Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider

Episode 4

Like with the previous episode, a good chunk of this episode's runtime is spent on an extended flashback. After Mitsuba's encounter with your friendly Shocker-foot-soldier-turned-yakuza-muderering-arsonist, he and his brother spent some time in the countryside with their grandparents. This was interrupted by a rogue Shocker foot soldier and his human girlfriend, who were then killed by a legitimate Shocker monster—along with Mitsuba's grandparents.

This flashback does two major things. The first is setting up the personality of Ichiyo, the last member of our main cast. Even as a kid, he shows no fear and attacks a transformed Shocker soldier without any hesitation. Because of this, when we encounter him in the present day, it makes sense how he has turned out. While Tojima spent his life mimicking the fighting style of the original Kamen Rider, Ichiyo did that for the first three Kamen Riders and studied many different real-world martial arts as well. After all, while Tojima wanted Shocker to exist, Ichiyo knew it did—and was determined to be able to fight them.

The other thing the flashback does, along with the scenes involving Yukarisu, is set up the rules for how Shocker operates. In general, they stay in the shadows with their foot soldiers living normal lives—though they don't seem great at it. Moreover, once you join Shocker, you're in it for life, as trying to quit marks you for extermination. Anyone who knows about Shocker's existence in general is monitored, and if a Shocker member's true identity is discovered, they kill all witnesses—except for children, it seems.

It's the not killing kids bit that births a ton of questions. Sure, it's likely no one will believe kids that monsters from a fictional show are committing crimes like arson and murder, but those kids will one day grow up to be adults like Ichiyo, hell-bent on revenge. It's almost like they're trying to create heroes to fight against...

Regardless, this episode highlights just how little we know about Shocker. Sure, they outwardly resemble the foot soldiers and monsters of Kamen Rider, but that might just be skin deep. Heck, we don't even know if they're aiming for world domination—goodness knows they've had decades unopposed to work towards that goal. All we know for sure is that the group is as secretive as it is arrogant—and that's probably what will lead to them getting a real beatdown at the hands of our self-styled Kamen Riders next week.

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Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.