Well guys, today is the day the Rider cries, EZ that is. I’ve become very attached to W since it begun. I’m not ashamed to say I’m a real sucker for anything film noir-related. I even bought and re-read The Long Goodbye after watching the first few episodes. Hell, I even got my good friend The Shades into W, and by extent, tokusatsu. But I’m getting carried away here. Let’s get this over with. Grab a tissue for this one.
(MASSIVE SPOILERS for Episode 48)
If you haven’t been paying attention this far, Phillip is wasting away to nothing, Wakana is becoming a McGuffin for the evil Foundation company, Ryu is burned to a crunchy crisp, and Shoutarou is about to be done in by the Utopia Dopant. The more emotionally distraught Phillip becomes, the more valuable Wakana becomes (literally).
Suddenly Wakana-hime has a refreshing Shoutarou refuses to henshin in fear of losing his partner forever, which will happen the next time they turn into W. Luckily the gang get help from an unlikely source. Saeko aka Taboo Dopant gives them the distraction they need, but Kazu just ends up kidnapping BOTH Phillip/Raito’s sisters instead so that was just a pointless interlude. Sorry Saeko. You shouldn’t have waited 47 episodes to grow a conscience.
So the gang rushes Ryu to the hospital since he is in such bad condition. Good day to shoplift I guess. (Seeing he’s the superintendant of police and what not.) Phillip later chews out Shoutarou for not transforming when they had the chance. Personally I don’t blame him but Akiko tells them to work it out by…playing catch…okay…Wow, I’m so desensitized by her hitting someone with her shoe that I didn’t expect her to suggest that. Shoutarou still laments over letting his partner go while they toss the ball back and forth.
Things look all mushy until Shoutarou gets a call from Jin-san, but wait! It’s Kazu!!! *dun dun dun!!* Anyway, he’s going around turning everyone into faceless dolls. Even my beloved Queen and Elizabeth. (that BASTARD!!) and he makes his way to Akiko at the agency. Our heroes rush to save her but they are too late. Phillip blames himself and his anxiety fuels Wakana even more somehow. Shoutarou has had enough.
He goes to save Wakana (wearing his boss’s old fedora no less). Meanwhile at Evil Co., Kazu reveals he loved Saeko all along and he only did what he did out of true love. Wow, the one guy who actually loves Saeko turns out to be the BAD one! Go figure. Then again her last two men weren’t exactly playing with a full Advent Deck (little Dragon Knight humor, won’t you? =p)
Saeko tries a last ditch effort to save her sister by becoming Taboo again. (and he did not take her Gaia Memory why??) Anyway, Utopia basically drains the life out of her and she regrets dying while attempting to save her sister which she always resented. Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes, am I right?
R.I.P Saeko. You may have been a slut but you were still hot.
(In a psychotic debutante sort of way)
Shoutarou actually strolls into the factory and literally takes Utopia on hand to hand by himself. Talk about having balls. Truly Shoutarou has truly become the man to wear the hat just like his mentor wanted him to be. While the wind-up toys distract Utopia, Shoutarou saves Wakana just in time before the whole place blows up because….um…the evil base always blows up I guess…
CAUSE TOY SALES WILL.....become sentient and try to kill you.
Phillip hops a ride on Xtreme to meet Shoutarou. They share a chuckle and some dialogue but of course, you know who survives. No more stalling, no more awkward moments that inspire slash-fics. It’s time for W’s last ride. Utopia tries that old sucking energy trick but W is just too awesome to be weakened by it. So you know what that means. One awesome Rider Kick to go out on and Double Prism Xtreme does the trick beautifully. It’s almost a rip-off a of Liu Kang’s bicycle kick but not as memorable.
Now THAT is how you stomp a mudhole in someone.
So the Foundation gives up on Gaia Memories and it’s off to OOO’s for them now (see episode 47). As the (touching) acoustic version of Cyclone Effect plays, Shoutarou says fare thee well to his partner and best friend Phillip. This is indeed a sad occasion. It’s Starsky without Hutch. Butch without Sundance. Neal without Peter (Watch this. You’ll see what I mean). And with that, Phillip fades from existence. Gone but not forgotten. All we have to remember him by is a Lost Driver and a book. If you did not shed a tear once during the final moments of this episode, consider yourself souless.
Well that’s all I got for now. Check back next week for Part 2. The war is over but the Armageddon is close at hand.
Later.
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