Unholy Matrimony

In honor of the 35th Anniversary of Kamen Rider V3, my overview of the whole entire 52-episode series continues with episode #12.

Spoiler Warning, but I've already talked about this one enough that you probably know it inside out by now.

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Kamen Rider V3 episode #12 "Junko Becomes a Kaijin's Bride!?

Yes my friends, this is it: the episode where Junko almost gets married to a Destron Kaijin. It's so much fun it should come with a Surgeon General's Warning on it somewhere. This is quite simply, a solid episode of Kamen Rider... well okay, I have a quibble with the closing moments, but let's wait until we get there. Beyond that, it's total awesomesauce.

Pickaxe-Shark resolves his fight with V3 via a little Destron trickery. He traps him in an escape-proof room deep under Destron's island base, then sets the whole place to blow with a time bomb. As I've mentioned before, villain outposts were a dime a dozen back in those days, so even a high-tech secret compound stocked with sensitive communications and surgical equipment was expendable. The bad guys set the timer to 3 minutes and book it.

Fortunately, V3 uses that handy V3 Red Lamp Power to escape. Apparently, in addition to absorbing/reflecting energy blasts (seen in episode #10), it also allows V3 to bust through unbreakable doors, which then explode for some reason. And if you're keeping score, V3's hearing is 10 times that of a normal human, allowing him to hear he time bomb ticking away upstairs. Cool!

Watch for a montage of explosions including some undersea base and the entire island (I don't recall the former offhand but the latter is used a couple times in the original series.) I also like that one small explosion that goes off on the beach before the bigger boom happens.

Kazami's return to base is a bit of an odd scene; considering how nonplussed he was about Junko finding out he was V3 last episode, he angsts about it considerably here, revealing that Junko was the one person he didn't want to know the truth. I've said before why I think this is a rather strange view, especially considering that Junko has been shown to harbor a considerable amount of affection for V3 as well as Kazami.

So naturally, her knowing the truth would put to pay any awkward love triangle between her, Kazami, and himself. Whatever the case, by the end of the episode Kazami is firmly convinced that he & Tachibana have her fooled with their little scheme (more on that below) but as I'll point out, there's another moment in this episode when it becomes blindingly obvious that Junko knows Kazami = V3 from here on after.

As an aside, this whole scene features yet another beat-to-hell Kazami. That guy takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'!

The midway battle sees the defeat of Pickaxe-Shark after a battle with some Destron goons and the sharky guy himself. Note that the famous V3 Hanten Kick is used twice in this episode alone; we previously only saw it used on Machine Gun-Snake back in #5.

Then things really go to crazy town, as Drill-Mogura reveals his two-part plan: 1) Kill V3 and 2) Marry Junko. Priorities, man! The reasoning for this of course is that Drill-Mogura retains his Junko-obsession from when he was just Kuroda, and reveals this fact to Junko. Oh, and I LOVE her reaction when he says they're going to get married.

Thinking V3 is still dead from the Destron trap earlier on, Drill-Mogura's all set to get hitched, until the Leader reveals that not only did Kazami Shirô survive, but he just destroyed Pickaxe-Shark. So Drill-Mogura still has to kill V3 before the wedding can go forth.

Let's look at that again:

Thinking V3 is still dead from the Destron trap earlier on, Drill-Mogura's all set to get hitched, until the Leader reveals that not only did Kazami Shirô survive, but he just destroyed Pickaxe-Shark. So Drill-Mogura still has to kill V3 before the wedding can go forth.

And Junko is right there, listening to all this as the Leader basically flat-out says it all. Doesn't take much to put two and two together!

Destron's at their scheming best in this episode, ambushing Shigeru & the boys, but just so they can let Kazami know they want to throw down with him once and for all. The trap, which can be described only as a "Junko Bomb", is a classic, and it leads to a great series of scenes where Tachibana spends what appears to be an entire afternoon/evening lifting rocks to try and free him.

Also, take note: the immortal on-the-motorcycle transformations Miyauchi is famous for get a start here. He's not standing just yet, but he's still cruising along, waving his arms about and only controlling the thing with his feet. It's awesome, and every bit as real as it looks. We also see the Hurricane's color-changing Typhoon capabilities again, if you missed that.

The wedding scene itself is unforgettable, starting off with that long pan right up to the flame on the Destron altar. There's some awesome decorations here. Yes, those skull pillars are pretty obviously plaster or styrofoam, but it's the thought that counts, and they add considerably to the mood. Junko has a fetching red dress, and I like Drill Mogura's pinned-on rose. Nice gong action too.

Of course, this is where we get back to Doctor Inugami and why he's not very bright: rather than do his job and then bugger off like a smart low-level scientist (ala Doctor Dee from the penultimate episode of Kamen Rider), he not only hangs around for the festivities but gets to double as the Ring Bearer, and announce the vows!

For his troubles, he gets beaten up by V3, and considering the fact that the scene is shot in the shadows to mask the obvious affects of getting hit by a 15-ton kick, I kinda get the feeling that the implication is he ain't gonna walk away from this one.

Despite appearing to go boom earlier, V3's alive and well of course, and he comes smashing through the wall right at the critical moment when Drill-Mogura tries to force the ring onto Junko's finger (which will put her under Destron control forever, or something.) This leads into the kickass final battle, where Drill-Mogura eats it for good.

Following all this, comes that ending. V3 carries a curiously unconscious Junko (also back in her regular clothes, for some reason) and takes off on the Hurricane, just as she awakens and asks to confirm if he's Kazami or not (a nice little moment.) Then Tachibana shows up, and plays dumb when she asks him the same. He says they couldn't be the same, because oh look! There's Kazami coming around from behind a tree, from the opposite direction that V3 left in. So clearly they can't be the same, right?

The only problem with this of course is, the proverbial Mount Everest of evidence to the contrary that we've been presented with thus far. In fact, I'd even say Junko's reaction here is more one of "Uh-huh... okay..." than genuine belief. Which is why I don't for a second think that Junko could seriously believe their little ruse just like that. Rather, she probably realized that her knowing the truth also caused Kazami grief, so she just kept quiet about it hereafter. Which is more in keeping with what Junko would do, considering how much she cares about him and all.

The other downside of course is that this is really where the idea of a romantic relationship between Kazami & Junko begins to be downplayed to the point where it's almost non-existent, opting instead for a more brother-sister relationship. At least, that's how the conventional wisdom goes, but as I rewatch the rest of the series, I'll still be looking for the signs. Because after all, this is my one and only Kamen Rider OTP!

The really good thing about the ending though, which rises above the minor issues and secures this as one of my favorite Kamen Rider stories ever, is that brief Kazami/Junko scene (the "Ossu" one), which perfectly sums up their basic relationship, platonic or otherwise. It's one of those things that pretty much has to be referenced should they ever meet again onscreen (or offscreen, hint hint hint.)

There's so many great minor touches in this episode. That brief moment in the fight at the beginning when V3 & Pickaxe-Shark alike pause to watch as a door closes behind them; the silent pan around Junko as she sits alone in the cage in Destron's base; the scorpion-shaped Destron Ring; all the stuff I've already mentioned. It's a cracking 20-something minutes of entertainment, and a great capper to the first 12 episodes of V3. Because after this, it just keeps getting better and better.

"Toh!"

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Rider Screencaps!










Next Time: Back in 1973, a new multi-episode villain was a big deal. So big, he gets a whole episode devoted to building up his appearance during the last few seconds!

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