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CREDITS
Fuuto PI 12 Superhuman r/Death, and … – October 16, 2022
Writer: Riku Sanjo
Director: Yousuke Kabashima
SYNOPSIS
Tokime tries to help Rentaro escape Shadow Fuuto, as the Kamen Riders track down Reactor’s hideout.
MISSES
-Tokime and Rentaro jumped WAY too far, especially since she has no Joker High Dope powers
-The phrase “Begins Night” has never worked for me. I get that and how it is special to the characters in Fuuto PI and Kamen Rider Double, but I have never been able to appreciate it.
HITS
-Accel’s little mecha has a cute face that made me laugh. I almost held that against the show, but I went the other way.
-I like that Double won the fight, but still took a loss. That’s good.
– Philip joking about having empathy now is cool and funny, especially because he kind of used it to clown on a villain.
MYSTERIES
-Didn’t Tokime exhibit powers that made her seem like a High Dope?
-Whose Joker Gaia Memory was that?
-Just because Tokime isn’t a Joker Dopant doesn’t mean she hasn’t used a different Gaia Memory, right?
-Is this finale enough for you? Does it work to pause the story here?
The short answer to that is yes, but I will explain what I mean as I give this episode it’s score.
SCORE
Episode 12 – 9/10
Our heroes have survived a powerful threat, saved their friend and the client is pleased with their work. Though he was defeated, Nikaido has succeeded in blocking the Kamen Riders entry into Shadow Fuuto, where Bando will continue his operations quietly.
Kamen Rider Double has failed to truly save the day. The danger is building and the story isn’t over, but that doesn’t matter. Evil will persist and decent people will have to keep pushing against it, forever. That is the spirit of Kamen Rider.
Despite the stalemate, which favors Bando and his cohorts, the personal victories of the Kamen Riders are hard won and meaningful. Shotaro and Philip have shown so much growth and Tokime’s arc has developed well. She has room to grow and it will be interesting to see how who she becomes transcends what she was when she was linked to Bando. The case-by-case structure of this story allows this first season of Fuuto PI to feel finished and yet full of potential. It has told a story from beginning to end. That it links to the past (the live-action KamenRider Double) and builds towards it’s own future (adapting the rest further installments of the Fuuto Tantei manga) while doing that is laudable. This show may have just made me a fan of Double.
LESSONS LEARNED
Find ways to balance out wins and losses for your heroes. I famously dislike Shotaro from Kamen Rider Double. Philip is the better half of Double and I like so much about him. Seeing Shotaro recognize and take a loss in this finale gives me reasons to like him as a growing character and root for him to have a comeback as a hero.
SOURCES
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MJ Muñoz 