REVIEW: Ghost 36
So this week’s episode of Ghost was quite a surprise as it was the first part of a new two-episode arc, yet I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn’t see much wrong with the episode itself. The story was pretty good, as was the acting; and for the first time in a while I can confidently say that the action scenes in this episode of Ghost were really good. In short, episode 36 of Kamen Rider Ghost was quite a pleasant surprise.
So what made this episode so good in my eyes was that it felt like every main character had something to do in it, rather than just being pointless side characters. Do begin with, the programme finally started to address the fact that, well, Alain is severely underpowered compared to the other two riders. It’s nice that the show is actually acknowledging this sort of plot hole and on top of that giving Alain a boost in power/a weapon (at least next week). What is also awesome about this plot point is that it’s again making the Eyecons/historical figures an active part of the plot, here with Sanzo training Alain (with the help Son Goku, Cho Hakkai and Sa Gojo, which is nice to see). The only complaint I have about all this is that Alain is not getting a proper upgrade like Makoto, but rather just a new weapon, thus showing a potential lack of importance or care for him. On top of that it pulls him out of the main plot, which again shows that he is not seen as that important. However, it’s still nice that he is getting his own weapon finally and that the writers are aware of the difference in power between him, Makoto and Takeru.
Continuing with this thread of characters having their own stories with this arc, Makoto seems to have a clone or doppelganger sent after him by Adel. Now we really didn’t get much of this plot line, so I can’t really pass judgement on it, but again it’s nice to see everyone get some kind of plot specific for them. On top of that I hope this doppelganger/clone is a repercussion of using Deep Spectre, because that Eyecon is a bit too fishy to be used so safely. I really hope this turns out to be the case, because Deep Spectre seems to be screaming to have some kind of curse or drawback for Makoto. I just certainly hope they pull the trigger on this plotline and for it to be good.
Another example of the main characters getting a part in the plot is Akari trying out to be part of the idol unit core to this arc. Now it is a cute/funny sub-plot, but it’s another example of the characters being used actively in this arc, which is why I enjoyed this episode so much. However this plotline could go one of two ways: On the one hand it could be a sort of message where she learns to be girly over being scientific and all that, which would be awful; or it could be a message saying that you could be both and succeed, which would be an extremely positive and wonderful thing to teach kids. Judging from the preview, it does seem that Akari’s part in this arc is gonna have a bit more heart than just being a joke side-plot, so I hope the overall message of her story is gonna be the latter of the two possibilities mentioned above.
So I hope that really shows why I felt this episode was good: everyone had a purpose in it. I know I’ve said multiple times that too many plots in an episode ruins it, but here is a shining example where I feel that this isn’t the case since, again, all these main plots involved all the major characters. On top of that the reason why I am not criticising the multiple plot lines is because all of them were tonally the same and the stakes overall weren’t that high, thus none of the plots felt like they were lacking enough time or attention and didn’t feel as bad /dissonant as previous arcs’. This is because all plots were on the same scale of tension and so felt equal to each other and not distracting from one another. Basically I like the multiple plotlines this episode because they were all very well balanced.
As for the main plotline with guest star Okunaka Makoto, who played Koyomi in Kamen Rider Wizard, it was alright. It does feel better than most victim/plot of the weeks because, well, the idea of hearing your friend’s hatred for you through telepathy is a compelling plot point. On top of that it’s a reasonable macguffin to move the plot along since she is able to hear other’s thoughts and even Igor’s plans. I’m really curious as to see what Takeru learns from this since I can’t see any clear cut emotion that he could learn from this all, so I’m certainly looking forward to next week’s episode to learn that at the very least.
But something I noticed this week was that the episode both began and ended really strongly, at the very least compared to previous weeks. I felt that the in media res opening was a very good way to start thing’s off since it just immediately put the plot in motion, thus starting the episode off on a good pace (which it thankfully maintained). On top of that it had a solid sense of purpose since from it we got some good plot development via a new Ganmeiser and Alain realising he isn’t as strong as the other two and Sanzo not listening to him; rather than slowly introducing the victim/plot of the week. As for the ending, it is the first time in a while where I’m not annoyed at the ending to the first part of an arc! The reason I think as much is because the episode ended on a good point in the story since there isn’t a weird cliff-hanger that is too high-tension; but it’s still tense enough where I want to see the next episode.
One final thing that really stood out to me with this week’s episode was that it had really good action/stunts. I usually don’t comment on this aspect in every single one of my reviews, because usually the action in the episodes don’t tend to be that exceptional or worth talking about. However with this week, I was genuinely impressed with it. This is mostly to do with the fact that all the fight scenes had a sense of purpose or importance within the plot, like the first fight, and so felt like they were worth watching; the fights themselves told the story, rather than just being there, so their value was raised in my eyes. On top of that all the fights this week felt very fluid and dynamic, compared to the usual static and heavy fight scenes we usually get in Kamen Rider. So I definitely felt that the action was better than usual this time around.
So if you couldn’t tell, I quite enjoyed this episode of Ghost. Everyone had a purpose and place within the plot, the action was good, the main plot wasn’t too bad and we got an ending to the episode that wasn’t a cheap cliff-hanger that isn’t going to be solved within the first five minutes of next week’s episode! I honestly think this is the best of the ‘average’ episodes of Ghost, thus showing that even when it’s not trying anything spectacular, it’s still pretty good.
