I haven’t really kept up with Kamen Rider Double since very early on in its run; since October, I think it was. My excuse has been that it didn’t quite grab me, and that in general I have to be really into something to actually put in the time and effort to follow it week by week. That it’s not that I don’t like Double, I just don’t love it that much, and I’d just catch up at some point.

Anyway, I watched this week’s episode because I heard Kawai Ryunosuke was guest starring and Kawai is one of those guys that will make me watch random eps of stuff I don’t follow, completely out of context, just because I like the guy and want to see what he’s up to. So I watched this episode even though I only have the vaguest idea what’s going on in Double.

And it reminded me exactly of why it was that I actually stopped watching.

The thing that I’d forgotten is, in many ways, I actually loved the show. I got a huge kick out of Kiriyama Renn’s Shotaro, and I found Philip really interesting. Visually, I love the look of the show. I found the private eye parody angle a lot of fun. And I think the suit itself is gorgeous (not sold on the Cyclone Joker Extreme, though, I’ll admit). There are so many things about Double I really enjoy. But there’s also one thing about Double that annoys me so much that I can’t focus on everything I like about the show, and that’s Akiko. I don’t find her cute, and I certainly don’t find her funny, and the thing is that she’s not the sort of character that I can just ignore because she commands so much attention.

But I’m going to find a way to ignore her if I’m ever going to actually watch Double, which I do want to do at some point, because like I said, except for that one little detail, I actually really enjoy it.

Oh, here, have some Kawai…