm ranking for the four Styles -- part of me has always kind of thought Hurricane might secretly be the only one that can top Flame as the coolest? As much as I don't want to acknowledge that? It's Wizard's most agile form versus his most agile adversary yet, and as the big finale to all the action, it definitely satisfies. Like I just pointed out, there's a clear logic to why Hurricane is the form to finish Cat Sidhe off with, which is good, and proper stunts and choreography mingle with the composite stuff so effortlessly that I'd imagine it won't bore people who are mostly interested in the practical aspects of tokusatsu, even though the focus of the sequence is primarily on the magical trickery, mostly as a consequence of the flying shtick. With Cat Sidhe defeated, there's nothing to get in Takagi's way at the contest... not that it helps him come out on top. No, instead, Takagi wins a more personal victory today, by taking his loss in stride, telling everyone of his intent to get a fresh start studying overseas, and thanking Koyomi for giving him the wake-up call he needed. And as for Koyomi herself? Well, she even finds herself smiling along at Shunpei's usual antics, so it definitely seems she's gained something from all of this too. ![]() It's quite the heartwarming resolution, and as usual, there's a lot of smaller things going on that make it all that much more impactful. It's not just that Koyomi is smiling; it's also that Haruto is there to notice she is, just like he took note when Wajima told him that morning that Koyomi had been spending the night with Rinko and Shunpei, feeling happy that she's finally making friends. And of course, Haruto gets to communicate all that to the audience without having to say anything directly, which I think contributes a lot of the nuance that helps it all land exactly how it needs to. I feel like I'm mostly scratching the surface of these episodes, honestly. They're most notable to me for having the flashback sequence that I consider to be like, the core of the entire series, but the story itself, make no mistake, I think it's a darn strong one. It's got a great goofy villain who helps balance the tone out, allowing these episodes to explore some fairly heavy themes while still staying light on their feet. It's fun throughout, yet still packs a ton of humanity into its drama, which sorta makes them like the benchmark for the entire rest of the show? I'm not sure how well I expressed any of that throughout this, but hey, that's *also* probably going to be true for the rest of the show, so I suppose that's only right.
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