Recap: Kousuke’s grandmother tracks him down, unaware of his exploits as Beast. Now he has to persuade her to go home, all the while keeping his secret.

Aqua’s Thoughts: Excitement for an episode centred around the most annoying magician this side of Tim the Enchanter was few and far between, but I have to say this episode of Kamen Rider Wizard was pretty entertaining. Kousuke’s fear of being exposed to his overprotective, strict grandmother was a bit of a far stretch until it turned out the woman would indeed to so far as to sacrifice herself and be turned into a Phantom, just so Kousuke can have the food he needs. It really shows off the strict, yet caring relationship which is apparently evident between Japanese grandparents and their children, previously greatly elaborated on in shows like Hanasaku Iroha. By the way, Haruto stealing all of the food Kousuke needs to survive just to show off further adds to a bunch of writing fumbles that unintentionally turn him into a massive douche. I told you that guy is a psychopath.

Nevertheless, Kousuke’s antics were a bit more downsized this episode and the entire fight scene on the bus was awesome. His posing as a magical girl was very funny, especially when his Grandma ends up asking Koyomi if she was the girl in question. Oh, and do I really have to mention that this was Koyomi’s only scene? I’m starting to feel there is something going on here behind the scenes. Oddly enough, though, it’s Shunpei who truly shines here. The introduction of Kousuke has downsized his hyperactivity quite a bit already, and this episode truly established him as a gentle, caring boy who can even be badass if he wants to. It’s nice to see an episode so focused around one character in specific giving the other ones some time to shine too, especially in a show like Kamen Rider Wizard.

Zigg’s Thoughts: A slightly unbalanced episode, which seems to start out as a comedic farce, and still has elements of that scattered throughout, but also switches up to a slightly more serious tone as it attempts to become a family drama. There’s no harm in combining silliness with more heavyweight themes – some of modern Kamen Rider‘s best scenes have sprung from this fusion – but you need to nail both otherwise the whole thing falls apart. Wizard does a decent job here, but there’s also clearly ares where it needs to punch its weight.

Comedically, it’s on pretty solid, if well used, ground. The opening scene with Kousuke preening and doing his hair sets us up nicely for the reveal, getting some good laughs, and the contrast between the easygoing Kousuke and his stern, authoritarian grandmother seems to be fertile ground for some decent goofs. It certainly results in the episode’s standout scene, the utterly ridiculous battle featuring ‘Magical Girl Beast’ and an army of sparkle effects. It’s easy, it’s stupid and it’s very, very funny, and special mention should be given to Beast’s suit actor Jun Watanabe for camping it up outrageously.

The episode is less comfortable when it’s time to get serious though. The idea of a family conflict is always rich with dramatic appeal, but the spark fails to ignite here. I think it’s because Kousuke’s grandmother is kind of a jerk, especially in the flashbacks where she seems entirely dedicated to abolishing anything fun in his life.  The suspicion is this might play slightly better in Japan, where respect for your elders is a much more cardinal part of good manners, but from my view there’s only really one side worth rooting for here.  If only it were more believable – Tasuku Nagase proves once again he can gurn with the best of them but can’t muster the dramatic chops to really put flesh on the bones of his (admittedly pretty cliched) dialogue.  There’s also the fact we’ve seen this little plot a thousand times across multiple forms of media and we pretty much know how it’s going to end. That’s why the ending, with Grandma offering herself to the Phantoms to feed Kousuke, so so effective…for about two seconds, after which you realise it’s one of the stupidest ideas ever. Granted, she’s not in possession of all the facts, but it still smacks a little of artificially manufactured angst, and I’d be amazed if it actually goes anywhere.

We’ve also got an unusual fight scene, confined into a moving bus and restricted to just Beast. I enjoyed this quite a lot, but it’s hard to deny it would have benefitted quite a lot from slightly sharper choreography and editing. it’s times like this where the stunt team, who are normally pretty amazing, show their slightly weaker side. Close quarters fights need to be cut hard and fast and be very tightly choreographed to communicate the intensity of the space – as it is there’s perhaps a slightly lackadasical feel to the battle, though there are also some neat little moments like when Beast is kicked out of the door. It’s also a little disappointing that in what’s effectively his first solo outing Beast still has to rely on Wizard to bail him out, while the unbalanced ring swap smacks of ‘only the leader gets all the toys.’

The overall effect is to create, as I said, an unbalanced episode which has its highs and its lows. The concern continues to be that the highs are mostly humorous and action packed, while the lows centre on an inability to properly articulate drama. With the first half of the show over, Wizard has less time than you’d think to really cement our connection to this cast before the time comes to put them through the wringer. It’s still an entertaining show, it just needs to step up a bit.

Random Observations

• Kousuke disguising himself with glasses and curly hair is an obvious shoutout to the late, great Shotaro Ishinomori, the original creator of Kamen Rider.
• The opening is altered slightly to include the four Dragon Styles and All Dragon Style.
• When unmorphed Kousuke is wrestling the mooks on the bus, one of them pretty clearly bends his spear against the roof. See here.
• This is the first episode in forever where a Dragon style is not used.
• Now we’ve got a better look at Gremlin, it’s interesting to note that all of the lieutenant Phantoms we’ve seen so far share a common motif of bird-head shaped shoulderpads.
• Though it’s been obvious for a while, this episode is the first confirmation we’re actually in Tokyo.