Masked Rider Den-O The Movie: Ore, Tanjo! Review

Ahhh, Masked Rider Den-O, the show that got me hooked to the series. More popularly(though not officially) known as Kamen Rider Den-O, it was the 2007 entry in the Kamen Rider Series(formerly the Masked Rider Series prior to the 2010 entry, W), but if you're a fan today, you know about Den-O. Why? Because its popularity lasted longer than just the run of its TV series, spawning 2 post-series movies to use the original title, as well as the currently-running Cho Den-O Series Movies. While many long-time fans complained about it being vastly different from other Kamen Rider shows, I was not among them. I loved the show from start to finish, and every new movie pleases me even more than the last, so today, I'll be reviewing Den-O's original movie, "Ore, Tanjo!"(I'm Born)

Set between Episodes 27 and 28,(A rarity for Kamen Rider Movies, that usually take place in an Alternate Universe, or AU) it starts with something seemingly typical of a movie: a Jewelery Store robbery. However, the thiefe in no ordinary robber; he's possessed by an Imagin, one of the monsters of Den-O, a genie-like being from the future who can make a contract with a person to grant one wish, and in return, the Imagin has access to any point in that person's past, but they specifically go to a treasured moment of the contract holder. He steals a necklace, but as he's about to grab it, it's snatched away by a young man with vibrant blue eyes, glasses, and smooth, stylish hair with a streak of blue in it.

This is our hero, Ryotaro Nogami(Played by Takeru Sato), who, besides being possibly the unluckiest person in Japan, is also a Singularity Point(a person who can resist Imagin control and is unaffected by changes to the flow of time), and has 4 Imagin partners, as opposed to the one that most people get.

He appears here possessed by Urataros, a suave, lying, and perverted blue turtle Imagin, and U-Ryotaro proceeds to run away with the necklace. When the robber catches, Ryotaro is possessed by the gold bear Imagin Kintaros, taking away the glasses and giving him a ponytail with a gold streak and golden eyes. K-Ryotaro uses his Imagin-inherited strength to push him back, and then he switches out with Ryutaros, a child-like purple dragon Imagin, giving him a cap and purple-streaked tangly hair and matching purple eyes(the pattern is obvious by now of how possession works for him). R-Ryotaro then begins to breakdance, and some rockette-style tap dancers, hypnotized thanks to one of Ryutaros' special powers, follow suit(Trivia: Takeru Sato does all his own breakdancing). This is all a distraction, as R-Ryotaro gets away. The robber follows him and finds an unpossessed Ryotaro. The Imagin takes control of the robber and asks who the multi-faceted person he's chasing is, and Ryotaro then gets possessed by Momotaros, the first Imagin to join him in the shows chronology(Urataros being 2nd, Kintaros 3rd, and Ryutaros 4th), giving spiky red-straked hair, and of course matching eyes. Then after a snarky remark, the robber faints as the Molech Imagin jumps out of his body. M-Ryotaro then takes and straps on the Den-O Belt and transforms into Masked Rider Den-O Sword Form with the call of "Henshin!" and a swipe of his Rider Pass(a special train case pass). He then does his signature pose along with his catchphrase for which the movie's subtitle is a play off of, "Ore, Sanjo!"(I have Arrived!).

Because of the posing, Den-O dropped the necklace, allowing the Imagin to complete his contract and flee into the past. After a berating from his comrade Hana(Played by Yuriko Shiratori), Den-O uses a Rider Ticket to follow the Imagin into the past on the DenLiner, a time-traveling battle train. Den-O Sword Form makes quick work of him using the DenGasher Sword Mode's "Full Charge" finisher attack Extreme Slash. After that, the two head back, and Ryotaro reminisces about he used to live nearby. This moment is interupted when the DenLiner zooms by, having been hijacked by a bandit named Gaoh(Played by Hiroyuki Watanabe) and his gang of Imagin lackies, thanks to the Molech, who was among the gang, luring Den-O to that point in time.

With nowhere to go for the time being, Ryotaro and Hana go the the Milk Dipper, a cafe where his sister worked at in the present time. There they meet Ryotaro's 12-year-old self(Played by Takuya Mizoguchi), as well as the stuck-up white swan Imagin Sieg, who had previously appeared a few episodes before the movie's placement, and possesses Ryotaro and acts like a prince as usual, being snobby and bossy. To break up the crazness, Yuto Sakurai(Played by Yuichi Nakamura), Ryotaro's ally/rival Masked Rider Zeronos, and his Imagin partner Deneb, comes and takes them with him on his own time train, the ZeroLiner, to follow Gaoh, who in the meantime has stolen the Owner(Played by Kenjiro Ishimaru) of the DenLiner's golden Master Pass that can control any time train, as well trapping the other 3 Taros and holding Owner and the DenLiner's coffee-server Naomi(Played by Rina Akiyama, who had previously played Mana Kazaya in Masked Rider Agito), and uses his own Infinity Ticket, to enter God's Line that can take him to any point in time, and he plans to use it to obtain God's Train and use it to erase time.

After they catch up and Zeronos has a brief battle with ther bandit who transforms into Masked Rider Gaoh, the gang are balsted into the world between time, and it then becomes a frantic time traveling world tour as Den-O and Zeronos try to stop Gaoh from completing his villainous plan.

This movie, like the series, is funny, exciting, touching, and overall awesome. Besides the Movie-exclusive Gaoh, it also features an appearance by the Sieg-possesed Den-O Wing Form, which only had a momentary appearance in the show, and the younger Ryotaro, nicknamed Kotaro, gets to transform into Den-O Mini Sword Form, complete with a higher-pitched version of Sword Form's BGM, and has a few more firsts for the series, such as the debut of the Taros Imagins' personal weapon, and an exciting final battle featuring multiple Ryotaro's transformed into 4 Den-Os, each taking one of his four main forms, Sword, Rod, Ax, and Gun, as well as a train battle between the combined DenLiner and ZeroLiner against the God's Train, the GaohLiner.

Ryotaro really does well to show how even though he forgot everything about being a hero, that it won't stop him from doing the right thing. He shows exceptional bravery when it's truly needed, and does what it takes to set things straight. Hana here is very supportive, and really helps Ryotaro cope with his troubling situation like always. Yuto shows a lot of guts and actually has a big part in setting up the climax for the film, with Deneb there to always support him in his fatherly way. The Taros shine a lot in how they can be exciting, humorous, and just never boring. Owner and Naomi aren't too influential at any point, but there presence does keep things interesting as well. As for Kotaro, he does a great job of showing how Ryotaro was as a kid, what ways he has and hasn't changed, and the person they picked to play that role really did seem like a young Ryotaro.

Getting to the main featured characters, Sieg and Gaoh. Sieg is an interesting character on his own. Princely and arrogant, he works in mysertious ways yet has truly noble intentions. He seems to always be on a high horse, yet has surprising charisma and poise that keeps you enthralled with him. Den-O Wing Form is quite similar to Sword Form, yet the blue wing-like eyes, golden bodysuit, and the way the armor blends together white and silver seamlessly along with some variation to the shoulderpads, makes it very interesting, as well as the way he can switch from calm parry attacks to swift strikes makes him enjoyable to see in combat.

Gaoh has to be my favorite Den-O villain ever. He's gruff, strong, and gives off this aura of power. He's just about always intimedating, makes big boasts, and can really back them up. Another thing tolike is that he's just evil, no backstory, no reason to be sympathetic for him; He's just pure, unbridled evil. His Rider form also impresses. The golden bronze armor with tons of teeth and spikes really give him a jagged and menacing look, making it unmistakable that he's the villain. He shows his power in combat, where he's cocky and truly gives Den-O and Zeronos a really tough time. The GaohLiner Is well designed and absolutely bestial, like a wild animal as opposed to a train, and really seems like a truly destructive force that hould never have been unleashed

The acting is superb, featuring several guest stars, inlcluding Aki Hoshino as the princess Senhime, Tomonori Jinnai as the samurai Sanada Yukimura, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi as famous ninja Kirigakure Saizo, and Shingo Kawaguchi(who had previously played Masked Rider Todoroki in Masked Rider Hibiki) as Saizo's arch-rival Sarutobi Sasuke. It also feateures some guest voices from Tokusatsu alumni: Hidenori Tokuyama(Masked Rider KickHopper from Masked Rider Kabuto) as the Molech Imagin, Takashi Hagino(Masked Rider Ohja from Masked Rider Ryuki, a series that was recently adapted into the american Kamen Rider Dragon Knight) as the Cobra Imagin, Yasuka Saitoh(Bouken Black from GoGo Sentai Boukenger) as the Newt Imagin, and Masato Uchiyama(Masked Rider PunchHopper from Masked Rider Kabuto) as the Salamander Imagin. The guest stars all perform really well, and the main cast is at their finest, bringing out the emotions of their characters and keeping things enjoyable.

The action and special effects are dazzling and exciting, with top-notch CGI for not only the time trains, but also other things like dinosaurs that appear in one scene. The fights scenes are smooth and never boring, with charcacters chatting while they're going at it. Although it is unfortunate that we don't ever get a battle between Den-O Wing Form and Gaoh, as was advertised on the theatrical movie poster, what we do get of these those two is unique and really stands out.

The Final Cut of the movie adds a few new scenes, Gives Gaoh a more thorough transformation, and adds Double-Action Gaoh Form to Gaoh's first fight scene along with Double-Action Wing Form for Den-O Wing Form's fight scene, giving it a better experience. I suggest watching the Final Cut, which has been suntitled by the people at fansub group TV-Nihon, for the best way to view it. If you love Den-O, you'll love the movie, and it's also a good watch for action movie fans too. As Momotaros would say, "From Beginning to End, it's at a Climax!"

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars