"There can be only one..."
We open on a girl in a tattered white dress, always a sign of good things. As explosions start going off behind her, we see that Kamen Rider Kuuga is there as well. Kuuga leads the charge as an army of Kamen Riders charge at an unknown enemy.
The Riders put up a good fight, sending out their mechs, support monsters, and Kiva even brings out Castle Doran for support but none of them survive the encounter. As the Riders lie dead, the girl sees the mysterious figure they were fighting.
"Decade", she calls him.
http://youtu.be/5kono82Z7K8
We then have the theme song 'Journey Through the Decade' by Gackt. Even Rider fans who absolutely hate Decade can agree that the song is spectacular. It begins very smoothly and calmly, building to the chorus where the orchestral bursts out declaring that some wanderer on a journey will come out of nowhere to save us.
After that awesomeness we cut to a girl waking up. Yup, that epic battle where an army of superheroes died fighting an unseen, unknown force referred to solely as Decade was just the dream of a teenage girl. This girl is named Natsumi Hikari, she will be our female lead for the series. Most people say that the character is bland, and... they're right. Even I can't deny that Natsumi was a dull character who contributes little in the long run. Natsumi's inner monologue exposits that this isn't the first time she's had this dream and it always seems to make her cry.
But enough about her, let's get to the characters who do things, shall we? She's set upon by irate customers who complain that photographs they had taken of themselves are warped and distorted. Natsumi's Grandfather brushes it off as being artistic, but as you can guess, nobody buys that. Natsumi guesses they were taken by someone named Tsukasa and she turns out to be right.
Natsumi exposits some more about how Tsukasa just showed up one day with no memory of where he came from, and his only long-term goal appears to be taking pictures. As she tracks him down she hears the sound of the Mirror World from Kamen Rider Ryuki, but brushes it off as nothing.
At the park, Tsukasa is taking more pictures before being harassed by thugs. The thugs are complaining about how bad his photos are, but he brushes it off with vague remarks about how his photos always come out like that and how his end goal is to capture the world. He does seem frustrated by his failures, though. Suddenly, Wataru, the main character of the previous year's season, Kamen Rider Kiva, appears and addresses him as 'Decade', telling him that his world ends today.
After Natsumi saves him from the thugs, they meet up on a park bench, and discuss the problems with his photos. Natsumi points out the obvious, that since she and her Grandpa are running a photo studio, they probably shouldn't be keeping him on the payroll. Tsukasa defends himself by saying that the world is twisting away from him, rejecting him somehow. Natsumi doesn't buy it until strange distortion things start destroying nearby buildings.
Natsumi and Tsukasa are seperated by some sort of distortion, and Tsukasa meets up with Wataru face-to-face. Wataru shows him that there are nine different versions of Earth. He asks Tsukasa where his buckle and cards are, saying that Tsukasa's power will be needed to save the world.
Meanwhile, Natsumi joins the public at large as they're chased by an army of Undead from Kamen Rider Blade. Natsumi gets away, only to be attacked by the Fangires from Kiva. This continues as she's attacked by Imagin from Kamen Rider Den-O and Makamou from Kamen Rider Hibiki. As she runs away, she finds a rusted belt buckle and metallic binder full of cards.
Tsukasa and Natsumi meet up again, but the distortion still seperates them. Natsumi is then attacked by a Worm, a shape-shifting monster from Kamen Rider Kabuto. Natsumi hands him the objects she found and they return to proper working order. On instict Tsukasa transforms into Kamen Rider Decade, whom Natsumi recognizes from her dream.
"I'm NOT pink. I'm Magenta. There's a difference."
Decade's suit looks absolutely awful. Again, I'm here to defend the series, but I cannot justify the suit. The barcode motif to go with the barcode reader of the cards just looks ugly and makes it difficult to believe he can move around in the thing, and it is actually the heaviest of the main ten suits. The color doesn't bother me as much. I understand them going with the CMYK color scheme for the series, given the focus on photography, and at the time, Toei was adamant about the Main Rider being Red. One would think that the last three riders being primarily Red would be enough, but no, we didn't get a non-Red Main Rider until the next year. As such, Magenta. It looks a little silly, but the color is negligible in the face of everything else.
Decade's tranformation shatters the distortion barrier and he draws a card from the binder. Using the card, he becomes Kamen Rider Kabuto, and using another card, activates Kabuto's Clock-Up ability. In his super-fast state he kills the Worm, but the Kabuto card turns gray and he changes back into Decade.
Decade then grabs Tsukasa's motorcycle, which, par for the course, already share thematic elements with his Rider suit, even though he hade the bike before he became a Rider. They rider off, only to find the thugs from earlier killed by Orphenoch from Kamen Rider Faiz. Decade turns into Faiz to fight the Orphenoch, and uses another card to change his bike into AutoVajin, Faiz's robotic ally from the series, to protect Natsumi. However, the cards again turn gray after use.
When they are set upon by Makamou, Tsukasa becomes Hibiki, and he begins to wonder why he already knows what each Rider's powers are and how his own powers as Decade work. He and Natsumi retreat as all of the non-Decade cards turn gray and the Makamou annihilate the city.
Time suddenly pauses as Wataru appears before them, claiming there's still time left to save the world. He asks Tsukasa if he remembers anything, to which he replies no. Wataru explains that the nine previous seasons of Kamen Rider took place in nine alternate universes. Somewhat odd, but fair enough given how weird it would be if all these things were going on in one world and nobody ever butted heads about it. The problem is that all nine worlds, or rather, 'stories' , are starting to merge into one, which jeopardizes all of them. It's Decade's job to go to the other worlds and fix things. Wataru says that Decade will kill the Riders. Wataru's not happy about this, but reconciles it away, saying there can be no creation without destruction. Wataru concludes his exposition by saying he'll keep the world safe until Tsukasa's journey is complete.
Tsukasa and Natsumi return to Hikari Studios and consider this information. Tsukasa is more than willing to comply and promises to take pictures in every world they arrive in. Natsumi is less sure about things, wondering how this connects to her dream from earlier, but plans on going with him. However, they both realize Wataru never told them how to get to the other worlds. Natsumi's Grandpa gives a knowing look claiming "everyone is on a journey", and reveals a backdrop in the Studio's sitting room.
When Tsukasa walks outside, he finds they've moved to a new location, and that he's suddenly wearing a policeman's uniform. His walkie-talkie alerts him to the prescense of an "Unidentified Life Form", revealing that this is the world of Kamen Rider Kuuga.
We see a group of police officers keeping a monster at bay, and we find that things are not as they should be. A female officer named Ane is the one calling for Yuusuke's help, and Yuusuke looks a lot different than he did when we last saw him about 10 years ago. As this Alternate Reality or AR Yuusuke transforms into Kuuga, the episode ends.
"Rider War" does a good job of introducing what it needs to, and does so well. This leaves the issue of giving it very little breathing room, but this allows the chaotic nature of the situation to shine through. The opening scene illustrates that this will be a large-scale conflict and that everyone will have a part to play. The monster fights show that the series will be versatile, aided by the suit actor for Decade having done the stunt work for 7 of the previous 9 Riders. The ending and Wataru's vagueness towards Tsukasa add a layer of mystery to the series, nudging viewers to come back. Long-time fans will appreciate the shout outs to various previous seasons, but they aren't too confusing for new fans to appreciate the level of conflict going on. The ending also can appeal to both sides, long-term fans wondering why things are different, with new fans excited to see this other hero leap into the fray.
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