Can't We All Just Get Along?

Kiva takes a week off, and everything just kind of... grinds to a halt. Bloggy land has been quiet lately, with all the other stuff going on offline for me lately, but I hope to rectify that (and much more) this month...

In the mean time, spoilers ahoy!



Kamen Rider Kiva Episode #39: "Shout: The Targeted Sibling"

Kivat (having long since abandoned the trivia) and Tatsulot remind us of what happened 2 weeks ago while Kiva destroys some old monsters with the Zanvat Sword.

1986. Garulu is still getting his butt kicked by Dark Kiva’s awesome power. He is thrown around like so much trash, but manages to escape thanks to the time-honored technique of getting up, glancing at the enemy, and then running like hell while they just stand there and let you make tracks.

Kivat-Bat the Second notes that he sure runs fast. Dark Kiva is confident that he’ll get the wolfy guy yet.

“The fate of all interlopers… is destruction.”

2008. Wataru & Taiga confront each other about their newfound familial situation. Unnoticed by both, fragments of the defeated Fangire quietly move away.

Taiga is pretty forward about the current state of things:

"You are my younger brother!"

1986. Ramon & Riki are selling hot sweet potatoes. What’s up with that, anyway? They seem to have a new job every time they show up. They are stopped by King. He is overjoyed at the thought of attacking two at once. Nice guy. He becomes Dark Kiva yet again.

“Henshin.”

Jirô runs in to help his buddies (I like to think he’s been running this whole time, from one scene to another.) All three make an effort to look badass, but Dark Kiva is not impressed. He sends a blast at them, turning them into their Arms Monster forms. Well okay, they’re not really “Arms” Monsters yet I guess, but… well you know what I mean. Another energy thing appears from above, crushing down on them. They appear to explode, but when the smoke clears the dark one looks to see a hole in the wall. Those clever bastards! The boys appear later singed, but unharmed. Life just got a whole lot rougher though.

Yuri confronts a woman she thinks is Maya, but is mistaken. Otoya shows up to ask what she's doing. She’s going crazy, that’s what! Yuri must find Maya, and Otoya will not stop her…

2008. Wataru thinks about his mother, wondering why she didn't reveal her Fangire origins before. He wonders about what to do. As he is now half that of what he fights… seriously Wataru, it never occurred to you before? I guess it would help if those “vampire Wataru” scenes were canon, but come on man. Your face even does the stain glass thingy when you change!

Suddenly, Maya appears, telling him it matters not if he is human or Fangire. For within him is the spirit of Kurenai Otoya. That is all that matters. She tells him of his father, and what a great man he is. There's a neat transition where she appears as the Maya of old, before disappearing into light. Uh… not sure what the deal is with that last part, especially given what’s going to happen later in this episode, but okay.

1986. Yuri is still looking for Maya. She thinks she's finally found her... and she has. Maya knows she's been looking for her. Yuri wants to ask her something, about Otoya. They have a stare down. I like how short Maya is compared to Yuri for some reason.

Jirô & the crew show up. They've been looking for Queen as a way to get at King. They become their monstrous selves. Maya becomes the pink Pearl Shell Fangire, and blasts them with her pearls ‘o doom. Yuri is surprised that she too is a Fangire. Isn’t everybody?

Also, poor Arms Monsters. Apparently Dark Kiva’s crushing attack left them with a crippling case of Fight Scene Ineptness. Watch how they just stand there as Pearl Shell’s attack surrounds them, looking like a couple of lost tourists. I know, we’re supposed to see how badass Pearl Shell is, but remember when Garulu was like, the man? Well, the wolf-man.

2008. Wataru confers with Nago. He wants to tell everyone in Blue Sky about his secret identity and origins. Nago agrees, and sets it all up at a nice traditional place.

Wataru tells the group (which literally is like, 4 people) that he is Kiva. At first Megumi doubts him, but Nago backs him up. Shima seems to believe him and Kengo looks like he doesn’t really care, although he expresses mild annoyance at this revelation (probably because he now realizes Wataru can tell everybody about that time he started playing guitar while Kiva was fighting a monster, rather than, y’know, helping.) Nago explains how he was wrong in his beliefs about Kiva being an enemy of humanity, and then tells everyone to toast to this revelation and to their newfound ally. But Wataru is uneasy.

"To tell the truth... I am half-Fangire."

Megumi thinks its April Fool's day. Shima believes the boy though. Kengo is pissed, and knocks over his tray. So on top of everything, Wataru is part of the enemy? This ain't gonna end well.

Shima and Wataru walk & talk. Shima asks his father’s name, and Wataru says it. Shima recognizes it of course, talks about how Otoya was in the Blue Sky once, and was an “interesting” man. Shima asks Wataru what he will do now. Wataru wants to work on Human/Fangire relations. He wants there to be peace between the two races. Shima asks him if he believes it's possible. He also says that understands Wataru’s goal, and wants to help. They shake on it.

1986. Yuri bursts in and tells Otoya that Maya is a Fangire. But he knows, and acts as if he doesn't care. He just looks at his violin. Yuri slaps him, and storms out.

2008. In the shower, Shima thinks of Wataru’s wish for Human/Fangire relations. He then has a flashback of what looks like Taiga killing a woman, and attacking him. We see he has scars on his back in the shower. Shima has no intention of that dream becoming a reality.

About the above scene: it all went by so fast, and I’ve only seen the episode once, so that might not be how it went. Or it might be. Either way, I think we can conclude that Shima’s crusade against the Fangire is now very much a personal matter.

Wataru walks down that stretch where Leangle first appeared, among other events in the Riderverse. He runs into Taiga. Now they walk & talk. Taiga asks that he become a Fangire, and together, they crush all humans.

“They are our food.”

Wataru is horrified at this view, and shakes him off.

“Humans are not food. I want humans and Fangire to live together.”

But Taiga laughs him off. It is a noble idea, but ultimately doomed to failure.

At night, Wataru walks down the same stretch, now depressed. He runs into Mio, who runs to hug him. She tells him she's happy, happy that both of them are Fangire together. She has a request for him. She asks him to listen.

"What?"

"Destroy Taiga."

Wataru is speechless. Mio explains that if Wataru becomes King, then they can live together forever, presumably ruling over an empire of Fangire. He pushes her back. How can she ask such a thing?

Bishop and Taiga talk about Wataru. Bishop has been tasked with making Kiva one of them. By force…

Shima orders Kengo to destroy Kiva. Nago & Megumi are against him, but he orders that they assist. He shows them special sniper rifles designed to take down Kiva. And thus two opposing factions are united in their desire to kick the hero’s butt.

At the café, Nago explains to Wataru that he must destroy him. Nago is not happy, but he has no choice. Megumi shows up, and tells him to not to be so hasty. There must be another way.

Mantis Fangire & his revived crew attack Maya. See, he revived them again! Also, if Maya could turn into golden sparkles before and teleport away, why doesn’t she just do that here? Unless that was some kind of vision/hallucination thing, seeing as how it was the younger Maya (who first appeared as the older one) doing it, and… you know, best to just leave it. Oh, also, they’re at a nifty dam location which I’m sure has been used before.

Wataru races into action, thinking of the past. I like how the floating flashback heads go past him, but I wish he has yelled out in anger and smashed through a couple. Kivat bites him and he becomes Kiva.

Maya is cornered by Mantis & company, but Kiva shows up on his motorcycle, knocking them aside and crashing into the head monster. He helps Maya up and tells her to run. Kiva fights the rehashed monsters.

He goes Emperor of course. He pulls out his big ‘ol sword, and uses it to blow them all up good. Mantis is shocked at such power, and runs. He escapes up the dam, trying to open his coffin. Kiva appears with the sword, and throws it at him. Kiva goes to pull it out, and the monster explodes. This is a pretty cool scene because it’s Kiva using an attack that isn’t part of the usual repertoire. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s unintentionally mimicking a scene from Kamen Rider V3.

Suddenly, Kengo rappels down like some kinda G.I. Joe. He transforms into IXA.

“I will destroy you!”

IXA goes Rising. Rising IXA and Kiva Emperor Form face off. They slash at each other with their weapons. Nago & Megumi show up with their rifles. They watch the fight from afar, and take aim. But Megumi can't do it. Nago fires, but at IXA. He claims it was a mistake, but IXA believes he did it on purpose. Suddenly, Bishop appears, his golden dust attack knocking IXA down. Taiga appears as well, stepping on the other Rider.

“You see? This is what humans want.”

Bishop puts his hand to Kiva, murmuring some chant and awakening the true Fangire blood in him. Kiva’s eyes change to look like stained glass. He leaps up to Megumi & Nago, as if possessed. He knocks Nago away, grabs Megumi by throat, and prepares to stab her in the face...

NEXT TIME: All hell breaks loose as Wataru seems to have gone rogue. Saga & Bishop team up to kill IXA. But who is wearing the mask this time?

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