Kamen Rider Wizard Episode 17 Review: Get in my Belly!

I am going to try condensing my reviews again since Kyoruger is coming soon and even Akiabranger is getting a second season. So again it will be similar to what Orends Range does, but I just really like that format. This is mostly going to be my thoughts with the plot summary. If you don't like it or you can think of other formats, please tell me I will listen to your feedback. Alright our episode starts with a little comedic scene where Shunpei has stomach problems as Rinko confuses it as something worse. This soon leads to more hijinks. It's enjoyable I will say as I do like seeing the lighter side of things since it helps Haruto's character. Looking at his big focus episodes they are pretty dark compared to other episodes. So it's nice to see our hero still having fun even though he is completely conflicted with this huge problem in his life. Afterwards when Shunpei gets better thanks to some medicene we find out that it was expired and seeing Koyomi's reaction was priceless.

Going on, Phoenix isn't in his greatest mood since he did lose to Wizard for the second time now. During this Medusa notices a man, but this time Wiseman wants to inspect into this. Wiseman actually is out in the city this time and wants a certain Phantom to do the job. Seeing Wiseman pop out this time is surprising, but I guess he has been feeling a strange presence since he is interested in this person who is also having stomach problems. Well this man is someone we don't know yet (go with me on this) as he is having complete food shortage problems. He is not down for the count though as for him a pinch and a chance are two sides of the same coin as we can't wait to see when something great will happen. We see this man go to a restaurant and order something meat related and this is where he takes out his personal bottle of mayo as he begins to eat. Sadly the Phantom and his Ghuls appear and for some reason he doesn't run. Even when Haruto appears as Wizard the only thing he cares about is how Haruto will pay up for his meal since it's ruined..... wait the Phantoms are the ones who ruined the meal. Have to say I do like his comedic approach with mayo as it's just like Haruto with plain sugar doughnuts. Also this guy has some hunger issues since he didn't even run.

The fight with the Ghuls was slightly better than some of the others as Wizard was jumping around the area more than usual. He even grabbed one so he could use it for balancing himself when running on a wall. The fight with the Phantom was pretty cool as the villain is some type of insect like creature. Land Styles was used and I always like seeing Wizard when he goes for very close combat. The Defend Ring was used and this time we see that Wizard can go right through his stone walls. Thing go for the worse as the Phantoms pretends to run away to get Wizard off guard and uses his tail to stab him. His tail is full of venom though, but luckily Haruto survives. This is only because he is a Mage and he will slowly die. The Phantom goes into his human form and he is a fortune reader as he gets his cards to see what Haruto's outcome is. He pulls out the Death card as things don't look good for him. This is very good as Wizard has been getting stronger, but in the end he was tricked showing that power isn't everything.

The Phantom is an interesting guy as his fortunes do seem correct. Phoenix's fortune was the fool as it means he will destroy himself in his rash actions which is pretty dead on. So I think the show is doing some foreshadowing right now. This Phantom is pretty loyal to his job as he goes straight for man who got away. Back to our mayo man, Rinko and Shunpei give him some food to eat since he was complaining on how Haruto ruined his meal from before. After some more hijinks when the doughnut sellers weren't happy seeing mayo on their doughnuts. We hear the man say he is still going to starve even though he just ate. He walks off as Rinko gets a call from Koyomi about Haruto. The gang get to Haruto of course so now the new character is on his own as he still looks for a way to end his hunger. The fortune teller soon finds him though and gives him a free fortune. The scene afterwards is the fortune reading and I love how this Phantom works, he can tell someone of their great demise. The Magician card is drawn as it means something is swirling around in him, but it is also taking his life which can be his hunger. As I said before the villain tries to find out what is supporting the character's heart so he can ask many questions to find out what that is exactly. Soon he is found by the Garuda as Haruto goes off even though he is full of poison. This was a nice callback since Haruto is right about how he is the only one who can fight the Phantoms, or is he?

Going back to the other scene, the guy tells the fortune teller that a tough moment can be the brightest moment for someone's life. When people are driven into a corner they can think of new ideas and then he tells the fortune reader to give more positive advice. He still continues on what is supporting his heart as the new guy sees it as a very nice gesture since he is helping out a poor drifter. The Phantoms snaps though when he finds out that the man's hope is actually despair. So now we see his idology in more a simpler way as a pinch and chance can be seen as despair and hope. If you think about it that is very true for the past Gates who were saved by Haruto as they learned a lot after they have been saved from despair. Before he could go any farther he is stopped by Haruto. The Phantom transforms into his true self and the man is happy to see this?! Haruto goes in for the fight as he blasts and hacks at the Phantom, but he cannot transform since the poison has been taking away his magical energy as well. When Haruto is being beaten up the man looks around for something and we seen this before from the first time he saw the Phantom. Things are on a brighter side as the man pulls out two rings and transforms!

His henshin pose is all over the place, but it's still a good one as it reminds me of Meteor's and fits his personality. For other people as well this belt doesn't do constant sounds compared to Haruto's belt. I don't hate the sounds from Haruto's, but I do like this one a little more since it's more catchy and easy to remember. Now we learn the man's name Nitou Kousuke as he calls himself Beast. Wiseman soon feels Beast's presence and finds out that he is a primordial mage and now the magician card even makes more sense now since he has magic. Beast goes into action and like Wizard he moves around a lot and is completely offensive as he gets the Ghuls on the ground more often. He takes out his sword the Dice Saber and seeing it in battle is better than seeing just a picture of it. Well after defeating the Ghuls he takes their magical energy as his belt eats it! Now onto the Phantom as he takes out the Chamelo Ring and summons a green cape over his right shoulder and arm. As you would expect it makes him invisible and this helps him in the fight, but when the Phantom starts to use his tail Haruto warns him about it. Sadly he completely let's his guard down and gets stabbed by the tail. Beast isn't done yet though as he uses the Dolphi Ring to use healing magic to cure Haruto and himself. For the finish, Beast uses the Falco Ring and uses that ring with his Dice Saber. A six appears when he activates it and his finisher is summoning six energy falcons as they destroy the Phantom. I really enjoyed his first fight as it shows three of Beast's main powers and gives us a look on his Dice Saber. The Dice Saber will randomly pick a finishing move which is probably for a gimmick, but with him having four spell rings and a dice usually has six sides each spell has six finisher with the saber giving him some variety in his move list just like Wizard.

Now onto the aftermath and boy do I love this. Kousuke thinks Haruto is exactly like him as they both need to eat magical energy. Also Kousuke sees Haruto as a rival since again he thinks Haruto needs to take magic energy as well. He then warns him if he tries to interfere with his meal again. This is so good for many reasons, first he doesn't know about Mages other than himself so it makes sense why he thinks all Mages need to take in energy to live. Now with this in his mind he sees having Haruto around to be a rival and it's more like a friendly rivalry since I bet he would let Haruto have a go since he thinks he needs energy to live as well. It's a very different attitude for a secondary rider as it still has anti-hero elements in it, but in a much friendlier mood. So the episode ends with Beast flying away as everyone is completely confused on what just happened.

I will still end with my final thoughts as that will stay in my review. I feel more happy with this style as it gets rid of the huge plot summaries I have been doing. I really felt like people just skipped those anyways. So if I get good feedback I will easily stick to this method. Overall this one arc episode is another fun one. I think the series is playing with some foreshadowing since the fortune teller seems to be correct with Phoenix and Kousuke. The comedy was nice since it gave us a feeling of how the new character is going to be. Kousuke is a very hyper active character who will fight for his meals as I can't wait to see how he will act later on. The action was good with Beast's arrival as he moves a whole lot, but doesn't flow like Wizard. Beast is a powerhouse fighter and his spells easily show this part of him. I will give this episode an A as it was very good way to introduce the secondary rider as his character takes on some new ideas compared to other secondary riders.

Next Time: Toro!