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Thread
:
Fish Sandwich rewatches Kamen Rider Kuuga
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04-08-2020, 04:33 PM
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21
Fish Sandwich
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
EPISODE 3: "Tokyo"
This episode is all about slowing down and taking some time to flesh out the setting. I mean, it's
named
after a setting. And that's just what you get. New places and new faces, all enriching the world, and establishing things that will carry through the rest of the series.
It breaks down pretty cleanly into the three major backbones of Kuuga.
With Ichijou, there's a lot of emphasis in this one on digging into how the police are responding to the sudden rash of monster murders going on. The fact that Ichijou himself is Kuuga's partner was somewhat unusual, but this is the first time it becomes apparent just how crazy this show goes on the police procedural stuff. The idea of having everyday cops play a major and legitimate role in the plot wasn't just a novel concept at the time, it really still is today, and there's something to be said for how wonderfully the mundane blends with the fantastic here. The actual drama for this part of the episode is in watching Ichijou realize Kuuga is getting lumped in with the Grongi as something to be shot on sight, and his attempts to protect Yuusuke in response, but really it's just about seeing how all these people operate. Scrambling to figure out how to deal with the mess despite having no clear leads, watching VHS instruction tapes for their prototype motorcycles, and discussing matters in a boardroom while looking at blurry photos of monsters. It's a surreal atmosphere, and it holds your attention, not in spite of the low energy, but because of it.
Then there's the Grongi third of the episode, which pushes things in even crazier directions. There's a lot of deliberately jarring cinematography going on, as we're introduced to a whole batch of new Grongi who will take their turns in the spotlight as time goes on. We see them awkwardly beginning to blend into society, despite some hiccups, like one who doesn't
quite
get how currency works. I mean, I guess he had the basics down? You hold money in front of people and expect good things to happen. That's right, right? The Grongi are an unusual lot, is the point, and that comes across super clearly. Having them only speak in their own language at first was one of those decisions born out of Kuuga's desire for realism, but rather than make the show more dull and colorless, it's actually super entertaining in its own right. Don't get me wrong, villains who make grand speeches about conquering the world once a week are great too, but the way Kuuga just
goes
for it, and has scenes of these characters speaking actual, thought out dialogue based on their unique personalities and positions, entirely in a constructed language the staff actually took the time to have someone think out, it's awesome. It's fun guessing at what they're saying based on implication and body language. Makes them feel more human. Which is only right, because this episode also confirms their blood is nearly identical to that of humans. Huh. At any rate, Ichijou's plotline naturally crosses over with them when he goes out to investigate, and meets up with both Gooma again, as well as some lady with roses who he probably won't interact with that much.
Can't forget about Yuusuke, though. Appropriately for the laid-back guy he is, his chunk of the episode is largely conflict-free, with him exploring and meeting people as he catches up on what's going on around Tokyo. This is where his little sister Minori is introduced, and you can tell Yuusuke is really in his element just hanging out, entertaining kids at the preschool she teaches at. Just one more time Joe Odagiri's ability to juggle served him surprisingly well as an actor. His scenes in this episode do a great job balancing out the tone, and honestly, if the entire show was just Yuusuke running around climbing on stuff, I think I'd be okay with that. But then, this
is
a Kamen Rider show, so it shouldn't be any surprise he finds his way in on some action at the end. He even gets his first classic Rider rescue in there. Is that a good thing to call it? I'm talking about when there's a monster strangling somebody and the main Rider shows up, hits the monster to knock them away, and then the hapless civilian runs off, too terrified to be bother being grateful about not getting murdered. I feel like Heisei Kamen Rider went on to do this pattern a lot. There's also a cool spin on his transformation here, with him getting thrown onto some crates in-between doing his pose, and the armor actually forming. It's a cute way to take advantage of the rules the first couple episodes established. Where all this might start to get a little surprising, if you haven't been paying attention, is that by the end, Kuuga and the monster are in a full-blown standoff with a whole lot of cops who all have itchy trigger fingers. Only in Kuuga, people.
THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER
Just a quick sibling combo for this episode.
Total thumbs up count:
6+2 = 8
EPISODE 4: "Sprint"
This is one of my favorite Kamen Rider episodes ever. It's got everything. When "the main character gets shot at by cops" is only the
start
of the story, you know you've got something special. This episode is about a lot of things, but mostly, it's about
speed
.
So
much speed.
The basic idea here is that Zu-Mebio-Da (that's the leopard one!) runs fast as s***, and going into the episode, there's nothing anyone can do to stop her, which is bad news, since she got shot in the eye at the start, and is now going around murdering cops for revenge. Yuusuke tries his best, but he kinda lost his last bike in a church fire, and the police bike he, er, "borrows" proves to be less than up to the challenge. Especially once it's put up against the dreaded enemy of all motorcycles...
stairs
!
We're getting to the part of this episode I can't ever forget, but before that, I wanna talk about the part I did. The way this episode mixes that focused, exciting monster plot together with great development for our two leads' dynamic. We've seen Ichijou's relationship with Yuusuke be pretty frosty so far. Ichijou, this whole time, has seen Yuusuke as some dumb kid who needs protecting, the way any other civilian does. It doesn't help that their personalities seem so completely opposite. What we start to see here is how that's maybe only on the surface. Early on, Ichijou is recovering from the last episode, disregarding a lecture about how he has a bad habit of ignoring his well-being to go rushing off, to which he replies he's fine... right before wincing in pain from his broken ribs the second he's alone.
Later, Sakurako calls Ichijou in an effort to stop Yuusuke from getting in harm's way, saying he has much the same habit, which Ichijou clearly takes note of. The two end up in a squad car together, and the conversation they have marks a turning point in their relationship. Ichijou tries to tell Yuusuke he needs to take better care of himself, but this only causes Yuusuke to say that he wants to take care of the things that matter to him because that
is
taking care of himself, and that he imagines Ichijou feels the same way. Ichijou can't find the words to argue. With the body count piling up by the minute, he takes a good look at the note Yuusuke left him last episode reiterating that he plans to take this seriously now, and makes the decision to actively involve him in the Grongi cases. Love the direction on the moment too, with some great use of Kuuga's guitar motif as Ichijou ponders what to do.
The answer is obvious though. This is the fourth episode, and we've had Yuuske on a bike, and we've had Kuuga, but don't you think it's about time we have Kuuga on a bike? Ichijou sure thinks so, giving Yuusuke the super-duper awesome prototype police motorcycle, the one, the only, Try Chaser 2000. To her credit, Mebio is smart enough to try taking advantage of the dreaded staircase once more, but she failed to account for one thing:
stairs don't mean s*** to Kuuga now
.
This whole sequence is absolutely legendary, man. Just minute after minute of pure action. Considering how much of him you're going to be seeing, I think it's
very
important to take a second to give credit to Takumi Narita, the actual, legit motorcycle trial rider responsible for the insane stuntwork you see when Kuuga's on his bike. Getting someone to take the bike action to the next level like this is yet another display of how proud Kuuga was just to exist. Once Yuusuke hops on that thing, he only gets off it to ask a cop he saved if he's okay (good hero moment!), and then hops right back on to basically see how much stuff he can climb up and down without getting off. It's completely gratuitous, and I worship every second of it. Whoever found that building to film in picked a heck of a spot for stunts. Nobody ever put the "Rider" in "Kamen Rider" like Kuuga.
Again, to her credit, Mebio makes it a point to rip Kuuga off the bike as soon as she gets the chance, but it doesn't help too much. I mean, he was already pretty awesome without it. He takes her out with a slightly fancier weird kick move than the last time (and his right foot is still burning for some reason I'm sure doesn't matter), and the episode ends with some great payoffs, like the cop Kuuga saved earlier backing up Ichijou when he tells everyone not to shoot Kuuga, and of course, the very end, with Ichijou expressing his approval of a job well done by his new unofficial partner. This is some all-time classic stuff right here.
THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER
A respectable three thumbs up, elevated by two of them being from one of the series' most iconic scenes.
Total thumbs up count:
8+3 = 11
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Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 04-07-2023 at
05:30 AM
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