WARNING: This post contains a summary of Wizard so far, as well as Spoiler filled magazine pictures and conjecture by the author. Enjoy!
Kamen Rider Wizard has been somewhat of a lackluster show according to the Western fandom. Some early on complained of Haruto being bland and without character. Others fault the slapstick antics of Shunpei and Shunpei II A.K.A. Nitou Kousuke for ruining their otherwise fairly serious and cool show. Still others, and these factions are not mutually exclusive, have seen that Wizard (whether that is because Tsuyoshi Kida as head writer or some other entity pushing for nearly non-stop power ups which fell flat do to their execution in the show or some other reason unknown to this objective observer) has had weak pacing that has factually given the viewer in 37 episodes almost no real plot development.
At the beginning of the series we knew:
– that Phantoms were born from Gates falling into despair and losing their hope
– that Souma Haruto held on to hope and overcame despair retaining his Dragon Phantom within and gaining the ability to use magic via his WizarDriver and magical stones cut and set by Wajima who “hears” from a magical stone how to form the rings into usable implements
– that Koyomi is an exception to the standard Gate falling to despair formula in that her human form remains separate from her Phantom but without memories and she is sustained by Haruto’s Mana via a special ring. The Phantom Medusa called her a Mana-fueled doll, but her friends deny it, saying she is human.
– Wiseman wants to hold another Sabbat, which was the Eclipse Ceremony that made a bunch of Phantoms. He wants to make more Phantoms.
Now at the end of the Third Quarter of the show we know:
– that Phantoms were born from Gates falling into despair and losing their hope
– that Souma Haruto held on to hope and overcame despair retaining his Dragon Phantom within and gaining the ability to use magic via his WizarDriver and magical stones cut and set by Wajima who “hears” from a magical stone how to form the rings into usable implements. [New Information] The Dragon Phantom’s power was supposed to make Haruto despair, but never did and that plot point seems to have been dropped.
– that Koyomi is an exception to the standard Gate falling to despair formula in that her human form remains separate from her Phantom but without memories and she is sustained by Haruto’s Mana via a special ring. [New Information] The Phantom Gremlin who retained his human heart and Identity but is still quite evil called her a Mana-fueled doll, but her friends deny it, saying she is human.
– Wiseman wants to hold another Sabbat, which was the Eclipse Ceremony that made a bunch of Phantoms. He wants to make more Phantoms [New Information] so he can hold a sans-eclipse Sabbat.
[New Information]
– Wiseman and Gremlin want the Philosopher’s Stone.
Begins News
That being said, Nate River of HJU has brought us some picture of things to come in both the Kamen Rider Wizard Summer Movie, Kamen RIder Wizard In Magic Land and the last quarter of the series. Dare I say, this looks EXCITING!! I hope all these interesting scenes portend an amazing final quarter where in all the shows questions are answered in a satisfactory manner.
Given the fact that Rinko is riding what appears to be a “Police Broom” I wonder if there are no cars in Magic Land?
DecaEnd’s synopsis says that Haruto and the crew got to Magic Land via the “Wizard of Oz” Ring with the rainbow colored tornado on it and Kamen Rider Sorcerer (the Golden WIzard) wants to kill them. I hope that Rinko, Shunpei and Wajima all get to become Kamen Rider Mage to help out Beast and Wizard so that can escape with their lives and that they don’t just henshin for a gag.
Finally the villain of the piece! Check out DecaEnd’s post for information on the man behind Kamen Rider Sorcerer!
Showtime
New Phantoms come and go, so I’m not excited by that mean looking dude.
Is that Nitou in Neopryne? It almost looks like he is taking up Cycling. That is an odd and interesting choice, but it would be some development for his character perhaps. Nitou: “I’m done being a wandering camper, I’ll establish some roots here and be a Phantom-eating cycling instructor!
I wonder if the White Wizard episodes will span from before the show started when Haruto still played soccer and the White Wizard ordered rings from Wajima to afterwards when he shows his true colors and attacks Nitou? Perhaps based on the previews he comes in and asks Wajima to do more work for him and we get a flashback and then snap bask to the present to see how things unfold. Regardless I am very hopeful that his appearance will herald answers.
Finally, on to Mayu. We see her with a Driver On Ring and a Mage Henshin Ring like all the Mage Wizards have in Magic Land including Rinko, Shunpei and Wajima. If one examines the Mage suits carefully it seems that it could easily be modified to suit a woman’s specifications. Western fans will see Rinko as a Mage after Mayu so it will be interesting to look back and see how one was derived from the other. I imagine Mayu’s *Kamen Rider Mage will not have the large talons of the Magic Land versions, nor their left shoulder’s spike and what seems to be a tail or boots that posses a design that suggests, ever so slightly, demonic eyes and face.
In summary, the last 13 or so episodes will contain:
(from the scans)
– Haruto’s back story
– White Wizard’s revelation and return to Wajima as well as becoming some what involved with the main cast
– Mayu’s return as *Kamen RIder Mage
(from assumption)
– Dealing with what Koyomi is
– Dealing with the Philosopher’s Stone
– Stopping Wiseman’s goals i.e. killing him or making him nice
If each idea listed above takes the standard two episodes, but we have a three-parter for the finale that puts us at 13 more episodes to complete at 50. Some of the ideas above say, Koyomi and the Philosopher’s stone for example may be dealt with simultaneously, which would put us closer to 48
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*Kamen Rider Mage – I don’t read Japanese so I can not confirm that she is called a Kamen Rider in the magazine, but Nate River seems to suggest that she is.
I have to agree that Wizard is fairly average. It’s not terrible, but in the grand scheme of things, nothing really happens. This is why I hate people giving Fourze crap: at least it stayed entertaining and had fun characters. Here? Haruto and Kyouske are OK, the villains are alright, the doughnut duo are funny, and the supporting cast seems to not really support except when the writers remember that Rinko is a cop.
But like I said, it’s not a horrible show. It just feels like there are rewrites happening every other episode, so the tone and pacing have gone to [pot]. (Even when Go-Busters was having it’s own rewrite issues, it was still mostly consistent and 85% well written.)
Lets just hope that the writers pull out their big guns for the last batch of episodes. ><;;
mmmm, Mayu :3
I am sure you are talking about her substance as a character :/