What They Say:
“The Closed k / A Chain of Malice”
Shotaro and Philip struggle to discover the truth behind the Alcohol Dopant’s attacks before there’s another death.
“The Closed k / The Ultimate Two Halves of One”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If it’s not the butler, then I don’t care who the culprit is. It’s always the butler the one who is responsible. The murder mystery was set up wonderfully as the number of possibilities narrowed down with each death. It was one of the persons that you would least expect to commit the murders. They were in the background just enough that it makes sense and their status in life makes sense why they would do it. Family is everything and you always do everything in your power to protect them. The culprit calls themselves a high dopant because of how they have grown accustomed to their powers. I wonder if this will ever come into play again. Time is running out and the villains seem to be of a different variety. The visitors from other cities have a lot to live up to following this murder mystery.
These two episodes are filled with so much delightful Kamen Rider fun. Ryu Terui showed off his Kamen Rider form, Accel, before, but this is the episode where he shows off his strengths. And he gets a terrifying enemy that will make you quake in fear. Ryu takes his chance to make a grand appearance as his speed takes on nightmares. A challenge calls for evolution and Ryu meets with a 100 with the Trial form. From 0 to surpassing the speed of light is a great way to take on this fight.
You get an ultimate form, you get an ultimate form, heck everyone gets an ultimate form. Shotaro and Philip unveil their ultimate form, Cyclone Joker Extreme. The high dopant makes them take this stage. Shotaro and Philip list what they can do in this form. But there is some element of what they can do missing in action. The effects that the Gaia Library has in battle are perhaps the most difficult to do so. Also, the high dopant, Alcohol, isn’t the best test for this form. You get a sense of what Cyclone Joker Extreme but it still needs a true villain to display the full limits of what the Extreme form can do. It’s a good first step to reveal all the pieces for the final battle but it just needed a little bit more of a villain to fully display all of Extreme.
All the cards are on the table as the villains reveal themselves and take center stage. There are clues that they have a grand plan in motion. But their actions so far make themselves as if they are just causing havoc without an endgame. The other city hasn’t been too prominent and it needed to be featured more to set up the mystery of Tokime. She was extremely sidelined in this case when it would have easily led the road.
In Summary
The “hard-boiled” detective, Shotaro may be a softy but he is someone you grow to love. Everything that he does, he does in the name of Fuuto. Cyclone Joker Extreme and Accel transformations were mostly everything that you can ask for. It was flashy, had tons of gimmicks, and then are plenty of villains ahead to demonstrate what they can do.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
