Burn Baby Burn

In honor of the 35th Anniversary of Kamen Rider V3, the weekly rundown of the entire 52-episode series continues with episode #3.

If you've lived this long and still haven't seen this yet... what are you doing with your life!? Also, Spoiler Warning!

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It's worth pointing out that there's a recap of the traumatic events of the previous episode (with some really upbeat music!) and then it's...

Kamen Rider V3 episode #3 "The Execution of V3"

Another great title. And it doesn't pull any punches— V3 really does get executed in this one! Don't worry, he gets better.

So the beginning. A wonderfully creepy scene (complete with the Disco of Evil™ sounds if not the lights), but easily playing into one of the most confusing villain origins ever. I mean... on first glance, the old surgeon guy is clearly the "victim altered into the monster against their will", right? They grab him, he's hypnotized, thrown down on the table with the TV, and next thing you know TV-Bae (a wickedly designed character) is live and broadcasting. Except, in the scene prior to this, that's clearly TV-Bae's hand on the doorbell (albeit minus the "fur" around his wrist.) Also, assuming they did use the surgeon and the evil TV set to create TV-Bae, that had to be one hell of a fast surgery! So my theory (which seems to be backed up in everything but them outright saying it) is that TV-Bae can turn himself into a TV and absorb/eat people, allowing him to use their form. Hey, it makes... some sense. Okay, why they didn't just kill him and have TV-Bae pose as him anyway I can't answer, other than to say it's creepier this way.

Anyway, once TV-Bae is up and running, he starts hypnotizing people left and right (via the hospital set-up) while everyone back at the Destron base watches through his eyes. Which is a nifty idea; two-way TV sets were the things of the future back then! That's the premise of this, the second full story of V3.

The two-part, two-Kaijin formula the series uses (mostly early on, as well as towards the end) is one that has grown on me over the years. It's an obvious necessary step to allow both monsters to get a chance to shine; the original series wisely kept it to one monster an episode with some getting two part stories and only later, towards the end, having multiple new monsters per episode (and those were, again, usually multi-part stories.) Revived/rehashed monsters are a different matter; you can throw in a ton of them and all they need to do is growl and get punched. But with new guys, they need time to show off what they can do, to develop (as much as they can) and do something that makes them stick out from the others. This is where I think some of the newer series have stumbled; while loading an episode up with two~three new monsters plus a giant CGI thing and a couple evil Riders to boot makes things a bit more random and less predictable (since it's now anybody's guess who will live and who will die), at the same time someone has to take a character cut, and it's usuall the monsters of the week, who are reduced to jumping out of the bushes and dying, and that's even with multiple episodes.

V3 wisely kept it to two monsters over the course of two episodes, or one monster over two episodes once Riderman shows up. It's a clever format and one that, like I said, has grown on me to the point that I used it somewhere else (and you can probably figure out where.) This storyline, which might be informally known as "V3's baptism by fire if you don't count the part where he literally was in a fire in epiode #2", is a perfect example of how to do a two-monster story properly; while the climax is a bit rushed (I'll get to that next time), we get plenty of time to know TV-Bae & Ika-Fire on the way there. And really, since the villains are at least 50% of what Kamen Rider is all about to me, this is a good thing.

We see Kazami start to settle down into his newfound roll as the line hero this episode. The scene with him and Tachibana throwing the flowers out to see is excellent, marred only by the unintentionally hilarious revelation immediately afterwards from Kazami that the Double Riders are not, in fact, dead. The look on Tachibana's face is priceless, as he clearly tries not to show it, but deep down he's saying "Wait... so why did we just throw the flowers into the ocean and act like they're dead?" Okay, he probably knew all along, being Tachibana and all, but this occurred to me while rewatching.

We get introduced to the radical new Shônen Rider HQ, which Tachibana seemed to already have waiting in the wings after Destron totaled the last one. The Shônen Riders won't be making their presence felt until later in the series, so I'll hold off on talking about them until then, but lemme just say that they have the coolest secret passage/security system ever (although it's going to prove absolutely useless in the final episode.) I mean, who would even think of something like? I just hope nobody goes bowling with the wrong ball! It's also cool to see that Tachibana's already got the new pendants made (merchandising, baby!)

And then we have what may unquestionably be my favorite scene in this episode, for obvious reasons. Kazami discovers, to his dismay/horror/unspoken delight that Junko is now working with Tachibana as a Shônen Rider ringleader. And what's more, when he asks her to quit it with the following him around and go home (fearing for her safety), she totally backtalks him and is relishes in the fact that she's got Tachibana on her side. This is my Tama Junko, who is every bit as committed as Kazami despite the fact that she has everything to lose (more on that next time) and not afraid tease him about his "worries" (re: confused emotions) over her. Of course, they're also seriously this close to making out, but what with this being a family program and all, no such luck.

And as if things couldn't get any better, the next scene has Kazami ready to beat the living tar out of an innocent guy who brings Destron's congratulatory bouquet! I love that Tachibana says "But nobody knows about this store..." when it's right smack in the middle of Tokyo. Okay okay, I know I'm reading into that too much. But seriously Tachibana... considering your activities for the past 100 weeks, you'd think someone had made sure every moment of your evil-battling life was monitored from here on out.

There's a great fight at the docks in the middle of this episode. Keep an eye out for the scene where TV-Bae & his goons have Kazami in their grips and the monster cuts himself off mid-sentance to try and kill our hero ("Kazami ShiAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!") I always get a kick out of the Destron horders observing all this on the monitors too; if there's one thing the first two series hold over all the others, it's establishing just how cool the villain's base-making/organizational skills are.

There's a subplot (well, for about 5 minutes) about Destron trying to analyze V3's data based on the fight. The computer sounds like... well, different. For some reason, both this and the Gelshocker computers sound more like Chip & Dale then instruments of evil, but then again, in the Riderverse, computers basically have two functions: to analyze data and to get blown up/destroyed. And this one carries on the tradition when it destroys itself after V3 proves uncomputable. Needless to say, Destron is collectively ticked, and watch carefully and you'll see TV-Bae catch on fire!

Destron's manner of luring in Tachibana for their evil scheme is classic; they just call him up, and he naturally assumes it's all part of a Destron plot. But then they pull a fast one and make it seem as though it's Kazami who is calling him up, and well, it doesn't take long to figure out where this is heading. This scene also gives a shadowy glimpse of the second Kaijin of this story, Ika-Fire.

Tachibana is the man, you know that? Just watch the scene with him and guy asking him for a light. His reaction is just note-perfect, and then immediately after that he's scoping out the Destron-controlled hospital. Watch for a quick appearance by (I think) Nakamura "Marshal Armor" Bunya as a random hypnotized dude. Tachibana then gets captured and hypnotized for what must be at least the two-dozenth time in his life. Well, Kazami tries to interrupt, but Ika-Fire is waiting for him, and while they duke it out, TV-Bae makes off with Tachibana (who he hypnotizes into driving his getaway car. Class!)

Junko shows up around this point, seeing the above escape, and in yet another instance where she clearly must know, she contacts V3 directly via her Shônen Rider Pendant (he picks it up via his antennae/telepathically/whatever.) I mean like she is basically making a collect call directly to his head. HOW she could not know he's Kazami if she can do that, I dunno, but then again, if you're following along with me... she does know, simple as that!

V3 has a great fight with Ika-Fire, who is another great design. Not quite as classic as the original show's squid monster, but he's up there. The fake tentacle/flamethrower arm is the stuff of nightmares, and the "oxygen tank" thing always kind of freaked me out for some reason. Great, creepy monster overall. And he puts up a fight! He also has a weapon that actually does a number on V3; his ink blasts clogs our hero's Double Typhoons. This is a weakness that it would seem to only affect a few of the older Riders and at varying times; for example, X-Rider's typhoon had a clear glass/plastic cover over it, and sometimes, so did Rider 1 & 2. V3's always remain uncovered though; luckily, Destron doesn't think to reuse this tactic too often!

We also learn that the right Typhoon represents the "Skill of Rider 1" while the left is the "Strength of Rider 2". Makese sense, right?

The cliffhanger is another all-time classic; a weakened and un-transformed Kazami gets stuck in a coffin (which is nailed down and everything) and then cremated! And best of all, the episode ends at just the right moment; there's absolutely no foreseeable way he can escape. His Henshin Belt is jammed, he can't force his way out, and everything is starting to get really, really hot...

"Toh!"

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Rider Screencaps!












Next Time: The greatest escape yet, more Destron hostile takeovers and a crazed, knife-wielding, amnesiac Tachibana! Also, TV-Bae gets Junko's name wrong.

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