Kamen Rider Agito's Ambitious, Sprawling Nightmare Fuel (Much Spoilers)

 

Halloween is just around the corner and Kamen Rider Agito is hitting its 20th anniversary. Phew, that's real fast and I was only 15 going 16 at that time! Now, it's time to really do a ramble on the nightmare fuel in the show. Agito is considered by some as Toshiki Inoue's Magnum Opus while others consider it to be Chojin Sentai Jetman. Kamen Rider Faiz is apparently Inoue's favorite season since he even appeared at the end of it - a series with much potential but it did slowly burn Inoue out. I feel it's time to actually talk about why Agito is a good series with its ambitious nightmare fuel and not just with how Kamen Rider Kuuga is one good scare.

Personally, I want to think of Agito as a sequel to Kuuga. I think the lore of the two shows can be seen in the same Universe. One threat is over and another begins. The Grongi were defeated some time ago. Now, the Lords appear and mysterious murders take place. Here, Shinichiro Shirakura and Inoue (all before Shirakura became questionable) work again. Shirakura was a co-producer of Chojin Sentai Jetman and was probably close to legendary producer Takeyuki Suzuki. Shirakura probably took a lot of ideas that Suzuki shared with him into making this ambitious nightmare fuel. The show has an incredible amount of ambition with some flaws left and right.

Watching the series (thankfully NOT in Tagalog) had me think about the nightmare fuel the show has. The first episode already has the killings. The Lords appear to kill people for no apparent reason. However, this isn't like the game of the Grongi (the Gegeru) which was just done for fun. This is a much bigger reason making the villains not so evil or not so black and white. I think the Overlords' colors are a pun on the fact of black and white. Life has its gray areas too. People tend to die in some weird ways. Why are they being killed? The answer lies in the fact of the power of the Agito Seed - something the Overlord of Light gave so many years ago.

It turns out that long ago - a great storm hit. Yes, the storm in itself is a nightmare fuel. I'm surprised Toei Ltd. spent MUCH MONEY for that scene. There were the survivors of the Akatsuki Gou - the very reason why the series started. It's only revealed later as to how Shouichi Tsugami (or also known as Tetsuya Sawaki) was among the passengers. It's not explained (earlier on) like the typical Kamen Rider series how people got their power. Sure, we had the typical the hero gets his powers origin explained such as Shocker capturing Takeshi Hongo to turn him into the first Kamen Rider. Here,  it's not explained immediately and when it happens - you enter into nightmare fuel territory.

The whole show is focused on the two sides of the coin. Long ago, both the Overlord of Light and the Overlord of Darkness were in charge of creating mankind. One day both brothers decided on the fate of mankind. The Overlord of Darkness wanted man to remain as is. Meanwhile, the Overlord of Light decided to give a gift to mankind - the Seed of Agito. This is similar to when Prometheus decided to give fire to man - something Zeus disapproves of. This conflict would carry itself throughout the show as part of the mysteries that unfold. These mysteries aren't easily revealed and it's very hard to talk about Agito without entering the Walking Spoiler territory.

The Lords' evil deeds are anything but purely evil either. They aren't after the whole "Bwahahahaha we're evil!" thing. Instead, the Lords were villains in the sense they were killing Agito Seed holders who haven't done anything yet to harm mankind. The Overlord of Darkness wants to eliminate them fearing that mankind would one day run out of balance. The Overlord of Darkness was once locked away but he was later reborn as a child and grew up fast as an adult. The whole scenario is just a nightmare to watch. The Overlord of Darkness really just feels like he's out of reason when he commands the Lords to kill Agito holders. However if the Lords see a normal human, they simply shrink off yet even these normal humans have to live in fear without knowing why. I mean, didn't some people lose loved ones because they were Agito Seed holders?

The finale arc would be one nightmare fuel too. I think the Overlord of Darkness is going overboard with his plan to reset and recreate humanity. The whole idea of trying to reset the whole world he created would be just too much. The whole idea people see their doppelgangers then DIE is something. Now, people are dying by their constellation. I would say that's pretty dark for a show aimed for children. Then again, I guess Toei had some older audiences in mind too when they allowed the series to get progressively dark - pun intended.

I was thinking abut the nightmare fuel of the Great Annihilation that was in Mirai Sentai Timeranger. I could compare Overlord of Darkness' actions here to Captain Ryuuya - the walking spoiler of Timeranger. Ryuuya saw several outcomes - one where the 31st Century ceases to exist and the other where a third of the 21st Century disappears but their future is safe. Captain Ryuuya may have done some questionable things (such as allowing Dolnero to escape when he could've captured them) or when he allowed Naoto Takizawa to die in his place. Yet, Captain Ryuuya was also trying to keep the balance of their era. Maybe, it's time to cut Captain Ryuuya some slack even if he's basically a douchebag like Masato Kusaka in Kamen Rider Faiz.  

The reset that the Overlord of Darkness planned was to re-establish the balance of humanity. However, the Overlord of Darkness had failed to understand the creation of humanity. It really took the confrontation of Kamen Rider Agito against the Overlord of Darkness to make him see the error of his ways. The Overlord of Darkness eventually retreats and decides that he has much to learn about humanity even when he took part in its creation.