The Peacocks of Doom

In honor of the 35th Anniversary of Kamen Rider V3, my critical analysis of the entire 52-episode series continues with episode #9.

Spoiler Warning, since apparently some people are just now discovering this show exists.

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Kamen Rider V3 episode #9 "What is Destron's Hell Corps!?"

Ah yes, the bike race episode. There's always got to be one, right? Well, actually, not as often as you'd think. And in one of 'em (Amazon's), it wasn't the title Rider involved in the race, but Tachibana! Clearly, he was going through a midlife crisis or something.

Okay, so it's really not a constant fixture of the franchise, no. But why not? After all, that's how it all began: Hongô got caught while out practicing for the big (unseen) race, although it can be argued that Shocker would have gone after him either way since they'd selected him for "recruitment" in the backstory. But even then, there's a couple in the first series, and they always lead to some grander adventure. #63 has Doctor Shinigami return to Japan (again) for a complicated assassination plot that involves hypnotism, time bombs, and a Rhinoceros that walks like a man. And the one in the Hell Ambassador movie ends up with an all-out brawl on Mt. Fuji, plus Taki cheating death multiple times in about half and hour. If neither of those things piques your interest, then you're probably reading the wrong blog.

So how about V3? This episodes throws us right into the action and takes off at full throttle, never letting up. Kazami (entered as number 3...hahaha) is defending his championship from last year against a bunch of upstarts, several of whom get turned into the titular Hell Corps before the halfway point. Tachibana & the kiddies are on hand to support him. As is Junko, who gets told off for neglecting communications duties back at base. Although one has to wonder why, considering that if any calls of Destron activity came in, the Shônen Riders would be pretty much screwed considering Kazami (and thus V3) is busy racin'.

More likely, that's just Tachibana's cover story for the fact that whenever Junko's around, Kazami tends to lose his cool and turn into a fumbling, awkward mess. If you've been paying close attention, there is an ongoing friction between the two, wih Kazami turning down her involvemment in his fight and Junko returning fire with cute put-downs whenever he begrudgingly accepts her help (check out the hospital scene last episode, which references the events of episode #5.) This all comes to fore in #11, as we'll soon see.

Fortunately for all involved, Destron has decided to take two weeks off of harassing scientists and instead go after the main man directly. To this end, they capture some of the other competitors (via remote control devices in their bikes) and inject them with Kaizô-Liquid, altering them into super-tough Destron Combatants who also sport glowing-eyes and blue facepaint for whatever reason.

I have no idea why they poke the syringe into that one guy's neck, whereas the others clearly have the stuff injected into their abdomens, but you can't deny it's a creepy-as-hell scene. Also, keep an eye out for that wall decoration behind them... more foreshadowing/unintentional plot-revealing!

And overseeing this whole little scheme is Lens-Ari, another entry into the Destron Kaijin files. I have to say, if it seems like I've heaped praise on all the monsters thus far, it's time to heap some more. I love Lens-Ari, it's one of those designs where the budgetary limits actually worked in its favor. It looks beat-up, worn-down, and frankly a bit shoddy... but this is why it's so great.

He looks worn, rusted, battle-scarred. As a design that's mostly metallic-looking, it works wonderfully. He's got a face only his a mother could love, with that jagged thing of a mouth. And those neat spinning eyes: you have to admire the guy who had to wear it, with all those lights and moving parts on the mask.

And that's a helluve introduction... "The name that roars around the world!"

In a trend I like with some of the Destron Kaijin, he has another major trick appart from the main gimmick (killer death rays from his lens eyes), in the form of his massive crushing claw that looks like the nail-pulling end of a hammer. There's also that big red switch on his stomach, which is intriguing...

Lens-Ari is the real star monster of this episode, but of course there's another one waiting in the wings. After failing to kill V3 the first time, the oversized ant is joined by Kamisori-Hitode per special request of the Leader. This second monster is even more impressive, with the cool orange/blue color scheme, the skull-like face, and the weird, um... heart-ish thing on his stomach. I guess it would be like a starfish's mouth? Also, that scorpion-etched razor blade hand of his... awesome. I'm fast beginning to decide that V3 has some of the best-designed monsters of any Rider series, ever.

The Hell Corps though are worthy of mention, because they nearly get their own fight with V3! Most of the time, V3 or even just Kazami tears through Destron thugs like me through a box of chocolate-covered almonds, but here, 5-6 guys give him the fight of his life before Lens-Ari joins in on the fight. The idea of a special motorcycle-riding unit of henchmen is nothing new, but whereas the Shocker & Gelshocker bike brigades tended to crash into each other a lot and explode at the slightest provocation, the Destron version is (so far) a force to be reckoned with.

There's some moments of outrageous amusement in this one. Kazami, noticing something's up when his competitors vanish, turns around mid-race to go look for them. Good thing nobody else was trying to, you know, win or anything! And later, when he gets attacked by the Hells Corps, listen as Miyauchi channels Fujioka with a line so deepy and confident, you'd think it was an intentional bit of characterization to show how he's becoming more like his senpai.

By far the strangest scene/theme in this episode is when Junko & Shigeru are attacked by peacocks, scaring them right into Lens-Ari's waiting grip (and a lot of explosions.) No, I can't really explain this one, nor can I explain why the peacocks Kazami later encounters in a cave seem to disturb him so. Foreshadowing to the Peacock Undead in Blade? I dunno, but I love how they use the "Kaijin appearance" sound effect gratuitously (it pops up three times in a row in one of the aforementioned cave scenes.) If I ever get to make a Rider show/movie, that's definitely going in somewhere.

If you're following developments with V3's powers and such, this episode not only gives us a predecessor to Skyrider's Rider Break, but also reveals that the circular thingy (Typhoon) on the front changes color in accordance with the bike's speed, that being Blue = 200 kmph, Yellow = 400 kmph, and Red = 600 kmph. Neato.

There's a ton of action in this one, with V3 once again remaining transformed for a lot of the episode all in the same go. The final fight has him dealing with both Kaijin (I like how nonplussed V3 is when Kamisori-Hitode arrives to the battle) and then the further twist of Junko & Shigeru facing death by being-pushed-off-of-a-lighthouse, which results in V3 being forced to to fight on and let them die or give up to save them. Either way, Lens-Ari appears to blow him away, and the final shot? It's like, a vision of V3 burning in Hell or something! Now that's a cliffhanger!

This episode continues the steadily strong run V3's been on since day one. There's plenty of cracktastic fun, kickass fight scenes and an easy-to-follow plot with a smattering of character development. You have to like, be a Destron spy not to like it!

"Toh!"

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Rider Screencaps!










Next Time: V3 kicks evil butt. That's literally the extent of the preview for #10. Well okay, and we learn about the secret of the Double Typhoon! Plus some good old-fashioned creepy mansion antics.

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