Events may be out of order, and some interpretations likely quite wrong. Staff Credits
Thanks Page, to those who donatedThe year 2002 is over. Six Kamen Riders still live.
The inside of a building. Tall, white humanoid monsters gather on an upper level. Terrified screaming starts among the humans below as ropes of white silk latch onto them and drag them up to the predators waiting to dine. Drag them from one world, into the other. A slender young man races towards the outside of the building. It is Shinji Kido, who transfers into armor in the reflecting windows and enters as Ryuuki. And then comes another slender young man, in long black leather jacket. It is Ren Akiyama, who also transfers into armor as Knight. The inside of the building and they are fighting the white monsters. They are not alone, for the purple and silver clad Takeshi Asakura fights as Ouja. The green clad Shuuichi Kitaoka is there as Zolda. One of the monsters falls and then huddles up, grunting oddly. Its back begins to bulge and crack, then splits open. For it was a grub, and out of the shell emerges an adult form. This monster is a dragonfly creature, and wings spread and buzz, carrying it into the air. Some others have done the same, and they circle above preparing to attack. And then the glass roof shatters. A vision in white and gold, cape spread like white wings. 霧島美穂 Miho Kirishima, who is Femme. Coming down she slices through the flying monsters and lands with stunning grace. But her eyes light upon the fighting Asakura, and she snarls his name. The monsters are forgotten or ignored. He hears and sees her coming. This doesn't bother him at all, and he accepts her attack with glee and zest. Shinji, seeing the battle against monsters forgotten in favor of a personal duel, tries to get to them to stop it but there are too many of the grubs tackling him.
Kamen Rider Ryuuki
Episode Final
A dark room. Candles lit for mood. Four people gathered at a table. Ren Akiyama, Shinji Kido, Yui Kanzaki and her aunt, Sanaka Kanzaki. "Don't say anymore, I'm scared!" Yui protests, clapping her hands over her ears and shivering violently. But Shinji begs her to go on. "Where was I?" Mrs. Kanzaki asks. "You were in the taxi, and the driver started freaking out," Shinji clarifies. And she goes on. While she doesn't describe it in detail, we get to watch what happened. The taxi driver turning to see his fare's face has become a flesh-colored mass, smooth surface marred only by the hint of a nose. He flees the taxi, screaming, and Mrs. Kanzaki calls after him in innocent confusion in voice for face is still a blur. Her story finished, she sits back smugly. But Ren busts her bubble saying it was a stupid story. "All right then, you all tell me one better," she challenges. He huffs at her, but Shinji raises his hand shyly. "I've got a scary story." When the two women eagerly dispose themselves to listen and Ren eyes him with a bored expression, he adds, "Well, it's not so much scary as really, really weird." And he tells the tale.
When he was a child, about 10 years old, he'd been miserable. He was a very small child. Being alone in a city park on a bright day. And then along came a girl, much younger than he but still, she engaged him in play. They had a fantastic time. They played, played and played for hours until they had to go home. And they swore a promise that they would meet again the following day in the park. But the next day came, and rain drenched the world. He was unable to go and so stayed miserable at home until... suddenly she was there in his room. And with the logic of a child, this did not disturb him. So they played the rainy afternoon away, making little fabric ghosts to hang under the eaves out his window, sheltered from the rain. And then she suddenly went. Perhaps she said goodbye, I couldn't figure it out. But what Shinji didn't know and we the audience saw... she turned to the mirror behind her and that was when she disappeared.
The ladies are suitably impressed. Ren, however, says cynically "It sounds like a dream." "Well, I suppose it could have been, but it seemed so real." And life goes on.
The morning is bright and clear. They are tidying up for the day when Aunt Kanzaki suddenly remembers, "Yui, it's almost your birthday!" Startled, for she hasn't thought of it, Yui agrees it is. Auntie goes on, "It seems like just yesterday you were only a little girl. And now you're going to be eighteen yers old...." "Auntie! I'm going to be TWENTY!" protests Yui with exasperation. She turns to straightening up a flower display in front of a small mirror, when movement catches her eye and she looks up to see a little girl pass by in the reflection. Puzzled, she stares harder and the girl comes and looks over her shoulder into her eyes. And then her reflection starts to distort wildly, and suddenly her knees buckle and she crumples in a faint to the floor. Aunt Kanzaki leaps frantically over to her. Ren comes racing from the kitchen. Neither sees the little girl in the mirror gazing down at them.
They put her on her bed, a towel on her head. And Aunt Kanzaki tells them this happened before, years ago, just after they sent her brother away with the other family to America. He had fought them, they practically had to lift him up and put him in the taxi. "I have to protect Yui!" he screamed in protest. She cried back at him, but was a small child and could not do such fighting. And after he was gone, Yui spent hours in front of the mirror coloring pictures. And then one day they found her unconscious, and they could not wake her for hours.
At Ore Journal the next day, things are busy. Reiko is preparing a sort of sting. There's this young man, Kazuo Mizuoka, who has all sorts of jobs listed on his resume. He's got a con going on this lovely young woman, and she's agreed to help them catch him in the act. Her name is Miho Kirishima and she is eighteen years old. Shinji gets a look at her photograph and notes that she is sure pretty. This prompts Nanako Shimada, Ore Journal's Systems Engineer, to take a quick look in the mirror, assuring herself she's pretty, too. Daisuke Okubo, the Editor, and he get in playful discussion about her, prompting much eye-rolling from the female staff.
Kazuo and Miho are together, and he's gently talking to her. She is delicate and demure in a long sleeved, light sweater, to which is attached the tiny microphone through which, out in the car, Reiko and Shinji hear everything, and are recording it on her computer. Kazuo tells Miho it must be nice to live in such a large home, and she says shyly that it seems too large for her. He comments that their home together would probably be too tight. He also makes leading statements about how he'll need a much better job and her parents can help with that. And then he gives her a lovely engagement ring. But suddenly this is interrupted. The door opens and in come Shinji and Reiko. Shinji tosses his wallet aside, flashes his business card with a flourish, then hustles Miho out of here. Reiko confronts Kazuo, who is caught out. Just then the door opens and an elderly couple comes in, chatting happily to each other. They stop and stare in shock at the three strangers standing in their house. When Reiko asks them if their daughter Miho hasn't warned them of this, it proves they don't HAVE a daughter named Miho. Reiko takes a second look at the picture of Miho and her parents, and the image of the girl is making a face at them.
Miho Kirishima has dropped her act. And changed her clothes. She sits in a grey fur long coat, looking quite um... a bit slutty, tossing the ring and exulting that she got it, for she is as much a con artist as Kazuo, and she beat him at his own game. She then gets into the red wallet she'd picked up. There proves only to be a bunch of change and business cards inside. Annoyed, she huffs. Then she decides to get a drink. About that time Shinji catches up with her to demand his wallet back. She's just used his change to get a cold coffee, and she offers it to him. He takes it with an automatic thankyou, then shakes himself and goes back to demanding his wallet. He grabs for it and they start a tug-of-war. "Let go!" "You want me to let go?" "Yes!" "'kay." And she does. The wallet is open and his change goes flying everywhere. He scrambles to pick it up.
A passing car proves to be driven by Goro Yura, and the passenger is of course Shuichi Kataoka, Kamen Rider Zolda. He asks Goro to stop, recognizing the girl and wondering what's going on.
About that time Kazuo arrives to demand his ring back. Shinji pushes at a pouting Miho, trying to get her to return it. And then both of them stiffen, for the familiar sound of a mirror world breach has reached their ears. Kazuo feels something sting the back of his neck, he reaches to rub at it, then veins puff out in his face and suddenly cords of webbing fly out. A white monster is reeling him in. Shinji makes a lunge for his feet and misses. Miho has already raced off for the nearest large reflecting surface, to Shinji's shock. He is able to watch as she swoops her arms out in a graceful curve, then her belt appears and she puts her deck in it, "Henshin!" she calls, and transfers into sweetly beautiful white, gold and black armor. Shinji races to the next window and does his own move and henshin. She hears him and turns startled towards him as he stares back before his armor encases him. Thus they enter the mirror world together. Shuichi Kataoka leaps from the car to do his own transformation in the vehicle's reflecting window, while Gorou watches with pride, or perhaps trepidation.
The monster who took Kazuo is a Shia Ghost. And it is just licking his remains from its fingers when the two Kamen Riders arrive. They drive at it, but it sees them coming and sends out webbing, pulling itself out of the way. But there are more and they drop down on the two. Many, many more and Zolda arrives to start firing at them as they drop down from the ceiling above. Femme is extraordinary, calling Sword Vent she proves to have a double-bladed weapon. At call, Blancwing flies down and flaps its wings, the wind thus created sends the Shiaghosts flying towards Femme, who bisects them as they come into range. But then Shiaghosts approach from all around, dozens of them! The three eventually are driven, wounded, from the battle and retreat into their native world. Shuichi comes to confront Miho, for they know each other. But neither explains how to a bewildered Shinji, and everyone goes their seperate ways.
Three young men are fighting a fourth, Takeshi Asakura. He is trashing them, hot and fiery, a gleam of delight in his eyes. One young man (Agito's Gills) gets pinned and begs through swollen, bleeding lips, to know what they did to deserve this attack. But there is no reason other than his deep love of the battle. Asakura has beaten them thoroughly when he hears the sound of a mirror breach. But it is not a monster. It is Shiro Kanzaki.
Ren and Shinji are discussing Yui when they too hear the mirror summons. They see Kanzaki in the mirror facing them, turn to find that he is standing near their motorcycles, facing away from them.
An abandoned church. Shiro Kanzaki has gathered them there. Shinji, Ren, Kitaoka, Asakura and Miho. Shinji, Ren and Kitaoka sit together. Miho is nearby, and Asakura in a chair facing away as he's not particularly interested in words. They all are eyeing each other and Kanzaki explains why they are here as he lays out their decks on the table in frot of him. They've run out of time. There are three days left to the end. They must battle, one must live. Or else (probably a terrible death). Someone protests that he'd never said anything about that before. Kanzaki ignores it. And there are six of them left. When he says that, they all again glance around, counting heads. Who is the sixth, Ren demands? They'll find out, he says. Well, they are willing now. Asakura (who finds this all hysterical, since he became a rider merely to fight - though Kitaoka was his primary target) and Miho practically circle each other. She throws a punch at his jaw, but he is solid as a rock and is only amused. Then he acts like he's going to bite her, and Shinji dives between them frantically. Ren and Kitaoka are doing the same. Shinji starts to panic. "But we all agreed not to fight each other, only the monsters!" he cried, forgetting that Miho hasn't. She tells him he's an idiot. Kanzaki tosses Asakura his deck, prompting an injured look from Miho but she gets hers next. When Shinji tries to stop that pairing from heading into the Mirror World, Takeshi shoves him out of the way. They change and go. He runs at Kitaoka and Ren, but is already too late there. And so he races to get his deck, glaring and snapping indignantly at Kanzaki, who is staring up at the statue of Jesus hanging, and goes after them with a passing dirty look to Kanzaki, who settles at the old church organ. Shinji heads into the Mirror World, and the man plays a fierce composition that matches the wild battles.
Kamen Rider Oja sits under the bright skies on a stool on a pier, waiting for his opponent. Kamen Rider Femme comes and starts to attack. It is clear early on that he's just playing with her. He does not bother to call out his weapons. He fights her without them. She knocks him one, but turns at a protesting cry behind her. Ryuuki, of course. Amused that she is distracted, Oja calls in a companion beast, Evildiver, which knocks Ryuuki out of the way. Ignoring Ryuuki completely, the two continue their battle. Their struggles take them into the warehouse, where Zolda has Knight on the run. While they do not attack Ryuuki, none of them avoid hitting him when he gets in the way, though Knight does yell at him for his interference. Femme is getting the worst of it against Oja, though she is making a valiant effort he is just considerably stronger and a far more vicious fighter than she is. Zolda sees what's going on, and fires to protect her, stunning Oja. Then he gets off to the side and this time uses his Final Vent, the heavy bullets fly over Femme's head and blast holes in the factory roof, hitting the other three male riders and knocking them willy-nilly. The blast does what Ryuuki had been unable to do, it brings them to their senses and shakes them up enough to make them step back out of the Mirror World. Oja heads out, and Zolda follows him. Kanzaki disappears from the church just before Femme, Knight and Ryuuki return to their unarmored selves. The trio reappears in the church, all clutching their wounds. Shinji asks the girl quickly, "Are you all right?" and turns to Ren when she doesn't answer him. Then Miho gives a frustrated cry and kicks something in front of her. "I wasn't strong enough! I couldn't kill Asakura!" This gets the men's curiosity going and Ren asks her what she has against Asakura. Turns out Takeshi Asakura murdered her older sister.
Oddly, Asakura and Kitaoka appear in the warehouse. Asakura lies on his back, panting on the cement floor. Then he says he remembers her, the little sister of a woman he'd killed. He gets to his feet and has a short mocking coversation with Kitaoka, asking why he protected the girl. Kitaoka replies that he'd wanted to protect the girl, that's why he fights. That puts Asakura in giggles. He calls Kitaoka a fool, says he's going to die soon, and walks away.
Atori Restaurant is busy, though not overly so. Shinji is there helping out, an apron on and he watches Yui worriedly where she is cooking something. "How are you? You feeling all right?" he asks her nervously. She assures him she's fine. Then his cellphone starts ringing. He pulls it out of the back pocket of the apron and looks at the display, but does not know who's calling. So he answers it. "Hello?" "Shinji? It's Miho." "Miho?" he spends a little time trying to figure out who that is and then the light goes on. "You!" But she says laughingly, "I'm sorry if you're very busy, but could you meet me?"
And he does. She takes him to an amusement park (NOT Korakuen), and the two of them spend the better part of the morning riding rollercoasters. Let it be known Shinji is not great at rollercoasters. After only the first one he's already reeling and about ready to toss his cookies. Miho buys a souvenier photo of them, the salesgirl (Agito's Mana) cheerfully gives it to her. They go to an Indian Restaurant, the entire staff turns out to bid them thanks for their patronage. The owner (Agito's Agito) calls farewell to them. Finally, Miho sits and studies the many souvenier photos she's collected from this day, smiling. Shinji has gone to buy them ice cream cones. She puts the photos away when he gets back. He gives her one and she notices his shoelace is untied. So she decides to tie it. Uncomfortable with her kneeling in front of him, he tenses and she scoldingly demands his foot. He studies her, perplexed, then wonders aloud, "You have so many faces. Who is the real you?" Disturbed by his question, she settles back beside him and then puts her arm through his and starts to snuggle in against his shoulder. He protests in confusion and she scolds him, telling him to stop moving. Tense and nervous, he stays put and they talk quietly about why they fight. She slowly slips her hand into his pocket and starts sliding his deck out. But he notices and leaps away from her, grabbing his deck tight and wrenching it over her protests. When he demands to know why she tried to take it she replies that she has to win, no matter what she needs to do to win. And she stalks off angrily, her ice cream cone smashed and melting on the cement walk.
Miho goes to a dark room, pushing a scientist-like woman ahead of her towards a bunch of cabinets in the walls (the woman may be also from Agito, but I don't know her face). The woman opens one of the chambers, it slides out to reveal a corpse laced in ice crystals. The frozen body of Miho's older sister, who the doctor is going on about how they'll be able to revive her someday in the future, so they're keeping her body very carefully. For this is what Miho is fighting, to restore her sister who Asakura killed many years ago.
And as often happens in this country, the latter half of the day brings rain. Heavy, drenching rain. Yui and Aunt Kanzaki are in Atori, but lunch is over and so there are no customers. In the quiet, they are amusing themselves making little cloth ghosts, Aunt Kanzaki singing a little wordless jig which puts Yui in giggles. Shinji arrives, soaking wet to their surprise. When Yui protests he points out that he hadn't known it was going to rain. Amused, she heads up the stairs to get a towel for him. She goes into her room and gets the towel when suddenly there is the sound of a mirror-breach. But it is not the normal sound, it is a painful sharp tone and turns her towards the small mirror on her dresser. And the mirror breaks. Memory triggered from her childhood. She sinks onto her bed in shock.
Rain pounds down, drops roll huge off of two umbrellas. Shinji and Ren stand over Yui, who has a small shovel and is digging madly in the mud near a temple. "What is this about?" Ren asks. "I don't know, she didn't say," Shinji replies. They talk very quietly so as not to disturb her. But the shovel hits something, overturning a metal box. Yui swipes much of the mud off of it and opens it. There are shattered pieces of mirror inside on top of papers. She takes the glass out and sets it aside, then takes the folded papers out and opens them. A child's drawings. Shinji and Ren both gasp when they see them. On top is Dragredder. Next is Darkwing. Then Magnagiger. Then possibly Venosnaker. A few others are there. Dumbfounded, they take their own and Ren asks for an explanation. So she tells them that she'd drawn these in front of the mirror when she was a child. She'd drawn the monsters to protect her. And she tells them a tale....
Angel-faced, doe-eyed girl, Yui had promised to meet a boy in the neighborhood. But when she went on that rainy day, he hadn't appeared. So she went home, missing her brother tremendously and she sat weeping little heart-broken sobs in front of the mirror. And as she wept, her reflection suddenly lifted its head and stared at her. And then called her. And so Yui went, stepping into the mirror world. Under strangely-colored sky full of orange clouds she played with her doppelganger for hours and hours, holding hands on the swings. But then... when she realized she should go home, her skipping double told her she couldn't. That she'd been too long in the mirror-world, and if she returned she would die. And Yui broke into sobs once again. Her double stopped and blinked at her in bewildered surprise. "What's the matter? Do you want to go back?" When the sniffling Yui nodded, her double came to a decision. "I'll give you my life, then. But you have to do something in return. Draw pictures of monsters in front of the mirror." And Yui agreed. And her double sent her home.
The rain finally stops and the boys close up their umbrellas. "But Yui, if you made these things to protect you, why are they killing people?" "I think because they have no life of their own, so they're taking it... taking it from people." But before the conversation can continue, they hear the sound of a mirror breach, strong and deep. Ren and Shinji hand Yui the pictures back and race off to fight. She is left gazing after them, for she had not finished telling them her story.
"But this life can't last forever. You'll live until your 20th birthday." "When I become an adult... I'll die?" "Yes."
This is the battle of the beginning of the movie. The five struggle to stop the seeming dozens of white grub monsters who start to turn into blue dragonfly monsters. But Femme and Oja leave the battle to fight each other, their duel taking them down into an underground parking lot. This time blades are involved for both from the start, but Oja is doing quite nicely against her. Then he gets shot away from her. Zolda has arrived, intending to help. But she attacks him madly though he cries at her to stop. Her blade pierces his hand and he is staggered back. Thus he's out of the way and she is able to go against the shaken Oja again. She calls in her companion Blancwing. She has her shield up, and fills the air with feathers. They make it hard for Oja to see her and she is able to get in several good shots, finally knocking him down. If she'd only just kept going... but she pauses and he calls in Venosnaker. The beast spits at her and her shield disintegrates, the feathers melting away. Oja hits her pretty badly again. Then he uses Combine Vent, his three beast becoming their one-form, Genosider. She is caught between him and it. He signals for Final Vent, the beast bows its highest head and opens a pulsating red area where its heart might be. And Oja races at Femme, leaps and kicks hard. She is sent flying uncontrollably back, towards Genosider. But just before she would impact and be absorbed, a ribbon of black hits Genosider and it falls over, Femme landing safe though stunned on the other side. For there was someone, a black silhouette, watching their battle. Oja turns in a fury and goes at the black-clad Rider, who looks just like Ryuuki except for this color thing. "Shinji?" wonders Femme. No. Not Shinji. But the new Rider is too strong for Oja and beats him back, calls his own Final Vent and the voice from his visor is as deep and dark as he, not like theirs. The black dragon curls around him. He floats in the air and then is sent on a wave of black flame at Genosider. A black wave goes ahead and anchors the beast, and thus it is hit and shattered by the strike. Oja staggers in the darkness, then finds Femme ahead of him and ready to fight. With a snarl, he races towards her but then he loses his footing and falls into the light. His Rider armor has gone blue-gray, color fading out. He is weakened and in a terrible, strange pain. Femme races towards him with her rapier-like vent, it turns into a blazing sword. She strikes his deck with it, and that shatters. With a horrible cry, he falls onto his back and his suit vanishes, leaving him as himself. He lies there, breathing hard and knowing what is happening. "So this is it?" he asks aloud. "Am I dying?" He starts to laugh madly. Suddenly struck by his helplessness, Femme looks away. But he gets up in a surge of strength and leaps at her, forcing her back against a pillar, trying to strangle her. Before he can do her any damage, his skin starts to tingle. He looks at his hands. He is starting to disintegrate. He meets her gaze as his body begins to static apart, his expression even now more of burning, fighting rage. And then he throws back his head and screams as his body finally dissipates. And when he is gone, the exhausted Femme falls to her knees, whispering for her sister.
Kamen Rider Oja is dead. Five riders remain. Zolda staggers to his entrance point, barely on his feet. He finally makes it, and falls through to the other side, unconscious. Thus it is as himself he wakes hours later. Goro is watching his boss lying on the couch with an expression of helpless grief, tears in his eyes. He hides it quickly when Kitaoka begins to stir. And so the weary warrior wakes. He is moving slowly. He observes his hand has been carefully bandaged and thanks Goro. "Will you fight again?" his man asks. He makes an agreeing sound. Goro starts off to do whatever he has to do, and Kitaoka gets to his feet. His hand pains him and draws him to remember Miho's mad attack on him. "Hey, Goro-chan," he says suddenly. Goro stops and listens. "You know... there's really no reason for me to fight. No reason at all. I might as well just enjoy life, right?" He doesn't see the vast relief in Goro's expression, which changes to worry as Kitaoka begins to cough, covering his mouth and shaking. Goro rushes to help but Kitaoka raises a hand to ward him off. "It's all right," he says. But he cups his hand at his side, hiding the bright drops of blood. He heads to sit at his desk and his injured hand bumps the telephone off its hook. And so he lifts the receiver.
"Hello, this is Ore Journal," says Reiko. She is in the busy office, Shinji across from her and everyone busy. The all-too familiar voice on the phone says, "Hello, do you know who this is?" She sighs with exasperation. "Stop acting so childish. You're a lawyer, for goodness sake." He is amused by her reaction and asks, "I just called to see if you would have dinner with me tonight." She practically groans. "Again? This is the thirty-eighth time you've asked!" He smiles weakly on the other end of the phone. "Actually, it's the forty-second time." This brings her up short. For a moment there is silence between them. Then he says to her dinner is at six, names the place. Irritated, she replies something like she'll consider it, and hangs up. So Goro helps him get ready, settling a handsome black jacket perfectly on his shoulders. And the weight in his pocket is suddenly heavy. He slides the deck out and leaves it on his desk, never to be used again.
Kamen Rider Zolda has quit. Four riders remain. Miho has roped Shinji into eating an early dinner with her. They are at an Okinomiyaki restaurant, and she greases up the grill. The server arrives with the makings for their order. She has the cheese one, Shinji one without cheese. They start to stir the makings in their bowls and Shinji's slips from his fingers to land flat on the grill. Miho scolds him and bats his hands away, getting the bowl up and rescuing the mess he's made. As theirs cook she asks him if he wants assorted toppings. But there is a cup full of seasoning and he wants some. She protests, "You're kidding! This stuff gets all over your teeth and looks awful!" They start to tussle over the cup and some seasoning falls over the side onto the griddle. So they struggle more and then lose their grip on the cup. They yelp in protest as it goes flying into the air. The restaurant guy squawks a protest as it flies unerringly at another table full of patrons. By the time it lands it's pretty much empty, contents all over the table, one man's jacket, and in a woman's beer. These are three of the other primary Agito actors, the ones who play G3, the one who played the serious, cynical and annoying detective, and the one who played the technical genius behind the G3. G3 picks up the nearly empty cup with an expression of startled horror. The cynical man turns an extremely aggravated gaze towards the guilty parties, and wipes the thick layer of seasoning off his shoulder. The woman lifts her now green-spattered beer and arches her brow at them. "Is this yours?"
Later, Shinji is washing his hands in a public bathroom, talking aloud to himself. "You know, she really is nice. Maybe I can get her to stop!" Then his cellphone rings and he goes to answer it, finding the call is from his editor. He is blissfully unaware of his image appearing in the mirror. His double watches him go out of sight. There is something terrible about this man. Something like death in his eyes. He is Shinji's reflection made flesh and he walks out of the bathroom to the waiting Miho. She scolds him for taking so long, then hooks her arm through his, never noticing the patch that was on his left arm now is on his right, and also reversed. Thus when the "real" Shinji bounces out of the bathroom, Miho is nowhere to be seen. He looks about in great confusion.
Yui returns home, goes into her dark room and sits down, shaking with terror. "I'm scared," she whispers. "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" And then a soft, deep voice cuts through her whispers. "Don't be afraid, Yui-chan." She looks up, calling softly for her brother. He appears in her window as though he is standing out there, though there is nowhere for him to stand. "You aren't going to die. I'm going to give you a new life. So don't worry." And he disappears again leaving her very confused and even more worried, though less frightened. "What do you mean, a new life?!"
Miho has taken them up to a rooftop. She walks a narrow beam, enjoying looking at the beauty of the city's night lights. She does not see that dopp-Shinji is carefully moving into position. He starts towards her, murder in his eye. "You've been so quiet -- " And she sees him coming and correctly interprets his body language. "Shinji, what are you --" she leaps off, avoiding the hand positioned to toss her over the edge. "You're NOT Shinji!" she realizes with bright clarity. But she is not fast enough to avoid him. He pins her against the wall and starts trying to strangle her (this dopp has a lot in common with the dead Asakura). But, like Asakura, he can't finish the job. He is starting to disintegrate. He stares at his hand and complains softly, "I've been out too long." So he hurries towards the nearest reflective surface, body starting to come apart. His reflection is solid, though, and when he touches palms with it, he disappears into the Mirror World.
Ren is on his way back home when he hears a mirror breach. A dragonfly monster comes out of the reflections and swoops at a pedestrian, who dives for cover. I'm pretty sure the pedestrian is saved as Ren goes into battle. The battle echoes another. For Femme has gone into the Mirror World on the rooftop. "Where IS he?" she mutters, searching frantically. But he is not hiding. He stands straight in front of her, raises his card deck. He has no need of a reflection, for he belongs here. And he transforms into his armor, black to Ryuuki's red. And their battle is joined.
Knight's battle is in the air, Darkwing bonded firmly to him, he uses Trick Vent, and the monster is quite confused, not knowing which image to strike. Knight hits it powerfully and it crashes to the sidewalk far below. Then he hears a cry, also from below but not so far. Thus his eye falls upon the battle between Femme and the black Rider. But in the darkness, he thinks he is seeing Shinji. Perfectly understandable. But he doesn't have time for their fight. The dragonfly molts into a more powerful form, more jet-like, and comes after him again.
Like Asakura, the dark Rider toys with Femme. He lets her get close and summons his dragon, which catches her in its jaws and punches through the roof beneath their feet. It goes down into a parking lot, hurtling deliberately close to pillars and smashing her head against them. Her armor protects her, but not enough. So finally the dragon comes out of the ground and drops her. She lands rolling, cape in shreds. She tries, tries to get back up, in agony. "Finished already?" observes the dark Rider. He tosses her visor to her and watches as she tries to get the strength to pick it up. And now he intends to finish her off. The dragon spouts black fire at her. Before it can hit, a red-clad rider comes out of nowhere to knock her out of its path. Ryuuki. He turns and stares in surprise at this unknown rider. It is still dark, and so he is not sure what he sees. When the rider leaves, he starts after him but at that moment Femme gets to her feet and then collapses. Ryuuki can't leave her.
Knight is briefly put to flight, but the enemy catches him with an extendable claw and pulls him to hit. He calls to Darkwing, releasing the bat from his back so it can hit the dragonfly creature. Both of them fall, but Knight calls for Final Vent. Darkwing catches him, and they become the whirling corkscrew that spears down at the falling dragonfly and destroys it at last.
The explosion can be seen in the reflection on the rooftop. Miho lies unmoving on her back, Shinji tries frantically to wake her. "Come on, come on, open your eyes!" he starts to panic. Her left hand moves, fingers trembling. She raises it slowly and until it's practically touching his forehead he doesn't notice. Then she flicks him with her fingers and he startles. She opens her eyes, grinning at him. "Scared you, didn't I?" He stutters in shock and then says "Oh fine, make me look like a fool!" Teasing she says, "You like me. You wouldn't worry like that if you didn't like me!" "HEY, I'd worry about anyone! Anyone!" She suddenly takes his shoulders in her hands and makes him look straight into her eyes. His eyes are innocent and confused. She is reassured by what she sees and smiles at him, then issues a scolding because his shoelace is untied again. This time, tying it, her fingers are still trembling and she doesn't really tighten up the laces so much as tidy them up. They leave the roof together, collect Shinji's small autobike and walk him towards the road home, chatting about Kamen Riders and the battles. They start to split up. Shinji continues the rest of the way to the road, but Miho stands still and lifts her gaze. A star falls from the sky above. She's beginning to breath shallowly, fighting pain and holding herself to keep from swaying on her feet. When Shinji turns, she smiles for him. When he asks if she'll really stop fighting, she tells him yes, she will. Off he goes. She manages to hold it together until he's out of sight, then she just topples over into the bushes. "Am I dying?" she wonders. Though there is no real doubt. "Oh Shinji, you just gotta watch out for those laces. Sis... I'm so sorry." But her last thoughts are of Shinji. And the night becomes morning. People passing on the sidewalk ignore the body lying there, assuming it's just another drunken reveler. A crow lands near the deck lying on the cement, then takes off again.
Kamen Rider Femme is dead. Three riders remain. Shinji returns to Atori in the bright morning to find Ren waiting for him. Ren is stiff, knife-blade angry and he has a lot to say about Shinji's lies. Poor Shinji is understandably confused and Ren backs him up against the wall. "You and I will fight, soon," Ren hisses. "STOP IT!" calls Yui. They are both startled and look at her. Practically crying, she says, "You two mustn't fight!" So Yui takes them off to talk to them. "Do you remember, I told you she gave me her life? Well, that life is just about gone." They gasp as one and she clarifies that when she turns twenty, she will die. And then she goes on to explain what her brother had said to her the night before about giving her new life. "I think it's the life of the last Kamen Ride he'll give me." When they beg to differ she points out that the last one will have the strongest life-force. The understanding shakes them badly, but it is Ren who accepts it first. And he tells her he will fight. He'd gotten into this to save a woman's life, after all. Might as well use it to save Yui. And he walks off. She stands there, anguished, with Shinji. But this is not where it stops.
Some hours laster we find Yui at the University, in room 401 where her brother had opened the Mirror World, leaving Ren's lover in a coma, giving out decks to people seemingly chosen for their fighting spirit, orchestrating the riders. Over a year ago had it begun. She lights the five candles on a birthday cake in the black room, and then she calls for her brother. "I don't want to die alone," she says softly. And so he comes to her. She won't die, he promises. Her twentieth birthday present, from him, will be a new life. And a drop of liquid falls.
Shinji gets back to Atori. He is badly shaken by Yui's revelations. He gazes about the restaurant numbly, then his eyes light upon the fabric ghost hanging next to a sign announcing a lost dog. A fabric ghost just like the ones he'd made together with that little girl when she appeared in his room. "THAT WAS YUI!" he gasps. For now he remembers and shaken, sinks to the floor. "This... this is all my fault, then? Yui went into the mirror world, she's going to die... the Riders have to fight... all this because I didn't keep my promise?" And he clutches his head between his hands, beginning to weep. He does not see his reflection in the window smirk down at him. Now that reflection answers. "Yes, it is your fault," and steps from the window. Dopp-Shinji tells him he had indeed done it, and has a lot more to say, too. It seems when Yui's came to be, when Shiro Kanzaki's did, so too did he. "Merge with me!" A terrified Shinji backs away, eyes wide with horror. "Merge with me. We will become the most powerful Rider. We can save Yui." He has moved aggressively into Shinji's small, personal space. His eyes are demanding. Shinji is quaking with terror, but the idea that they can save Yui does it. He swallows and nods, staring at the hand the other reaches towards him like you might at a venemous snake.
In the lab, Yui smiles and asks her brother if he remembers. They had been so close as children. He believed her about the monsters. He protected her. "I've always protected you," he agrees. "And I'll protect you from now on, too." And she laughs a small, happy laugh. "I'm not a child anymore. You're stupid. But I love you so." And now Yui starts to blow out the candles on her cake. Her breath is weak, and she has to try again. This suddenly strikes her brother and his eyes widen in worry. But the candles go out, and in the near total darkness, he can make out her silhouette as she slowly sinks forward. "Yui? YUI!" Frightened, he leaps to his feet and races to the window covered in a thick layer of newspapers. He pulls away some of the top layer and sunlight streams in, illuminating part of the room. And he turns to look....
Ren returns to Atori to see something unbelievable. Before he opens the door, his eye falls on Shinji inside, pressed back against a table, eyes fixated on a hand that is about to touch his chest. On the hand of a man dressed just like him. A man whose back is to Ren, but whose form is all too familiar. And then that hand settles on Shinji's chest, and with a flare of light it goes inside. Ren hurriedly opens the door, "What's happening?" he cries. But now the newcomer is whirled around, to face the same direction as Shinji while his body starts to go into the other's. A wind blows and light flares blindingly, making Ren wince. And while Shinji jerks in pain, his doppelganger turns a mad, victorious smirk to Ren and says, "I am the Mirror World Rider. Ryuuga." And then the absorbtion is complete. The light is gone and only one form stands there, the man who is Shinji's mirror-reflection. And he can feel his power. Grinning, he studies his hands. "I don't have to go back into the mirror! I'm the strongest rider of all!" And Ren is his target. He manifests his belt and calls for change. In layers images form over his skin. Ryuuki's armor shimmers briefly and then is overlain by Ryuuga's black.
If it had not been so dark... if the flickering candlelight had only been brighter... Yui's skin is white with blood loss. She'd slit her left wrist, and been bleeding even before she'd called her brother to her. Blood is pooled under the chair she sits in. She is dead. And for him the pain of her loss is overwhelming. He grabs his head in his hands, trying to hold it together and then loses it. He screams denial.
Ryuuga battles Knight, who is able to hold his own. But eventually Knight calls in Darkwing and takes to the sky to get a breather. When he is far up, he suddenly sees Shiro Kanzaki's screaming face appear in the reflecting windows of a nearby skyscraper. And then far away there is a flash of detonation pulsing out. And glass all over shatters, raining down. In both worlds it shatters, and people scream and run for cover. Ryuuga ducks the falling shards. Knight has better things to do as he hurtles towards ground zero to investigate. And he transfers into the other world, racing in his long, black leather coat through the university halls, knowing where the epicenter is. Room 401. Shiro Kanzaki is still screaming, but then he stops. For he is starting to disintegrate. The process is not particularly fast, and he stares at his hands, then at his sister. "Yui," he says painfully. And that is his last word for he ceases to exist. And that is when Ren bursts through the door.
There lies Yui, bathed in the light from the now shattered outside window. Saying her name, he touches her shoulders, feels the limpness and realizes what's happened. He sinks to his haunches beside her body. "Yui... I don't understand. Why?" Tears stand out in his eyes, unshed. Ryuuga finally catches up with him, leaping in through the destroyed wall. He approaches to finish Ren off, raising his blade. Ren only stares at him, too numb to care. Too grieved to find any reason to resist. And then... then Ryuuga sees Yui's body. He twitches. Staggers a step back. And then he is protesting, for Shinji is tearing out of him. He falls to the floor, Shinji stands wearily looking down at his friend's body. "I understand, Yui. I understand." Ryuuga struggles to sit up. "What are you doing? Get back inside me! We can still save her, make her live again!" "You SHUT UP!" Shinji snarls back at him. "A life is worth nothing if it's someone else's, that's why she doesn't want it!" But Ryuuga has recovered from the seperation, and he lunges to try and throttle Shinji, who calls for change into armor. They go into battle in the real world, not leaving through the mirrors but fighting out the hole in the building, to fall below.
Ren gets to his feet and looks around the room. He stares for a long moment at the padded black chair Eri had once sat in. The chair where she'd suffered an attack by Darkwing before Ren became a Kamen Rider. Eri is dead now, long before Yui. Outside, there is a tremendous sound of mirror-breach. Everyone hears it. Startled people look up, most bleeding from cuts suffered because of falling, shattered glass. And from the broken windows stream hundreds of the dragonfly monsters. Terrified people run, policemen shepherding them but unable to protect them from the monsters who swoop down and snatch random people up, taking them high into the air where the monsters are gathering in a great, black cloud.
Ryuuga and Ryuuki fight, our good red man starts to get the better, manages a vicious punch to Ryuuga's belt. He's learned a lot more about fighting over the year as a Kamen Rider. Getting beat, Ryuuga calls in Dragblacker. When the dragon lunges at Ryuuki, he leaps aside but Dragredder bursts through the wall behind him. As the riders fight, so do their beasts. They are equal and no one is winning yet. But finally the battle gets them up to surface level, and suddenly Ren finds Ryuuki tumbling back into the lab. Ryuuki scrambles to his feet. Ren looks down, seeing Ryuuga standing on the roof of a lower building. And both men are calling in their dragons for the Final Vent. Both riders leap into their dragons' flames and hurtle towards ech other. Black flame. Red-gold flame. A burst of light so bright it staggers Ren back in the lab. And then there is a body lying on the remains of the outside wall. It looks like Shinji and Ren wonders if he may be dead. But then he moves and starts to get to his feet. Ren stares still feeling that numb, lost shock. He asks, "Is it you, Kido?" And the eyes that meet his are full of sorrow, wet with unshed tears. Ren sighs with relief. I wish I understood more of what Ren says next, but it amounts to "We've been through a lot together, you and I." Outside is the black mass of dragonfly monsters. They fly by the building, heading out for more prey. "Yeah, we're friends, aren't we..." Shinji counters. It's not really a question. And Ren has a request. "Fight with me." "You know I will. But you have to promise me one thing?" "What's that." A moment, they stare at each other, expressions of exhausted loss almost identical. "Don't die, Ren." That almost breaks him, and he swallows before choking out, "You, too."
And so the two turn to the cloud of monsters far outside the building. And they call for their armor. No in-between anymore. They go straight to Survive-mode. Their companions come to join them. Dragredder in Survive-mode is huge, and magnificent. So, too, is Darkwing. Their humans leap onto their backs to fly into battle. And together they hurtle, blasting destructive beams at the dragonflies that hurtle down towards them. They fly into the black mass, and from a distance the brilliant flaring fires can be seen......
Ending credits. The Mirror World, perhaps. Yui, age seven, swings by herself, waiting. Then she senses... she turns and there is her older brother, smiling at her. She calls his name, he says hers, and she runs to him.
Original Writer: 石ノ森章太郎 Scenario Writer: 井上敏樹 (The writer of the Jetman Novels!) Producer: 田崎竜太 Music: 丸山和範・渡部チェル Cameraman: 松村文雄 Lightning: 斗沢秀 Art: 大嶋修一 Recording: 畑幸太郎 Special Producer: 佛田洋 Action Producer: 宮崎剛・金田治 Staff