Decade is about to make its official final bow and because of that, seeing the success they had with All Riders vs. Dai Shocker, they decided to prolong Decade’s stay till December. Which after almost four months of waiting how this series will end, they will finally end it in the big screen with the originally planned double-billing of Decade’s third film (even if he made a cameo, Onigashima is technically, Decade’s first film) along with W’s first film!
But along the way, they decided to turn this double-billing into a film with three segments and at the last segment, the two heroes will meet and beat the bad guy, creating a new Toei tradition, the Movie Wars. Was the first film of this new tradition good? Did it work? Or it actually added some confusion to Toei’s partly messed up movie series? Since this is the Director’s Cut Edition, I will start the first segment in the film, Kamen Rider W: Begins Night.
Kamen Rider W: Begins Night
Its Christmas time in Futo and everyone is preparing, especially the Narumi Detective Agency, suddenly, a client knocks their door, it’s the one-half of the popular singing duo and asked helped to the people of the agency because she saw the ghost of her sister.
The group investigates and along the way, they met a priest who is in-charge of Asami’s grave, the sister of the client and informs us that they never found the body but the family. Maybe she is still alive. After Akiko and Shotaro receives a call from their client that she declined their offer. Before they met up with her, they saw the Asami’s “ghost” and chased it until they met the one responsible with everything, the Death Dopant.
The Shotaro and Philip transforms into W to fight the Dopant but at the end, he escaped and received the greatest surprise of their life. Sokichi Narumi is alive and transforms into Kamen Rider Skull. Shotaro was helpless and can’t believe that Sokichi is still alive. At the end, Philip suddenly reveals the truth to Akiko, Sokichi died a year ago. Skull reverts to Sokichi and tells Shotaro that he is still not ready to wear a hat.
Back at the agency, Shotaro leaves and quits being a detective and being a Kamen Rider and goes to the old organization facility. Philip follows him and the two reminisced the events that happened a year ago, to make Shotaro realize why they are fighting and along the way, why Sokichi is legally dead. Can our detectives solve this case about the dead coming back to life?
On to the review, first things first, in the original theatrical version, Decade’s segment came first before W’s but in the DC, W came in first before Decade’s. In my opinion, I like this method, it gives proper transition with the events that happened in the film since Eijiro made an appearance in the film and he is drinking with Ryubee! Asides from that, they keep on hinting some stuff that will have an importance in Decade’s segment and in much extent, the Movie Wars segment.
As for the plot of the segment, the use of contrasting elements made it enjoyable. In terms of the setting, it happened in Christmas and the case is about the death coming back to life. Because of it, the dark setting and the use of one of the franchise’s most overused trope, “Dark Church” made a bit lighter due to the Christmas mood around. More on the plot, the use of a lot of supernatural elements in the segment can cause you to think deeper since in the past episodes prior to the release of the film, they never had any supernatural related case and most of the cases involve grudges by the Dopant and have no connection with the supernatural.
Because of this, the series was grounded to the pseudo-realistic superhero approach and the sudden introduction of a supernatural related villain such as the Death Dopant was something they did on a sudden. Thus, making you think, is it possible that the death can come back to life? If they were able to make you think like that, you are watching a good detective flick. Asides from that, the clues they used, and the unpredictable twist at the end, made the segment quite a thinker in the detective side of things.
Since the episode introduces the events that happened prior to the opening scene back at the first episode, it had a different plot. Kinda like a side story. About it, it was enjoyable, asides that it solves questions left in the first episode such as, “why they ended up in the facility?” or “why Shotaro call Philip a devil?” the chemistry between the characters made it an interesting watch. How the three main characters in the flashback interact was something. Shotaro being the reluctant hero, Sokichi being the veteran and Philip being a geek who doesn’t care about others. Mix and match the three and see the fireworks.
As for the fights in the segment, it had the similar quality with the TV series, so there is nothing special with it… that is for the suit fights. But as for Sokichi’s fights out of suit, it was stunning. Seriously, it reminded me a lot of that Michael Jackson music video that is often being related to Sokichi! As for W FangJoker’s movie debut, if I watched it before they introduce this middle form, I would be amazed but seeing it on the film after I saw its TV debut, it was a bit ordinary. Sure, the feral fight style looks great but there is something missing with the fight, more crazy-berserk Philip perhaps?
I promised with my Kamen Rider W series review that I will talk about Sokichi more in this film and my first impressions about the guy and here it is. If I would sum up Kamen Rider Skull in one sentence, he is like the cross between the Batman and Skull Man. Asides that he has the policy of not using Gaia Memory in his job (Batman has a policy of not using a gun), he carries a gun like the Skull Man. There is something mysterious and shady with his character when he appeared in front of them a year after the events of Begins Night all of a sudden which adds up to the mystery if this Skull is the same Skull from before.
As for his alter ego, Sokichi Narumi, if I would sum him in one word, he is a badass. Asides how he fights outside as Skull, his policy and how he influenced our duo and to some extent, Akiko, made this guy an amazing character. He is one of the rare mentor Rider characters in the series that is also a Rider. Other members of this club are the Riders from Hibiki and the original Double Riders.
Since this is the Director’s Cut, there are some added scenes. Are they worth watching? Yes, those added scenes are worth watching. In the DC, it turned out that Akiko worked in the case while Shotaro is away! Seriously, why they didn’t add this in the theatrical version? Asides from that scene, the scene in which the Death Dopant visited Erika adds up more to the final scenes that happen in the segment.
For the disappointment, seriously, the sudden appearance of the head officers of the organization, namely, Claydoll, Taboo and Nasca Dopants out of nowhere was something weird. I know they started they reason why they helped the Dopant, but them suddenly was a bit awkward. I know that they had the contact information of their buyers but sending the three of them? I mean, they could just send just Saeko or Kirihiko or Wakana alone since he is just one Dopant but why the three of them? If they want to assure protection with this guy, why can’t just send Mick and one head officer? Seriously, Mick is one competent house cat.
Overall, the Begins Night segment is enjoyable to watch. Asides from W’s extended origins, the introduction of a mentor figure that never made much appearance in the main series but made a lasting impact of the characters made this segment strong as a stand alone film. As for the plot, the mystery behind the death coming back to life is interesting and can cause you to think harder than the main series.
Since this segment is over, let’s talk about the moment that we are waiting for, the conclusion on the scene in which Diend shoots Decade in point blank range… and we never got the answer! ONORE, YONEMURA!
Kamen Rider Decade: The Last Story
Only a few Riders are left and Decade takes upon the responsibility as the Destroyer of Worlds, fulfilling the prophesy that Natsumi dreamt. As Tsukasa is being chased by every living Rider to stop him, he meets Yuriko Misaki aka Denpa Ningen Tackle (Trans. Electrowave Human Tackle) who tags along with him and we later learned that she died in the hands of the Bee Woman.
Meanwhile, after Narutaki forced Doctor Shinigami persona out from Eijiro’s body, they revived Dai Shocker as Super Shocker. Narutaki now dons a cap and an eye patch to transform into Shocker’s top executive, Colonel Zol, because of this, Doctor Shinigami, now known as Super Doctor Shinigami revives Neo Organism Doras to conquer the world now with lesser Riders thanks to Decade.
Can Decade be stopped and can they stop Super Shocker?
On to the review, many are wondering what happened to the scene at the finale in which Diend shot Decade in point blank range. Simple answer to that question is Yonemura fixed it by the Special Edition version of the finale. In short, ignore the original last scene and remember the first scene of the first episode and that’s it. Since they are using that scene, why is it there are some Riders living since it is clear that he killed a lot of Riders? Short answer to that is that they were able to survive with the blast and as seen in this film, Ryuki is still alive even if Dragredder was junked out in the Rider War opening scene.
So another thing, when does it take place? To put it simply, since W Begins Night happened during December 24 and 25, it is obvious that Decade Last Story was set during sometime in December. I mean, since the two will meet at the end of the film to destroy Super Shocker, obviously, their timelines should match to make it possible since they are chasing their respective monster. And since we are not sure about the time when Decade’s Rider War happened, based on their clothing at the end, it is safe to assume that it happen in September. So yeah, it took Decade almost 4 months to eliminate all the Riders? Why it took it so long?
Based on how Decade acted in the film, he is doing his job, but more like in this kind of persona, “since you are in my way, I have no choice but to destroy you.” So yeah, he doesn’t hunt down the Riders but he just waits for them to come in front of him… but he just killed Skyrider out of nowhere. Oh well at least there are some instances that he himself hunts down the Riders. Asides from that, as seen in the DC in which he never transformed into Decade when both Ryuki and Blade attacked him, instead he transforms when Blade almost cut his arm. This shows that he is taking more of a defensive stance in fighting the Riders, no wonder he needs to be provoked.
As how most of the Riders acted in this episode, since it is clear that Decade is not hunting them, they have no choice but to provoke him to attack them so that he can do his job in destroying every Rider and fulfill Wataru’s order that is, “there is no creation without destruction.” This part of the segment clearly shows that the Riders are clearly willing to do the ultimate sacrifice (that is letting themselves killed) just for the worlds to be saved. What’s more is that Blade never appeared in his King Form since he already did his job in provoking Decade back in the Finale and now, he is ready to die.
To Tsukasa in this film, even if he tries to deny it, he is still following what the uniform dictates him to do. In this world, his job is to destroy every Rider since that is his task assigned by the world to him. To put it simply, he is still the same Tsukasa back in the original series except that he is doing a more gruesome task of killing every Rider that come in his way. It clearly proves at the end of the segment when he let Natsumi aka Kamen Rider Kivala kill him since he knows that he has finished his task and its time for him to complete the job by him dying.
As for Daiki in this segment, still Daiki he still trolls even at the end of the segment. As for Yusuke in the film, I love his personality in the film. Sure, it clearly contradicts to the Yusuke we saw in the original finale in which Kivala bites him and just turned evil and willing to kill Decade. But hey, Yonemura fixed his error on that bit so that it would fit well with Movie Wars 2010 that is why we saw him in the special finale just rising out from the grave with no apparent explanation. Back to him in the film, his personality here in this film is kinda similar when we first met him back in Kuuga’s World except it is darker.
Natsumi in the film still believes that the Tsukasa they now is still there, so yeah. Nothing special with it except that he became a Kamen Rider in the film, and lived. As for Tackle, I am partly pissed that AU Yuriko likes to talk in third person who kinda irritates me but her purpose in the film is what that made her lovable. He is similar to Tsukasa except that she died and can’t cross in the other side since she doesn’t know where she belongs.
Based on what I remembered, in the original drafts, Tackle was meant to look for Shigeru Jo aka Kamen Rider Stronger in the film, but at the end, they decided to drop it and make her an aimless ghost. To be honest, I love the dropped concept but based on how the story goes, it is hard to keep three running plots in a short span of time. So what is the other running plot? Super Shocker’s plan in world domination.
To be honest, what made this segment messy is because of Super Shocker. This is one of the reasons why the film never made actual sense in first watching because they tried to insert a lot of ideas in a short span of time. Seriously, if they still pursue about this plot, they can just remove Super Shocker in the plot and just give them proper focus in the Movie Wars 2010 segment that has the same running time with the other two segments.
The last part of the film in which Wataru appeared at the end had a lot of allusions with real life. First was that each Rider’s stories will be extinguished during the passage of time. It means that every year, Toei comes out with new Riders to keep the franchise alive as well as to sell toys for Bandai and that they will be forgotten after their show is over. What’s more is that after their series, less Den-O, they will never appear again. But because Decade appeared and fought them, they will be remembered and gave them a way to appear and fight outside their own respective series thanks to Decade’s introduction of a method for the shows to meet each other without destroying their own mythos.
Asides from that, Wataru mentioned that the AU Riders stories will be eternal. Based on how I understand it, it means that they will not have any running plot but fight eternally, in the form of those Ganbaride Games in which the identities behind the mask are a bit questionable and other external media, such as stage shows and the like. Finally, Decade has no story bit. It simply means that Toei admits that they messed up at some point in the series, namely with the films with no proper connection with the main series and that there are some ideas that felt working at first, but went a bit derailed at the end, namely, Narutaki and Daiki’s questionable character development. And most especially, the writers have their own perspective in the show, what’s more is that the writers writing, never gelled well.
As for the fights, it was good. It was like All Riders vs. Dai Shocker all over again except we have less Riders and less Dai Shocker, making the final fight a big disappointment. As for the Decade Violent Emotion fights, it was epic. Sure, he is taking on a defensive stance but its abilities and how he beats the crap out on the Riders he faced was something. Also, to those who are complaining why he had a different visor, answer is that it was never much implied that the default Decade visor is the visor of the destroyer Decade we saw at the Rider War sequence. To be exact, it was shadowed!
Overall, the Last Story segment was mix between good and bad, in short, mediocre. Adding the Super Shocker plot was stupid because Last Story is about Decade’s final journey and not for Showa Era Kamen Rider fans to watch this film. As for the main plot, it was similar to an average two-episode world arc except we have a lot warehouse fights, and this is Decade’s last major appearance. Since this the DC version, is it worth watching? Asides that we saw the ditched trailer being part of the film and that we saw the scene in which Blade almost cut Tsukasa’s arm, if you just want to watch it, it is worth the watch but if you watched Movie Wars 2010 countless times, it is not worth the watch.
Now that both of these stories are over, it is time for them to do a crossover and fight their respective enemies! Next up, Movie Wars 2010! The long chase is over, Decade and W confront their respective enemies and together, the dream team between W and Decade happened! Can our heroes defeat their enemies?
On to the review, probably, the shortest in the three segments, it clearly wraps up all the elements introduced in the film. Namely, the mysterious “Death” Memory given by Ryubee to Eijiro and the end of Count Dregon’s army, I mean Super Shocker. What is wrong with doing Saban’s Masked Rider reference since the later part of the entire film has it! Anyways, this third segment is pure fun. Seriously, the fights are good especially the Final Form Rides in the film, namely, All Riders and Kamen Rider W.
All Riders was fun, especially that they all lined up and the AU Riders are turning each other in their respective FFR’s! Too bad, we never got the chance to see Blade turned into Blade Jack, Den-O becoming DenLiner and lastly, Kiva becoming Castle Doran. Seriously, it is epic if they showed us how they do that!
Kamen Rider W FFR was awesome. They actually played the W concept well. Seriously, splitting Shotaro’s body seeing double W’s in pure green and the other, pure black color was epic. Seriously, when we will see a Kamen Rider Cyclone so that they can recycle the W CycloneCyclone suit? As for its finisher, Triple Extreme, it was a triple Rider Kick and there is nothing special with it.
As for Ultimate D, since I haven’t watched ZO yet, I will not compare it to the original along with his pre-form, Neo Organism Doras. To be honest, even though he was billed as the “Strongest and most evil kaijin ever” he never felt like that. But it felt like more of a kid who just wants to play with the Riders and ends up that he has a chance to kill them since, hey, killing for him is fun since it is all child’s play for him!
As for the revelation at the end with Eijiro being a Shinigami Hakase Dopant, it makes perfect sense on why they added a “Super” in his name in this film! Here’s my theory on why he ended up like that. After All Riders vs. Dai Shocker, he meets with Ryubee who in my opinion, is quite aware about his identity as Doctor Shinigami. And in one of their drinking sessions, Eijiro gets drunk and what’s left of his Doctor Shinigami persona talks to Ryubee to give him a way to be back again, and so, the Shinigami Hakase Memory was installed in his body and will trigger once something related to Doc Shinigami will appear in front of him.
As for the final scenes of the film, it was really touching; it was a good transition between the two shows. It hit the mark when Tsukasa gave the Kamen Rider Skull Card to Shotaro as if he was saying that it is now his time and he will continue with his journey. To top it all off, AU Skull appearing at the end was awesome!
Overall, this segment is just pure action, period. As for the entire film, the idea on having two segments and at the end, the two will meet and fight the main enemy is good in paper but bad in execution due to how they need to build up the crossover in their respective segments, in which ruined Decade’s segment. Seriously, what is wrong with a double billing of Decade and W’s respective films?
Seriously, if you decide to edit the entire film in two 50-munute films, with new scenes to make each segment a single film, it will still work. W will still fight the Dummy Dopant and Decade will still die and revive at the very end after his job is over and the two will still do their respective monologues.
Now that Decade’s journey is over, it is time to wrap up the entire series... which I will do later!