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05-25-2021, 11:30 PM | #341 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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So, we're already at the point where the show treats the Ixa Knuckle as if it were the entire belt, which is something I don't think has been mentioned in this thread yet? It's just a strange little thing since the show DOES make a point to show characters actually putting the belt on separately... except for when it doesn't at all. It's easy to poke fun at, but of course, for a Rider system being passed around between all these characters, it's kind of more simple, striking, and flexible for filmmaking purposes to center that all around just the Knuckle, so I get why they did it.
(My headcanon for Yuri stealing the Knuckle when she never had the belt is that she knew she wouldn't be able to henshin into IXA, she just wanted a bad-ass gun to use alongside her regular arsenal. She's no dummy!)
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05-25-2021, 11:38 PM | #342 |
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 16 - “PLAYER: THE RULES OF CRUELTY”
And, that was the surprising thing: they went all-in on Rook being a killer! Thought we’d see a little bit of Biggie being aware of Rook, and there being a sense of both identities having validity, but nope! Heavy, heavy nope! Rook murders the kindly restaurant owner, the daughter who had a crush on him, and a half-dozen random diners who will probably not be tipping. They even show the daughter shatter after being turned into an exsanguinated transparency! They are pulling zero punches! He’s an unrepentant monster! Quote:
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Hey, Nago’s back! And Megumi, sort of! (She’s only in one scene, researching W.A.K.E.U.P. cold cases, and I’m not actually certain if the actor is as sick as the character’s supposed to be? Or worn out, or something? I can’t tell if this is a bit, or if it’s covering for an actor that they just couldn’t get for a few weeks.) Megumi is hilarious as always, which is something I hope we’ll be seeing more of in the future. Nago is… sort of restrained? As always with Nago, he’s the most humble (which is to say only 98% self-aggrandizing) when he’s certain of his victory, so he’s all smiles at Mal d’Amour this episode. He’s thrilled for however he thinks the Ixcavator is going to help him defeat a bat-themed superhero (not… not seeing it, myself), so he’s only mildly dismissive of Megumi’s taunts. It’s a cute scene.
It’s something I would probably like to see more of. Megumi and Nago seem to be treated the most superfluously of the core hero cast, and it’s weakening the ‘08 storylines, I think. It’s been a while since we got a solid Megumi appearance, and Nago is in maybe half of every other episode. He’s in, like, two short scenes here? It’s not great. This show’s gotta figure out a better way to balance its cast.
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05-25-2021, 11:55 PM | #343 |
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I agree that Jirou/Otoya fight is better here, though there's maybe legitimate reason for it, Jirou/Otoya had been preparing to get rid of Rook, while Wataru had sudden reveal of Dai-chan being actually a rotten Rook Fangire and is thrown into a fight he never had a thought of (except the ringing violin).
But, really, the whole point of the fight was to show off the Ixcavator and give Nago a confidence-boosting/insanity-supressing win. It was a fight that Kiva was only ever the prelude for, unlike the Jirou/Otoya focus of the '86 fight. Quote:
That's what I would say. What Otoya would probably say was that his love for Yuri overcame her defenses, and that his touch was so powerful it rendered her unable to stand. But he's a creep, so let's stick with She Wasn't On Her Guard. Oh, no, I just meant maybe she had the flu for a couple weeks or something. That or some slight on-set injury might've limited her work. It was probably just that the scripts didn't have room for her!
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05-26-2021, 07:45 AM | #344 |
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Not in the Chu Shogi variant though.
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05-26-2021, 02:24 PM | #345 |
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Sure, there's definitely that. Wataru was horrified at Rook's actions and conflicted about fighting someone with Biggie's face, so he was not nearly as motivated/prepared as the '86 team. That's true!
But, really, the whole point of the fight was to show off the Ixcavator and give Nago a confidence-boosting/insanity-supressing win. It was a fight that Kiva was only ever the prelude for, unlike the Jirou/Otoya focus of the '86 fight. Quote:
Well, I would say it's a mixture of surprise (she wasn't expecting Otoya to chop her neck) and the fact that Otoya is shown to be no slouch as a human fighter. He's held his own against weaker Fangires, and even gotten a few good shots in on Jirou. He's not a joke as a fighter.
That's what I would say. What Otoya would probably say was that his love for Yuri overcame her defenses, and that his touch was so powerful it rendered her unable to stand. But he's a creep, so let's stick with She Wasn't On Her Guard.
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05-26-2021, 11:05 PM | #346 |
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 17 - "LESSON: MY WAY”
I got a real Hibiki vibe off of this one. Some of it's down to the visuals; it's almost insane to see Wataru out in nature, considering I've known people under house arrest that got outside more than he does. But a lot of it is the tone, which is agreeable and curious, and the themes, which are all about teachers and students. One of the backbones for Hibiki was the struggle to best nurture the talents of children. It was something the show approached from the perspective of both the teacher (the Oni) and the student (all them cute kids). We get a sort of Kiva-y take on that this time. I say "Kiva-y” because, while there's plenty of time spent on trying to strike a balance between imparting wisdom and listening to feedback, there's still a Nago storyline where the world's most deranged do-gooder gets so fixated on his inability to secure a trophy that he relentlessly hounds a monster to the degree that it inadvertently homages one of my favorite Kids in the Hall sketches. It's... it's Hibiki-adjacent, but it is not Hibiki. It's great, though, the whole episode. It's drawing from two frequent storytelling buckets for the 2008 stuff, Wataru Is Depressed and Wataru Needs A Mom. They're both pretty naturally applied, considering recent storylines. Wataru, too genre-savvy by half, wakes up (wake up, wake up) from after his rose petal skin treatment at a Dragon Cathedral day spa to ennui and betrayal, a sad realization that nearly every new person he's met for the last couple months have been Fangires. This would normally be the point where he'd confide in someone he trusts, but there's literally no one he can talk to about his Rider status. None of his friends or substitute parents know he's Kiva (I don't think Shizuka does?), and half of them want to murder Kiva, so he's got no one to help him through the Rider's dilemma of fighting to save happiness in a world that is giving him nothing but heartache. He's isolated and depressed, so he opts to get out of town. I'll be honest: I think I like this show best when Wataru is depressed. I'm not even sure why. It just feels like stories borne out of his disappointment and uncertainty connect with the major themes of the series in a more visceral, impactful way. It leads to stories about familial obligation, and nurturing talent, and defining your self-worth, and all of the things Wataru struggles with on a daily basis. It's all-caps KIVA stories, you know? So an episode that swerves away from monsters and resurrections to let Wataru try to puzzle out why he's not engaged with violin-making (well, it is a day that ends in Y, maybe he didn't realize that), that's going to really feel like the show is focused on its thematic storytelling. Wataru spending the rest of the episode as a student being coached by Megumi and Kurasawa, it's a lot of fun. It's that teacher's dilemma of trying to find a way to encourage Wataru's talent, but also being able to let Wataru discover his strengths for himself. It's just done through territorial pride and one-upmanship, because Inoue. Megumi losing her goddamn mind and nearly abducting Wataru? Yes, of course, huge fan. Her immediate feud with Kurasawa over who is the Best Mom is exactly the sort of stuff I've been missing while Megumi's been a little sidelined, and it's a view of teaching as being too much about the teacher that the 1986 story also hits on. The 1986 story is, basically, amazing. It's this ridiculous story about Yuri needing to find a violin tutor for a kid (who I assume is Young Kurasawa, since Kurasawa was like Wait Violins to Wataru on the beach), enlisting Otoya with the promise that Yuri will go on a date with him if the kid passes her audition, cue adorable hijinks and some minor child endangerment. It's Otoya at his most frustrated and nearly feral, complete with a billiards duel against Jirou. It's not a really deep dramatic plot (the 2008 stuff feels more careful in the ways it's exploring Wataru's need for structure and direction), but it's fun to watch this kid and Otoya at each other's throats for an episode. Just a top-to-bottom great episode, even the psychotic Nago subplot. That gives us a bonkers climax, as Kiva faces off against the same Fangire that Nago's been hunting, and Nago swipes the Garulu Saber on delivery to kick the asses of everyone else in the fight. It's a completely weird new ability of IXA's (Garulu Fake Whistlestle?) that changes the equation of the fight while it asks a major question about how W.A.K.E.U.P. knew to build something that could fake Kiva's abilities. Not sure it's going to get explained (Inoue show), but it definitely got my attention at the finale. I had such a good time with this episode! I was only mildly distracted by the thematic significance of Wataru spending the episode in a shirt that said Stupid on it in big letters. Stupid Riders need the most attention, after all. I'm glad he's finally getting it!
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05-27-2021, 01:44 AM | #347 |
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This one felt weird to me. It's a bit hard to explain, but there was something about it that felt off, mostly in regards to the Otoya section. Otoya is behaving really weirdly, even by his own standards. As it turns out, this episode is weird: this two-parter is written by Shoji "Kabuto" Yonemura, making these the only two episodes of Kiva not written by Inoue.
They aren't bad, but the characters do tend to feel just a little bit off-base to me. I did enjoy the Wataru sections, though. Overall, I feel like Wataru is growing on me a lot more on the second time through the series. We'll see if he can maintain that. Quote:
It’s a completely weird new ability of IXA’s (Garulu Fake Whistlestle?) that changes the equation of the fight while it asks a major question about how W.A.K.E.U.P. knew to build something that could fake Kiva’s abilities. Not sure it’s going to get explained (Inoue show), but it definitely got my attention at the finale.
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05-27-2021, 02:39 AM | #348 |
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So yeah, this two-parter was by a different writer and it kind of shows in how it’s slightly more committed to selling toys (namely, IXA’s fuestles).
Kurasawa’ actress was also in the Old Dopant two parter of W as a woman forcing her child into a career she doesn’t want, which in light of the girl in the 86 plot, seems karmic. And now, here’s my main feature. Seastar Fangire True name: The Proposition Related to the Guillotine and the Nest Box (断頭台と巣箱に共通する命題 Dantōdai to Subako ni Kyōtsū suru Meidai) Human identity: Sakichi Sakaguchi Class: Aqua Rank: Pawn Actor: Shuhei Kii Next time: Kiva gets his own equivalent of wing wolf mode/space jet mode/hydra mode/death cannon. (I have no idea how familiar you are with the Japanese transformers shows, hence the links). Last edited by Androzani84; 05-27-2021 at 10:18 AM.. |
05-27-2021, 10:40 AM | #349 |
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This one felt weird to me. It's a bit hard to explain, but there was something about it that felt off, mostly in regards to the Otoya section. Otoya is behaving really weirdly, even by his own standards. As it turns out, this episode is weird: this two-parter is written by Shoji "Kabuto" Yonemura, making these the only two episodes of Kiva not written by Inoue.
They aren't bad, but the characters do tend to feel just a little bit off-base to me. I did enjoy the Wataru sections, though. Overall, I feel like Wataru is growing on me a lot more on the second time through the series. We'll see if he can maintain that. They are really in an IXA Has The Best Toys section of this show, aren't they? I wonder if anyone on the production team wished they'd gone with IXA's whole thing as the main Rider.
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05-27-2021, 12:07 PM | #350 |
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 17 - “LESSON: MY WAY”
I got a real Hibiki vibe off of this one. Some of it’s down to the visuals; it’s almost insane to see Wataru out in nature, considering I’ve known people under house arrest that got outside more than he does. But a lot of it is the tone, which is agreeable and curious, and the themes, which are all about teachers and students. One of the backbones for Hibiki was the struggle to best nurture the talents of children. It was something the show approached from the perspective of both the teacher (the Oni) and the student (all them cute kids). We get a sort of Kiva-y take on that this time. I say “Kiva-y” because, while there’s plenty of time spent on trying to strike a balance between imparting wisdom and listening to feedback, there’s still a Nago storyline where the world’s most deranged do-gooder gets so fixated on his inability to secure a trophy that he relentlessly hounds a monster to the degree that it inadvertently homages one of my favorite Kids in the Hall sketches. It’s… it’s Hibiki-adjacent, but it is not Hibiki. Quote:
It’s great, though, the whole episode. It’s drawing from two frequent storytelling buckets for the 2008 stuff, Wataru Is Depressed and Wataru Needs A Mom. They’re both pretty naturally applied, considering recent storylines. Wataru, too genre-savvy by half, wakes up (wake up, wake up) from after his rose petal skin treatment at a Dragon Cathedral day spa to ennui and betrayal, a sad realization that nearly every new person he’s met for the last couple months have been Fangires. This would normally be the point where he’d confide in someone he trusts, but there’s literally no one he can talk to about his Rider status. None of his friends or substitute parents know he’s Kiva (I don’t think Shizuka does?), and half of them want to murder Kiva, so he’s got no one to help him through the Rider’s dilemma of fighting to save happiness in a world that is giving him nothing but heartache. He’s isolated and depressed, so he opts to get out of town.
I’ll be honest: I think I like this show best when Wataru is depressed. I’m not even sure why. It just feels like stories borne out of his disappointment and uncertainty connect with the major themes of the series in a more visceral, impactful way. It leads to stories about familial obligation, and nurturing talent, and defining your self-worth, and all of the things Wataru struggles with on a daily basis. It’s all-caps KIVA stories, you know? So an episode that swerves away from monsters and resurrections to let Wataru try to puzzle out why he’s not engaged with violin-making (well, it is a day that ends in Y, maybe he didn’t realize that), that’s going to really feel like the show is focused on its thematic storytelling. Quote:
Wataru spending the rest of the episode as a student being coached by Megumi and Kurasawa, it’s a lot of fun. It’s that teacher’s dilemma of trying to find a way to encourage Wataru’s talent, but also being able to let Wataru discover his strengths for himself. It’s just done through territorial pride and one-upmanship, because Inoue. Megumi losing her goddamn mind and nearly abducting Wataru? Yes, of course, huge fan. Her immediate feud with Kurasawa over who is the Best Mom is exactly the sort of stuff I’ve been missing while Megumi’s been a little sidelined, and it’s a view of teaching as being too much about the teacher that the 1986 story also hits on.
Quote:
The 1986 story is, basically, amazing. It’s this ridiculous story about Yuri needing to find a violin tutor for a kid (who I assume is Young Kurasawa, since Kurasawa was like Wait Violins to Wataru on the beach), enlisting Otoya with the promise that Yuri will go on a date with him if the kid passes her audition, cue adorable hijinks and some minor child endangerment. It’s Otoya at his most frustrated and nearly feral, complete with a billiards duel against Jirou. It’s not a really deep dramatic plot (the 2008 stuff feels more careful in the ways it’s exploring Wataru’s need for structure and direction), but it’s fun to watch this kid and Otoya at each other’s throats for an episode.
Quote:
Just a top-to-bottom great episode, even the psychotic Nago subplot. That gives us a bonkers climax, as Kiva faces off against the same Fangire that Nago’s been hunting, and Nago swipes the Garulu Saber on delivery to kick the asses of everyone else in the fight. It’s a completely weird new ability of IXA’s (Garulu Fake Whistlestle?) that changes the equation of the fight while it asks a major question about how W.A.K.E.U.P. knew to build something that could fake Kiva’s abilities. Not sure it’s going to get explained (Inoue show), but it definitely got my attention at the finale.
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