English Dub Review: Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider “I’ll Take All You Riders On/I Will Fight, and Die, Against Shocker”

They really can’t have a moment of relaxation, even after almost killing each other at the tournament.  I guess that’s what happens when they decide to put on their Kamen Rider personas.  This is the case in this week’s episode, where Tojima and the others have their celebration at Futaba’s pub interrupted by a familiar face.  While Thunder Raiko is still on the prowl for any defecting Shocker members, it looks like we won’t be having that confrontation until later.  Until then, we have another good old-fashioned “Kamen Rider vs. Shocker” showdown between the crew and Nakao, who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.  Given Ichiyo’s behavior in the previous episodes, I can still understand why Futaba would still be pissed at them.  But this incident might be enough to send her over the edge.  

This was further evidenced in “I Will Fight, and Die, Against Shocker”, where Futaba finally gives Ichiyo a taste of his own medicine by expressing her anger through a sibling duel.  Amidst this fight, the episode reveals that Futaba was secretly trained under her teacher, known as “Tiger Master”, indicating that she might join the crew’s fight against Shocker as well.  Both episodes gave us another series of battles that effectively combine action with comedy, notably Ichiyo’s comical behavior due to his crush on Yuriko.  More importantly, they serve as entertaining conclusions to the first half of this refreshing and surprisingly fun iteration of the Kamen Rider franchise.  Speaking as someone who hasn’t watched a single episode of “Kamen Rider”, I’d consider myself impressed so far with how it utilizes its meta approach to satisfy not just the fanbase but also newcomers as well.  Hopefully, its second cour will retain that quality to ensure the show’s successful Kamen Rider vibe.