Heartwarming / Shin Kamen Rider (2023)

"This mask feels nice. It doesn't have the cold, hungry feel of the last one. It feels kind."

Heartwarming moments in Shin Kamen Rider.

Unmarked spoilers ahead.

---

The film

• It's in an otherwise tense moment, and only clear in hindsight, but Professor Midorikawa's ambiguous reaction at the sight of Ruriko affixing the red scarf around Hongo's neck—a single, soft laugh—becomes less ambiguous with the knowledge that it reminds him of happier times with his wife and son, before tragedy turned their lives to ruin.
• While discussing Hongo, the intelligence official expresses concern that Hongo's kindness is a weakness, one that the government members of the Anti-SHOCKER Alliance have to make up for. The government official clarifies that no, it's both Hongo's weakness and his greatest strength.
  • Later on, after Ruriko's death and Ichimonji's triumph over the K.K Aug, the government official gives Hongo some advice on finding his own way to deal with his sadness.
  • Becomes doubly heartwarming in the end, when the government man identifies himself as Tachibana—the name of Hongo's motorcycling mentor from the original series.
• When Hachi Aug's enslaved civilians encroach on their temporary camp, Takeshi and Ruriko have this exchange as they move to escape.
  [rough translation]
  Takeshi: Ruriko-san, I want you to go in on your own this time. I have a plan. [hands Ruriko her helmet] Don't trust me. Trust my plan.
  Ruriko: [accepts the helmet] Okay. But I won't trust your plan. I'll try trusting you.
  Takeshi: Thank you, Ruriko-san.
  • There's also the fact that Ruriko trusted Hongo enough to catch her and land them both safely as they escaped from Hachi Aug/Hiromi. Ruriko previously stated that she trusted Hongo's new abilities despite implicitly not trusting Hongo himself, yet this maneuver would require trust in both.
  • When she returns to the Hachi building to confront Hiromi, Ruriko states this, knowning that Hongo is enacting his plan:
    Ruriko: I don't believe in many things. But I believe in the man known as the Masked Rider.
• Ruriko admits that even though she had no friends in SHOCKER, she couldn't bring herself to kill Hiromi. Takeshi also realized that, which is why he redirected his Rider Kick from killing her. Sadly, the Anti-SHOCKER Alliance members can't afford to let Hiromi live, especially since she won't abandon SHOCKER.
• In the government-provided safehouse following the Hachi Aug's elimination, Ruriko starts to loosen up around Takeshi. Especially when Takeshi assures her that she's safe and secure here.
  • She also feels safe enough to record her final message for Hongo outside, where she opens up more in case she dies soon.
• Takeshi and Ruriko both work to save Hayato Ichimonji from SHOCKER's brainwashing.
  • Takeshi fights Ichimonji as long as possible, knowing that the man isn't completely under SHOCKER's control—evidently realizing this from the very first mid-air punch. Unfortunately, he gets his leg broken for the trouble.
  • Soon after, Ruriko intercepts Ichimonji and counteracts the brainwashing. As the process results in Ichimonji reliving all of his negative memories at once, Ruriko quietly urges him to withstand the suppressed sadness overwhelming him.
  • There's also the brainwashed Ichimonji. Despite his declaration that the only thing on his mind is fighting Hongo, he really is resisting the mind control as best he can. Instead of destroying Hongo in Ichiro's lair, he gives him enough time during the chase to condense as much prana as possible before fighting him. He also apologizes to Hongo before attempting to finish him off; and despite gruffly telling Ruriko to move aside, he does nothing to stop her from laying her hands on his mask and pariphalyzing the mind control. And the first thing he does once he's freed and composed is to knock K.K Aug away before the assassin can finish Ruriko off.
• Despite what happened, Hongo and Ichimonji part ways on relatively positive terms, with Ichimonji expressing his condolences for Ruriko's fate and apologizing for failing her.
• Hongo tells the government and intelligence officials that he'll be off to confront Ichiro Midorikawa, not to seek revenge, but to fulfill Ruriko's wish (to have Ruriko's prana speak with Ichiro one last time). He also takes a page from Ruriko's book and asks a favor of the officials, in the very real chance he dies in the confrontation.
• Ichimonji's second Big Damn Heroes moment, saving Kamen Rider from nearly getting killed, and declaring himself Kamen Rider No. 2.
  Ichimonji: Hongo! I've made up my mind. I hate teamwork, but... [clutches the scarf that Ruriko had given him] I'll try liking it. From now on, I'm Kamen Rider Number Two!
  Kamen Rider: That makes us Double Riders.
  [Beat shot of the backs of both Riders' helmets, with Ichimonji's now sporting the Batta/Rider icon]
  Kamen Rider No. 2: Yeah! [head tilts up in realization] This finally feels right.
  • Then after both Riders get knocked off the bike by the SHOCKER Riders' Action Bomb, Ichimonji does something that no one else in the film had done: he offers Hongo a hand to help him up. This then leads to an amusing and touching exchange:
    Kamen Rider No. 2: Are you all right, Hongo?
    [Kamen Rider looks up; after a Beat of hesitation, he takes his new partner's hand]
    Kamen Rider: I'm sorry, Ichimonji-kun.
    Kamen Rider No. 2: No need for apologies. Just say thanks.
    Kamen Rider: Thank you, Ichimonji-kun.
    Kamen Rider No. 2: Cut the "kun". No need for formalities.
    Kamen Rider: All right, Ichimonji.
• After finishing off the last of the SHOCKER Riders, Kamen Rider bows his head in mourning. Kamen Rider No. 2 sees this and, respecting his compatriot's kindness, follows suit.
  • Especially poignant, considering that Ichimonji was in a similar situation as the SHOCKER Riders.
• Ruriko and Ichiro's reconciliation is both this and a tear-jerker. Ruriko offers Ichiro a chance to survive through Hongo's mask; but Ichiro, realizing what she intends to do in order to enable that, turns it down, unwilling to throw away the only family he has left in the world—and unwilling to take Hongo's place in the mask, either.
• The ending sees a despondent Ichimonji sitting alone at a pier when he sees the two government agents approach him, with Takeshi's helmet in hand. The Government Man reveals that Takeshi, whose soul is residing within the helmet, had requested that Ichimonji take the helmet and carry on as "Kamen Rider". He also reveals that Ruriko's soul was also within the helmet and is now in a secure location. Uplifted with the knowledge that they're both alive after a fashion, Hayato Ichimonji refastens the red scarf around his neck with a grin, stating, "For the missy and Hongo, I'll try working with you guys."
  • The reveal that the names of Those Two Guys are Tachibana and Taki, making them this film's incarnations of Tobei Tachibana and Kazuya Taki, is a twofold moment. For newcomers, it's a sign that these guys are willing to open up to Hayato for the basis of their partnership with the Kamen Rider. But for long-time fans, it's heartening to see that even in a different version of the original series, Tachibana and Taki will always be there for the Kamen Riders.
    • Apparently, neither Takeshi nor Ruriko had gotten their names before. Despite knowing that the government could potentially see them as dangerous, they trusted Tachibana and Taki themselves anyway.
• Takeshi's Batta Aug mask/helmet becomes one by the end. For much of the film, it was a grim reminder to Takeshi Hongo about his burdens as an augmented human, with his lethal strength being forced forward by the mask itself. Now, that same mask is given to Hayato Ichimonji, as a reminder that as a fellow Augment, he is not alone. Hayato notes that his own Batta mask, when he wore it, felt cold and hungry; but Takeshi's mask—now refurbished with a brighter paint job and vivid red eye-lights—feels kind, a result of the soul inside.
  Ichimonji: So this is your heart, Hongo?
  • The emblem and text on the back of the helmet: the Rider emblem, with the following text. Whether it's the work of the Anti-SHOCKER Alliance in repairing the helmet or the tech itself self-modifying to reflect the wills of its owners, it's heartening that some otherwise-clinical text can be as uplifting as it is.
    BATTA AUG
    BAA-02+01
• The ending dialogue:
  Ichimonji: Hongo, can you feel this wind?
  Hongo: Yeah. Even though my prana, my soul, is inside this mask, I can feel the breeze, the motorcycle engine, even the smells. I feel everything you feel. Go faster, Ichimonji. I want to savor this new Cyclone.
  Ichimonji: Right. Here we go, Hongo. [mask lights up] From now on, we are not alone. It's you and me. We'll fight SHOCKER together!
  • Capped off with the uplifting ending theme "Where you go".
    Dawn is breaking now (The morning haze)
    Rain gives place to wind (The sun rises)
    
    If you get lost your way
    If you are scared today
    
    Gentle breeze will be
    with you where you go
    you go

---

Promotional material

• The collectible cards from the Shin Kamen Rider Chips snack have some interesting tidbits about the characters:
  • Card #88, "Ruriko and Hiromi on the Phone", mentions how the two, while growing up in SHOCKER, would occasionally have disagreements and refuse to look at each other. How did they make up despite that? By talking as if through old telephones, as seen in the card's image of the Shocker Telephone gag.
  • The description for Card #98, "Ichimonji Hayato's Secret", states that he enjoys animal and wildlife photography, and has traveled through Africa and South America. The card goes on to state that "he's secretly planning on bringing Hongo with him next time", suggesting that he'd like for Hongo—who's currently inhabiting the Rider 2+1 helmet—to be able to enjoy more stuff beyond just motorcycles.

---