[toku] Kamen Rider W 31
- This is the first time in a long, long while that I got really interested in the arc character; mostly because he reminds me really strongly of how Oya-san might be like and it's amazing to see Shoutarou actually interacting with someone who's on a completely different level. The closest Shoutarou ever got to that level was with Kirihiko and Ryuu, and that ended up in all sorts of bickering because he can't stand the fact that, for all of his lousy habits, Ryuu does do a better job sometimes. And it's really fun to see that dynamic come up again, no matter how briefly, and how I laughed every time Biito-san (Beat?) ticked him off for saying the stupidest things ever. Shoutarou's really comfortable with Biito-san too, never biting back when Biito-san ticks him off, and it's just an interesting dynamic overall. I really enjoyed it.
- I also liked the throwback to Oya-san. The lack of Begins Night, and thus, Shoutarou's connection to Oya-san, which I feel is an incredibly defining feature of Shoutarou's entire character, really hurt my perspective of Shoutarou, and I welcomed the notion that even though his mentor is dead, Shoutarou (and the audience) gets to learn a little more about Oya-san. So it would seem that Oya-san had been in Fuuto for the past ten years, and apparently had enough clout by then to presumably give false evidence that Biito-san was the one who stole the money (when in fact it had been Maru?). I don't know what to think of that, honestly, because it felt that Oya-san would want justice, and despite Biito's relationship with him I...would think that he would balk against sending a friend to jail for 10 years for a crime he didn't commit.
I really want Begins Night, orz.
Also, am I wrong, or did the newspaper article reference to a Dopant attack ten years ago???
- Okay, I lie a little about the episode not giving Shoutarou development; I do like the fact that they show us that in spite of Begins Night, Shoutarou still hasn't come to terms at all about Oya-san's death and his eagerness to help out a decade-old case, a case his boss never solved and would never will, speaks to me how desperate he wants to have some connection back with his boss. And taking into account Shoutarou's and Phillip's relationship ...I'm not sure what to say about this, but it really feels as though Shoutarou doesn't really understand what he means to Phillip. He's just completely hung up about Oya-san and I think he never...sees Phillip as another person and it's really hurting the relationship?
Phillip never ever talks to Shoutarou about the really important things and I've always wondered why, and then we find out in this episode when they were de-sycing and Phillip's really upset about it and actually WARNS Shoutarou about it, but Shoutarou's all, "Oh, your side was the more powerful one, so if you dial it down things should be cool, going to the cabin now bye \o"
:[
I really want to deck Shoutarou sometimes, I swear.
- Phillip seems really disturbed about the entire "Hidari Shoutarou is bad luck to you." business and I'm kind of wondering that it's also affecting his synergy with Shoutarou together with the proposed evolution of his power. Shoutarou's really everything to Phillip and when Shoutarou brushed him off this episode he just gets...more and more upset about the entire situation. He was really angry with Shroud and I think Fang Joker was the last-ditch effort on his part to try and maintain W, which obviously failed because Phillip's just so messed up.
Regarding the preview: I think Phillip's "break up" has more to do with protecting Shoutarou from any more problems with the de-sync than simply dismissing him as someone no longer useful to Phillip. Because as much as it seems that Phillip's being practical about moving on to the next available Rider (Ryuu), I think he's really worried about Shoutarou's safety.
- I was kind of all glee-ing out over the little scene where it's just Akiko, Ryuu and Phillip being together and while I think that Phillip was still kind of messed up, I was happy to see them talking about a common topic in a more casual atmosphere and it's one of my favourite scenes to date. Ryuu's really fitting in and it puts a smile on my face how comfortable they are together.
- So it looks like Wakana is...out of the insane giggling bit, but I'm not entirely sure what she's doing on the ground. All I can say is that Ryuu is definitely running the Sonozaki salesmen either underground or has arrested all of them, considering that the only sales we've seen lately is Isaka and Saeko. I'm still unsure as to why Saeko hasn't sent Isaka after Accel though, wouldn't it be seriously eating into their income if they stopped selling memories?