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03-29-2021, 01:30 AM | #541 |
I have a problematic type
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And now we have Kohana. This really shouldn't work nearly as well as it does, but replacing Shiratori with a child actually turned out surprisingly well. It helps that they got a good actress to play her, but honestly the show does a good job of justifying it as part of the time travel nonsense that forms its backbone. Kohana definitely brings a new dynamic to the show, but it feels less disruptive than it could have.
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03-29-2021, 02:58 AM | #542 |
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I’m in the camp that prefers the new Hana to the old one. A grown woman doing that stuff was so-so. A child doing it is hilarious (especially since the Den-O novel has Hana getting drunk). Though I’ll never understand why Bandai decided to devote 3 figurines to Den-O’s female characters (specifically, adult Hana, kid Hana and Naomi) in what is normally a Super Sentai line (one where the only Sentai series to have at least that many was Magiranger, which got 5).
Anyway, I also remember this episode for somebody’s reaction to it on Twitter (which is what got me to watch Den-O beyond the movies in the first place) Quote:
This girl is at university in the UK. Represented by her standing in front of a picture of Big Ben. With a sign* that demonstrates they** don’t understand how university works, at least in Britain.
Tetsu Inada Notable Anime roles: Ishibashi-sensei in Kanon, Mr. Izinski in Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, Ira Gamagoori in Kill la Kill, Muneshige Tachibana in Sengoku Basara: End of Judgement, Over Jsutice in Space Patrol Luluco, Hijikata Toshizō, Alexis Kerib in SSSS. Gridman, Wakkein in Mobile Suit Gundam, Notable Tokusatsu roles: B-Crusher Descorpion in B-Fighter Kabuto, Juma King Golmois in Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive: Sudden Shock! A New Warrior, Highness Duke Org Shuten in Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, Ultraman Cosmos in the Ultraman Cosmos movies, Doggie “Boss” Kruger in Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, Dark Faust in Ultraman Nexus, Hades God Ifrit in Mahou Sentai Magiranger, Strange Demon Robot Schwarian in Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider Ichigou from Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs Dai-Shocker onwards, Revol in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Homuras in Kyoryuger Brave, Gachireus in Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger, Mashin Hakobu in Mashin Sentai Kiramager. Notable video game roles: Elzam von Branstein in the Super Robot Wars series. Notable dubbing roles: Commander Cruger/Shadow Ranger in Power Rangers SPD, Daggeron/Solaris Knight and Magma in Power Rangers Mystic Force, Groundpounder in Transformers: Robots in Disguise, multiple characters in Transformers: Cyberverse, Prowler in Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse. *The sign says “The first class begins at 8:30. There will be a physics exam this week.” British universities at least don’t start earlier than 9 AM. And exams are usually announced weeks before they happen, not put them on a placard with no date affixed. **They presumably being either the writers, the set designers or both. |
03-29-2021, 08:18 AM | #543 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,115
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Same here. Matsumoto is sometimes compared unfavorably to Shiratori, but not as egregiously as the comparison between Mizoguchi and Sato. Kohana is still pretty popular on her own merit even though the actress is unfortunately retired last I heard. Honestly, I couldn't imagine Den-O without Kohana, considering how she appeared in a lot of the post-series content. Matsumoto is also the youngest actress to play the female lead. Unlike the actors of Kato Yakumo and Jin Masato who have identical kanji in their surnames, the second kanji in her surname is 元 which is different. Yay for different kanji readings!
Something else that is good about Kohana, as Die already mentioned, is her relevance to the dragging Zeronos memory subplot, which makes it just a little less boring to watch by actually showing a tangible and interesting consequence that isn't just Airi conveniently losing her memory due to weird time travel logic. Sakurai/Airi is an already established ship, but Yuto/Airi isn't, which makes it hard to get invested in the subplot, so throwing another character in to that in such a surprise plot twist is a good way to reroute the train on to a different more scenic rail, figuratively speaking.
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03-29-2021, 11:49 AM | #544 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
And now we have Kohana. This really shouldn't work nearly as well as it does, but replacing Shiratori with a child actually turned out surprisingly well. It helps that they got a good actress to play her, but honestly the show does a good job of justifying it as part of the time travel nonsense that forms its backbone. Kohana definitely brings a new dynamic to the show, but it feels less disruptive than it could have.
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Same here. Matsumoto is sometimes compared unfavorably to Shiratori, but not as egregiously as the comparison between Mizoguchi and Sato. Kohana is still pretty popular on her own merit even though the actress is unfortunately retired last I heard. Honestly, I couldn't imagine Den-O without Kohana, considering how she appeared in a lot of the post-series content. Matsumoto is also the youngest actress to play the female lead. Unlike the actors of Kato Yakumo and Jin Masato who have identical kanji in their surnames, the second kanji in her surname is 元 which is different. Yay for different kanji readings!
Quote:
Something else that is good about Kohana, as Die already mentioned, is her relevance to the dragging Zeronos memory subplot, which makes it just a little less boring to watch by actually showing a tangible and interesting consequence that isn't just Airi conveniently losing her memory due to weird time travel logic. Sakurai/Airi is an already established ship, but Yuto/Airi isn't, which makes it hard to get invested in the subplot, so throwing another character in to that in such a surprise plot twist is a good way to reroute the train on to a different more scenic rail, figuratively speaking.
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03-29-2021, 03:36 PM | #545 |
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Posts: 1,290
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Yeah, she's got her well-documented comedic role (which I like!), but I wouldn't hate it if the show let that character grow a bit. Poppy on Ex-Aid was a light-hearted character that added a touch of the ridiculous to some heavy stories... until she became the heavy story. I wouldn't be mad if Den-O went a similar(-ish) route with Naomi.
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THE BAGGAGE CAR
-Did that above section feel short? Well, that’s because the part that’s most worth discussing occurs halfway through the episode and lasts about two minutes. Like I said, it’s not a great episode for how it feels both overstuffed (Hana’s change, Yuuto’s epilogue, the IOTW plot, Ryotaro trying to explain to the younger/less-attentive viewers exactly what happened at the end of last episode) and also weirdly thin. The Piano Man stuff was fun to watch, but it sort of goes on a while. There’s what feels like a ton of restating of premises, and teases for future stories, and very little Present Tense storytelling. Quote:
-While we can’t get Zeronos in this one because his Zeronos cards are gone forever, irrevocably, no tapbacks, no continues, at least we get Deneb taking an active role in the current Imaginvestigation. Seeing him try to stealthily tail a dude in tails, or fill Yuuto’s shoes in combat, it’s very sweet. Any episode where Deneb attempts a catchphrase is worth watching, to me.
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03-29-2021, 04:34 PM | #546 |
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I summed up how not jarring it is like this during my rewatch, and I don't think I could put it any better:
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03-29-2021, 05:09 PM | #547 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
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Yeah, add me to the "Kohana is great" train. Having to replace one of your primary cast halfway through should not be a great sign for a show, and yet the actress makes it work just as well as before. Maybe better, since the only thing seeing Momo get clowned on, is seeing Momo getting clowned on by a 10 year old.
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03-29-2021, 07:16 PM | #548 |
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Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Good to know I'm not alone in really digging Kohana! I don't really want to knock Shiratori, because she did a great job too, and the circumstances of her leaving the show are super unfortunate, but I absolutely find Hana's shtick way funnier coming from a child, and to this day, I'm really impressed by how smoothly the staff managed to work the change into the story in such a positive way.
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Yeah, add me to the "Kohana is great" train. Having to replace one of your primary cast halfway through should not be a great sign for a show, and yet the actress makes it work just as well as before. Maybe better, since the only thing seeing Momo get clowned on, is seeing Momo getting clowned on by a 10 year old.
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03-29-2021, 09:04 PM | #549 |
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KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 34 - "THE PIANIST OF TIME"
I swear to god, I feel like this show is trolling me. Not a day after I write a whole bunch about how excited I was for the new Yuuto/Kohana team, and how excited I was to see some real movement on their shared dilemma, HA GODDAMN HA, I get this episode. It's one where Kohana and Yuuto share (if memory serves) absolutely zero screentime, and where their shared dilemma is addressed with, to quote Reverend Lovejoy, "short answer 'yes' with an 'if', long answer 'no' with a 'but'." Literally everything I loved about last episode got chucked out the window, and what I'm left with... well. I liked the ending? There's a sweetly pure idea about memories being both sacred and illusory. The idea that forgetting people can be like a death, but that we remember things we've forgotten all the time. No one's ever really gone, as long as we're quoting prolific voice actors. Someone can disappear for ten years, and then rekindle a connection to the world in an afternoon. It doesn't take a lot. It's a tragedy, to be forgotten. But it's not really fatal, not really the end. If we stay true to ourselves, and reach back when someone reaches for us, it can all work out. The rest of the episode I found largely lifeless and dull, and I'm not completely sure why. Some of it is because, like a lot of problems I end up having with Den-O, it takes forever to explain what the hell is really happening in the story, and then it rushes through the exposition because there's no time left for subtlety. Every flashback scene with Piano Man and Coma Man was, honestly, pretty abysmally acted and written. The dialogue is just this guy shouting all of his thoughts at a stranger, and the performance is him SHOUTING ALL OF HIS EMOTIONS. It reads as nearly psychotic, instead of as two kindred spirits finding a connection. And that accident scene! I was not meant to laugh at it, I'm pretty sure? But, man, come on. Coma Man dashes in front of an oncoming car like he's secretly two dogs standing on each other's shoulders and wearing a sport coat. It's a ridiculous moment, and it nearly sunk this story for me. The regular cast is weirdly deployed in this one, with special disappointment for how unintegral Kohana is. There's a scene where the DenLiner crew reacts to her new form, which was funny, but she's largely irrelevant to the Imaginvestigation. She doesn't do anything that helps Den-O save the day, and she disappears from the plot about halfway through. Her aside, it's really just some Urataros smooth-talking (one scene?) and a little bit of Deneb possessing Yuuto to keep things lively. The rest of the episode is a lot of piano playing, and not much story. Yeah, god, this one bugged me. I don't mind a story that wants to take it down a gear, I guess, but to abandon the electric storytelling developments of Yuuto and Kohana to do a story that's About Yuuto without really featuring Yuuto... it made this one really unimpressive to me. Some nice thematic stuff at the end, but the nuts-and-bolts of this one were nowhere for me. Was not anticipating the show working this hard to let me down! A+ trolling! THE BAGGAGE CAR -The thing I laughed the hardest at in this episode were the insert shots of Urataros playing the piano with hands that are way thicker than Ryotaro's. Does Ryotaro retain a bunch of water when Urataros possesses him? It would make a sort of sense... -Mostly didn't care about the fight at the end of this one (the Imagin has, like, an army inside him why?), but I'm pretty sure that office building got used in a good Ryuki and/or Blade story for a fight. That is, uh, that is how into this episode I was: fondly half-remembering Blade and Ryuki fight scenes.
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03-30-2021, 12:56 AM | #550 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,433
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Quote:
I liked the ending? There’s a sweetly pure idea about memories being both sacred and illusory. The idea that forgetting people can be like a death, but that we remember things we’ve forgotten all the time. No one’s ever really gone, as long as we’re quoting prolific voice actors. Someone can disappear for ten years, and then rekindle a connection to the world in an afternoon. It doesn’t take a lot. It’s a tragedy, to be forgotten. But it’s not really fatal, not really the end. If we stay true to ourselves, and reach back when someone reaches for us, it can all work out.
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