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05-21-2020, 06:36 AM | #271 |
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And that’s a lot of what made this episode a solid-if-unexceptional one, the feeling of things ramping up, almost getting to the good part. What’s in the episode is still entertaining, but it’s a more subdued, tense version of what Faiz usually does in a more bombastic way. It’s a little less of what I’m looking for in Faiz, but I still had a good time with it.
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05-21-2020, 06:45 AM | #272 |
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Since I’ve held off long enough, I’ll share my two cents on Kusaka. Heaven emphasis on “two”.
He’s a pretty good idea (that the wrong kind of person can still be considered a hero), but the execution… jury’s out on how that went. As for whether he’s well written… he’s certainly handled better than the likes of Accel, Birth and Meteor, who the writers were practically snoring their way through by the end. |
05-21-2020, 10:10 AM | #273 |
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I’m, obviously, way more of a fan of Takumi losing his goddamn mind over Kusaka for no logical reason other than Takumi's regrettable psychology, but what’s here definitely has more meat on the bone. It’s becoming clear that Kusaka’s altruism and decency is a little bit exaggerated, and his methods of avoiding questions he can’t answer are huge warning signs for Takumi. It’s funny if Takumi’s mad at a dude that’s better at him, but it’s way more dramatically interesting if that hatred starts to make Kusaka’s mask drop, the suspicions that Takumi won’t keep secret dissolving Kusaka’s veneer of respectability.
I just went back and rewatched the episode for the Takumi vs. Kusaka scene in particular, and can't decide whether my favorite scene would be that living room scene, the Takumi: Ironing Ace sequence, or the Kusaka "Shit He Saw Through Me" scene, but I adore this small interaction before all that: Kusaka: whoa it's your home, Mari? Mari: yea, let's come inside Takumi: hey, it's actually Keitaro's! Mari: *pulled off a split second, perfect, fuck-you-Takumi face* |
05-21-2020, 10:32 AM | #274 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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Excuse you, I have never had an 'insight' of any kind! Also wow, I remember how fun it was to see Takumi and Kusaka drive each other up the wall in such a specific way in this episode. Takumi's incredibly petty but in this case, it's exactly what is needed to crack Kusaka's oh-so-perfect shell.
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I have some early thoughts about Kusaka, but I'm going to save them until you get to know him a little better. I'll just say for now that he is, hands down, the Toshiki Inoue-est character on the show by far.
And speaking of Inoue, we got one of his major go-to story beats this time around: a fight ending when somebody gets knocked into water. Two times in a row, no less. But we'd also get Faiz Trinity, where he does a finish with his punch AND his kick AND the Phone Gun, so it's a bit of trade off. Quote:
Terra, I guess? It's tough to say without knowing his whole deal. Quote:
Since I’ve held off long enough, I’ll share my two cents on Kusaka. Heaven emphasis on “two”.
He’s a pretty good idea (that the wrong kind of person can still be considered a hero), but the execution… jury’s out on how that went. As for whether he’s well written… he’s certainly handled better than the likes of Accel, Birth and Meteor, who the writers were practically snoring their way through by the end. Quote:
I mean, they don't have to be mutually exclusive, Takumi can still be a petty insecure little shit and totally right about Kusaka (you can even argue that the latter is more of a confirmation bias that happened to be true rather than actual objective reasoning on his part ). In that sense, it kinda reminded me of the Dexter show (when it's actually good), where Kusaka is like the Dexter to Takumi's Doakes.
I just went back and rewatched the episode for the Takumi vs. Kusaka scene in particular, and can't decide whether my favorite scene would be that living room scene, the Takumi: Ironing Ace sequence, or the Kusaka "Shit He Saw Through Me" scene, but I adore this small interaction before all that: Kusaka: whoa it's your home, Mari? Mari: yea, let's come inside Takumi: hey, it's actually Keitaro's! Mari: *pulled off a split second, perfect, fuck-you-Takumi face* I think the thing with the incompatibility of Takumi being irrational with Takumi actually being right, it's all in how Takumi needs to act. When he's just being a dick for no reason, it's that shot of Kusaka reaching out his hand and Takumi slowly turning his head away, acting like he doesn't see the hand in front of his face. It's impotent rage, more embarrassing for Takumi than it is for Kusaka, and so goddamn funny. But if Takumi's right, then he needs to forcefully confront Kusaka with real accusations, actual concerns, and that's all drama rather than comedy.
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05-21-2020, 01:29 PM | #275 |
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I mean, first of all, Fish Sandwich finished his Kuuga rewatch, and holy shit. If you’ve suddenly got some free time because of the Zero-One hiatus, or, uh, the world, I would queue up the recently re-subbed Kuuga on TokuSHOUTsu and use Fish’s thread as a guide to one of the most celebrated Kamen Rider series.
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The big lure for this episode is more Kusaka, and it’s got a nice sense of tension to it. Kusaka’s quickly winning over the rest of Team Faiz, getting invited to live with them due to Keitaro’s fan tendencies and Mari’s rarely stated but common-sense policy of Yes The Tall Handsome Athlete Who Carries Around A Photo Of Me Can Stay The Night. Takumi, however, upgrades his irrational hatred of Kusaka to very rational distrust.
His infamy truly isn't known yet here, both to audience AND the people in-universe I guess. Oh, except for Kusaka being sardonic to Takumi, but yeah Takumi's the one who started it here. Oh wel, right now you did agree more on Takumi's hostility to him that Kusaka's suspicious, which would indicate you also feel the same for him, even if he's presented like you said, as exaggeratingly alturistic and heroic. Your observation for Takumi before has come true too here, where Takumi said in the car that he can't do anything, or at least compared to Kusaka. Keitaro wanted to console him with his good traits but... ah well we didn't really get to hear it. It may help some insecure viewers too! Quote:
Speaking of Orphnochs, I should be more patient I think, Mr. J's revival iprocess is shown here. And Mr. J's ability (forming swords) and finishing attack is now shown in this episode. And the power Orphnochs can use in human form, are they independent to their monster forms? They can fire blue energy balls as humans, but they should probably be effective too for long ranged attacks as Orphnochs. The Kaido/Mari scene... Kaido just fell into a simple bluff, aka doing what daily drivers/riders (not Kamen Rider! but those who rides a motorcycle) do in streets, going forward when the traffic light is green. It's like teaching a new driver/rider about traffic lights! |
05-21-2020, 03:28 PM | #276 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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And yeah Yuka did kill some humans, bad ones... but why Takuma still attacked Yuji? He also killed bad humans too. So the conclusion from Yuka is, you CAN safely be a superhero as an Orphnoch, if you stop evil humans by killing them. Yuji's next line to Yuka, I mean, Yuka's not to different from Yuji anyway, she only punishes bad people with her power and also wants to use her powers for good.
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05-21-2020, 04:05 PM | #277 |
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05-21-2020, 04:44 PM | #278 |
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They're two young adults who have romantic feelings for one another based on a shared history and physical attraction.
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05-21-2020, 05:26 PM | #279 |
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I think him claiming sarcasm kind-of is him doubling down on the insult, though? He's embarrassed in front of Kusaka again, and then Kusaka chastises him for being a smart aleck. Claiming sarcasm is a kind of asshole aikido, where you try and turn the the victim's (warranted!) offense against them. By writing off his insult as sarcasm, he gets to insult Kusaka AND try to make him the dope for getting upset about it.
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If only Takumi had challenged him to an insult battle instead of fencing!
Also thank you so much for plugging my thread twice. That's way too kind of you.
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05-21-2020, 07:45 PM | #280 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Probably the one thing Takkun could beat Kusaka at right now. Their dynamic in these episodes is super fun, by the way. Going back to that "subversive Rider show" point, the idea of Kaixa just straight up bowing out of a fight to leave Takumi to fend for himself is hilarious. They aren't in the dark about each other's identities like Agito, and they aren't destined to fight like everyone in Ryuki. It's two Riders who have no reason NOT to be working together, but they just hate each other that much.
It's my pleasure! You did an amazing job!
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