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04-15-2024, 02:21 PM | #651 |
I have a problematic type
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That was a fun arc: good little mystery with a few plot twists, some memorable characters, a couple of good action sequences, and a climax with just the right amount of batshit lunacy. I really like the whole premise around the Alcohol memory, it's something new that we didn't get to see on the original show and it did a good job of tying into both the Sonozakis and the new villains. Absolute banger of a three-parter and the kind of thing that makes me bummed out that there are only three more episodes and still no sign of any more to come.
Also, love all the talk about Extreme being the ultimate W while Gold Extreme is just hanging out in a corner, moping because it only gets to show up in movies. Quote:
And normally I'd be like "Okay I'll do a spoiler tagged review or something or a vague summary by reading the manga". The only people who have subbed Futo PI, Genm Corp, only ever got up to the second chapter of the 'p is a Devil' arc. And I don't plan on reading an incomplete arc so that concludes my fun little gimmick of mentioning manga differences.
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04-15-2024, 02:34 PM | #652 |
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So, here's my take on that: Xtreme is the ultimate Shotaro/Philip suit, while Gold Xtreme is the ultimate Shotaro/Philip/Fuuto suit. This story was all about Shotaro and Philip as the perfect team, so Xtreme is the apex suit for that premise; also, they weren't in Fuuto!
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04-15-2024, 09:10 PM | #653 |
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FUUTO P.I. EPISODE 10 - “SUPERHUMAN R - A PASSPORT TO SHADOW FUUTO”
And here we are, in the final story of Fuuto P.I. (Season 1, he said optimistically?) It’s clearly rushing through some backstory to create a way for Team Double to come into direct conflict with Shadow Fuuto. I spent about four seconds wondering if I’d somehow skipped an episode when Tokime and Shotaro commiserate over Tokime’s broken Memory being a Joker Memory, like Shotaro’s. It’s a huge piece of relevant information, but it’s given an In Media Res reveal that almost plays backwards to how you’d normally want a dramatic detail to be dropped on an audience. The characters have already digested it, so when they talk about it, it lacks an emotional payload, so they quickly flash back to when it had that emotional payload. Incredibly weird! The start of this case has the same weird cadence, where we’re constantly doubling back on dialogue scenes to provide missing context. It’s a slightly disorienting ramp up to the season’s conclusion, but it’s probably unavoidable when you can only tell four stories in a season. None of that really matters once Tokime’s abducted (maybe?) to Shadow Fuuto, as the tension ratchets up and never really dissipates. The search for Ritsuka’s grandfather takes a backseat to Tokime’s abduction and the machinations of Bando’s group, against the backdrop of Fuuto But Evil. I like Shadow Fuuto quite a bit as a source of menace. My favorite detail is all of the red HVAC units – wind, but artificial and monstrous. Can’t think of a better way to convey that something is the malignant opposite of Fuuto than that! The villain we get to go along with that, Reactor… he’s okay? It’s a fun design, but he’s a full-on henchman, so there’s not a lot of thematic insight his presence can provide. He works for Bando, but he’s not responsible for the schemes or the goals; he’s the power and the defense, not the brains. The fight is splashy, but sort of rote by now: Reactor is Way Too Powerful, and the Maximum Break Is Useless. It’s… I mean, it’s what I’d derisively term an Anime Fight Scene, but I don’t want to critique an entire medium with so little knowledge of it. It’s the kind of fight where I mostly tune out, because we’re another fight or two away from either a Double powerup, or a crucial flaw being observed in the villain. What we get now is just an opponent whose power is On Another Level than our heroes are used to, and that doesn’t mean a lot to me. I like fights where the villains are cunning, not just overpowered. Not crazy about this one, really. It’s rushing through an investigation to get us to Shadow Fuuto, and then Shadow Fuuto is just a fight against a guy who none of the normal attacks work on. It’s dangerous for our heroes, but it’s a kind of danger that doesn’t feel especially clever or compelling. I’m hoping that the next part creates a dilemma for our heroes that isn’t just some dude who can no-sell every attack.
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04-15-2024, 09:41 PM | #654 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,601
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I almost want to imagine part of the rushed feel is likely including things from the 'p is a Devil' arc that we skipped. Since I recall some people saying that some important stuff drops in that arc.
That said, the Reactor Dopant is fun for many reasons, mainly for bookendings but it's a fairly cool design as far as cool boss Dopants go. Anyway, to hammer in home that these Dopants are designed more for drawing/animation consumption instead of Tokusatsu, look no further than the original concept for Reactor, the Invention/Steam Dopant. The first Dopant drawn up before Magma, and not used due to the design being too hard to create a physical costume for. Eventually the Steam Dopant was adapted into the Reactor Dopant. And while this is far from away the final story for Futo PI, it is the last arc of this season. And what an arc/Dopant to end it on huh? A Dopant that was revised from the first Dopant design. |
04-15-2024, 09:50 PM | #655 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
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Quote:
The first Dopant drawn up before Magma, and not used due to the design being too hard to create a physical costume for. Eventually the Steam Dopant was adapted into the Reactor Dopant. And while this is far from away the final story for Futo PI, it is the last arc of this season. And what an arc/Dopant to end it on huh? A Dopant that was revised from the first Dopant design.
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04-16-2024, 04:55 AM | #656 |
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So here we are at the final arc, and we have another new writer in the form of Toshizo Nemoto, who was the showrunner for the concurrently airing Ultraman Decker.And we meet the other two villains from the OP, revealing that the little boy is Brachiosaurus and the Ahnold wannabe is Reactor. Speaking of whom.
Sentai-lert Nikaido is played by Kenji Nomura, who’s played a few villains in different Sentai shows, most notably Kobold in GoGoV, Debo Hyougakki in Kyoryuger, Barashitara in Zenkaiger and Aunja in Hurricaneger 20th. Within Rider, he was WrestlerG in Gotchard. And also… Rider-lert! The old man Team W is hired to rescue is voiced by Atsushi Ono, who was previously the voice of Kamen Rider Jam in Gaim’s epilogue episode (replacing the guy who played Kougane in the movie and episode 37). And also, we get a Joker Dopant Memory. I’ll discuss that when it’s slightly more focused on. |
04-16-2024, 09:11 AM | #657 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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04-16-2024, 03:44 PM | #658 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
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Dude reminds me of Umibozu from City Hunter but with hair.
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Last edited by Sunred; 04-16-2024 at 03:46 PM.. |
04-16-2024, 04:35 PM | #659 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,430
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I forgot that they revealed what Tokime's Memory was on the show. Back when we were watching A to Z I looked up whether or not there was ever a Joker Dopant, since it's the only one of the core six to not get a monster form in the movie. The search redirected me to the Tokime page and I thought "yeah, that makes sense."
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04-16-2024, 09:03 PM | #660 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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FUUTO P.I. EPISODE 11 - “SUPERHUMAN R - IN SEARCH OF A CONNECTION”
Kind of amazing to think that the penultimate episode of the season largely shrugs at the idea of explaining the purpose and/or goal of Shadow Fuuto, in favor of reinforcing the heroic dedication of Team Double in the face of baffling and overwhelming odds. I’m not sure it’s the wrong choice, even if I cannot begin to imagine how one (1) remaining episode will have enough room to adequately explain Bando’s objective, Tokime’s past, Shadow Fuuto’s significance, and probably a climactic battle. There’s still so much to do, in order to create the conditions for a resolution to this story, and so little time left to accomplish it. But, shit, the whole point of this story is that the only thing you can do sometimes, when things are at their most impossible-seeming, is to just get back to work. Maybe that’s all it really takes? It’s a nicely low-stakes alternative to mysterious portals and endless Dopant armies. I like that. I like that Shotaro sort of freezes up when confronted with everything going wrong, and just sort of prays that something good will happen. Akiko – my FAVORITE CHARACTER – knocks some sense into Shotaro, pointing out that nothing’s going to get solved without some actual deductive effort, so maybe he should start there. The crux of any detective story is the accumulation of clues, and the only hope Team Double has of turning things around is if they can keep trying to gather those clues. This isn’t a dumb luck team of headstrong adventurers (that would be OOO, next year), this is a team of seasoned investigators who keep sleuthing until they find the key detail that points to victory. They don’t hope for a solution, they go out and find it. That focus on shoe-leather and dedication makes for a weirdly optimistic middle chapter of this three-parter, considering we still don’t have much in the way of answers or actionable intelligence. (We find out that Road Dopants are building Shadow Fuuto for Bando, but that’s not really a data point that was haunting our heroes before now.) It’s nothing that drastically changes the odds for Shotaro and the gang, but there’s a sense that the pieces will fall into place as long as they keep working the problem. It’s a nice message, that you can always think your way through enough of a problem to make it manageable, with some help from other people. It takes all of Fuuto to help save Fuuto sometimes. A bit surprising, how little this episode worked toward a conclusion. The Brachiosaurus kid is a little creep, but he doesn’t impart any new information about Tokime. Bando never even shows up in this one outside of flashbacks. But it still manages to feel like the heroes are closer than ever to stopping the villains’ schemes, and all because they just worked together on the problem. Hard to dislike an episode like that.
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