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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.