Kamen Rider Wizard Episode 2 Review: Dream On

Beginning the episode is Haruto who is still sleeping in his bed. He has used a lot of magic in his fight, but he gets up soon and summons the Garuda. Soon the owner of the store Wajima, gives Haruto a new ring. Haruto sees it has the powers of slumber and tires to test it on Koyomi and Wajima, but when he uses it, it puts him to sleep. The next scene is at the police building where Rinko meets with Kizaki from Department Zero (It's Long from Gekiranger he's back!) and he is here to ask Rinko about the Mage. He wants to know about his identity, but Rinko doesn't tell him and says she doesn't know much. She asks Kizaki if the public will know about the Phantoms, but he tells her that she is not involved and there is no point of telling. Afterwards we see Medusa and Phoenix looking for a Gate and Medusa has found one. She sends the Phantom Hellhound and gives him the order to send the Gate into despair. A kids trips and hurt himself somewhat and a really colorful looking guy tries to help out with a spell. He has no magic abilities though so the kids just look at him strangely and walk away. Hellhound makes his appearance and everyone starts to run away, but that same kid trips again, dang he is clumsy! Haruto soon appears though and the boy and the kid get away, but the boy overhears Hellhound as he talks about how Haurto is the Mage. Haruto transforms into Wizard as the boy watches. In this fight we see Wizard use Hurricane States with the Big Ring which enlarges his arm. Hellhound makes his escape and then the boy introduces himself to Haurto. His name is Nara and he wants to become Haruto's apprentice. Haruto tells him that magic can't be taught and goes off looking for the kid since he could be the Gate. Nara keeps following him though and soon Haruto makes a run for it and tries to hide at the doughnut stand. He thinks he got away, but Nara appears behind him and there Haurto will at least hear him out. Next, Rinko goes into the antique store where she sees Koyomi as she is looking for Haruto. She finds out that he is out looking for Phantoms and there she says how envious she is and how she wants to be a Mage. Koyomi tells her to not say that around Haruto. We go back to Nara who tells Haruto that he wanted to be a Mage since he was little, but when he got older he realized that couldn't happen. Now that he saw magic in real life though his dream is burning once more. Haruto says that magic is all fun and games and he tells Nara to keep that passion as a dream. Koyomi then talks about the past as Haruto and her were Gates and they were used in a Phantom ritual. There many Phantoms were born, but Haruto kept his hope and has trapped his Phantom inside of him. After the ritual a Phantom attacks Haruto, but he is saved by a White Mage. The White Mage is holding Koyomi as he gives her to him and he gives him the Driver. He tells Haruto that is fate is now to fight the Phantoms. Koyomi and Haurto were the only ones who survived and she has lost her memory and Haruto became a Mage. Going back to Nara we see him find the book that gave him the passion for magic. Hellhound appears once more, but he sends Ghouls after him. Nara is soon trapped, but he somehow uses magic to summon fire! Haruto appears and transforms again and takes o the Ghouls with his bare hands. Nara is completely shocked of what happened and doesn't move, but luckily Rinko comes in and saves him from being attacked. Haruto finishes off the Ghouls with powerful kicks of fire and Hellhound tries to escape by riding a motorcycle. Wizard gives chase with his bike. The fight ends with Haruto using the Shooting Strike and it seems Hellhound has been defeated as the episode ends with Nara seeing that he can use magic.

Episode 2 is another great episode like episode 1, but sadly this is going to be a two parter. I wonder if the series will continue with this since the first episode wasn't. I think there will be more of a balance this time unlike past rider series. The first thing I really want to talk about is Nara the new character. He reminds me of Hanto from Go-onger since he sounds like him and has that same personality. He's a very open minded person even if reality hits him. He lost hope in magic, but still had some belief and now he knows it's real. He was sort of annoying with how he stalked Haruto, but it shows his strong passion for magic. When he discovered he could use magic was very good and I like how he froze up when it happened. Also Nara's acting is good, better than Rinko for sure. So overall I am liking Nara a little more than Rinko, but she had some good points in this episode as well. It was one scene where she saved Nara and she still wants to protect people and this reminds me of characters like Kagami. Both don't have powers, but still did a lot to protect people.

Another thing that was in this episode was Kizaki and his character gives light on how the Phantoms are known. I always like to see police being involved with the super natural and it's a nice little wink to series like Kuuga and Agito. I do wonder how the Phantoms have become known by the police though since the last time the police got involved it didn't go well, since it seems Rinko only survived. Furthermore in questions is Haruto's back story on how he became a Mage. There is a lot answered, but even more questions to ask now. First who performed the ritual and why did he or she want Phantoms to appear? Also the White Mage is a mysterious character who gives Haruto the Driver. Did the White Mage perform the ritual just so he can get a Mage and how did he have Koyomi. One more thing, Koyomi said she lost her memory, than how does she remember all of that? She should have been more clear on how she said that. I guess Haruto told her what happened, but do those two have a connection or was Koyomi not even with Haruto in the beginning. So the origin reveals a lot of things and how the mass of Phantoms were born, but it leaves more questions which is good for a series to explore with that.

I think the White Mage is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi who voiced Gosei Knight, but I could be wrong.

There were three fight scenes in this episode where the first was very quick and only revealed a new ring, the other two gave us more and better action. First the Big Ring is interesting and can be a strong offensive ring, but I wonder if it can make other body parts bigger like his legs. Next was Wizard fighting the Ghouls with a very impressive style of fighting. I think it's some sort of a martial art (sorry I had trouble looking it up) and his fighting style shows more technique. Compared to other riders some just go all out, but Wizard had a real style while fighting. It reminds me of Meteor, but Wizard does it better as it isn't just quick punches all the time. Seeing Wizard flip his foes around and he knocks them away just to get some open space. The last fight was the bike fight which reminds me Kuuga. One thing I wish for though is that there were no cars in the way. I know it's realistic, but I rather see the monster and rider just riding in an open area like the fight with Kuuga and the Batta Grongi. The fight was still very good as they played some parts like Kuuga's bike fights, but it's just a personal thing with me and cars.

Overall this is another fun episode. The effects were lowered down for this episode which was something people were worried about, but I think the series will balance the effects well so that the constituency will be fine. If you were bothered by the belt in the last episode it doesn't say as much compared to the first episode. Nara is a good character so far and I wonder if he really learned magic? (Probably not) Hellhound is a cool looking villain and what I like the most the episode is that there isn't a mystery for once. Even episode one of Wizard had some sort of mystery with finding the Gate and Phantom this time it was very straight forward. The pacing was like the last episode as there weren't any slow parts both comedic, drama, and action wise. I give this episode an A as I am loving what Wizard is doing. It reminds me of Double with how both shows use similar methods, but gives other elements in the mix.

Next Time: The Show Off Wizard!