Kamen Rider Wizard Episode 38 Review: Kicking and Screaming (Spoiler Alert!!!)

I know I did a Wizard arc recently, but after what I went through I need to continue so I can quickly forget those two bad episodes. Please Wizard give me some hope! For this episode we get to see more about Haruto's past as he has to defend an old friend of his from his past.

Now the first thing to mention is easily Haruto. Again I really like how they use his character, we learn things from his past as they have connections to how he is today. On the same note though he still tries to hold these things back as he is a Mage and has to fight. What I love the most from this arc though is how Haruto actually did something bad and thus well he felt terrible for what he did. He felt like he was the cause of getting rid of someone's hope which can easily be an angle for why he wants to protect people even more. It really felt like if Haruto couldn't save someone and the aftermath still haunts him. Overall it's an nice angle for Haruto as we see how he first reacted to giving despair to someone's life. Now this isn't full on despair for his friend as he still stand on his own two feet.

Going on with that character, Kazyua was a very fun character and I'm so happy to see a really good Gate, after that other one.... This guy is very strong as he is still fighting for his dreams even with injuries. He is stubborn, but the right type of it. He wants to prove something and he won't stop until he has. Also to give more credit to his character the reason why he has hatred towards Haruto is not because he cause the injury, but that he ran away and avoided him. Now at first I was thinking this was because of the Sabbath, but actually Haruto left on his own. I bet this was close to that moment, but still Haruto did run away from this problem. He saw that he caused misery for his friend and couldn't bear it anymore. I will say this is well done and again seeing Haruto feel this much guilt is great. Also on a personal level this is similar to a moment in my life where I tried to avoid someone because of well details.... Still things got better and heck to make it more similar, Haruto's friend tried to protect him! This easily means he forgives him cause he sees that Haruto is fighting for his safety. Also props to him for standing up to a Phantom!

Now I will say with this character he was a double edged sword, cause he was great, but his female accomplice wasn't that great. She is the type of person that blames someone and will not to see them doing anything related to their well being. I mean she does have her reasons cause even Kazuya has hatred towards Haruto for leaving, but Naomi is more mad about the injury more than anything. I also then feeds Kazuya was too much praise as she goes that he is better than Haruto all the time! I will say on that side she is very caring for him which is nice and I can tell that is easily going to be an angle for this arc, but I will have to wait and see. So yea she was not the fun part here as she is completely rude to other people and then her over praising seems way too much and is just clouding Kazuya's mind at times.

Now for our villains as we see Sora thinking more and more about what exactly is going on. He is being scolded by Wiseman since even he is not getting more Phantoms. He tells Sora that he needs to get more Phantoms to even get the stone. We even hear about why Wiseman wants more Phantoms so that their magical energy can make the next Sabbath since waiting for another solar eclipse will take a long time. This gets Sora to think about if doing this is really good in the end. He even asks Medusa about this to see if she really likes more Phantoms or is just following Wiseman. To my surprise Medusa actually doesn't like since she basically says, why would she be happy. So she is doing Wiseman's will, but it seems that she is just being forced. For Sora you can tell he only wants the stone, but he is wondering what Wiseman is up to. Again this is another interesting angle as our villains are questioning their leader not only how he is doing things, but why as well.

Going on with this idea this makes me think of Phoenix. Since he had this realization at his last moments cause he actually was being sad about this too. He learned that he just has to be himself to have the fun he was looking for. Now Sora is not doing this for his own personal freedom, but just to get a certain item. Heck even Medusa said she is not happy as well so who knows we could have a rebellion starting up against Wiseman soon. Then there was something interesting Sora mentioned which was Wiseman's goal. He said that there is a chance that Wiseman doesn't want Phantoms just to have more Phantoms, but it could just deal with the process of making them. Does this mean that Wiseman wants more Mages?

Another interesting thing happens at the end of the episode where a new character appears in Wajime's shop. This new character is the man who had Wajime make the Wizard rings from before. He comes to him with the same offer to make another ring. He holds a purple stone with him this time, so is this another power for Haruto? Or is this something personal for him, also if he has this stone does this mean that he had the previous stones as well and was just spreading them out? Also to go on with that where did he get this stone since we saw before that Wiseman can make them from his body so is he connected to Wiseman in anyway? This was the last moments of the episode so this was exactly the point of it too, to make more questions as we now wonder who this man is.

Now onto the new Phantom of this arc and I mentioned Phoenix earlier and he is pretty much a new Phoenix. Heck his name is Bahamut to many might think is the dragon from Final Fantasy, but I think Wizard went with the other Bahamut. In an Arabic myth, Bahamut is a fish that is said to support the Earth by being on of it's layers. So no doubt this means that we got a strong and brute Phantom on our hands as he is pure strength. Going on with this myth it is said that humans cannot even bare sight of it so translating that into a superhero show easily means that he is a undefeated fighter. So going on he is pretty much Phoenix since he has fun with fighting and he does pull off some sweet stunts. In the first fight he catches all of Wizard's bullets! Also he even grabbed the Chamelo tongue and spun Beast around and around. I'm sorry, but I had a lot of fun with those moments. His design even represents more of a fish look than the dragon look as there are scales on hos body, but they look more like fish scales than Dragon scales. Also the color red isn't usually used with the Dragon Bahamut as grey, silver, and black are mostly used. So I really think his motif picks up on the fish which is different and Bahamut is a nice Phantom in the fight department.

Going on with the fights, every form except for the base form was used in this episode. In the first fight the three other elemental forms were used. Hurricane was first as Haruto used that to get into the scene and take Bahamut off the ground. This is when he switches to Water because his gun wasn't working and soon he used his sword then. Liquid was used and I can never get tired of that effect of Wizard turning into liquid. this time however Bahamut easily breaks free cause of his strength. Going to Land Styles then and that doesn't even help even with a surprise tactic. What I really liked in this fight though was before the form switching the two had some close hand to hand combat. With Hurricane he moves very freely which again is a style I love to see in fights. Like the other times though Bahamut just dominates and he has some nice fist and feet work.

The second fight was pretty fun too since we saw Beast got a big spin around from Bahamut. After that though Haruto decides to dish out the Dragon forms and use Drago Timer again. I will say, the All Dragon Form wasn't used which could have been helpful, but budget issues wada wada. Going on though we did get to see the Dragon forms work together again, but Bahamut again dominates. What I liked the most in this fight was how it continued on with Kazuya trying to help Haruto in the fight. We then get to see a skill from Bahamut that reminds me of Shin for some reason cause of the blades on the side of his arms. He sends a slash at Kazuya which cuts him across his arm. Then he decides to do it once more as everyone goes to Kazuya's safety. Wizard gets in the way and takes the blow, but again the other three still stepped in to defend the guy even with blades being tossed around!

I will say though this effect was great, so many colors and it fuses very well.

So this episode gives me some hope back, but it's not the best thing ever though. I do really like the angles that came up from this episode. Like with Haruto feeling guilt and Sora questioning Wiseman. There was also the new character that comes into Wajime's store. Sadly though some things good, but not great. The fights could have had a little bonus mostly with the first one using a ring with each form. This goes to the Phantom as well as he is good, but not that different sadly. Finally Kazuya is a great Gate, but too bad the girl around him is bothersome. So I would give this episode a B, which is ten times better than a D. Damn you episodes thirty-six and thirty-seven!!!

Next Time: He shoots.....