[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O SPECIAL - “PRETTY DEN-O ON THE SCENE!”



It’s amazing to me how little you really need for a project to feel like a worthwhile addition to the Den-O canon.

It’s literally just Momo and a friend -slash- partner -slash- host body -slash- terrified young person. That’s it. It’s nice to have the other Imagin, and the Den-Liner, and Naomi, but that’s just icing on a pretty delicious cake. (God knows The Plot Of The TV Show “Kamen Rider Den-O” is fairly irrelevant to a thing feeling Den-O.) The chemistry between Momotaros and his story’s scene partner, the energy between them as they right wrongs and protect memories, that’s the crucial ingredient. Anything less is a miss, and anything more is optional.

It’s why this honestly felt more fun than half of the New Den-O/Kotaro things. The template was never really a kid and his imaginary monster buddy, no matter how much I wished it was to validate my claim that the Ryotaro-less version should’ve moved Yuuto into the lead role; the template was a kid and Momo. The smartest thing this franchise did in the later Heisei years (post-Decade) was outright state that Momo was now Kamen Rider Den-O. Momo is this show, for better or worse.

(It’s nothing I’m going to really make a case for in this post, but the “worse” would probably be a more permanent shift away from the melancholy and pathos that typified Ryotaro’s addition to the premise, in favor of Momo’s manic energy and raw emotions. You can’t really put Momo in the driver’s seat of a story and not have it skew early and often into hijinks. It’s fun, but it never becomes poignant or thought-provoking. That was what Ryotaro brought to the table. Well, that and some great physical comedy.)

Which is not to say that the non-Momo parts of this thing didn’t work, because I thought what was here was pretty sweet. It’s a 20-odd minute special, and none of it is particularly challenging, plot-wise. If you haven’t guessed the identity of Melon before she says her first line, I can’t imagine what you made of Den-O’s year-long mystery. (You might’ve even been more perplexed than me! I’m actually worried for you!) But it’s not the sort of story that relies on big twists or precise structure – I mean, the bad guys are Shocker. This is stage show-level storytelling.

But, man, I like some stage shows for precisely the reason I liked this special. The characters are charming and clearly defined; the heroes are goofy, even in success; the villains are dopes, mooks, and chumps; the new suit is cleverly designed and perfect for the circumstance; and the need to impart a lesson doesn’t really get in the way of a comedic adventure.

(The bookended Anna Learns To Keep A Promise thing is… it is not this special’s high point. It’s a bizarre fight Anna and her mom get into in the first scene that starts at a 9, and it’s not really a huge part of Melon and Anna’s relationship in the past. There’s never really a point where Anna has to choose to keep the promise or not keep the promise; it’s all self-preservation and heroism, not really a Saber episode.)

I thought this was as strong a Den-O installment as you’re likely to get with a 25-minute DVD adventure for a show that wrapped up twelve years earlier. I’d watch the hell out of a mini-series continuation, at the very least. We still gotta find out what the deal was with that other Rider who shows up after the credits!!!



THE BAGGAGE CAR

-Really funny gag to have that year’s Rider, Black RX, swoop in late for the crossover. It’s a fun gag that’s above and beyond what anyone could reasonably expect from this project. I applaud the project commemorating the Heisei era’s first Rider, instead of tossing in some Showa jank.

-I know I did a whole thing up there about how Momo And Friend is really all you need for a Den-O story, but… man, so good to still see Naomi plugging away in the Den-Liner Cafe Car. As pivotal to my enjoyment of a Den-O tale as a good rendition of Climax Jump.

-Which this movie also had! It’s a cleaner version of the second TV show version, the all-Imagin one.

-Finally, hi, welcome back to Kamen Rider Die Watches Kamen Rider Den-O, albeit briefly. I’m still on an extended break from writing and posting, but I have not been in a Kin-style hibernation! I’ve been going back through the old threads and cleaning stuff up: fixing broken image links, cleaning up the occasional typo, and eliminating the errors that TokuNation’s forum software introduced a couple years back. Everything from Kuuga through Den-O should be good, as well as all of the Reiwa posts. My plan is to get Kiva, Decade, the Legend Riders projects, Ghost, Build, and Zi-O all done by the end of the year. I feel confident about that! Let's hope that that's not hubris talking!

-I’ve also been copying over all of those fixed posts to a new site, Kamen Rider Die Watches Kamen Rider. All of my old posts are going to be archived there, if you ever want to check them out. (It’s mostly so I don’t get worried that TokuNation will somehow eat the posts beyond my ability to reconstruct them.) New threads will always debut here – and all of the posts link back to the board discussion – but that site will be an accessible library, if you’re interested. It’s still under construction, but there’s a baker’s dozen shows currently archived, with more to come. I hope you don’t think it’s weird that I made it!

-Happy to discuss the special with y’all, if you’ve got thoughts. Otherwise, I’ll see you in January for Kamen Rider W!

[Switchblade]

This movie is one of my favorite low stakes villain plots ever: "we're going to steal a time machine, go back to 1989, and steal a child's lottery ticket for what is almost assuredly a very meager prize, all things considered." It's a stupid amount of effort that probably costs more than it would net, even without the inevitable Kamen Riding interference. This is right up there with the time Destron made a monster who specifically turned people into exploding flying squirrels.

I also absolutely loved the gag where one of the contemporary mooks from Black RX showed up and the Shocker mooks assume that he must be the leader of Crisis.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

This movie is one of my favorite low stakes villain plots ever: "we're going to steal a time machine, go back to 1989, and steal a child's lottery ticket for what is almost assuredly a very meager prize, all things considered." It's a stupid amount of effort that probably costs more than it would net, even without the inevitable Kamen Riding interference. This is right up there with the time Destron made a monster who specifically turned people into exploding flying squirrels.

Only the mind of Yonemura could give us a treasure this outrageously pointless and primarily metaphorical. When your starting point is They Target A Little Girl For a Ticket She Doesn't Even Know She's Carrying, you can pretty much get away with whatever plot developments you want after that.

I just love dumb villains chasing little kids for dumb reasons!

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I just love dumb villains chasing little kids for dumb reasons!

This makes it so weird that you don't truck with Showa because this is about 70% of what the Showa era is.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

This makes it so weird that you don't truck with Showa because this is about 70% of what the Showa era is.

I just love dumb villains chasing little kids for dumb reasons and also it's after February 1989!

Sorry for the earlier typo! I'm out of practice!

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O SPECIAL - ?PRETTY DEN-O ON THE SCENE!?

It?s literally just Momo and a friend -slash- partner -slash- host body -slash- terrified young person. That?s it. It?s nice to have the other Imagin, and the Den-Liner, and Naomi, but that?s just icing on a pretty delicious cake. (God knows The Plot Of The TV Show ?Kamen Rider Den-O? is fairly irrelevant to a thing feeling Den-O.) The chemistry between Momotaros and his story?s scene partner, the energy between them as they right wrongs and protect memories, that?s the crucial ingredient. Anything less is a miss, and anything more is optional.

Yeah, to have Kamen Rider Den-O, you still need Den-O, which at this point the Imagins can become on their own now that they have permanent physical bodies. However, if Ryoutarou's not around to fill the protagonist role anymore, then that's the benefit of having these guest protagonists like Yu, Koutarou, Mitsuru and Anna instead. The story can be whatever, as long as it's thematically relevant, which is why something like Den-O is so versatile that it can keep going even in the Reiwa Era.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Which is not to say that the non-Momo parts of this thing didn?t work, because I thought what was here was pretty sweet. It?s a 20-odd minute special, and none of it is particularly challenging, plot-wise. If you haven?t guessed the identity of Melon before she says her first line, I can?t imagine what you made of Den-O?s year-long mystery. (You might?ve even been more perplexed than me! I?m actually worried for you!) But it?s not the sort of story that relies on big twists or precise structure ? I mean, the bad guys are Shocker. This is stage show-level storytelling.

This is basically a simplified copy of the exact same plot twist that Yonemura previously used in Let's Go Kamen Riders. So anybody who's watched that should totally know what's happening here. The only difference with Melon is that she wears glasses, whereas Anna's mother doesn't, but that can be easily explained with contacts. I thought Anna was decent enough as a protagonist, showing some courage and kindness. Honestly, I only wish that she got to fight longer as the titular Pretty Den-O, before Momotaros went solo for his Hissatsu Waza Reiwa Version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

-Which this movie also had! It?s a cleaner version of the second TV show version, the all-Imagin one.

I'm glad you enjoyed that as well, since I recall you didn't appreciate the original Imagin Version.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I'm glad you enjoyed that as well, since I recall you didn't appreciate the original Imagin Version.

My memory's not great, but I seem to recall the Imagin version not getting a lot of love in general? This one's more tolerable (if still not preferable to the original) thanks to the vocal performances being a little more restrained. The TV version was more, uh... let's be charitable and say *animated*. It was distracting and aggressive in a way that ruined the magic of that song. Here, it's not trying so hard. I thought it was cute!