REVIEW: Ghost 39
So after last week’s highly emotional and fantastic episode, we are back to the status quo of this particular arc of Ghost with a two episode story that overall isn’t gonna impact the story that much, but still is tangentially related to the overarching story. However I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as the idol or Billy the Kid episodes since there is a lot since it doesn’t seem or feel rushed, there are plenty of plot points that are directly related to the main plot or character development and honestly for once I really don’t know how this two-episode-plot is going to end.
So as I said the victim/monster of the week plot, although the large structure is quite clichéd with a body swap being the main gimmick of the plot, the details are rather unique. This particular plot deals with a girl and her absentee father who is neglectful to the point where he misses going to his dead wife’s graveyard on the anniversary of her death; So not a great dad. This is also a bit of a clichéd plot, but what’s interesting is that there is this police corruption angle to the plot with the father potentially being crooked and leaking information to a wanted criminal to let him keep escaping. Add to that the daughter, in the dad’s body only getting parts of the big picture and assuming that her dad is corrupt and you have a unique and fresh take on this sort of plot.
I really adore the way this clichéd plot has been done for the very reasons above. There is this serious underlying story behind the body swap cliché in this two-episode-plot that again makes it interesting. Rather than going for an overdone plot of mistaken identity and silly confusion, there is a genuine threat and serious implication to the two people swapping bodies. Additionally, there is a mix up in the sense that there might actually be three parties involved in the body swap as the Ganmizer might have gone into the girl’s body and the father into the Ganmizer’s. It feels like a fresh stab at such an overdone plot and because of that added serious implications; it honestly feels to me that the plot could go anywhere.
This is because, yes the whole mystery over the dad being corrupt could EASILY just be the daughter overreacting and overthinking, but we haven’t seen any evidence for any other conclusion so we believe it with her. Furthermore, I have to say that the writing of the daughter is actually quite realistic and believable, so props to the writers for that. Also the actor who played the dad is also extremely talented since he was able to perfectly portray a distressed and bratty teenage girl in her dad’s body quite well. I mean obviously it’s not an Oscar winning performance, but it is still quite impressive and well worth praise.
However a good plot of the week does not a good episode make since it all has to be relevant (well most of the time since there are of course exceptions) to the main plot. The great thing is, this theme of distrusting one’s father not only connects to major character development, but also ties into the summer movie via that character connection! So how it does all that is through the daughter’s distrust of her father, Makoto is reminded of his own hatred towards his own father. This both develops Makoto because we gain more of an understanding of him, but it helps develop the summer movie. This is because it sets the movie up a bit more, since Makoto’s father is a key part of the film’s plot, and also ties it back into the show which is always nice. Additionally, I really liked that through his backstory with his father, Makoto is the one that connects with the victim of the week, rather than Takeru. It not only makes Makoto more involved and important to the plot, but also shows that Takeru isn’t perfect and thus more human and a better written character.
To be honest, I’m quite intrigued by the fact that fatherhood has become sort of a sub-theme running throughout the show. We see it through Tenkuuji Ryu having a major influence on his son, Adonis’s ideology influencing all his children in different ways and now Makoto’s father abandoning him all leading to the way he is today. It’s nice seeing this spread of fatherhood: Ryu’s genuine and good fatherhood, Adonis’s fatherhood with pure intentions that are corrupted and Makoto’s father just being the worst father in the show. It’s not exactly a major theme in the show, but I do really like and enjoy that there is this sins of the fathers aspect/theme in it, as minor as it is; it certainly shows that the writers are at the very least trying to be somewhat complex in their themes.
Apart from all that, there are still a few small things that I do want to mention, but aren’t necessarily connected or large enough to really warrant paragraphs dedicated to them. Firstly it’s nice to overall see that the producers/writers/creators/Toei are yet again making the summer movie canon and a part of the overarching story through not only the episodes of the show themselves, but by the return of the small one minute vignettes at the end; it just shows some thought and care towards the summer movies and makes them feel like less of a cash-grab/afterthought. I have no clue how Billy the Kid is going to affect the story and right now it does feel a little forced and pointless since him and his possession of Kanon really didn’t add to the plot in any way shape or form, but we shall see. The cold intro was also extremely interesting because as far as I can remember, Kamen Rider doesn’t really use that technique so again this episode is unique in that sense.
Speaking of that cold open, it’s nice to see Alia actually do something in the plot apart from looking concerned for people; and it’s also nice to see that she is somewhat of a Kamen Rider, despite being just a mook re-colour of her brother’s suit. Finally I just wanna say it’s nice seeing a monster design that goes away from the usual humanoid designs that most Kamen Rider monsters are; its honestly refreshing and I’m glad they are making gags about how unwieldly it is to be in that suit.
So after last week’s fantastic, albeit cheesy, episode we got an entry to the show where it is “better” (in the usual critical sense) and still maintained plot relevance. I still wouldn’t say this is one of the BEST EPISODES EVER because it’s not one of the episodes directly related to the plot, plus it just doesn’t have that heart you know? But it’s still well worth a watch!
