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Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Den-O
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04-07-2021, 11:35 PM
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Kamen Rider Die
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,153
KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 41 - "CANDY SCANDAL”
I liked this episode. I'm not really sure how to explain why, though.
I mean, it's incredibly charming. The overall story is about how to protect your friends emotionally and physically, and that's a fun storyline for a show so drenched in hilarious relationships. Mixing Ryotaro's Den-O training with Deneb's attempts to build a world of People Who Get Along With Yuuto, that makes for a well-choreographed and dynamic episode.
Spinning it all off of the devastating Zero Form two-parter is a smart move, leavening the apocalyptic trauma of the last story with quirky stagings and ridiculous exposition. (The entire Here's What Zero Form Is Doing scene, along with a broad restatement of Ryotaro's commitment to reuniting Sakurai and Airi, takes place as Yuuto and Ryotaro
are enjoying the entirety of a theme park
.) There's a whimsy to this story that kicks off with that slapstick street robbery of the intro and never lets up. I can't think of a single scene that isn't shot through with charm and energy.
The main thing, though... this is a Deneb story? It feels like it's going to be a Yuuto story. It feels like it
has
to be a Yuuto story. But then Yuuto can't be bothered to express any real feelings about the last story to anyone who cares about him. There's only so supportive that Ryotaro can be when Yuuto is going to do whatever the hell he wants, and there's only so much hand-wringing Deneb can do for a young man intent on Not Making Any Friends. So it's up to Deneb to correct the situation on his own.
The first amazing idea this story has is for Deneb to go around Japan at night and beg people to Please Get Along With Yuuto while he's in Yuuto's body. Forcing Yuuto to hand out candy to drunkards and bystanders in the hopes that one of them will remember Yuuto enough to help him persevere as Zeronos?
Aces
. Love it. Such a fun pivot from the heartbreaking melodrama with Airi. Taking Deneb's embarrassing attempts to create connections for Yuuto and turn it into maybe the thing that'll save Yuuto's life,
to make friendship a literal lifeline
... yeah, that's an episode I'm going to enjoy.
The second amazing idea is to have the IOTW plot be that some random girl got a crush on Deneb.
Like, yes. Who in the world could be a better boyfriend than Deneb?
He literally shits candy
. You add in the cooking, the limitless emotional support, the Reassuring Shoulder Guns, the unparalleled optimism... like, of course Shouko immediately crushed hard on him.
Of course
.
Shouko as a character doesn't really come across too clearly in this one, unfortunately. There's a secret in her past (a hospital stay?) that'll probably clear up some of why she's so thrilled with haircuts and new outfits and adorable late-night meet-cutes to a degree that is suspect. But even without that, she's so much fun to watch in this episode. The way her smile never seems to abate, despite something in the back of her mind that she'd rather move on from, it honestly kept
me
smiling whenever she ways onscreen. It's just cute, all of her stuff with Deneb. Them bowing to each other in succession because they're so excited to be having this fun moment.
Adorable
. Adorable for miles and miles.
Although, definitely don't think this is a story about Deneb falling in love or anything. Maybe, but it doesn't feel like it. It
feels
like a story where Deneb is leaning into a possible new woman who'll remember Yuuto, but probably at the (accidental) expense of that woman's feelings. Deneb is in one story (Trying To Save Yuuto) and Shouko is in another (Trying To Smooch Yuuto). This doesn't feel like one that's going to work out great for everyone.
I do love how much Shouko's into this doomed romance, though. Her reactions are big, but they're Teen Romance big. Showing up way too early for a date, screaming her excitement into a pillow, being unable to articulate a wish to an imagination monster from the end of time because she's already getting everything she ever wanted. It's all so
thrilling
, just going on that journey with her. I'm sure the next episode is going to be full of some hard truths and tearful send-offs, but this was an enormously pleasant episode of sweetness. Which is I guess appropriate for a Deneb spotlight story?
THE BAGGAGE CAR
-There's a new opening sequence to go with the new theme music, and I also hate
that?
It's now replaced about two-thirds of the normal footage (all the Hana stuff, most of the Airi stuff, Zeronos) with clips from the upcoming episode. I absolutely loathe getting most of the episode shot at me in a context-free rush. Hate that experience more than I've ever loved anything on this show. Skipping the opening credits starting with the next episode.
-Not a ton for Ryotaro to do in this episode, besides interrogate Yuuto enough to dot i's and cross t's from the last story. (To recap: Yuuto's Zero Form burns up other people's memories of Yuuto in the present, as opposed to memories of Sakurai in the past. If I'm getting that right? It sounds like any memories Yuuto makes with people are now up for grabs.) Still, the training bit with the other Imagin is brilliantly choreographed, and I
for sure
cheered when Ryotaro caught Momo's sword strike in his hands. Typical for this episode, it was an inventively shot way to roll out a bunch of exposition regarding Sakurai.
-Only one brief Kai scene, but he still manages to express ennui while somersaulting off a landing onto some boxes.
This guy!
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Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 09-18-2023 at
09:34 PM
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