Kamen Rider Wizard Episode 31 Review: Manly Sparkles! (Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!)

Well I am officially back from my episode review break and I will catch up with Wizard first so expect two more reviews soon. Now continuing off from a great episode where Legion a Phantom with a desire of destroying hearts, kills Dragon in Haruto's underworld. Now with Haruto unable to use magic, will he even be able to withstand his grief?

The first thing to talk about in this episode is Haruto as he loses what got him into this situation, magic. I was not expecting to see this play into the series since a rider fully lost his powers. There have been moments like with Double, but the powers were still there, it's just Shotaro couldn't hold up. In the beginning Haruto was in a state of confusion where he still wanted to fight and help Kousuke. This is because magic and the mission have become a part of Haruto's life, his purpose is to fight. Without magic he can't even be able to stand a chance against Phantoms. Haruto soon gets out of this confusion rather quickly, but he feels completely useless without magic. This is where the boy and his sister meet Haruto again and the boy tells him what's stronger than his magic, his heart. Now the idea of a strong heart has been done before, but this is what exactly Haruto has. Haruto did save the day with his magic, but if he just fought the Phantoms and didn't put any care into the Gates, those people would still be depressed. He cares about people and that desire to protect and make them happy is what lifts them up and get away from their despair. I will talk about Haruto some more, but let's move onto the other rider.

Kousuke blames himself for Dragon's death and with that he seeks out for Legion for redemption. I remember so many people telling me that they though Kousuke was selfish, but I keep defending the guy and make my case. Here is probably the best example of how selfless he is. He spent the whole time hunting for Legion cause he thought it's his fault. When he does fight Legion he seems more mad than usual and every moment his is putting tons of anger in each attack. His fight was short, but Kousuke shown tons of ambition for correcting his mistake and protecting Haruto since he knows Haruto wasn't going to give up.

Legion stayed the same with that overall creepy feeling, but his excitement wasn't as high as before. He actually only goes for Haruto now since he wants to fully destroy his heart. This ambition is strengthened by seeing Beast fighting with more anger since he knows Beast is fighting for Haruto's sake. Another thing is that we learn more about his powers of dimension breaking as he can trap people in these rifts. He uses this to trap Beast so that he can find Haruto. Legion was a very fun villain with his heavy ambition and the actor, Mitsu Murata giving us another creepy role to love. I mean really I want him to be the main villain in a Toku series for once, I know in Hibiki he always showed up, but I want to see him as a leader type villain. Like I could have seen him playing as Maki from OOO. Going on though there is another Phantom who got a big step up.

Our little troll of a Phantom, Sora got higher up in the villain ranks since he had a long talk with Wiseman it seems. From the last episode Sora tells him he wants to know about the Philosopher Stone. Wiseman wonders why he wants to know so much and if that would change anything. Sora tells him that he is like him though as he is Sora and not Gremlin. I was always thinking that Sora called himself that since he was just thankful for the human he took over, but it seems that this is the human Sora. Phantoms always carry memories of their Gates, but always act differently then the Gate. So it could be possible that humans can gain Phantom forms without losing themselves. We also know that Wiseman is the same so he could have a human identity that we don't know about. This could connect to a really big plot twist, but I will keep that thought to myself for now. The best part though is that Sora fully becomes a part of Wiseman's team and now orders Medusa! This happens in the end and Medusa's face is priceless.

The side characters got a little screen time with Koyomi taking the most since there is a huge issue regarding her. Without magic she cannot live on so she leaves in secret so that she would make Haruto sad. At first Haruto was going to be fine, but Wajime tells him that saving her means more than rescuing her, but also protecting her well being. So Haruto finds Koyomi at the time where she got her hope from Haruto as this will get those shippers excited. Koyomi tells Haruto that even if she vanishes she will be fine since Haruto has helped many people and she tells him to not be sad when she is gone. Haruto even gets a huge lesson from all of this since he was being self centered about his magic issue, but now he learns of not giving up even without magic which is very important since Legion appears again!

With Legion fighting Haruto, Koyomi is separated from him as she tries to get to him. She loses all of her magic though and dies as Haruto now lost the first person he saved since he became a Mage. He does begin to cry, but he still carries Koyomi's words of not giving up and then his heart soon revives Dragon. This revival gives Haruto a new power as this is the final form Infinity! I will talk about that, but first I really want to focus on the concept of the heart in this episode. There is a huge motif of the heart in this episode and it is played well since the first part had Legion jumping into people's hearts. The second part works really well with it since I said before Haruto fully saved people by being caring towards them. It's a very nice way to connect to the whole series and to Haruto himself.

Now for Infinity form, YES! I love this form a whole lot as the way it is introduced was very well done. It comes from the revival of his magic which is a huge burst of magic returning since Haruto has become stronger with his magic throughout the series. Also the design of Infinity Styles is amazing, the silver and clear blue colors work perfectly together as I love how the clear blue looks as it gives off diamond look without being fully clear. The ring itself doesn't have the folding thing like the other rings do making this one being different shows that it's the final form. Then the weapon he now carries reminds me of Putotyra's weapon, but if the gun form was switched with a sword form. I love how Haruto fights with it, when it's in the axe form he uses heavy swings and for the sword it's most standard, but twirling that sword around would be hard. Infinity even comes with hard defense as it makes me think of the Jewel Dopant from Double. A nice addition Wizard gets is by using the Infinity ring again to give himself a speed boost. Going on the finisher is like Den-o Dynamic Chop, but times infinity! The axe becomes much larger and completely slices Legion in his center being. Finally, yes there are sparkles, but it fits well with the diamond motif of the suit and this form makes it look awesome as the rainbow sparkle effects were stunning. Overall, Infinity Styles is another great final form from the Neo Heisei era.

Two more things before I go to the overall episode. The White Mage sees Haruto's new power and sees this as a bad thing. I really wonder why he considers this a problem? Also Koyomi is alive again because Haruto has his magic back. Now I am still happy with this cause some people thinking her death would have been great if she did stay dead. Even I was thinking that would happen. Either way though I am happy with how things turned up for her as she can still live on. Also I can tell she is going to be important for another part of the series.

Overall it's a really, really, really great episode. We get tons of new details and developments that still leave questions. My interest in the overall story just keeps getting stronger and stronger since the show throws many things to consider. Haruto, Kousuke, and Koyomi were at their best as each of them give a performance that is very important and unforgettable. Sora has moved up in the ranks and I wonder what he will do now? Legion was great with that creepy feeling he had and being as great as Beelzebub. Finally, Infinity styles is an stunning final form for Wizard as it is brought up very well and the powers it has are great. It's an A+ what else could it be?

Next Time: Treevenge has a new form