#because hojo was so focused first on seeing if he could hear the ancients. which doesn't require reading

[mariyekos]

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but that's probably just what the game says for enemies that can't be Assessed!

Ex, one of the ending enemies in the Remake that can be partially read):

Ex. 2: An enemy that can be fully read:

And Sephiroth himself (Remake):

SHUT UP

SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!!!

SEPHIROTH CANT READ!!! I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THIS OMFG!!!

shinra/hojo probably just never thought it was necessary to teach him to read, or probably teach him anything really, other than how to fight and be the perfect soldier, because he was conceived and born as nothing more than a test subject… and why would the lab rat weapon need to learn basic things like how to read…

this also just makes me think, since he canonically has to be able to read, at least enough to have been able to read all the stuff in the shinra manor basement, that he probably learned to read through simply watching others and needing to put the pieces together to figure it out for himself and through relying on other people (like his friends) teaching him at least the basics, though he still was never properly taught so he’s not very good at reading

plus this is such a wild place for them to actually just straight up state that sephiroth cant read? like its in the boss details segment in the event which i feel like is so easy to miss for most people? plus its not like it’s actually battle stats or anything… just the confirmation he cant read…

[fictionalxlifexreality]

Inuyasha x Saiyuki

Trekking through the forest for quite sometime, Kagome could determine a couple of things.

One: She was officially lost. And this time, it wasn’t her lack of sense of direction that got her lost for once, more like she doesn’t know where or when she was. The forest she was currently lost in did not look one bit like Inuyasha’s Forest, and she knows that forest like the back of her hand.

Two: The fact that she does not even remotely recognize anything was a big indicator that she could possibly be in a whole, different world altogether.

Forget about being displaced through time, a different world is a whole different matter and an even bigger problem besides time! 

The feel of this world was just too different from what she was used to, which told her all that she needed to know: She wasn’t in her own world anymore, not even the feudal era of Japan. 

In fact, this new world felt like a mesh of the feudal era of Japan with a healthy dose of her present time. It didn’t feel as polluted as her time and as far as she could tell, nature is as abundant as it was back in the feudal era.

Kagome winced at the oncoming headache and rubbed at her temples to stave it off. Contemplating about time and different worlds only made her head spin, so Kagome decided to make the best of the situation and just wing it. 

After all, ever since Naraku’s defeat and the completion of the Shikon no Tama, she has been restless.

Her time in the future was brought to a halt ever since she fell down that damn well on her fifteenth birthday, and was evidently pulled through time by Mistress Centipede, but she did managed to finish her education. It was the least she could do for her mother who wanted her to graduate high school, however, math was still her worst enemy.

She sighed heavily at the mess her life has become. It was too depressing to even think about it, but she didn’t regret a thing. She couldn’t even think of a life without all this craziness, otherwise she would have lived a dull and boring existence, probably as Hojo’s wife, or something...

She shuddered at the mere thought of being Hojo’s wife. It took three, long years for his infatuation to fade and move on to some other poor girl. She was finally freed of Hojo’s attention during her last year of high school!

Now, don’t get her wrong, Hojo’s a nice boy, but he’s just too nice and boring. Plainly attractive with a bright future ahead of him, but after being exposed to the unearthly beauty of the past, Hojo just couldn’t compare.

Sometimes she wondered why all the men she met in the past are so beautiful without undermining their masculinity. The men of her time just looked so plastic, like they’re trying too hard to look perfect. Even her enemies looked very attractive minus a few. 

Naraku, Bankotsu, heck even Jakotsu, to name a few. 

Muso... Well, technically he didn’t have a face, but he was a creep like Mukotsu... Now Mukotsu, he was just one nasty piece of work, and Kagome still hasn’t thanked Sesshoumaru, a reluctant ally, for stopping Mukotsu from marrying her right then and there, despite it not being his intention. 

She probably wouldn’t see the Western Lord if ever again, much less thank him for what he’s done for her, now that she’s in this new world.

Coming to a stop before a large tree, Kagome sat down on its roots, and brought out an old antique. It was a beautiful, golden pocket watch that belonged to her late-father. She always had it with her and for as long as she could remember, it was always accurate when it comes to telling time. 

It also doubled as a compass. It was something her father had taught her when she was younger, and it helped her a lot when she got lost.

“It’s as old as time itself,” her father had once told her when she was younger. She didn’t it believe it at first, but then her adventures through time happened. Back when she was a little girl, she always thought the watch to be a little creepy because she always got a weird feeling from it. 

Now that she was older, Kagome could understand what her father had said about the watch. Although she couldn’t actually prove it, she could feel an aura surrounding the watch, very ancient and powerful. She could hazard a guess that it was related to time since she always felt it resonate when she passed through the time portal in the well. 

There’s also a bit of sentience, how much? She doesn’t know. After all, with enough time, even an inanimate object can obtain a soul, almost like a tsukumogami.

Kyuu~

A high, keening sound pulled her out of her thoughts and Kagome snapped her watch close before putting it away. She stood up and carefully scanned her surroundings. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but she was sure that she heard something.

Kyuu~

There! Looking towards the direction of the sound, Kagome slowly made her way through the green foliage before spotting something small and white under a bush. Looking closer, she could tell right away that it was injured from the blood splotches on its body.

Kagome didn’t know what it was, but she wasn’t going to leave it to suffer from its pain, so she carefully extracted the creature from underneath the bush, mindful of its injuries. Once she held the creature in her arms, Kagome was mildly surprised to see that it was a small, white dragon. 

It didn’t feel like a youkai, but it was definitely a magical creature of some sort. Though she wondered at the golden aura surrounding the dragon, almost outlining its predominant white aura.

The dragon was about the size of a house-cat, but it’s body was almost bird-like with a long serpentine neck and two legs. It’s wings more mammalian, like a bat instead of a bird. 

He, assuming the dragon’s a ‘he,’ since Kagome didn’t want to keep calling the dragon ‘it,’ had a mane of white hair that ran from his head all the way down to his tail with equally white scales. His eyes are a ruby red and he also had a pair of horns protruding from in between his ears.

Hearing the painful keening from the dragon, Kagome shook her head from her distracting thoughts and focused her attention back to the situation at hand. She carefully looked over the dragon’s injuries and noticed that one of its wings appeared to be broken. Other than a few minor injuries, the dragon will be fine.

“Alright there little guy, let’s get you fixed up.” Kagome said, as she carefully maneuvered the little dragon more comfortably in her arms.

“Kyuu~?” Looking down at the questioning sound, Kagome was met with red orbs staring into her own blue eyes. She could see the intelligence in the dragon’s wary eyes and knew that he could understand her.

“Yes, I may not look like it, but I’m an accomplished healer, if I do say so myself,” she said to the little dragon with a little grin. “But first, let’s go find a body of water. I’m sure there’s a lake or a river somewhere in this forest.”

“Kyu, kyuu~?”

“Hmm? You doubt me, don’t you, Ryu-chan? Just you wait, you’ll be healed in no time!”

“Kyuu~?” 

“Yes, it’s a cute name right? I don’t know your name yet, so I’ll call you Ryu-chan for the time being.” Kagome couldn’t help but smile at the adorable dragon she dubbed, Ryu-chan. If he wasn’t as injured as he is, she wouldn’t have been able to stop herself from hugging him to death.

“Nee, Ryu-chan, you wouldn’t happen to know where I could find water, would you? I’m completely lost here.” she said, grinning sheepishly.

“Kyuu? Kyu, Kyuu! Kyu, kyuu, kyuu~!”

Kagome just laughed at Ryu-chan’s excited response. He was nodding and pointed his head towards her left and what looked to be beyond the treeline.

“Well, aren’t you just a smart dragon!” She could faintly hear rushing water, meaning a river was just beyond the treeline.

“Kyuu!”

It wasn’t long until Kagome found herself before a river with crystal clear waters. She walked a little closer to the river bank and noted that it was quite shallow, the deepest part would probably reach her waistline. Moving towards a tree still close to the water, she sat down and set to cleaning the dragon’s injuries first before moved on to his broken wing.

Sitting Ryu-chan on her lap, Kagome tore the bottom portion of her shirt into strips leaving her with a crop top. She was just thankful she was wearing wraps under her shirt and a tank top, so she wasn’t exposing anything indecent. 

She dipped the cloth into the water when she spotted a couple medicinal herbs growing along the river bank and grabbed those as well. She ground the herbs into a green paste with water before she cleaned Ryu-chan’s injuries and carefully applied the herbal paste, it would help prevent scarring when she began healing the dragon.Then she moved onto the dragon’s broken wing.

“Ok, Ryu-chan, you might want to brace yourself. Since your wing is broken, I have to set the bones back into place before I start healing you.”

“Kyuu~?”

“Don’t worry, Ryu-chan. The pain will only be a moment. Are you ready?” Kagome looked at Ryu-chan and was glad to see that he was listening to her instructions.

“Alright, Ryu-chan. On my count. One, two, three–!” Kagome quickly snapped the bone back into place, gently cooing at the dragon whimpering in pain. She placed her hand a hair's breadth away from the broken wing and focused on her healing ki. 

Her hand began glowing a soft lavender as opposed to the hard violet her miko-ki usually is, and began to mend the broken bone, then all the minor injuries. After she was finished with the healing, she suddenly had her hands full with a happy, fully healed dragon.

“Hahahaha~ That tickles, Ryu-chan~!”

“Kyuu~!”

“You’re very welcome, Ryu-chan! I’m glad to help!” Kagome giggled at the ticklish feeling as Ryu-chan, who was perched on her shoulders, rubbed against her cheek, emitting a purr-like sound.

Now that Kagome’s healed her new friend, she’s unsure of what to do next. She might be capable of surviving on her own, but she’s in completely unfamiliar lands. Even if she comes across civilization, she knows firsthand how untrusting people are of foreigners, no matter how kind they may seem.

Absentmindedly petting her dragon companion, Kagome contemplated on her next move. First things first, she has to get out of this forest. She’s been lost in this forest for quite awhile and she doesn’t even want to know what kind of danger will flock to her like bees to pollen when night falls. It’s like she has a bright, neon target painted on her back that says: “Easy prey, come get me!”

Looking up at the sky, she calculated that she has about five more hours until sunset, seeing that it’s probably high noon right now. She didn’t even have to look at her clock to check the time to see if she’s right because she knows she’s always correct when it concerns time.

Getting up from her sitting position, Kagome patted off any dirt and debris that might have gotten stuck on her backside. For a moment, she eyed the dragon who was perched on her shoulders, watching her curiously. She wondered whether or not there was someone looking for Ryu-chan. She didn’t mind a bit of company, but for such a well-behaved and intelligent creature, Kagome’s positive that Ryu-chan has friends looking for him.

“Kyuu~?”

Kagome looked towards the questioning sound and was met with Ryu-chan’s inquisitive red orbs. Just as she was about to reassure the dragon that there was nothing wrong, she was interrupted by a noise coming from a distance that was slowly getting closer.

—ryuu!

Hak— ryuu!!    

Where— you— Hakuryuu?!

“Hakuryuu? Is that your name, Ryu-chan?” she asked Ryu-chan, who was looking towards the noise.

“Kyu, kyuu~!”

Hearing the positive response, Kagome couldn’t help but giggle, it seems that she was right in thinking that there was someone looking for Ryu-chan, or rather Hakuryuu. 

Just on the edge of her senses, she could subtly feel four distinct auras and a powerful object. Each individual was quite powerful if she could barely get a reading of their auras because she could tell that their auras are tightly concealed. If she wasn’t trained as she was she wouldn’t even be able to tell that there was four people out there, let alone how powerful they are.

“Should we wait here for your friends or should we meet up with them?”

“Kyu, Kyuu! Kyu, kyuu, kyuu~!” Seeing that Hakuryuu was all but ready to go, Kagome laughed as he floated right in front of her waiting in anticipation.

“Well then, lead the way Hakuryuu! No need for your friends to tear the forest apart in their search for you!”

“Kyuu~”

Kagome held back her laughter as Hakuryuu agreed with her statement and she couldn’t wait to see what kind of people Hakuryuu’s friends are for them to garner such respect from a dragon like Hakuryuu.

Dragons, no matter what type, are proud and highly intelligent creatures. To earn one’s loyalty is no easy feat unless one is raised from their egg like Ah-Un was to Seeshoumaru, but even then, to earn Ah-Un’s trust was to earn Sesshoumaru’s trust, which was already difficult as earning his respect.

It took Kagome four long years to earn the Western Lord’s respect and that was earned when she survived and completed his demonic training. Then it took her another two years to earn his trust, therefore his loyalty, when she risked her life for his ward Rin from danger, and he was otherwise preoccupied. She wouldn’t even dream of breaking his trust because that would mean her certain death.

As she followed Hakuryuu through the forest, she rubbed the purple crescent moon tattooed on her inner left wrist, she has a larger, more elaborate one tattooed over her heart. It was a mark that connected her to Sesshoumaru’s clan. Once she completed her training under the Western Lord, she was honored to accept his offer of joining his pack through a powerful pact of blood and soul.

The blood pact was so that others would recognize or acknowledge that she belongs to a powerful clan should they not know who Sesshoumaru was, and to ensure that she was not to be messed with.

The soul pact was a double-edged sword. The pact connects the soul to the Western Lands and ensures one’s loyalty to the clan, but Kagome would never in her life, ever compromise her loyalty because the pact actually saved her life in more ways than one. 

It actually filled the void in her fractured soul that Kikyo left behind when the vengeful doll took with her a part of Kagome’s soul into the afterlife. Despite how abnormally large her soul is, Kagome still suffered from phantom pains that was caused be her incomplete soul, and due to that, she struggled with controlling her powers. 

She was grateful for the pact because it helped complete her soul and stabilize her powers. If she should ever break her pact, the blood in her veins would burn her from the inside out and her soul would be destroyed and never have the chance to join the cycle of reincarnation. 

As long as she was connected to Sesshoumaru and the House of Moon, the Western Clan, she would never have the reason to betray Sesshoumaru’s trust and loyalty.

Kagome was brought out of her thoughts when she felt Hakuryuu perch on her shoulders and nuzzle into her cheek. She smiled and indulgently gave the dragon her attention, gently scratching under his chin, earning a pleased chirp-like sound. 

Seeing that Hakuryuu was making himself comfortable on her shoulder, she guessed that they were nearing his companions and by the voices she could hear getting closer, it wouldn’t take long for them to intercept one another.

Sedately walking towards the noise, she could tell that the voices are male. One of them sounded worried, two were arguing about something she couldn’t catch and the last one sounded angry and annoyed. 

Just from their voices alone, Kagome could already tell they were a bunch of interesting characters. She stopped when the voices were getting louder and closer.

“Oh Hakuryuu, I hope you’re okay.”

“Uugh~ Nee, Gojyo, Hakkai~ I’m hungry~ Feed mee~!”

“Feed yourself, you bakazaru.”

“What was that you ero-kappa that can’t swim?!”

“Uruze!! Or I’ll put a bullet between both your eyes!”

Kagome raised a brow when she heard the cocking of a gun.

“Che, damn namagusa bouzo.”

“Sanzo~ I’m hungry~ Ack—!”

Kagome blinked at the sound of heavy paper whacking two heads and eyed her dragon friend who let out an amused snort. It seems like this happens all the time if Hakuryuu wasn’t even phased by it.

“You have such interesting friends, don’t you, Hakuryuu.”

“Kyuu~!”

[ridersinreview]

Kamen Rider Agito

Hello to my two followers and anybody who finds this in the Agito tag. Since my Stronger review went so well I’ve decided to review what is maybe my favorite Kamen Rider Series Agito!

Agito is the father of most modern Kamen Rider tropes and I can’t wait to dissect them. Now we’re going to dive into the first episode of Toshiki Inoue’s first Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Agito Episode 1: The Warrior’s Awakening under the cut!

We start off with a commemoration of Kamen Rider’s 30th anniversary followed by the lovely scene of a bunch of scrap scattered around a beach. Apparently a large storm has just passed causing some damage to the Nagoya area. We follow a young boy picking up scrap when he see’s something peculiar in the sand

A strange metal cross! Not only that but those little dials start moving around ominous! But we have no time for that because we’re now heading off to the city, in particular the under ground police training facility for the Squad Against Unidentified Lifeforms, or S.A.U.L. for short.

(Ignore the discrepancy with the text on the screen, it’s a mistranslation) And we that figure in blue, our hero of the show Kamen Rider G3. Kind of weird that he isn’t called Agito but this is a pretty weird series. G3, or Makoto Hikawa, is showing off the suit to his superiors by dodging, blocking, and shooting freaking cannon balls shot at him at high speeds! The long and short of it is that G3 is an Unidentified Lifeform killer, and he’s being directed by Sumiko Ozawa the best character in the entire show.

She is the creator of the G3 armor and as the testing ends we get to see the face of the suits operator.

And wow he is like a pretty puppy. Anyways he, Ozawa and Ozawa’s assistant Takahiro Omuro

(wow that picture sums up his character doesn’t it) are the team in charge of the G3 system and  S.A.U.L.’s first line of defense. After the training/showing off for the higher ups Hikawa decides to visit his friend in the O Parts research center for the police. Sure that seems like the kind of thing a police department would have.

Okay time for some real talk. Some people might be confused at why the police have an organization called S.A.U.L. or what Unidentified Lifeforms are. The answer is that Agito is a sort of sequel to Kamen Rider Kuuga. In that series the police relied on Unidentified Lifeform Number 4, what they called Kuuga, to fight and defeat the Unidentified Lifeforms, until the end of series when they developed their ultimate Nerve Breaking Bullet. Now two years later in universe S.A.U.L. seems to essentially be a response to not wanting to rely on Kuuga anymore.

So anyways Hikawa meet’s up with his friend in the O-Parts division Sakiko Mikumo

And she explains the purpose of the O-Parts Division, to examine strange technology from ancient civilizations(like the ones that gave Kuuga his powers) she shows him their latest acquisition, the metal cross from earlier. She tells Hikawa that it’s essentially a giant puzzle left by a long lost civilization and she wants to find out what’s hidden inside and he agrees.

The change locations though to a local Middle School where some girls are playing soccer. Their fun is ended however when while chasing an out of bounds ball one of the girls sees the impossible.

A young boy has been stuck into a tree far to small for him to fit in. Let’s not get too hung up on child death though because we now make our way to Johuko University where a professor is speaking to his students about their graduate thesis.

He is Professor Yoshihiko Misugi and he starts talking about how the chosen topic of one of his students, psychic powers, is not suitable for a thesis. Before the argument can get too far though they are interrupted by a young man here to give the professor the books he had left at home.

(Yep, this picture sums him up very nicely.) This is Shouichi Tsugami who the professor describes to his students as a young man living with him due to special circumstances. Shouichi leaves after saying he will be cooking dinner for everybody, prompting the professor to decide he will be eating before he gets home. Not caring about the sick diss to his coking skills Shouichi starts to head back home, but on his way back to his bike he crosses paths with another man and feels…something.

The music stops, an eerie sound is heard as both men stop moving for a second. You can feel the tension rise, building and building to an explosive climax! And then the moment ends and they go on their ways not knowing what just happened, or the significance. I mean we don’t either but we know that these two are connected somehow.

So now Shouichi is walking his bike home having run out of gas and is met by Mana Kazaya, the professor’s niece and Shouichi’s housemate.

She asks him is he remembers anything and reveals to us that Shouichi has amnesia! Shouichi however doesn’t really want to get his memories back in that big of a hurry, after all having amnesia seems pretty normal to him so why does he have to remember. Mana and him banter for a bit showing their friendship and Mana tells Shouichi that if he remembers that he’s actually really rich he should marry her and rides off much to Shouichi’s dismay.

Another cut, man this show does not like focusing on a scene for to long does it, and we are with the mysterious man who crossed Shouichi’s path earlier reenacting the opening to the first Percy Jackson movie. He surfaces when called up by the school’s swim coach and we’re given his name, Ryou Ashihara, as well as the fact that he is a member of the college’s swim team.

Apparently Ryou has only just recovered from getting hit by a freaking truck and is now ready to swim again in today’s big race!

Back in the G-Trailer Hikawa has just finished another round of testing the G3 armor but his mind seems to be on something else. Ozawa confronts him on this and asks if he’s thinking about the O-Parts group, but that isn’t the only thing that’s on his mind. You see Hikawa has heard of the murder at the Middle School and thinks that it’s something that us normally impossible.

We change locations to a home where a wife is saying goodbye to her husband as he leaves for work, but the entire scene is so tense. The mother looks frightened and lost while the husband is cold and distant. As the husband leaves for work he is being followed by a strange furry humanoid who makes a strange gesture

That’s when so many things start happening at once. A one of the many locks on the cross is opened, Shouichi has a seizure while vacuuming, Ryou has a seizure in the middle of his race, and this odd leopard creature kills the husband. So yeah, shit went down. The wife realized that her husband had forgotten some papers and goes to get them to him, but when she looks around she only finds

So of course the police are called in to investigate the scene. Not only that but we find out that the boy that was killed earlier was the child of the couple we saw earlier. Hikawa is there thinking that an impossible crime like this could only be done by Unidentified Lifeforms, unfortunately he needles the wife a little too hard on if there was anything unusual about her family and she goes off crying. Hikawa tries to follow but is stopped by fellow cop Toru Hojo

who tells Hikawa that S.A.U.L. has no jurisdiction over the murder because the Unidentified Lifeforms are all gone. When Hikawa tries to counter with the fact they were shoved into trees in a way that is literally impossible to do Hojo claims that the murderer only used a trick and that even if he doesn’t know what the trick is finding out is his job.

The scene ends with Hojo letting Hikawa investigate the scene as long as he stays out of his way. So we switch over to the hospital where Ryou is in some sort of coma. Apparently his muscles are convulsing and producing high levels of heat. The doctor suggests it could be the result of intense training but the coach tells him that Ryou is too good a swimmer to do dangerous training that close to a race.

Back at the professors house Shouichi is working on a garden he has in the front yard with the professors son Taichi Misugi.

Apparently Shouichi is really amazing at farming as shown by the fact that he has a freaking gigantic vegetables. Mana shows up and wonders if Shouichi was maybe a farmer before he lost his memory, which finds “Udderly Ridiculous”.

So yeah Shouichi makes puns. It’s pretty fitting and nobody likes them. The police don’t have time for jokes as the wife calls Hikawa to show him something about her family. She says to meet him in the middle of the park at night and that will obviously end very well. As she waits in the park our monster is waiting in the bushes.

We get some shots of Shouichi washing dishes and Ryou laying in a hospital bed as a glowing halo appears above the Jaguars head as he makes his odd gesture before going in for the kill. As the Jaguar is chocking the life out of the wife Shouichi and Ryou start convulsing and hearing a strange ringing. Hikawa arrives at the park but he’s to late and find nothing except for the wife’s purse and a photo of her son.

Yeah we’ll be looking at that in the analysis. Hikawa figures out what happened real quick and scans the tree’s and finds to his horror, like son and husband like wife. He looks for the killer and he sees the jaguar monster. Hikawa tries to fight the monster but the Unidentified Lifeform(?) literally stops the bullets mid air and vaporizes them. The Jaguar’s halo glows, he grabs Hikawa up with no effort at all, and he… throws him away and continues to walk away, not even runing. Hikawa calls the G-trailer and chases after the Jaguar and like anybody would do in the situation he fires his gun at it.

The monster can freeze bullets midair though and turns them to dust. Now the Jaguar begins to run, thankfully before he can lose it the G-trailer appears and Hikawa goes in to suit up into Kamen Rider G3.

He gives chase on his specialized Guardchaser motorcycle and is ready to kick monster ass. Hikawa catches up to the monster at an abandoned warehouse and pulls out the GM-01 Scorpion, the gun he used to obliterate cannon balls earlier in the episode, only for it to have no effect. Okay it’s immune to bullets but that’s not that bad, maybe G3 will have it’s time to shine in close combat. So the Jaguar charges and G3 loses the gun and is slammed into a car without landing a single hit.

After trying and failing to do any damage to the creature Hikawa is given the order to retreat after his helmet cam was damaged and the rest of the suit is mangled, but he can’t even stand up at this point. Before the monster can continue the assault though someone arrives.

(The light is from a car exploding by the way. It was awesome if you haven’t seen the episode) This mysterious figure attacks the jaguar and unlike G3 he doesn’t get his ass handed too him. In fact he manages to not take a single hit before he throws the monster away and prepares his final attack

The rider kick. Agito leaps into the air after getting energy from that symbol on the ground and strikes the monster with one final strike. Then without even looking the Jaguar's halo appears and he explodes

gloriously.

The episode ends with two more Jaguars looking on from the distance and uttering a single word, “Agito”

Next time on Kamen Rider Agito: Who is Agito? Ryou is getting worse! Mana thinks Shouichi might be better of with amnesia! These new monsters, unknown!

Characters:

Makoto Hikawa/Kamen Rider G3- So far it looks like this is our main character. He is the operator of the G3 armor and despite looking adept the armor itself is not up to snuff. Hikawa himself is a very nice character. He is very respectful to everybody around him and despite being a little dense in his questioning of the wife he is immediately sorry. What is a pretty good about him though is his courage. Despite being faced with an insane looking murderous Jaguar creature he still chased after it without his armor. Even when the G3 armor was failing he wasn’t running away and was ready to die to avenge that murdered family. I am looking forward to examine his character moving forward.

Shouichi Tsugami- Shouichi is very interesting. He has amnesia but doesn’t seem to even care about finding out who he is. He doesn’t seem to have any desires, just happy to be in his garden and doing housework. His connection to Ryou though is interesting and as one of the candidates for Agito he is a character I want to see more off.

Ryou Ashihara- Ryou has the least amount of screen time of the three leads but his accident, recovery, and relapse make a good mystery for the show. From his interaction with his coach he seems to be very relaxed around people he cares for, but the fact that the only person in the hospital is his coach makes you wonder where his family is. He is a candidate for the identity of Agito.

Mana Kazaya- The friendly niece of the professor and Shouichi’s friend. She seems to have a crush on him and cares more about finding out his past then Shouichi is. She doesn’t have much to do but she is important to the story later so I’ll be documenting her character progression along with he three leads.

Sumiko Ozawa- The best character in the show. Ozawa is the creator of the G3 armor and a very harsh person. Something I didn’t really note in the recap proper is that when Hikawa called for the trailer Omuro said that they don’t have permission to dispatch the trailer, but Ozawa says who cares and goes anyways.

Toru Hojo- Hojo is presented here as the Scully to Hikawa’s Mulder. He claims that there has to be a rational explanation and refuses to believe that the Unidentified Lifeforms could be back.

Sakiko Mikumo- The head researcher of the O-Parts division for the police and a close friend of Hikawa. She really want to figure out what the Cross Puzzle has inside and this curiosity seems to stem from a need for answers. She seems to essentially be a mixture of several different characters from Kuuga.

Professor Yoshihiko Misugi- Shouichi’s host and a college professor. He seems to be a sceptic when it comes to psychic powers and that was given a fair amount of focus so that implies that this will be a focus of the show.

Final Thoughts:

I love Agito. I love it so much. This is without a doubt one of my favorite rider series and maybe even one of my favorite shows period. Now that that’s out of the way time to focus on what I think was done really well. The music in Agito is top notch, from creepy ambiance when the Lords(the names of the monsters that is never mentioned on show) are attacking to Agito’s battle theme Believe Yourself which always pumps me up. The Lords themselves are well designed. The Panther lord looks very nice with a horrific mouth and eyes that just pierce into your soul.

This show is also very different from the other show I’m reviewing right now Kamen Rider Stronger. While Stronger was focused on just Jo and Yuriko with a little bit of villain screen time Agito spreads it’s time between three protagonists. Another thing Agito has done is set up a mystery. There are so many unanswered questions and little hints that we are starting to get, like the photo the wife left Hikawa. I’m guessing most of you noticed the oddness of the picture. Agito is as much a mystery at times as it is a Kamen Rider show with small questions that act as arcs like the picture and longer ones like Shouichi’s amnesia.

Despite having already watching this show I’ll do my best to keep spoilers past what I’ve already covered a minimum and act like a first time watcher when it comes to analysis.

Special thanks to Tv-Nihon who’s subs were used for some of the pictures and the Kamen Rider wiki who provided the rest.