KR Wizard 21 released

[takenoko]

Wiki article: http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Wizard_21

Pretty interesting conclusion to the stuff set up this week. The story splitting off in three directions was a bit much, but I guess it all tied back to the monster of the week.

So the White Mage gets his own page on the Wizard website. He's not listed under the Riders though, which is interesting. We also get to see him use some spells and lay some lore on us. Interestingly enough, they also don't give him an official English name. Just Shiroi Mahoutsukai. I'm guessing it's a temporary name until they reveal his identity.
http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/wizard/s_mahou/index.html

Weird, wasn't that link Plamonster? Now it's Tsukaima/Familiars.

I guess I wasn't expecting Phoenix to turn on Rinko like that. Then again, I didn't expect him to just blurt out Beelzebub's secrets either. He's a pretty interesting guy. You never can tell what he's going to do next.

So the Four Links kind of disappointed me. I guess I've watched so many of these that it just comes off as derivative at this point. It just reminds me of Faiz's Accel Timer. Also, he has the Copy Ring. Why can't he just do the same thing with the Copy Ring? If you want multiple Wizards being a big thing, don't introduce the same mechanic earlier on.

I think my least favorite parts of toku are when a guy has a bunch of CGI stuff appended to him. Even if the animations is decent, it's still fake looking. It seemed like Haruto got the upgrade too easily. It seems like he'd suffer more with four elements beating on him. But it's just some guy fighting some CGI stuff.

Edit: Trying to figure out what the White Mage's belt is saying. For some dumb reason this isn't in the captions.

In doing my research, I notice that Japanese people are saying the teleport ring would be useful if the White Mage were playing double roles.

I remember someone mentioning last week that Beelzebub should have some minions. Well, here they are in this episode XDI like the fact that Kousuke appears to be afraid of them, despite being an outdoors type. Oh, he's saying meshi/food. Not mushi/bugs. I guess it's more in his character to be excited about food. Still, I think my version is more funny XD

"Okay Medusa, go stand over there next to the glass." She must really like those fish.

[Phoenix512]

The belt is saying "Now" which makes sense to me due to it's being different from the "Please" chant from Haruto's belt. Instead of asking permission, it just forces it.

I was thinking about why they couldn't use Copy and had to make up some new device to do the four Links and came up with a good reason why. I recall how Copy has been used in the past and realize the limitation of it. It just mimics the user and has no independent action from the user it's mimicking. So Haruto couldn't use Copy to create a clone of himself and then have it transform into a different style since the original version isn't going to transform into another style. So the new device allows Haruto to summon clone versions of himself which have the ability of doing independent actions without being dependent on the original version.

As for Phoenix, he hated Beelzebub and decided to use Rinko to get rid of him without getting his hands dirty. The only part I didn't expect that he would admit being a Phantom so quickly but it's a bit ironic that Rinko ended up helping Phoenix in a much different way than she originally intend to.

[Slowking]

The depth of the Rinko/Phoenix discussion, as well as the emotional reversal, were very powerful indeed. They reminded me of moments in other KR series, such as Kiva. Glad to see Wizard can surprise me nicely.

Did anyone else catch Phoenix's brief tear? Phantoms aren't supposed to feel any emotion, yet nonetheless this is adding to the dramatic tone of the scene. The parallelism of Phoenix, Wizard and Beast, who are all bound by something and are not free, came to mind. Phoenix seems to have gone a step ahead and is finally ready to rampage, which is what he truly wants to do.

The fighting scene with the 4 Wizard Dragons was very creative, fast-paced and long enough (despite Haruto being overpowered). But I do wonder if there will be any side-effects to using the Drago Timer. Being a Timer, it makes you think there'd be a penalty to pay if he exceeds the time he accesses all 4 forms. Maybe that will be saved for later episodes.

[Kuchiri]

I personally like the Drago Timer. It's an interesting gimmick. I believe if Haruto doesn't keep tapping it it will probably just go into final time and force Haruto to use the dragon parts and he will be forced out of it.

**Should have posted his ideas of Fivrider before this episode aired...if do it now, it would look like I was copying.**

The episode was alright though. I like how they are trying to get multiple plots going on at once.

[ReversedSentai]

Goddamn, that Gate is annoying as ever. She was even worse this week with that pathetic crying in the beginning.

I did enjoy Rinko consulting with Phoenix, and even though Phoenix remains a villain, it is a nice and moving scene.

[PHurricane]

If it wasn’t for the Phoenix/Rinko subplot, this would easily rank as my least favorite arc in Wizard. Even with that one feature to draw my attention, it was still pretty dull. There was nothing redeeming about the Gate of the week. To this point, the Gates have typically had some sort of talent, hobby or unique personality trait that almost served as a physical manifestation of the magical potential in their bodies. This Gate didn’t seem to possess any of that, unless being shrill and clingy is considered a unique personality trait. I wasn’t really fond of the Phantom’s personality either, so I couldn’t even root for him to win.

I’m really disappointed with the role Koyomi (and the antique shop owner to a lesser extent) has been demoted to. They’re both pretty much useless right now. I expected that of the shop owner/ring maker, but it’s sad to see Koyomi being no more useful than Shunpei until the plot eventually demands it. (And even as a pawn of the Phantom this week, Shunpei wasn’t all that useful.)

The powerup is okay, I suppose. I thought the way Haruto went down from his own attack, prompting White Wizard’s intervention, was a little too convenient. And if he can't withstand one blow from Fire Dragon while in the armor, it begs the question how he can withstand the sequential attacks from Dragon later in the episode to earn the powerup.

Nitou’s concern about a random magician spiriting his friend/rival away was rather refreshing. You don't always see a lot of common sense in Rider (or sentai). His one-sided rivalry with Haruto is also pretty amusing. They haven’t fully explained to him that Haruto can draw on magic because he’s relying on his inner Phantom, have they?

But to come full circle, I was intrigued to see that the Phoenix/Rinko subplot wasn’t resolved. It’s nice to see the standard episode formula changed to match the demands of the plot instead of shoving the plot into cookie cutter two-episode blocks. Plus, Phoenix deciding he doesn’t want to play by Wiseman’s rules anymore promises to set up a good conflict between him and multiple parties.

[takenoko]

>They haven’t fully explained to him that Haruto can draw on magic because he’s relying on his inner Phantom, have they?

I'm pretty sure that if they tried, he'd quiet them before they could fully explain. It seems to be his modus operandi

>But to come full circle, I was intrigued to see that the Phoenix/Rinko subplot wasn’t resolved. It’s nice to see the standard episode formula changed to match the demands of the plot instead of shoving the plot into cookie cutter two-episode blocks.

Yeah. There's nothing wrong with the two-episode block by itself, but it's always nice to see them be a part of a several episode plot.

[Dengar]

I'm assuming right now that the Copy Ring can't manifest four instances of Dragon.

Most likely Beast's upgrade will be the inverse where he manifests all of his aspects at once in one body and becomes a true chimera.

[Arawynn]

Haruto was really hot in this episode ..especially after he got the power ups. Phoenix confused me a bit. I want to believe he is a nice guy and the rampaging desire is just a front.

[Catastrophe]

I was kinda thinking that maybe Phoenix would have a turn around. Even shed a tear? Now I just think more death flags have been raised.

And is the Drago Timer supposed to be a midseason upgrade. Kinda lame to be honest.

[locuas]

so, the power-up transform Haruto into a Sentsai team?...now that i think of it...it would be an interesting idea for a tokusatsu show.
nice to see haruto using his head with the finisher. instead of a direct hit, he tried to do the phantom's trick. even tough it failed, it was still a good plan.

[Barim]

From the first time the statement was made that Phantoms merely had the memories of the Gate, but not the "identity" of the Gate, I thought there was more to it than not, if not an outright lie. I am convinced there was a core of truth in Phoenix' statements and emotions.

It only strengthened my ideas that Gates/Phantoms aren't actually all that different from Orphenoch.

[m4rc0]

Why is white Wizard's belt so unpolite?

LOL @ Mayo and Shunpei in the dancing class.

Beelzebud was an awesome enemy.

Rinko was very cute, but seeing her all nice to a Phantom was at least strange.

So, Haru got a free power up and wnet all Zelda four swords. Not a big fan, but at least it's uncommon.

Wizard started very well, but it doesn't get me very excited. I don't know, the action is great, the characters are cool... It just lacks something. I can't really express what.

[Revorse]

Nice!
Phoenix really surprised me helping out Rinko. When she told him that he wasn't happy doing what he was currently doing, and then him basically saying fucks Gates and Sabbath, wasn't really too much of a surprise. I figured that all he wants to do is battle. I was surprised at how he just indulged her in conversation. I'm not entirely sure how much time passed, but I don't feel as if they were just together for like 5 minutes. Phantoms pretty much adopt the memories of their former selves right? Maybe it's a possibility that the human might have fused with the Phantom instead of being fully consumed. I'm really interested in the mechanics of how Phantoms function. More reason to watch the show, eh?

Finally got to see White Wizard do some stuff! I called the way his Driver would work a long time ago. I just knew it was going to be "Now." I figured a Master Mage wouldn't ask his magic to come out, he'd demand it. And with all the talk of Haruto's element evolution, will his Driver go through something to end up similar to White Wizard? It's be cool and TOEI could sell a new toy. Seems like a plus.

As for Drago Timer. The design is simple enough, nothing too impressive, or underwhelming. The function however I honestly was pleased/will be pleased with IF each Haruto doesn't have it's own "conscience", if you will. Like, if they're an extension of his own power and each one is under his control, then fuck yeah, I like that. But if each clone has it's own personality then I may like it less. I loved the fight though. Thought it was one of the coolest so far.

Oh yeah..Koyomi! <3 Start being important again. And the old man.

[Wolfmano]

I been try to understand what white mage meant by archetype wizard when he saw beast heshin driver when he took/save Haruto. beast is specific type of wizard then what wizard type is Haruto not just ring wizard.