Welcome to the Hotel Destron

In honor of the 35th Anniversary of Kamen Rider V3, the weekly rundown of the entire 52-episode series continues with episode #4. Due to various reasons, I had to take some time off doing these reviews on a weekly basis, but I hope to have that straightened out by next weekend. In other words, get ready for a lot of V3 this week!

Spoiler Warning if you still haven't watched the show yet and care about these things.

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Kamen Rider V3 episode #4 "The 26 Secrets of V3!?"

Ah yes, the famous 26 secrets. We had the 48 Techniques of Kamen Rider 1 (post-upgrade) and would later have the whopping 99 Techniques of Skyrider (also post-upgrade) but V3 had his 26 special weapons and powers right from the get-go. Of course, he doesn't use them all here, but over the course of the series many will get deployed, and a few won't, but spin-off material (like Kamen Rider Spirits) has often seen to that.

The 26 Secrets are an odd collection. As opposed to simply being a set number of Kaijin-busting Combat Techniques, the encompass specific parts of V3's suit, various internally and externally-displayed powers, and a couple good ol' fashioned killing moves. The overarching factor of them all is that they're secret powers built into V3 by the Double Riders for saving his butt when the going gets tough. I rather like the idea that the hero already has skills in them they don't know about or choose not to reveal until later; it's much less used than the more common "train and get stronger" or "receive a new toy" method of overcoming the weekly challenge.

In fact, in the off chance that I ever get to design the toys for a Kamen Rider series, one thing I'd totally do is incorporate a cool feature or element into the deluxe Henshin Belt but not have it be explained or even acknowledged until later in the series. Sort of like that secret button on the Den-O belt, except you wouldn't have to pull anything apart (assuming that's what you had to do, as I admit I didn't try it.)

While this is the first episode where the secrets are actually acknowledged onscreen, V3 used a couple of them prior to this. As will happen later in the series, the narrator doesn't always comment on them, and sometimes V3 uses them without mentioning the name. This makes things a little complicated for people like me who try to catalogue all this stuff, and fortunately, probably just for us.

So when we last leave Kazami Shirô, he's about to get roasted alive. Fortunately, the intense heat unclogs his Henshin Belt, somehow a vacuum of wind is created, and boom, our hero busts out. I want to point out that the crematorium has a big Destron logo in it. I absolutely love how, especially in the first two series, the bad guys seemed to have a base or outpost waiting around every corner. They've got another classic one later in the episode, in fact!

The fight towards the beginning of the episode is an all-out rockfest, but special mention must be made of the scene prior to it: the immortal smokestack moment. This, for the uninitiated, is when Ika-Fire and the Destron goons run out of the place, following V3's echoing laughter, and turn to see him standing atop a very, very, very high smokestack.

And it's really the stunt guy standing up there. A lesser show at the time probably would have done a super-imposition or a model, and nowadays they'd just CG something in, but back then, in Kamen Rider V3? The real deal, baby. And not only did the dude climb all the way up there in-costume, he even does the beginning of a jump, right before they cut away. Considering how little space he has to work with, this is pretty amazing. It's one of those scenes you need to see truly appreciate, as my description does it no justice. But let me just say that it's really gone unmatched either before or after; it's one of the moments that truly belongs to V3 alone.

So onto that fight. V3 hits guys so hard they explode! Regular everyday Destron grunts! He's clearly fightin' mad, he is. Ika-Fire gets away (after some impressive flamethrower antics) and V3 pulls out the Hopper, which is one of the Secrets, if you're trying to keep track.

Tachibana spends this episode in a fairly bad state, either amnesiac of mind-controlled. It sure is lucky that the guy he runs into on the road happens to be the older brother of a Shônen Rider (of the old regime), but who wasn't back then? There's some nice possessed acting going on, and when he finally snaps out of it at the end of the episode, the results are quite amusing.

I mentioned the cool secret bases; Destron's got a spectacular one here in the form of the entire Kameya Onsen Hotel! Everybody staying/working there is a Destron agent! As a result, we get a funny bit with the room where the action takes place always changing: Whene Tachibana first arrives at the hotel, he checks into room 702. Junko goes to find him later and is directed towards room 602, which is an obvious fake-out trap. Yet later, when Kazami sneaks into the place, Tachibana is in room 504! Continuity goof or actual plot point? No idea, but I get a kick out of it.

Ah yes, Junko. She's lovely as ever, taking some initiative and tracking down Tachibana all on her own. We have a classic "Junko captured by the bad guys" moment, but before she can by hypnotized by TV-Bae, V3 saves the day with some broadcast interference and a few well-timed punches to the face. And in this episode's "Junko knows" moment, take note that all during the final battle, she is not mind-controlled as Tachibana is, and can see the whole fight going on. When Tachibana regains his freedom after the monsters are destroyed, she looks around and wonders where Shirô went. Yes, Shirô, not V3. It's so obvious!

Also, because I must point it out: Prior to trying to hypnotize her, TV-Bae screws up and calls her simply "Jun". Oops!

This episode also introduces us to Junko's little bro, Tama Shigeru. Alright, I have some mixed feelings about this one. First of all, I don't mind child actors being in the main cast for a Rider show when they're also decent actors and their role is well-established. For example, Amazon's Masahiko or the kid in Agito, they're pretty good. Kawaguchi Hideki here is a competent enough actor, and he was good in Return of Ultraman. As for his character in this show, well... personally I feel he's a bit redundant.

Yes, he provides a constant, recognizable "face" for the otherwise nameless Shônen Rider hordes, but a lot of his stuff (getting into trouble, getting kidnapped) could be done by Junko, and often is, since if he gets intro trouble, she's usually not far behind. This isn't to say that Junko's the only one who should get kidnapped (and she isn't) but I think if you took Shigeru out of the story and put Junko in whenever he actually figures into the plot, it wouldn't be too different. That's based on how well I'm recalling the show from previous viewings though, so maybe after this time through, I'll think differently about him.

And trivia alert: Junko allows Shigeru into the Shônen Riders provided he doesn't tell mom & dad anything. So they're alive and well, as opposed to what some of the 70's comic versions did in making them orphans, in one case as a result of blowing Tokyo to bits and killing thousands at the start of the story (Kame-Bazooka's plan worked out in that one!)

Kazami's stealthy sneak-in to the Destron base is a great sequence, with our hero running around on rooftops and jumping down on Destron thugs. Note here that we get to see a Destron Combatant without his mask when Kazami pinches it to go in undercover; he basically looks like a stuntman wearing some eye shadow (which of course, he is.) The moment when Kazami has to do a mock Destron salute is brilliant too, especially his pained grunt after the squeaky "Gigi!"

I can't believe I've gone this whole revivew without mentiong the monsters! TV-Bae & Ika-Fire form a great team, always one step ahead of V3 right up until the very end. TV-Bae gets to display a delightfully seizure-inducing new power, and who else thought that when the Destron guys and the boss watch him trying to hypnotize V3 through his two-way screen eyes, they too should have been hypnotized? Well, maybe not.

Prior to the big rumble at the end, Kazami is captured by Destron and in a very smart move, they decide that rather than destroy him, they can just do the evil brain surgery and make him one of them. V3 playing on the wrong team, sounds like a good idea, right? Fortunately the hypnotic swirls don't last long on our hero, and he breaks out.

An aside: I've heard fan theories that early on, Miyauchi wore a wig as his hair was quite short (early photos of him with the "NG" V3 costume show his shorter 'do.) This would sort of explain why he is mostly seen with his motorcycle helmet on in the early episodes, and why when his hair is naturally long by the end of the series, it looks quite different than it does here. Of course, I could be all wrong and it is just a fan myth.

But it's interesting to consider because when he does the Henshin towards the end of the episode, Miyauchi's hair does look especially bouffant, as opposed to the flatter, straighter look he accquires later. Then again, it is the 1970's, and it's practically a tradition that the Riders' hair changes during the course of the series, so it might just be a theory after all.

Also, if you're keeping track, as in episode #2 V3's neck is still meant to be visible at times, although there is more of an effort to cover it up with a red hood in some scenes, leading towards it eventually becoming entirely hidden by the end. Worth pointing out if you're looking for some sort of NEXTy connection. Also, while en route to the climactic showdown, the narrator helpfully points out the O Signal (the little jewel/dot/orb betwen his eyes), one of the Secrets and a Rider costume mainstay all the way up to today (Kiva's got one, although they probably have some other fancy-schmancy name for it.)

The final battle of this episode is a dramatic fairly big one; with Junko held at knifepoint on a boat with a mind-controlled Tachibana, and the threat of both their deaths if he fights back, V3 can do nothing but get the ever-living crap kicked out of him by the two Destron monsters. Of course it's all part of a ploy, as he plays for time until he can find the right moment to pull out another of the 26 secrets, the V3 Enshin (Centrifugal) Kick.

The sequence for the build-up to the kick is one of those moments where I'll say "it didn't turn out as well as it could've." This is not really a critique of the effect itself; yes it's obviously a model, but it's actually effective enough for the scene. (And personally, I think it's sort of pointless to moan about the effects and costumes in a 30-odd-year-old show anyway, because effects and design aesthetics will almost all inevitably "go out of date" or look subpar when judged against whatever's newer. And because effects and design aesthetics are two things which always are in a constant state of change anyway- 30 years from now, people will say the same criticisms about what's considered "good" or "modern" now.)

No, in this case, I'm talking about the sound effect, which is a real zippy noise, almost like a deflating ballon. Considering that we're knee-deep in the period where Toei mastered using stock biplane noises for flying sound effects (check out the kickass ones X-Rider has in the next series for his kicks), it's a not the best option, but hey, it doesn't stop this from being a stone-cold badass scene! V3 takes out two birds with one stone, the monsters go boom and the day is saved yet again.

Lastly, the music at the end of this episode is that famous upbeat version of the V3 theme that usually plays when Kazami drives off somewhere. Keep it in mind, it turns up in some funny ways later on.

"Toh!"

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Rider Screencaps!










Next Time: HOLY CRAP that's an awesome-looking monster. Machine Gun Snake, plus a classic surprise twist at the end and more Secrets from V3!

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