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03-15-2024, 09:05 PM | #411 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 41 - “J’S LABYRINTH - A BIZARRE VILLAINESS”
Kind of amazing to decide to do a Jinno episode this close to the finale, you know? He’s a character that’s maybe been on the show less than Kirihiko, who was murdered twenty-odd episodes ago. (Even the opening of this one, the reveal that Jinno’s not with Makura and Terui because he’s in jail… like, I just assumed this was another episode where Jinno just wasn’t around.) He served a purpose back in the first Act of the show, but lost all narrative purpose once Terui took over the Fuuto P.D. side of things. He was sort of just the other cop that needed to get knocked out before someone could Henshin, but he was the least annoying one. (Makura is in rare/irritating form for this one.) To center a story on him now? It’s an interesting choice. My main problem with the story here, the one that’s nominally about Jinno’s value to both Shotaro and the TV show, is that they’ve turned Jinno into a well-meaning buffoon, and that was never his deal back in the early part of the show. He was a little lazy, and not super up on all the various superheroic goings-on in his city, but he wasn’t gullible. He was willing to investigate something, and gather clues, and use them to do his job to the best of his ability – but he was also good with letting Shotaro do all that, and just take the credit for it at the end. I don’t think it’s a great look to say this guy worked his way up the ranks by believing everything he was told, but in a way where ne’er-do-wells took pity on him? It’s pathetic, and I don’t think it’s the most fun way to bring back a character who served a legitimate role in the story at the beginning. Aside from that, this one’s very much a Shotaro adventure (guest-starring Akiko), because Philip is completely sidelined by Wakana’s upgraded ability to basically haunt him. Beyond crippling him with anxiety and fear, she also takes the Gaia Library’s safety and utility from him, so it’s full-on Withdrawn Philip this episode. That leaves Shotaro to investigate a frame-job involving a femme fatale and preyed-upon models, which… I mean, yeah, that definitely reads like a Shotaro adventure to me. It’s a decent enough adventure, even if it treats the semi-convoluted backstories of Jinno, Uesugi, Rui, and Satoru as more thrilling than they really are. Like, there are a LOT of flashbacks in this episode, and it had me resenting the schoolyard love triangle characters more than I probably should’ve. (Honestly, there are maybe just two flashbacks in this episode, but it felt like ten.) It doesn’t help that the fights between the Jewel Dopant and Double are just Double’s every attack not working. It’s nice to see Philip and Shotaro try different combinations, but the second Jewel/Double fight was a little boring, for how you knew nothing was going to work, but the characters had to go through the motions anyway. I thought this was a weirdly underwhelming episode, despite Jinno Is Framed By A Femme Fatale being exactly the sort of story that this show should be able to knock out of the park by Episode 41. Between Rui being too one-note to invest in, the schoolyard love triangle being an expository flashback, and Jinno retroactively being a gullible dork, there was precious little in this one for me to hold onto. We’ll see if any twists in the second part elevate the story! — DIE-A MEMORIES -I would’ve bet you a giant diamond that this episode’s leggy assassin-led assault on a model-only nightclub was a Sakamoto episode, but no! Ishida, which also makes a lot of sense. He did what he could with those flashbacks, but even he couldn’t make them interesting. I enjoyed the red lighting, though. Powerful imagery. -But… why did they use “Nobody’s Perfect” over a montage of Akiko and Shotaro canvasing the city? That’s the song you play just before a battle when Shotaro’s doing something half-boiled, or overcoming his flaws – not when he’s doing basic detective work just after the opening credits.
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03-15-2024, 09:21 PM | #412 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,433
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I do not remember this episode. At all. Normally, I watch one of these episodes that I don't remember very well and bits and pieces of it come back to me but this time? Nada.
Cool to see a Jinno episode but Makura can absolutely fuck right off. Never liked the guy much but the way he acted towards his longtime workplace proximity associate without even bothering to check on his account? To hell with this guy. Quote:
-I would?ve bet you a giant diamond that this episode?s leggy assassin-led assault on a model-only nightclub was a Sakamoto episode, but no! Ishida, which also makes a lot of sense. He did what he could with those flashbacks, but even he couldn?t make them interesting. I enjoyed the red lighting, though. Powerful imagery.
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03-15-2024, 10:03 PM | #413 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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I think I've remembered maybe three stories in this entire series. I can remember vibes just fine, but the actual story mechanics? Nothing. Every single one of these mysteries is a surprise to me when they start.
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03-16-2024, 12:18 PM | #414 |
Standing By
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Location: USA
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 41 - ?J?S LABYRINTH - A BIZARRE VILLAINESS?
Aside from that, this one?s very much a Shotaro adventure (guest-starring Akiko), because Philip is completely sidelined by Wakana?s upgraded ability to basically haunt him. Beyond crippling him with anxiety and fear, she also takes the Gaia Library?s safety and utility from him, so it?s full-on Withdrawn Philip this episode. That leaves Shotaro to investigate a frame-job involving a femme fatale and preyed-upon models, which? I mean, yeah, that definitely reads like a Shotaro adventure to me. Quote:
-I would?ve bet you a giant diamond that this episode?s leggy assassin-led assault on a model-only nightclub was a Sakamoto episode, but no! Ishida, which also makes a lot of sense. He did what he could with those flashbacks, but even he couldn?t make them interesting. I enjoyed the red lighting, though. Powerful imagery.
Agreed. Makura's a coward who'll only talk trash when Jinno's behind bars.
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03-16-2024, 12:34 PM | #415 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Wakana invading the Gaia Library feels like something out of a horror game. It takes a place that has always been safe and reliable for Phillip and suddenly makes it dangerous and forces him to judge whether or not the intel that Team Double need for the case is worth him risking his life to obtain. While I can't dispute that Wakana is more plot device than character, she's a spooky plot device for sure!
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03-16-2024, 05:11 PM | #416 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 42 - “J’S LABYRINTH - A DAMAGED DIAMOND”
I think the problem for me with this two-parter’s Dopant Dilemma (kicking myself that it took me two months to come up with that) is that there’s just too much of it. W’s a show that kind of needs more room to stretch out, to let Philip, Shotaro, and Akiko really get their teeth into a problem. This is a hangout show, and there’s no room to really hangout with them in this one. There’s just so much to go over with Rui and Uesugi, which at times leads to them shouting their constantly-shifting backstory at one another for the audience’s sake. It’s all classic noir tropes – the criminal is secretly the victim, the kind-hearted friend is secretly the criminal, and all narrators are unreliable – but there’s a density to them that crowds out the places where Shotaro might make the connections for the audience. He has his moments, but too much of the show gets turned over to characters like Jinno and Rui explaining the past, and its significance, rather than letting the atmosphere build around the actions of the heroes. (It sincerely does not help that so much of this story is beholden to the elaborate backstory of characters we've never met before, and will never see again.) It’s a good story, by the end, but it’s one that Team Double isn’t much of an active participant in. And, like, that’s sort of it for me and this one? Everything I said last time carries over to this one, without a really killer fight to save things. (There’s a flaw in the diamond!) Your ability to enjoy the actions of a schoolyard love triangle to a greater degree than your enjoyment of Team Double breaking a story will determine how excited you were by this one. I didn’t hate it, but it was just too crowded for me to care about. Not mad, just bored. — DIE-A MEMORIES -I really dig the summer feel of this story, if nothing else. (The direction is still impeccable, as well.) The quick showers, the boat ride, the constant sunsets… just a real great feeling of heat and breeze in this story. -Not a huge fan of this one, obviously, but the stuff with Philip and Wakana was real fun? I love how Philip puzzles out a way to get what he needs from Wakana’s grasp by being weaker. That’s such a fun little twist using established information, and I love it. -So, Uesugi thought he got away with his crimes by framing Rui and killing her… but then he planned to go to another city and start committing the same crimes? With no patsy to take the fall? What?
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03-16-2024, 05:56 PM | #417 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,607
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I forgot that these were the episodes that just ended on a random Yeti showing up with Akiko and Shotaro screaming in terror.
Makura was especially annoying in this one, though admittedly the episode took every chance it had to take the wind out of his sails so I'd say it balanced out slightly. I also appreciate this story for trying to spotlight Jinno after he kind of just blended into the background for a while. I also do like how Shotaro is genuinely on the dude's side so it helps when it comes to Makura's egging on of the situation. Okay, I must have remembered the Wakana stuff from this episode and not when she turned. Because I thought Museum still needed Philip, so her going "I want to kill you" when she became a full villain during Hopper was especially weird. Especially knowing what we know now about how Philip is needed in the grand scheme of things. The scenes had a great tense nature to them, especially when it takes place in the most familiar and safest place we've come to know. Philip's solution to the problem is also really clever, and I do like how he basically pushes Wakana to where her ego basically trips her up entirely during that last confrontation. As for the episode plot itself, I didn't mind it too much? I had forgotten most of it so I was unsure of who exactly the Jewel Dopant was. Like once they hit you with the "transformation" in part 1 it definitely feels a bit obvious. But I was wondering if the missing third friend was going to play a part and actually still be alive and the Dopant. That being said man, it's been a while since I've seen a Kamen Rider fight on a boat, that's a pretty rare case (I remember one in Kuuga). Actually come to think of it... have we had any boat fights since W? |
03-16-2024, 06:24 PM | #418 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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I assume that they stopped doing boat stories later in Heisei (and into Reiwa) because they're probably hideously expensive, while also being technically challenging. Uesugi needed most of his final dialogue to be dubbed in for Episode 42, because it looks like the winds really picked up. Probably not worth the hassle.
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03-16-2024, 07:45 PM | #419 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,433
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I definitely remember this story now. Primarily because I just watched it again. My big takeaway from this is that I really don't recall any of W's endgame apart from the really big moments.
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The Ouja stuff in Ryuki is the main story I think of for Kamen Riders on boats. That one really took advantage of the isolation to tell a pretty good story. There's also, like, eight million flashbacks in Agito!
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03-16-2024, 07:57 PM | #420 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
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Quote:
KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 41 - “J’S LABYRINTH - A BIZARRE VILLAINESS”
He’s a character that’s maybe been on the show less than Kirihiko, who was murdered twenty-odd episodes ago. (Even the opening of this one, the reveal that Jinno’s not with Makura and Terui because he’s in jail… like, I just assumed this was another episode where Jinno just wasn’t around.) He served a purpose back in the first Act of the show, but lost all narrative purpose once Terui took over the Fuuto P.D. side of things. He was sort of just the other cop that needed to get knocked out before someone could Henshin, but he was the least annoying one. (Makura is in rare/irritating form for this one.) To center a story on him now? It’s an interesting choice. Quote:
My main problem with the story here, the one that’s nominally about Jinno’s value to both Shotaro and the TV show, is that they’ve turned Jinno into a well-meaning buffoon, and that was never his deal back in the early part of the show. He was a little lazy, and not super up on all the various superheroic goings-on in his city, but he wasn’t gullible. He was willing to investigate something, and gather clues, and use them to do his job to the best of his ability – but he was also good with letting Shotaro do all that, and just take the credit for it at the end. I don’t think it’s a great look to say this guy worked his way up the ranks by believing everything he was told, but in a way where ne’er-do-wells took pity on him? It’s pathetic, and I don’t think it’s the most fun way to bring back a character who served a legitimate role in the story at the beginning.
Quote:
Aside from that, this one’s very much a Shotaro adventure (guest-starring Akiko), because Philip is completely sidelined by Wakana’s upgraded ability to basically haunt him. Beyond crippling him with anxiety and fear, she also takes the Gaia Library’s safety and utility from him, so it’s full-on Withdrawn Philip this episode. That leaves Shotaro to investigate a frame-job involving a femme fatale and preyed-upon models, which… I mean, yeah, that definitely reads like a Shotaro adventure to me.
Quote:
It’s a decent enough adventure, even if it treats the semi-convoluted backstories of Jinno, Uesugi, Rui, and Satoru as more thrilling than they really are. Like, there are a LOT of flashbacks in this episode, and it had me resenting the schoolyard love triangle characters more than I probably should’ve. (Honestly, there are maybe just two flashbacks in this episode, but it felt like ten.) It doesn’t help that the fights between the Jewel Dopant and Double are just Double’s every attack not working. It’s nice to see Philip and Shotaro try different combinations, but the second Jewel/Double fight was a little boring, for how you knew nothing was going to work, but the characters had to go through the motions anyway.
Quote:
DIE-A MEMORIES
-I would’ve bet you a giant diamond that this episode’s leggy assassin-led assault on a model-only nightclub was a Sakamoto episode, but no! Ishida, which also makes a lot of sense. He did what he could with those flashbacks, but even he couldn’t make them interesting. I enjoyed the red lighting, though. Powerful imagery.
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