This is not yet his final form.
Thanks to Beast, Haruto and Rinko got a chance to escape. Now that he let Rinko got badly injured because her involvement with the Phantoms, Haruto is becoming more worried about her companions. Meanwhile, Phoenix sends a message via Beast that he wants to face Haruto in the place where they first met. Will Haruto accept this challenge?
The show's first four-part story arc ended in a really high note. Granted, we have a monster of the arc thing episodes ago, but it doesn't feel like it is focused on that one, but more focused into Phoenix's story. So back to this episode, the fight between Beast and Phoenix is kinda interesting. Interesting in a sense that we learned that Beast has the ability to defeat Phoenix, the only problem is that he had to rely on luck when it comes to some of his finishers. In the case of this episode, luck is definitely not on his side as the Dice Saber's dice rolled to #1. What's worse is that the said finisher move can only create one small chameleon!
So yeah, Beast lost and we saw more of Sora being one fun character. Back to the bad guys, to sum up their reaction to the more powerful Phoenix, they just let him have his rampage. This leads us to a scene where he is trying to call out Wizard's attention, only for Kousuke to appear. To be honest, Beast is kinda disappointing in this episode. I know, this is supposed to be a Wizard vs. Phoenix arc featuring Rinko but the guy hasn't eaten any Phantoms for the past two episodes and second, it feels like he is weaker compared to the time he made his first debut. To make it more disappointing, he ends up becoming a messenger bird for Phoenix to deliver a message for Haruto about their duel! Oh well, at least he had his lunch of Ghouls.
Even if that is the case, Kousuke continues to be admirable in this episode. What's surprising is that he acted like someone who actually cares for others just this once. By caring, I meant he cared for Haruto and Rinko and second, he cared for himself as he wants to eat Phoenix thanks to his ability to regenerate every time you kill him. To put it simply, aside from caring for others, he wants unlimited supply of mana. Yup, it is good ol' Beast being selfish.
Haruto is depressed about what happened in the previous episode. For once, he let someone he cares for get into this kind of danger. The fact that Agent Kizaki rubs it in that it is his duty as a wizard to protect humans from Phantoms and failed just to save one closest to him kinda hurts emotionally. Though Kizaki made it sound like he let Rinko die, the thing is, he didn't save Rinko during the time she needs help. But thanks to Koyomi, Haruto remembers his mission, that he is the final hope for others.
The next day, he faces Phoenix after talking to Kousuke. Their exchange is well done; the way Kousuke acted like he didn't need unlimited mana just for Haruto to face Phoenix in a one-on-one match is kinda admirable. To put it simply, this is one of the rare times we saw Kousuke being selfless. The fight between Haruto and Phoenix is really great. His use of the Drago Timer did give him an advantage in battle but it's not enough to defeat a single Phoenix. Because four wizards are not enough to defeat a single Phoenix, Wizard transforms into the Kamen Rider Wizard All Dragon!
The All Dragon transformation sequence is kinda cool; the CGI in this scene is really well done. Granted there are some angles that the CGI looks a bit wonky but it is understandable. Phoenix's fight with Wizard All Dragon is really great, the amount of CGI in the fight is well done and there are some angles that look like it is a live-action scene and not CGI. To give us a better impression that they are not spamming too much CGI, there are some live-action shots that gives us an impression the CGI fights are indeed real. Did I mention that the aerial battle is really stunning?
As for the finisher, it is just one Rider Kick with a lot of magic circles in it. I find it finisher quite simple, but hey, having a simple finisher is better than a really flashy finisher that doesn't leave much impact and boy, this simple finisher left quite an impact! I mean, Wizard basically kicked Phoenix to the sum and let him die there! Since he is a phoenix, he keeps on regenerating endlessly thanks to the sun's flames. If my memory serves me correctly, every time Phoenix dies, he grows stronger. If he can survive in this one, Haruto basically created the greatest enemy that the Riders will ever face, a creature who is as strong as the sun.
But if I will take cues from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, this constant regeneration might bore him to death that he will stop thinking how many times he died and how many times he came back to life. The episode ends with Rinko promising that she will continue helping Wizard. Back to the bad guys, they are now aware about Phoenix's state and Sora offers his help to Medusa in regards to Wiseman's will. Wait a minute, he said in the previous episode that he finds Wiseman a bit fishy and helped Wizard and co. in a couple of occasions, why help the bad guys if that's the case?! Guess I need to wait for the next episode for the answers.
