Join Nico for a shorter review of Kamen Rider W’s next two episodes, with a healthy dosage of theory crafting to cap everything off!
Theories, theories, theories: the backbone of any good fanbase. From the shockingly outrageous, to the surprisingly thought provoking… to the fourth hidden Sherlock episode that never actually existed. If you have a genuinely engaging mystery and sprinkle enough clues around, you’re bound to enchant the eager minds of fans ready to dissect every little detail. Luckily for Kamen Rider W, I’m that exact type of fan!
Welcome back to this week’s Retro Ride Review, here to deliver a bite sized review of the next two episodes, with my own personal theories for the show going forward detailed at the end. I’m steadily reaching the end of the first arc, so I think I’m in a good position to start hashing out some wild predictions. And, no, none of them involve Philip and Shotaro having eyes for each other – that’s just fact.
Buckle your seatbelts as we explore another thrilling investigation in the windy city of Futo!
Episodes 11-12: The Revenge V/Infected Car and Grudge Beast
By this point, Double has successfully proven it knows how to tell a detective story well. These two episodes go through many twists and sharp turns, keeping me guessing the entire way through, ultimately landing a satisfying conclusion that ties everything together. I really really need Kamen Rider to do more detective inspired series because this is just so good!
The premise here is that a phantom car is speeding around town, tracking down victims associated with a small time gang. Instead of just running them over though, the car phases through its targets, infecting them with a virus that kills them in seconds.
While it reminds me too much of an old Scooby Doo episode, the way the story pans out left me pleasantly surprised – it did it’s job correctly, because there was no way I could have predicted how things would turn out!
It starts off on a rainy night in Futo, turned tragic, with an innocent woman struck by a speeding car, driven by members of the gang; her red umbrella sent flying into the air. Our victim, Sachi, turns out to be the sister of the man piloting the infected car, Kōhei; his rage over the blatant murder attempt on his sister driving him (haha) to pursue her killers and get his revenge.
My favourite part of any crime fiction is the deception, the red herrings placed to trick the viewers, and this is no exception. All signs point to Kōhei being the man behind the wheel (hahaha) of the Virus Dopant, but by the end of episode 11 that suspicion is done away with when Sho and Philip are attacked by the monster after knocking out Kōhei and destroying the car.
All signs then point to the former fiancé of Sachi, Yushima, a likely candidate with motif for wanting revenge for his wife’s murder. Sho investigates and, once again, he’s proven wrong when the Virus Dopant shows up to assault Yushima himself. I was left stumped throughout these two episodes, with the reveal of the Dopant being Sachi herself utterly blindsiding me. She may be in a coma after the hit and run, but her mind is still strong, able to control the Virus Dopant even when unconscious. Also, the horror factor on display here is… really spooky.
Case Review
It’s an effective bait and switch, the show playing to the strengths of its genre. The story of Sachi is one riddled with tragedy as well: enraged by what happened to her, her mind lost to the Gaia Memory, initially given to her by a dealer after discovering that her fiancé was nothing more than a cheating womanizer. The Virus Dopant chasing down the gang members and Yushima all makes perfect sense when seen through the perspective of a person scarred by the cruelty of others. Sachi’s possession of a car also perfectly ties back to the accident: becoming the very thing that her attackers used to mow her down, now to do the same to them – the infection she spreads to her victims possibly reminiscent of how she was left on the road under a torrential downpour, cold and alone.
Another great addition to a show that continues to impress with its mystery thrillers. Every character gets to play to their strengths too: Sho fearless and determined to help Sachi, while Philip brings out his kindness to try and persuade Sachi out of senseless murder…which brings us onto our next section.
Theories
No detective/crime show is safe from the clutches of my theory crafting! Double will make another fine addition to my speculative collection. Now with twelve episodes under my belt, I’m too invested to hold off from predicting the answers to all the show’s mysteries.
The biggest one: Philip. A mystery wrapped in an enigma, squeezed into overly camp unisex clothing.
We know Philip was originally held within a containment device, before being saved by Sho and his mentor, in a facility clearly run by the Sonozaki Family – as Saeko was present to stop their escape. Philip came with the Doubledriver and it’s Gaia Memories, he possesses knowledge of everything in the world, and now he’s shown to be able to bring the minds of other Dopants into the Gaia Library… Intriguing.
I think Philip is a Gaia Memory himself. Gaia Memories are seemingly created from the leftover essence/memories of animals and objects, as hinted at when Ryubei confronted Shotaro in the museum. It’s entirely possible the machine he was found in was some sort of device collecting and gathering every bit of knowledge from across the world, funnelling it into one single Gaia Memory. He can also interact with other Dopants by pressing their Gaia Memory slot, but also when he and Shotaro transforms into Double his consciousness becomes apart of Sho; much like when they gain abilities by inserting different Memories. It’s not like Sho can do this too, and there have been plenty of opportunities where he could be the one sharing his mind in Philip’s body.
Additionally, Saeko dropped an interesting titbit in episode 12: Gaia Memories controlled by the mind are weaker than ones controlled by the body. Why does Philip do none of the fighting by himself, yet when merging with Shotaro the two become even stronger? Probably because of this very truth to the usage of Gaia Memories.
I could be embarrassingly wrong, but it’s so fun to speculate over breadcrumbs and clues the show leaves behind. Shotaro would be proud!
Thank you for joining me on another Retro Ride Review of Kamen Rider W. Next week’s review will be covering episodes 13-15, so I hope you look forward to it while enjoying the start of November! See you then!
Are you keen to rewatch or start Kamen Rider W? What made you fall in love with the show? Let me know in the comments below!
