Strap in, this is going to be a long one.
I‘ve often talked about how a recurring theme among Kamen Rider is a tendency to “Go back to basics” of the franchise, sometimes building upon those elements with new concepts and ideas. Be it Kamen Rider Black, ZO, etc.
Starting with Kamen Rider Kuuga in 2000, Rider would enter a literal new era and like others before, reinvent itself while maintaining many of those base concepts. Kuuga in particular would lean heavily into the mythological aspects more than the cybernetic, utilizing parts of Ishinomori’s unfinished “Gaia” concepts.
The next big change came with Ryuki, a monumentally important entry that is in many ways a deconstruction and brilliant bastardization of the title of “Kamen Rider”. What I mean specifically is that in the Showa era the “Kamen” part was something that was earned. It’s why the shocker versions are called Shockeriders (Although this was something exclusive to the TV show, as the original Manga never made that distinction.)
Over time you would see more rider-like antagonists, notably Shadow Moon, but even the Doras could arguably fit into a dark mirror role. But again, they never utilized “Kamen” until Ryuki changed the landscape drastically.
Now I don’t care about the usage in the modern era one way or the other, it was barely even a thing prior. The cynical side of me says that everything nowadays gets a Kamen Rider label slapped on it because it does better merchandise-wise. And also because Ryuki shook Japanese pop culture the hardest Rider had since the 70s, and corporations love trying to repeat success. But the thematics or lack thereof aren’t a bother to me.
What’s important here and why I’m telling you this is to understand what Kamen Rider W and its head writer, Riku Sanjo, sets out to do thematically by utilizing the meta-history of rider to weave a show laden with references and concepts that perhaps weren’t as much at the forefront by the time Decade came along. Asking the question; what makes a Kamen Rider?
This is then melded beautifully with the film noir inspirations of a detective who loves his city, and that of an urban legend hero as Kamen Rider was in the Showa era.
You see this a lot in Sanjo’s work; cribbing from various sources and incorporating them into the narrative in some fashion, such as how Shotaro and Philip’s mentor, Sokichi Narumi; Kamen Rider Skull, serves as the basis and inspiration to W in much the same way Inshinomori’s pitch for Kamen Rider Skullman transmogrified into just Kamen Rider.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get into the basic premise and characters.
Shotaro Hidari (Renn Kiriyama)
Shotaro is a detective left in charge of the Narumi Detective agency after the death of his mentor, Sokichi Narumi (Koji Kikkawa). Shotaro greatly admired his late mentor, who was a no-nonsense, old school, hardboiled, man's man of a detective. His untimely death came about during the rescue of a young man in the clutches of a crime syndicate, dying in front of Shotaro and passing on the heavy burden of taking care of their city; Fuuto.
Shotaro tries to live up to his ideal of Sokichi, although it’s often to the point of comedy as he tries too hard and comes off as a dork attempting to be cool rather than himself. The fact is, his heart, while in the right place, is too soft to be the man Sokichi was.
Regardless of his apparent shortcomings, Shotaro is a proficient, if still somewhat green detective and his faults are often made up for by his partner, Philip.
Philip (Masaki Suda)
Philip was the man rescued by Sokichi and is a bit of an anomaly. He has a special connection to what’s referred to as the Gaia Library, an ethereal void containing all of the world's knowledge. Simply by concentrating and opening a blank book, Philip can project his consciousness into the realm to search for information pertaining to cases. Although that much information isn’t useful unless it can be narrowed down, which is where Shotaro comes in by giving keywords to filter out all the fluff.
Between the two contrasting personalities, Shotaro and Philip form a duo that also complements one another.
I’ll get into this more later, but the show does a fantastic job utilizing both their strengths and weaknesses; how Shotaro’s gut feelings and instincts can be an advantage over Philip’s steadfast logic-driven mind. Likewise, Philip’s almost sociopathic tendencies can temper Shotaro’s soft heart which might otherwise prevent him from making difficult decisions.
Together they make a great team, something which develops over the series as Philip would become more emotionally open and Shotaro more hardened by his experiences, adding new strength to both.
I should also mention the main gimmick at this point. This is normally the sort of thing that I would save for the visuals/SFX segment, but quite frankly the Gaia Memories play a massive role in the narrative and you must know this ahead of time.
When Philip was rescued, part of what came with him was a device called the double driver, which utilizes Gaia Memories, essentially USBs imbued with various concepts of the Earth; natural phenomena, animals, man-made inventions, myths, legends, anything and everything known to the Earth.
When Shotaro equips the driver, a duplicate forms for Philip, and once both activate their respective memories, Philip’s consciousness leaves him and joins Shotaro, taking the concept of Double Riders to the extreme. Shotaro's primary memories are; Joker; Metal; and Trigger. While Philip has Cyclone; Heat; and Luna. This corresponds with Agility; strength and armor + a metal rod; marksmanship + a handgun; powerful wind; pyrokinesis, and illusions/stretching.
Any of Shotaro’s Gaia memories can be combined with Philip’s for a variety of effects. For example; Luna grants stretching abilities and when combined with Metal, the metal bo will suddenly become whip-like. Likewise, Heat will grant incendiary rounds for Trigger.
The only hard limitation is that all of Philip’s memories are silver-tipped while Shotaro’s are gold, corresponding with left and right and you cannot have two of the same tip type.
Akiko Narumi (Hikaru Yamamoto)
Her straightforwardness and lack of hesitation help in this regard. In as early as the third episode when Shotaro is attempting to trail a bus to discover an underground gambling den, Akiko has already pulled a Fletch and boarded said bus by simply dressing the part.
By that same token, that impulsive nature is also a detriment. She can never keep a low profile and typically blows her cover, and despite her outside-the-box thought process when it comes to clues, she easily jumps to conclusions resulting in false accusations. Her solo detective antics would be downplayed in later episodes once the occupational hazards become too great, taking on a more behind-the-scenes role in the agency and sticking closer to Shotaro on cases she assists on.
Fuuto Irregulars & Fuuto PD.
What would a detective show be without informants? There’s not a great deal to get into with them, they’re side characters that flesh out the world and not much more. But they are a colorful bunch consisting of Watcherman (Narumi) a dorky blogger that keeps an eye on local rumors across the internet; Santa-Chan (Zennosuke Fukkin) a man dressed as Santa who promotes local stores and always gives out seemingly useless junk that ends up being helpful; Queen & Elizabeth (Tomomi Itano & Tomomi Kasai) Childhood friends of Shotaro who keep tabs on the goings-on around the local high schools. Mikio Jinno & Shun Makura (Takeshi Nadagi & Shingo Nakagawa)
Two of Fuuto’s… finest bumbling officers, Jinno and Makura are often involved with high profile cases and cross paths with Shotaro frequently during the early episodes. Jinno, a senior Detective, has a long history with Shotaro, and although easily fooled, he has a keen sense for leads. He gets along with Shotaro, often exchanging information on cases knowing full well the case will get solved one way or another. Although he’s completely oblivious to Shotaro’s work as W.
Conversely, Makura, Jinno’s rookie partner, is comically opposed to Shotaro’s involvement, getting into fights on every opportunity. He’s also absurdly impulsive, even more than Akiko, and this often leads to slapstick situations for him and those around him.
This group feels like side characters out of a Yakuza title, which is perhaps the easiest way to sum them up.
Finally, this brings me to the main antagonists of Kamen Rider W, The Sonozaki Family AKA The Museum Syndicate.
Operating a front as a Museum, the true business is that of selling Gaia Memories on the streets of Fuuto. Unlike the ones used by W, these are absorbed directly by the user and are much cruder in appearance, transmogrifying them into monsters called Dopants. Although they can eject the Gaia Memory at will and revert to a human form, the consequence of absorbing the memory directly causes the user to slowly become warped and driven insane, becoming addicted to its use in the process.
Typically, W will have to activate a finisher a "Maximum Drive" that disrupts the Dopant's tranformation, forcibly ejecting the Gaia memory which often times is destroyed in the process.
(As a side note, Dopant is an actual term referring to adding impurities in the creation of semiconductors and crystals for use in solid-state and optical electronics like SSD or USB flash drives. This is also called Doping. Brilliant.)
There is a way to circumvent the addiction and that’s by using a Gaia driver, which each member of the Sonozaki family has. It will lessen the power one has as a Dopant, but that’s a relatively small trade-off, especially with how powerful each member is.
Ryubee Sonozaki (Minori Terada )
The head of the family and director of the Fuuto Museum is Ryubee Sonozaki, AKA the Terror Dopant.
Discussing Ryubee in any great detail is somewhat difficult without delving very late into the series, as his history and reasoning behind the distribution of Gaia Memories aren’t fully revealed until much later. For most of the early episodes, he plays a fairly reserved shadowy role, largely dedicated to preparing his eldest daughter for a more prominent leadership position.
What is known about his intentions is that the sale of Gaia Memories is not merely for profit, but experimentation and research.
Contrasting with how he exploits Fuuto, he does have a twisted love for the city in his own way. But whereas someone like Shotaro dedicates himself to protecting the people of the city he loves, Ryubee views it as a kingdom to do with as he sees fit.
His personality is curious, to say the least. Simultaneously a refined and ruthless man. Yet also not without a humorous side that takes joy in the absurd, both of which are seen in his daughters to the extreme ends.
Saeko Sonozaki (Ami Namai)
A shrewd megalomaniac, Saeko is head of Digal [sic] corporation LTD. which functions as a cover for the research, production, and distribution of the Gaia Memories.
In fact, Philip was being kept in one of her private island facilities, completely sterile of any connection to the main corporation. Unfortunately, this also means that neither Philip nor Shotaro has any clue of the Sonozaki’s involvement with the Gaia Memories, having only met Saeko in her dopant form; Taboo. The only possible one with any knowledge of the connection was Sokichi, who took that knowledge with his passing.
As for Saeko, her megalomania stems from a strict upbringing that ingrained a belief that the Sonozaki family was far superior to all others- insert joke about objectivism here.
That belief also causes a bit of a superiority complex regarding her father, wanting desperately to prove herself better, which in turn leads to her withholding valuable information if it gives her an advantage.
Wakana Sonozaki (Rin Asuka)
Wakana is the youngest daughter of the family, a very stuck-up and easily irritated brat of a woman, which is very different from her public persona of a gentle girl. That false idol persona is what draws Philip (and many others including Shotaro) to be such a fan of her show on the local Wind Wave Radio, which also serves as a rather helpful source of gossip and rumors in Fuuto.
She’s the least involved with the family business, which combined with her pampered and flighty nature, causes Saeko to look down upon and be abusive towards her, forever resenting Wakana for being their father’s favorite.
Like the others, she has dopant form; Claydoll, which is remarkably resilient as she can always put herself back together if shattered, making her practically immortal.
Kirihiko Sonozaki (Yuki Kimisawa)
Kirihiko is the latest member of the family via marriage to Saeko, though the union was more out of practicality and business than anything else. Kirihiko happened to catch his wife’s eye when he became the most proficient Gaia Memory dealer. But even more than that, he was the only one capable of surviving the powerful Nasca memory, as well as Saeko's tendency to murder those who fail to meet her standards.
For Kirihiko’s part, he views the Sonozakis as a means to an end. Much like his father-in-law, Kirihiko has a deep love of Fuuto and believes the best way to maintain and protect the city is by becoming a part of the upper echelon. However, he is kept in the dark about much of the operations, unaware that simply dealing Gaia Memories is but a phase in a much grander scheme. This doesn’t escape the sly distributor, as he typically eavesdrops on the rest of the family hoping for some morsel of information.
But enough about backstory, let’s get into the heart of W. This series, fittingly, takes a two-parter approach to each case, a classic formula that works wonderfully with the detective genre. Part 1 will end on a cliffhanger, part 2 will recap the current case before continuing, and finally, at the end of the second part, Shotaro will wrap up the case with a poignant file entry.
These day-to-day cases are for the most part fairly formulaic, falling into three categories. The most common type is simply figuring out who a dopant is, which usually involves having a character be the most plausible suspect only for it to actually be another character that’s just as plausible but was featured less prominently within the episode.
The real intrigue of W’s cases is less the actual solving or answers and more so the characters' journey to solve them. Despite that approach and how much the audience is privy to, W is not by any means a “Howcatchem.” It’s simply very basic in regards to the mysteries- and I don’t mean that as an insult, merely an observation.
There are however larger conspiracies that are kept tight-lipped about, and this is part of the bigger picture Kamen Rider W drip feeds throughout. W’s story tends to trick the audience into thinking they’ve got the whole picture when it’s really only half.
The first 10 episodes largely set the foundation of what was discussed above; showcasing the dynamics between all the characters, their strengths, and weaknesses, the setting, etc. all while having a good variety of cases for the protagonists.
Sprinkled throughout are glimpses into the main narrative, such as how dangerous it is for Philip to be seen in public since he’s still wanted by the Syndicate. But it’s episodes 9 and 10 which hit upon many revelations and truly get things rolling.
Firstly is that the Sonozakis haven’t gone entirely without suspicion, the latest case revolving around missing pastry chefs leads back to their estate. But the police find themselves frozen with fear whenever they get near the place, and even Shotaro is put off by it. Only Akiko can get near when she goes undercover as a maid, mostly thanks to the current client who happens to work within said estate.
Most of the focus is on Akiko and her hijinks, while Shotaro keeps a distant watch.
There’s a refresher and expansion upon Sokichi’s death, notably that Shotaro still hasn’t told Akiko about it, and part of the reason is that he blames himself for his death.
We also get a look into Akiko’s perspective on her father, and the rather sad detail that she doesn’t actually remember much of her dad anymore. Most of their time together was when she was very little before he practically disappeared from her life, and she admits she’s a bit jealous that Shotaro knew him better than her.
Shotaro also has several run-ins with the Sonozakis, both their civilian forms and dopant forms, although the two never click into place. Most notable is when W enters the estate grounds and has a run-in with not only Nasca but also Terror- giving Shotaro and Philip a taste of their true enemy.
This is followed up on much later when Shotaro visits the Museum and notices several exhibits consisting of Magma, Anomalocaris, and Tyrannosaurus, all related to dopants in previous cases. A brief and uneasy meeting with Ryuube only deepens the suspicion and fear.
But that unease is the least of concerns, as Shotaro is later witnessed turning into W by Saeko and Kirihiko. Now, this isn’t as bad as you might initially think. Neither knows his name nor his association with Akiko. They only have a face and even this information is withheld from the rest of the family since it provides Saeko with an edge.
This will however set up future events while also driving home that there have been a lot of run-ins with elites around the Sonozaki estate. This latest confrontation with Taboo is notable since she was the one that Philip was rescued from.
This also begins a strain between Saeko and her husband once W escapes Nasca, which results in Saeko punishing him. As she would later tell her sister “A spouse should learn how things work”.
The same can be said of Wakana, who after some words from Philip, is reminded of her long-dead brother, who was always the voice of reason to her impulsive and destructive tendencies.
This is what I mean when I say W doesn’t try that hard to hide some of the mystery but instead introduces more. It’s somewhat obvious where it’s headed, but it’s the implications that are intriguing and only raise further questions when you speculate.
Philip actually comes close to looking into Wakana’s history in the Gaia Library, but stops for privacy reasons, leaving the audience to wonder if he would be locked out, or if there would be any connection worth noting. Furthermore, Wakana says her brother is dead and at the very least she believes that, meaning that if Philip was her brother and was a part of the Sonozakis, then she’d have been lied to. Not to mention all the ramifications of being an experiment within one of Saeko’s facilities.
Regardless, Philip begins having doubts about Wakana when she is overheard mentioning Gaia Memories. Although the two promised to meet face to face after the case was resolved, Philip chooses to remain distant given the circumstances but continues to engage in conversation with Wakana after the fact through phone calls. Likewise, Wakana, spurred by her encounter with Philip, begins a change in her demeanor, going so far as to cast aside her Gaia Memory. For the first time since she was a child, she’s met someone that’s truly made her happy.
This development in Wakana would not go unnoticed by her family, nor the association between her and Philip, which leads into episode 15. By and large the episode deals with a dopant going on a crime spree and claiming to be Kamen Rider, while the other half illuminates Philip’s past.
I consider this one of the more brilliant cases of making the hero look bad, primarily because unlike “Evil Clones” plots, this one actually isn’t, and it works because not many people know what Kamen Rider looks like anyway.
But the real twist is that the dopant, Arms, wasn’t just some schmuck tarnishing the Riders’ good name. They were working under orders from Saeko to draw out W and more specifically, Philip, or rather Raito, seemingly confirming Philip’s identity as a Sonozaki.
Likewise, there’s set up for the first upgrade of the series, as the start of the episode jokingly has Philip being obsessed with working out and remarking that it’s a good thing that Shotaro serves as the primary body, shortly before seeing a Dinosauria like memory hopping around. By the end of the episode, Shotaro’s driver is jammed on the right side- preventing a transformation as he and Akiko are captured.
Philip manages to escape, only to be confronted and pursued by Saeko, and once again sees the dinosaur-like memory, Fang, before suffering PSTD and refusing its help and ultimately escaping. But Shotaro and Akiko are still kidnapped, which is where Philip’s dilemma lies. Follow Shotaro’s wishes and stay away, or risk using Fang and rescue them.
His hesitation is not unwarranted, because Fang, unlike other memories, is semi-sentient and makes Philip the primary body. Although Fang is immensely powerful, Philip can’t maintain the form for long due to how taxing it is. But the real consequence is that the memory is in more control than Philip is, as Fang was specially designed to protect Philip at all costs. Fang was only used once during W’s early days, which left substantial scarring on his psyche by changing him into something downright monstrous with little if any rationale. Afterward, the memory was tossed aside and gone missing until now.
There is an irony in how often Philip has up to this point prodded Shotaro to make tough decisions, while simultaneously criticizing him for following his instinct, and now he is faced with that exact scenario. But between losing his sense of self or his friends, he dives in head first using Fang.
Philip’s fear is almost realized when he nearly kills Akiko in his rampage. But unlike last time, both he and Shotaro have a lot more experience being W, Shotaro managing to pull Philip from the brink of his own tormented psyche, which is beautifully illustrated by a burning Gaia Library.
It’s a poignant moment of the two's partnership (one of many) Philip admitting that he knew Shotaro would come through.
Now stronger than before, FangJoker takes on the Arms Dopant, giving them a good thrashing and destroying their Gaia Memory before the episode kinda rushes out an ending with W saving a girl in a very public display to clear their name.Contrived ending aside, the case has a lot going for it. Something I love is that even with overcoming the pure destructive tendencies of Fang, there are still many caveats preventing it from being utilized, notably that Philip has to put himself out in the open and in danger to draw fang out.
The overall stakes are raised and, as Shotaro puts it, Fang suddenly showing back up to protect Philip after all this time can’t be a good sign of things to come.
Following that foreshadowing, Ryuube confronts Wakana over her discarded Gaia memory and puts pressure on Saeko regarding the development of a new memory…which of course has hit a snag since capturing Philip has fallen through.
But the main focus is on Shotaro and Kirihiko, an overdue one I think. They’ve only had brief scuffles in the past, and very little interaction besides a bizarre confrontation in ep.9.
That’s rectified as early as the cold open where the two are in a barbershop completely unaware of the other’s identity as they bond over their love of Fuuto and in particular the barber Kaze, an in-the-know sort of place. Kirihiko even mentions he designed the City’s mascot, Futo-Kun and he’ll try to get one of the limited keychains for Shotaro since he clearly loves the city as much as he does. Of course, once they realize who is who, things go south.
And as funny as the exchange is (even leading to that great gif above) it’s that classic framing of how under different circumstances they would probably be quite good friends.
This is juxtaposed with the main case Shotaro takes on, actually from Kaze, whose daughter has gone missing. Shotaro eventually finds out she’s fallen in with a bad crowd who are into Gaia Memories, which are probably the most “metaphor for heroin” they’ve been thus far, featuring some horrifying side effects for people sharing the same Gaia Memory; Bird.
While this episode is split between the two, Kirihiko is vastly more interesting and who I’ll be focusing the most on.
Witnessing the results of his family’s work causing a crisis for the city’s children finally crosses the line for him. Curiously, when looking into the matter, there are no records of a dealer selling to any of the users, nor the Bird Memory’s existence. Furthermore, sharing a Gaia Memory shouldn’t be possible under normal circumstances, so something is up.
On a more personal note, Kirihiko has been suffering convulsions while under the effects of Nazca, even having one such episode in a fight with Fang/Joker. W stops short of destroying him on Shotaro’s intervention, catching a glimpse of a Fuuto-Kun poster and perhaps recognizing the sincerity within Kirihiko. Shotaro tells Kirihiko that if he truly loves the city, then he better never let the children cry again.
These events along with Shotaro’s words instill doubt within him, exacerbated when he secretly discovers Saeko leaving a hidden room within the estate. Entering the room himself, he’s led deep under the manor, into an expansive area with a strange glowing well surrounded by a computer.
Ryuube welcomes him to the museum proper, explaining that the literal well of knowledge is where the first Gaia Memories were created. He exposits the growing need to further research the effects of Gaia Memories, casting an ever wider net for test subjects.
Bird became an intriguing memory to Ryubee, and the results on younger users have shown that memory evolves rapidly, albeit at the cost of the user’s life. With this revelation unveiled, the final straw has broken for Kirihiko. Unfortunately, putting a stop to Ryuube’s plans simply isn’t possible for the ailing dealer. While Kirihiko has mastered the speed of Nasca, the memory is evolving beyond his ability and slowly killing him, similar to the Bird Memory for its users. He barely manages to escape the far more powerful Terror. The equally fast Mick, however, is another problem entirely.
Ironically it’s Wakana that saves Kirihiko from Mick, driving the feline away with Clay doll.
This entire interaction between the two is great, both with completely different demeanors than usual. When Kirihiko poses a question to Wakana on what she would do if someone she had faith in betrayed her, her response is to ask what you truly want, the same question she asked herself after talking to Philip. Kirihiko thinks back to his childhood, his love for the city, and designing Fuuto-Kun.
He makes his resolve, thanking Wakana before giving one last goodbye and commenting that he always loved her radio show, bringing a smile to her face.
Kirihiko ultimately uses the last of his ability as Nasca to help W save a child taken over by the Gaia Memory. While successful, the stress of Nasca is taking its toll. Kirihiko warns W not to underestimate the Syndicate, giving them his personal Fuuto-Kun keychain, and leaving the city in their hands.
Near the end, Kirihiko has a final meeting with Saeko, giving her the chance to change as he did. But this only results in his murder. Saeko steals the Nasca memory from her dying husband before one final farewell. In his final moments, Kirihiko takes in the strong wind of Fuuto, as his body disintegrates, carried by the wind across the city.
This is a really fantastic set of episodes with a lot of development all around, but especially for Kirihiko.
Odd as it is that he finally gets substantial characterization just before dying shortly thereafter, I think it’s pretty clear they do about as much as possible with his role within these two episodes. Transforming Kirihiko from a relatively mediocre antagonist into a tragic hero in his final outing is rather impressive and makes his death land perfectly.
What comes after his death would also be one of the major additions and shake-ups to the series.
Enter Superintendent Ryu Terui (Minehiro Kinomoto) the latest member of Fuuto PD, head of a newly developed special crimes division, and our antagonistic rider of the series.
Ryu makes for an interesting addition because unlike Shotaro and Kirihiko who were opposites of the same coin, Ryu is a completely different type of contrast. He’s an outsider to Fuuto that despises the city.
The other angle is the perceived idea from the rest of the cast, including Shotaro, is that Ryu is hardboiled. He comes off as a tough-as-nails uncompromising officer with a cool factor. Make no mistake, he absolutely is. But it all stems from being horribly self-interested out of vengeance for his murdered family, even at the cost of others.
That thirst for revenge causes him to be very impulsive and morally gray to a dangerous degree. Not only is Ryu a loose cannon, but Shotaro finds someone so selfish and lacking integrity unfit to call themselves Kamen Rider, and it even gets under Philip’s skin, leading to a lot of confrontations over opposing ideologies and methods.
This particular segment is where Sanjo truly begins playing around with the thematics and iconography of the franchise. Frankly, a quick rundown would simply be that Ryu is a mix of V3 and Riderman, which is apparent from the start.
Ryu’s parents and little sister were frozen to death by a dopant, with only his father surviving long enough to warn him about a “W Memory” Ryu’s only lead. Shortly thereafter, he met a mysterious benefactor, a bandaged woman named Shroud (Yuki Ono & Naoko Kouda), who presents him with a memory and a weapon, Accel and Engineblade respectively. Once transferring to Fuuto, Shroud would once again appear with a driver, making semi-regular appearances from here on to support Ryu and even Philip with various gadgets.
His first episodes of course lay down the above backstory, while also providing a case that involves a dopant with ice-based abilities going on a crime spree.
Ryu’s obsession leads him to nearly kill an innocent person who was simply trying to protect their child, the true culprit, who wasn’t even a murderer. No one was killed in the crimes, only injured, and the memory itself was Ice Age.
This revelation wouldn’t completely put an end to Ryu’s path of revenge, but the horrifying realization of what he almost did would begin a temperament as he promises Shotaro that he’ll play by their rules while in his town, but he also playfully taunts that he would be a better partner to Philip.
The episode then teases us with Saeko meeting one Doctor Shinkuro Isaka (Tomoyuki Dan), owner of a unique memory so powerful that even the museum members tread lightly around his presence; Weather.
Now before continuing on, I want to discuss the other writer of Kamen Rider W, because there’s a larger influx of their credits around this point, and that man is Keiichi Hasegawa.While other writers contribute episodes (notably Kuuga’s Naruhisa Arakawa and Gurren Lagann creator Kazuki Nakashima) Hasegawa is the only one with more than two episodes, effectively making him the secondary writer.
His first contributions were much earlier in the run, with episodes 11 and 12. If you know anything about his writing, then you would expect a suitably dark-tinged plot, and indeed, it’s relatively dower. A woman is the victim of a hit and run, but used a Gaia memory just as she was being struck. She remains in a coma, but her consciousness goes on a rampage in dopant form against her aggressors. In essence, it’s a vengeful poltergeist tale minus death.
There are a lot of really good esoteric scenes and visuals which, to echo the above, lean into Horror about as much as they can. The screenshot I used for this entry is a wonderful demonstration of those two points, in which Philip basically mind melds with the comatose woman to talk to her in a phantasmagoric sequence. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a darker draft of this script better suited for Garo. It’s certainly one of the more unique cases and two of the most standout episodes for what they contain, not to mention one of the better mysteries with decent twists throughout.
Admittedly there are some weak spots, in particular, a small band of suspects involved with the assault who are…just incredibly silly in how try-hard they are. But I also understand why that is, even if it does undercut some of the gravitas. Regardless, they're solid episodes that give you an idea of what to expect at this point because ep. 21 is when Keiichi Hasegawa began making regular contributions to the series. He would ping-pong back and forth with Sanjo, each doing two-parters all the way until episode 35 in which each handles a single episode of a two-parter (35 & 36) then with 41 Hasegawa does four consecutive episodes until Sanjo takes over completely from 45 onward.
Overall I tend to love Hasegawa’s episodes because he approaches everything with a high degree of respect, which comes through on screen. Even with Sanjo handling the main plot, Hasegawa’s episodes function wonderfully as both captivating side pieces- yet still complementary to the main story and character development. That applies especially to Ryu. Heck, episodes 21 & 22 deal with Ryu confronting an officer with a vendetta not unlike his own, giving him pause as he understands their plight, despite the moral ambiguity.
Hasegawa immediately gets a grasp on the character motivations Sanjo constructs, then plays around with them brilliantly. His handling of the comedic aspects is also much better from here on out, fitting more in line with the rest of the series and leavening the tension rather than undermining it.
You can really tell Sanjo and the producers gave him a lot of freedom to write whatever he wanted, so long as it didn’t clash with the main story. This leads to a lot of interesting concepts that, while they may never be revisited, add more to the world and characters. More often than not, Hasegawa highlights aspects that Sanjo wouldn’t, while also providing that distinctly more mature storytelling alongside unique cases that do a great deal of elevating the procedural qualities that (while still present) are certainly more downplayed in Sanjo’s episodes.
That said, I’m still mainly going to be focusing on Sanjo’s work because it’s the main plot. Hasegawa does wonderful extensions with fascinating angles on character motivations, but Sanjo typically pushes them forward, with a few exceptions to that rule.
Speaking of, Ryu is not the only character getting development, as Wakana is given more along with Saeko. For Wakana, her inner turmoil becomes exacerbated as Ryuube brings her closer to the operations, who in turn is growing increasingly frustrated with her informal behavior.
Saeko’s patience is also wearing thin for her sister, not helped by becoming ever more ambitious in her endeavors. She begins a relationship with Doctor Shinkuro Isaka, who encourages Saeko to overtake the museum by force, even offering his backing.
We’re also given brief insights into Shinkuro’s extremely twisted personality, not the least of which is fetishizing Saeko’s Taboo form.
Shinkuro’s obsession isn’t simply one of lust, as his medical expertise lies in Dopants.
And with Wakana being a problem, yet still a valuable asset, Shinkuro is requested by Saeko to use his knowledge to “fix her”.
This ties into episodes 25-26, which puts Akiko back in the spotlight as she gets caught up in a killer doll case. It’s a rather tragic tale where the doll isn’t the dopant, but merely the extension of a puppeteer by the name of Horinouchi, an author who had been targeting critics of his deeply personal novel based upon his dead daughter.
Shinkuro takes an interest in Horinouchi and saves him from the Riders, utilizing his ability as a puppeteer on Clay doll. Additionally, before being puppeteered, Wakana let her driver be modified by Shinkuro, increasing her abilities beyond that of even Taboo. In essence, it’s bypassing the protection the drivers typically have, allowing her to operate at full power and inevitably become warped by the memory's influence, unbeknownst to Wakana. Even Saeko is taken aback by the procedure.
It’s a rather simple solution, Wakana hasn’t been wanting to use her driver, and thanks to being manipulated she’s been forced to use it with precautions removed and now the addiction, theoretically, will take hold. While Horinouchi himself is taken care of later, the damage for Wakana is already done.
The effects on Wakana are noticeable even in her human form, as she struggles to contain her strength, a sign of rampant memory usage. She remarks to her father that it started after Shinkuro looked at her driver, causing some concern.
Then we come to episodes 27 & 28, in my eyes, the penultimate episodes in Ryu’s arc.
The client is Lily Shirogane (Nao Nagasawa), an amateur magician, -Hurricanger-, and granddaughter of the great Frank Shirogane. Her predicament is an interesting one, she has the invisible memory, but it’s stuck inside and she can’t control it. She doesn’t transform into a dopant on its use, either.
However, she didn’t buy the memory, it was given to her by a well-dressed man, 40-ish, carrying an umbrella so thin it could act as a cane. Not knowing what else to do and that as their only lead, Shotaro, Akiko, and eventually Ryu, set to track down the man, finding him in a high-end restaurant.
That man is Shinkuro Isaka.
As you can imagine, this doesn’t go very well, leading to Shinkuro turning into Weather and finally revealing himself to Ryu.
We get a real sense of how immensely powerful and versatile Shinkuro is, neither Rider can do much of anything to him, easily shrugging off a maximum drive from W. Accel doesn’t get much of a chance to get in hits due to Lily’s interference, who is more interested in getting her memory fixed by the doctor. Ultimately, Shinkuo escapes, with Lily in tow.
Converging back at the agency, Philip estimates the only way they stand a chance is for W and Accel to act in unison, which is a point of contention for Ryu. Having finally found the culprit, Ryu is consumed with revenge, wanting to take down Shinkuro solo, even though it’s suicide. Shotaro calls him out on his brash antics, pointing out that even if Ryu doesn’t care about himself, there are still plenty of others that do, and he shouldn’t toss his life away so frivolously. But his pleas fall on deaf ears as Ryu sets out to confront Weather alone.
This is the tragedy of Ryu’s character in these episodes. After finding Weather, he regresses to the same type of jaded person he was in his introduction. Things get worse when Ryu eventually does confront Shinkuro at his clinic, even going so far as to attack W when they arrive, which only makes it easier for Shinkuro to make quick work of both. He beats Accel to a pulp, forcing Ryu to lose his transformation.
Shinkuro, while gloating over the Riders, reveals that Lily is actually an experiment. He uses human hosts to essentially incubate memories that will eventually consume the host's life, just like what we saw with the Bird Memory.
All Ryu can do is cry in frustration, completely at the mercy of his family’s killer.
With no other options left, Shotaro forces a double maximum drive with both heat and trigger, to Philip's horror. The surge in power results in a massive fireball, consuming both W and Weather, leaving a severely injured Shotaro, while Weather doesn’t have a scratch on them.
By sheer dumb luck, it managed to stall Weather long enough for Terror to arrive, who bizarrely extends an offer of tea to the unshaken Shinkuro, inadvertently saving the two Riders.
A wounded Shotaro pleads with Ryu to save Lily, as he’s the only Rider Fuuto has now. But Ryu can only manage to insult him for getting in the way. Tensions continue to run high, with Philip angered at Ryu’s ambivalence toward Shotaro’s injuries, as well as his refusal to help save Lily, whose fate is now tied to Ryu’s assistance.
Confrontations arise with the Sonozakis as well. Courteous as Ryuube was towards Shinkuro, even allowing him over a dozen meals to satiate his voracious appetite, he doesn’t waste any more time getting the point of why he was invited. He fully suspects Shinkuro and Saeko are planning on subverting the organization, and the recent occurrences with Wakana point toward him. But the response Shinkuro gives is surprising.
Revealing a series of living connectors, Shinkuro claims no other is more dedicated to the Museum's ideals than himself. Everything he does is in the interest of the Museum, even offering up himself to be experimented upon as seen fit.
This brazen act amuses Ryubee, whose concerns are for the moment laid to rest, allowing the doctor to remain within the estate, given that his identity is compromised.
Even Saeko is shocked that Shinkuro was able to stand up to Ryuube and even gain some of his respect in the process, adding to Shinkuro’s rather unique status.
Meanwhile, Ryu stakes out the Shirogane residence as it’s his only lead, although he doesn’t exactly keep a low profile, and Frank invites him in.
Frank breaks the ice with a bit of magic, managing to soften the otherwise stern Ryu. He explains that’s why he became a magician. To make people smile, that’s the real trick. Lily is the same, working hard all her life to the craft, and is damn fine at the act, if awkward.
Yet he laments that while she’s well-intentioned, he knows she’s fallen into shady antics. He doesn’t know the details, but it was obvious enough from her recent behavior.
This encounter has a profound effect on Ryu, eventually leading him in attempting to get Lily to turn herself in, warning the memory will eventually kill her. But she doesn’t care. Her entire reasoning behind using the memory is that her Grandfather's final performance is upcoming and she needs to “prove” that she can carry on the legacy and give a memorable act in a display far outside her abilities.
Ryu berates her for such frivolous behavior, throwing her life away on a fleeting venture when there are those that care about her.
His own familiar words hit him like a truck, as the irony sinks in.
In the end, Ryu resolves to let Lily do as she wishes but promises that after the show is done, she has to let him rid her of the memory.
That final showing doesn’t exactly go smoothly. While Lily does pull off her trick, she has to rush off the stage soon after due to the effects of the memory. Even worse is the unexpected arrival of Shinkuro. But rather than personally deal with him, Ryu opts to help Lily instead, letting various memory gadgets hinder Shinkuro just long enough.
Putting Philip's plan into action, Ryu simply uses his engine blade to electrocute Lily, stopping her heart and causing the memory to assume her death and eject prematurely. One more shock restarts her heart.
Lily is saved, the Gaia Memory broken, and Shinkuro’s plan in ruins, much to his anger.
But unlike last time, Ryu isn’t attempting to face Shinkuro alone. Shotaro has regained consciousness and while his body is weak, he can still easily assist Philip as FangJoker. The riders finally confront Weather in unison, getting respectable hits in.
The two each initiate a maximum drive, forcing Shinkuro’s own attacks back at him, and while he gets away, it’s not unscathed.
The man who shrugged off a maximum drive, who didn’t flinch in Terror’s presence, collapses in the Sonozaki estate, horrified at the Rider’s combined power.
From a distance, Shroud watches over the riders, proud of Raito and Ryu’s progress.
These are a fantastic set of episodes. Everyone is on point, especially Minehiro Kinomoto. He can flip Ryu’s character into just the biggest shitheel at a moment's notice and is so good in these episodes. Ryu falls down so far yet rises above where he fell.
Everything with Shinkuro is also wonderful, showcasing what a threat he is, not just in power but how clever he is. Yet he’s still vulnerable under the right conditions.
I will note the plot with Lily is actually really ironic and by far the weakest part of the episodes, especially since her entire reasoning is kaput by the end. Frank finds out her trick wasn’t of her own and the show is flung off the rails by a damn weather monster. Ain’t anyone gonna be talking about the invisible girl or magician retiring come tomorrow. I guess no one saw those exact issues arising right then and there, but it sure makes the whole endeavor pointless. But that does tie in with Ryu’s own cause being a fruitless one. Ryu didn’t get revenge, but he got something else, something that he needed, as did Lily.
That being said, I don’t think the parallels between Lily and Ryu work all that great. Not helping that a few episodes back, Hasegawa did a case in which Ryu has a much more direct parallel with a dopant going on an act of revenge. The “doing something reckless for family reasons” feels like too much of a reach and simplification between him and Lily. What I do think works is Ryu not so much seeing himself in Lily, but coming to see Lily as a person and not a dopant. She’s good, has a family, and is worth saving even if she made a mistake. It allows Ryu to see the human element of memory users, how easy it is to be tempted even in trivial matters, and that they too are victims.
This is to say nothing of the interpersonal drama among the protagonists, or the unease among the Museum members. Plus, I’m just a sucker for episodes diving into rider’s learning to grow.
As stated earlier, Ryu’s character development parallels that of V3 and Riderman, as Kazami was someone who too became a rider out of vengeance, but learns along the way that it’s more important to protect others. Likewise, Joji was even more blinded by rage until making the ultimate sacrifice to save others. But there is more to Ryu than simply being a homage to an archetype.
I have got to assume that Sanjo making Ryu part of law enforcement was also a means to tie in with the meta aspects. Kamen Riders have always had a hint of rebellion to them, admittedly most superheroes do, but it’s always been prominent in Rider with the whole biker aesthetic (one Ryu learns into the most). Hell, the original series and especially the manga make it clear that Justice is a relative term and evil runs a lot deeper than shadowy organizations. Any sort of establishment meant to carry out the will of those in power is susceptible to doing evil or taking advantage of impunity. When you get right down to it, Shocker or anyone else is a pittance if the system itself is corrupt.
As such, I’ve always been very much against the main protagonist Riders ever holding a position of power like Officers, CEOs, literal goddamn rulers. It’ll be interesting to talk about Drive should I ever get around to that, another series headed by Sanjo.
There are exceptions to that, of course, particularly when the work is aware of what it’s doing by using those very elements i.e. The Black Manga’s use of the Century King.
As for Ryu, he’s a secondary rider, so he’s not exactly applicable to the above. But a lot of the same principles apply. I love what Sanjo does with this character, toying around with a man of justice struggling with his own desires for revenge, and his role as something more.
Shinkuro is dangerous, he can and will kill more if he isn’t stopped. But at that precise moment, Lily's life is in danger, and that takes precedence over revenge or even justice.
Ryu’s journey and development into a better person are one of the best parts of the show, going from a far greater bastard than any of the villains (At his introduction at least) to someone selfless enough to put others before him, even if it means letting the man who killed his family getaway for now. That’s what I love about Rider.
His journey isn’t over, of course. But this cements his growth, and his friendships with Shotaro, Philip, and Akiko. This newfound perspective will also come into play sooner than later.
The groundwork for that and a new arc begins in episode 29. During a case, Philip is exposed and nearly killed by Shinkuro, but is saved by the flying mysterious X-treme Memory, abducting his body and allowing his wounds to heal.
He remains conscious within the memory, and even converses with the one who saved him, Shroud.
She plants a seed of doubt in Philip, saying that his partnership with Shotaro is dangerous and that he’ll only find despair. Philip casts aside Shroud’s warning, seemingly resolved in his partnership with Shotaro. But even after reuniting with him, try as he might, the idea has already taken root and becomes a source of uncertainty going forward.
This becomes exacerbated when compatibility issues begin arising between the two as W, Shotaro’s body freezing up, delayed reactions, and poor coordination. A nice visual detail I like is Cyclone keeps giving off sparks of electricity, as Philip is growing stronger than Shotaro.
Even stranger is a delay in Philip’s consciousness returning to his body after the fact, briefly seeing a vision of W in the Gaia Library.
All of this ties wonderfully with a cold case involving a recently released convict, Isamu Bito, a former client of Sokichi, who 10 years ago took the fall for a crime didn’t commit to save a woman he loved; Suzuko. He was supposed to meet Sokichi when he got out, but obviously, things didn’t quite pan out that way.
Supposedly there was some evidence tying Maruo Arima to the crime, an old friend of Bito’s before they had a falling out. Nowadays he’s a bigshot Yakuza type who owns an entire fairground they once operated a food stall in, and is now married to Suzuko, who he regularly threatens- part of the reason for his and Bito’s falling out.
Throughout the episodes there’s this running theme of Shotaro feeling inadequate, having a massive weight on his shoulders of all the responsibility left to him, not meeting the expectations of the more hardened Bito, not being the man Sokichi was, and now having issues even being W which is getting worse over time.
Eventually, a lead is discovered regarding a bear statue, something which Shotaro recalls Sokichi having in his old wilderness cabin. Sure enough, the statue is found, but due to Maruo’s connections to the syndicate, Shinkuro becomes involved.
Philip attempts to use his own body via Fang, thinking that perhaps it would balance out the issues Shotaro has been facing. It doesn’t work out and the two are nearly killed by Shinkuro until Accel arrives. That still presents its own issue since Accel is once again on his own against Shinkuro.
But when Philip tosses Accel the Cyclone memory for use in the Engine Blade, its power is immense enough to scare Shinkuro away, while Accel is strong enough to withstand the recoil.
Between that and the W driver rejecting Shotaro’s touch, both he and Philip begin to doubt that they can continue on together. To top everything off, Bito was injured by Shinkuro’s initial attack. Shotaro, in a depressive and nearly catatonic state, stays behind while the rest escort Bito to the Hospital.
Through it all, Shotaro doesn’t entirely give up, despite how emotionally damaging recent events have been. Even if he can’t be W, he can still be a detective. During the scuffle with Shinkuro, the bear statue was lost in a river stream, and so, Shotaro sets out in the pouring rain to put his detective skills to use.
Upon recovering the statue, he finds a hollow section, discovering its key role in the investigation.
Yet he doesn’t share this with anyone else when he returns the statue to Philip, instead departing just as quickly as he arrived.
Two things occur here that I want to highlight:
One is Philip asking Ryu if he’d like to partner up, and his response is telling Philip never to ask something that stupid again. The second, and perhaps even more revealing, is Akiko flipping out and berating Philip for even considering someone else, going so far as to defend Shotaro’s personality. That for all the jokes that are made about him being half-boiled, it’s what makes him Shotaro, and it’s for the better.
It also spurs a revelation in Philip, including that Shotaro is likely about to do something very reckless, and indeed that’s the case.
What Shotaro found was the Zone Gaia memory, which he uses to confront Suzuko. She denies any knowledge of it, but activating the memory causes the port to appear on her neck.
The crime committed a decade ago was never just Arima, hell, it wasn’t even his idea. All the shouting, berating, and toxic behavior from him was just for show. Suzuko is the real crime boss, playing Bito like a fool to take the fall.
Clever as deducing Suzuko’s identity was, having the memory in her presence quickly turns into a grave mistake when she gains the upper hand and Shotaro is nearly killed by Zone, whose powerset is teleporting objects. He luckily survives a great fall, landing in the river before being fished out by Philip, giving the two a moment to have a heart-to-heart.
Philip mentions something to him “nobody’s perfect” a note Sokichi left for Bito that Shotaro overlooked, and a saying Sokichi regularly used around the two.
Philip realizes that W as a pure weapon is meaningless, nor is it what Sokichi intended. They were chosen precisely because of their contrast. Shotaro’s kindness is needed, and if any part of that is “weak”, that’s just something Philip will have to deal with.
It’s an incredibly moving scene, reaffirming just how good the two are together.
Reunited, the two set off to take care of Beast and Zone, forming W. Philips tries to hold back, but it’s difficult. Shotaro tells him not to, that as long as their partners, he won’t ever crack again. Shotaro begins keeping up, adjusting to Philip’s power, and that’s when the Earth cries out. The Xtreme memory arrives, merging Philip and Shotaro together in mind and body, becoming CycloneJokerXtreme, W’s final form.
As Xtreme, they have the full power and knowledge of Earth, with Philip having immediate access to the Gaia library, able to research their opponents on the fly. Xtreme comes with a sword and shield, the Prism Bicker, which allows for a devastating quad maximum drive.
Suffice it to say, two Dopants, impressive as they may be, are no match for Xtreme, who obliterates both with ease.
Shroud watches over the battle, frustrated that Shotaro was able to once again defy her expectations.
I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say these are two of the best goddamn episodes in the series, yes, even after saying that for Ryu’s episodes.
Really fantastic story, with great use of thematics, and fantastic characterization between Philip and Shotaro. Hell, even Akiko shines.
Sanjo is at his absolute best when he focuses on the dynamic between characters, Shotaro and Philip in particular. Even with us seeing multiple falling-ins and out (this being the third or so) it never ceases to be captivating. Part of that is the continuing escalation and the severity getting worse as the threats grow ever more dangerous. But I also think it becomes clear by this point that his best work comes from having a contrast in characters, or at least more to focus on. There’s very little I take issue with whenever the main duo is in the spotlight, united or not, everything is always above and beyond. As much as I enjoy Ryu and his dedicated episodes, you can see more cracks when he doesn’t have someone else to bounce off of. They lack the same polish comparatively.
We’re also getting closer to the end with just 16 episodes left, so it’s no surprise that we start seeing a bigger push in raising the stakes and preparing for the finale.
One such moment is the Gaia Well under the Sonozaki estate erupting when Xtreme fused with W. Ryuube anticipated the event and invited Wakana to view, curiously leaving Saeko and Shinkuro out of the loop.
On the subject of Xtreme, while we’re still 16 episodes out, you don’t have to worry about oversaturation. Their method for making sure it doesn’t appear too often for the rest of the show is having limitations similar to Fang. Xtreme only answers to Philip, not Shotaro, and it requires digitizing Philip first, meaning its use could be impractical when base memories can get the job done just as well.
This does however lead to an interesting dichotomy in that Xtreme is vastly more powerful than Accel, and you may be wondering what that means for Shinkuro, who of course is a big enough threat to warrant Xtreme. Well, that very matchup happens in the next two-parter and he is nearly defeated by W alone, much to Accel's frustration. He may not be blinded by revenge anymore, but he still wants to be the one to bring Shinkuro down. But to do that, he’s going to need help from Shroud once more.
This comes sooner than later when Ryu and Shotaro get caught up in a case centering around Nagi Shimamoto, known to the local children for telling facts and stories about avians in the Fuuto Bird Sanctuary. Lately, she’s been cold, depressive, and even outright hostile towards the children, some of whom came to Shotaro for help. Ryu becomes sympathetic mainly because the sanctuary was a favorite of his sister and Shimamoto bears more than a passing resemblance to her.
Eventually, the two riders learn her tragic story. Her father was recently electrocuted to death right in front of her, while she was branded with a living connector against her will, the monster behind the attack promising to return. Speak of the devil, a heavy storm signals Shinkuro’s approach.
If it wasn’t clear enough that Accel is still vastly outmatched by Shinkuro, it’s made so here. The man is smart, learning from prior engagements he takes the preemptive to trap W in a vortex of water, while he simply electrocutes Accel. His business with Nagi is not unlike Lily, a new test subject, but this time is a little different. The connector on Nagi is growing, developing further as she feels fear, and eventually will be ready for a new unique Gaia Memory Shinkuro stole from Ryuube, Quetzalcoatlus. Seeing as it is not ready and W manages to break free by forming Xtreme, Shinkuro departs, leaving Ryu frustrated at how ineffectual he was at protecting Nagi.
From here the story basically splits into three distinct sections. Shotaro guards Nagi, who in turn learns about Ryu’s past and why he’s so determined to protect her, instilling her with hope and causing the spread of the connector to be hindered. I won’t be talking about her much more, but do know that she’s far better than Lily.
Meanwhile, Shinkuro finally reveals to Saeko that 10 years ago he was a directionless washed-up doctor until he met Ryuube. Seeing his terror form, he became entranced and one day swore to have that very power. His interest in Saeko was by and large simply to get close to the family, but she doesn’t even mind, now that his goals are crystal clear. However, Shikuro does begin to reconsider the nature of their relationship as more than just a means to an end.
And finally, Ryu, along with Akiko, returns to the forest he first met Shroud in. He demands more power, but Shroud refuses. The anger he once embodied is no longer present, and she has no use for someone dedicated to protecting others. Although she relents when Accel threatens her, leading him to a motocross track.
He’s presented with the Trial memory, a memory that, rather than granting pure power, increases his speed to a blistering degree. He might not be able to destroy something in a single hit, but the advantage is being able to hit something 10 or 100 times in quick succession. Or to put it another way, he’s a DPS machine.
The catch, of course, is that it’s a trial. He only has 10 seconds to use the boost at its full potential for a Maximum Drive before it backfires, canceling his transformation. Get it under 10, and he can pull off a finisher. Ergo, complete the race track in under 10 seconds on a bike using trial and he should be conditioned to handle the strain and strict time limit.
As Ryu takes the challenge head-on, things reach a tipping point with the Sonozakis. Ryuube recalls his meeting with Shinkuro a decade ago, pondering just what his goal in all this is. Shinkuro directly answers that he intends to take the terror memory for himself.
So, Ryuube challenges him to take it, if he can. Saeko makes her own choice, siding with Shinkuro and attacking her father before the two escape on a path of no return.
The sudden development increases the need for Shinkuro to make headway on Nagi, who he manages to catch alone and kidnap. He plans to kill Ryu in front of her to accelerate the growth, phoning Ryu for a final duel.
With the pressure on, Ryu completes one final lap with a time of 9.9, according to Shroud. He claims his prize and heads off to face Shinkuro. In reality, however, his final time was 10.70 Whatever happens to him now is of no concern to Shroud.
Ryu arrives to face Shinkuro one last time, activating Trial and taking Shinkuro by surprise. Accel is faster than even lightning, dodging Shinkuro’s attacks with relative ease and laying on the hurt something fierce. He activates Trial’s Maximum Drive and attacks even faster and more ferociously, overwhelming the doctor who can’t do anything but take the brunt of Accel’s kicks.
In the end, Accel finishes his assault in 9.8 seconds, Weather exploding as both the Weather and Quetzalcoatlus memories are destroyed.
Shinkuro lies in defeat, but unlike other dopants, his constant use of memories takes its toll as his body begins consuming itself. He warns that Shroud has already sealed all their fates, while in the distance, Saeko watches the best chance to subvert her father dissolve before her eyes.
Episode 37 Delves into the fallout of Saeko’s actions, with her now on the run from the museum's legion of soldiers, attempting to avoid fights due to having a damaged driver.
Wakana, meanwhile, must prepare to take her sister's place, just as an investor from the mysterious Foundation X, Jun Kazu (Gong Teyu), visits for a progress report.
Over with the detectives, a new client walks in, one who will have a profound effect on their lives beyond what anyone could comprehend. The man, Yamashiro, is rather strange, constantly on edge, never gives a full name, and seemingly recognizes Philip. His dilemma is that he hasn’t seen his family in a decade and needs Shotaro to track them down, but given the suspicious aura the man exudes, Shotaro wisely decides to check into his background. Sure enough, the man is involved with the Museum.
What’s more, unbeknownst to him or the detectives, he’s being hunted by an assassin, the Hopper Dopant.
To further complicate matters, Wakana phones and meets up with Philip, looking for guidance once more. It’s a really sweet meeting, my favorite part being when the conversation turns to Wakana asking if she should take up the family business and Philip cuts through the fog, asking if it’s related to Gaia memories. Wakana’s silence serves as more than enough of a response. But Philip breaks through again, cutely phoning Wakana right then and there, mimicking their prior indirect engagements. Philip’s advice remains unchanged from the last time; Wakana should simply follow what she truly wants.
This spurs Wakana to suggest the two of them flee Fuuto, leaving everything behind. While half joking, Philip is rather fond of the idea and the two begin seriously considering it.
These threads come together when Shotaro gives Yamashiro the current residence of his family, but calls him out before he gets a chance to leave their office.
Yamashiro was a neuroscientist that was declared dead 10 years ago, and 7 others in similar fields went missing around the same timeframe. Yamashiro admits he was employed by Ryuube Sonosaki, of his own will, no less. Their funding and research were simply too good, but it began taking a toll, and he paid a price for his greed.
When Philip tries to access the Gaia Library for information about Ryuube, he’s kicked out, which is enough of a confirmation for Ryu.
W manages to rescue the professor, while Hopper escapes both W and Accel. But the excursion led to her revealing that Yamashiro’s work within the museum was erasing memories, pointing out that Philip was among them.
Yamashiro was tasked with only removing one specific subject for Philip; his family, although he denies any knowledge of the specifics.
Ryu takes him in for questioning, and also protection… not that it does any good. Hopper easily bulldozes their way through the police station and severely injures Yamashiro. Ryu overwhelms Hopper with Trial, but it’s too late. Hopper is subsequently killed by Mick to tie up any loose ends, while Yamashiro is rushed to the hospital, barely alive.
Meanwhile, after learning that Mick was also sent to assassinate Saeko, Wakana wants to follow through on leaving town with Philip, completely breaking down in tears when calling him to meet at the local station. Philip is torn on what to do. He still cares for Wakana, even knowing her family’s ties, but leaving Shotaro and Akiko is no easy feat.
The dying Yamashiro apologizes for all he’s done, before admitting that he knows Philip’s identity; Raito Sonozaki. Philip reels back in this knowledge, but now knowing that Wakana is his family, it solidifies his decision to leave town with her.
However, Ryuube, facing pressure from Foundation X over a drop in production, has necessitated a showing of a confident restructuring, and Wakana will fill that role.
What Philip finds at the station is a shadow of Wakana. Completely loyal to the Museum, ruthless, and inhumane. Philip is attacked by Claydoll, more so to prove a point, even managing to knock Philip out of FangJoker before she disappears, leaving Philip to cry out in despair.
By this point, W is on a winning streak with big character moments and stories that land damn near perfectly, delivering on the constant build-up with more to come. And one thing I want to point out that isn’t obvious within this summary is the superb pacing. Despite almost every episode from here on featuring some major revelation or new development, Sanjo and co balance out the drama with quick asides and humor that allow the characters and audience to breathe. Even other shows that I adore can sometimes falter in this endeavor.
As for those reveals, as I said, they’re nearly perfect. Finally finding out who erased Philip’s memories is great, and the repercussions of that knowledge and the fallout with Wakana offer up (and will result) in stories revolving around his trauma.
From an audience perspective, we kinda already knew Philip was a Sonozaki. I was never under the impression that Saeko was being deceptive when she called Philip Raito and acted very familiar with him all those episodes back. Lack of knowing his family name aside, there are way too many signs pointing at the truth that Philip should have picked up on otherwise, and that’s just counting the details he’s privy to. I like to think that Philip knew on some level, but was in denial until he couldn’t anymore.
Episode 39 starts out as a nice break from all the heavy drama…until the second part in 40, anyway. The main segment primarily concerns a rash of strange occurrences at the local movie theater in which audiences are forced into viewing an obnoxious 7-hour pretentious film seemingly starring one of the theater workers, Ai Nijimura, who is equally baffled. Hijinks ensue and it’s eventually discovered that the responsible party is another worker, Toru Kawai, the Gene dopant, who can manipulate matter on, you guessed it, a genetic level.
Despite his power, he’s not much of a threat and is rather wimpy, enough to where a good slap knocks the Gaia memory out of him without damage. Rather than simply arresting him, Akiko wants to take a more rehabilitative and humorous approach in the hopes of opening up the socially awkward man by helping him remake his film. There are parallels also drawn with Philip, who has since become rather candid and shut off emotionally, plunging himself into any work available as a means of distraction.
While providing a good bit of levity, the Gene Dopant would be pivotal in the current machinations of the Museum, which involves a new prototype device called the Gaia Progressor, an object that would evolve Wakana into something greater.
Our B plot is with Saeko, who has survived the assassination attempt thanks in part to Jun Kazu, but is now left without a driver or her Taboo Memory. For me, this is the strongest part of the episode because Saeko finally starts to get some real development at this point. By and large, she’s spent a great deal of the series either frustrated over a weak significant other or enamored with a powerful one that could potentially dethrone her father. Now she’s in an all too familiar situation again with Jun Kazu, who despite his flat demeanor, claims to be enamored with her and willing to help.
So it’s refreshing that Saeko has become tired of being in the tangle of men and decides to strike out on her own, sneaking into her former office as a cleaner and reacquiring the Nazca memory she stashed away.
Finally, Wakana confronts the film crew, coming to blows with W, with any attempts at reason failing. She’s initially much stronger, but once Xtreme comes in, she doesn’t stand a chance. Even her regenerative abilities can be negated by Xtreme. But their fight is interrupted by Saeko, who originally intended to fight Wakana until seeing her pathetic display, instead opting to go after W and Accel. Saeko’s compatibility with Nazca is very high, jumping straight to the level 3 evolution, nearly as fast as Accel Trial, and is even able to do some damage to Xtreme.
Despite Saeko’s strong start, the battle between Nazca and Xtreme ends in a stalemate. Philip reaches out to Saeko, but she’s perhaps even farther gone than Wakana. She doesn’t view Philip as family, or even human, he’s simply a thing.
After being humiliated by her sister, Wakana takes the initiative in catching Kawai off guard, kidnapping him, and forcing him to merge her cells with the Progressor.
What the Gaia Progressor is, becomes apparent as its massive light is the same as that from the Gaia Well. It infuses Wakana with the same connection to the earth as Philip and more precisely Xtreme.
As Ryuube explains to Jun, Clay Doll comes from the ancient idols sculpted as offerings to Gods, and now that doll has become a conduit for a God; the Earth itself.
The entire reason the Narumi Agency was never wiped out was that their existence was useful. Ryuube was collecting valuable data from every fight, every transformation, and every use of Xtreme. It all involves Philip’s connection to the earth, and they made the Gaia Progressor with that knowledge. Everything that happened was either planned or tolerated because it conveniently aligned with Ryuube’s goal. From Wakana being forced to use her memory which increased her compatibility and warped her mind, to Jun’s interactions with Saeko which only further fanned the flames of the sibling rivalry.
Out of the blinding light is born Clay Doll Xtreme, and her power is immense. Arriving at the scene, W Xtreme is barely able to resist her attacks, only surviving her most powerful one by dedicating all their energy to a defensive maneuver- which even then still brings the duo to their knees. Wakana laughs at the pair as she departs.
Days later, Philip is in the Gaia library and suddenly encounters Wakana. She taunts him, casually mentioning that she can’t interact with him or the library yet, but soon will. Undaunted, Philip promises that he’ll save his family from this madness, no matter what.
Episodes 41 & 41 are more of a proper aside from the main plot. It mainly focuses on Mikio Jinno, who was framed for grand larceny. It’s up to the detectives to prove his innocence and capture the true culprit, the jewel dopant. We get some minor backstory on Jinno, his relationship with Shotaro when the latter was still in school and Jinno a beat cop, as well as a few other characters Jinno knew long ago that tie in with the dopant.
I don’t wanna spend too much time here, but there are a few tidbits that I want to mention.
First is that Saeko, having been on the receiving end of Wakana’s new power and barely surviving, begins taking an interest in growing her power not unlike Shinkuro by collecting powerful memories, diamond catching her eye. She doesn’t really get anywhere with the endeavor, but it’s the principle of the thing.
Secondly, Wakana’s powers develop more and she actually attacks Philip in the Gaia Library, hampering the investigation and threatening to capture him from the Library itself. Like many of Hasegawa’s episodes, he plays around with the esoteric angles quite well, like having Wakana able to transform while in the library, which of course Philip can’t do because he needs Shotaro. Philip actually gets inspiration from Akiko on the dilemma, realizing that half is just what he needs. Just as Wakana couldn’t initially interact with the library, Philip can lessen his connection so he can’t directly interact and thus she can’t do anything to him. All he needs is for the book to be turned to the right page, which he tricks Wakana into doing.
It’s a clever solution that also bugs the piss out of me.
What bothers me is Xtreme. Philip has full access to the library in that form and doesn’t use that ability in this episode. And maybe that was still a risk, maybe he was worried about Wakana attacking him while he and Shotaro were in a fight as Xtreme. But we’ve never actually seen how it works for Philip in that mode. I’ve always assumed it was instantaneous because it’s a direct connection, and it couldn’t be that his consciousness is split between both Xtreme and the Library because this episode outright shows that splitting your abilities means not being able to open the books. Also what use would getting Philip’s consciousness even accomplish?
This is one of the few times where it feels like there should have been some clarity on the functionality, and there isn’t even a good assumption to be made on the audience's end. It feels like it was done to have a twist regardless of any detriments it may bring.
Anyway, let's get back to the main plot in episodes 43 and 44, which are Hasegawa’s last contributions to the series and a better note to go out on.
The current case is that a mother, Yoshie, desperately wants to remedy the tragedy that's befallen their 10-year-old daughter, Miyu, who has inexplicably become an elderly woman.
The Investigation points to two suspects, one being a stuck-up mom, Mitsuku, who is the type to force their kid to be the star they never were, and was likely motivated due to Miyu being chosen over her own daughter, Kumi, in an upcoming school play.
The other and likely main culprit is a mysterious fortune teller known as the Ager, who upon knowing his password will offer up his services to age whoever you want.
After much trial and error, our heroes manage to find and confront the psychic who is unsurprisingly the Old Dopant. Curiously, both Ryu and Philip are unaffected by his powers, which are visually similar to Terror’s. Shotaro, however, falls victim, rapidly becoming elderly.
Old slips away, but Ryu catches a glimpse of a nearby Shroud, chases her down, and it starts to sound like she played a part in these events in an attempt to get her original plan of uniting Ryu and Philip into a new W back on track.
Once again I don’t want to spend too much time on the case itself, because it’s pretty straightforward what’s going on and what unfolds. Basically coming down to overbearing mothers engaging in truly horrifying acts to sabotage each other's child for a freaking school play. At one point, Yoshie even hires the Ager to age not Mitsuku, but her innocent daughter. The irony is that Miyu and Kumi are best friends- probably because their mothers are both terrible.
Like a lot of cases, this is thematically tied to the character-oriented parts, which center largely on family, revenge, and how love can both blind and inform the latter. From Ryu’s family, the Sonozakis, Shroud, and the connection between all of them(Shroud, especially) It’s not just a question among the protagonists, either. Philip finds Wakana in the Gaia Library, frantically searching for any information on Shroud, which is practically nonexistent. But it’s clear that even though she’s searching for answers, Philip knows even less- whereas Wakana knows her identity.
Ryu starts his own investigation into Shroud, tracking down Saeko to an underworld bar to get some answers, and the morsel of information she reveals is devastating; the one responsible for Dr. Shinkuro’s Weather memory was Shroud.
Ryu’s hatred, seemingly rekindled, confronts Shroud in the forest, who merely stokes the flames. Although the question about Ryu’s family gives her pause before admission, she encourages Ryu to hate her more, even kill her over the truth.
Said fight is interrupted by Wakana, who was tipped off to Ryu’s wiles by Kazu, using him to find Shroud. The incursion is short but illuminating, with Ryu learning that Shroud's true identity is Fumine Sonozaki, Ryuube’s estranged wife and mother to the Sonozaki children. Shroud escapes from Wakana, who storms off in frustration.
In the aftermath, Ryu notices a bed of flowers like those left on his family’s grave
After much rumination, Ryu returns to the woods, meeting Shroud once more. But he isn’t there to fight or become W with Philip. He wants to forgive her, understanding that her pain, hatred, and desire for revenge, were born out of love, not unlike his own.
Shroud, in a rare moment of vulnerability, confirms Ryu’s assessment. She was happily married to Ryuube, but something changed with him. He became fixated on Raito, calling him the chosen and treating him more like a tool than a child, lashing out at anything that threatened his work, herself included.
She was horribly mangled by Terror, driven away from the family, unwillingly leaving her children behind and vowing revenge ever since.
Shinkuro was one of the first candidates she felt could truly destroy her husband, lamenting to Ryu that she had no idea Shinkuro would murder so many people.
Ryu is steadfast that he, Philip, and Shotaro, will prove a hate-fueled W isn’t needed to defeat the Old Dopant or even Terror for that matter.
Not much else to say other than doing just that. Accel and Philip along with old man Shotaro as Xtreme manage to take down the Dopant in a final battle. Proving their point to Shroud, she agrees to withdraw from the playing field and no longer interfere. Philip however is left with many questions, obviously wanting to know his mother better, and perhaps his past. But she disappears before that chance is had.
Oh, Ryu and Akiko hook up at the end. Yeah, I’ve not been mentioning that the past few cases have had jokes and hints about Akiko being into Ryu, even possible dating. Some of the earlier episodes with him even had a couple of gags before long periods of nothing between the two. Honestly, it’s not that important and quite frankly I’ve forgotten several times that they’re an item, even having seen the series in its entirety 4 or 5 times. So that probably lets you know what I think about the pairing. It sure exists.
Most of what’s going on in these recent episodes has been background information and story development, damn captivating at that. I also think it makes a nice epilogue to Ryu’s development.
I’m not really big on “Revenge is bad '' type morality tales, but the specific brand used here works for the message. It’s not righteous anger utilized productively the way someone like Kotaro uses it, it’s simply rage. For all the planning and cleverness someone like Shroud has, she’s still guilty of being tunnel-visioned in her goal as evidenced by haphazardly giving someone like Shinkuro a powerful memory. As Saeko explained metaphorically to Ryu, her mother treats things like a game of pool, knocking everything else out just to get to one target. We’ve seen that Ryu has been guilty of the same methodology, getting lost in the depths of a singular goal at the cost of everything else. So it only makes sense that he comes around to understanding and forgiving Shroud.
Wakana on the other hand has no such clarity. While she calls Shroud a traitor to the museum, she appears to have more resentment for her mother leaving at all, considering it a form of abandonment, which there may be some truth to. In the conversation Shroud has with Ryu, she blatantly states her actions were to get Raito back and stop Ryuube, with no mention of Wakana or Saeko. Admittedly, Raito was the main focus of Ryuube’s research and the most dangerous to leave behind. By the time he was rescued, Wakana and Saeko were grown and too far gone. But it’s interesting that they weren’t even an afterthought or mentioned as a consideration.
Curiously, Saeko doesn’t give much of an opinion on her mother. Perhaps that has to do with her being the eldest and having a better understanding of the situation than Wakana, could be that she begrudgingly sees the resemblance to her mother’s headstrong personality and hatred towards Ryuube. But Saeko’s initial response about Shroud being “Ah, that woman…” best sums up a rather ambivalent view. Not really thinking or referring to her as a mother, yet not harboring quite the same anger as her sister.
We don’t get much of Philip’s viewpoint because he learns all the major stuff near the end of the episode, so it’s mostly set up for what comes next, and I actually want to stop for a second here because that something is the movie ‘Kamen Rider W Forever: A to Z/The Gaia Memories of Fate’ which takes place in between episodes 44 and 45.
While I did rewatch it, I am not recapping that entire movie for this review, that’s for another time. But there are some important things you’ll need to know going forward.
So just before Ryu met with Saeko, Jun Kazu was getting his suitcase in order, which was filled with second-generation Gaia Memories, refined ones like W and Accel use, but more advanced. According to Kazu, they were developed from research conducted by Shroud before her departure of the Museum, and they were finished by Foundation X independent of the Museum, hinting at a lack of trust or need for them going forward. The movie deals with the significance of that scene and the results of T2 memories.
The pertinent information you’ll need going forward is:
The T2 memories are cast across the city, causing tons of chaos that culminates with Fuuto’s iconic wind tower also being destroyed.
Shotaro recovers Sokichi’s single slot Lost Driver, thus giving Shotaro a means to fight solo as simply Kamen Rider Joker, which he does in the film after Philip is manipulated by a Shroud impersonator.
And finally, the main villains of the movie are a small mercenary group called NEVER, who are angered over being abandoned by Foundation X in favor of the Museum. They consist of undead superhumans, the Necro-Overs, who rely on regular injections to stay animated. They also have high compatibility with the T2 memories, but as a consequence, they’re susceptible in much the same manner that Shinkuro was, even with the use of a driver- this will be important later on.
(It's also worth noting that this is the only instance of there being a villain in W using the "Kamen" part in their name, as Kamen Rider Eternal.)
45 picks up in the aftermath of the film’s events, Fuuto Tower being rebuilt just as an eccentric Indiana Jones-esque client, Kyoko Todoroki, walks into the agency. Todoroki is a curator at the Fuuto Museum and just so happened to overhear Ryuube discussing the loss of an important artifact in a recent cave-in; the evil tail. While Akiko is hesitant to take on such a case, Shotaro views it as an opportunity to get close to the museum and find what secrets lie within.
Philip meanwhile is unable to look up any information on the artifact because it’s too closely related to the Sonozakis…until suddenly those restrictions are lifted. Every book relating to the Museum is now available: The Museum itself, Dopants, Gaia Memories, and one on Raito Sonozaki. Faced with learning about his past, Philip panics and quickly departs the Library, disappointing Wakana, who had lifted the restrictions.
Philip doesn’t get much chance to think on the matter before he’s called into action, the trio running into the Smilodon Dopant in the caves after recovering the Evil Tail.
That fight is further interrupted by Terror, forcing W to prioritize getting Todoroki and Akiko to safety.
At the agency, Todoroki refuses to believe that Ryuube could be such a monster, running off while everyone else is in conversation- which happens way too damn often. This is like Sanjo’s version of “Guys show up and shoot things”.
Shotaro and Ryu give chase, winding up at the museum where we learn Ryuube’s true plan is to initiate the Gaia Impact, a merging of the Earth’s consciousness with Fuuto's population in an attempt to save humans from themselves, converting them into pure data. Todoroki is horrified and tries to make off with the Evil Tail, subsequently chased by Smilodon, and Ryu following behind. But Shotaro’s frozen with fear. All the run-ins with Ryuube have had an accumulative effect, where even his human form is enough to put Shotaro into a terrified stupor.
Concurrently, Philip decides he should face the truth and finally read his own book, revealing what really happened, and is horrified at the revelation he discovers. Bolting from the agency, he runs directly to the museum to find Shotaro, who is aimlessly walking in a nearly catatonic state. Philip manages to shake Shotaro to his senses, as the two realize they need to rescue Ryu from Smilodon. Thankfully, Philip’s newfound knowledge allows him to easily pacify Mick- who was originally his cat at age 3. They easily destroy the memory and driver, freeing the British Shorthair.
Ryuube arrives, realizing Philip read the book and now knows the purpose he serves.
Because 12 years ago, Raito Sonozaki fell into the Gaia Well and died.
Shotaro doesn’t want to believe it, but Philip confirms it’s all true.
Philip isn’t human or technically living in an organic sense. He’s a construct of data, a memory of Raito reborn from the Earth replicating the concept of him. And now, with Philip and the Evil Tail gathered in one place, Ryuube’s end goal can be put into motion.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much the Riders can do to stop him. Accel may be immune to Terror’s mental powers, but he’s not immune to Ryuube unleashing a Dragon from atop his crest. The massive Barong-like Terror Dragon merely eats Accel, chews him up, and spits out a bloody Ryu.
Xtreme doesn’t fare much better, as Shroud's fears ring true when Shotaro’s vulnerability causes them to stop short of even getting a single hit on Terror, who throws the two-in-one Rider so hard their transformation is disrupted. Philip is rendered unconscious and swept away, while Shotaro is left in a manic state.
Philip awakens in the estate, coming down to find the entire family has gathered for a dinner, including a begrudging Saeko, and even Shroud.
Ryuube has extended an invitation to all as a final farewell to Wakana…and as a final opportunity to beg forgiveness before she ascends to godhood. The dinner goes about as well as you’d expect.
Philip tries to reach anyone in his family, placating that regardless of circumstance, they’re finally together. But it’s for naught. Saeko continues to view Philip as nothing more than an object worth leveraging, conversations break down as Wakana and Saeko begin to bicker and ultimately fight, resulting in Saeko’s Nazca memory being destroyed.
In the ensuing chaos, Todoroki sneaks into the estate and makes off with the artifact before anyone notices.
As Shroud begins to depart, she leaves Philip with a harsh yet touching wake-up call; the Sonozakis are not his family, Shotaro is, and he’s Philip’s Wild Card.
Over at the Agency, Shotaro is stuck in a paranoid delusion, incapable of dealing with the slightest sound or sudden movement without bursting into a fit. Try as Akiko might to motivate Shotaro into doing anything to save Philip, all that results is horrific screaming.
Shotaro’s sad state continues into the night, along with a bitter call from Philip, his voice being one of the few things to get through to him. It’s goodbye. Philip is to be sacrificed to the Gaia Well, reabsorbed into the data stream as a means to regulate the process so Wakana can fully become one with the Earth.
Echoing back to their first meeting and transformation, Philip tells Shotaro that he won’t be gone, so long as he has the courage to ride with the devil.
The outlook is bleak, but a glimmer of hope comes in the form of Todoroki returning with the devil’s tail.
The next day, the sacrifice gets underway. Philip is given a final farewell from his father before being pushed into the well, broken up, and causing an eruption that flows through the estate and up to Wakana. The ritual is interrupted by Akiko literally dragging Shotaro in, who reveals he has the evil tail. As the situation unfolds, it becomes clear the “tail” itself isn’t necessary for the event, rather Ryuube’s own deluded mind considers it his family.
The tail in actuality is simply an excavation brush, signed by all members of the Sonozaki family. The final object symbolizing the once-happy family before Raito perished two months later, and Ryuube began his campaign of terror.
Ryuube taunts that it’s too late to stop the ritual, Philip, has already been absorbed by Wakana. But Shotaro made a promise that so long as Philip was his partner, he would never crack.
Shotaro activates Joker and Wakana begins convulsing in pain as Cyclone answers the call and forms in the W driver, and the two-in-one detective is made whole once more.
With half of Philip now missing from the data stream, Wakana has in essence encountered an error and must shut down, leaving her to withe on the floor as she bugs out. That just leaves Ryuube as the final obstacle in the way.
W is initially overmatched by Terror, but Ryu manages to drag himself out of bed and arrive on the scene as Accel. Although he can barely move, he’s able to interface with the modular components of W’s bike, in particular the flying Hardturbuler, which he uses to take on the Terror Dragon in a re-match high in the sky. The CGI in W isn’t exactly great, but this is probably the best it is in the entire show, and part of that is simply the clever use and fast kentic energy.
In contrast with the CG battle between Accel and the Terror Dragon, W and Terror’s fight is a straight-up simple beat down.
With half of his physical power gone and Shotaro overcoming the mental attacks, they might be on equal footing. But then Xtreme shows up, dives through, and seemingly finishes off Wakana while also collecting the rest of Philip’s data, well, at that point, Terror doesn’t stand a chance. W whales on Terror before finally delivering one final kick, destroying the Terror Memory, but not before Accel finishes off the Terror Dragon by launching it directly into the estate.
Ryuube stumbles into the now burning mansion, seeing a vision of a ghostly Wakana, taking solace in the knowledge that it’s not over yet. He dances gleefully in the fire, having no regrets about his decisions, as the mansion comes down and the fire grows closer.
There is not, however, a celebration to be had in this victory. Even after destroying their Gaia Memories, Philip wasn’t able to save his family from their delusions.
And while this may be an end to the museum, there are still loose ends that need tending to. Saeko is still on the loose, and Wakana’s body was never recovered from the mansion. A final mystery unfolds as we witness Kazu carrying her body.
With no time to slow, we enter episodes 47 & 48, the final two-parter of Kamen Rider W.
Things have been peaceful for the Agency in the fallout of Ryuube’s death. Shotaro has even recovered Mick, allowing Philip to have at least one member of his family saved. Yet trouble is brewing just under the surface.
Philip has been having strange dreams involving Wakana, signifying a mental connection to her.
With the strong likelihood of Wakana being out there, Philip requests Shotaro to find and save his sister. It would be the first and only time Philip would ask for help.
It doesn’t take long before a lead crops up, as Saeko has been seen racing on the local track every day since the Museum collapsed. But when confronted over Wakana’s whereabouts, she’s flabbergasted to learn of her sister's survival. That’s when Jun Kazu arrives to collect Saeko and install her as the new head of the museum.
Kazu has Wakana and plans on using her to complete the Gaia Impact, but on a global scale, wiping out anyone with low compatibility with Gaia Memories in a genocidal “purification” of humanity.
Kazu then reveals he, like the Sonozakis, has a driver and a gold-level Gaia memory; Utopia. Assuming his dopant form, everyone else is suspended in the air. Ryu transforms and attempts to fight back, but it’s no use. Utopia has control over gravity and thrashes the rider with complete ease.
Shotaro readies to step in, but that’s when Philip reveals they can’t transform because being reconstituted into data by the Gaia Well and forcibly removed left a lingering instability. The data that constructs his body is corrupted, causing his physical form to literally glitch out at times, and it’s so unstable that transforming will destroy it. When they do transform, it’ll have to be in a final sacrifice to save his sister. But until then, all they can do is mercilessly watch Accel get tossed aside and Saeko kidnapped by Utopia.
Back at the agency, Philip begins looking into Foundation X, which has a total of 27 facilities across Fuuto alone. Using a hint Saeko gave, he’s able to narrow it down to the exact facility.
But Shotaro is still whirling from the knowledge that Philip will die after they transform. He desperately seeks an alternative to Philip’s sacrifice, heading out to find Shroud.
I’m going to cut to the chase and say that this is the saving grace of this episode because there is a lot of fluff I’m skimming over like an overly long bike sequence on the race track, and a subplot of Kazu trying to convenience the leader of Foundation X, Neon Ulslan, that Gaia Memories are still worth investing in. Not that important, not that interesting. Foundation X does not matter, only Kazu does.
Thankfully, Shotaro and Philip’s dynamic is so good that you don’t pay much heed to the shortcomings. Especially coming off the heels of Philip being saved, it’s heartbreaking seeing Shotaro try to find a way out, only to be met with the inevitable reality of the situation when Shroud admits she was Sokichi’s last client, and that Shotaro’s done more than enough in his wake by making sure Philip was more than just a collection of data. All she asks of Shotaro is that Philip’s final moments are peaceful because it’s all Shotaro can do at this point.
Disheartened, Shotaro returns to the Agency to find, of all things, a party. Under the guise of a going away bash, Akiko has gathered all the Fuuto Irregulars as one final goodbye to Philip, who they all believe to be going overseas. There’s not much to elaborate on, it’s a sweet if somber gesture offering a final outing of the entire supporting cast, and a calm before the storm. Philip has gifts for all those in attendance, including Shotaro, who obviously isn’t in the mood for such festivities. Philip tells him to open it later, leaving it on his desk.
We also get a really touching moment where Philip admits to everyone that when he first came to Fuuto he wasn’t exactly gelling with the environment and that he was a bit devilish back then. But by spending time with Shotaro, the agency, and the people of Fuuto, he’s come to love the town and the people in it, becoming a better person himself.
As dawn breaks, the riders, and Akiko, begin their final assault on the Foundation X facility. Accel ultimately holds off the swarm of foot soldiers, allowing the other three to make their way down into the facility where they finally discover a comatose Wakana, whereby they come face to face with Utopia. The final confrontation prepares to commence, Philip ready to lay his life on the line to save his sister, and Shotaro... can’t bring himself to transform.
Utopia takes Wakana once again, crossing paths with Accel along the way, and the confrontation is much the same as the last. Even Trial can’t outspeed Utopia’s power, who tosses the helpless rider about, slamming him through steel beams. Utopia then feeds upon Ryu’s emotions, taking away his Trial form, and sets Accel ablaze. He continues to burn, forcing Ryu out of his Rider form, burning still.
Yet Shotaro still can’t bring himself to transform.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, the more Philip anguishes at the horror before him, the more Wakana’s power awakens due to their metal connection. So Kazu just starts strangling Shotaro to death to speed things along.
He’s saved by the timely intervention of Taboo, Wakana having received the memory earlier by Kazu, ironically. Unfortunately, she doesn’t buy the heroes much time. While she catches Kazu off guard and even manages to knock him out of his dopant form, he can’t be killed. He’s a Necro-Over just like the members of NEVER. He shakes off the barrage, knocks out Saeko, and takes both her and Wakana before anyone can react.
Ryu is rushed to the hospital, his battered and charred body taken to the ICU.
Philip berates Shotaro for his inaction causing Ryu to nearly die, and Shotaro is quite frankly a candid dick about his lack of responsibility. Akiko tells them to hash things out while she heads back home.
With the two now alone, Philip insists that if he has to go, it will be on his own terms, and he asks Shotaro to promise to protect Fuuto, even if he has to do it alone. But Shotaro can’t because he doesn’t believe he’s capable of doing it without Philip.
But unlike other times in which Shotaro’s kindness has played a role in always finding another way- he’s now in a scenario where that simply can’t be.
It’s a legitimately sad and vulnerable moment, with nuance and character flaws. Even if it’s selfish, you can understand why Shotaro doesn’t want to do something that will kill his partner, even if Philip’s willing to accept it.
But that begs the question of how many more must pay the price for Shotaro’s hesitation, and that is soon answered by a phone call from Kazu.
Philip is mentally assaulted with a barrage of attacks carried out by Kazu upon the Fuuto Irregulars and the local PD, removing their faces and leaving behind their comatose bodies. From Watcherman to Santa, Queen and Elizabeth, and even Makura and Jinno.
But he isn’t finished, there’s still one more victim, as Kazu walks into the Detective agency.
Shotaro and Philip rush to the scene, but it’s too late. All that remains is Akiko’s featureless limp body, sending Philip into a downward spiral.
The horror of the situation sinks in for Shotaro, as his dearest friend and all those around them suffer due to his negligence. Taking responsibility, Shotaro grabs Sokichi’s torn white fedora and heads out alone to face Kazu.
Meanwhile, Wakana has awakened from her coma, finding herself trapped with Saeko in Kazu's clutches. Even after all that’s happened, Kazu is still willing to trust Saeko, or at least tolerate her behavior, as he is legitimately enamored with her. Yet she still refuses him, resulting in Kazu actually emoting for once. Saeko takes back her Taboo memory once more and attacks Kazu, telling Wakana to run.
Finally, Kazu readies Wakana for the final phase, strapping her to a machine linked to an array of satellite dishes, rendering her unconscious once more- and that’s when Shotaro enters.
This is Shotaro’s defining moment, showcasing his ability to step up and improvise in a dive-headfirst situation. After all, even if he can’t be a Kamen Rider, he’s still a detective.
Shotaro dodges several fireballs from Utopia, deals with being thrown about, and gets close enough to interrupt Utopia’s abilities by simply covering his fist with Sokichi’s fedora.
Shotaro unleashes every gadget at his disposal, destroying the computer systems and tying up Utopia just long enough for Shotaro to free Wakana as the facility becomes unstable and melts down.
Philip arrives on the scene via Xtreme, amazed that Shotaro did all this solo. But for Shotaro, he was just keeping a promise.
Celebrations are cut short by the reappearance of Utopia, having survived the facility’s collapse.
Without hesitation, the duo unites for one final time, taking Utopia head-on and laying into him with everything they’ve got. Utopia attempts to feed on their emotions as he has in all prior engagements, but Philip is too strong for Utopia to handle, only resulting in a split forearm. Xtreme initiates a maximum drive and hits Utopia with a barrage of Rider kicks, knocking Kazu out of his dopant form. His body begins to flake, and upon reactivating his Gaia Memory, it shatters as Kazu’s Necro-Over body disintegrates.
In the aftermath, Xtreme’s power fizzles out from the driver, signifying the end of Philip as well. He asks Shotaro not to tell Wakana about his death, as he reaches for the driver. Philip is stopped by Shotaro, who asks to be the one to do it.
As Shotaro fights back tears, he takes hold of the driver. Philip assures him that as long as the earth remains, they’ll always be partners.
The scene savors every emotional turmoil, building towards the inevitable as Shotaro, and presumably the audience, break down into tears. Until finally, Shotaro closes the Driver. Philip’s consciousness slowly disappears, along with the Xtreme memory.
We cut to an unspecified amount of time later at the agency, as an uneasy stillness permeates across the entire office.
That’s when Shotaro notices the still unopened present on his desk. Unwrapping the box, he discovers the Lost Driver, and the blank book Philip always carried. Shotaro flips frantically through until finding a single passage, asking Shotaro, Kamen Rider, to protect the city he loves.
Finally, we come to episode 49, the final episode and epilogue to the series events.
One year after the collapse of the museum, things have calmed down, although some old problems still remain. The demise of the museum has left a power vacuum in Fuuto, with small gangs each with delusions of grandeur vying to replace them. While no longer manufactured, old stocks of Gaia Memories are still prevalent, necessitating the need for Shotaro and Ryu to intervene when needed.
One such case arises with a boy named Akira Aoyama, whose sister, Yui, gets caught up with a dopant gang calling themselves EXE.
Throughout the episode, we see how Shotaro has gotten on without Philip, and that it’s not been easy. Old habits die hard and there are more than a few heart-wrenching moments, but he’s able to do his job well, even in Philip’s absence. We get a good bit of action with Kamen Rider Joker working solo, Shotaro having grown accustomed to fighting solo most of the time. Some thematic parallels are also drawn between Shotaro, Philip, Akira, and Yuri.
This is related to the meat of the episode in which Akira tries to understand the nuances of Shotaro as someone strong yet clearly vulnerable and in a lot of pain. That desire to have someone to support and support you, and the need to stand on one’s own when you don’t.
Through it all, we see POV shots of someone constantly monitoring Shotaro.
Also interspersed throughout are flashback sequences months after Kazu’s death. These are primarily focused on Wakana's awakening and the developments thereafter, such as her Gaia Memory becoming one with her being, allowing her access to her powers even in human form. She also learns of Philip’s death when Shotaro inadvertently mentions it to stop Accel from attacking a rampaging Wakana. Oops.
This revelation caused Wakana to flee, and she’s been missing ever since.
These plot threads finally come together after Shotaro and Ryu confront and clean out the entire EXE gang, rescuing Yui. But as Shotaro and Akiko escort Akira and Yui back home, they’re confronted by another member of EXE, the true leader of the gang, Energy.
Shotaro protects the children, being shot in the back and falling to his knees.
But he soon gets back up, as what hit him wasn’t from the dopant, but the Xtreme memory taking the brunt of the bolt.
That’s when Philip materializes from the memory. As Shotaro is bewildered and elated, we learn the final details of Wakana’s story and how Philip returned.
After learning of his death, Wakana sought out the then terminally ill Shroud on how to go about the Gaia impact, and after doing so, proceeded to initiate her Gaia Impact by sacrificing herself to restore Philip’s body. We also have a rather bittersweet moment of Philp having a proper farewell with his entire family in the Gaia Library, just as they depart to join the Earth in the true Gaia Memory.
Since then, for one year, Philip’s body had slowly been regenerating within the Xtreme Memory, watching over Shotaro until it was complete.
The ecstatic and joyous reunion is humorously cut short by the irate gang boss, annoyed they’re ignoring his presence. Shotaro and Philp form W, and the credits roll as they take on Energy while cycling through all their base forms before finally finishing with Cyclone/Joker.
This brings a close to Kamen Rider W.
Visuals
I’ll keep this brief because this is already one of my longest reviews.
Thankfully there’s not too much to say about W, and I mean that in a
good way.
One of the things I miss about the early parts of Heisei Phase 2 is the rather quaint nature of the various forms. There were more than in the earlier days, but not quite as many as would come later. I think Gaim is when things started to truly become unruly with how many different forms each rider had, combined with a larger cast at that.
So going back to W and basically having 3 forms, an upgrade, and then a final form for the main rider, and a mere two for the secondary is all rather charming and refreshing. There’s no waste here, nothing superfluous that feels shoved in because Bandai made a toy that has to be shown- Vehicles and Memory Gadgets notwithstanding. There's no Rocket Panda, is my point.
But you still get a decent variety, especially with the mixing and matching aspect. Although you can tell it’s a first attempt sorta thing. When you get down to it, the suits aren’t really modular, so things like Cyclone/Trigger don’t get a lot of love due to the nature of their construction. I'm gussing a lot of lessons were learned for the OOO suits down the road, like how horizonital is easier than vertical.
One of the things I miss about the early parts of Heisei Phase 2 is the rather quaint nature of the various forms. There were more than in the earlier days, but not quite as many as would come later. I think Gaim is when things started to truly become unruly with how many different forms each rider had, combined with a larger cast at that.
So going back to W and basically having 3 forms, an upgrade, and then a final form for the main rider, and a mere two for the secondary is all rather charming and refreshing. There’s no waste here, nothing superfluous that feels shoved in because Bandai made a toy that has to be shown- Vehicles and Memory Gadgets notwithstanding. There's no Rocket Panda, is my point.
But you still get a decent variety, especially with the mixing and matching aspect. Although you can tell it’s a first attempt sorta thing. When you get down to it, the suits aren’t really modular, so things like Cyclone/Trigger don’t get a lot of love due to the nature of their construction. I'm gussing a lot of lessons were learned for the OOO suits down the road, like how horizonital is easier than vertical.
All that said, I don’t think there’s much to comment on with the suits, at least the base forms. When you get down to it, they’re all repaints of the same general aesthetic, with most of the detail being in the pectoral region and wrists. Joker of course has a pattern akin to the Rider Back of a playing card, Cyclone has vents, while metal has rivets. Trigger has the most detail with the various firearm components; the slide; cylinder; serrations. Someone had fun with that one. But I also wanna give attention to Luna, because it’s very clever, if simple. The chest is covered in retroreflectors, which given their ability to bend light, plays well with the Moon Illusion power set. It’s also fitting since the moon itself has several retroreflectors on the surface.
In contrast, I think Heat is the weakest because it’s almost the same thing but orange, and I’m not sure why. I think the idea was for it to look like a heating element, but the effect doesn’t come across well.
Truthfully Fang and Xtreme stick out the most. Fang for obvious reasons, the black/white contrast, the added spikey bits which actually change things up significantly enough. Simple, but more than most.
Xtreme meanwhile is the final suit so it's very elaborate. It took a while for this design to grow on me, but I eventually came around to liking the prismatic elements.
Oddly enough though, where I admire W most aesthetically is the memories and the drivers, and that may have to do with how well the theming ties together, such as both the villains and the protagonists utilizing the same source as their power, which again is Sanjo using those classic elements of how Rider’s power is born from evil but is also intrinsically tied to Mother Earth.
I love the attention to detail where the Gaia Memories sold on the street are much more crude and unrefined in appearance, whereas the Double Driver utilizes more advanced-looking ones funneled through a more developed conduit for safe usage. You can tell so much about the backstory just by looking at those two elements.
You sorta have the opposite aesthetic going on with the drivers. The Gaia Drivers are very plain and utilitarian. Simple, but effective and complete. The Lost and Double Drivers look like prototypes with exposed components and wires as if there was intended to be a shell but it never made it that far in development.
I also want to give a quick mention to the character outfits and the set design. It's not something I mention often is these things, but W goes out of it's way to provide multiple outfits for each character, perfectly reflecting their personalities and the current season. The town is also always full of various wind related objects, like pinwheels and windchimes, just to remind you what that city's known for.
Subs
Talking about the subs is a bit more interesting to me than in most instances. Nowadays I typically don’t like discussing subs and their quality except for official releases. I mean, why complain about free fansubs? These people are doing it unpaid in their free time on top of all the other life nonsense. (Although given how little CR pays people, maybe that’s not far off from the professional work) Sure, stick subs are a good laugh, but if the subs are just outright bad, then it’s not worth watching. At worst you might see a few misspellings or errors in otherwise quality work, and for the most part that’s all you have here.
But there are a couple of options you’ll find if you go looking: T-N and OCZ Live.I’ll cut to the chase and say OCZ is the preferred way, no question. No disrespect to T-N by any means ( I personally feel they get too much crap) But the ones still available are from their original 2009 work, complete with the TV Asahi logo. They’re an interesting time capsule if nothing else, what with the font choices and gratuitous cursing. OCZ’s entire thing is cleaning up subs and transferring them to nice shiny Bluray releases over old TV rips. The font is easier on the eyes and consistent, some of the words are toned down, and the general flow is better in certain sentences. Plus some QOL things like chapter markers being added. But otherwise, the actual translation is fairly close on both, they’re just tidied up on OCZ.
That said, there are still some quirks with the OCZ subs. Notably, episodes 5 and 6 have an odd number of very noticeable errors ranging from misspellings, incorrect capitalization, and a lack of pluralization, all very close together. Those are the only episodes with such issues, most others are more minor and certainly spread out. Such as using a possessive apostrophe when they shouldn’t, and lack of capitalization. The usual stuff.
Admittedly, I used to (and sometimes still) do this all the time, and it is probably the most corrected mistake while writing along with ""Add a hyphen".
There is one error that’s prevalent throughout the entire show, however, and that is Philip being misspelled as Phillip with two Ls.
I point this out because it’s in every single episode, and Philip is explicitly said to be named after Philip Marlowe, so it should only be one. Funny enough, the old T-N subs actually spelled it correctly with just the one L, so this is an error added to these subs.
Final Thoughts
So before I get too deep into this, one of the things I forgot was how great some of the jokes and visual gags were until this re-watch. W features a great deal of madcap slapstick comedy, which I didn’t mention much of because describing specific scenes simply cannot do them justice. But rest assured it’s an absolute highlight of the show. Both Yamamoto and Kiriyama have impeccable delivery and timing. Yamamoto in particular can switch personas on the fly, while Kiriyama can scream like no one’s business, his reactions are absolutely priceless. W has some of the best comical screams I have ever seen in a rider series, and I adore every second.
Given how heavy the drama can get, it’s a welcome addition.
But without further adieu, let’s wrap this up.
Shotaro is someone I feel has already been well covered by this point, and I don’t think there’s a whole lot more I can add that hasn’t already been discussed.
By the finale, it’s clear to me that Shotaro isn’t hard-boiled in the manner the majority of the cast (including Shotaro himself) sees, but he’s arguably better for it. Hardboiled in their definition means being a jaded, cynical, often misanthropic asshat, barely hanging onto the concept of good because the world has ground them down so much. It’s exactly what Ryu was at the start. Shotaro’s kindness, his willingness to give people second chances, and believing in better things, isn’t a weakness. That’s not to say he doesn’t make bad choices that bite him in the ass, it happens more often than it should and he pays the consequences.
The big problem is that for a great deal of the show’s run, Shotaro lacks the mindfulness and convection to make decisions completely independently or diligently, typically needing Philip’s more sardonic outlook if not outright help to get the extra push he needs. His arc is ultimately finding the resolve within himself to not need someone else’s input, capable of standing on his own when needed, but still being true to himself. By the end, he’s a courageous detective, uncompromising when it matters most, yet not without mercy. But then again he always was, he just needed to be able to do it on his own. And maybe, as the finale speculates upon, that’s the true essence of hardboiled. Being true to yourself, and hanging on even when it’s difficult.
There is, however, one area of Shotaro I’ve yet to explore, which is that his insecurities can be read as a commentary on the show itself. Can Shotaro measure up to his predecessor, the legacy they left behind, should he even be judged for not being someone else, etc.
And I don’t know if that was intended to be read as a meta-commentary, maybe it is as simple as only applying to Sokichi and not the franchise. But it reads too perfectly for me not to consider it. It’s an intriguing interpretation because as much as W is echoing many concepts of series past, at the end of the day, one can only do so much before you’re either rehashing ideas wholesale, or trying too hard to be what you’re not. And W isn’t necessarily interested in perfectly bringing back every element of the Showa era, nor should it be. I think the most obvious is that in much the same way Shotaro isn’t “Hardboiled”, W isn’t as gritty as Black and ZO, nor as challenging as some of early Heisei works for that matter. But maybe that’s okay because W should just be itself.
In contrast to that, Philip has the most traditional concepts applied to his backstory. A being with a connection to the earth, sorta chosen as its defender and taken hold of by an evil organization.
The origins of Riders being born from evil are somewhat twisted here, since Philip’s death and being chosen by the earth was accidental rather than the intent of his family to make him into something to take advantage of from the get-go. In fact, it’s more so that evil was born from tragedy rather than anything else. It makes for a nice simple spin to an otherwise well-worn origin.
More than anything, Sanjo does an excellent job having those familiar broad strokes while finding malleable ways to make it his own, and to set the Museum, the Sonozakis, apart from other organizations.
That's something W gets right, capturing the spirit of Kamen Rider, which is fundamentally far more than just aesthetics or experimentation and environmentalism being woven into the narrative. If you take anything away from my droning on about legacies and franchise cores, let it be that you cannot simply kick back on the exact same shit without giving some actual thought behind the how and why, something far too many long running franchises do, including Kamen Rider.
I’m probably gonna step on some toes with this one, but Zero-One is a perfect example of how a show can outright have a grasshopper hero with thematics centering on humanity and artificial life and then just completely fumble having any degree of insightfulness. You can shove as many fitting ideas as you can into a show, and make as many narrative or visual parallels to previous works as you want. But if you don’t have enjoyable characters, take them in a bad direction, don't understand the purpose of those concepts, or simply lack a worthwhile story, everything else is moot.
If you want a more retro example of that, look no further than Black RX.
Philip isn’t an interesting character simply because he’s got some connection to the Earth, he’s interesting because of how his personality develops throughout the show, the chemistry he shares with Shotaro, and how well-crafted the drama is. Sure, it’s using some of the past ideas in a new light. But it knows what to do with those ideas in a story that puts a spin on a familiar concept, nor is it the sole selling point.
I also think Philip’s story contrasts nicely with Shotaro’s from a broader narrative perspective. Because everything in Philip’s story exudes confidence within the writing. It doesn’t obsess over the little things, it’s using exactly what it needs to thematically. If Shotaro’s is “Am I Kamen Rider enough?” Then Philip’s is “What more could you possibly want?”
And by the end of the show, Philip finds his humanity and is simply too indomitable for an emotionless monster that preys upon those very feelings. That’s how you tie story and esoteric themes together into a cohesive palpable narrative.
Whatever else I have to say about the show, Shotaro and Philip make W literally and figuratively. Strip everything else out and you still have one of the best character pairings that never disappoints. If for no other reason, watch W for them.
With all that praise out of the way, I do have some grievances to get through, although not a lot or even that severe.
Probably the most surprising is Wakana. I do wanna stress that it’s not bad I actually have to give Rin Asuka credit for playing two very different versions of the same character. She's great in the role and undergoes the most interesting changes of all the antagonists.
However, I do think that taken as a whole, Wakana’s motivation and character are a tad muddled. The general consensus, I think, is that she started to turn because Shinkuro manipulated her driver, therefore the more negative side effects of her personality would take hold. Simple concept.
Additionally, we’re given a bit of context on what happened after she was whisked away from the train station, with Wakana bearing witness to the Earth’s suffering, which convinces her to take up her role as a cleric. We can assume this event warped her idea of what was just and a necessity for the greater good. We’ve seen that time and time again across multiple memory users who had good intentions until the memory changed them.
But that above scene comes very late into the show, jammed into episode 48 after Philip’s downward spiral. It comes off as a bit tacked on to make her character more sympathetic. And it still isn’t that great an explanation for why it was so sudden instead of a gradual downfall.
But I don’t think it was always intended to be the case.
Specifically, following the driver modification Shinkuro made, Wakana undergoes wildly eccentric mood swings, a side effect of the more direct memory usage. This only happens in two episodes and she’s back to normal with no bearing on the main story as if the effects of the memory aren’t even there. Having continual mood swings back and forth –if perhaps not as over the top– would have made for a better build-up to her eventual heel-turn. A better indication that she’s on thin ice, that not everything on the surface is as it seems. Heck, just spreading those two episodes out would’ve served well enough to indicate she’s having recurring spells and wasn’t just a temporary side effect.
I’m assuming that too many plot threads were going on at once, meaning any bigger plans had to be brushed aside, so instead it was decided to make her have a shocking and sudden change, even if the execution is iffy.
Again, this isn’t that bad. After all, if it comes down to it I’d rather take this than risk eating up some other character’s screen time and development. I wanted to point this out because this rewatch did make me realize that there were some compromises made with her character and some plot points that are underdeveloped and possibly abandoned.
Annnd that leads to the one issue I do have with the show, which is Foundation X. I suspect this was more of a Toei/Producer thing than Sanjo’s idea because they do not gel with anything else. Whatever the reason, I do not find them compelling.
I understand what the intent was with them as a take on a modern Shocker and in some ways I do sorta like the initial idea. W was the perfect place to introduce them with the show already having throwbacks and being the start of a new franchise-wide experiment.
To their credit, Foundation X is built up decently, and Jun Kazu is an okay villain, albeit a very flat one. But neither entity holds a candle to the museum, not even close. We don’t have anyone outside of Kazu to grab ahold of in terms of character and even he is just “Very powerful dude” He serves his purpose and functions well as a plot device to spur several great moments between Philip and Shotaro, who carry the last two-parter. It’s something that shouldn’t last more than two episodes and thankfully doesn’t.
And frankly, I feel that Foundation X shouldn’t have lasted beyond Kazu, if at all.
The only part that I like is that Foundation X is still out there and would continue to be a problem for Shotaro and future riders. That ties nicely with the painful reality that a Rider’s fight is never over and they will never find respite. Sometimes their enemies are too big to defeat alone.
That doesn’t really amount to much though. I feel I shouldn’t delve too far into stuff happening outside of W, but what’s sad is W’s probably the best outing and relevance they ever get outside of specials. They’re basically glorified cameos in future series, never being fleshed out…although that’s probably for the better. Why shove aside the Kougami Foundation, Greeed, or the Zodiarts for time with Foundation X? And at that point, is having them as a benefactor needed? Hell, I would argue they’re not even needed in W. The Sonozakis are already rich and own a tech giant loaded with scientists, there’s already an explanation for how they operate. Adding a third party is superfluous.
The only member of Foundation X to play an active role is Kazu, and you could have very easily re-written his part to be someone from Saeko’s Digal Development section simply picking up the pieces, which I think works better than having another and larger threat than the Museum out in the world. Ryuube by far has the best death of any antagonist in W. It’s tragic, it’s dramatic, and it’s a definite end.
His death should be the end of any notable organization within W, while Kazu is simply a loose end with the potential to revive and surpass the museum.
Also, it’s kinda weird how Philip didn’t write a list of the 26 other facilities of Foundation X, so in the finale Shotaro and Ryu are just dealing with basically low-level street gangs instead of the much larger threat. It’s almost like they weren’t supposed to be there in the first goddamn place.
Everything about Foundation X, especially in retrospect, just pisses me off the more I think about it. What a dog shit element they ended up being.
All that virtuale aside, it’s not enough to hamper a show I adore.
W balances having that connective tether to the past without being restrained by it, without dipping into the same tired well. I dunno if I’d say W is the best at it- that honor probably still goes to Kuuga. But even so, W is one of the very few series able to capture those particular aspects in a modern light, and it ushered in a new much more experimental Rider that, while I do feel wasn’t as daring as some of the early Heisei shows, I still believe resulted in some of the absolute best series of the Heisei era. The follow-up series, OOO, is just as good as W in my eyes, delving into the more tragic angles with a focus on survivor's guilt. Perhaps I’ll touch upon that one day, but for now, I feel I’ve said just about all I can about Kamen Rider W. It’s one of my favorite series and I highly suggest you give it a watch.
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This review took a lot out of me, but it won't be long before the next review it up. It'll be something non-toku or even show related. More on that next time.
Postface
Oh, yeah, Fuuto PI got an Anime adaption now, huh? I’ve gone back and forth on whether I wanted to talk about this here or keep it separate. I prefer ending my reviews on a more positive note if applicable. But I think it makes sense to put it here due to the relevancy. Even if I am going to be pretentious with a Postface.
I brought this up when it was announced during Kamen Rider’s 50th Anniversary, but I am not at all a fan of Fuuto PI. I read several chapters of the manga when it was new before dropping it outright because it is either uninteresting or actively bad to me. It’s not even bad in a fascinating manner, there’s nothing to dissect beyond weird characterization, a painfully stretched-out story, and a bizarre ill-advised tone.
I wouldn’t even call my feelings one of anger so much as frustration and confusion. Basically, the best way I can summarize is to bring up what I did last time, and that is Riku Sanjo suffers a recurring issue in which he seems to undergo some sort of character amnesia any time he’s spent some time away from a series. The most common way this manifests is characters revert to their initial personalities, and any growth is thrown out ASAP, leading to some truly egregious interactions that feel, well, out of character. This happens across all his work. If you watch a series and then one of the movies/specials after the series written by him, the characters will not be the ones at the end of episode 48 or whatever, they will have the persona of their first appearance.
Fuuto PI isn’t the worst offender of this, but there is enough here to cause a head tilt. Episode 1 of W has Shotaro and Philip fighting and a minor falling out, and Chapter 1 of Fuuto PI has Shotaro and Philip fighting and a minor falling out.
It repeats many of the same story beats as the original show, only worse. Almost as if Sanjo wants to provide an immediate sense of familiarity with older fans while also making it easy to pick up on for newer ones. Two birds, one stone.
And it is weirdly welcoming to newcomers at first, but also feels wrong for returning fans who know that not only is the cast out of character, but that newcomers are getting shafted with a lesser experience already done…not that that’s an issue considering the vast majority of people I’m seeing watch FP seem to be pre-existing Kamen Rider fans. Although that might be for the best as the story makes the assumption that you’re familiar with W's events.
That repetition is unfortunately something I can label against the main plot as well, which centers on there being a shadow dimension version of Fuuto and a group attempting to continue the Museum's work, sort of like a more elaborate and professional version of Exe. It’s a neat concept that is really fascinating in the beginning since the Riders don’t have a way to that dimension except for very specific means. It sets up a great mystery and hooks the audience… but in practice it feels either too much like more of the same, or woefully generic.
I also mentioned the tone, which is odd, to say the least. There seems to be an attempt to make it more “mature” and I don’t mean in more elevated writing with deeper themes and nuanced writing. There are a few more graphic details like murder and death cropping up, but I mainly mean it’s just a boring brand of horny.
This mainly centers around the character of Tokime, an amnesiac in possession of a dopant Gaia memory, Joker, oddly enough. She’s Shotaro’s latest client, and a new addition to the main cast, one who is perpetually clad in a sheer shirt and high waist thong which is where she keeps the Gaia memory.
I guess Sanjo figured that the average kid who grew up with W would be 12-15 by 2017 so might as well add a scantily-clad character who shoves a Gaia memory in her panties, they’ll find it very engaging. Either that or he suddenly decided that all the various subtext between Shotaro and Philip was a problem and that Shotaro’s latest case should be, is a case of the not gays. Intentional or not that’s how it feels, and yes I’m aware that there is more blatant subtext between the two.
While Tokime as a concept is perfectly fine, she’s really more of an object or plot device than an actual character. Far too often she feels like a one-off, like Lily or Todoroki, yet is meant to be a mainstay. Maybe that changes over time. I know she eventually works for the agency as a secretary, but I didn’t care enough to stick around, and it shouldn’t have been a problem, to begin with.
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Go Nagai, but I’ve seen far better T&A that didn’t clash so hard with everything else, be it used for humor or titillation. Even outside the obvious old film noir Femme Fatals or Go Nagi works, there are examples like The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, in which sex is so prevalent in that show it eventually just becomes background noise. I think that in part helps because it never detracts from the narrative and actually does play a part in characterization. I never felt like my intelligence was being insulted by the frequency in which boobs were on screen, it’s just a matter of fact part of Fujiko being, ya know, a femme fatal. Plus there is far more than just that. Sensuality plays a role, but it’s never awkwardly shoved into places it doesn’t belong, which is something Fuuto PI fails spectacularly at. Simultaneously too sexualized for its own good, yet not bold enough to have a real bite to it.
If I give the series anything, and this goes both for the Manga and what I’ve seen of the anime, it does look very good. Masaki Sato’s style and Studio Kai’s interpretation has a very raw emotion to it that utilizes the mediums very well to portray W in such a way that a live-action suit cannot. They exaggerate certain qualities and utilize sharp angles to completely change how you view W, almost making them inhuman with a speed and force you can’t get in live action. In a way, it's a lot like the original manga.
They also still capture a lot of the same humor as the original show and frankly, that is very commendable. Getting jokes to land in a manga and even animated form is very different pacing-wise, but they get it right with over-the-top reactions that play wonderfully with the ability to exaggerate facial features.
Likewise, the anime also has the advantage of music, bringing back old themes, sometimes as new renditions which can elevate the scenes in a way the manga never could. These are all very enjoyable aspects and there is something of real quality to find within.
But even so, visual and audio excitement can’t make up for a jank paper-thin story, or characters going through the same motions I’ve already seen. Regularly placating with nostalgia for the original series simply doesn’t help. Like Tokime, there's nothing inherently wrong with the concept, but if that’s most or all you have, then you’re left with shallow results. Besides, going “Do you remember this?” doesn’t work when I keep thinking “Yeah, and it was better back then. What do you have now? Oh, well that’s a shame.” Look, I’ve not liked this current era of Rider either, but being tangentially reminded that past shows used to have well-written stories and protagonists should not be the bar we gauge a series' worth.
I can't help but find it painfully ironic that W itself was in many ways a throwback to many of the core concepts of the then 38-year-old Kamen Rider series, firmly capturing the classic mythos and iconography while still finding the ability to invent and move forward with new and exciting adventures in a distinctively modern show. Then 8 years after the series ended, FPI seems content with relying on nostalgia as its main boon, while the new additions are of questionable execution. Unlike Shotaro, Fuuto PI seems unable and perhaps unwilling in escaping the shadow of its predecessor.
I don’t have anything against the makers or the people who enjoy it. I’m glad they found something I could not. But I will criticize the creative choices made and implore that you check out the original series if you haven’t, because I think it’s better in almost every regard. Frankly, for a series largely invented to sell toys to children, it treats the audience with far more respect and intelligence.
And honestly, if you do want something with gorgeous art, is shamelessly gratuitous, is weirdly horny, and has a story that constantly keeps the audience guessing on the direction it’s going; go read Chainsaw Man.
I know that recommending an absolute Juggernaut of a series as an alternative is cheeky and low effort, but so’s Fuuto PI selling itself solely on an established IP. And that’s really the crux of the situation, because there is nothing FPI has to offer outside of familiarity. Everything outside the Kamen Rider branding you can get in spades elsewhere and often better.
I will still gladly accept a Seihou W reissue under the banner, though.
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