A Holiday Surprise - Kamen Rider episode 39 - The Christmas Special!

Kamen Rider episode 39:
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A holiday gift for all of our fellow Friends of Justice!

Ah, Christmas specials.  No matter what holidays you celebrate, there's always something fun about a good Christmas episode. And this one has all of the classic tropes.  Teamwork, heroes saving an orphanage, granting the wish of a child, a toxic virus that turns people into wolves, and the death of a major character.

Oh, wait...

That's right.  For a special out-of-order Holiday Celebration release, we're bringing you Kamen Rider episode 39.  Also known as the Christmas Episode!  And it sure packs a punch for a Christmas episode... but be warned, there are spoilers abound!  If you're set on watching the series in order, then consider this fair warning.  Everything after the cut will discuss spoilers.  But if you're in the Christmas spirit, and you want a good old fashion superhero Holiday special, then feel free to proceed!
So, this episode marks the end of Colonel Zol.  As many of you know, I am quite fond of larger than life, scenery chewing, militaristic madmen.  It's my thing.  And just like when General Monster died, it's sad to see Colonel Zol go.  Sadder, even.  He's the one that started the trend.

This week's trivia bomb is about Colonel Zol's actor, Jiro Miyaguchi.
Unfortunately, Mr. Miyaguchi is no longer with us.  He passed away in 1995, leaving a long list of TV credits to his name.  He was a well trained actor of stage and screen, and he made a name for himself with Kamen Rider.  A biography about him and his career said that the roll of Kamen Rider was the thing that saved his acting career, despite all of his training.
And he was quite proud of that roll.  In a story recounted to us by our Trivia Pal JeffB, Miyaguchi is aid to have been kicked after a stage show, but a child that was enraged at the villain of Kamen Rider.  Upon telling the story, Miyaguchi stated "As a villain actor, I'm very proud to be kicked by a kid. I hope that kid grows up keeping justice in mind"
When asked about his fame, specifically coming from the roll of a villain in a children's TV show as opposed to all of his other work, Miyaguchi stated "It is an odd feeling considering that I played a villain.  It may seem strange to say about such an evil character, but I cherish that time."

Years later, in 2008's Kamen Rider Kiva, a character that could turn into a wolf was named Jiro, in reference to Colonel Zol and Jiro Miyaguchi.  They even worked in a pun, the Ro in Jiro is read as the same character for Wolf!

Actually, forget everything that I just wrote.  Go read Igadevil's far superior article.  I can't even hold a candle to his writing on our defenders of cyborg justice.


On to some technical things for this episode, you'll see right away that we've spruced up the fonts.  Nothing gaudy, I promise.  Just a more polished look than we've been used to.  We've also played around with some typesetting, and tightened up our timing.  Hopefully it pays off, and as always your input is appreciated.  Big thanks to Scissors Jaguar, who had the bug for some new fonts while he was timing these next few episodes.  And to Ignis for helping us with some technical issues.
And big ups to Kilowog for helping me QC at the eleventh hour.  I really appreciate it, guys.
And as always major thanks to the one-two punch team of Sky79 and HeatMetal for their translation prowess.  You guys are the best there is at what you do.

And that's it for now.  Next time we go back to our regularly scheduled release of episode 34, and continue from there.  All building up to that awesome reveal that gets teased in this week's next episode preview...
We hope you enjoy!  Happy Holidays, everyone!