Kamen Rider Build, Episode 23: The Western Phantom
Hello, and welcome to the Watchathon, a blog where I (try to) watch an episode of TV every weekday, with a blog post where I write down my thoughts afterwards.
And now that the introductions are over with, here’s my thoughts on Episode 23 of Kamen Rider Build:
Now here’s what I see as the proper introduction of Kamen Rider Rogue, and what an introduction it is. A figure cloaked in the shadows before he transforms, his transformation accompanied by classic horror movie music and a scream, to emphasize what a threat he is.
And he doesn’t even say a word as he takes down both Cross-Z Charge and Build in RabbitTank Sparkling Form, with incredible ease.
Then there’s his suit, which is undoubtedly awesome. Black and dark purple, with white highlights. A helmet with jaw-like protrusions at the side, and probably the best instance of shoulder pads that we’ve seen so far. This suit works alongside the transformation sound to send the message that Rogue is just plain bad news.
But there’s also other stuff in this episode worth mentioning. Kiba’s death is at least as sad as Aoba’s, and I’m tempted to say that it’s sadder. I don’t know, maybe it’s just because Kiba’s my favorite of Kazumi’s three friends, but it really was a heartbreaker.
As well, there’s the introduction of the Engine and Remote Control Bros. Using the Kaiser System introduced in Heisei Generations Final and giving that movie an importance to the story that was one of many reasons why I included it in my watchthrough.
...Also, Kazumi is either loaded or incredibly irresponsible with money. Or both. I mean, just look at how willing he was to pay 50,000 dollarks for a handshake with Misora. I guess I can’t be sure what the dollarks-to-US-dollars conversion rate is, especially seeing as I don’t think dollarks are a real currency, but it sure sounds like a lot.
