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12-16-2019, 01:21 AM | #131 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Quote:
I'm sure during the earlier part of the day where I'm getting kicked around by the toughest new monster, I'd be complaining to myself 'ah this is the worst birthday ever'.
But when the new form hits, I'll be riding the high so strong that I'll probably forget all about the earlier woes.
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12-16-2019, 10:50 PM | #132 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 31 - 33
Episode 31 is largely a clip show, recapping Kuuga's new Rising forms (thank you Wiki, no thank you actual show), but it does have one key bit of new story: Twoga is let off the chain! Finally, it's Masked Rider Kuuga versus Masked Rider Twoga! IT'S ALL FINALLY HAPPENING! So, naturally, I was disappointed. This one ended up being a bit of a slog, where some awesome motorcycle stunts were undercut by the steadfast suckiness of the Unidentified Life Form Joint Task Force, and an alarming amount of procedural red tape. Most of the conflict in this one comes down not, unfortunately, to Twoga and his sick bike skills, but to the Metropolitan Police really not liking how much Kuuga is (accidentally!) exploding Tokyo. It's understandable, in that defeating one Grongi is now levelling entire city blocks. That's, y'know... I'm not saying the police strategy of "let the Grongi keep murdering people without doing much to oppose them" is the better course of action, but I'm also not saying "detonate a monster" is preferrable. Shit is complicated, and I'm not saying it's not. But, man, the cops spend a whole lot of time this story stopping Kuuga from getting the equipment that will end this murder spree, but I'm not seeing much hope they'd have on their own. When was the last time the Task Force managed to take down a single Grongi on their own? Ever? Kuuga's downed, like, a few dozen. They are barely qualified to carry his Amadam. I think a story that examines the police ambivalence to Kuuga is actually a solid idea. He's not part of the chain of command, he's just a civilian, he's got no training, the death and destruction he's stopping/causing is something they have to answer for... all of that is a lot! Godai being Kuuga is definitely problematic for the government. But, like, they never even have a viable Plan B to Kuuga. Not here, not ever. The gas bullets are maybe a distraction. They lose multiple officers just trying to herd one Grongi. Literally the only thing in all of Tokyo to date that can stop a Grongi is Kuuga. Stopping him from getting BeatChaser 2000 (perfect name, chef kiss) is so utterly pointless, that it transcends the intended in-story frustration of Ichijou and becomes a drag on what should be a propulsive, single-minded action story. It's just old men folding their arms until the bodycount gets too high to ignore. There's not even a cool I Believe In Kuuga speech to make it all worthwhile, just Ichijou using his square jaw and good posture to convince a couple cops that he needs BeatChaser 2000 (swoon) more than they do, and then an off-camera The Brass Caved. The only sense we get that the police are coming over to Kuuga's side is Sugita, and him apologizing to Godai, but Sugita wasn't impeding anything in this story, so, uh, thanks? But, look, yes, the motorcycle stuff was super-solid, and I'm thrilled that the story got to focus on the Heroes Vs Twoga plot. No Jean, barely any Pole Pole, just Ichijou and Godai trying to take down a monster. That's great. It really is. I just wish the police stuff offered anything approaching a viable alternative to Kuuga Explodes The Monster. It's tough to create realistic tension when one side is so clearly outmatched. A slightly disappointing story.
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12-17-2019, 11:52 PM | #133 |
Master Procrastinator
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 367
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Quote:
I think a story that examines the police ambivalence to Kuuga is actually a solid idea. He’s not part of the chain of command, he’s just a civilian, he’s got no training, the death and destruction he’s stopping/causing is something they have to answer for… all of that is a lot!
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12-18-2019, 12:18 AM | #134 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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Quote:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure at this point the police still think that Kuuga is just another monster. One that seems to be killing other monsters, but a dangerous monster nonetheless that might turn on them at any moment. They don't know he's really a human. They have no idea why he's killing the other monsters. So him blowing up city blocks is just terrifying to them. None of the other monsters can casually level an entire block with one kick, so he's arguably more dangerous than the other ones.
First, it's hard to say exactly what the feelings are of the police as a whole on Kuuga. We mostly view the police through Ichijou, since he's in charge of the Task Force. He's as high up the chain as we usually get. It seems, based on the many, many briefing scenes with his boss, that they're okay collaborating with Kuuga on a regular basis. They don't know he's a dude until this episode, but he's definitely on the team. Kuuga's looped in on their communications, he gets to take charge when he shows up on scene, and they're letting him get his equipment managed by folks like Enokida. It definitely reads in this batch of episodes that the police reaction is down more to the press asking (reasonably!) Hey Did Number Four Obliterate An Entire Neighborhood Last Week. Second, most of my beef isn't that the police shouldn't be wary of Kuuga. They probably should be significantly more wary of a poorly-trained part-time chef having the singular ability to defeat an unending stream of powerful monsters, and that was before he was accidentally levelling Tokyo. It's mostly a problem with me that a) the alternative to Kuuga in-story is nonexistent, meaning a ton more folks are going to die alongside a ton more cops, and b) the resolution lacks any sort of Damn It Chief He Gets Results that you'd expect a story like this to have to have. Like, the premise is good, exploring what should be wholly understandable police ambivalence to Kuuga, but the execution is lacking. I hope that makes some sense! I don't know if it does! Thanks for pushing back so I can try and articulate my feelings better!
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12-19-2019, 09:06 PM | #135 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 34 - 35
It's a straight-up horror story this time, with a whole lot of police failure and an uncharacteristically enraged Godai at the end. Don't know that I exactly had a good time watching it, but I respected what the show was trying to do. I'm not sure that I'd pay that same respect to the Unidentified Life Form Task Force, though. They are really, really bad at this. Out of 91 kids, they saved 1. One kid. Ninety of them, dead. On a meta level, it's good that Kuuga and Ichijou were able to stop Snapping Grongi from winning... whatever the Grongi are trying to win, but it's hard not to say they're failing the folks of Japan. Ninety dead teenagers in eight days? No wonder Godai's furious. Godai's fury is easily the high point of this story. It's completely deserved, as the ridiculously high body count the Grongi have accrued now has a smirking, smug face to just beat into pulp. Snapping Grongi doesn't do a lot, but the maddening chase he sends the heroes on is a great way to build tension, which gets its sort-of catharsis with a brutal Kuuga beatdown and a climactic application of Calamity Titan. It's not a happy ending, in that ninety children are still dead and Godai knows it, which is maybe the best thing this story has going for it. I don't expect a huge change in the way this show tells its story, but I'd be impressed if the acknowledgement of Team Kuuga's overall poor showing is maybe motivation to create a stronger response to the Grongi than “let them do most of their murder spree but not, like, completely finish it.” also oh my god the stuff at pole pole could not feel more unnecessary if they tried it is killing me how much i hate these goddamn curry shop scenes and then they add jean because shit just pile on the torment i guess and its just jokes with terrible delivery and no sense of timing and zero bearing on the plot and jean just why any jean in this story what the hell is he even in this story for theres no point to him no point no point no point i mean hes probably number zero it wouldnt shock me but holy shit would it not make anything up until that reveal any better its like the hipster dad stuff from build if it one hundred percent sucked just jean go away forever jean
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12-19-2019, 09:43 PM | #136 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,420
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I'm detecting some subtle animosity towards Jean.
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12-19-2019, 09:49 PM | #137 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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More terrifying than any Grongi, Jean's face will follow you to the ends of the Earth, even in your dreams.
Anyhow, the end of 35 is really iconic for a lot of people, though I'm sure you could have guessed that would be the case! The body count on this show is typically ludicrous whenever you think about it for even a little bit, but I think I'm willing to someone let it slide for these episodes at least, since they really drive in how grim the situation and atmosphere is compared to other episodes. |
12-20-2019, 02:03 AM | #138 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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Quote:
More terrifying than any Grongi, Jean's face will follow you to the ends of the Earth, even in your dreams.
Anyhow, the end of 35 is really iconic for a lot of people, though I'm sure you could have guessed that would be the case! The body count on this show is typically ludicrous whenever you think about it for even a little bit, but I think I'm willing to someone let it slide for these episodes at least, since they really drive in how grim the situation and atmosphere is compared to other episodes.
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12-20-2019, 11:06 AM | #139 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 182
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I feel like Jean is one of those characters they just forgot to do anything interesting with. Maybe he does something important later on, I can't remember as I've only seen Kuuga once all the way through and that was about 6 years ago.
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12-20-2019, 12:38 PM | #140 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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Not to be devil's advocate to my own volcanic rage, but I think Jean could work on an occasional basis. Like, when there's some glyph to decode or some way he could assist Sakurako's story (talk about a character the show forgot about), I think he could be a different voice in the room. It's the way they use him even when there's no reason for him to be in an episode that I intensely dislike. He's just there. He's always there.
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