Nine Worlds Saga – Part 3 of 3
Sorry for the delay but due to my busy schedule, I wasn’t able to write my review on the third part of this saga. As we all know, Sho Aikawa does not write the last few arcs; let us see if these last arcs are good.
There are too many pictures for Den-O, since this is Owner ownage, I choose this.
Next up,
Den-O’s World, unlike the previous arcs who basically reintroduce the old concepts the series has, what Den-O’s World did is this, a promotion for the upcoming Den-O film. Because of this, most people have trouble in identifying if this arc is still an AU universe or not. But based on the possessions, this is definitely an AU World because as seen with Tsukasa and Natsumi, once they got possessed by the Taros, they earned new outfits or in case you will be possessed by Momotaros, you will wear a red muffler. But according to Igadevil’s
spoiler-filled review of the last Den-O film this year,
Kamen Rider X Kamen Rider X Kamen Rider the Movie: Cho Den-O Trilogy – Episode Yellow: The Treasure of DiEnd Pirates is seems that Den-O has broke the thin line between AU and OU.
Anyways, in this arc due to the things that the Oni Brothers (The villains for the film), Momotaros lost his body and now is on the verge of identity crisis… and the Taros all blamed it on Decade. Okaaay. I am getting used to this.
Back at Momo, due to his identity crisis, he possessed Tsukasa and later Yusuke who serves as his “body” for the entire arc. Now, Daiki wants Momo to turn into his Final Form Ride card, DenLiner so that he will obtain it as one his new treasures.
Since Yasuko Kobayashi, Den-O’s head writer wrote the arc this arc is basically classic Den-O fare., Imagins possessing someone, Momo acting like an idiot, classic Den-O comedy and more Owner awesomeness. Yah, that kind of classic Den-O fare. Even this basically is a Den-O episode stuck in with a wrong title card, like the previous arcs seen in Decade, this arc reintroduces us one concept, that aside from its human user, the Imagins are also Den-O.
I think I should not evaluate much on AU Taros and AU Ryotaro, who appeared at the end of the arc along with AU Kotaro, just in time to promote the film since they are basically the same from their OU counterparts.
We only saw this concept twice, first is in the finale arc and on Final Countdown in which the Taros use the Pass to transform into Den-O without possessing Ryotaro. However, in Decade’s case, they can possess anyone aside from Ryotaro and still transform into Den-O! Because of this, I therefore conclude, even if Takeru Sato or the actor playing his younger version will not return in the series, Den-O is still alive… with a different user that is not NEW Den-O. In short, there is a possibility in the near future that there is such a thing as Den-O II or Den-O III much like in the comic books where there are 4 Flashes, 5 Robins and an army of Green Lanterns.
Overall, if you are an avid fan of Den-O or just want an arc you can laugh aloud, this is the arc just for you.
Next, is Kabuto’s World, in this world, Kabuto is said to run amok and accordingly, killed Souji! Wait, killed Souji? If you watched Kabuto, you know that Kabuto’s identity is Souji Tendo, a guy who walks the path of heaven, to rule over us all. Yep, that jerkass.
Anyways, Mayu, Souji’s sister has a grudge on Kabuto because she herself witnessed on how Kabuto killed her brother. Little did Mayu know, Kabuto is protecting her from Worms who are attacking her. Meanwhile at ZECT, they already devised a plan on defeating Kabuto, and that is the Clock Down System. To those who are living under the rock, there is a System known as Clock Up back in Kabuto in which once activated, the user will be extremely fast and everything around him will be in super slow motion now you understand what the Clock Down System does.
I liked two things about this arc. First, they elaborated more on the family concept Kabuto has. It is one concept that I liked about Kabuto. I only watched the first few episodes and some random episodes that I got the chance to watch on cable here in the Philippines (Note: Kamen Rider Kabuto aired on cable dubbed in English and based on the dubs, there is a possibility that VA’s from Singapore or Hong Kong dubbed it.). One of the reasons that Kabuto was a good series was Tendo cares about his sister too much that even he is being held captive, he make sure that his sister eats her supper. In addition, what emphasizes the strong sense of family in the series is that Tendo always quote words of wisdom from his grandmother. In this arc, we are introduced to Tendo’s grandma… and she turned out to be she is a badass grandma.
When I first heard Tendo quoted her grandma, I theorized on how her personality is. Considering that Tendo is a jerkass, who thinks that he is a national treasure, I imagined that his grandma is somewhat like Yoda back in The Empire Strikes Back with the ability to break a guy who thinks he is the best… and my theory is correct. I mean, AU Souji’s grandma was able to break Tsukasa’s idealism on recreating their family recipe for their oden! That is one heck of a grandma.
Second is they elaborated more on the evil twin concept that the series possessed. In the original, we have Dark Kabuto. But in this world, we have AU Sou… who turned out to be crazier than good old Sou Yagumura and he owns TheBee Zecter plus, he is Worm who used AU Souji’s appearance! Now, the early concept of Kabuto vs. TheBee rivalry has been revived with a really good twist.
About AU Souji, since he always appears as Kabuto, the writer, Kenji Konuta never much elaborated on the personality behind the suit but we have glimpses on his personality. He really cares about his family that he doesn’t care if his sister is a Worm all he cares is that whatever creature she is, she is still his sister. Period. Aside from that, just like Kabuto, AU Kabuto is like his OU counterpart, they are silent protectors. All they care about is they must finish the job right.
One of the best things in this arc is the battle between Kamen Rider TheBee vs. Kamen Rider Decade who transformed into Kamen Rider Faiz’s Axel Form. This is when fans learned that the Clock Up System and Faiz’s Axel Form are equally even but still, Clock Up is still the best IMO.
Overall, this is one of those arcs that are too good to miss, they have everything Kabuto is known for, the Matrix-esque fight scenes, Grandma and crazy Sou.
The end of Decade’s journey through the nine worlds, Hibiki’s World, in this world, there is no such thing as Takeshi but there are three Ongeki schools. Ibuki’s school which is based on the trumpet, Zanki’s school which is based on the electric guitar and Hbiki’s school which is based on the taiko. With Ibuki and Zanki fighting each other, Hibiki is lazy to train his only student, Asumu… and Hibiki gave the responsibility to train Asumu to, surprise! Daiki! Now Asumu will learn the art of trolling… in which Daiki never got the chance to teach to Asumu.
One of the best things in this arc is that all the original actors, minus Hibiki and Asumu returned. My dear Akira is back! Oh, Akira you are still hot and badass at the same time. I think I should stop acting like a Nana Akiyama fanboy.
Anyways, seeing the original crew back is good and that added the fact that it doesn’t mean that the original actors returned, it doesn’t mean it is not an AU world. Boy, I miss the extremely affectionate Todoroki yelling Zanki’s name every 10 seconds.
About the AU Asumu and AU Hibiki, AU Asumu is like the original Asumu with Kiriya’s determination to become an Oni. AU Asumu is really likable in the beginning, he wants to become an Oni without looking like Hibiki’s stalker.
AU Hibiki is the exact opposite of good ol’ Hibiki. He doesn’t train or train his student. It turned out to be that he likes to train too much to gain more strength and because of this, his oni heart, by oni, I mean the Japanese term for demon. His oni heart grew and he turned into Gyuki, a monster found exclusively in Hibiki’s World, in which once an Oni trains for the sake of power, he will turn into a monster. Which leads to his other side, he doesn’t want his student to end up like him.
One of the best things about the original Hibiki series is that it is about the story of Master and Student and this AU arc conveyed the message well along with the things the series is known for like the kanji and the group musical battles. I love the last few scenes in this arc, namely the scene in which Hibiki passed the torch to his student, Asumu. Its one of those scenes I wish it would happen in the original series.
From all the arcs, this is one of those rare arcs that focused on Daiki, sure he never appeared that much in this arc but his spirit was there thanks to Asumu and his large involvement in the last episode of the said arc. This is where we are focused on Daiki’s other side, the caring one behind the troll. This side of him will be elaborated much on DiEnd’s World.
Overall, from the Nine Worlds, this is one of my personal favorites.
Tsukasa and company thought this is over and that is what they thought. Next up, Nega and DiEnd Worlds! I would make a separate review for Shinkenger’s World.
