Saraba Den-O Reviewed!

Warning! The following review contains spoilers for the entire movie plot! Proceed at your own risk.



Saraba, Kamen Rider Den-O: Final Countdown

October 4th, 2008 saw the premiere of the third Kamen Rider Den-O film, Saraba, Kamen Rider Den-O: Final Countdown. Following on from April’s Kamen Rider Den-O & Kiva: Climax Deka, it’s the purported final adventure for the characters, and whereas that was a direct-to-video feature given cinema treatment (and a Kiva cameo) late in the game, this one was always meant to be a movie from the get-go. And not merely a movie, but THE movie, the final ride for Den-O & the gang. But does it live up to the expectations set by its predecessors, series & films alike?

As with Climax Deka, this film is getting a more limited release than the summertime Kiva movie, which means I had to travel a ways to even get to see it. As I live in Iwaki in Fukushima prefecture, and it wasn’t playing in the local theater, I trekked down to Toho Cinemas at Mito-Uchihara, where I had seen the previous Den-O flick as well as this summer’s Ultraman movie. After sitting around outside the theater (which is in a mall) with a mix of parents, kids, adult fans, and Satô Takeru/Namkamura Yuichi/Sakurada Dori fangirls, I was finally let in at 8:30.

First going to the theater shop (aptly named “The Store”) I grabbed up various theater-exclusive goodies. It’s not anything the toy collectors should pull their hair out over; movie theater merchandise tends to be stuff like stickers, clear files, notebooks, photo sets, key chains, cell phone straps, pens, etc. That said, I did pick up plenty of cool stuff (including a notebook designed to look like the “Men’s Ura” magazine from Climax Deka, a Den-Liner-style mug, and the official movie pamphlet/program.)

Then it was time to sit down for the movie itself. If you ever get a chance to see a film of any kind in Japan, I highly recommend Toho Cinemas (it’s a nationwide chain); they’ve got the best pre-movie PSAs ever. They star… well, these guys: http://www.kaeruotoko.com/english/whats_taka.html

On to the movie then!

The Synopsis

Before the actual film begins, we have another Imagin cartoon short. This one’s in the style of the direct-to-DVD Imagin anime, rather than the photo manipulation thingies seen with the previous Den-O films. Momotaros watches an ad for the upcoming film on TV and laments that this really is the end. Urataros shows up to remind him that all good stories must have an ending.

And this launches into Kintaros & Ryuutaros performing numerous sequels to classic stories which couldn’t possibly have them (such as A Dog of Flanders, which ended with the dog not exactly able to do a sequel.) After this, the Imagin end up on the moon for one reason or another, following what I think was a nod to Galaxy Express 999. And then the real movie begins.

We begin with a pan over the night sky of Tokyo. A haunting female voice fills the air, singing a sad, wordless tune. A businessman makes his way home from work to an apartment complex. He waits for an elevator, but when the doors open, the man staggers back, terrified. On the other side is a great, sweeping black expanse. Fierce winds and floating blue flames twist and soar amidst the dark void.

And then a ghostly train passes by the man. Several guys working on the railroad track at a station are also soon witness to the train as it appears before them. They dive out of the way, but the Ghost Train is nearly transparent, able to be seen, but not felt. For it does not exist in this world… yet.

Suddenly, it is day, and we’re in a very different scene. Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros, Ryuutaros & Kohana walk down a quiet street whilst drinking ramune (a kind of soda.) They’re going to visit Ryôtarô & Airi, who they have apparently not seen in some time.

There’s the usual arguing and bickering and Kohana kicking Momotaros, just the way we like it. Suddenly, a cold chill comes over the group, and the Ghost Train appears, speeding right through them. In its wake, it leaves two grotesque-looking figures. The heroes recognize them immediately.

Imagin.

“But it can’t be” says Urataros.

The evil Imagin have all been defeated, haven’t they? But these two are unique. They are the Shadow & Phantom Imagin, passengers of the Ghost Train. The train of the dead, from a world immune to what goes on in the one we know. And they’re here to kick our heroes’ butts! Shadow Imagin steps aside to reveal a third figure, a man who is shrouded in darkness, yet looks disturbingly familiar from his outline. He walks towards Momotaros & company, putting on a Henshin Belt as he goes. It emits a strange, boom-boxy tune as he swipes a Rider Pass across it.

“Henshin.”

Armor covers the man, at first similar to Den-O & the other Riders from his series/movies, but it is soon clear this is someone we haven’t seen before. It is a new Rider. Kamen Rider Yuuki, Skull Form. He looks ancient, battle-scarred. His suit is covered in scuff marks and dents. He carries a nasty-looking jagged sword. And along with his evil Imagin buddies, he’s raring to go.

In true Rider style, things move from a parking lot to a decrepit warehouse. The good guys pull out their distinctive weapons and engage the new villains, but things don’t go well at all. Yuuki and his allies are far too powerful, knocking the ‘Taros crew about. There’s a lot of property damage going on.

To make matters worse, the Yuuki belt’s wearer briefly shows his face, appearing ghost-like over the Rider’s mask. It’s Ryôtarô! But he looks different. His hair is a great white poof, his eyes yellow and almost catlike. The gang can’t believe it. Yuuki knocks them all out of the place, and back outside.

Things look grim, but suddenly the bad guys are pelted with blasts. Zeronos Zero form comes roaring up on his motorcycle, Denebick Buster in hand. He admonishes the others in Yuuto’s usual snarky way, but is soon on the receiving end himself when Yuuki uses his Terminate Flash attack, in which he stabs his sword into the ground and creates a massive explosive shock wave.

Zeronos’ bike is seemingly destroyed (don’t worry, it’ll get better) and he is knocked back into human form whilst Deneb is returned to his normal state. Everybody else is thrown for a loop too. It is revealed that Zeronos took the brunt of the attack when he threw himself to shield Kohana, and is now seriously injured. As his friends gather around him, Yuuki & his boys laugh. The end is coming…

Suddenly, the Den-Liner appears! But it looks different, sporting a new blue paint job. It sweeps in between the heroes and villains, dropping off two new figures. A new, dark blue Imagin, and a similarly-colored Rider with large red eyes and a massive version of the “Den-O” symbol on his chest. The latter stands confidently, showing no sign of fear or worry. But who is he?

“Kamen Rider Den-O!”

The movie’s title finally comes up. Following this, the all-new NEW Den-O proceeds to show us what he’s made of. He calls his sidekick Imagin Teddy into action, and the blue guy becomes the massive Macheteddy Sword. Macheteddy asks his wielder for the Count. NEW Den-O gestures to the Shadow Imagin.

“10 Seconds. No wait… 8 should do it.”

As Macheteddy counts down, NEW Den-O demolishes the new monster with a grand slashing attack, the Counter Slash. The Kaijin explodes, stunning his compatriots. Before NEW Den-O can deal with them though, a booming voice calls out to them, and the Ghost Train appears to pick them both up before vanishing again as quickly as it came.

Momotaros is livid at this new hotshot who dealt with the foes that gave him & the gang so much trouble. Who do these guys think they are? NEW Den-O reverts to human form, and introduces himself as Nogami Kôtarô.

He has come back in time to “grandfather’s era” (Momotaros at first thinks they mean Kintaros, grandfather of this “Teddy” Bear.) Kôtarô is cocky and self-assured; he tells the others that:
“From now on, this is our era.”

Onboard the NEW Den-Liner, Owner introduces Kôtarô as Ryôtarô’s grandson. The gang’s all there, plus Naomi, and they’re as surprised as anyone at this twist. Kôtarô has come back to the past since once again the fate of all time is in danger. But now there’s no Nogami Ryôtarô to deal with it. Where is he?

Onboard the rickety, dark old Ghost Train, Yuuki and the Phantom Imagin sit around, dwelling on their defeat. Phantom Imagin is ticked off at the surprise appearance of NEW Den-O, but is silenced when a spinning top whacks into him before returning to the hand of its owner, a man in a dark, lavish costume. A man named Shirô, and mastermind behind these new Imagin and Yuuki.

Also on the train, sitting glumly off to the side, is a woman named Sora. Like Shirô, her clothes look ancient and regal. He dotes on her with great care. He asks if she is sad, but she is quiet and almost corpselike. It soon becomes clear that she was the voice we heard at the beginning of the movie. Who is this mysterious woman, and what are Shirô’s plans for our heroes?

Back on the ‘Liner, Momotaros is ready to come to blows with Kôtarô, who has a very “newer equals better” attitude. His grandfather is frankly an embarrassment to him, and he has no interest in being like him at all.

One way of distancing himself from his grandfather’s legacy was to give Teddy the name he has now, rather than “Neotaros” (which is implied to be his original name in the movie pamphlet.) He’ll help out in saving granddaddy; after all, if he doesn’t, he’s kinda screwed! But he doesn’t hold the old man in very high regard.

Somewhere along the line we get a scene with Airi, Ozaki & Miura, wondering where Ryôtarô is. Actually, the first half of the movie is kind of a blur to me as I write this so the scene transitions might not be exactly as you read here, but it’s the same general flow.

And… back on the Ghost Train, Shirô demands that the Singularity Point show his face to Sora. Yuuki de-transforms back into the possessed Ryôtarô. Then, the creepy Ghost Imagin leaves him and good ‘ol Ryôtarô is back with us.

As was earlier explained by Owner and again here, Shirô desires to destroy the flow of time and reverse the worlds of the living and the dead, so that the dead live and living die. Got all that? The Ghost Train currently travels in the World of the Dead, but with Ryôtarô in their control now they can travel into desert-like World Between Time and thus go a-time travellin’. And that’s exactly what they do.

The NEW Den-Liner (or just Den-Liner from now on, since it seems to have put the old one out of commission/is just the same thing redecorated) detects the arrival of the Ghost Train. Momotaros wants to take the ‘Liner into action, but Kôtarô insists that he and Teddy can handle this. They leave, and Momo still wants to go, but Kohana reminds him that without the Den-Bird, they can’t move the train (I somehow never realized that before.)

In the cockpit/front car, Kôtarô transforms into NEW Den-O (the belt calls out the name Strike Form, although it’s the only one we ever see.) Teddy goes into his sword mode and NEW Den-O places him on his back. He then leaps out of the train onboard the Den-Bird and takes off along the shores of the timeless desert (well, beach) in pursuit of the Ghost Train. Macheteddy doubles as a gun, so NEW Den-O blasts the track out from underneath the train of the dead, bringing it to a halt.

Yuuki Skull Form & Phantom Imagin jump out to engage him in combat. NEW Den-O easily defeats the Phantom Imagin just like last time, Countdown and all. Yuuki proves a tougher challenge, as NEW Den-O can’t directly beat him or risk harming Ryôtarô. Things only get worse when the whip-wielding Shirô shows up. He uses more of those tops, and they’re deadly this time.

Momotaros & the boys are tired of sitting around while the new guy gets to have all the fun, but what can they do? Suddenly, the Den-Liner begins to move again! Everyone goes up front to see Owner on a bicycle putting the pedal to the metal. Overjoyed, surprised and slightly disturbed, they quietly cheer him on. This is indeed going down as my favorite Owner moment ever, the slow-motion close-up of his face just seals it.

NEW Den-O tells Macheteddy he can take Shirô in 13 seconds, but the man throws more of his spinning tops at the Rider. They explode on impact, knocking him back to human form and reverting Teddy to his usual self. Shirô finishes the countdown himself, and on 0 orders Yuuki to strike the killing blow on the injured pair. He goes for it, until at the last second his arms stops.

Yuuki wonders what’s wrong. Kohana and the ‘Taros crew rush in to help Kôtarô & Teddy, and Ryôtarô speaks to them, fighting through his possession and regaining slight control of his body. He manages to get out something to Momotaros before Shirô throws more of his explosive tops. The Den-Liner’s weaponry shoots them down before they hit our heroes, and the resulting explosions cover their escape. In the process of all this, a mysterious Rider Ticket emerges from the fire, seeking out the Den-Liner.

The heroes get their breath as they escape from the scene. Kôtarô is stunned silent by his loss, and Teddy (who has so far been curt if cold to everyone but his friend) bows in deep acknowledgement to Momotaros for risking his life to save them. Momo’s near-wordless reaction really needs to be seen, but I think it’s one of the best moments in the movie and best moments the character’s ever had. It speaks volumes about the kind of… well, Imagin he’s matured into.

Shirô is upset at Ryôtarô’s interference, and takes it out on him. No matter though, he must forge ahead with his plans. For Sora’s sake…

Owner (having taken a bath after all that cycling) reveals that he found the Rider Ticket, which Ryuutaros notes looks old. Indeed it is: the date is for May 23rd, 1729. Along with this, there are Ryôtarô’s mysterious words to Momotaros:
“Protect the Elephant.”

At least, that’s what he thinks he heard. Uncertain though, Momo decides to just roll with that and the team concludes that they must go back to 1729 if they are to discover the full extent of Shirô’s plans and save their friend.

Ryôtarô, weak from the overexertion of his body by the Ghost Imagin, is left alone in a car in the Ghost Train. He considers trying to escape, but Sora tells him it’s useless; Shirô will always be nearby. He asks her about herself and Shirô, and while she doesn’t give a necessarily straight answer, she tells (and we see) a story about two happy people from long, long ago. A man and a woman dressed in kimono. The Two lovers play with numerous traditional Japanese toys in another time, another place.

It’s pretty obvious who they are when you see them, but what’s the deal here? Ryôtarô senses that Sora doesn’t agree with Shirô’s plan and wants to stop him.
“But he’s strong” she says.

At a hospital back in the present, Yuuto struggles to get up, but Deneb tells him to rest. Yuuto doesn’t like just lying around when there’s better things he could be doing though, and asks for an update. Deneb tells him about the plan of the Den-Liner team to go back in time, and Yuuto implores that Deneb go as well, alone. He believes in Deneb, asking him to go help save what they’ve worked so hard to protect together.

The Den-Liner arrives in 1729 with a day or so to spare to get ready for whatever happens on May 23rd. Naomi leads the Imagin gang and Kohana to their temporary base of operations, where their “contact” awaits. Guess who that turns out to be?

Sieg! Disappointed, the other Imagin are about to turn around, but Kohana tells them to get serious. Sieg is willing to lend the team a hand once again, whether they like it or not.

The next morning, Deneb hooks up with our heroes, now going about “in disguise”, which essentially means wearing a kimono. There’s a funny little moment when some locals guide Deneb to them acting like it’s no big deal, except for one woman who can’t quite place her finger on these strange new folk. Another woman notes that they’re probably foreigners from abroad. I liked that bit.

Kohana shows the guys an old ink printing of an elephant appearing in the middle of a crowded square. Can this be what Shirô s after?

Kôtarô has been humbled into a near-depressive state following his defeat, but Momotaros thinks they can use him anyway. Nogami’s grandson lets Urataros possess him to get some information from the locals about this “elephant”, but of course he goes after some girl, much to Momo & Kohana’s consternation. Meanwhile, Kintaros & Teddy play Japanese chess whilst Deneb cleans and Sieg lies around as usual. Ryuutaros bursts in. He’s seen Airi!

There is an Airi in this time, as well as an Ozaki & a Miura (I like his old-fashioned glasses.) The Imagin conclude that they must be related to the present counterparts somehow…

Later the heroes regroup and eat. There’s some plot talking going on here, but it’s easy to be distracted by the highly amusing background chatter and the fact that a bunch of guys with unmoving mouths are shown to be “eating”. A small fight breaks out after Ryuutaros throws something that hits Momotaros, soon escalating into everybody bickering and shoving. Kôtarô leaves silently, but Momotaros and the others stop and take notice.

Sora & Ryôtarô do a bit more talking, and the woman is genuinely surprised at his unshaken faith that he can stop Shirô’s plans. Even if he can’t, his friends will. He believes in them.

Kôtarô stands at a waterfall, still reflecting on his loss, both of the fight and of his own confidence. He picks up a stick and starts swinging it around like a sword. Momotaros appears from behind him, and is reminded of a time when he helped Ryôtarô train waaay back soon after they first met (Momotaros is in his sandy, incomplete state in this flashback.)

“As I thought… you’re just like Ryôtarô.”

“You mean that I’m weak?”

Kôtarô’s desire is to be a strong, confident hero, unlike his grandfather. Or at least, the grandfather he thinks he knows...

Later that night, Teddy goes to the same place and finds the stick Kôtarô was practicing with. He also finds something else: Shirô has amassed an army of bandits, mercenaries and assorted other unsavory characters to launch an attack on the city tomorrow morning. The goal is to kill everyone, which somehow is going to fit into the grand plan. Before he can slip away, Teddy is spotted. Shirô nails him with one of his killer tops, and he is surrounded by bad guys.

“Now… Disappear!”

A gravely injured Teddy stumbles back to the house where the Imagin are at, babbling on about the Elephant “not being an Elephant”. Kôtarô is deeply worried, but Deneb is confident that he’ll recover. Everybody’s in a grim mood though when it comes to light that Shirô’s got an army ready to pounce on them.

With Zeronos out of action and now NEW Den-O down for the count (as he needs Teddy to do anything useful, apparently), who do they have to lead them? Momotaros reminds everyone there’s still Ryôtarô.

But he’s under evil control. What good can he do them? But Momo is confident they’ll find some way to break through the Ghost Imagin’s control and save him. He knows that Ryôtarô believes in them all, just as they all believed in him once. So no matter the odds, they must give it their all.

“This will be the last Climax!”

Following this rousing speech, everybody, including Teddy, is ready for anything. Kôtarô still feels unsure of himself, however.

The next morning, it’s the beginning of the end, for real this time. Shirô’s army attacks the city with burning arrows, which the Imagin work to stop with their weapons. The bad guys then storm in directly, and a massive fight breaks out. Despite being greatly outnumbered, the Imagin still have the advantage in terms of strength.

There are some amusing antics involving Momotaros on a cart (which runs over Deneb) and then leaving Urataros to deal with a female bandit. Kamen Rider Yuuki appears, slashing away at the heroes. He corners Ryuutaros & Momotaros, who split up to trap him in a scissor attack, but the Rider temporarily throws them off by reverting to the possessed Ryôtarô.

“What’s the matter? You can’t fight?”

He uses their friendship against them. Yuuki goes after Momotaros specifically while the others finish off the rest of the bandits (non-lethally.) Yuuki hacks and slashes away at Momo, wearing him down. They crash right through buildings and walls. All the while, Momotaros begs his friend to listen to him, to try and fight the influence. Then, Yuuki strikes the final blow, slashing right across the Imagin’s front.

Urataros, Kintaros, & Ryuutaros yell out to him.

Massive amounts of sand pour out of Momotaros. A great gaping gash covers his chest. He begins to teeter, falling back…

…only to have his hand caught by Yuuki, who can’t believe what he’s doing. Ryôtarô fights his way through, regaining control of his body ever so slowly.

Momotaros chuckles. He knew his friend could do it. Ryôtarô’s now in a state of flux, and that means he’s open to possession again, by anyone.

Momotaros throws himself into Ryôtarô, forcing out Ghost Imagin and the Yuuki armor from him. As his friends come to his side, M-Ryôtarô stretches and works a kink out of his back. It’s been a while since he’s done this.

“Now I’ll show you my real Henshin!”

The Den-O belt with Keitaros phone attached appears at his waist. He swipes the Rider Pass across it.

“Henshin!”

M-Ryôtarô goes to Climax Form as Urataros, Kintaros & Ryuutaros merge with him as well. Climax Form takes out the Den-Gassher parts, joining them into their sword mode. After a quick fight, he brings the hammer down on Ghost Imagin.

“Our Hissatsu Waza: Climax Version!”

Climax Form slices right through the monster twice, destroying him utterly. The Rider Pass flies up into the air, and is caught by a whip.
Shirô.

He’s not happy at this turn of events at all. As Climax Form & Deneb confront him, he swirls the whip around his waist, causing the Yuuki Belt to appear.

“Henshin.”

He swipes the pass across, and becomes Kamen Rider Yuuki Hijack Form. Yuuki takes out some more tops, and throws them behind him. They turn into previously-defeated Imagin. Almost every last one of them! Guys from TV, the first movie, even all three of the ones from this movie (including Ghost, who died like, less than a minute ago!) As master of the Ghost Train, he holds power over the dead. And he must fulfill his goal, for Sora’s sake…

Yuuki throws more tops, hitting Deneb & Climax Form with explosive results. Climax Form splits back into Ryôtarô & the 4 Imagin. Suddenly, Yuuto & Kohana arrive via the Zero-Liner & Den-Liner respectively.

Yuuto has recovered from his injuries, and is ready to rock. Kohana has some presents from Owner: Rider Passes. Momotaros wonders what good they’ll do them. Of course, it’s obvious, as they once did near the end of the series: they too can become Den-O.

Sieg appears as well, asking for one (which Kohana hands over with some reluctance. Man, they don’t like Sieg, do they?) He speaks his famous catchphrase and transforms into Den-O Wing Form. Ryôtarô & Yuuto look at each other. It’s time they, and everyone else, followed suit.

“Henshin!”

Ryôtarô becomes Den-O Liner Form.

Yuuto becomes Zeronos Zero Form, with Deneb again assuming Denebick Buster mode.

Momotaros becomes Den-O Sword Form.

Urataros becomes Den-O Rod Form.

Kintaros becomes Den-O Ax Form.

Ryuutaros becomes Den-O Gun Form.

All speak their respective phrases, save for Wing Form (“I already said mine!”) and Kohana yells for them to go into action. Yuuki does the same with his troops, and it’s on.

The ensuing fight is massive, with Riders going up against a ton of monsters at once. There’s a lot of action and plenty of goofiness (Ax Form uses a, in his own words, “Dynamic Jump!”) Yuuki goes after Sword Form & Liner Form (who uses the Den-Gassher sword mode) specifically, proving to be more than a match for both of them.

But they keep up the attack, and soon force him to go on the defensive. He leaps from a building onto a horse, and the two Den-O Forms do the same (Liner, of course, misses completely.)

They give chase on horseback, and soon Yuuki prepares to joust with them. Liner Form asks him to stop though; his whole mission is flawed. He thinks that he must do what he does to stop Sora’s tears… but those tears are for him, not for her plight. Enraged, he knocks them both off of their horses, but there’s still one more Ace in the Hole.

Kôtarô comes running up, Macheteddy in hand.

“This time, we don’t need the Countdown.”

He throws it at Yuuki, knocking him off the horse. The weapon returns to him as he becomes NEW Den-O. Liner Form notices Sora running towards them as well…

Back at the big rumble, the Riders use their finishers. Back-to-back, Gun Form & Zeronos blow away hordes of Imagin. Ax Form performs a great sweeping chop. Wing Form uses his boomerang-like weapons to take out enemies from afar. Rod Form slashes them to bits and hits several at once with a mighty Rider Kick.

The three Den-O’s prove to be too much form Yuuki, and as the older ones hold his arms, NEW Den-O prepares to execute a finishing move. The other two activate the Full Charge on their weapons simultaneously with NEW Den-O, who performs not another sword slash, but his own Rider Kick, Strike Spurt. He connects with Yuuki and sends the dark Rider flying back.

Yuuki rises, his armor falling away as he reverts to Shirô. He falls to the ground as Sora runs up to him. He’s dying. This isn’t how it was supposed to go, how it was supposed to turn out. But for Sora, this is what she prefers. He is surprised at this, wondering in his last moments if in the end, he has only himself to blame for his defeat. And then, quietly, he goes.

As it turns out, by the present time Sora’s actually been dead for 400 years (!) The somehow still-living Shirô wanted to be with her forever (they’re the couple from the story she told Ryôtarô) and apparently existing together on the Ghost Train wasn’t enough for him. Because, as a passenger on that train with him, Sora could never truly find the peace she wanted.

Nor could Shirô for that matter. But he couldn’t stand to just let her go, which is why he planned to alter history and make a world of the, um, living dead. But it’s never what she wanted. Now, they finally will be together again at last… in death.

The Ghost Train comes by to pick them up one last time, before disappearing forever.
The heroes are triumphant once again.

Later, the Den-Liner arrives in the middle of the city, appearing before the stunned crowds. Naomi wonders if it’s okay that they’re just out in the open like this. Owner is confident though. It all works out: people will just think the train is an elephant. So um… that’s the explanation for that.

Well okay, the meaning of Ryôtarô’s message to Momotaros was a clue to lead them back to the point in history that Shirô wanted to change. I think. I’ll have to see the movie again, I sort of missed the explanation for this, but it all sorts itself out.

Also, that Airi-of-the-past thing comes into play when she drops a hairpin on the ground, and it’s picked up by… some mysterious dude wearing a hat. We don’t see his face, but I think you can figure out who it’s implied to be (well, the ancient equivalent thereof.) Ryôtarô has seen the beginning of his family line… and he turns to now see the newest member.

Kôtarô is actually rather in awe of his grandfather as a young man. He only knows of him in the future, where he always looked at him with some embarrassment. But now, seeing the hero his grandfather was, perhaps there is much to learn from him. There’s still some goofy bickering about the future, and Ryôtarô promises not to do a few things Kôtarô tells him about, but beneath it all there is now much more respect and admiration between them.

The Den-Liner then flies up into the sky, heading towards the future.
Goodbyes are exchanged, and the Den-Liner drops Kôtarô & Teddy off back in their own time, some point in the future. Ryôtarô & co. (including Sieg, although Yuuto & Deneb seem to have gone off their own way) will now return to their own time. Well, what is now the beginning of Kôtarô’s time, I suppose.

The Den-Liner disappears back into the sky, and to the past. Kôtarô & Teddy walk up to a gray-haired old man, his back to us.

“I’m home, grandpa. And… thank you.”

The three of them walk away, down a long stone path in the middle of an expansive park.

THE END

The ending credits consist of old-fashioned style pictures (like the elephant one) showing various scenes from Den-O, the series and movies. And then, the Den-Liner flies by the screen one more time, leaving us with the words “Saraba, Kamen Rider Den-O”.

The Actual Review

You know, for someone who once infamously said to have never watched Kamen Rider before, Kobayashi Yasuko sure knows how to write a good Rider movie.

It’s a bit strange to think that Den-O (the TV series) ended just earlier this year. It feels like it’s been so long, what with all the repeat appearances (in one form or another) since the last episode aired. That, or 2008’s been a really long year.

In any event, here we are. Three movies down for Den-O. Contrary to popular belief, this is technically not the first time a single Rider series has had three movies released, but I suppose you can get away with saying it’s the first time there’s been three *original* movies, since the original’s Go Go Kamen Rider was essentially a blown-up cropped episode #13 shown theatrically.

You can definitely get away with saying it’s the first time we’ve had three Rider movies in the same year, at least as far as I know. Perhaps most surprising of all is the fact that they’ve all turned out to be pretty great too.

Doubtless there will be some who feel that this “final” film isn’t final enough. After all, it doesn’t exactly end with everyone going over a cliff in a bus or something. It ends with the possibility of further adventures for Ryôtarô & crew still able to happen. But then, I think this is actually part of why I liked it.
To me, Kamen Rider has always been as much about the villains as it has the heroes.

Or more to be more specific, it’s about the fall of the villains concurrent with the rise of the heroes. The end of the series should focus on the ultimate defeat of the villains and the conclusion of the storyline (which is spurred on by the actions of the villains), but the heroes should be left to continue on or come back, should they ever need to. The “ride off into the sunset, live to fight another day” idea might not be new, but it’s almost always effective.

What I mean by this is that while the heroes and other supporting characters should get some sort of closure at the end, it doesn’t always have to be hit-you-over-the-head finality.

The movie uses the “character nearly gets killed” card a couple times, but it’s only once that it’s ever being really serious about it. I’m referring of course to the Momotaros vs. Yuuki fight. The trailers and pre-release materials strongly played up the fact that this might be the end of our red friend.

I have to say that I’m glad this wasn’t the case, as it would have added a lot of extra emotional baggage to that end which actually would have worked against the rest of the film. As I’ll outline later, it’s really much more about everyone in Den-O rather than just one or two characters, so a main character death wouldn’t have jived with this theme.

So the fact that the movie leaves us with everybody basically alive and able to come back (should Toei want them to) works. Because it’s not so much about the end of Den-O the character as it is the end of Den-O the series. Yes, despite the series having already ended once.

Well, hey: we now know that the future is in safe hands, those of Ryôtarô’s grandson, so I suppose in a way that’s kind of a big chunk of closure since we also know that Ryôtarô will live a happy life from here on, aging into the old man briefly seen at the end of the movie. Barring more mucking about with time, it’s a pretty safe bet to know that he’ll be okay from here on out.

As for the fate of the Imagin, well, come on. Nothin’ can stop those guys, not in the story or outside. Because we already know we’ll be seeing more of them in animated form again soon, and no doubt they will become a stage show/book/toy/etc. presence the same as the past Riders.

On another level, it’s an appropriate ending for the fact that it’s really the last hurrah. I’ve already been calling this the Den-Liner gang’s finest hour, and with good reason. This movies really does feel like it’s “Den-O’s greatest adventure”, but perhaps not in the traditional sense. While the TV series finale wrapped up the direct story of the series (primarily dealing with the Imagin and the future version of Sakurai Yuuto) and the previous two films were amusing diversions, this one goes back in a way to the real drive of the series: the characters.

It’s emotionally the biggest journey for them, with the hero for most of the Den-O saga suddenly forced into the role of a villain, and the ending in a way signifying that ultimately, it’s their faith in each other (and themselves) that gets them through it all. This all struck me when I considered that Ore Tanjô probably aimed higher, featuring more time-travelling wackiness and a grander scope.

On the other hand, apart from the show-stopping finale (which is arguably one of the biggest Rider battles in a long time), Final Countdown aims relatively low, but scores high.

It definitely packs it all in, although it’s not merely an exercise in nostalgia. Actually, there were a couple things missing which I didn’t even think about until after the fact (a train battle, Ryuutaros’ dancers), yet their absence doesn’t hurt the film at all. We’ve seen them done enough times, and better than they could probably be done again. So there isn’t much retreading going on.

That said, it’s still loaded to the brim with the Den-O you love. And if you didn’t like the series or the last movies or Den-O in general, I’d say skip this one because it’s almost made exclusively for Den-O fans. Fortunately, there are a lot of them, so it’s guaranteed to be a decent hit.

As for how it compares with the previous efforts: Well, I like Ore Tanjô and Climax Deka a lot. I’d have a hard time deciding between the three, but I can at least say I’d rank Final Countdown right up there with them. It certainly left me feeling better than 2007’s fall Rider movie offering.

On that note, I want to say how happy I was that this film was able to keep some of the best surprises under wraps. It’s tough to do these days, between the kiddie magazines and the internet. Kamen Rider THE NEXT’s biggest revelation (not shown or even hinted at in pre-release materials) was that Chiharu was behind the murders, and was also ass-ugly. I don’t think I need to tell you how I feel about that again.

But they actually managed to keep the surprises coming with this one, in spite of all the promos, photos, and whatnot. Going in, I had only a vague idea of how things would flow, and I was quite pleased with how the movie managed to keep the twists coming. It’s a fun movie to watch, no doubt about that.

And I like fun. And the movie, that much should be obvious. Let’s get into the specifics.

Satô Takeru & Namkamura Yuichi are both listed as “special appearances” in the credits, and for good reason. Despite being the main Riders, they’re not the stars of the movie. I’d argue that not even Sakurada Dori is, despite having much more screen time. It’s really an ensemble piece. The Imagin get big chunks of action and dialogue, possibly more than they’ve ever had.

Kohana, Naomi & Owner all play important roles in moving the story along. Even the villains are a little more important than usual this time. Airi & co. get small bits, and beyond that it’s really very minor speaking roles. The movie’s all about giving the Den-O cast time to shine, for a full 83 or so minutes.

Okay, so Sakurada Dori gets top billing at least. Kôtarô/NEW Den-O is a character I had to warm up to over the course of the film, but script is aware of this. When we’re first introduced to him, he’s a fairly clichéd, cocky, confident, butt-kicking cool guy, more like the earlier-series Yuuto than Ryôtarô. Following his spectacular defeat though, he actually starts to grow up. We get a bit more insight into his character, and what makes him tick.

His scenes with Ryôtarô aren’t until the end, but they’re what we’ve been building up to. They’re good stuff. There’s a lot of confusion caused by the whole time-travel business, which is to be expected. Conversations about things that haven’t happened yet by people who have yet to do them with people who remember them doing it, that kinda thing. I dunno if we’ll ever see Kôtarô again, but as a one-time movie Rider, he’s pretty well-rounded and gets some good development.

As for NEW Den-O himself: I was just sort of “whatever” on the costume at first. Another techno clunky armored Rider, been there, done that. I’m still waiting for a modern equivalent along the lines of what Skyrider’s costume is to me: a perfect blend of (what was then) contemporary with the classic.

Having seen him in action though… man, I want some NEW Den-O toys! He’s pretty cool, and I like Macheteddy. He/it’s a big sword/gun combo, and I always like those. I also really liked that his final move in the film is a Rider Kick, especially since I was not expecting it at all. No really, he’s got a big sword, so I thought everything would tie into the big sword. Surprise!

On that note, Teddy: At first he comes across as a sort of bland version of Deneb without any of the funny quirks, but like his pal I appreciated him by the end. He grows on you, and you care about him when things look grim for him following the nighttime confrontation with the bad guys. I would say his personality could effectively be summed up with the word “loyal”; he is everything to Kôtarô, as Kôtarô is to him.

As for the old good guy characters: there isn’t much to say because, quite simply: “you know them, you love them.” The gang’s all here this time and in top form. As I mentioned in the summary, Momotaros gets a really good moment amidst a sea of good moments. If there’s any doubt left that he’s become one of the classic Kamen Rider supporting players, this movie kicks it down the stairs with a broken bottle in its eye. The others are great as well; everybody’s definitely giving it their all for this one.

Obviously I got an extra kick out of Deneb’s scenes because I love him like that, but all the characters remind you of why you loved them last year/early this year. Also, if you missed Sieg in Climax Deka, they more than make up for it here. He gets some pretty cool moments (I’d forgotten just how much I like Wing Form’s pre-Henshin jingle.)

I should point out here that the scene of them in the funny animal costumes (seen in some of the promo pictures, and even in the official movie pamphlet) didn’t make the cut (expect a DC version of this one, or deleted scenes.) However, they’re all rockin’ the kimono as promised.

As for the villains, there’s a lot to talk about. I’ll hold off on Shirô because he’s the big one, but the new evil Imagin are all pretty cool. I was expecting they’d just be a bunch of repainted rehashes… which they probably are, but they’re well-disguised.

The Phantom Imagin is especially cool because his face is based off one of the unused Undead designs (the same dude designed both villain groups) and I love me the Undead. I thought Ghost Imagin probably should have had a creepier voice, but then it had to be something that fit both Yuuki as well as the possessed Ryôtarô, and didn’t scare the kids too much, so I can live with what we’ve got. Of course it’s great seeing all the old villains back as well. I’m not sure I’d classify Sora as a villain technically, but she’s an interesting gray-area character, and I dig the hime haircut.

As for Shirô… he’s an interesting one. While he’s undeniably the film’s villain, you could make the argument that he’s almost more of an anti-hero, as his ultimate goal is fairly noble, it’s just the way he plans to go about it that doesn’t work out. You could, however, also point out that his ultimate goal also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and the way he plans to go about it seems… off. Thinking this over, I’ve come to the conclusion that this might be the intent: Shirô’s basically as nutty as they come, but it’s not in a “bwa-ha-ha” ranting sort of way.

He’s not an overt psychopath, but he’s misguided beyond the point of help so that only in death does he realize his own flawed way of thinking. He simply can’t get away with his evil plan because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Then again, I might have just missed something (and so I plan to watch this again at least one more time in theaters.)

It’s very much the classic “I know what’s best for you, even if it isn’t” story with him and Sora. There is clearly a great deal of love between them. Or at least there was, but the hardened man he’s become (and the dead woman she became) sort of drove a stake in that.

I like him though. I didn’t expect to. He’s sort of the antithesis of the previous film villains. Gaoh was the bully; bigger, tougher, older and meaner than Ryôtarô. He’s not very deep, but he’s bad to the bone. Negataros was literally an evil Momotaros and an evil Den-O. Again, not particularly deep, but he’s a nasty customer as well.

Shirô though, despite appearing to fulfill the same basic role (big dark bad Den-O-ish anti-Rider) is considerably more complex. So much so that his death actually ends up being more of an emotional high point than an “owned!” moment. You might even feel for him by the end. I was reminded of the demise of Cobra & Snake in Kamen Rider THE FIRST, but fear not: it’s handled a lot better here.

Oh, and I liked the creepy little touch with the tops. They tie into Sora’s flashback/story if you know a thing or two about traditional toys, so it’s a neat touch.

And on to Kamen Rider Yuuki… has there ever been a Rider quite like him? Well yeas, Gaoh, I hear you saying. Well, in the looks yes, but I’ll get to that in a moment. The idea that the same belt turns two different people into different forms of the same Rider is pretty interesting. It’s sort of an extension of the usual Den-O concept, where the same belt turns the same person (albeit possessed by different entities) into different forms of the same Rider.

In this case, we have the possessed Ryôtarô & Shirô both getting to turn into two versions of the same guy. The differences between them are slight, mostly limited to the helmet, coloring of the neck ornament/pseudo-scarf thing, and Hijack Form has an added gauntlet on his left hand. They use different weapons too, so there’s that.

As for the design, I felt basically the same as I did about NEW Den-O until seeing it up close. I like it. The beat-up, worn look is very cool, and gets across the idea that this is a Rider who has seen some action in the past. The fact that parts of his costume (including the Henshin Belt) bear a striking resemblance to Gaoh is not elaborated upon. But I don’t feel it really needs to be.

It’s enough for me if we can assume that this is how the suits of the “bad” Riders of Den-O work.

One really cool touch I liked: when he first appears, Yuuki’s footsteps are thunderous. They sound heavy against the pavement, as if the sheer weight of his evilness is too much. It’s a strange but neat idea.

So that’s the characters. How about the action?

There’s loads of it in this movie. Loads! It’s a bit talky in the first half (especially with all the train scenes) but that’s to get the story rolling so that by the end, it’s nearly all action. It’s more in-line with the TV series than Climax Deka; Kohana wisely legs it whenever the fighting begins.

The Imagin get plenty of fighting time though, as do the Riders (and Imagin as Riders.) The final battle really has to be seen; in the movie summary I breezed through it but that’s because it’s just so big, there’s no way I can really put it all to paper.

If it’s the last battle Den-O ever has, it’s a great one to go out on. While the stunt work isn’t on the same level as, say, Kamen Rider THE NEXT, it’s on par with anything from previous Den-O outings, and as an added bonus there’s a lot of walls/fences/doors/etc. getting crashed through. You’d have to look to New Kamen Rider to see more break-through property damage going on than this.

The effects are generally pretty good, and there weren’t any real groan-inducing CG messes. I mean really; we’re used to the Liners by now so it’s pretty obvious they’ll be big chunks ‘o CGI, but they do the job. The Henshin scenes for the new Riders aren’t too different than what we already know, apart from the sound effects which are nifty.

I also think it’s cool that after all this, the Imagin are basically unchanged. They’re the same old suits and masks from the TV show, unmoving mouths and all. In an American production, they’d have to blink and change expressions and do all sorts of CG-addled gurning, but here, they just let the suit actors and the voice artist work their magic.

And it works as well as ever. Even in a bigger-budgeted movie, they know not to mess with something that doesn’t need fixing in the first place.
The BGM uses a lot of the familiar cues from the series, although there’s enough new stuff to warrant an upcoming OST CD. The villains’ theme in particular is pretty cool, and the new version of “Climax Jump” is awesome.

If I have to find any real downsides to the movie, it would be that it would have been nice to see a bit more of Yuuto and Deneb at the end. After the fight, they’re gone! I mean we know they made it out okay and everything, but the ending focuses so much on the Nogami family lineage that you might wonder if they just got left behind in 1729. I do have to wonder if Kôtarô & Teddy realized that the heroes kind of took *their* version of the Den-Liner back to the past at the end. Oh well, best not to worry about it.

There isn’t a lot else I can say with this one, because (and I say this often) you need to see it for yourself to get the whole picture. But on the whole, it’s a very fun way to say goodbye to one of the most popular Riders to date. Is this really the end?

I dunno, but if it is, then Den-O probably couldn’t have asked for a better send-off. Of course, even if it’s the end of new onscreen adventures, the characters will always live on in one medium or another. You know they will, because they sell too well!

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