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venus-says · 4 years

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Kamen Rider W Episodes 19-36

Even during the most fun rides, you can find some bumps in the road.

Time for another batch of Kamen Rider W. This second part wasn't as satisfying to me as the first one, I must admit, but I'm still enjoying every moment of it.

This second major arc is the one dedicated to the "sixth ranger" of this season, Terui Ryu AKA Kamen Rider Accel, and this was without a doubt the element that made me enjoy less these 18 episodes.

Sixth Rangers, in general, is an "archetype" that gives me a lot of conflicting feelings, while I like the addition of more people to the cast, I always have this fear about this alien element and how will it blend with these characters that already have well-established relations that I care for. So more often than not I tend to not like them as much at first, but depending on how they're developed they can raise to the top of my favorite' list. Sadly in Ryu's case, he didn't cross this "barrier".

One of my problems with him is the problem I have with the majority of Sixth Rangers' being that he was never introduced to us before. Had we seen glimpses of him here and there during previous episodes, he didn't even need to have lines for said appearances, it would build up some hype for his introduction and would make the moment he turns into a Rider a very exciting moment. Sadly that wasn't what we got so I couldn't really care about him that much, especially because he was a jerk, and that weakened the character for me right from his first appearance.

My other problem with him is the lack of development he got. I don't know if the writers didn't know what to do with him, but he was very flat. He started this arc on a Point A, and he stayed the same without showing signs of improvement until we reached Point A where he had a sudden change of heart, then he flatted out again until we reached the end of this arc where he was already at Point C. Putting in other words, we didn't see his development he just went from Point A to Point B, and from Point B to Point C, being points B and C the only times we saw him changing his character.

And this is something I think would've been very easy to do. Like, make him a jerk at his first appearance, make the plot of the mom trying to cover for her son be his third/fourth story and have him actually hurt the mom to later find out she was innocent, that could've made some impact on him and already set up for his turning point that would happen after Shotaro "sacrificed" himself for him a few episodes later. Then have the victim of this last story meet up with him in some of the episodes in between these two points so we can feel something being created there making his final moment be more rewarding. This would be a much better arc, that would make me feel more sympathetic to the dude and that would actually make sense.

The next big problem I have is Phillip (again). I thought episodes 7 & 8 were his lowest point and from that point onward he could only grow because he was already so low there was no way for him to go down any further. And that was working pretty well until we reached episode 32 and the guy who until a few moments ago was saying "you're my partner, I couldn't do this with anyone else" simply dishes Shotaro out because for some reason now he thinks that's okay. Thanks, I hate it.

And we reach Akiko who at this point makes me believe she only exists because they had to fill a quota of female characters because she didn't do anything relevant during this part. She had one story where she shined, but in all other instances she was just loud, annoying, and a very not funny comic relief. You know, I never been the biggest fan of her but I recognized she had potential, especially after that episode where she infiltrated the Sonozaki mansion, but they took away everything that made her interesting, heck now she even knows her father is dead and we didn't see how she find out and how that impacted her. So much wasted potential.

Another thing I dislike, Shroud. If we had chances to see her more I think I could like her, but she appears and disappears just when the plot needs her and is very hard to get a read on her, is she a hero? A villain? Why does she help both Accel and Phillip? And why is she so obsessed with hate?

Thankfully the other ladies of this show were great. Wakana not so much, but Saeko has become my favorite of the villains. Yes, it's a little sad that all she has done during ALL of the season was involve herself with crap men, but she and Doctor Isaka were such an intriguing pair. And while I feel that she was blinded for love and obviously being manipulated, she still managed to get development and I was completely mesmerized. Also, Doctor Isaka was a great villain, he wasn't exceptional - not using his many ports to give him different forms was definitely a waste - but he served his purpose very well.

But despite all of these inconsistencies, there's one element who reigns unshaken and it proves to me that he is without a doubt THE bestest boi, and that element is Shotaro. He's just the best, and these episodes just elevated him. Yes, they made him kind of a pervert which is a downside but since it's not something overused I feel like I can give it a pass. His biggest asset, his Half-Boiledness(?), was really shining this time around since he definitely was the most ground up character and he was the voice of reasoning in most of the situations. It is really a shame that one of his biggest moments kinda lost some of its strength since it happened at the same time as Phillip going completely out of his character, but it was still a very impressive and emotional climax for him.

Before I talk about some specific episodes I wanna take a time to talk about designs once more.

In these episodes we got three new forms and... none of them are good. Accel basic form is kinda goofy, I think they went a bit overboard with the motorcycle theme and it went from cool to silly, they even made the dude turn himself into a bike. At that moment they reached the peak goofiness and I couldn't take him seriously anymore. His Trial power-up is kinda okay? It's a more toned-down version of his basic form and I think it helps in making the design stand out. Again not good, but also not terrible. W's power-up on the other hand... Xtreme would've been just fine if it was just that silver band in the middle, but then we get to the weapon and... oh god. That sword & shield thing doesn't look good, it's also very impracticable, and the effects for the finisher are just so cheesy and cheap-looking, I just can't. They should've gone with just new memories to use with their mix & match gimmick.

In any case, let's talk about episodes. I don't have a lot to say individually since I already gone through the major points I wanted to cover but here are some episodes I think deserve to be highlighted (either for good or bad).

Beginning with Episodes 23 and 24 that are filler episodes but I think they deserve some spotlight because of the musical numbers by Queen & Elizabeth, and Shotaro and Phillip, and the cameo of the singers of the OP that changed in these episodes to seem like a performance on TV, the dopant of this story had also a very interesting power so, great!

Next, are Episodes 25 and 26 that are the episodes where Akiko finally got to shine and was also very touching. Episodes 27 and 28 were one of Ryu's turning points but I'm here highlighting them just because the pandering to the male audience here is so in your face that is uncomfortable but also because the victim of this arc is Shirogane Lily and as an Aikatsu fan I need to highlight that. 29 and 30 had a very interesting dopant, and Isaka attacking while they were in the dream world was also very cool, but other than that it wasn't all that great.

Episodes 33 and 34 had lots of potential but instead of making Akihiko's sister an interesting character that seemed to be completely evil and lasted as an agent for the museum for at least a couple of episodes they went by the easy route and made her a pure girl wanting revenge and that's not the most interesting plot ever. Though the Yesterday dopant had an amazing power and I can't deny that I enjoyed this part. And lastly, episodes 35 & 36 that are kinda bad. Ryu wants a power-up and then he gets just after asking and the most work he has to do for own that power is run in a motocross course and it's just dumb. What saves these episodes is the villains' side of things that was amazing to watch. From Isaka frightening the girl to his bonds with Saeko growing and they planning to dethrone the main villain, there was no moment of them that didn't catch my attention.

I think that's all I have to say for now. I can't believe I'm so close to wrapping this season up already, I don't really want this to end. But I'm also very curious to see how this story will end so I'm also very excited. I'm feeling kinda sick so I'm gonna cut off this outro right now and go to bed get some rest. Thank yall so so much for sticking with me for another huge post and I'll see you guys a next time.

#Kamen Rider W #kamen rider

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