KR Den-O Episode #18: "The Clockwork Fiancee"

So no Zeronos this week, and the much-discussed Sakurai-san puts in appearance that lasts all of less than a minute. But much of this episode is about a Sakurai, although it may not be the Sakurai we see at the end.

Also, there is a lot of angsting.

Ryôtarô didn't graduate from Spoiler Warning! school either.

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Ryôtarô fails to find the fleeing mystery man, and Hana fails to catch up to Ryôtarô. Wolf Imagin suddenly realizes he has no clue what he should be doing now, and unable to return to 2007, he's pretty much stuck. No, I can't figure out what prompted this either. Just last episode he made it perfectly clear his objective was to screw with the past and kill a ton of people, and suddenly he... isn't. But, seeing as how it gives Ryôtarô & Momotaros plenty of time to angst for much of this episode, I guess it's all good.

Ryôtarô has flashbacks of Airi giving the famous watch to her mysterious fiancee, and then standing in a lake as white petals fall around her. She takes him back to the Den-Liner. On board, Momotaros is angsting over Ryôtarô's increasing lack of dependence on him, and when Urataros & Kintaros try to team up to get him booted off the train, a fight breaks out.

Hana finds Ryôtarô and takes him back to the Den-Liner. Wolf Imagin angsts some more over his sudden lack of direction.

On the Den-Liner, the Owner reprimands Ryôtarô for overstaying in the past, but expresses interest in the person Ryôtarô saw there. Ryôtarô explains the story of Sakurai Yûto, Airi's fiancee, who was presumed deceased in a boating accident (or more likely suicide) 3 years ago. He vanished into the water without the watch Airi had given him, which Ryôtarô then found and hid from Airi. Airi forgot (or was made to forget) everything about Sakurai, which perhaps explains why she's so... well, Airi-ish. Ryôtarô doesn't understand how there could be two identical watches either, but he has vowed to protect Airi from her own painful past.

Meanwhile, Airi is as neurotic as ever when Sawada arrives for some of that famous coffee. Sawada, for her part, is looking pretty chipper considering there is an Imagin runnin' around in her past. She asks Airi about her fiancee and her wedding ceremony, but upon seeing that the other woman has no idea what she's talking about, she quickly shuts up.

Everyone on the Den-Liner is moved by Ryôtarô's story until the Owner breaks the mood with another goofy pantomime (watch how even Naomi is starting to be concerned with his behavior) and states his belief that Ryôtarô seeing Sakurai in the past did not happen merely by chance. Exhausted by everything, Ryôtarô gets some shuteye while Hana moves everyone out of the car, with Momotaros still angsting.

Thank goodness the Wolf Imagin eventually decides to get back to killing people and destroying time. I know he's the bad guy, but Yay!

There's a boring conversation between Airi and Sawada about how you have to deal with the past changing and all that stuff, and am I the only one who seriously wanted to see Sawada throw off her shirt and start shooting giant monsters? What? It's an Ultraman Max reference, you boneheads! It's Elly!

Anyway, Wolf Imagin is wreaking havoc in 2004, and finally, finally, we are shown the direct implications of someone being killed in the past: they simply vanish in the present. It's a creepy little idea that I hope they expand upon in the future.

Kintaros awakens Ryôtarô and asks him to make a proper contract with him. Once completed, it means Kintaros will be free to exit Ryôtarô's body. In other words, the big bear is going to take one for the team and be the guy who has to leave. This is a nice little character-building moment, interrupted by the other Imagin barging in. Another fight breaks out, but Ryuutaros emerges from Ryôtarô's body to reveal that it is not, in fact, the weight of four Imagin on his body that has been wearing our hero out. Rather, Ryôtarô has been over-eating and 0ver-exercising in an attempt to strengthen his own body. This is why he wanted to try fighting just as Plat Form last time: to rely on his own power for a change. Sounds like a good message, right? Relying on your own strength?

WRONG! Momotaros is ticked, and explodes at the news that the Wolf Imagin is back on the attack. The Den-Liner goes back to 2004 (the next day after it had last been there) and Ryôtarô emerges to do battle first as Rod Form and then Axe Form. This is a cool little scene and probably one of the best moments in the series so far.

Eventually Den-O switches to Sword Form, but Momotaros has lost his fighting spirit. Enter the best "Ore...Sanjou" moment yet. Sword Form allows himself to get beaten up, and Momotaros basically yells at Ryôtarô to stop angsting over everything and just start kicking some butt with him again. Apparently, his words ring true, and Ryôtarô lets Momotaros do his thing, defeating Wolf Imagin with his Hissatsu Waza Part 5 (notice he never did a Part 4, a fact that Ryôtarô later brings up.)

Ryôtarô sees off Sawada, and later walks through a park with Hana, discussing the message on the back of the watch. Ryôtarô, believing Sakurai to still be alive, decides to search for him once more, but suddenly, a man appears telling him to stop. He holds up a Rider Ticket, and announces himself as Sakurai Yûto! But Ryôtarô does not seem to recognize him at first...

To Be Continued...

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What We Learned This Episode:

• The Imagin really don't have a clue what they're doing after all. :(
• Airi was actually a sympathetic, plot-important character at some point? What happened? Most likely, she fell off a ferry and lost her memory.
• Owner = Still trying to be Riku
• If Den-O ever fails to beat an enemy in the past, all he has to do is leave for a while and angst over something, and upon returning he'll arrive just in time to save the day.
• Kintaros is still awesome.
• When not on-screen, Ryuutaros goes toy shopping.
• Momotaros would probably hate Hibiki.
• I don't think we're ever going to see Rod Form's finishing move again either.
• Momotaros is one moody bastard!
• OH NOEZ IT'S KIRIYA!
• So what's so special about the watch exactly? Why was it there when Sakurai disappeared? Could it possibly have anything to do with Airi's sudden memory loss and change of personality?

Simple:

Airi = secretly a Time Lady hiding on Earth.

Screenies:

Next Week:

I dunno, I am going to be missing the next two weeks, so you're on your own. I'll briefly recap them when I get back.

Apparently, this new Rider may finally show up, or something.