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Kamen Rider Die rewatches Kamen Rider W (and watches Fuuto P.I.)
Hi. I’m Kamen Rider Die, and this thread is “Kamen Rider Die rewatches Kamen Rider W (and watches Fuuto P.I.)”!
If you’ve been a part of one of these threads before, welcome back. (If you’re brand-new… gimme a minute! Got some old business to clear out first.) I super-appreciate everyone’s patience over the last few months, since I wrapped up the Revice thread. It’s the longest break I’ve taken since I started doing these threads regularly, and while it felt weird to not be getting into a new show after a while, I definitely needed the break. The joke was that it was a break from writing about Kamen Rider, but not a break from Kamen Rider itself. I spent the intervening months cleaning up all the weird formatting errors in previous threads, as well as any migrated image links, so all those old threads should be substantially more readable now. (I mean, they’re definitely more legible; as for readability… like, I still wrote them. This is my only gear!) I also finished setting up an archive of those old threads over at KamenRiderDie.com, complete with some snazzy header art by TheRaizin. Every post on that site links back to the discussion here, so hopefully it retains some of the conversational feel that made these threads such a blast to be a part of. (For me, at least.) I also finally got in some cabinets to display a closet’s worth of Figuarts, which took a little while to build and populate. Pictures are here, if you’re curious how much this franchise has entered my bloodstream. So, yeah. That was my second half of 2023. But it’s 2024 now, which means we are back to watching Kamen Rider, back to writing about Kamen Rider, and back to talking about Kamen Rider with all of you. As charted out in the final Revice post, this is the start of Phase 2 for the Kamen Rider Die Watches threads. The first Phase was me watching all of the shows from Heisei and Reiwa that I never watched; this Phase is me writing up all the shows I’d watched before. Specifically, we’ll be covering W through Ex-Aid, alternating with some other franchises I’ve never seen. (Full details here!) First up, Kamen Rider W and Fuuto P.I. W was… I think it was the third Kamen Rider show I ever watched? Ex-Aid was first, then the first season of Amazons, then W. It’s been literally hundreds of episodes of Kamen Rider since I was watching W, which makes thinking about it sort of weird. First, I basically remember almost none of it. I don’t retain these shows super well. (I frequently need to consult Wikis to recall names of characters I’ve spent months writing about.) Each new show obliterates the one before it, and I’ve watched probably 20 shows since W. It’s atomized. I think there was a hat? Maybe? Okay, that’s not entirely true. I loved W, from the all-time great opening song, to the charming performances, to the utterly unconvincing romance between Terui and Akiko. (Well, maybe I didn’t love everything.) I liked the two-episode mystery format. Sawa from Build is in a follow-up V-Cin? Again, random details, not much memory of individual episodes and/or how they slot together to form a season-long narrative. It’s largely going to be new to me, but new to a much more knowledgeable fan than the guy who first watched them. Which is the second weird part to these threads: I have a much better grounding of the franchise’s tropes and patterns than I did when I was coming off of a show and a half in 2018. I’m rewatching W, but I’m also doing it through the lens of the ten Heisei shows before it, and the nine after it, and the five Reiwa shows that are in progress. It’s… it’s like a reunion, more than a rewatch. It’s an older me, encountering a piece of art that was significant to my development as a fan, trying to see if there’s nuance I’d overlooked; if there’s a change in my palette. (Maybe I’ll even find Akiko and Terui’s relationship to be layered and believable! WHO KNOWS!) I’m interested to find out how much that’s the case. And speaking of cases… Kamen Rider W! I’ll be watching the whole series, as well as any ancillary material, in as close to broadcast order as possible. (I’m using the OZC-Live subs for the main show, if that matters to you.) Here’s what my viewing order is going to look like over the next few months: W 1-4 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 1 W 5-8 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 2 W 9-12 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 3 W 13-14 Movie War 2010 Special Event supported by Windscale W 15-16 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 4 W 17-20 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 5 W 21-24 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 6 W 25-28 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 7 W 29-32 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 8 W 33-36 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 9 W 37-40 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 10 HBV: Farewell Beloved Recipe Gaia Memory Library W 41-44 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 11 26 Rapid-Succession Roars of Laughter W Forever * W 45-46 Hardboiled Delusion Diary 12 W 47-49 Final Stage Movie War Core * Accel Eternal Fuuto PI 1-12 Fuuto PI The Stage (???) The stuff with an asterisk is a thing I’ve written up before – those’ll get reposted, maybe with some updated commentary. I’ve never watched the HBV(s), the stage shows, or the Hardboiled Delusion Diaries, so that’ll all be brand-new for me. Fuuto PI is also new, and we’ll watch that after the live-action stuff. If I’m lucky, maybe someone’ll even post the Fuuto PI stage show! Posts will go up daily, except for Wednesday. (Tuesday used to be the toughest day to post, but now it’s Wednesday.) I’ll always try and give a shout if something’s going to cause a day to be skipped, but I try to make that as rare as possible. I like keeping a steady cadence to this stuff! A few quick ground rules for the new phase of these threads: PLEASE TRY AND KEEP DISCUSSION TO THE CURRENT EPISODE, OR ANYTHING POSTED PREVIOUSLY IN THE THREAD. While I’ve seen the whole series and may occasionally bring up later details, I’d really prefer to keep the discussion to where we’re at in the show. Like, if I just posted Episode 12, let’s try and chat about that Episode, not what’s going to happen in Episode 14. We’ll get to 14! But the individual episode posts should hopefully invite discussion about that episode’s plot points and developments. STUFF’S GOING TO GET SPOILED, THOUGH, MAYBE. I’ve already spoiled one plot thread already, and this is only the introductory post, so. Again, I don’t want to constantly be talking about upcoming storyline turns or character developments, but it’ll probably happen. Think of these Rewatch threads as a fan commentary: You would never listen to a commentary before you watch the movie, so maybe watch W before getting too deep into this thread. (Unless you don’t really care about spoilers, in which case – go nuts!) ALWAYS BE A GOOD PARTNER TO YOUR THREADMATES. I’ve spent years being delighted by all of your generosity and inquisitiveness, and I’d love for that to continue in this thread. Be polite in your disagreements, effusive in your praise, and patient in your debate. We’re all here because we love Kamen Rider shows, even if we don’t like the same things about them. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO WRITE. The writing on these threads are always… uh, let’s be polite and say “idiosyncratic”. I just write down my reactions to Kamen Rider shows, in hopes that it’ll evoke discussion. I don’t write well, and I don’t really write concisely. This… it’s all like this, but about Kamen Rider, and over a multi-month span. Please don’t look to this thread for a synopsis of every element of every episode; please be okay with me spending an entire episode post gushing about a single scene. Also, it’s been months since I was last doing this all regularly, so it may take me a minute to get those muscles working correctly. Might be some mental sprains! Might get lost inside a paragraph! Please bear with me, but please don’t hope for too much! THE KEYWORD IS “PARTICIPATION”. It’s always fine if people prefer to read and lurk, but the true joy of these threads is when folks jump in with their own takes. The memories, the pet peeves, the personal anecdotes, the interpretations… it’s all so great to experience. My posts are only ever a jumping off point for discussion, which means they’re only useful if people respond. The more we get a discussion going, the more I want to talk about these shows. Your posts are the wind powering my criticism city! That’s the metaphor you get if I don’t have anything to respond to!!! I think that about does it! Now it’s time to count up our sins with KAMEN RIDER W! https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double00.png |
KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 1 - “W’S SEARCH: TWO DETECTIVES IN ONE”
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double01a.png Kamen Rider W is a story about a city. It’s a thing that very few Kamen Rider shows are about, honestly. There’re shows about companies, and schools, and all of Japan. There are shows about families, both biological and found. But this one… like, Fuuto is the main character, in a way that feels completely fresh. There’s an identity to Fuuto that separates it from the generic Tokyo I Guess of previous Heisei shows. There’re wind turbines everywhere. The clothing comes from WindScale. The defining monument of the city is a gigantic windmill. It’s the most fun way to enter a new series, because it feels new. It’s not just adjacent to the last show, some neighborhood that looks slightly different; it’s a complete identity for its cast to define themselves against. The concept of protecting a definable city helps add quick and fascinating shades to our two main characters – Akiko and Shotaro. That’s my favorite thing about this premiere, how much it foregrounds the dynamic of Akiko and Shotaro. While the series as a whole is memorable for our two-in-one Kamen Rider, I found myself endlessly delighted by the way Akiko’s snarky self-regard ran up against Shotaro’s performative cool. She’s new in town, and just wants to avoid Encyclopedia Brown But A Junon Superboy Contestant as much as she can. Shotaro’s attempts to be suave and sophisticated just bounce right off her disinterest, while still creating a sense that she’s sort of intrigued by his dedication to helping the people of Fuuto. It’s… like, it could easily come off as grating – generally no fun when someone shows up to shit all over the star of the show! – but Akiko’s insults land pretty well on a doofus who could not be less manly or cool if he tried. Shotaro… he’s so great, in how performative all of his noir detective shit is. He’s a child’s conception of a world-weary gumshoe. His office is littered with toys and trinkets. (There’s a wagon full of junk in a corner! He looks like he has his office in a day care!) He’s a kid acting like his idol, to distract from how massively unprepared he is to be a man. It’s charmingly vulnerable, even as it lends immediate credence to Akiko’s frustration with him. Like, he sort of sucks at making a case for himself, while constantly demonstrating both his dedication to helping the people of Fuuto, and his analytical prowess. He’s a great detective in the body of a child that wants to come off like a great detective. And, hey, speaking of Actual Children, it’s Philip! (Of all the cast, I would actually believe he’s in middle school. Shotaro’s insulting the wrong cast member!) He’s a fun source of mystery here, but not exactly a fleshed-out character. For what little time is spent on him, though, he’s a fun third part of the equation. He’s the exact opposite of Shotaro – all id, no ego. He pursues his passions without caring what anyone thinks of them. It makes for a fun balance with Akiko’s audience-surrogate curiosity and Shotaro’s generally-embarrassing Dashiell Hammett cosplay. Collectively they’re all kind of a formidable team? Sort of? But it’s really Philip and Shotaro who have to combat the forces of evil, leading to the debut of Kamen Rider W. It’s one of my all-time favorite designs – the split vertical shape, the green/black/gold/purple motif, the scarf, THE SCARF – and the debut makes it suitably memorable. (I mean, the modern-day debut, I guess. The prologue sequence almost feels like a tease, for how hilariously EXPLOSIVE it is.) It’s that killer catchphrase, wedded to a sense of investigative justice, all wrapped up in form changes and a (clunkily-animated) Rider Kick. It’s a little showy, you know? The show makes it feel like W arriving isn’t just a savior to innocents or a thrilling climax, but the successful solution to a mystery. It’s W as AHA moment, and that feels nicely unique to this show. Still, it’s Fuuto that makes this thing feel the most like itself. There’s a moment, during W’s Henshin to take on the Magma Dopant, where the wind flares and the turbines spin and it’s all very powerful. I think we’re meant to read it as W’s power exploding onto the scene, ready to defeat the monster and save the day. For me, though… I like to think of it as Fuuto itself applauding the arrival of its superhero. It’s the city saying that it wants this team to succeed. I get where it’s coming from. — DIE-A MEMORIES https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double01b.png Hey, how about a little section to talk in a more spoilery way about my experience coming back to this show after watching a dozen other Kamen Riders over the last few years? -They are all such skinny children!!! Especially after watching Girls Remix last year, it is insane to see how young our main trio was once. And this show does not do them any favors in the Please See Them As Functional Adults department – those shortpants they put Shotaro in for the prologue! Jesus! He might as well have been wearing a diaper! -I really love how Akiko comes off in this episode, which couldn’t have been a bigger shock to me than if I'd somehow hated the theme song. (Nope! Still a classic!) Akiko’s someone that I kind of always thought was annoying and too cartoony, but she’s far and away my favorite character in this episode. I love how badly she treats Shotaro! -The Sonozaki family… definitely appears in this episode! |
W is a show that I always reccomend for newcomers and part of it is the city of Fuuto is as much of a chracter as it is a setting. To me show ground itself with this city and by the time show ends you would want to look online a try to book trip to Fuuto, Japan but only to cry over the fact it not a real city just like how you can't actually enroll into Hogwarts or visit Metropolis.
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Oh shit, here we go. Time to go grab my W folder off of the external HDD.
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Okay, I watched this myself weeks ago, I can probably lay say something.
It is a fairly unique premise for a two parter to have two monsters across the two episodes. And that’s a good introduction to one of the motifs of the show. Duality. They even have a separate suit actor for when the camera focuses on Phillip’s half of W. Anyway, I’ve carved a niche discussing where else you can see the actors in these things (inspired by a feature in Doctor Who Magazine known as The Fact of Fiction, which at one point would dedicate a mini section to documenting other works the actors had appeared in), and Double has an actor who was in Sentai every other episode (a result of the producer having primarily done Sentai before W). So here we go. Our client this week, Marina, is played by Meibu Yamanouchi, who previosuly had a recurring role as Rin/Heavenly Saint Lunagel in Magiranger. Minori Terada, our main villain du jour appears in Gaim’s Zangetsu V-Cinema as another wealthy asshole dad who motivates the villain. But aside from that, he’s had a few guest appearances on Ultraman, dating back to the original series in 1966 (yes, he’s that old), with the most recent being last year’s Ultraman Blazar. |
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You should add the W Novel to the list since it recently got translated. It seems to take place right after episode 36 if you're curious. It's a fun read!
Anyway, I'll try to keep up with the thread, but I make no promises. I will definitely be sure to sound off about certain, uh, developments that happen at certain points of the show though. And you probably already have an idea about which ones, haha. Hope the rewatch(and new watch in Fuuto PI!) ends up being fun for you! |
Me after seeing Kamen Rider Die will also review Fuuto P.I.: *gets out bowl and popcorn* :lolol
Yeah, while doing something new at the time such as two individuals being one rider, I agree that this show definitely is a nice starting point for newcomers, like GrandComplete pointed out, to get introduced to the core aspects of Kamen Rider from the recent batch of shows. Of course, if said newcomers then are interested in Showa stuff I'd suggest OG Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Black, and Shin Kamen Rider. And by Shin Kamen Rider I mean the recent Anno film, not the 1992 body horror rider. :lolol |
Rewatched episode 1, and boy, I had almost forgotten how much I used to dislike Akiko.
It's not just the way I found alot of her behavior obnoxious, but it's that alot of her internal logic really confounds me. The part that really got super under my skin, even now, half a decade later, was when, after Shotaro saves her life from the Magma Dopant, her response is... to put even more effort into evicting him. Scumbag move. And this is after already using it as leverage to follow him around on the case. Was she just doing that for kicks? Was the fact that detectives get paid not even once on her mind? And how is she so clueless about her father's' own business office when she's the landlord? It's frustrating. Akiko was and still is what made is hard to really sink my teeth into act one of W. It's alot easier nowadays thanks to the power of hindsight, but yeah, when I first watched it all those years ago, the early parts of the show felt pretty rough to me, so we'll see how much that impression holds up assuming I get to continue rewatching the show. But again, hindsight helps, because even here in the first episode there are alot of elements that would help W to stand out in the long run. One of the things nearly everyone praises about the show is its world building, and yeah, even here in the premiere there's alot of effort put towards that. From the set design, to the various bits of iconic imagery such as the Gaia Bookshelves. And such aspects would only be built upon as the show continued. The quirks of Shotaro and Philip are of course always fun, and we even get my favorite form of W right upfront with LunaJoker. They knew just how good that form was! They also knew just how good the switch-in attack for W was. That cyclone hits so hard! I played Memory of Heroez; I would know! The short of it is: It's a fun premiere, if a bit of a drag at points because of one character who really rubs me the wrong way in the early days. |
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Now... I just like her chemistry with Shotaro. They're both fairly unlikable, but in opposing ways: Shotaro's trying so hard to be cool that you want someone to deflate his ego a bit, and Akiko's so grating in her objections that you want someone to yell at her. This show gives you both! But, honestly, I feel like I might just be deranged. It's incredibly to say that Akiko's great ever, or especially right now, as she's harassing Shotaro and maybe trying to end the series before it starts. She -- she sort of doesn't make a great first impression, no. Quote:
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As far as first episodes go, I think W's premiere is one of the all-time greats. It's relatively rare that we start with an established Rider instead of someone getting the belt for the first time, but it has some advantages. We do get a bit of Begins Night to start with, but mostly we're looking at a Shotaro whose fully realized as a detective and a Kamen Rider, with Akiko serving as the audience surrogate who's just seeing this world for the first time. I like this because it allows the show to focus more on the mystery and how Shotaro and Philip handle their cases, saving the recap of how they first met for later. It's a better primer for W's premise.
Shotaro may be my favorite Rider protagonist. There are a few challengers, but it's hard not to keep going back to him. He's just such a fun mix of the noir detective artifice on top of his real, much more immature personality. Renn Kiriyama does such a good job with the role, too, and I'm so glad we've gotten to see him come back to it so many times. Quote:
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While I don't plan to rewatch along this time, due to my currently busy Tokusatsu schedule, I totally have a fair amount of opinions to share about Kamen Rider Double, the 2-in-1 detective.
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 2 - “W’S SEARCH: THE ONE WHO MAKES THE CITY CRY”
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double02a.png I don’t know if this one all the way works as anything other than a proof of concept. It ends up trading in last episode’s quirky character work for an overly-long action sequence with some We Are Only A Couple Years Removed From Castle Doran-level computer graphics. It’s still a neat (if limited) exploration of the central trio, and their dynamic, but I don’t know that it was especially good or memorable. Like, the mystery here is… I don’t know that it plays fair with the audience? Marina ends up being the T-Rex Dopant due more to the conservation of cast -slash- noir femme fatale tropes, than due to anything we learned in the previous episode. We only find out that she was another former Windscale employee after Shotaro figures out she’s the T-Rex Dopant, which feels sort of crucial to guessing she’s the culprit? And her whole plan depends on knowing that Shotaro is Double, which is definitely not common knowledge at this point in the show? It’s a mystery where the only other named character is the killer, and for reasons that are all but invented for the finale. It sort of works, because Shotaro’s reaction sells the effect, but it’s not a great puzzle to solve. The reveal doesn’t even really land for me, because there’s not much to her after she goes Full CG Monster. She’s a raving lunatic, and then she completely disappears from the story so a CG Double can grapple with a CG dinosaur. The T-Rex Dopant suit is not going to be in any monster hall of fame – it looks like an upscaled hand-puppet, which is the nicest way I can describe it – but at least it allows for a physical confrontation. The big ol’ metal monster version is… I just can’t ever care about that type of fight scene. Too… I don’t know, too sterile? It’s clean in the exact way that I want toku action to be messy. Not a fan! The character work is still strong, though, which helps the episode manage to be an overall enjoyable watch. (Not a success, exactly, but not a drag to get through.) There’s Philip and Shotaro fighting about Shotaro’s inability to embrace his empathy and weakness, which is – if memory serves – going to be something of a recurring bit in this series. It’s a neat other half to Akiko’s frustration with Shotaro, where his need to be seen as someone else risks missing what’s worthwhile about himself. He’s a guy that wants to be seen as tough, but his softness is why both Akiko and Philip rush to his aid. The punch he throws at Philip, though… kinda not sure on that one? Philip literally shrugs it off, and the show treats it as A Manly Disagreement, but it’s still sort of a big deal that the show’s not really willing to confront. Philip isn’t being a dick to Shotaro – Philip is psychologically unable to see the world the same way Shotaro does, and is trying to navigate their friendship the best way he can. (Dude even shows up at the end to make things right after getting punched in the face!) It’s a cruel thing Shotaro does, not just an impetuous or ill-considered thing. I’d certainly love to see the show treat Philip’s condition more sensitively, but I also remembered that I’m watching a Toei superhero show from 2009, so I’ll try to keep some perspective. I mean, at least that part’s worth talking about? Otherwise, the mystery underwhelmed, and the action was too phony for me to care about. There’s a couple good Akiko gags in the chase scene (her on the loudspeaker, “Jump!” *nods* “How?!”), but I zoned out for a bunch of it. It– it’s an okay finale to a better debut. Not upset, just a little let down. — DIE-A MEMORIES https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double02b.png -Oh, right, this is the Naked Wedding one or whatever! Man, the Sonozaki family at this point… like, I get it, we need to learn about the crime family in a mystery show (plus Other Reasons), but every visit with them is a bizarre momentum killer. I’d maybe argue that they could’ve been saved for a little later in the first act? -Show is super-duper into all of Double’s toyetic gadgets! It’ll be a constant presence through the first half of Heisei Phase 2, and it never did anything for me. (Fourze… not looking forward to those Happy Meal toys!) I find it a little cluttered, as an aesthetic. There’s the superhero, and the toy accessories, and the multi-change bike… I don’t know, feels a little busy for one episode. -First appearance of Watcherman! I like all of the informants and street team stuff. It’s old-school Holmesian mystery stuff, and it just always works. It adds to that feeling that Fuuto as a whole is part of Double’s success. |
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What's insane was that the whole thing was streamed online at the time and the show was mostly compilations of moments. But after his run on it ended he went on to pursue stage acting and be a tv personality in variety shows and stuff. |
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Gotta love the annual "We dumped two months' budget into this to show off all of the toys you can go buy at your local toy store" episode. I didn't mind it too much, personally, although I've never been a huge fan of the giant dinosaur head monster suit. I can appreciate an unorthodox design (it's the main reason why Pestar is one of my favorite Ultraman kaiju), but this one just doesn't really do it for me. It's a bit too far on the goofy side of things.
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 3 - “DON’T TOUCH THE M: HOW TO GET INTO HEAVEN”
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double03a.png Solid episode! It’s kind of the archetypal Double Mystery, you know? The first two-parter felt a little rushed and uneven, but this one? Exactly what I want in a Double adventure: colorful guest-stars, neat supporting cast, great trio storytelling, and a bit of long-form build. Can’t think of anything I’d change about it! Normally, this is the paragraph where I’d undercut that by listing the things I’d change about it, but no! Genuinely thought this one worked all the way through. Yuuko’s whole disobedient daughter thing was a neat way into the theme of Family, and her money-warped personality change was a fun foil for our half-boiled team of Akiko (terrible at this in a really charming way) and Shotaro (just hopelessly outclassed by Akiko’s stubbornness at every turn; perfect). The beats of the mystery both play fair – the bus in the first disappearance scene – and feel clever in their deployment. It’s not a huge, twisty story or nothing, but the incremental search for the Million Colosseo makes for a solid first half of this mystery. The rest of the episode is spent on world-building and the mystery of Philip’s memories, and I found the former more appealing than the latter. Both are good (mostly in how Philip’s missing memories directly impact Double’s superheroic effectiveness), but the continued development of the citizenry of Fuuto is always going to land better for me. Watcherman returns for a bit of banter with Akiko, but it’s the time spent with the Fuuto police detectives that was most entertaining. Makura and Jinno, I just like their vibe with Shotaro. Makura hates him, but Jinno… Jinno doesn’t like him, exactly, but he sees the ways they can help each other. It’s a kind of lazy pragmatism, where Jinno’s fine letting Shotaro go off and solves crimes while he just shows up at the end to slap on some cuffs. Jinno comes off like a good cop that’s okay letting someone else do the hard work, and that’s such a fun change from the usual Kamen Rider options of Tough Cop Who Hates Heroes and Tough Cop Who Loves Heroes. Jinno’s just, like, cool with some freelance guy saving him some headaches. It’s so specific to this show, and I love it. The Wakana/Sonozaki family stuff… it’s coming together? This is the story where Wakana starts to interact with Team Double, where Kirihiko sees Double in action for the first time, and where the Sonozaki family start to understand what’s happening in their city. The way the show portrays them less as a cabal of Dopant supremacists, and more as a basic Crime Family, it does a lot of heavy-lifting for making them compelling to watch. They’re a fun group of affluent criminals who also happen to be rubber-suited monsters. Seriously, solid episode for me. Nothing to really gripe about, and everything worked fluidly. Nice reminder of peak W! — DIE-A MEMORIES https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double03b.png -Philip’s memories start to show up! Nice to see how much this show is already laying down tracks for the eventual reveal, by elevating this part of the plot in the same episode where Philip is inexplicably fascinated by Wakana. -I don’t think we’ve gotten a full Form Change from Double yet? It’s all CycloneMetal or LunaJoker or whatever. Weird! -Yuuko’s parents instantly defer to Akiko’s self-given authority, and that’s so fun for me now. Why was I ever not into her schtick?! |
I've always been of the opinion that, with how they're structured, W's' two-parters are better treated and viewed one big episode, rather than two separate ones. And rewatching episode 2 tonight only reminded me as to why I felt that way. Because really, I almost feel like episode 2 makes for a better introduction than the first one does, though both are necessary to grasp the entirety of what W is going for.
The first episode is primary about introducing you the world that is Futo, while this one is much more about showcasing the dynamics, traits, and interplay between the characters. Which is much more up my alley. And thankfully, in all of that, our two leads in Philip and Shotaro take center stage here, with Akiko getting far less focus and is much less annoying as a result. The dramatic spat between Philip and Shotaro not only makes sense in context, but showcases their primary traits and functions. Philip is the brains; Primarily using logic and probabilities without much in the way of tact. Whereas Shotaro, despite him trying to emulate the man he admired, is the heart. He's got alot more emotional intelligence than Philip does, though that often gets him into acting what many would see as rather naiive. The two both contrast and compliment eachother perfectly, to the point that they both form a big W with their arms when they Henshin. Ontop of that, the action this time around is alot more fun. All of the stuff with the T-Rex Dopant is way more involved than the Magma one. From Shotaro smartly utilizing his tech to outsmart a stronger opponent, to the chase sequence across town, to the really cool roar effect on the T-Rex itself, the episode is very high energy for most of it, making it alot more exciting and engaging. Especially when coupled with the character stuff mentioned above. We also get to see the Heat and Metal Memories! Even if Metal doesn't get to do too much other than utilize the Memory Break for HeatMetal. The overarching plot with the Gaia Memories gets its foundation here too, and I always dug how it was a very obvious parallel to drugs. I really do wish the show had aired as 40-minute episodes instead of the standard 20. The show is already an affectionate parody of Detective Serials, so why not lean into that even more? Not like kids shows haven't done that before. But, even with the format we got, I still found alot to enjoy regardless. |
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I'm glad Episode 2 worked for you, though! |
So fun fact, around this point, Wakana’s “Healing Princess” radio show got defictionalised and released in audio format online (the first episode has Wakana note the show has some new listeners due to going online). There’s not much in terms of content. They have Wakana discuss recent events in the show, play an out-of-universe insert as a real song and then go through 4 features: Mijiki Ecology (Miji-cology), which I didn’t quite get the intent behind from re-listening to the first episode, Cat Senryu, which is funny poems about cats, a segment where Wakana tries to “heal” people’s love problems and “Wind Fortune Telling”, which is an astrology segment.
As for the episode, all I can say is… a villain made of coins motivated by greed. Inspired stuff. |
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I think W has probably my second favorite* storytelling engine of all the Kamen Rider shows. The detective angle is always a good reason to pull the characters into the Monster/Victim of the Fortnight plot and does so in a way that sets up some kind of mystery at the heart of that plot. There are definitely shows that used the same two-part story structure that could be much clunkier about finding a reason for the Rider to be a part of the story.
So in regards to Makura and Jinno, we're seeing another instance of the show really embracing the tropes of the hard-boiled detective genre that inspired it. We have the cop who considers the detective to be an unwanted presence and the cop who respects the detective and relies on their ability to look into crimes without the restrictions of conventional law enforcement. We're just missing the corrupt cop who's in league with the criminals (for now). I really like how W both uses classic detective tropes (so many femme fatales) but is also willing to put its own spin on things (Akiko is aggressively unwilling to be a classic secretary). *The #1, of course, is Kotaro Minami hearing random snippets of a conversation and correctly assuming that it's tied to a Gorgom plot. |
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Damn... missed some episodes, gotta be some work to do to reply.
Though fortunately I already watched this show, thanks to my country airing it on TV, and did my (almost no reply) own writing starting here. Quote:
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Shotaro supplies W's weapons, while Phillip supplies W's powers, and the weapon side is the left part of W, accurately referenced in Shotaro's surname Hidari, which means left. W ends the fight with Maximum Drive attack Joker Extreme, though not that flashy, still a neat idea of literally splitting W's body into both halves for.. doubled finishing kicks, double the damage. Dopants fight wouldn't kill the humans using it, it'll revert them back to human while wrecking their Gaia Memory. However, Togawa is then taken by a T-Rex Dopant, and RevolGarry from the secret room emerges, taking Akiko and Philip along. Quote:
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Anywho, the setup for this episode I felt was pretty weak, especially in terms of the Philip stuff. He's been in the business for a year now, in-universe, and only now is "Family" some sort of trigger word. Did they just somehow avoid it ever being uttered and/or heard until now? I also still want Akiko to get thrown off a bridge at this point in the show, given that she actively causes more problems for everyone involved than anything, and is a massive hypocrite about it to boot. It's not funny, it's not endearing, it's annoying. Especially as Shotaro and Philip only become more likable in contrast. Speaking of likable characters, we get a bit more with Kirihiko, and a very well done, subtle scene about how his new wife and family are manipulating him just as much as he tries to manipulate the people he sells Gaia Memories to. Not a bad start for my personal favorite of the villains in this show. Smart move in not revealing his full on Dopant form just yet, too. This episode also has what is most likely my favorite gag in the whole show, given it's been stuck in my memory ever since I first saw it(the bit where Money Dopant asks just how many Memories Double has). And I love we continue to get bits showcasing the camaraderie between Shotaro and Philip, with stuff like Shotaro hooking his bro up with an autographed photo of Wakana. I have seen many other shows fumble stuff like that. In other Rider shows, even. Overall, there's some good stuff here, some not so good. It's a decent episode. |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 4 - “DON’T TOUCH THE M: BETTING ON JOKER”
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double04a.png Family! I hope you like hearing that word a bunch! It’s a theme in this episode, but maybe oppressively so. It’s there in Philip’s memories, in Shotaro’s role as his big brother, in the Narumi Detective Agency as a found family, in Yuuko’s backstory, in the Sonozaki subplot… it’s 100% what this episode is about, so it’s not like I’m mad at its inability to elucidate or adhere to a theme. FAMILY! That’s the whole thing! I just wish that it felt like we were getting more than just A Bunch Of Family Stuff. The Sonozaki/Museum stuff… it’s definitely there. It’s a plot that moves at a breakneck pace, but without really intersecting with this episode’s mystery at all, in any way. (At least last episode we got Kirihiko saving the Money Dopant.) It’s just here to flesh out the Dopant side of their group, and that’s all. We get to see Wakana’s Dopant form in action, Nazca gets a full reveal (as opposed to, uh, Kirihiko’s earlier “full reveal”) and a glimpse of the rest of the family’s Dopant forms in a cool/nightmarish wedding photo. Beyond racing through the wedding of Saeko and Kirihiko, there’s nothing in all of these scenes that narratively assists the mystery plot in this episode. It’s just, like, another thing that’s happening in Fuuto. While it’s nominally on the topic of Family, spoiler – a subplot featuring a family is sort of always on the topic of Family. The mystery plot fares significantly better, as it’s both a tense battle to defeat the Money Dopant through either high-level mathematics or bluffing through use of the worse gambling partner, and also a fun exploration of Shotaro and Philip’s unsteady dynamic. The bit that really landed with me is a two-part thing, apropos to Double. The earlier part is Shotaro trying to connect with Philip’s sense of frustration by quoting something Sokichi once said. It bounces right off of Philip, because he never knew Sokichi, and Shotaro’s invocation of his memory isn’t dealing with Philip’s current struggle. Philip feels an absence, and Shotaro’s like Let Me Talk Like My Work Dad. But later, when they’re at the Million Colosseo, Shotaro speaks from the heart and tells Philip that yeah, he’s following in Sokichi’s footsteps, but the result is him dedicating himself to protecting Philip. It takes what was previously a tossed-off detective cosplay and turns it into something personal and heartfelt. There's warmth and vulnerability where there used to be performative manliness, and it's Shotaro once again missing what makes him effective in pursuit of someone else's personality. It's always fun to watch that play out. It makes for a strong episode overall, with a bonkers pre-monster confrontation (Old Maid!), and a solid story about the contours of the Double partnership. Also, a whole lot with the Sonozaki family! OH NO I SAID FAMILY AGAIN I’M SORRY PHILIP — DIE-A MEMORIES https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/w/double04b.png -Akiko running down Shotaro is like oxygen for me now, but I’m glad that Yuuko’s able to realize that Akiko is pretty awful at every aspect of her job. I like when there’s parity! -I had a vague feeling that the Money Dopant was cheating at the casino, but I’m glad I misremembered that! This whole story avoids a lot of easy outs, and I appreciate that. Yuuko just sort of goes Money Crazy; she isn’t being warped by the Money Dopant or anything. Also, everyone knows a monster runs the casino, and everyone’s too greedy to care. I love that touch! -Santa’s here! I don’t… I don’t know why Santa’s a character on this show? Very weird, even for a toku show! |
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The one lesson learned from Kamen Rider W is that the green slipper is mightier than a rider kick. :lolol
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This two-parter ends up being solid enough overall, though I can't help but feel like it was too much too early. The scene at the end, where Philip declares that he found/made his own family with Shotaro and Akiko would've hit way better if this had been like, episode 10 or something. As it stands now, while I buy it with Shotaro, with Akiko I have doubts. Not just because I find her annoying right now, but because Philip has only known her for like a week at this point.
Also, I keep forgetting to note this so I'll do it now: While I stand by my statement that I think the viewing experience is better as 40-minute chunks, the major upside of them being split as they are is that it allows W to have what I consider the best and most memorable "Previously On" segment in the franchise. Absolutely love the Detective Dartboard aesthetic of it. |
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