God Speed Love, Kabuto Episode 41, Akihabara@deep Episode 10

So I spent yesterday evening/this morning watching Japanese stuff. The first thing I watched was God Speed Love. I have to say this was the best Kamen Rider movie so far, and I wish I had been able to see it on the big screen. The movie mostly takes place in alternate timeline where a large meteor hit the world, more or less drying up the oceans. This is different than the TV series where a small meteor hit and only took out Shibuya. A group called Zect forms to a) deal with the water crisis afterwards (they do this by capturing frozen asteroids and drilling them for water) and b) deal with a sort of monster breed that has become prevalent since the meteor crash. The whole rest of the movie deals with an interaction between Zect, a splinter group called Neo-Zect, the monsters (known as Worms), and the main character Tendou Souji (whose name literally translates to "walking the path of heaven, ruler of everything). The movie actually ends with Tendou getting a new device that allows him to alter time. When another meteor threatens Earth, he pushes it back through time, colliding with the original meteor. This is why instead of a large one hitting in the TV series, only a small splinter hit Shibuya. He then goes and gives his former self some advice, which sort of makes sense in terms of the TV series and what the main character knows from the start. It's pretty interesting though, as it takes a lot of the good elements of the TV show and adds to them. It is a short movie like most Kamen Rider ones though, at only 65 minutes. I was glad that it tied to the TV series though.

Later I watched the newest episode of Kamen Rider Kabuto (the one that aired Sunday morning in Japan). It was really good as it involved a new higher level Worm who can actually stop time, which stops the near ultimate Hyper Kabuto (who is the time traveling one). Unfortunately, one minute of the show actually ruined the connection between the TV series and God Speed Love. In that minute, it sort of refuted the part of God Speed Love where Tendou goes back in time and give himself stuff. I was sort of disappointed as things were a lot more coherent with God Speed Love tying in. Now that it doesn't tie in, it doesn't flow as well. Aside from that minute though, the rest of the episode was good and really interesting. The preview for the next episode looks interesting as well, as it has one of the other Riders versus the new higher level Worm and Tendou versus the dark version of himself from the alternate dimension (who may or may not be a Worm or may or may not be God Speed Love Tendou). I look forward to it quite a bit. The series is starting to wind down though, as it'll probably end at episode 50 (if typical Rider standards are followed). Hopefully they'll tie up the rest of the loose ends by the end. We'll see though.

Finally I watched the newest Akihabara@deep. I never realized a series of this type could go that serious and that deep. It was revealed at the end of last episode that Yui (the person who had brought Akihabara@deep together) had dated and worked with Nakagomi (the head of the big and powerful DigiCap who has plotted many of the things that Akihabara@deep have had to fight again). At the same time, an Yui's AI has advanced even further, no longer just simulating a text conversation with the deceased Yui but now showing an image of her and actually talking. This episode started with Nakagomi hearing about this second hand and deciding that he needed to get it at all costs (because a) he thinks he can use the AI in his fancy search engine and thus make more money and b) he misses Yui and wants to be with her again). He offers Akihabara@deep some individualized prizes (tailored towards their interests) as well as 100,000,000 yen (roughly $1 million). They reject the offer though, because Yui is invaluable to them. So of course Nakagomi being rich and powerful decides that he'll do whatever it takes to get it. He waits until almost the entire team is gone and then sends in a team of goons to trash the place and steal the computers. Daruma is the only one there and he tries to stop them, but he gets beaten up (to point where he's in a hospital bed unconscious for the rest of the episode). The whole rest of the episode deals with the reprecussions of this. Akihabara@deep ends up splitting apart, because Page (the leader) is afraid if they try to fight Nakagomi they'll all end up like Daruma. At the same time, the Yui AI is resisting Nakagomi. Someone within DigiCap (who has ties to one of the @deep members) is working to foil Nakagomi, proving he committed crimes (possibly fraud). Akira at the end of the episode sneaks into DigiCap and finds the computer with Yui. It tries to warn her that she's in danger, but it's too late. Nakagomi knocks her out. That's how it ends. It's building up to a big conclusion in the next episode (as the series is ending). It's interesting how everything interrelates and how deep all the characters are. My little description here hasn't done the thing justice. I love this series though. It's just excellent. I can't sing its praises enough.