Alright time to take a little break from my No More Heroes issue and time for some more Wizard. Last time we ended off with Fukei revealing what Koyomi actually is and the new Mages make their appearances. How will Fukei use all of these Mages?
Now this episode holds a big moment for the series, as Fukei is going to start the Sabbath once more. The real reason for the Sabbaths was to reawaken Koyomi's soul into the doll that we know as Koyomi. The Sabbaths gather magic into the stone in her body which will probably awaken Koyomi's soul back from the grave. Fukei attempted this at the Sabbath we know of and he first used Ghuls so this means the Ghuls were even his creations. Think about it, this is before the Phantoms were born from the first Sabbath so it's a very high chance that the Ghuls are artificial phantoms as well. Now I wouldn't doubt that Phantoms already exists since all that takes is a Gate to dive into despair. Since the Ghuls are the grunts though it makes a lot more sense that they were created by Fukei. Then going on there is another piece of information that got me thinking.
When Sora confronts, Kousuke, Rinko, and Shunpei he talks to them on what he thinks Fukei has been doing. Sora says that Phantoms are nothing, but a bonus for Fukei when he gathers magic energy. We can see as he has been using them ever since they were created. Fukei is a man who just uses everyone as a possible pawn as he really doesn't ignore his resources. He actually didn't considers using Mages until the first Sabbath failed and this is when he met Haruto. With the idea that Mages should have more magical energy than Phantoms he decides to use Mages. This is probably why he spread out his magic stones so that Haruto would grow as a Mage. Then with the other three he made they are very strong Mages already as they share his type of magic. So Haruto was pretty much his experiment to see how he can make him grow. This explains why he doesn't want the Infinity Ring around since it was a ring produced from Haruto and not Fukei's creation and this would apply to Beast being useless for his plans. Now with four Mages though he will begin the Sabbath once more.
The reason he wanted four Mages is that they can become the pillars for the ritual as they will be used for their magical energy. Haruto sees that he can be useful now since he learns that his purpose was all a lie. Sadly, Fukei tricks him again as the Mages are being used to make the magic circle around Tokyo! Fukei is planning to sacrifice all of the people in Tokyo for the ritual as anyone else with magic will live. It was even revealed that Fukei did force Yuzuru and Yamamoto to become Mages so they are being controlled in some way. For Haruto this is really a big moment for him as he is just being tricked and used by the man who saved his life and gave a new meaning in his life. Haruto wanted to fight for others and protect hope, but for Fukei none of that matters as he will use him to save Koyomi. With Haruto already trapped though and the other three Mages in place, Fukei uses the ring he got from Wajima to start the Sabbath.
Going on with Fukei he is really putting a lot of the line for his daughter. This is like the opposite of an episode of Full Metal Alchemist when a man sacrifices everything just for his research, even his own daughter. With Fukei he will offer anything for his daughter and it really makes me think of Ryuube from Kamen Rider Double. Both of this men had good intentions in the beginning, but they started to go to dire lines and star to make things crumble around them as long there is still a path for them. Ryuube mostly offered his family for his goals and with Fukei he is putting everything on the line for his family. Also these two work around with the higher powers as with Ryuube it was the world itself and with Fukei it was magic. I do like how Fukei went into his plans by forging science along with magic which is really something I like a whole lot, personally that is my favorite form of magic. Overall, I really enjoy Fukei as a villain since he has good character points to look into and him being a father to save his daughter and even breaking the bind between science and magic is amazing even if he uses it for evil.
The Sabbath begins and the red cracks start to appear around the city as everyone who doesn't have magic start to fall to the ground. I really have to say I really like this part of the episode as the style it was presented in was very well done. I love the dark backgrounds, the angle of the cameras, and the effects giving actually lighting around the setting. There was a lot of attention to this moment and I cannot ignore on how it was executed. Another nice effect was the purple mist around the area mostly around the four Mages in the beginning. Again everything just blends perfectly and it really gives off an eerie feeling. It's fits perfectly since a whole city of people are going to be killed just like how the first Sabbath happened. Then for the last touch was the flute playing in the background, sorry I just like the flute a whole lot. I do have to wonder how big the last Sabbath was though with the use of Phantoms.
So with the four Mages stuck in the ritual and everyone with magic cannot even move, the only person left is Kousuke. He finds his way to the center where he promises to save everyone from the Sabbath and he has one more fight with Fukei. Even though we have seen these two fight before the dialogue really made this scene great. Fukei keeps going on about Beast being an archetype and how he would defeat him because of that, but Kousuke keeps up his confidence. He even gets annoyed by how many times Fukei says archetype to him and he actually does defeat him, but not in the way one would think. Then there with the dark backgrounds and low lighting it really makes a lot of the effects stand out. Fukei's white and purple effects really jump out the same for Beast's attacks. Even with Hyper form, Kousuke has no chance of defeating Fukei in combat, but he thinks of a plan that will put his life at risk. He plans to make his goodbye to Chimera as he is running low of magic energy. What exactly is his plan?
Kousuke takes Fukei's weapon and plunges into his belt, causing it to release Chimera! His plan is to have Chimera to eat the magical energy in the area and ending the Sabbath that way. Personally I love when a hero can win in this style, it shows that they will find other ways of winning other than just beating up the villain. So Kousuke finds the perfect to defeat Fukei which is to use his style of magic devouring to end the Sabbath. Chimera in fact does eat all the energy causing the Sabbath and ending it. Now at first I thought this was Kousuke's death, but he lives and Chimera decides to set him free from being Beast. Chimera flies off and this ends Kamen Rider Beast. Kousuke is not dead, but he cannot become Beast anymore since his belt is damaged and Chimera goes off on his own. I am really trying to remember the last time we had a rider have an ending like this. The only one I can think of was Kabuto since some rider powers were destroyed and riders were even killed in that series. A close one would be Saga also, but it just got tossed aside like Thebee did. It's been a long time since had this in the series and it really stands out since it's a great final moment for Kousuke.
The beginning Kousuke came into the show he was a selfish fellow who was fighting for himself and that was understandable since he had to live off of magical energy. Then he started to learn that others come before him and the series did a very good job of having those moments for him. Like the first time he saved a Gate, when he helped the archeologist, Nakamara, and his bond with Yuzuru. He started to become a very selfless person and this moment really shows that well. Kousuke's life motif was to make every pinch into a chance and being Beast was his ultimate pinch and chance. Kousuke now throws that away so that others can live on and ending his days of being a superhero. Even though his character doesn't have a big connection with the plot of the series he made himself a huge part and he was a secondary rider that didn't felt ignored like some of the recent ones did like Birth and Meteor. Thank you for all you did Kousuke!
This episode may hold onto less elements compared to other episodes, but the parts in this episode are really big. First we have the second Sabbath which could have caused the end of the all people in Tokyo. We got to see more of Fukei's determination and see how far he would go. Then we had Haruto trying to find good in this, but just finding out he was being tricked once more. Then finally was Kousuke's biggest chance in his life as he saved everyone from the Sabbath. It's a really strong episode as I would give it an A because I do feel like there could have been a little more things to play around in this episode. Maybe a little longer scene with Koyomi and Fukei and some more with Sora. It's still a very good episode though so I'm still very happy about that.
Next Time: The hero faces his savior.
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