CastleDrania: Tsukasa's Quest

And once again, here we finally go.

Form Ride: Spoiler Warning!



Kamen Rider Decade Episode 4: "Second Movement ♬ Kiva's Prince"
Written by Aikawa Shô
Directed by Kaneda Osamu

So far, Decade has been playing it relatively safe. This seems like a strange thing to say about a show which opened with a literal Rider War, featured an appearance by the Hoppers in the second episode and last week had Kuuga himself turn into Gouram. Not to mention the million other things its done to mark itself out as a show quite unlike any other that's come before.

What I mean is that, after hitting the ground running with that spectacular opener, it went straight into Kuuga's world, and while it's not quite the same Kuuga world of the old days, it had that "close enough" feel. Kuuga was still fighting Grongi with the cops, there was still an ultimate Grongi King to overcome and a hero who, although very different from his predecessor, sorta feels like the surrogate Godai that he's meant to be.

In other words, they wisely kicked things off by going back to the show that kicked things off in the first place (for this decade, at least.) Thus pulling off a nice balance of paying tribute to the past while also adding a new version of the Kuuga mythology. One where he now turns into Gouram, but hey...

Then we come to this episode. In the past week, I called it the show's acid test. There's two main reasons for this. The first is that Kamen Rider Kiva, where this episode travels, is still relatively fresh in our minds. Even if you watched Kuuga for the first time recently, you probably still knew about it well before. It was always there.

If you watched it again recently, but like me remember it when it was brand-new, you'll have memories and impressions of it which have stayed there all these years. I'll admit it's been a few since I last saw Kuuga again (going to change that soon though!) But I remember it well enough so I knew what was different in the Decade version, and I also knew and could appreciate what was the same.

But Kiva's still "last year's show". I'm still going over bits of it my head, figuring out what made it special, what I liked and where I wished they'd done things differently. I think almost all shows tend to benefit from age and repeat viewings.

As much as I struggle to make time for V3 these days, when I do get a chance to sit down for an episode, I always find myself saying "You know, this really is as good as they used to say it was." It was always pretty high in my book, but it's gone up a few notches. Most things do, or at least the parts I liked before get even better.

So far, I've watched most episode of Kiva twice, and a few only once, but no more than that. I'll probably rewatch the whole series some day. For the time being though, I'm still going off first impressions, mostly.

As a result, the alterations for the Decade version stick out more. With Kuuga's world, it was "Oh yeah, that's kinda different." Here, it's "Whoa that's not like it used to be!" I think it's rather clever how, after a relatively straightforward world, we go to one which is more of a radical take on the original. There's bits and pieces, there's echoes of last year's series... but on the whole, this isn't quite a parallel Kiva vs. Fangire story. It plays around with the format a lot more.



The other big reason that this episode was going to be a bit daunting is what it does to Wataru. It makes him a kid! I know people say they're getting younger all the time, but this is something else. Of course, like Onodera before him, this Wataru (who lacks a family name) isn't meant to be the same guy from the original Kiva series. He's not the same Wataru who showed up in episode #1. He's a Wataru though, and still he becomes Kiva. More on that shortly.

So with a very different take on a world we've only just left, and a very different spin on the hero we watched laugh, cry, fight and bathe throughout 48 episodes, how did this episode turn out?

Once again, Decade triumphs. It's a good episode. I would say, after the incredible emotional journey of last week, it's a bit of a cool-down, a more "let's set things up for next week" sort of story. But I imagine that's how a lot of the episodes will tend to run, moving the pieces around like a master chess player to make the big game-winning moves in the concluding part of the story.

There's still plenty to chew on plot-wise, and a lot of nice action. There's also a surprise at the end which, despite being revealed weeks ago (including the trailer for last week), is still a great twist. I'm talking about the guest appearance by Kaixa as the "Rival Rider" enemy for this story, but more on him much later.



Let's talk about Kiva's world. It's like the world Wataru (the original one) wanted to make! Humans and Fangire coexisting side-by-side. Castle Dran is just embedded up in a skyscraper, which almost looks like what might have happened if it didn't get out of the way fast enough. I reminded a bit of the world of Paradise Lost, but rather than humans being hunted down and constantly on the run, they're walking hand-in-hand with their monstrous brethren. It's a nice extension of the "Why can't Humans and Fangire love each other?" question often posed in Kiva.

It becomes apparent early on that things are going to be different when Itoya/Spider Fangire waltzes in for a cameo appearance. Ah yes, him. In the original Kiva, he's just like, kind of funny, kind of annoying, and I didn't really miss him when he went out (he did have a cool death though.) The puppet business was either the funniest thing ever, or made you want to punch the screen. Watch closely, one of them makes a small appearance here! I didn't pick it up until the repeat viewing.

He's thankfully a bit more restrained here, so that helps. We're meant to just be confused by him, as Tsukasa and Natsumi are (I love her grandpa's blasé attitude though.) I like his perfectly-pronounced "Hi" and the fact that he's just dancing in the streets. The shot of him and the kids, however, is something truly great. This episode finds a nice slightly-creepy high sometimes, especially the slow-mo drive-by shots of the Climax Deka-style Fangire people.

Every so often Kamen Rider hits solid gold with creating a disturbing image by way of contrasts; one of my favorites is in Kamen Rider THE FIRST with Haruhiko and Miyoko planting flowers outside a Shocker base. There's the juxtaposition of innocence and inhumanity, and also just the "that's pretty cool" factor. Not to mention warped. Brrrrr.

In this way, the Decade-edition Kivaverse departs greatly from the original version. It's a nice idea: if the bad guys aren't bad, then what does the good guy do? He doesn't need to go out and fight the good fight, and there seemingly aren't any other Riders around either. It's possible they might show up next week, but based on the preview I'd say it could only be in a very well-kept secret appearance. I think there's a good chance we'll see the original IXA and/or Saga appearing as guest Rival Riders in other worlds though.

Of course, it's still not a world entirely free from conflict. There are Fangire out there who still believe in following their destined original TV series path of consuming Life Energy and dominating humans. The cool twist, however, is that old foes from last year are some of the good guys! Lion Fangire (Decade's first opponent in this world) isn't one of the renegades, but rather their hunter. The poor guy picked the wrong lady to target!

It's funny seeing people like him and Swallowtail suddenly on the side of "authority". They're not exactly nice, but they're getting the job done. It's interesting that an episode with that kind of moral ambiguity also features Kaixa.



Which brings us to Wataru. It's incredible to think how easily this could have gone wrong. I mean, okay. I'm not one of those people who inexplicably hates child actors. Kamen Rider's even had a couple pretty good ones over the years. But there's two things working against the concept of making a previously-adult Rider into a kid. 1) The fact that, when transformed, he's basically the adult Kiva with a kid's voice, and that's... weird. And 2) Seriously? We get a kid Kiva before we get an adult female Kiva? What's going on there, Toei?

Thankfully, they just about pull it off. I say "just about" because the whole "shoot Wataru a low angle when he transforms" thing, while admirable, is sketchy even going by TV show fantasy world logic. I mean his legs must be going into the ground or something! This is mostly overcome by the fact that the script dives into this whole "Kid Kiva" idea with total commitment, and Fukasawa's a decent actor.

I mean, he's fine himself, if you can get over the fact that when he grows up he'll probably look more like GekiRed than Wataru. The script doesn't give him a whole lot to do other than be angsty (and I mean angsty) but he's good at that, and like Onodera, I bet he'll get more growth next time.

Of all the 9 Riders to make into one of the kiddies, Kiva's probably one of the two choices that could actually work (Den-O's the other, and they technically already did him!) I say this because, as the script strongly plays up, he's royalty. He's the prince on verge of becoming King, and he's got a whole contingent of "retainers" in the form of the Arms Monsters and Kivat. There's something about that that just kinda works.

A lil' Blade or Agito would be really awkward, but Kiva, even without altering the rest of the world... I can buy that, actually. I guess Hibiki might've worked too, but if that's the case we all know the only kid who could turn into him, and he's older than Wataru is here.

Speaking of Wataru's supporting buddies, it's good to see them all back. The voices for the Arms Monsters sadly aren't the originals, but I suppose it's in keeping with everything else; if we got to see them in human form, they'd probably be played by different actors anyway! Kivat is the same, but he almost has to be, being a "Henshin item" voice as well as a character. Fangire aside, none of the other Kiva cast got replacement versions it seems (with one possible exception.)

As mentioned, Kiva's so fresh in our minds still that seeing Kiva in action is like tuning in for his show again after missing it for 3 weeks. Even if Wataru's a kid, Kiva (now with kid Wataru's voice, which isn't really that bad) is still mostly his old self. I was glad to see the original forms all get used, and it looks like next week will even see the return of the most underused of them all.

I also loved the re-use of old Kiva footage for the transformations. Saving some yen, sure, but it feels right. It's like how the old Riders' Henshin scenes would be used again and again, all the way into the 80's.

The action in this episode, by the way, was great, but more on that shortly.



Onto the regulars. Tsukasa still rocks and rolls. He's a pretty straightforward character, which works when you're throwing him into a new world every couple of weeks, but I like how we still get some development and subtle hints at his past. He definitely has seen this all before, somewhere, but even he's not sure.

I like his instant violin-playing skills. Not only does it allow for at least one familiar tune from Kiva to turn up, but it's a nifty idea, displaying some skill native to that world. I like his wacky violin case too.

Natsumi & grandpa are still good, although you have to wonder what Natsumi was thinking giving Tsukasa the thumb o' doom while riding on a motorcycle. I'm glad that they're keeping the main cast pretty low for this one, what with all the other Riders & "guest" characters. It's basically the above 3, and now Onodera.

I wasn't expecting so much Onodera Yuusuke action so soon after his own world's storyline came to a close, but he's all over the place in this one! I like how we're getting more and more Godai-isms from him; he's the voice of optimism (and reason) a lot of the time in this episode. I also like that he tries to reach out to Wataru, and sees a similarity between them. I'm still not sure what to make of how quickly Tsukasa gives up on Wataru; I think he's still slightly shell-shocked over how badly things went last time.

But it's great to hear Onodera refer to him as a friend, and try his damnedest to get Wataru's spirits up. The way he breaks up the fight too is great. Even if it's a different Kuuga, there's something instinctively awesome about seeing Kuuga being the one going to other Rider worlds and trying to get everybody on the same team. I hope they keep that up. Tsukasa's trying, but he's also got that ugly "the one to destroy everything" problem to deal with. Note how it gets him into trouble twice in this episode, once with Wataru and again with getting sent off to fight Kaixa.

One more thing about Onodera: I found it fascinating how he barely flinches when Swallowtail kills the Fangire lady, whilst Wataru is visibly distressed and even Tsukasa's got a "What the he-" look on his face. I know Yuusuke already knows the score, but I couldn't help thinking that perhaps it's also got something to do with the fact that he's from a world where the monsters are universally evil.

So either he's pleased to be in a world with good monsters, or he isn't affected by the brutal justice because it's closer to what he knows. Or maybe I'm just pulling this all out of the editor going hod-wild, but either way it's kind of brilliant.

Oh, and I love those random pseudo-wheelies whenever he takes off on his bike.



Narutaki's up to no good again, and he's got a little pal in the form of Kivahla/Kivaara/however you want to spell it. Still not sure what to make of her, but we know that Narutaki got here before Tsuaksa & co. because once again, the "devil" business comes up, and leads into the main fight of the episode.

And as for that mysterious man... Well, I've got a few theories on him. The big one is that he's the Otoya equivalent, and this Wataru's daddy. All signs would seem to indicate that he's at least somehow connected, given how he just let himself into the Kurenai household (which ain't looking so good here) and the violin business. He speaks of how he loved a human woman... so in this world Wataru's mom is human and his dad is a Fangire? Well, we don't quite find out if he's a Fangire, and Tsukasa has doubts. But...

Consider the new villain for Kiva's world, the Beetle Fangire. He looks cool, but notice that the opening credits don't list a VA. This leads into my second theory. I think the mysterious man is the Beetle Fangire. And thus, possibly Wataru's dad. It could turn out like this, or not.

It could all be a whole lot of misdirection, and the mysterious man is, like the Bat Orphenoch in Faiz, just some guy. He bumbled into Wataru's house and happens to know how to play the same tune. And the Beetle Fangire is actually Onodera (which would be one helluva messed-up twist.) I'm sure there will be some connection between all the factors though.



As for the fight scenes, they're still great. Fresh off fighting a horde of villains & the Hoppers, this episode is more about one-on-ones. Decade vs. Lion Fangire, which is over amusingly fast. One of the baddest boys from Kiva, and he's a chump here. It does give Decade a good excuse to drop in a "Kamen Rider" in the dialogue though.

Kiva vs. Decade is, actually, pretty awesome. Rider vs. Rider fights aren't something I'm particularly tired of, but I do think that, when lacking proper motivation, they can end up looking more than a little forced. Thankfully, the motivation is here, and while it's simple ("a little misunderstanding" or "nasty Rider appears outta nowhere") it works.

The fact that it's Riders from different series helps freshen it up a bit, and the foreknowledge that the good Riders eventually join forces and team up helps. It suddenly becomes character-building, or at least an entertaining distraction from fighting the real bad guys.

In this case, it's also a great exercise in crowd-pleasing. I mean come on: who hasn't somehow connected Kiva's forms to Kuuga's by now? All that's missing is Pegasus vs. Basshaa, but at least the latter put in an appearance. And Titan Form creating his sword out of the Dogga Hammer is like, something that I thought only I would have come up with! Dragon vs. Garulu is one that didn't occur to me before, and now it makes so much sense. I loved the heck out of this fight.

Decade-as-Kuuga worked as well as Decade as the other Riders in the first episode. That is, it worked great. I love the Form Ride cards and the excitable belt voice that accompanies them. While I hope we still get some action from the actual Kuuga, Decade using his powers and forms was pretty neat. Before the show started, I wasn't sure how this idea would turn out, but I actually like it a lot. It's nice that Decade's got his own arsenal of cards as well, Slash & such.



And of course then there's Kaixa. It was great to see him again, and they wisely went with the Kusaka incarnation (complete with proper voice.) I mean I know, who else could they have gone with as the user? Well, with the Faiz crew, you never know!

He's one of those characters that polarizes fan opinion, but I always leaned towards the "love to hate because he's such a magnificent bastard" stance. He's like, so nasty at times, but he's loads of fun to watch. I mean his first line here basically sums up the character: "I'm taking your belt." It's great, it's true to Faiz and it's ice cold.

The stadium location (which should look familiar) is great, and I like how it's juxtaposed with Beetle Fangire storming Castle Dran and preparing to fight Kiva. It's also cool that the fight's pretty evenly-matched. I am really glad that we're sometimes seeing Decade in serious trouble, given how he cleaned house in his debut. I do think the cliffhanger's a bit oddly placed (I would have stuck it at some point with Decade clearly in a worse spot) but that's minor.

All in all, another great episode. Decade continues to surprise and impress. Can't wait for next week's episode.

Next Time: Beetle Fangire takes the throne, DoGaBaKi's suit gets dusted off for a return appearance, and Kiva turns into a giant Kivat bow. Welcome to Kamen Rider Decade episode #5.

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