In the ecologically-minded city of Fuuto, mysterious devices resembling USB flash drives called Gaia
Memories are used by criminals and other interested parties to become monsters called Dopants,
committing crimes with the police force powerless to stop them. To make matters worse, the Gaia
Memories carry a dangerous toxin that cause their users to go insane to the point where they could die
from the life-threatening devices. After the death of his boss, the self-proclaimed hard-boiled
detective Shoutaro Hidari works with the mysterious Philip to investigate crimes which involve
Dopants. Using their own Gaia Memories, Shoutaro and Philip use the Double Driver belts to transform
and combine into Kamen Rider Double to fight the Dopant menace and keep Fuuto safe.
Note: An anime project commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Kamen Rider's debut.
Relatively Spoiler Free Kamen Rider- I'm sure the name rings a bell. Known for its action-packed fight scenes and cool costume and monster designs, it has been popular for many years and has many TV shows and movies. One of them happens to be Kamen Rider W (also known as Kamen Rider Double. Pretty clever once you get the context) which is the prequel for Fuuto Tantei that is the subject of this review. For anyone who hasn't watched Kamen Rider W before, you can still watch Fuuto Tantei if you really want to but you'll be slightly confused and miss out on the character development. I'd strongly recommend you watch W before starting this anime for the background knowledge. Now with the information section out of the way, let's get on with the actual review. __The Story__ Basic background information for those who haven't watched W: >Fuuto Tantei takes place in the city of Fuuto where our protagonist and detective, Hidari Shoutarou takes on various cases from clients with the help of his team. In this world, there exists devices called Gaia Memories that can provide superhuman abilities to users when inserted into their bodies also allowing them to transform and mask their identities. Shoutarou and his partner Phillip use their memory powers for good to stop the dopants, those who use theirs for evil. The deuteragonist, Phillip can access the "Gaia Library," a collection of all known information in the wold and keywords can be used to narrow down search results for their investigations. He can also fight alongside Shoutarou by providing the Gaia Memory for Kamen Rider Double's right side. This leaves his own body limp as his consciousness becomes one with Shoutarou's and vice versa. This is where the "Double" comes from and I think it's a wonderful mechanic that focuses on teamwork on a whole new level. Shoutarou and Phillip have separate memories with different properties that can be mixed and matched for the best combat outcomes. The first segment of the anime sets the tone for the entire series. We are introduced to the tritagonist named Tokime who appears as a mysterious woman suspected of the thefts and murders going around Fuuto City. Shoutarou is hired by a client to track down Tokime and retrieve the bag she stole from him and while chasing her, Shoutarou finds himself in an alternate dimension of Fuuto City which he coins "Shadow Fuuto". Shoutarou is determined to find out and stop the dopant responsible for the murders. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/lkdRiRW.png)~~~ In the second segment, Shoutarou is tasked with protecting an idol from a dopant that has been sending her death threats. The third segment is set in a secluded mountain where a bizarre "wife finding" ritual happens where a rich man must select a bride from a list of candidates. However, every night, a candidate is murdered by a dopant. Shoutarou and Phillip has to figure out who the dopant is and defeat them. This is also the point where our protagonists come face to face with the main antagonist who has been observing them unbeknownst to them. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/pQKdLf9.png)~~~ The fourth and final segment is the climax. The client this time is a little girl who asks our protagonists to help find her mechanic grandfather who didn't return after he left to deliver a certain part to a rather suspicious client. Tokime gets dragged into Shadow Fuuto by one of the antagonist's lackeys. This segment predominantly takes place in Shadow Fuuto. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/nywgFnI.png)~~~ The cases are very Kamen Rider-esque. While I initially felt like the motive for the second segment's dopant was very weak, I realized that many people do have dumb reasons to hate someone like that irl as well. The identity of the dopants throughout the anime weren't apparent which is always great for detective shows. I liked feeling "ooh!" when Shoutarou or Phillip explained exactly what or why something happened after uncovering the truth. I would've liked more cases but there's only this much you can fit inside a 12 episode anime. Also, Tokime's design seems like an effort to attract a larger audience through her waifuness for the lack of a better word. There are many random fan service moments like closeup shots of her body, her taking baths in fountains (...seriously?) or her clothes ripping after a dopant attack. Furthermore, she didn't have that much involvement in the actual plot at this point in time. I kind of wished there were scopes to have some time off from the main plot to explore the characters themselves a bit more. But like I said, this is not possible in a 12 episode anime.
To give a little background: I LOVE Tokusatsu media, especially ones before Kamen Rider Saber. I think every single one of them are great, especially the Kamen Rider ones (Zero-One being my favorite), after I've heard that an actual Kamen Rider anime was going to be released (which is this one), I was pumped, and excited for it, in fact, this is the first anime that got me into anime in general "Underrated" and "Under-watched" are terms that's being tossed on every single thing Tokusatsu-related, and this loosely applies to this anime too, as I was also a big advocate for Kamen Rider W (there are some spoilers) To start, let's look at the animation: img20(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/590864642000027666/1088066555260182558/image.png) Every single part of this anime looks decent at worst, at best? very accurate to the source material (that being, Kamen Rider W), the suit designs just look AMAZING, and clean. It pays homage to the source material A LOT, the Rider Kicks, the forms, the sounds, weapons, and everything~!especially Kamen Rider Double's Final Form, CycloneJokerXtreme. img500(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFulM48cuB2GsI2xEVcMsP45oVcwhY2qgWrcZeTb9o_dSuMJRffhWm3Zru_e6vAApeUr1h7Px5Igw8AtyiSBW-oMn-NUwyN5qMC6-evR7sl33t3Aymd1x6XuZK70CsnPYjf3C24zVDuJ63Pip060Zifm9PHENqzc1yycoRs6Z_JM51ffr8-406w9ii/s1920/Fuuto-PI-Cyclone-Joker-Xtreme.jpg)!~ the new Dopants are also very creepy, intimidating to look at too. Now the characters are what that surprised me: img20(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/590864642000027666/1088068232302313482/image.png) The old (Shotaro, Phillip, Ryu, and Akiko) have kept their old personalities, and the show makes them feel very fresh to see, only this time is funnier, Shotaro and Phillip have pretty nice chemistry that doesn't feel too different from its predecessor ~!Akiko still also has the iconic slipper.!~ The new (Yukiji, and Tokime) are also quite cool, Tokime in particular is a pocket of fanservice that actually contributes to the plot quite heavily, while Yukiji has a good villain introduction. One small complaint I have, is that i wish they used the old cast in Kamen Rider W for the voice acting (for Shotaro, Phillip, and Akiko that is), nevertheless, the new ones are good. For the story: img20(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/590864642000027666/1088068232302313482/image.png) It expands on the current Kamen Rider W lore, while also not retconning anything, every new plot point being added serves a purpose, and i love that they used the old assets from Kamen Rider W (Gaia Memories as an example), to make them feel fresh Shadow Fuuto is also brilliantly told, dark, and bleak, with a lot of depth inside This show in general follows the same kind of "path" as a typical Tokusatsu, it's a "Monster-of-the-week" approach, and it kept the theme the original had. Overall, If you liked Kamen Rider W, you will certainly like this. Although I liked the story, it's highly recommended to see Kamen Rider W first (and maybe even the movies too), THEN watch this, because this anime was made as a sequel, not a standalone project, so you might not understand everything.