Kamen Rider My-Th 07

Watch Analysis

The video and audio above contain unfiltered analysis. The following blog is more structured.

Kamen Rider My-Th 07: Incredible Suit Acting and Clever Fight Choreography

The athleticism on display in Kamen Rider My-Th 07 almost has me not caring about the deeper, wider story, even though I supposedly care about story more than anything else.

The raw spectacle is so freaking good that I don’t even know if I’m going to talk about anything important in the story, because it’s just so utterly enjoyable watching these people do crazy athletic stuff in these insane suits that must be difficult to function in.

They’re absolutely showing up and putting the work in, and I’m incredibly impressed.

The Passion Behind Tokusatsu Suit Acting

This is a job for these performers, but maybe it’s a passion too. If you love tokusatsu and you’ve always wanted to make it or be involved with it, I could see you giving it your all when you’re in a suit being a hero or a villain.

I totally get that. It’s what I’d want to do.

I’ve designed quite a few tokusatsu suits and characters myself. I’ve got maybe three or four worlds’ worth of characters that I’ve done worldbuilding for, thinking through their transformations, attacks, visual designs, different forms, and how all those things work.

I’ve done all of that for free, just for fun, because I love it. For the love of the game, basically.

And I’m seeing something similar in these suit actors. I’m seeing passion and mania, because they’re going absolutely wild making this stuff happen. It’s so freaking impressive.

Fang Fukashigi’s Spinning Attack

The salaryman who’s spinning around like a professional dancer or ice skater is doing all sorts of crazy horizontal twirls and flips. The ice-skater comparison actually got into my head because of how Sae described him to Yuna during the Fukashigi Club meeting.

His athleticism is amazing.

Then there’s Fang Fukashigi, with that big elephant-like tusk on the left side of its head. The movement is incredible, and I think they switch to CGI at some point during the fight.

It looks like the performer handles a few spins before they transition to a 3D model to achieve the full effect of the attack. Whatever the exact combination of practical effects and CGI, I thought it was very well done. The CGI worked, and the whole sequence looked fantastic.

My-Th Is Operating on Another Level

As impressive as Fang Fukashigi is, the suit acting for Kamen Rider My-Th is operating on another level.

I made a comparison to Kamen Rider Kabuto last week, and that still stands. My-Th is so compelling, so dashing, so competent. It’s thrilling to watch him move around.

I also want to compliment the action direction, because there’s a whole grammar to My-Th’s movement.

He’s slippery, slidy, sneaky. There are all these subtle movements and motions that are full of character. They show who he is and what he is.

He’s a mouse, and he moves like one. He’s small and squirmy, and he can get away from you.

There are moments where he’s sliding along the floor, pushing himself off a wall or maybe even an enemy. I wonder whether they have a special version of the suit for those sequences, because I don’t know what it’s made of or how they’re making those slides work.

I’ve watched a lot of Kamen Rider, and I just haven’t seen one move quite like this before.

What I really love is how well this physical performance fits Sora’s character.

He’s a Meister. He’s intelligent and an expert in so many things, and that intelligence matters because he has this quickness to him, this ability to improvise and adapt.

During the fight on the bridge, he realizes he can use the narrow space to prevent Fang Fukashigi from using its spinning attack effectively.

That’s clever! He’s figuring out how to defeat something inexplicable by understanding how it works and using the environment to his advantage.

It makes me like Sora more because his intelligence and expertise aren’t just things we’re told about. We get to see them in action.

Muton Knows How to Fight Angry

Then Muton arrives with her hammer, and the choreography gets even better.

She’s clearly angry, but she’s also a very capable fighter. She must be seasoned, especially to wield a weapon like that.

There’s a moment where she swings the hammer, apparently misses, and holds it in a position that lets its momentum carry her through the movement. I really liked that. It’s a powerful weapon, but it’s also one that requires some thought and experience to use properly.

Despite how angry she is, she seems to have the muscle memory to handle it.

She knows how to fight angry, potentially, and that was really enjoyable to see.

Then there’s this fantastic exchange near a wall.

My-Th has been ducking and sliding around, using the bridge to avoid her attacks. At one point, he plants his foot on her hammer and locks it against the wall.

Instead of continuing to struggle with the hammer, Muton clasps her hands together and strikes his knee to force him to release it.

That’s so good!

It shows cleverness and tactical thinking on her part. She’s angry, but she’s not just swinging wildly. She recognizes the problem and changes tactics.

And what I love about this whole fight is that they’re not simply fighting with a hammer and a little sword in an empty space.

They’re on a bridge, and the environment matters.

The narrow spaces, the walls, the positioning of the weapons, all of it informs the choreography. They’re using the context of the setting they’re in, and it’s so dynamic, fun, and exciting to watch.

That’s something I really appreciate about the action in this episode.

Maou Makes an Overwhelming Entrance

Then Kamen Rider Maou comes along and absolutely decimates Fang Fukashigi in one move.

That was really cool to see, and I think they did a great job selling his strength.

After watching how capable My-Th is, suddenly I’m thinking Sora might be in trouble. Maou seems really, really powerful, and I’m wondering what My-Th is going to do against him.

The preview shows that they’re going to fight in the next episode, and I’m very curious to see how that goes.

There’s also something interesting about Maou’s powers and attitude.

His belt is different from the others, and he’s able to harvest eggs from the Fukashigi he defeats. At first, I thought that was something unusual about him, but harvesting eggs is what the Zodiac Alliance is supposed to be able to do.

The real difference seems to be that they can’t save people the way My-Th can.

So maybe I was overselling that particular detail.

What still interests me is how Maou talks to the Fukashigi. He almost seems to pity the poor little creature, as though it’s unfortunate that it happened to encounter him.

That struck me as odd, especially because the other members of the Zodiac Alliance refer to Fukashigi as prey.

Why would he seem apologetic toward something he’s about to destroy?

Unless he’s a cat playing with his food.

I could absolutely see that being the intention, because the series has already been weaving its animal motifs into its characters’ personalities and behavior.

Maybe this is another manifestation of that idea.

Sometimes the Spectacle Is Enough

I supposedly care about story more than anything else, but Kamen Rider My-Th 07 has me almost forgetting about the wider story because the action is just so freaking good.

The athleticism, the suit acting, the choreography, the way these performers are giving the characters personality through their movements, it’s all incredibly impressive.

And I love how the environment is being used to make the fights more interesting, rather than just serving as a backdrop.

There’s so much cleverness and creativity on display here, and it’s an absolute joy to watch.

I’m still interested in where the story is going, especially with Maou looking like such a formidable opponent for Sora. But for this episode, the spectacle itself was more than enough to keep me completely entertained.

Dive Deeper

Uncle à la Long: Is Akira Secretly Dragon?

This is massive speculation, but I’m starting to wonder whether Uncle Akira and Dragon from the Zodiac Alliance might actually be the same person.

Or maybe they’re associated somehow, and Akira is getting information from Dragon.

There are a few things that make me suspicious.

First, Akira is going around collecting eggs, and I find that pretty strange. As far as we know, he’s not the current My-Th, and he doesn’t seem to have any transformation gear on him. Of course, he could easily have something hidden in a bag or somewhere else.

But he’s traveling around, apparently destroying Fukashigi, collecting their eggs, and sending them to Sora and Yuna.

How exactly is he doing that?

He’s a mysterious character in general. He seems to have connections to things from farther back in the story, and there’s something unusual about how he’s presented in the opening. There are a lot of unknowns surrounding him.

He’s also got this slightly disheveled look, with long gray hair.

Then there’s Dragon.

Unlike the other members of the Zodiac Alliance, Dragon wears a mask and a hood, with long white hair showing. We don’t get to see his face, and he seems to know quite a bit about what’s going on.

I find the similarities interesting, but what really caught my attention was something that happened in episode 07.

Earlier in the episode, Dragon talks to the Zodiac Alliance about things that Akira later warns Sora about.

I think Akira tells Sora to lay low because the Zodiac Alliance is going to be looking for him. But he doesn’t claim to have inside information. He says it’s just a hunch.

Maybe it really is just a hunch.

But what if it isn’t?

What if Akira knows what’s happening because he actually is Dragon? Or what if he’s associated with Dragon somehow, and Dragon is leaking information to him?

That would explain how Akira might know about the Zodiac Alliance’s activities without openly admitting where his information comes from.

I think that’s entirely possible.

Now, I know I’m making a pretty big leap here. The long hair, the mask, the mysterious behavior, and the conveniently timed warning could all turn out to mean absolutely nothing.

But I would love to be right about this, and it’s something I’m going to keep an eye on.

There’s also a completely different question about what Akira is doing out there.

If he’s defeating Fukashigi and collecting their eggs without the same powers as My-Th, is he actually saving the people involved?

I would assume he isn’t, but we don’t really know.

And if he isn’t, how are Sora and Yuna okay with that?

That’s a whole other discussion, though, and I’m not getting into it right now.

For now, I’m curious what everybody else thinks.

Were you suspicious of Dragon from the beginning because of his mask? Are you suspicious of Akira? And do you have any theories about how he’s defeating Fukashigi and collecting eggs?

Maybe Uncle Akira really is Dragon. Maybe they’re working together. Or maybe I’m completely wrong.

Either way, I’m interested to see where this goes.

It’s the Same Suit! Clever Fukashigi Suit Reuse in Kamen Rider My-Th

I want to applaud the economical use of suits in Kamen Rider My-Th, because I imagine this production must already have some pretty expensive demands.

There are potentially 12 different Riders, multiple belt props, the eggs, the motorcycle, and all sorts of other things going on.

And because the Fukashigi are inexplicable, the show has introduced several different monster designs. I think we’ve seen maybe four models so far.

But here’s something I noticed: the elephant-like Fukashigi from episode 02 and Fang Fukashigi from episode 07 appear to be using the same base suit!

I thought they looked similar, so I went back to episode 02 and grabbed a screenshot to compare them.

On the left is the creature I originally described as an elephant, although I think it had some plant-like characteristics too. On the right is Fang Fukashigi from episode 07, with that enormous tusk extending from the left side of its head.

Are they both Fang types? I don’t know. The episode 07 creature is explicitly identified as Fang Fukashigi, but I’m not certain whether that classification applies to the earlier one.

What I do know is that the underlying suits look remarkably similar.

And I think that’s great!

There’s something wonderfully ambiguous about the original design. It has this cobra-ish, elephant-ish appearance, and I can’t quite tell whether the shapes around its head are supposed to resemble a cobra’s hood or an elephant’s ears. Are those protrusions tusks or fangs?

I really don’t know, but I like that the design can suggest different things.

It’s a nice, weird monster design that’s open to interpretation and can be modified to work in different contexts.

That’s clever, and I really enjoy it.

I love seeing the creative use and reuse of assets in tokusatsu productions because it’s part of what makes the whole medium so magical to me.

These productions are constantly making the impossible possible through cleverness, guile, and smart design.

And here’s a wonderful example.

There’s another little detail that I find especially interesting.

If you look closely at Fang Fukashigi in episode 07, it looks like there’s some sort of hinge mechanism allowing the giant tusk to dangle and swing around.

That works really well with the creature’s spinning attack.

Which raises a chicken-or-the-egg question.

Did the production team come up with the spinning attack first, then modify the suit to accommodate it?

Or did somebody come up with the idea of adding a movable tusk, and the team realized they could build an attack around the way it swings and spins?

I have no idea which came first.

But honestly, it doesn’t matter to my enjoyment of the finished product.

The attack looks fantastic, the modified suit is wonderfully strange, and the combination of design and choreography is incredibly fun.

This is exactly the sort of creativity that makes me love tokusatsu so much.

It’s clever, it’s resourceful, and it makes something fantastic out of what was already there.

I really appreciate that.

He’s Not My Butler, He’s My Brother! A Suspicious New Arrival in Kamen Rider My-Th

I find the inclusion of Sae and her brother Tokio at the Society for Inexplicable Investigations meeting in Kamen Rider My-Th 07 really interesting, because Tokio feels very much like a counterpart to Sora.

And Sae almost feels like a counterpart to Yuna.

They attend the same high school, they’re both higher-class girls, and they both have these very capable older brother figures looking after them.

It’s an interesting parallel, and honestly, it makes me a little suspicious.

Tokio in particular feels like he could be a main character. The actor playing him, Takumi Urushiyama, has a really strong presence, and I could almost imagine him playing Kamen Rider My-Th if somebody else had gotten the role of Sora.

He just has that main-character energy!

I could even see him becoming a secondary Rider. Now, I know Red is already kind of the secondary Rider, but there’s something about Tokio that makes me wonder whether he’s going to become more important.

Maybe Sae and Tokio will get drawn further into the Society for Inexplicable Investigations as the show goes on.

There’s also something really interesting about the reason they’re attending the meeting in the first place.

Sae has seen this salaryman doing these ridiculous spins, and she thinks it’s funny. Why is this guy pirouetting around like that? Is he an ice skater?

It’s inexplicable, sure, but in the everyday sense of the word. She doesn’t think she’s reporting an actual Fukashigi incident. She’s just sharing something strange and amusing.

Except it turns out to be a real clue!

Her story gives Sora information he needs to understand the Fukashigi and helps him figure out how to deal with it.

I really like that. Something Sae thinks is just a funny little story ends up being genuinely important.

And while she’s telling this dramatic story, there’s that wonderful little bit with the other girl, the one with the big tails, who just keeps eating crepes.

I don’t know whether that was specifically directed or something the actress improvised, but I thought it was fantastic. She’s just enjoying those crepes while everything else is going on.

And that brings me back to Tokio.

He’s there making crepes, being this capable older brother, and somehow he’s gotten access to the kitchen.

Now, I know that could mean absolutely nothing. But the whole situation feels almost too coincidental to me.

I almost wonder whether Tokio could be some sort of independent operator who’s maneuvered his sister into this situation so he can gain access to the club or the household.

He gets to come in, use the kitchen, and generally make himself at home. I might have expected Sora to have a problem with that, but apparently he doesn’t.

Again, this could just be a throwaway detail.

But we’ve already seen how seemingly small things in this show can end up being more important than they first appear.

Could this be another one?

I don’t know. There’s just something about the whole situation that feels interesting to me.

We’ve got two wealthy schoolgirls, two capable older brother figures, an apparently silly story that turns out to be an actual clue, and this new character who seems to have an unusual amount of presence.

It’s a whole soup of interesting little details!

There are so many different angles here, and so much going on in what initially seems like a fairly ordinary scene.

Am I blowing Tokio’s presence out of proportion? Or does he really have that main-character energy?

Do you think he could become a Rider, or have some other important role in the story?

Maybe he’s just Sae’s helpful older brother who makes excellent crepes.

But I can’t help wondering whether there’s more going on here.