Kamen Rider Den-O Episode #1 "I have Arrived!"

Annnnnnnnnd here we go. The premiere episode of 2007's Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Den-O! Until I can think up a better way to say it, here's the Spoiler Warning. Of course, who hasn't actually seen it by now, right?

In a strange desert world, a train chases after mysterious yellow particles, eventually coming to a stop when they vanish into the ground. In our world, specifically Tokyo, our main man Nogami Ryōtarō looks up just as the particles descend from a wormhole and vanish in the sky. We then discover that his bicycle is stuck in a tree, following what looked to be a rather humorous accident.

As a rescue worker arrives to help him down, Ryōtarō complains of sand in his eyes. He eventually gets down without any problems. And so, based on this opening scene, we learn the following about our hero:

1) Ryōtarō is soft-spoken, polite, and considerate to the point of timidness.

2) Cursed with a serious streak of bad luck, it really sucks to be Ryōtarō.

He quickly gets a flat tire (thanks to broken glass) and winds up face-to-face with some local unsavory characters. Back aboard the train, a mysterious man with a cane and a glass of champagne gets a visit from a mysterious girl. Mysterious, isn't it?

Cue the opening sequence. "Climax Jump" is an okay song, the accompanying visuals are pretty cool. The upbeatness of the whole thing is a nice change of pace from the more grim, serious mood of of Kabuto's OP (although screaming Kagami will always make me chuckle.)

Ryōtarō is confronted by the thugs, led by a guy named Tetsuo. They push him around, and Ryōtarō manages to make things go from bad to worse when his seemingly noble attempt to throw away a can goes awry, and ends up hitting Tetsuo. Yeah. Sucks to be Ryōtarō.

After getting the crap kicked out of him, the plot finally starts rolling when he finds a mysterious card de- sorry, mysterious pass. Unsure of just what it is, he attempts to return it at a nearby building. Sand starts pouring out of his pants (yeah, don't ask about this) and upon opening the door, he enters into another world! Well, the desert from the beginning of the show, anyway. The train, which I'll hereafter refer to by its proper name of Den-Liner, shows up and comes to a stop before him. The girl from before emerges from the train, but doesn't seem to see Ryōtarō, as she exits back into our world while he just looks on dumbfounded. Another girl, in a stewardess-looking costume, appears from a door in front of him and offers him coffee, which he accepts, simply dumbfounded by the whole thing. He leaves soon after this.



The first girl searches the area where Ryōtarō found the pass. She's looking for the pass, but finds a keychain instead. Tetsuo shows up, looking for the keychain (which belonged to him) and, under the belief that Ryōtarō picked it up, goes off to look for him. All the while, sand pours from him. As he runs to find Ryōtarō, a yellow light from above merges with him and a massive splash of sand hits the ground. The sand forms a bizarre creature, the Bat Imagin.


The strange being says that he will grant any wish Tetsuo has in exchange for one thing...

Ryōtarō, his bike now fixed, is stalked by another yellow light. As it enters his body, the Imagin called Momotaros arises in a cloud of sand before Ryōtarō, telling him to say his wish. But our main man is more concerned that he's late to help out his sister Airi, so he takes off, running over poor Momotaros.

At the Milk Dipper cafe, pretty much every guy in the place (including a Kenzaki-lookalike) is trying to hit on Airi. Ryōtarō shows up, and the wackiness that comes with a whole bunch of dudes trying to kiss up to the brother of the woman they're all pining for ensues. Ryōtarō mercifully ends this scene when he remembers he's still got to return that pass to, well, somebody.

On the way there, the Den-Liner appears in our world, and the girl, Hana, asks for Ryōtarō to return the pass. Understandably freaked (and believing that lost articles should be taken to the police first) Ryōtarō makes tracks, but runs into Tetsuo's gang. As he attempts to flee them (with Tetsuo now acting very strange and dropping sand constantly) he hears the strange voice of Momotaros. Colliding with a cart, Ryōtarō falls to the ground and is soon getting the crap kicked out of him again. Docile as ever, he refuses to fight back, until something happens, and he quite literally becomes a totally different person.

Now speaking with the voice of Momotaros, he proceeds to beat the gang senseless, but manages to restrain himself from killing them when his Ryōtarō persona struggles with the Momotaros one for control of his body. Reverting to normal, he runs. Hana, having witnessed his transformation, follows him.

Momotaros appears before Ryōtarō, asking for his wish, but is perplexed and amused by the boy's jittery shock. Hana appears, and explains that Ryōtarō is capable of becoming Den-O. Then Tetsuo appears, and- you guessed it- Bat Imagin appears from his body.

Bat Imagin attacks, Momotaros tries to fight him off and Ryōtarō is ready to give in, but Hana convinces him to use the pass to transform.

"Henshin!" he cries weakly, and the Henshin Belt appears around him.

Swiping the pass over the belt, he is transformed into Kamen Rider Den-O Plat Form, a sort of "Blank Form" ala Ryuki. But even transformed, Ryōtarō is as helpless as ever, not accustomed to fighting. But he does his best, although he still gets whacked around. With urgiing from Momotaros and a little help from Hana, he eventually presses the red button on his belt, and another transformation occurs.

He becomes Kamen Rider Den-O Sword Form, gaining more armor as well as the voice of Momotaros, who, like before, takes control of his body. A far more able fighter, Sword Form evens things up, earning the wrath of Bat Imagin who questions why Momotaros is suddenly switching sides. But the red Imagin has done so willingly, and proclaims "It's the climax as soon as I get started!"

Den-O Sword Form beats the stuffing out of the bat monster, and after swiping the pass across his belt again (eliciting a "Full Charge" voice) defeats him with a powerful slashing technique.

As the essence of Momotaros leaves Den-O, he reverts back to Ryōtarō. Frightened, but relieved, he takes Hana's hand as she asks him to help fight with her. The Den-Liner appears, and they board. As it speeds away into the other world, Tetsuo stumbles away, leaving a trail of sand which forms itself into the Bat Imagin...

To Be Continued!

So there you go. The first episode is pretty much just setting up the plot and characters, and there's not a whole lot of the complex drama that usually unfolds later on. But as a first episode, it's pretty good, and overall feels a bit "lighter" to me than previous series. Of course, just wait: pretty soon we'll find out that Momotaros is really Ryōtarō's dead father or something. From the future.