Kamen Rider Ryuki The Movie: Episode Final (2002)

Recommended supplement for Ryuki

*pulled from my LB review, broad, qualitative spoilers*

TL;DR: Watch before Ryuki's last few episodes.

Miho's story makes the conflict with Asakura more urgent which was a nagging issue with the series, that a convicted murderer and psychopath was running around rampant and everyone was stewing around whether they should kill him or not since he's got the powers of a Rider behind him now or not to stoop to his level, break moral codes, yadda yadda. Of course, they are only at liberty to have her story in the first place because it's like a pseudo-alternate continuity, because Asakura would've been dealt with in series a lot sooner otherwise, and then the series wouldn't be nearly as long (or they'd have to find a way to draw out real, complex drama from more morally clean characters and find grey areas and hangups and such, *gasp* perish the thought!)

The questionable canon nature of this thing with Miho aside, this movie DOES reiterate and expand on Yui & Shiro's story a bit which is good, adds some details which would soften the blow and ease people into Ryuki's infamous ending even a little bit, so I think this should be required viewing while watching Ryuki, before the last few episodes this vaguely takes place in-between, though it would've been nice if this was incorporated into the TV run properly (also would've been nice if the series' ending didn't suck but alas).

The movie's own ending is a weird cliffhanger never resolved and meant to count as the loose ending to a different path of fate, so it's still not great on its own, but does reinforce the branching nature of the story and the TV series' ending decision with the other routes taken into account. Plus, as far as the endings to all the Ryuki timelines go, this is the least offensive oddly compared to the general futility of the 13 Riders special and Shinji's weird 180 at the very end of it, unable to even let a different route play to its conclusion as well as the TV series ending of course.

Ryuki is one of the hardest Rider series to recommend, though not necessarily one of the worst, ending aside, but if one felt so inclined to watch it, this is essential viewing before the final 5-odd episodes.

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Saved the best flying kicks for last

Everything about Episode Final feels significantly more dynamic, fierce, and exhilarating, clearly benefiting from its theatrical presentation with a dark, supernatural edge. The whole thing plays fast and loose with the show's rules, almost as if they shot themselves in the foot with Zolda's Giga Launcher by making a finale that debuted way before the series had even ended, one that turns up the bleak factor to maximum. Even the happier and more carefree moments come with a silver lining; knowing that the Rider War cannot be escaped, these people will have to die one way or another, and we can do nothing but watch. The result is a much more urgent narrative than what we saw in the show, and a slickly directed one at that, arguably the best-looking of the entire Ryuki saga, with Ryuta Tasaki once again in the director's seat, adding real flair to the film as the camera sweeps and dives around the impeccably choreographed action. Ryuga makes for a fantastic villain and feels like the true 13th Rider, a dark mirror counterpart to Ryuki, who takes no prisoners with sheer brutality. He's one of the major highlights here; another is unquestionably the franchise's first female Rider, Femme. While not as fleshed out as you'd like her to be, she is utterly adorable for all the time we spend with her, definitely helped by Natsuki Kato's enchanting performance. While Episode Final is undoubtedly going to leave you with more questions than answers in a lot of aspects, for me at least, it managed to provide an immensely satisfying end to Ryuki's narrative that didn't feel like a complete reset of the status quo. It makes for a heroic last stand as these characters resign themselves to their fate, yet still fight for all that's good in the world to the bitter end.

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