Kamen Rider Kiva E32 Review: CEO Kamen Rider

Kamen Rider Kiva, Episode 32: New World - Another Kiva

So we've got the little "don't know each other's secret identity" thing going on here, and I feel that it's played up for drama a lot better than the honestly overdrawn thing regarding Jiro's identity in the first half of the show. The fact that Mio and Wataru has never seen the other transform or utilize their powers is pretty neat, and while it's kind of silly that they don't find each other's injuries suspicious, both Wataru and Mio are in-universe clumsy enough that it really is a believable excuse. Plus, y'know, they're each assuming that the other is running away from all the crazy vampire fighting and everything. Besides, that mutual-bandaging scene is kinda cute.

And we get to meet the very young CEO of a large company, Hiden Aruto Taiga! Whose foreshadowing has been pretty suspect, but it's honestly something that the franchise as a whole can be guilty about -- we know scant little about Taiga prior to this, and it's interesting to see what adult Taiga's all about. He's a head of a company, being attended to by a personal Izu/Alfred Pennyworth-type, a dude with a fancy ponytail. Taiga and his board members meet up with other huge prospective researchers, and in this episode we get to see Taiga meeting up with a human that develops an alloy that can withstand lasers, and Taiga's suitably impressed enough to invest in him.

Except that 'investing', in Taiga's case, means that he will sic his Fangires to get rid of anyone that might end up improving humanity. Which is actually kind of a cool concept -- in order to give the Fangires an edge over humanity, he's using his alter-ego to seek out prominent, intelligent humans and then targeting them.

While all of this is going on, Nago has sort of taken an interest on Wataru now that he knows he's Kiva? I'm... I'm still not sure what's going on with Nago, but I really do like how he's basically using falsified niceties and character development to get what he wants out of the people around him. We'll see where his character goes from here. Trying to train Wataru, though, instead of Kiva, ends up with Wataru getting beaten up by Nago siccing Wataru on one of his bounties. Which is when Taiga shows up, easily overwhelming the robber like an action movie hero before recognizing Wataru as his playmate. The two old friends catch up with each other and... uh... they sort of build a sandcastle.

After this meeting, though, we get a fair bit of Checkmate Four goodness. Taiga and Mio are formally introduced to each other and throughout the episode both Bishop and Taiga aren't unkind to Mio... but it's clear that everyone around Mio expects her to fulfill her role as Queen, that their relationship is set in stone -- although Taiga's a lot nicer about it than Bishop. And... and it's pretty neat to see the Checkmate Four actually interact with each other after how nebulous their presence has been in the show previously. We get to see Taiga's lackey-butler Kurosawa kill another researcher that might create something that could oppose the Fangires. We get to see Bishop training Mio to try and kill more human-loving Fangires. This one actually transforms into his Fangire form and tries to question Queen why exactly it's so sinful to love a human... giving Mio pause and causing her to resort to her pearl-manipulation abilities instead of the awesome gothic-moonbeam-o'-doom powers that both Queens normally resort to.

The end-of-episode obligatory action scene is between Kiva and Taiga's lackey Kurosawa, and as the Moose Fangire, Kurosawa actually gives Emperor Kiva a relatively decent run for his money. And as the two of them fight in the background, a brand-new Kamen Rider shows up, with gray armour and huge A's on his shoulder! Who could it be? It's... it's kind of obviously Taiga, the prominent cahracter that's introduced in this episode, but it's kind of interesting to note that he's not just another Fangire, but he also has a Rider form.

The 1986 storyline also helps to build up on Taiga's backstory, although they're sort of not really being subtle about some aspects of it. We get to see Castle Doran sleeping, and we get to see Maya taking care of Baby Taiga, explicitly noted as the precious heir of the King and the Queen. Meaning that if the "Maya is Wataru's mom" thing implied by the time travel episode is true and not misdirection, Wataru and Taiga are half-siblings? Apparently, Kurosawa is just straight-up Fangire Alfred Pennyworth, as he has been serving as Taiga's nurse even twenty years ago. That's adorable.

We continue on with the Maya-flirts-with-Otoya storyline, and it's... it's interesting? Yuri and Otoya have fallen into a bit of a comfortable position in their relationship especially with Rook's death. Yuri no longer has a vendetta consuming her every thought, and even considers quitting the Blue Sky Group and maybe get married, which shocks Otoya to the core. While mulling this, of course, Otoya meets Maya again and they bond over their shared love of violin music.

And I do kind of like that despite Otoya being the one that has two love interests now, it's not his balls that's causing him to fall for Maya. It's not because Maya is pretty or anything, it's genuinely due to their shared passion for music. And, sure, there's a huge part of it that stems from Maya genuinely being interested in observing Otoya and figuring out this 'humanity' thing, but eh. I do really like the little detail of Maya telling Otoya how she learned how to play the violin 300 years ago from Vivaldi himself, while Otoya shrugs Maya off as copying Otoya's own violin skills.

While all of this is going on, Riki shows up and yells at Otoya about how that woman is dangerous, and how he'll prove it to him. Riki transforms into Dogga form and attacks, causing Maya to calmly reveal her tattoo and doing the crazy moonbeam of doom attack, before transforming into a red version of Mio's Pearlshell Fangire form... in front of Otoya!

Overall, while I still question the long-term pacing and foreshadowing of both Otoya and Maya's relationship as well as how Taiga is introduced into the story, this episode still does a pretty good job at introducing both. We're also seemingly building up to a far more interesting love triangle between Wataru, Mio and Taiga. Wataru and Mio are in love. Mio is bethroted to Taiga thanks to ancient Fangire laws. Wataru is Taiga's old best friend and possible bastar sibling. Neither Wataru nor Taiga know that Mio's involved with another man. Wataru's alter-ego is Kiva, mortal enemy of both Fangires. It's a far, far more interesting situation compared to the frankly far more immature "Jiro and Otoya squabble for Yuri's affections" storyline we had in the first half of the series. Looking forward to see more!

Random Notes:

• It is kind of obvious how surprisingly quick both Mio and Wataru are to ninja away from the battlefield, though. After Fangire!Mio uses her little pearl swarm manipulation to clash with Kiva's wake-up-fever finisher, Mio just sort of escapes.
• While Nago is trying to tell Wataru what seems to be a long speech about his backstory, the question "why did you think I became a bounty hunter" is replied with the absolutely excellent "it's to collect buttons, isn't it?" Never change, Wataru. 
• Mio's totally confident that she could beat Kiva the next time they fight. That's some confidence, and I do like that while she's wishy-washy about executing fellow Fangires, she's totally game for going all-in on an enemy of the Fangires. 
• Megumi's obvious interest in Taiga is amusing, as is Taiga's complete disinterest in her. 
• Know Your Fangires: Kurosawa turns into the Moose Fangire, which might be one of my hands-down favourite Fangire designs in the show so far. The one that escapes from Mio is the Tortoise Fangire, which is slightly obvious thanks to the shell. I do love that it extends into a hood around the head part, though!
• I've genuinely never been super-impressed by the Kamen Rider Saga suit. It's all right, and there's nothing wrong with it, but I've just found it very unmemorable that I don't even remember it from any of its post-Kiva appearances in Decade or the other crossover movies. 
• Maya has healing powers -- she heals Otoya's finger, injured during an ironing incident earlier in the episode, with a blow. I feel that this is defintiely going to be imporant -- healing powers in these sort of shows will always be important somewhere down the line.