Recap: Kamen Rider Wizard, Episode 2 – I Want to Be a Wizard

At the antique shop, owner and ring maker Wajima wonders why Haruto isn’t awake yet. Koyomi says he’s tired from all the magic he used up, but Haruto comes downstairs. Wajima hands him a new ring he’s just completed, but he has no idea what spell it could be since he just makes them (and listens to the “stone’s voice” occasionally).

Haruto thinks it can be used to put enemies to sleep and wants to test it out on Wajima and Koyomi, but instead puts himself to sleep.

At the police station, Rinko gets called in by the Chief to talk to Superintendent Kizaki from Department Zero of the National Bureau of Defense. He asks her if she knows the identity of the Mage she encountered. She says she doesn’t know.

Rinko asks if they’re going to inform the public about the Phantom attacks, but Kizaki says there’s no point in telling others. This under federal jurisdiction, he says and tells Rinko they aren’t involved. That doesn’t sit well with Rinko since she wants to protect people too. She decides to go look for Haruto.

Meanwhile, Medusa and Phoenix are looking for more Gates. She calls Hellhound (no relation to Supernatural) to send the Gate she just found to despair.

A young man, Shunpei, helps up a little kid who’s just tripped. He offers to cast a spell to make the pain in his arm go away.

“Chichin Pui Pui!”

Spell doesn’t work it seems and the kids laugh at him believing in magic at his age. The Phantom arrives and Shunpei runs. He goes back for the little boy who trips, again. Haruto arrives just as the Phantom is about to attack.

The little boy runs off but Shunpei sees Haruto henshin and fight Hellhound.

Hellhound disappears and Shunpei excitedly approaches Haruto. He introduces himself and asks to be his apprentice. Haruto says being a mage can’t be taught and hurries away, but Shunpei follows him.

Haruto tries to lose him and ends up at his favorite donut truck where we meet the gay owner and his employee/assistant. But Shunpei finds him and hugs him.

He tells Haruto all about how “Chichin Pui Pui!” was what his favorite storybook wizard would use and since then has wanted to become a wizard himself to help save people. When he grew up, he was disappointed to learn magic didn’t exist… until today.

Rinko shows up at the antique shop. Koyomi tells her Haruto isn’t here. Rinko tells her how much she envies Haruto being a wizard and wishes she was one too. “Don’t say that around Haruto,” Koyomi says.

Haruto tells Shunpei that being a wizard isn’t all fun and games and that only he needs to be one.

Koyomi proceeds to explain to Rinko how she and Haruto were kidnapped as Gates six months ago during the solar eclipse to be used in the ritual to create Phantoms. Most people died, but Haruto managed to control the despair and the Phantom inside of him. After the eclipse, a white wizard appeared, carrying an unconscious Koyomi. The white wizard says Haruto has earned the right to be a mage for being able to “survive and not lose hope.”

The white wizard hands Haruto the Wizardriver and tells him that defeating the Phantoms is his only path.

Koyomi says she lost her memory and Haruto became a wizard with the resolve to not let anyone go through what they did. Which is why Rinko shouldn’t be going around wishing to be a mage so freely. She understands.

Shunpei goes to the library to find his favorite book, “The Forest Magic.” He remembers how he’d read and memorize the book everyday. He decides if Haruto won’t teach him, he’ll learn himself. As he leaves the library, Hellhound follows him out now accompanied by Ghouls. Turns out Shunpei was the Gate and not the kid.

Rinko sees Haruto just as he runs off towards the people’s screams.

A Ghoul backs Shunpei up against a tree. Instinctively, he calls out “Chichin Pui Pui!” and suddenly flames shoot out of his finger, pushing the Ghoul back. Haruto arrives, tells Shunpei to run and henshins.

He fights the Ghouls, but Shunpei is frozen in shock at what just happened. A Ghoul sets its sights on Shunpei and Rinko knocks him out of the way before being attacked. He wakes up and runs away.

Haruto asks Rinko, “sticking your nose in again? You never learn.”

She replies, “Even if I’m not a mage, I want to protect others just as much as you do.”
“I see.”

Haruto finishes off the Ghouls and then follows Hellhound on his bike. They have a high speed chase on a busy road until Hellhound blows up at a nearby warehouse.

Shunpei stops under an overpass and thinks about what’s just happened. He can do magic too.

Episode Thoughts
Definitely a world building episode. A big chunk of backstory and the introduction of more characters slowed things down a bit (in a good way) from the very full first episode.

What’s interesting about the episode though was the comedy. Definitely not what I was expecting based off of the premiere as well as the impression that Toei wants to get back to basics with Wizard after the apparently “experimental” season that was Fourze. There was a lot more overt comedy in this episode than in most of Fourze which was a series that fully embraced the campy nature that came with a high school setting and the use of high school stereotypes.

Shunpei was definitely the biggest source of the comedy with more lighthearted moments at the antique shop and the donut truck owner and his worker.

So far Haruto’s character is toeing the line between happy-go-lucky donut-loving free spirit and “I’m too cool for you”/”I have swag” which is kinda weird yet very interesting. Koyomi has the same problem? as well. I’m not sure if she’s supposed to be a Princess-y Ahim (Gokaiger) type or be detached and emotionless. I guess the latter more since she said she lost her memory, but I can’t get a good feel for her yet.

Rinko’s character is the most clear cut, I think. And Shunpei’s the kind of guy who’s innocent dream can turn into something far darker in an “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” kind of way. But we’ll see where they take him.

Good episode all around though.

5 thoughts on “Recap: Kamen Rider Wizard, Episode 2 – I Want to Be a Wizard

  1. Nice recap of the episode. I agree with pretty much all of it… which is really saying something 😀
    Although I think they over did it with Shunpei’s clumsiness. And I wish they would have stayed with the more darker aspect of magic that they introduced here.

      1. Depends which episodes you mean, the one with the big battle or the ones inside that parallel universe.
        Although even the big battle had its good moments, the big problem with those episodes for me were:
        1) The new info we got for the white mage and Koyomi
        2) The three new mages
        3) Kousuke and Chimera
        But I will get to that once I have caught up to that in your recaps. I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers.

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