If you've ever watched The Omen or Children of the Korn, the chances are that you fear evil kids. Yup, that's the main problem that our hero must face in this exciting episode of Kamen Rider Black. Did I just give away the whole episode? Well, not really. I only gave away half of it. You are going to have to read the whole article (or skip to the score, like most readers do) for the full details. Enjoy!
Summary
This episode doesn't waste any time (like normal) because it opens up by introducing the monster of the week. It's a monster Stone Turtle that looks like Gamera but with a new (and evil) head-piece. It is terrifying and will give you nightmares. Meanwhile, Kotaro is coaching some kids at a football game (that's soccer for all you savages out there) and things are going well until Shinichi (one of the kids) has to split to go study. Keisuke (one of the other kids) isn't too impressed, so Kotaro steps in and informs Keisuke that studying is a very important task. Keisuke responds by telling Kotaro that he isn't just upset about Shinichi leaving. Keisuke is upset that all of the other kids have been acting weird as of late. Hmmm. I'm starting to suspect that the Golgum may be behind this.
While having some tea, Kotaro learns about why the kids are acting weird and he suspects that something is up with the study group that Shinichi ran off to. Instead of seeing Kotaro looking around, Keisuke is the one doing the snoop doggy dogg snooping. What Keisuke witnesses shocks and horrifies him. Shinichi is being forced to walk across a balance beam, while carrying buckets of water. This isn't all, Shinichi is punished even further because his teacher orders the other students to throw balls at him. (All sorts of balls.) Keisuke notices that there's a pet turtle in the room and the turtle also notices Keisuke. This pet turtle isn't friendly because it is the evil Stone Turtle in disguise! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Why are the Golgum doing this to innocent children? Quite simple really. They are being cruel to the kids, so they can turn them into heartless bastards, like them. (Yeah, good luck with that.) Keisuke comes running out of the building right as Kotaro turns up to investigate. Keisuke takes Kotaro to the classroom and what they find is super horrifying! Okay, they don't see anything nasty. The class is acting all peaceful and innocent. Kotaro thinks that Keisuke was making it all up. Keisuke and Kotaro leave and this is where Kotaro reveals that he doesn't believe that Keisuke was making it up. Kotaro was just putting on a face, so that the teacher wouldn't be suspicious of him. Keisuke tells Kotaro every thing that has been going on and this only confirms Kotaro's suspicions. The Golgum are indeed behind all of this. (Something that we all knew from the get go.)
Kotaro sneaks into the building after-dark to do some old fashioned investigatin'. Kotaro can't find anything suspicious until he hears a noise that sounds like someone taking a massive dump. Kotaro chases the sound and finds a pool and then he is ambushed by Stone Turtle. (COWABUNGA!) IT'S HENSHIN TIME, BABY! Kotaro morphs into Kamen Rider and starts fighting off Stone Turtle. Stone Turtle is a tricky sucka to hit, he keeps on dogging Kamen Riders blows by hiding in his shell. Kamen Rider has no choice but to retreat.
It's the next day and Kotaro gets a rude surprise when he finds out that the Golgum have Keisuke in their grasps. Kotaro does the Kotaro thing and wastes no time in getting to where the Golgum are. Kotaro gets ambushed and beaten up by a bunch of brainwashed children and he can't fight back because they are kids. The evil teacher comes into the room and then shows what cruel fate is in store for Keisuke. Keisuke is getting balls kicked at him by the other brainwashed kids and Kotaro is upset because he can't do anything to save him. Kotaro has had enough, so he fights off the kids by trapping them into a net and then he attacks the evil teacher. Kotaro's problems have only just started, Stone Turtle is back and he is looking for blood.
Stone Turtle starts beat the carp out of Kotaro. Kotaro manages to catch a break and he uses this to morph into Kamen Rider. Sadly, Kamen Rider can't damage Stone Turtle because of his hard shell. Stone Turtle pilots himself into the air by fully retracting into his shell (just like Gamera) and is absolutely wrecking Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider manages to get a real brutal blow by grabbing Stone Turtle while he is charging and then he does one of the sickest suplexes that I have ever seen.
Kamen Rider figures out Stone Turtles weakness, it is his eyes. Kamen Rider finishes off Stone Turtle by using his signature moves on Stone Turtle's head (while blinding us with the seizure inducing strobe light effect) and the day has been saved. The children and their teacher are back to normal and the episode closes off with everyone having fun at a soccer game.
Review
Story telling in this one was incredibly straight forward. There were no cheesy B plots involving comic relief characters, no swerves that took the story into a different direction, and no teases for things to come. Nope! You just get a self-contained story that finishes what it starts. This is a great thing to see but it is worthless for if the episode is terrible. Don't worry, it is not.
Quite a fun watch this one was. It's nothing deep but it has a lot of enjoyable action, effects, and characters. There wasn't a single moment where I felt that this episode was dragging. I really enjoyed the fight scenes, they were very gritty and hands on and really felt like a fight. The costume for Stone Turtle is a bit on the scary side and looks like a real threat, even though he looks like that they re-used the Gamera costume. Stone Turtle also had the moves to match his look and I did question how Kamen Rider was going to defeat him. I just love it when shows suspend my disbelief and drag my emotions along with it.
Overall, a really fun and enjoyable watch that will remind you why Kamen Rider is a beloved superhero. I'm giving this episode a really good score of eight out of ten. I wouldn't mind seeing more self-contained stories like this in future episodes.
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