First: Same old trailer for Kamen Rider Double Forever: A to Z/ The Gaia Memories of Fate. Dopants new and old tearing through Futo, a lot of people looking wistfully at the camera, and just you wait... if we don't see a limited-edition 26-piece set of T2 Gaia Memories sold somewhere (probably online), I will be amazed. Double is in there somewhere too.
With that our of the way, it's time for part 2 of the Chô Den-O Trilogy, this time starring Den-O's successor from the future, the amazingly-titled NEW Den-O. or New Den-O, but I like using all caps like they do in Japanese because he is not simply new, he is NEW. So NEW that the next Den-O had to settle for just being a "G".
Although in a couple more years he'll be old, but who knows. Some people still think Kuuga is part of the "new generation" and in the time since that show was on the air, I have graduated high school and college, and lived in Japan for 3 years straight. So for me Kuuga (and Agito, and basically every Rider up to about Kiva) feels a bit old. And yet, that's not a bad thing! Who woulda thunk it?
So snarking aside, Old NEW Den-O is in this movie. Let's talk about it.
Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider The Movie: Chô Den-O Trilogy Episode Blue: The Dispatched Imagin is NEWtral
Synopsis
The movie opens with an unseen, heavy-breathing someone or something crawling along a sewer pipe. Oh #&$% me, it's Chiharu!
Okay, it's not. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's meant to be the film's villain, who is at this point a mystery (though you'd have to have been living under a rock for the past few months to now know who it turns out to be.) The mysterious character enters into the Station Master's home turf, the imposingly-named The Terminal, which has some kind of weird Middle Eastern-flavor bazaar deal going on.
The PA announces that there's a ticket thief on the loose and everybody begins making sure they've got their
This masked man covered head-to-toe in cloth gives them a merry chase, and by that I mean throws a guy into an escalator and kicks another one onto a shelf of stuffed animals. If you're lost, so am I. The masked guy then sprays out purple stuff that at first I thought was just sleeping gas, but apparently is nerve gas, as it leaves the security guys twitching and writhing on the floor. With that in mind, I think this movie has one of the highest body counts in Den-O if you're not counting all the times people got erased from time/existence. There's the massacre here, then a bunch of OL's take it later for no clear reason other than to showcase the villain being evil! No qualms there.
We also see that masked guy has a ticket dated for June 10th, 2010. Gotta love how this movie will be futuristic for at least a few more days. Escaping the Terminal, he(?) proceeds out onto the rooftop to run into Ryôtarô, still wearing a few shoe sizes less than he used to. I guess we've got to get used to the idea of him growing up all over again from here on out, though if they ever rope Sato back into appearing, I have the best way of how to go about it (he is ravaged by age-inducing Time Winds™ in a desperate attempt to save his friends!)
Ryôtarô becomes Den-O Sword Form and unmasks the villain in a tussle, and he turns out to be a she: the Mantis Imagin. The official pamphlet says this is the first-ever Female Imagin. I could have sworn one of the Snail ones from the series was, but at this point I'd be surprised if anyone's even keeping track any more.
Mantis Imagin is cool. She's got cutty things, which is pretty much a requirement for mantis guys/girls. They also take great pains to give her some sex appeal complete with saxophone music, though I'd wager that the slim design work of Nirasawa probably gets this idea across better than the suit does, though it's a cool suit and surprisingly dexterous at times. You also gotta love how Den-O ignores the collateral damage when a stray blast clearly blows out a chunk of building. Are they in the Abandoned Warehouse District or something?
Mantis kicks Den-O's butt and severely injures his ankle. It looks painful, in the audience-shuddering kind of way. The Den-Liner shows up to save him and we go to the opening credits, same as last time.
As an aside, something I noticed last time which I forgot to mention, but noticed again here: I'd swear that the Den-Liner exterior has changed, or maybe it's just innovations in high-def/computer graphics/my ability to notice pointless details. The front "windshields" look like they have more indentations or something, giving it a slightly more textured, circuit-board look. Dunno what it means though! It was probably always there and I never bothered to notice, but then again I admit in the old days I was just constantly distracted by that "backwards jumping thing" they did in the OP. How does he do that?
Anyway Momotaros and Ryôtarô are both heavily injured, though the former more so. His ankle's busted! Once again, I always thought that injuries Den-O took mostly affected Ryôtarô, but I guess it just works however they want (as witnessed in the last movie.) At the rate the Trilogy is going, Momotaros is going to end up in a coma at some point during Episode Yellow.
Sieg shows up. I'm going to preempt things a bit but he really doesn't do much, he's basically in the movie because the guys at Toei looked at each other and said "You know who wasn't in the last movie? Sieg!" So here he is. He basically just hangs out on the Den-Liner all movie, eating/drinking, annoying everyone and getting physically abused on multiple occasions. Maybe in the next trilogy (also featuring Episode Pink: Just Passing Through! and Episode Green & Black: Guess Who?) Episode White will see him getting his own plot again at last.
Let me backtrack though. Sieg appears because Owner shows up and tells everyone not to worry about the hero(es) of the series being beaten up; they've still got hope. And it's not Sieg.
It's not Zeronos either, since we just had his movie.
It's the other Den-O, Kôtarô! Along with Teddy, they make this triumphant walk through the Terminal, where just about every clumsy comedy accident happens (a kid drops a bucket of marbles, a guy drops a bucket of water, a huge stone boulder careens down an escalator... what?) And we learn that Teddy can always save him because he has Spidey-Sense! Or Teddy-Sense! Or maybe he's an Agito. I dunno. Basically the point here is to show that with Teddy around, Kôtarô could trip over a black cat sitting under a ladder and smash into a house of mirrors, and he'd be fine. The blue guy's got his back. They are summoned to the Den-Liner, and Teddy spots a trinket at one of the bazaar stands: two interlocked stars. This reminds him of something we'll get to later.
Meanwhile, on June 10th, 2010, a teenager named Uehara Miku says goodbye to her friends and heads to her house, only to spot an identical twin of herself standing in the garden. Despite momentarily freaking out, it appears she just imagined the whole thing. Or did she? Also, I'm convinced I read the time wrong, because I thought it said 5 AM and it sure as heck doesn't look like 5 AM during this scene, though I don't know when it could be. It's not 5 PM, but they've just come back from shopping and it's hard to find any place around here that opens before 8 or 9. The future is weird.
Back on the Den-Liner, Owner drops a bombshell: despite Kôtarô and Teddy being the central characters of the movie and presumably needing to be partnered up to do some world-saving (seeing as how Teddy is his favorite weapon and all) he reveals that the contract between them is now technically complete. Cue some stock footage right out of Final Countdown. There you go. At this point, we might as well just start planning on counting the Shin-O thing as canon (and trust me, I say that with much trepidation.)
Continuity blathering aside, the point of this scene is to show that Kôtarô and Teddy were really only supposed to be working together for that mission, as Teddy was assigned by the Terminal to work with Ryôtarô's grandson, rather than the way in which the main man (or boy) met his Imagin and is with them for life. And since Teddy plays by the rules, he has no choice but to agree to Owner's order that he start working under him. He crumbles away into sand and goes to Owner, reforming, and leaving Kôtarô (and everyone else) stunned. Kôtarô realizes how it's "just that simple..." that Teddy can move on to the next job. Owner comments that Teddy will need a new name, and calls him Aleksandrovich. Why? I don't know.
(This seems like a really jerk move on Owner's part, though don't worry, it makes sense in the end. Sorta.)
Kôtarô immediately starts having bad luck, like his grandaddy (back in the TV series, anyway.) Before breaking the contract, Teddy was there to protect him at all times, as we see earlier in this scene when he deflects Naomi's giant ice cream sundae bucket onto the other Imagin. Now? As Kôtarô tries to leave, the door only opens halfway and he smacks into it headfirst. This door will give him trouble later, including a scene where he attempts to run through and it closes on him. The old Nogami Luck, or something.
Of course, the question you're all asking (and that Kohana asks) is why can't Teddy still hang around with Kôtarô and help him when he fights? According to Owner, doing so would be in violation of his contract and lead to his death! I guess it sucks to be the next generation some times, since this rule apparently doesn't apply to anyone else, what with Deneb jumping into everybody he can and Momotaros taking no fewer than 3 non-Den-O Riders out for joyrides.
Airi, Ozaki & Miura are apparently under contract to appear in all 3 episodes, so we get a scene of them yammering away about Miku's Doppleganger. At this point I think Ozaki & Miura have given up on trying to woo Airi and just turned into her loyal footmen or something. Anyway the point of all this is to have Kôtarô (who overhears things and needs something to do now) come in and have them explain the plot during a jump-cut, after which Airi comments that he reminds her of Ryôtarô. Fan service!
On that note, poor Kôtarô. He has got one messed-up time line by now. "Well basically, I went back in time to help my grandfather at the time he was around my age, but then he got turned into a kid and is stuck that way so I'm like his big brother, and now I just met my own aunt who has already met the guy who she falls in love with, but she's meeting him again now at a point before he met her. I also met him when he was a kid. Also, I think that little girl who used to be like 20 might be my aunt or something. Also, I was in a team-up movie with Decade."
Back to the B Plot, where Miku (who lives with her grandmother) is preparing to go out for her birthday, even though she promised she'd spend it with grannie. Oh no, domesticity! Fortunately they tone it down when things get interesting: Grannie lets Miku go, putting away the gift she was going to give her (a wind chime) but then Miku comes back in, but she's much less jovial and ditzy. Then another Miku comes in, presumably the first one, and thinks that the sour-faced Miku is actually an imposter! Or is she?
Kôtarô and Kintaros (in an elephant costume) are wandering around and hear a scream, and rush to find the scene with Grandma and the two Mikus. The more emotive one insists that the serious one is the fake. We see that the latter Miku has sand pouring from her, like an Imagin contract-holder. Grandma looks at her and believes her to be real though. Elsewhere, Mantis Imagin observes and is upset that "Den-O is too close" so she starts jumping around to get Kôtarô's attention. He and Kintaros make tracks, with Kôtarô encountering more ill fates along the way (getting splashed with a bucket of water, running into two guys carrying a billboard across the street) and he thinks back to how this wouldn't happen if Teddy were around.
Kintaros lends a hand by possessing him and K-Kôtarô tracks down the female monster to a warehouse. He becomes NEW Den-O, and Kintaros morphs into the Kintaono, a bigass Kintaros-shaped ax (this is apparently a NEW Den-O-specific ability, turning his Imagin buddies into weapons.) Whilst powerful, it proves to be too heavy for NEW Den-O to really use effectively, so he gets thoroughly thrashed.
Back on the Den-Liner, Kohana tends to Kôtarô's injuries. Teddy (sorry, Aleksandrovich) and Owner come in, and Teddy/Aleksandrovich's job is to polish Owner's giant spoons that he keeps in a metal briefcase. Sieg's still eating and annoying everyone. Kôtarô wants to get back to investigating the Miku thing, as he's got one of those "feelings" (that the B plot will actually make sense with A plot) so Ryuutaros elects to go with him.
R-Kôtarô goes back to Miku's house, where her grandmother is having the two Mikus make spicy pickles to determine which one is truly real. It turns out both make some damn nice pickles, though the serious sand-dropping Miku is more skillful in the culinary arts. By the way, Sakurada's possessed acting here is great, using the chopsticks like toothpicks to skewer pickles.
So Grandma has the two Miku's playing tennis against each other while Kôtarô and Ryuutaros watch (well, Ryuutaros is sledding down the mountain on cardboard. He's at his lowest attention span ever in this movie.) Kôtarô is victim of more bad luck, getting bashed in the head by a soccer and rugby ball (though not at the same time) and having a bird crap on him. On the upside, at least that mysterious hammy-tough guy-creating virus that was all over the place in Episode Red seems to be gone, so nobody wants to randomly beat him up. Actually, everyone who wrongs Kôtarô in some way is awfully nice about it. Maybe these movies are taking place in separate continuities!
Mantis Imagin is also watching and, upset by how long things are taking (since she wants to get to the whole "going-back-in-time-and-wrecking-stuff" part) and she sprays her purple toxin out everywhere, killing all the leaves on the trees. This gets our hero's attention of course. The Den-Liner swoops in to pick up Kôtarô and the more serious, competent Miku, and leaves behind Ryôtarô, who is back on his feet and has joined with Ryuutaros to become Den-O Gun Form.
It's at about this point that Kobayashi (who is on writing duties again) plays the ace up her sleeve, and the pretty mundane Doppelganger plot turns into something a whole lot more interesting. You see, up until now I was thinking that there'd be some twist like someone else wished they could be made to look like Miku so as to take on the life that she doesn't seem to appreciate, or it was Imagin time-trickery, or something.
It just seemed like one of those plot lines that isn't quickly resolved because nobody thinks to do it. Tendô would call Worm shenanigans, the other-other-other Kôtarô would say it was a Gorgom plot and Tsukasa would probably deck both of them in the face and whoever got up was the real one, then he'd reveal he knew that all along. In other words, why is this being dragged out like so?
It's actually one of the best twists in a Den-O story yet and elevates Episode Blue from being the middle child between "At Last! Zeronos's story is complete!" and "At Last! Maybe we'll finally learn more about who the hell Diend is!" As it turns out, the sand-dropping grim-faced "Doppelganger" Miku is actually her from the very near future. As she relates to Kôtarô and Kohana on the Den-Liner, when he told her grandmother that she was going out and they could celebrate her birthday "another time", that kicked off a bad habit. "Another time, and then another time, and then another time..." She kept putting off doing things with her grandmother, until it turns out she passed away later that summer.
Miku didn't realize what she had until she lost it, and she wants to make amends. So she made a contract with the Mantis Imagin, who had to steal that ticket so they could go back a couple months and she could set right what was wrong. The problem of course is that she was already there as well, oblivious to her own future actions and thinking she was some kind of imposter.
Miku's story resonates with Kôtarô, who realizes his relationship with Teddy was the same: even though Teddy is his friend, he never really, truly appreciated him when they were together, simply taking advantage of their friendship. Now that he's lost that though, he can understand how she feels (Teddy overhears this, of course.) Kôtarô resolves to still help any way that he can, and good thing too because Mantis Imagin knocks Ryuutaros right back onto the Den-Liner, leaving Den-O reduced to Plat Form and of not much use.
Miku wants to get off of the Den-Liner and set things right, though Kohana warns that if she returns to her past (our present... oh hell, June 2010) she is in danger of vanishing entirely because the Mantis Imagin can jump further into her past and prevent her from existing... or... something. I guess it's the usual Imagin antics but Kohana phrases it like it'd be instant death if she steps foot back in regular time.
Kôtarô goes along with Urataros, who is prompted by Momotaros. This is a cool scene for Momotaros, who has been berating Teddy all movie long for just up and abandoning Kôtarô like that, telling him how he knows his mind is elsewhere (he goes from shining spoons to shining a pepper shaker. Uh... symbolic?) There is some amazing acting going on here from what's basically a bunch of guys in unmoving masks; it's all down to body language and the voicing. Great stuff. Teddy will soon join the fray, but not quite yet.
NEW Den-O shows up, now wielding the Uratazao, which is what happens when he turns Urataros into his weapon: he becomes a fishing rod/whip. After momentarily getting stuck on a tree, NEW Den-O starts whipping the hell out of Mantis Imagin. And yes, it's every bit as innuendo-laced as you think (with Urataros commenting "it's almost like she enjoys it.") Hey, they've got to do something for the adults in the audience I guess. In the interest of fairness, Plat Form gets accidentally whipped a bit too.
NEW Den-O gets beaten up, and knocked back to Kôtarô. Urataros gets thrown back onto the Den-Liner (this is becoming a trend) prompting Miku to hoof it, as she's decided that the only way to set things right is to find Grandma. Kohana goes after her, and after the aforementioned prompting from Momo, Teddy goes as well, even though he knows it may kill him.
Teddy drives up on Den-Bird, saving Kôtarô. How, I'm not sure. Mantis Imagin gets hit by bullets and then there's Teddy. I can't remember, but does Teddy shoot anything? Does the Den-Bird? Maybe it was Deneb hiding in the bushes? Or time-traveling Hyper Kabuto? Or maybe Double Luna-Trigger shot at her all the way from Futo because Philip is just that hardcore.
Anyway, he explains how he feels the same as Miku and Kôtarô. Up until now, he has been Kôtarô's partner-in-crime, his ally and bodyguard... but he's also been his friend, even if he never realized it until they were separated. Even if it's the end for him... it would have been worse if he could never see Kôtarô again. At least this way, they can fight together one last time.
Kôtarô becomes NEW DEN-O, and Teddy becomes Macheteddy. Mantis Imagin turns day into night all so we can have a shot of her rising up in front of the moon, referencing the story they based her design on. The effect here is funky, a seamless blend of obvious on-location wire work to obvious green screen. It's like merging two iffy effects shots into something that's actually really good-looking!
NEW Den-O and the Mantis Imagin duke it out (there's a cool moment where he uses the sword part of his gun before he finishes her off with his trademark big slashing attack thingy, Counter Slash. They even do "the countdown we haven't done in a while." "Make it 12... no... 10."
The monster goes boom, and it's a happy ending, right? Right? Kôtarô thinks so, but Teddy shakes his head. He broke the contract, and he begins to crumble away. With some parting words, he hands Kôtarô the interlocked stars charm (he had one too, symbolizing their friendship) and he becomes a pile of sand. Kôtarô sinks to his knees, depressed to see his friend gone again.
Miku goes back to her Grandma and we wrap up that plot as well. I have no idea what happened to the other Miku as there's only one in this scene and it's the future version. I guess time just straightened out the wrinkles or something. Grandma reveals that she knew that both Mikus were her real granddaughter, and that no matter what happens from here, the memories they share together will live on forever and all that jazz. They celebrate Miku's birthday together.
Kôtarô's back on the Den-Liner feeling depressed, as is everybody else, over the loss of Teddy. Owner shows up to reveal that he has a new Imagin for Kôtarô to make a contract with. Momotaros is angry at him for being jovial at a time like this, but Owner
Everyone is overjoyed to see him back, not the least of which is Kôtarô. After the celebratory coffee and more Sieg-bashing, the Den-Liner drops the two off back in their own time, and Kôtarô and Teddy walk down the road into the end credits. And try to figure out what happened to their Den-Liner, presumably, since the current one swiped their interior decorations.
The End... for now.
There's a post-credits scene with Miku being returned to her own time (August 2010) and walking through her now-empty house. Though one thing has changed; a letter and a present from her dearly departed grandmother, thanking her for the memories. She cries as the wind chime jingles in the background.
Review
Ever since the character first appeared back in 2008, it seems like a lot of people have taken to the idea of NEW Den-O having his own spin-off series. After all, he was in the supposed "final" Den-O movie, right? If you want to get technical, it was, since everything since has been Den-O appearing in someone else's show/movie, or part of the Chô Den-O Series, which basically translates to "putting this extra word in front to cover our collective butts."
But the fact remains that while that movie was intended as a way to say goodbye to the Den-O cast we knew and hopefully loved from the TV series, it also introduced the next generation of a Den-O-style Rider, who conveniently enough is Ryôtarô's grandson from the future. And there's a whole lot of story potential right there. Who is his dad? Who is his mom? Does he have any siblings? What's the future like anyway? Is it a cool future or a crappy one (given what we've seen, I'd say it's basically the same as the present except there are more Den-O movies around by then.)
And then there's the fact that he just looks cool. I know people who hate the standard Den-O designs, but love the NEW Den-O look. Maybe it's the eyes; I dunno, but NEW Den-O has some cool-looking eyes. The color scheme is great too, with all those blues and gold. And he's got a big honking sword. Whatever the case, it's a unique design, taking Den-O as we know it and dialing it up further, and coupled with interesting story potential has made the character an instant fan-favorite.
Personally though, I've always been iffy. NEW Den-O is great in Final Countdown, because it's his movie. He's all over it, arguably the main character even though that film is the very definition of ensemble piece; virtually every character feels important in some way. But his basic plot line was also pretty much tied up: at the beginning of the movie, he's a cocky bastard who thinks gramps basically sucks; by the end, he's learned some humility and realized the old guys are every bit as cool in their own way, but he also still comes out of it as the hero. In terms of his central idea (the new kid on the block who thinks the old kid has lost his charm) we basically got it over and done with.
I think this is evident in the first Chô Den-O film where he's basically just part of the crew: he gets in some good fights, gets captured for a while, gets back on his feet by the end and helps fight evil (and also gets a new form.) That's really Yuu's movie, and considering it's also got Ryôtarô and his cast plus Decade characters in on the fun, Kôtarô and Teddy just sort of blend in with the crowd.
Ah yes, Teddy. I like Teddy, but if I had to rank all the main Imagin in terms of how they've fared over the years, he'd probably be near the bottom. Momotaros is still the king, pretty much half the reason Den-O is still as popular as it is in Japan, because we can't get enough of the big red one, thanks to the 1-2-3 punch of great writing, great suit acting, and great voice acting. Heck, he gets as much screen time in All Riders vs. Daishocker as some Riders and it still feels forgivable.
After that, there's Deneb, who was one of the best things about the TV series and continues to steal scenes wherever he goes. He kicks, ass, plain and simple. You could basically put together a 25-minute Kamen Rider episode of Deneb, Apollo Geist, the Hoppers and the Agito cast painting a fence and I'd call it the best episode in years.
After that, things sort of boil down to personal preference. Being a Kansaiphile, I'm always going to love Kintaros, even if he does next to nothing anymore that anybody else doesn't do (Episode Blue had the first really memorable Kintaros action in a while.) Sieg is always good for a laugh, but as this movie proves, you kind of need to come up with a good reason to have him around; just sticking him in doesn't do him any favors. Speaking of which, for something called the Chô Den-O Trilogy, there's a conspicuous lack of Chô Climax Form or Chô anything!
Urataros & Ryuutaros I can take or leave, since the really interesting aspect they each have (ladies' man and hyperactive ball of destruction) tend to get downplayed lately, and they're just kinda there. And then there's Teddy. Like his partner in crime, I think Teddy worked great in his original movie, then just sort of fell into the background. In the first Chô Den-O, I barely even remember what he does aside from not be the giant sword during the end battle, and be one of the guys to be like "Oh craaaaaaaaaaaaap" when Diend swings by to drop some fan service on us.
So as mentioned, it was with some skepticism that I approached this installment of the trilogy. Both episodes Red & Yellow had/have something I really wanted/want to see. Red had strong thematic links back to the TV series, but more than that I just love the characters of Yuuto (his younger, crabbier self) and Deneb. Yellow has... well, Diend swinging by to drop some fan service, but I enjoyed Decade so much I'm always happy to see what they do with it next. It engaged in a way no other show since Blade has quite managed. I like Double, but I loved Decade, even if it's poorer in just about every conceivable way aside from lead villain (Ryuube's cool, but he's ultimately a cranky old geezer with a magical hole his basement. Decade swiped its TV series big bad from another show, but they swiped a really, really good one.)
Episode Blue... well, I like NEW Den-O, but what else can you really do with him? As it turns out, quite a lot.
I'm pleased to say Kobayashi found a way, though it remains to be seen if this is a one-off or she could keep it up for future adventures with the character. If Final Countdown was basically about deconstructing Nogami Kôtarô to then build him back up as a hero at the end, Episode Blue is about taking apart the relationship he shares with Teddy and really looking into how it works. In a way, you almost could have done this idea with Zeronos and Deneb, though Yuuto has extra baggage that we'd probably want to see handled first, which we did in Episode Red.
Speaking of that movie, how does the second installment stack up? I'd probably have to say that I enjoyed it more, despite the lack of Deneb and fact that it's less about resolving long-dangling plot threads and more about introducing new ones. It's a truly-self contained adventure in some ways, while also referencing the past (via stock footage.) While it continues with the "Chô Den-O Trilogy, in that Den-O is the star" vein, it also feels like there was more focus on Kôtarô and Teddy than there was on Yuuto and Deneb (or Yuuto and Airi.) Giving NEW Den-O more fighting time and letting him actually defeat his movie's villain helped.
Of course, I should mention here something raised in the review for the first part: this trilogy is more akin to 3 movies connected by characters, rather than an actual ongoing plot (other than it being the plot of everything Den-O.) That tape measure bit from Episode Red turned out to be nothing, and I couldn't see any kind of plot points set up to be addressed in the final part. It's basically 3 standalone films. On the one hand, if you're only planning on seeing one or two, you're in luck. If you want something with a wider narrative though... well, I'll get back to that when I do a wrap-up review of the whole trilogy.
Anyway, the movie immediately removes Momotaros and Ryôtarô for a good chunk of the action early on, letting the movie-specific stars have more of a chance to shine. The rest of the supporting cast is their usual good selves, though I do have to point out some specifics.
First, Sieg. Like I mentioned, he pretty much shows up and doesn't do much outside comic relief, and if there's one thing Den-O is never short on, it's that. I welcome his inclusion, though I do wish he got to do more. Even a token Wing Form appearance? He's apparently not in Episode Yellow, so I guess this is it for now. Maybe next time. All the same, it's always good to see him back.
Next, Owner. I commented in that podcast I keep forgetting to link to that Episode Red kind of felt like a Den-O script that had been shelved back in 2007, being a bit more in-tune with how the TV series was than a natural progression of the movies that came after it. Episode Blue almost has that same feel. There's a real attempt to flesh out the Terminal place more, filling it up with extras and such. There's an old-fashioned Imagin plot (albeit with a great twist), not dead guys or Oni or crime syndicates.
And there's the characterization of Owner. Early on in the series, I felt Owner had a bit more mystique to him, a bit less credibility and a kind of irritating detachment. He's not entirely trustworthy and tends to speak cryptically, with this blase, almost cold attitude towards "the little people". He's concentrating on protecting time above all else, though never being outwardly antagonistic. Just kind of kooky mastermind-ish.
He mellows quickly, but it's about the time of the first movie that he really matures into being the more lovable guy who would go on to do things like power the Den-Liner with a bicycle to help save Ryôtarô and even be willing to give up the Den-Liner to save his friends. Early-series Owner is a guy I kind of want to strangle sometimes, whilst later on he's channeling every lovable crazy uncle figure I can think of.
In this movie, Owner feels kind of off, though this is the point, and it's mostly explained away by the end. I think you'll have to see it for yourself; I might give the impression from the review that he's a mean old bastard, but it's not quite that bad. I was half-expecting someone to slug him though (and if this were an Inoue production, someone would! Which would then knock him into water.)
Lastly, the side characters. I admit I came down harsh on Episode Red's non-regular cast a bit; and in retrospect it's more down to the script than acting (call me crazy, I just want to see what Yuuto's up to rather than having guys trash the Milk Dipper for no clear reason other than because... yakuza do that? C'mon, they had a whole movie to do that!) With Episode Blue though, they pulled off a nice trick.
I was not expecting to care as much about Miku and her grandma as I did. In the same way that the movie really made me care about Teddy (more on that later) I got pulled into these side characters and their side story. Which, in a testament to Kobayashi's skills as a writer, blended back into the main Kôtarô/Teddy story perfectly. I'm not sure what happened with the whole "two Mikus" thing, but I'm willing to overlook it. It's time travel! You're going to get stuff like that.
That they once again made really interesting use of time travel helped out. Like last time, the Den-Liner really doesn't go anywhere aside from quick hops into the near and slightly further future at the end, but there's time-travel hijinks going on all around this movie. The concept of having an Imagin contract person want to go back and alter their own history is inspired; it's actually the sort of thing I'd like to see tried again on a grander scale. What's interesting about it is that the movie makes it out to be kind of futile and kind of not; future Miku running around in the past doesn't make any massive changes to the time line, though it does "set things right".
In fact, I was really impressed by the post-credits scene (between this and Ryu's "Let's kick some ass" debut in Double & Decade, Toei seems to be on a crusade to make up for that "wonderful surprise" at the end of Kamen Rider THE NEXT. The one that almost caused me to demand my money back!) They handled the grandmother's death really, really well. It's sad, but not movie-crushingly depressing, and even uplifting in a way because you know that at least she was at peace now. It's one of the most mature things I've seen Kamen Rider do in a long time, actually. Kudos to that.
Getting back to Teddy: this movie really made me care about his plight, and I was actually kind of really upset when he "dies". I mean, now all our NEW Den-O toys are outdated! Granted, I should have seen what was coming, but the clever thing is that the movie plays it close to the chest; unlike my summary, enough time elapses between his "death" and return that I really was convinced after a while, and he doesn't have the same bulletproof star power of the main 4 or even Deneb & Sieg.
At least, until now; I don't think they can even try to kill off any of the Imagin anymore without the audience calling foul, though there is another movie to go, and I have my idea of the ultimate Den-O villain that I'm saving up for some day.
Would it have been more bold to really go for it and kill him off? Probably, but coupled with the grandmother would have made for much more of a downer ending and pretty much kicked wish fulfillment down the stairs. What I like about what we have is that the movie's not afraid to land one punch and show that yes, the people we love won't be around forever, but they always live on in our hearts through our memories. Miku can't avert the inevitable, but she was able to get a second chance and find some peace (kinda like that guy in the first two episodes!)
It pulls the other punch and keeps Teddy alive, but he's a creature of fiction. He literally is a memory, in a way. I supposed that once Kôtarô goes, he theoretically should go too, but it's not time for that yet. Keeping him around shows the kids that if you believe in them that strongly (as Kôtarô believed in their friendship) the people you love will always be there. And in Teddy's case, it's literal. Alternatively, if you look at the Imagin as being representative as childhood imaginary friends, that's a powerful little statement.
Beyond that, not much else to say. My big gripe with Episode Red (that it feels like a TV episode stretched out) does kinda hold true here; 73 minutes and only one villain? Yikes! But Episode Blue filled out its running time better, threw in a couple good fights, and has some serious heart. If you think Den-O movies are now nothing more than an excuse to have the Imagin throwing food at each other... well, you're partly right, but it's just the frosting on what's still a very rich, layered cake. Mmmmm, cake...
Oh, and "Double Action: Strike Form?" It sounds mostly like an amped-up version of the original Sword Form, but that's a great song so no problems there. I like it.
Definitely recommended.
Next time: It's Diend, but the moment has been prepared for. Yonemura takes another shot at writing the Den-Oniverse as Daiki takes on a time cop with a golden gun. But the real question: Will Ryuga die while performing his Rider Kick yet again? Be there in 2 weeks!
***
Hey man, thanks for another great review.
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know, I just found a list stating that Toys R Us is going to release the full 26 Memory set of T2 Memories:)
"It's Diend, but the moment has been prepared for."
ReplyDeleteOh, sir, turn in your TARDIS key for that one. Wow.
(Well played)