REVIEW: Ghost 18
So remember last week when I said that Episode 17 was filler? I take that back completely. After some time thinking about it, combined with the events of this episode, it has far more of an impact than I initially though it to be. But what about this week’s episode you ask? Well again, it changed my mind about last week’s events as it tied everything together very well and really helped evolved Akari and Onari to more than just comedic sidekicks. On top of that this episode helped evolve Alain (whose name will be spelt like this from now on because that’s Toei’s official spelling of his name) further and really cemented the fact that he is going to become a good guy in the near future. On top of that the episode did some more interesting things with the Eyecons and we also had the debut of Necrom Sanzo Soul!
The show was definitely stolen by Akari and Onari this week with their mini-arc, which started in episode 17, culminating. Before delving straight into my thoughts on what happened with the two this time round, I just want to say that I really, really hope that this won’t be the last bit of development for the two. What we got was extremely good and made the two far more three dimensional and fleshed out than before, but I don’t want it to stop there. I hope they keep growing and accept that each other’s views may be contrasting, but are worthy of both of their times. On top of that we are only in the late 10’s so for them to only get this much character development, this early on is quite disappointing. But judging from how the two are at the end of the episode, I think they will grow some more.
So what I really liked with Akari and Onari this episode, and honestly by extension last episode, is that they do their best to protect the other. It shows that really, despite all their bickering and disagreements, they do genuinely care and respect each other. On top of that these past two episodes have shown that the two are adaptable and are growing stronger with Takeru, No longer are they the helpless sidekicks. I love that with Ghost we are finally getting a female secondary character that really can hold her own and is extremely helpful to our hero. It’s so refreshing to not have the secondary female character be a damsel in distress. On the other hand I will admit it is a bit of a shame that Onari didn’t really grow or help that much with the events in the past two episodes. I understand he is meant to be a comedic side character, but I do want him to do some help.
What was really nice, it turns out, was the fact that Akari and Onari’s development coincided with the plot with Himiko and Newton. I say this as the four’s relationship mirror each other’s very well, as each of the two, well, couples for lack of a better word, has an individual who believes in science and one who believes in the supernatural/religious. Thus the eyecons’ gain more significance and value again, as they are shown to be more than just the collectible gimmick and have genuine character. Furthermore the theme of overcoming differences to work together is emphasised through both relationships and so is brought to the forefront of the program for it to eventually affect Alain’s storyline. So all in all the plot with Akari and Onari is extremely important and impressive and I’m extremely glad it’s there.
Speaking of Alain, he had quite a significant role in this week’s episode along with quite a bit of development. With this week we see more of his past as well as him interacting with Kanon more. With the flashbacks we learn that not only has Alain looked the way he has for years, but that his relationship with Makoto is that of an older rival, or at least started that way. We also learnt that he is at least 150 years old from a throwaway line, suggesting that Ganma live for many, many years. But what was most important in regards to Alain this week was his interaction with Kanon while they are trying to ‘find’ Makoto.
It may have been a small handful of moments, but Alain is clearly falling for the human world or wants to learn more about it, as he does take a little bit of time to look at the world around him. There was an especially cute scene where he thinks Takoyaki are Eyecons. On top of that I liked how Alain wanted to distract himself from thoughts about the human world by fighting Takeru. It really shows that Alain is a complex character who has some internal conflicts he’s dealing with. I’m so glad that the program is showing us this turmoil via some fine acting from Hayato Isamura, rather than just telling us via some expositional dialogue. I am very excited for where they are taking Alain’s character from now on.
This leaves us with the debut of Sanzo soul, Igor’s Ganma form and some critiques I have about the episode. So with the episode Takeru felt quite out of place. He spent most of the episode within the Ganma world not doing much and when he did appear up in the human world all he did was fight. Now not having him around isn’t the bad thing, it’s just how they presented Takeru as the one who caused all of the week’s events and the one who learnt all the lessons, that bothers me. I found that Takeru spouting off the morals of Akari and Onari’s development quite odd as he wasn’t around nor did he learn the lessons himself. I’m glad that Newton and Himiko didn’t work together because of Takeru, but rather because they saw Akari and Onari doing so. All in all Takeru just felt a bit out of place in an episode that really wasn’t focused on him, yet he was given quite a bit of the spotlight.
But Sanzo soul and Igor’s Ganma form certainly were a treat. With Sanzo soul I love the mostly white, with gold highlights colour scheme the show went for. It works extremely well with Necrom’s Transient form and is just quite a striking design. I also love how the form has the heads of Zhu Bajie, Shā Wùjìng and Sun Wukong on various parts of the design, reflecting the fact that Sanzo was the master of those three in Journey to the West. As for Igor’s Ganma form I love how it can use the Eyecons of other Ganma, using a weird version of the Mega Uloder. It just further highlights the franchise motif of the villains in Kamen Rider being evil/corrupted versions of the heroes, which is quite nice.
Apart from Takeru’s awkward place in the plot, this episode was extremely strong. It gave the secondary characters some welcome development and overall highlighted some of the key themes of the show very nicely. Furthermore it made me reconsider my view of episode 17 as being filler, which I think shows how well episode 18 tied up the loose ends and paid off on the plotlines from last week.
