Mysterious! The Man in the Spider Mask
- Original Airdate: May 14, 2023
Written by: Minato Takano
Directed by: Hiroyuki Kato
Summary
Narrator: The Bognaarok launched a simultaneous attack across the globe.
"Which kingdom would be sacrificed to save the others?"
Faced with that terrible choice, the kings — along with Gira — chose instead to create a miracle with their own hands.
And as if in response to their wishes, that miracle... was the advent of Legend King-Ohger!
The giant Bognaarok were defeated, and Tikyū was saved.
However, the overlord of the Bognaarok, Dethnaarok VIII, gave a mighty laugh as though he were victorious.
Just who is this man who has appeared before Dethnaarok...?
"Which kingdom would be sacrificed to save the others?"
Faced with that terrible choice, the kings — along with Gira — chose instead to create a miracle with their own hands.
And as if in response to their wishes, that miracle... was the advent of Legend King-Ohger!
The giant Bognaarok were defeated, and Tikyū was saved.
However, the overlord of the Bognaarok, Dethnaarok VIII, gave a mighty laugh as though he were victorious.
Just who is this man who has appeared before Dethnaarok...?
Legend King-Ohger makes its return as the four monarchs and Gira finally unite in their goals. Racules takes all of the credit for its revival despite having no part in it. In response, the alliance plan to hold a funeral for Gira, revealing Gira's survival while also exposing Racules' deception.
However, things take a turn when a mysterious man in white and a spider mask appears. Who is he? Is he friend or is he foe?
Tropes
- All Webbed Up: Jeramie employs webs frequently to disable opposition to his sudden presence. even Dethnaarok can't escape them!
- Armor-Piercing Question: Played for Laughs. Jeramie asks Gira his opinion on poop (even mentioning its tendency to serve as a health-indicator) to try and elicit a neutral response. Gira doesn't really understand and is instead just grossed out.
- Attending Your Own Funeral: The plan to overthrow Racules is to have Gira gatecrash the "memorial" Racules is holding.
- Bait-and-Switch: The "man who would become king" as described in the narration is revealed not to be Gira as assumed, but Jeramie himself.
- Breather Episode: Subverted. The monarchs spend the first half of the episode goofing off and over-exaggerating their own upcoming plan; some levity after the recent battles. They spend the rest of the episode having their plan de-railed by an outside force, who proceeds to make fools of everyone.
- Creator Cameo: Hachi Ohger's suit actor Shogo Teramoto make an appearance here as one of Shugoddam's guards, alongside Masashi Takada.
- Gambit Pileup: The episode is the culmination of one between the monarchs, the Bognaarok, and Jeramie himself.
- The monarchs attempt to discredit Racules by having Gira reveal he's alive at his own funeral.
- The Bognaarok also turn out to have had a plan to counter Legend King-Ohger, in order to fulfill their own legend by capturing the three Guardian Shugods.
- However, both get outwitted by the newly-arrived Jeramie, who orchestrated the events in order to unlock his own power.
- Happy Ending Override: Downplayed. While the monarchs did form Legend King-Ohger of their own power and protected Tikyu, the Bognaarok weren't really trying and essentially handed them the battle at the behest of a legend they're a part of — detonating bombs they'd implanted during those triumphant fights to incapacitate the Shugods after Nagabajim's defeat and secure the three Guardian Spirits. The person they'd been taking advice from promptly overwrites their miracle too and takes the three Greater Shugod souls from them at the end of the episode.
- Imagine Spot: Gira, Yanma, and Hymeno have this in regards to Gira's funeral.
- Gira's version of his funeral sees him emerging as a zombie.
- Yanma's version, dubbed a "man's dream", sees Gira emerging as a cyborg dubbed "Gira MK II".
- Hymeno's version sees Gira emerging as an angel, ready to bless the world with good will and protection.
- Mood Whiplash: The first half of the episode is the monarchs poking fun at their plan to bring Gira back from "the dead" filled with Imagine Spot gags. The second half of the episode all-but taints the previous episode's victory and reveals everyone, even the villains, to have been Unwitting Pawns of newcomer Jeramie Brasieri, who gets away with the three Guardian Spirits at the end.
- Not So Stoic: Rita lets out a Skyward Scream when they almost hear spoilers about the Show Within a Show anime Moffun to Issho!.
- Oh, Crap!: The monarchs start to panic when the guards are unable to open the casket.
- Once More, with Clarity: A flashback shows Nagabajim implanting her egg bombs on Legend King-Ohger while it was busy fighting off the Bognaarok.
- Out-Gambitted: Jeramie steals the souls of the three Greater Shugods from the Bognaarok, much to Dethnaarok's dismay.
- Overly Long Gag: Gira, Yanma and Hymeno's ideas of how the funeral-ploy should go gets its own dedicated Imagine Spot and accompanying response; the entire segment takes up a good five minutes of runtime.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The Japanese title is one to the very first episode of Kamen Rider (1971), "The Mysterious Spider Man" (怪奇蜘蛛男, Kaiki Kumo Otoko).
- The Reveal:
- The Bognaarok essentially gave the monarchs the win last episode to fulfill a legend they're implicit in (and so Nagabajim could secretly plant living bombs on the mech). Jeramie's interference is also a part of this legend - him having manipulated the Bognaarok for centuries on-end to secure the Three Guardian Spirits for himself.
- On a meta level: Jeramie's the storyteller that's been narrating the starting and ending segments of previous episodes.
- Moffun is the star of a children's anime.
- Status Quo Is God: Downplayed. Jeramie's interference at the funeral prevents the rulers from revealing to Shugoddam's public that Gira's alive - Racules remains in the clear and the orphans still think he's dead. It does however reveal that the Bognaarok are beholden to the legends too and aren't invincible, receiving their first unequivocal defeat of the story (which even the rulers coming together last episode didn't manage).
- Spanner in the Works: Jeramie to the team's plan. He webs up the coffin so Gira can't get out as planned and then takes off with Gira still inside said coffin.
- The Man Behind the Man: The Bognaarok have been relying on Jeramie's help for centuries on-end to get them to this point. He betrays them at the end of the episode and takes the souls of the three Guardian Spirits.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee:
- The team plans to disrupt Gira's own "memorial" by showing him being alive. Unfortunately for them, Jeramie seals and takes the coffin with him as the plan is enacted.
- Turns out all of the fights in the previous episode was one big distraction to plant bombs on Legend King-Ohger, which the Bognaarok successfully detonate and take the three Greater Shugods with them. Too bad Jeramie screws them over by taking the Greater Shugods' souls at the last minute.
- Narrator/Jeramie: This is the tale of those kings who fight to defend the peace, and one man's journey to becoming king himself.
Yes, indeed... it's my tale.
