This is one heck of a Rider Machine.
After learning the true identity of the White Wizard, Haruto and Rinko begin their investigation with a little help coming from Agent Kizaki. Meanwhile, Kousuke starts training a boy how to ride a bike just to apologize to an old friend.
The show is becoming more and more interesting and this time around, they explained the origins of Haruto's Wizard Rings. What I like about this flashback scene is that we saw a version of Wajima of not caring about the possible consequences of his actions just as long as he gets his money. Granted, he tried to refuse Fueki's offer, but he ends up accepting the job at the end.
Before heading to the investigation part of this episode, let's first talk about Kousuke's mad biking skills. One thing that surprised me about it is that his biking skills are something that I don't expect him to have. I mean, his name is Kamen Rider Beast so I expected that he sucks when it comes to driving something that is mechanical, but nope, he is seriously good in riding the bike that he even performed tricks in it while at the same time, use it as a weapon to fight Ghouls. Since the stunts are kinda dangerous, I decided to do the good ol' pause trick and watch the bike scenes frame by frame, and what do you know, I didn't spot his stunt double! That or the movements are so fast that we didn't see the face of his double. Even if that is the case, kudos to Kousuke's actor in those bike scenes.
Witnessing this awesome display of bike action, which is something this show lacks is a kid named Yuzuru. He wants to learn how to ride a bike so that he can assure and apologize to an old friend of his who is about to move out of the city. Because of that reason, most part of the episode is dedicated to scenes featuring Kousuke training the kid to ride a bike. The chemistry between the two is amazing, that it feels like a master training a student and not some guy who was asked to teach a kid how to ride a bike.
Now that I am done with that, it is time to talk about the actual investigation. Kizaki becoming more cooperative when it comes to helping Haruto gave me this impression that he is slowly warming up with the rest of the main cast. As for the actual investigation part, it's kinda short. What they did is to use some parts of the face so that they can have a better range when it comes to searching Fueki. Oh, and did I mention that Rinko is seriously competent in this episode? Less her final seconds in the episode of course. She didn't take a rest even just for a minute just for them to get Fueki's face right!
After the training is over, it is time to show the fruits of their labor to Yuzuru's friend. As expected, the Phantom appears and the one that created an accident so that Yuzuru will fall to despair. What's disappointing about it is that his fate is not revealed at the end of the episode. Instead, they focused on Haruto vs. Medusa, which is quite a surprising duel considering that Wizard now has the Infinity Ring. That scene made me realize that Haruto is not that kind of guy who spams his forms. Also, he needs to mind his remaining mana.
The biggest surprise in that fight is Mayu's return. Granted, we kinda expected it thanks to the magazine scans, but man, she knows how to make a good entrance. Her entrance scene is really amazing, as well as her first transformation sequence as Kamen Rider Mage. Her first transformation scene looks fantastic but what really disappoints me is the use of the generic Kamen Rider Mage suit. I mean, Mayu had freakin' build up for a new Rider, something that rarely happens in a Kamen Rider show. At least give her a proper Kamen Rider costume for crying out loud!
