Recap: Gremlin’s true nature is finally revealed.

Aquagaze‘s Thoughts: Well, I did not see that coming, which is extremely rare for Kamen Rider. This episode’s twist was so damn dark neither Zigg nor I even dared to actually consider it, but it is true. Turns out the sole reason why Gremlin claims to still be human is because he, as a Phantom, still retains a lot of the traits he had as a human. Including the whole part where he’s a mass-murdering psychopath who kidnaps girls with long black hair in white dresses and kills them using a pair of scissors. Suddenly, everyone is taking this show a lot more serious. And you know what is the worst part of all? He’s still alive.

This is by far the darkest thing I have ever seen in a Kamen Rider show. Sure, Kamen Rider W had monsters who were basically drug addicts and a villain who slaughtered families for fun, but your could have seen that creep being a complete monster from a million miles away. Gremlin always seemed more like the enigmatic schemer kind of villain, rather than an outright Sweeney Todd, and all the Phantoms up until now having been revealed to be nice and caring people in their past lives certainly does not help. The fact that he managed to get away after everything that has been revealed about him only makes me more excited to learn more.

The Gate subplot and subsequent action scenes were significantly reduced to cookie-cutter fodder due to this twist, however. Haruto squaring off against Gremlin at super speed was pretty impressive, but Beast’s constant bouts with the Argos Phantom were boring to watch. The “I want to get famous so my estranged father will notice me” is the most overdone and cheaply written tragic motive for idol characters, and it did not even pay off that well, due to the father in question only sending a bloody letter telling his daughter he’s cheering her on from the sidelines, instead of actually showing up. What a douche. On a more positive note, Gremlin not so subtly reminding Haruto of Koyomi’s true nature promises that plot thread will finally be picked up very soon. With the preview revealing Haruto squaring off against Wiseman himself, it seems as if Wizard is shifting into a higher gear for its final stretch.

Random Observations

• Gremlin always fought using two short swords, but in this episode he uses them as a pair of giant scissors. *shudder*
• A Kamen Rider Wizard movie has been announced, which sees Haruto squaring off against a malicious new Rider named the Golden Wizard. If Mayu does not show up as a Rider, I will take a pair of scissors to the Toei headquarters.

Zigg’s Thoughts: This episode can basically be divided into the twist and everything else. Let’s talk about the twist first, because it’s by far and away the most interesting part of the episode.

Kamen Rider has always traditionally been regarded as the ‘darkest’ of Toei’s many shows, and one of the darker toku shows in general. That’s become considerably less true since the reboot that begin the Heisei era of series (2000 – present day) but there’s still been an undercurrent of nastiness in many of the shows. But wow, we’ve never seen anything quite like this. I think the key differentiator is that most Kamen Rider villains commit their atrocities in the name of the plot and after they become monsters. Yes, freezing a family to death and then brutally shattering them Terminator 2 style is horrible and nasty, but it’s also fantastical enough that there’s a level of detachment.

There’s no detachment here. Instead, we’ve got all the classic trappings of a real world serial killer and it is absolutely blood curdling. The writers and showrunners deserve huge credit for this reveal, undoubtedly the best twist in Wizard so far and one that was entirely unexpected. Indeed, the story has done a great job leading us down the garden path, what with Sora’s character seeming to soften recently and his apparent affection for Chiaki leading many, myself included, to believe that we might be on the verge of the character beginning to doubt his mission. Instead, we’re kicked in the balls in the worst possible way, and that’s fantastic storytelling. The presentation here is top notch too, from the slow pan out from the whiteboards to the creepy otherworldly salon, and especially the flashback sequence, which implies incredible horror without ever showing anything more explicit than fluttering hair. Great performance from Takahisa Maeyama too, who completely sells the creepy sexual undertone and hidden menace,  and has the added bonus of all his past appearances being rendered the worst kind of nightmare fuel.

The strength of these scenes somewhat masks the fact that there’s a mostly cookie cutter episode underneath. Chiaki is annoying and shallow and her Freudian motivation is both tired and somewhat insulting, especially since her much ballyhooed father doesn’t even bother actually showing up. Sora’s revelation that the ‘Sabbat’ is just an attempt to recreate the mass-phantom birth that kicked the series off is sort of underwhelming. I’d be more disappointed if I weren’t utterly certain that at some point they’ll reveal it’s actually going to be a scaled up version that affects the whole city/country/ZA WARUDO. At least the fights are pretty good, though they seem a little out of place given the other happenings. And Haruto’s decision to save Sora only to have it horribly backfire is great character writing, demonstrating our hero’s best qualities but also showing that sometimes those qualities lead to the wrong decisions

With this episode Wizard emphatically gave itself the shot in the arm it needed. With Sora allowed to escape and continue terrorising our heroes, the situation becomes more interesting still, especially as next week has Wiseman poised to enter the fray at last. Though we’re deep in now, it appears the best may still be to come.

Random Observations

• Oh man, all those mannequin heads in Sora’s apartment with ‘wigs’ on them sure look bad now…
• The lighting in the Wizard/Gremlin fight is completely nonsensical but forgivable because it looks very cool.
• The high speed battle also evokes memories of Kamen Rider Kabuto. CLOCK UP PUREASE?
• Eat your heart out Crime Edge