Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

And so begins Part 1 of my epic 2-part Decade Final Wrap-Up Thingy. First, we'll take a look at the final two episodes together (as I'll be doing with the other Decade reviews when I play catch-up, aside from #29.) There's a lot to talk about, so let's get right to it.

Final Spoiler Warning Ride!



Kamen Rider Decade Episode 30: "The Great Rider War: Prologue" & Episode 31: "Destroyer of Worlds"
Written by Yonemura Shôji
Directed by Ishida Hidenori

The road to the end is always a special time in any series. Most Kamen Rider shows take at least two episodes to wrap things up, and that's just for the actual "final story" in writing/directing terms.

Sometimes the ball starts rolling even further back; even though Kamen Rider X's finale is essentially a one-parter, it finishes off a story arc that had been running for almost a dozen episodes. Agito famously takes its time getting to the end with a "calm before the storm" before the most epic fight ever to occur in your backyard, and BLACK RX marks its finish with several episodes bringing together all the Riders to do battle with the late 80's.

I'm not even sure where you could say the endgame for Kiva began, as things got pretty complicated as early as the late 30's (if not sooner.) Speaking of which, I now remember I still need to finish my Kiva Final Wrap-Up Thingy. Er... later!

I'm tempted to just cut right to the end of episode #31, since that's what everybody's talking about, but on reviewing the penultimate episode I actually found there's a couple interesting points to consider. To reiterate: prior to the final episode's airing I embarked on a nearly half day-long marathon of the series, so I watched #31 with #30 still fresh in my mind.

And well, I don't want to jump the gun or anything, but there's foreshadowing to the end right in the first dream sequence! Diend shoots him! I should have seen it coming. I love all the parallels between these final two episodes and the first one- the titles of #1 & #30 are nearly the same, even.

They really do go back to that location, and Natsumi's even in the dress. I've heard people find it weird why Apollo Geist puts her in that (off-screen), but I think it's just because he watched episode #1.

Oh also, there's the jar that Natsumi knocks over, right out of the OP. It's kind of nice to see the actual opening credits right after the dream sequence which pretty much is what the OP was always representing.

As has been pointed out, the fact that the final episode also opened with a regular credit sequence (rather than the usual abridged version with credits at the end) probably should have been a small indication that we weren't in for a normal finale.



Of course, who could really have expected a normal finale from Decade? This is the show after all that opened with every Heisei Rider going up against the titular star in an all-out battle/massacre. The journey since then sure hasn't been what anyone was expecting either. I know I wasn't expecting half the stuff we got.

I've been seeing a lot of comments feeling that the show lost its way after the stop off at Hibiki World; with all the Heisei Rider worlds visited in under 20 episodes, where were they to go next? I have to say that while I sort of agree it did go off in some unusual directions, there's two things to say in defense of what the series turned into.

One is that the original lead writer, Aikawa Shô, left the series following the end of the first cours (i.e., episodes 1~#13) for reasons I'm still not entirely clear on. As most everybody knows by now, this has happened before (Aikawa himself was the replacement guy when Blade's original main writer left.)

Unfortunately, Decade's probably the worst show for that to happen to, being so short and conservative with letting out its secrets (by #13, we knew very little about anything.) I don't know if Aikawa had a full plan for where the series would go from there; for all I know it could have turned out the same and the direction it took was in somebody else's hands anyway.



Either way, Aikawa was effectively replaced with Yonemura Shôji, who I'll talk about more in Part 2 of this wrap-up. Bottom line is, imagine if halfway through this review I had to go off and do something less productive (like read books to children, feed the poor, feed recycled books to poor children, etc.) so I turned the keys over to someone who missed half of Decade, but caught these two. The end result is going to be pretty interesting, if not always on-target.

The other thing I have to say in defense of the later half is that the fact that it meanders so much actually pays off in the final two episodes. While Tsukasa and co. have been running around having fun with the Shinkengers, BLACK RX, an eeeeeeeeeeeeevil version of Natsumi's World, etc. stuff has been happening to the places they've visited. Bad stuff.

The last two episodes of Decade are almost like having to go back to school again after the summer. There's an uncomfortable mood here, because what we always sort of knew was coming finally shows up: the end of the series, the Rider War, and ultimately, Tsukasa's destiny as a destroyer. Gone is the freedom and reassurance that no matter what, Decade will get out of of it because he's got powerful allies or some trick up his sleeve. This is where it gets real.

Basically, Tsukasa and the gang land on the Rider War World, which turns out to be the very result of all their traveling. Now people they met and considered friends are fighting and killing each other. Tsukasa's basically been on the run from his fate, albeit unknowingly, and it all comes back to bite him in the ass. And it bites hard.



These episodes are pretty daring, basically telling us that everything our heroes did was wrong, futile, or both. And yet, right up to the very end, they're still railing against fate and believing they made the right choices. Not to make a habit of it, but again, I'll get back to this later, let's cover the basics first.

It's great to see so much stuff returning. With two episodes to work with, I guess it would have been hard to cram in everything. I would have liked to see the other alternate universe Riders (and the finale pretty much confirms that they are indeed alternates, replacements, or something) as well as their original counterparts, but that's getting a bit unrealistic. Dammit, why did it have to end at #31!?

That we focus on Blade, Hibiki and Kiva is interesting. I'm assuming the choice of guest star actors has something to do with it, and Hibiki's there since they wanted to get both of the kids in on the action at the end. And also to have him say Henshin, because somebody out there had to be lying awake at night worrying about that.

There's also the fact that all of them have plenty of supporting Riders who can die and make you go "Oh @#$%!" whereas we're almost desensitized to seeing those extra guys from Ryuki die (I would have liked to see Ryuga appear and get killed the same way he's died every other time now, mid-kick. And remember when his Rider Kick was like, considered the most powerful thing ever?) Heck, between Ryuki, Decade and Dragon Knight, I'm pretty sure 2/3 of them have now gotten killed/vented/blown up/whatever more times than some other Riders have appeared onscreen.



Things are grim, despite the victorious upswing halfway into #31 (which is soon quashed in what has to be one of the darkest Rider twists in recent memory.) It is a war after all. Stuff blows up, people die. Riders and monsters alike get slaughtered. It was kind of neat to see that Kiva's World (which originally was just Kiva) eventually did get an IXA and a Saga, the former of which gets blown to hell. Nagooooooooooo!

Likewise, Mutsuki and Sakuya either survived their Paradoxa experience, or these are new guys (the fact that Kazuma doesn't use their real names suggests this, or maybe it's just the old "when they're transformed, we use that name" thing which has been around forever. Or there's my theory, where he just didn't even bother to learn them. "Come on, uh, you! Let's find... other guy!")

Of course I've got to talk about Amaki dying, since it's apparently continuing the so-called "Female Rider Curse" (which is a nicer way of describing what I call "Lazy Writing Disorder".) In this case though, I don't see it. Todoroki dies immediately after, and Saga then gets blown away following the commercial break.

Heck, it's not even the first death in the episode. It's a war, people are going to die, male or female, good or evil, Hibiki alumni or Kiva denizen. And to be fair, Amaki was just Ibuki with a girl's voice anyway. He/She was!



There's lots of great imagery. The forest of crosses, the return of BOARD HQ, the battle on the beach at the beginning, the cavern where Apollo Geist resurrects the new-old villains. And of course the church. These episodes are loaded with action, almost to the point where there's not enough time to resolve everything. Of course, that's exactly what happens (or doesn't happen), right? Oh yeah, I'll get there.

The regulars: Tsukasa, Daiki and Yuusuke deserve special attention later on. As for the others, Natsumi's got comparatively a lot to do here. It is her dream after all that kicked off the series, and starts off #30. She finally fesses up about it too, which is something I'd forgotten she hadn't done yet. She spends most of #31 as a hostage, but hey— a lot of the best Rider Girls usually do. And being hostage of Apollo Geist ain't too shabby. And the fact that the last shot of the series is one of her is cool, as she was also in the first shot.

Narutaki is pretty much Narutaki, I'll hold off on discussing him further until my final series overview, but it's funny to see him ask Decade for help. Like, he finally realizes just how useless at being an antagonist he is. It's also good that they saved up the pennies to make Kivahla/Kivaara/Kiwhatevera CGI again. That final showdown would have come off a lot goofier if they used the puppet. Her ability to make Yuusuke go eeeeeeeeeevil is kinda suspect, but we will be learning more about her eventually, that much has been hinted at.

Having seen All Riders, there's also a slightly creepy subtext to Eijirô's speech in #31. Yeah I know, if you've read the movie review then it's not that simple, but for all intents and purposes if you look at him as being the big S, it's kinda even better. I'll get back to Geist in a minute, you bet I will.



As I said earlier, it's nice seeing Kazuma and kid Wataru (and now-Hibiki-powered Asumu)all back. I mean obviously not as nice as seeing the real Kazuma and Wataru, but for purposes of the plot, it's good to bring back some of those AU guys.

Kazuma's demise is pretty shocking and I was surprised that they even offed the kids! I was sure their inclusion in the final battle meant they'd somehow live or at least get a gentler send-off. But nope, they die, or at least vanish. It's pretty horrifying in a way.

Also, no more low-angles for Wataru. He just grows like Hibiki! Watch for him using the Zanvat Saber too. Having them lead the other Riders and monsters from their world was cool, but even cooler is the twist that the monsters were already with Daishocker the whole time. This really does continue the movie's theme of the Rider villains finally getting fed up, joining forces and setting the mother of all traps (essentially, Tsukasa himself, a trap within the trap) to crush the Riders once and for all.

Aside from the Riders, #30's big guest star is Haga Yuria, though not playing Mari or Mio, but a new character named Yuuki, who is basically Mio if she were bad to the bone and now a sea cucumber. No really, that's what she's turning into (though the name "Thorn Fangire" sounds more imposing.) I can't believe she's just 21, but then she was young back in Faiz.

Her monster form's cool, and of course I must talk about her much-publicized marriage to Apollo Geist, a spectacular if bizarre little scene. I've got a theory about that which I'll bring up now that we've gotten to the big guy himself.



When I first heard he was coming back, I never would have guessed that Apollo Geist would turn out to be, essentially, the final boss (though with two post-series movies, that title's debatable.) But seriously: I expected he'd just be the new big baddie for RX World, and get knocked off in #27 by Team Kurata.

That he survived to plague Amazon was a surprise, and he escaped there too after surviving a Dai Setsu Dan (which is rarer than someone who's read the Kamen Rider SD: Hurricane Legend and not gone totally insane.)

With each passing episode, I starting to get worried. I mean I am the biggest Geist fan I know, but even I will concede that going down to BLACK & BLACK RX is a fine way to bow out (though if you think about it, the fact that they can't defeat him technically means that X-Rider has a level of power equivalent to 2+ Kuratas, which is a helluva lot of power. See, I told you X-Rider was cool!) Even getting blown away by one of Decade's Super Duper Final Attacks 'O Doom Rides isn't so bad. It's funny how he often used those on random guys (revived monsters, Diend dupes) and I don't need to get into how we never saw the Ultimate Form one. Maybe in the next movie.



I was expecting he'd end up getting some crappy anti-climatic death, like getting killed by Shadow Moon as the silver one comes in to promote the movie (only to regret it later when he gets demolished by the Double Mint Twins.) Basically, Birugenia-style, only less cool since Birugenia had a stretch of episodes under his belt and by that point was getting so out of control, everybody was afraid of him. Only someone as off-the-charts as Shady could kill him.

When a character has basically 6 episodes though, I don't think they can ever really get stale even if they do the exact same thing every episode (and the only things Geist did every single episode he's in are be badass and harass Tsukasa.) Their ending needs to be something more real than getting knocked off by a bigger fish. V3's Baron Fang is a good example: the dude has 5 episodes under his belt, so his ending has to be awesome (and fortunately, it is.)

Really, about the only thing that could have been both anti-climatic and satisfying is that Apollo Geist escapes again... but back to X-Rider World, where the X-man is waiting to finish things. I'd have been happy with that, though obviously it would have undermined things for Decade, and it is kinda his show (another reason I wish we had gotten an X-Rider World in full.) And in a strange way, Apollo Geist has now become a Decade archenemy, in that way that Shadow Moon has also via the movie (well, I guess everybody is Decade's archenemy.)

I suppose I was just antsy since Yonemura's last real handling of a major villain defeat was Nogi. And While I'm fine with his first two deaths, his last one is... a bit underwhelming considering what the character began as. I know the real point of those last two episodes was dealing with the end of Tsurugi, but I'd have let Nogi go out on a high after 4 episodes, rather than turning into two guys who then get turned into mute zombies and die basically to give Gatack and the Hoppers something to do (admittedly, that is a great fight.)

Thankfully, I worried for nothing. I'm fine with Apollo Geist's death-by-Decade & Diend combo attack, though I do kinda wish they'd referenced Apollo Geist's defeat in episode #14 of X. If you know what I'm talking about, you know it would have been awesome. But I was happy with what we got. As I said at the time, they could have done literally *anything* after that and I'd be okay with it, because at least they gave one of my favorite Rider villains a cool exit. They sure did something alright!

Of course, Geist only goes down after doing everything in his power to be, in his own words, the greatest nuisance ever. I kinda prefer original's "I am GOD's Killing Machine!" catchphrase, but at least the new guy gets to leave his own stamp this way. I suppose it's fitting to try and do a new spin on it: I expect viewers who go back to watch X now after seeing Apollo Geist in Decade will be surprised at how he's even more vicious there, blasting people away at the slightest provocation (and believe me, I mean slightest) and generally setting out to be Jin Keisuke's worst nightmare. In mid-1974, he was Public Enemy #1.



That whole marriage thing and Apollo Geist's new-found Fangire powers did set off my internal Fan-O-Meter though. I mean according to Daiki back in #26, this is post-revival surgery Geist, which is episode #16 for the original. Now I know this guy is technically different, coming from a world where X-Rider's all on his lonesome and such.

Also, this Geist has (or had) his own Perfecter, which is what he was trying to get in his final episode in the original (the plot of which largely inspired this incarnation's back story.) But he's essentially the same character, if a different version. Much more so than a lot of the other AU characters.

His motivations are largely the same, his abilities and weapons, his whole aura. It's a far cry from Decade's version of Fourteen, which takes a mindless ancient power-up and turns it into a self-sentient criminal mastermind determined to turn everyone in the world into a flat actor.

Where this all kind of messes with my head is: is it possible for a guy who is 1) a cyborg and 2) already revived from the dead to become a Fangire? Granted what exactly constituted Fangireness was always a bit lost on me. I thought that it was something you just are, rather than become, i.e. the Orphenochs. It's something which awakens in you as it did in Mio, though I might be forgetting some key detail here.

In any case, it seems like a strange development, though I have a theory that Geist wasn't actually full-on Fangire, he was simply making use of their "technology". Since they're part of Daishocker already before this episode (or at least it's implied) it makes sense. Also, apart from the voice effects, the Life Energy-sucking things, and the clearly slapped-on new Fangire Perfecter, it seems like he's basically the same old guy.

The kiddie books actually support this theory (saying he "obtained the Fangire's power" rather than "became a Fangire" as they would say with someone like Mishima from Kabuto, where he actually went Native.) Also, it might have been them being cheap, but I found it interesting that when he does the "Fangs" bit in #31, they don't do the whole stain glass effect on his face, almost suggesting that it was a fluke rather than the rule.

Well okay, he's not quite the same old guy, as he apparently also gained God Mod powers from marrying Yuuki and sucking up a ton of Life Energy from all the guests. And he's now Super Apollo Geist, the greatest name change ever! No really, I love it. It reminds me of Super Grover. He also gets the a new Perfecter, which looks like a stuck-on chunk 'o Fangire, but it's modest compared to the SD Riders Apollo Geist makeover or his S.I.C. version.

He still gets to use his old weapons though: I liked seeing the Geist Cutter do some serious damage, as the original was basically insta-death (so was his gun though, something they understandably had to tone down or Decade would have ended in #26!) Yuusuke's damn lucky. The beginning of #31 where Apollo takes on everybody was great.

Given his comments towards Natsumi in #31, I think the whole marriage thing was mostly a formality and Yuuki just wanted in to Daishocker; had she not been eeeeeeeeeevil, Geist probably would have lunched on her life force next (but as the movie attests, Daishocker's one of the more sociable enemy groups, like all the Rider villains realized that killing their own guys for failing is actually not that smart.)



On the subject of the powers, I loved the end of #30 when he merges the worlds. It's exactly the kind of "Holy—!" moment the episode needed right at the end, with that great cliffhanger (I'm always partial to "evil laughing" cliffhangers.) The villain revival scene in the finale is great too, with Geist resurrecting a bunch of old monsters who then "die" and merge into the new Decade-originals.

I can see why Abyss and Gyûki are absent, but what did Gamio do wrong? Beats me. My theory is that the Rules of Revived Kaijin Army™ state that when reviving old monsters, there always must be some element of randomness involved. Kamen Rider vs. Shocker has this huge monster army of 30+ guys, but even then you'll find yourself saying "Hey, where's _________?"

Oh yeah, and speaking of randomness, eagle-eyed fans will note the weapons being wielded by the revived monsters are an assortment and a half. Tiger Orphenoch has what I believe is Armadillo Orphenoch's sword, Crocodile Imagine has Kamen Rider Yuki Ghost Form's sword from Final Countdown, Beetle Fangire has the Polar Bear Fangire's sword (which I think was recycled anyway), and Paradoxa Undead has one of Giraffa Undead's swords (and yes, sadly, I know which one. A couple of the high-level Undead weapons were named, how many people knew that?) I'm sure there's some story behind this.



All those guys go down pretty easily, but hey, that's revived monsters for you. Actually the whole ending set up reminded me a lot of the finale to Kamen Rider Stronger, which is funny because this episode is almost the antithesis of that while also being eerily similar.

I mean think about it: Both shows' finales involve a fight scene where an assortment of villains are brought back by a latecomer 'final' baddie, who is also holding the main guy's dearest friend hostage. Both are settled with low-key fights in the middle of nowhere between the monsters and the hero with several more Riders backing him up, but all this is just a precursor to a greater battle.

If you really want to stretch it, both Stronger and Decade end their respective eras without actually being the end of an era. There were more Shôwa series, just as there will be more Heisei series. The difference is kids in 1975 had to wait years for Skyrider to bust through a wall on his motorcycle, while kids these days just had to wait a week to see a helicopter gunship tear up a building while Double stood there looking cool (that was a great opening, no argument here.)

The similarities end there though. Stronger's finale brings together the 7 original Riders, complete with their original actors, and ends on a triumphant note. Whereas Decade does bring in the other Heisei Riders, and two of the original actors, and has Yuusuke apparently supplanting the original Kuuga. And the ending is, well...



Alright, I've been putting it off long enough, so let's talk about that ending. Or non-ending. I'm still not quite sure what to call it.

When I watch Kamen Rider on my TV here, I've got the clock up in the corner of the screen which is mercifully absent in the uploaded versions, or otherwise my screen caps would look worse than they already do. I always sort of glance at the clock every now and then, just to see how things are progressing. The 8:20 minute mark is usually where I say "Okay, here we go." If the fight hasn't started by then, it better get a move on!

With episode #31, I looked up to the clock to see about 8:22 and realized that there was no way they could resolve everything in two and a half minutes. Just no way. So I braced myself. I expected maybe a very open ending like "Well, let's go home" which would then lead into All Riders vs. Daishocker like I've long been expecting. Maybe Kenzaki would show up, admit that he goofed, and Daishocker really is the true enemy. Cuz I mean, that's basically the truth, innit?

Of course then we got the 'ending' that we got: in the space of about 2 minutes, Wataru appears, tells Tsukasa that he f#$%ed up, and then our hero is suddenly fighting to the death with the other Riders. Yuusuke's survived, but is now black-eyed Ultimate Form, and we all know that ain't good. Kenzaki's back and he is not happy.

Narutaki's laughing like the crazy old man that he is. Natsumi is helpless. Even Diend turns out to be a traitorous bastard, despite all that stuff about their friendship. Yeah, maybe it's a trick, but the last shot of Decade on TV is Diend shooting him the face. I can't wait to see how they explain that one in the next movie.

And yes, we're getting another movie. Although that was known well before the final episode aired, I don't think very many people knew that it was basically going to be episode #32!



I will hold off on my ultimate examination of Tsukasa for the full-series recap, but needless to say I love the things they did with him in these two episodes. He literally goes from being at rock bottom to on an all-time-high, only to have the rug pulled out from underneath him. He gets put through hell in these episode, getting beaten up by guest stars and told he's got it all wrong.

Yet he's as stubborn as a goat right up to the end. He believes he's right, he knows he's right. We know he's right in a way, though we'll have to see what the next movie does (All Riders basically says that he's right, but he has to realize just how right he is.

The whole theme of friendship is prevalent throughout these episodes, and I think that's what makes them such a great tragedy: Tsukasa went through the worlds, making friends wherever he went. Now these friends are fighting each other, and even when he tries to bring them together they're forced into turning against him (kid Wataru, Asumu) or perishing themselves (Kazuma.)

And then when they're gone, the people who were closest to him, people like Yuusuke and Daiki, even they turn on him. Not necessarily by choice, but because they must. In the end, Decade stands alone, with only Natsumi still on his side and she can't do a damn thing as the battle rages around her. Hell, original Wataru even showed up to tell him it was wrong to befriend the Riders. Ouch.



And you can tell it gets to Tsukasa. How many times during these episodes is Tsukasa reminded of his friends? Natsumi giving him the thumb 'o doom to get his indecisive ass up. Yuusuke, Kazuma and the others risking their own world because they believe in Tsukasa that much.

Daiki, who Tsukasa pretty much hated in previous encounters, ends up being his most important ally of all. And in the end, they all turn on him, leave him or can do nothing to help him. Possibly my favorite moment of the episode not involving Apollo Geist is when Decade turns to see Ultimate Kuuga. His quiet "Yuusuke" is pitch-perfect, a mix of betrayal and sadness. He might as well have added "Not you too..."

On the flip side, he does get the mother of all motivational speeches (which hints at possibly future Decade adventures!) and a Big Damn Hero moment. The magic boomerang cards is a bit strange, but it is a Yonemura Finale. Remember Tendô's Flower Power?



The original Rider's roles here are fascinating: they're pretty much bad guys! Kenzaki shows up in #30 to be an enigmatic bastard, then in #31 goes King Form on Tsukasa, trying to force him "out of this world". Good to see King Form in action, though I missed all those sound effects...

Then we've got Wataru's bring-down-the-hammer speech in the closing moments of #31, bookending his scene in the first episode. And the others are all there to bring in the hurt. It's more small-scale than the Rider War in episode #1, but somehow more personal. We know who Decade is now. He's not just the faceless uber destroyer, but the hero of the show.

It's great to see Takayuki and Seto back, though given their actions in this episode, I almost wonder if they are supposed to be playing who the credits say they are. Kenzaki in this episode reminded me a lot of his Titan doppleganger from near the end of Blade.

Even though he expresses understanding for Tsukasa's feelings about saving Natsumi, I found his cold attitude just a bit off. This is the guy who pretty much found himself in a similar situation once, though on a smaller scale with different things at stake. The Kenzaki I know would have been leading the rescue mission himself.

In fact, the whole "kill the AU Riders" thing is a bit disturbing and a signpost that there's something going on here. We'll have to wait to find out, but let the crack theory that they're all really Daishocker Riders start here!



Reactions to the final episode have been all over the map. In the poll I took (thanks to the nearly 400 of you who voted!) 26% liked it, 15% hated it and 58% weren't sure what the hell just happened. Sounds about right.

I've seen people praise the ending and await the next movie with great anticipation. I've seen others condemn Decade to the deepest levels of Hell (well, say they don't like it anymore) and some swear off Kamen Rider altogether. It's controversial as it gets, but all of Decade was to a degree (it's a series that, even though I love it, I can understand why people wouldn't.)

Personally, I liked the ending! But due largely to the fact that it was followed immediately by a trailer for the continuation movie. Had we not gotten that, and they just left us hanging, well... then I'd be a little miffed, mostly because I'm expecting (and hoping) that this movie will both address the issues from the last two episodes, and bridge the gap to All Riders. Because, having seen that, I can say that if that's where Decade's story ends up, it's satisfying enough for me.

And yes, I've seen a million and one fan theories about how that movie fits in, but trust me guys: if it happened between #29 & 30 or #27 & 28 or the commercial break of #31 or something, we would have gotten a hint. #15 ended pretty much screaming "Go see Chô Den-O NOW!", so I think Decade's own movie would have gotten a clearer transition.

Also, Toei did say that it is "the period of the story" and "Decade's final journey". Of course with a second movie to contend with, and I'm not ruling out the possibility that they'll go make it an alternate universe, which would be a shame since the things it does great things with Tsukasa, Natsumi and Yuusuke in particular. In some ways, making it an AU would almost totally kill the whole point of the series; if you've read my review, you know who Tsukasa is, and if you go back and watch the series with that in mind, some things start to stick out a little more. Something I thought about as I rewatched the series.

I'm going to end on quoting myself from a message board post, partly because my arms hurt from typing and partly because I don't think I could say this again without just rearranging the words:

"It will also be interesting to see what happens when the second Decade movie is out on DVD and everyone's finally seen it. Because then #31 is no longer "the cliffhanger from Hell". It's the lead-in to the ending so big, they felt TV couldn't handle it. They're basically doing what I wanted with Ryuki and Blade's endings and making the "ending movie" at the actual end, rather than trying to guess how it'll turn out and then doing something different anyway.

I dunno about other people, but I love that they're doing that. Eventually, you'll be able to watch the series, the movie (and possibly All Riders, when/if it's finally confirmed to be the true ending like they claimed) and you'll get the full story. Yeah, it sucks having to wait, that's not the smartest marketing strategy (I'd have gotten the movie in theaters like later this month) but that's Toei for you.

At least we've got Double to tie us over until then. Can you imagine all the angry comments about how there's no Kamen Rider at all for 3 months?"

And there you go. And yes, I know I'll get to see the movie sooner than most. But it's still a murderous wait, and at least if you read this blog, you'll get to know if the movie's worth waiting for or not! Though you probably don't need me to tell you that.



All in all, it's hard to write about this series finale because, well, it's not really the finale. It's a huge whopping cliffhanger at the moment, but in a few months it will be just the cliffhanger between the final episode of the series and the true finale, the one so huge it gets to be on the big screen. Will that live up to the anticipation (and believe me, there's going to be a lot of anticipation)? We'll just have to wait and see. I know I quote from Doctor Who far too much, but this really is a time when it's appropriate: "It's far from being all over..."

Stay tuned for Part 2, plus the first review of Kamen Rider W (Double)!

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