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06-19-2022, 10:22 PM | #61 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 3 - “THAT MAN IS A SUSHI MASTER”
Yua! Yua’s so great. My favorite character on the show, and I already love a half-dozen of these dorks. A lot of it was her barely-restrained aggravation at existing next to Fuwa’s whole Automatic Fire As A Personal Philosophy thing for what’s probably way too much of her career, sure. The foil to that dude is always going to look like a superhero, even before she gets a tokusatsu suit. What this episode manages to do, though, is expand her character in a whole bunch of really interesting ways. As the counterpoint to Fuwa’s relentless pursuit of expended ammunition, Yua’s emphasis – in all things – is precision. You can see it in her clothes: a sharp pantsuit, instead of Fuwa’s casual wear of a bulletproof vest (or loose tie that he probably keeps balled up on his bedroom floor). Her tactics are analysis, observation, and patience. She waits for things to line up in her favor, and then she strikes. She’s not someone to start a fight, but she’ll finish it before it's barely begun. Fuwa’s a hammer, she’s a scalpel. The other major difference with Fuwa is her view on Humagears. I thought this was going to be a standard Empathy Vs Cynicism riff, where Fuwa’s bloodlust would be contrasted with Yua’s maternal instincts, because these shows are sometimes not great with the writing for action ladies. (We’re only a few weeks out from Time Mom, you guys.) But the show smartly swerves towards a different outlook, where Fuwa’s intense anger at machines is contrasted with Yua’s detached logic. To her, getting mad at a Humagear for a rampage is like getting mad at your modem for breaking. Why waste your time getting mad at a piece of technology, or try to ascribe it a motivation? It’s a thing. It can be disposed of, fixed, replaced, discontinued, etc. Do one of those things. But, like, swearing vengeance on it? God, why? That’s idiotic. It’s a neat turn in the story, because it ends up painting both of the AIMS characters as zero help in Aruto’s mission to create empathy for Humagears, which is what most of this episode is dedicated to. Fuwa’s obsessed with destroying them, and Yua’s obsessed with dehumanizing them. Aruto’s seemingly alone in his bid to show how human the Humagears really are, but then the sushi chef he’s spent the episode with points out that the AIMS crew isn’t doing all this because they don’t think the Humagear are real people; they’re doing this because they do think of them as real people. Fuwa and Yua can’t admit it, even to themselves, but they both see a humanity in the Humagears, or they wouldn’t care about making the arguments they make. Fuwa’s anger and Yua’s detachment are both a result of their need to keep Humagears at arms length, and they only need to do that when they start seeing greater possibilities than a machine that follows its program. Which was a nice little runner for this episode, a story about how Humagear act as teammates to the people they work alongside. There’s a complementary nature to the Humagear, which is different than subservience. Aruto sees the Humagear as a way to help people, but also a way for people to imbue value and purpose to Humagear. It’s like a comedian and their audience: symbiotic, not separated. — KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 02: KAMEN RIDER VALKYRIE - RUSHING CHEETAH Briefly thought of doing Biting Shark this episode, but come on. That action sequence! Biting Shark gets the We’re Never Making A Figuart Of This treatment, while Valkyrie gets a fight scene worthy of a summer movie. We can only talk about Valkyrie - Rushing Cheetah this episode. (Incidentally, since we’re going to probably have more episodes where multiple suits debut, there’ll probably be a point in the 20s or 30s where we’ll come back to some of these early form changes. Not gonna make Yua wait just because Aruto got a new collectible!) Another Shotriser suit, and pretty much the best one so far. I think Valkyrie - Rushing Cheetah was the first Zero-One suit that I really loved when I saw the photos. Shooting Wolf’s good, and Rising Hopper’s iconic, but everything about Rushing Cheetah works for me. Going with orange as the color is fantastic, since it misses the easy Third Primary Color thing of a red suit for something more unique. Not a lot of orange suits in Rider, you know? The asymmetry of the coloring carries over from Shooting Wolf, but the proportions are more uniform now; there’s no giant spikes or whatever. It’s a leaner suit, and one that feels more intentional than Fuwa’s pile of childhood trauma. My favorite thing from Rushing Cheetah is how the cheetah spots come in as these black triangles. It’s a mechanical version of something organic, which is this show’s aesthetic to a T. The silver balances everything out, tying together the design rather than pushing against it. Just a really great suit. I built this one a couple years ago, I think, and I remember it being a fun build? There’s really not a lot to it. Anything with a triangle is a sticker, as well as some of the black on the ribcage. After that, it’s just the two Shotrisers, and you’re done. Pretty straightforward! I really adore this suit. I like speedy suits, and this one has that to death. It’s everything Shooting Wolf does, but, like, fixed. Which is pretty much on-point for Yua!
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06-19-2022, 11:04 PM | #62 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,580
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Yua has a lot of style when it comes to her fights if I'm being honest. Actually, everyone has a cool style to their fights.
I suppose that's what happens when you get a new action director for the new era and give even the main Rider a recasting in terms of suit actors given we're no longer seeing Takaiwa as Mr. Kamen Rider. There's a lot of fun energy to the fights and I can't wait to talk about certain ones the further we get in. Anyway Valkyrie, out of the base Shotriser Duo I definitely prefer her more in terms of aesthetics. There's just a nice good look to Rushing Cheetah in general. Also hey we're back to singular episode plots! Like it's hard to really talk about the other two Episodes in regards to this since while technically separate plots they really feel like two big setup episodes of trying to ease you into the world instead of standalone plots. Meanwhile you've got some nice world building here with the Sushi Plot and just seeing what jobs Humagears are able to do and provide. I do want to talk about Zero-One in particular though even though I adored Valkyrie's stuff in this more. And that's mostly in how his form changes work. We saw a tiny bit of it in Over Quartzer but this is where we like fully see the mechanics of... the Hopper Parts don't really go away, they just fold and compress themselves while sliding around the suit, and I think that's a really cool way to implement the forms. |
06-19-2022, 11:29 PM | #63 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Quote:
Also hey we're back to singular episode plots! Like it's hard to really talk about the other two Episodes in regards to this since while technically separate plots they really feel like two big setup episodes of trying to ease you into the world instead of standalone plots. Meanwhile you've got some nice world building here with the Sushi Plot and just seeing what jobs Humagears are able to do and provide.
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06-19-2022, 11:55 PM | #64 |
Precure enthusiast
Join Date: Dec 2021
Location: Amongst the Cosmos
Posts: 304
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Episode 3!
-Even tho we've been hearing this track since Episode 1, we finally got the proper opening sequence! I love Realxeyez, it's so damn addictive. The echoes of one's culture, familal traditions, and personal habits: you can learn so much about a person by watching someone cook or cooking alongside another person. In a way, cooking is almost like a glimpse into a person's heart, a taste of humanity if you will! Which is why I love that 01 did a cooking theme so early on for a "Do Humagears have hearts?" episode. It's honestly one of my favorite "Humagear of the Week" stories. It's so simple how Nigiro wins the Boss over: he begins to use Boss's technique, not because it's more efficent(it's actually quite overcomplicated). It's like, the intention of wanting to understand the Boss by trying to imitate his special technique, it's so sweet? I love the bit about Boss's students not being able to keep up and become "heartbroken", to which Nigiro repiles he has no heart to break? That's golden. I love robots in fiction and how they're used to reflect upon the human heart, and unearthing the unique humanity hiding in even the most mundane of actions, so this story hit all the right buttons for me. -Yua. She's not violently anti-Humagear like Fuwa, but she's got a far more...grounded stance on their roles in soicety than Aruto: they're tools. Use them when they're convivent, discard them and start over when they become an issue. In a way she's right: they are specially comissioned machines to do tasks, and (presumably) nothing more. But also like, it's really cool that she of all people was the person to say "It's up to us to decide how we want to interact with Humagears"? It adds a layer of nuance that doesn't make her stance feel purely "coldhearted", if that makes sense. (Saying that they can simply start over with a new Nigiro, it might sound harsh, but it could be her trying to aknowledge Nigiro's importance to the boss in her own way, perhaps....) |
06-20-2022, 12:04 AM | #65 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Over Quartzer (the song) took me a minute to come around on, 'cause it's a little more dance-y than I prefer. But REALxEYEZ is a goddamn force, from the ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE opening through its action-movie-climax chorus. I really dig this song! Quote:
It's so simple how Nigiro wins the Boss over: he begins to use Boss's technique, not because it's more efficent(it's actually quite overcomplicated). It's like, the intention of wanting to understand the Boss by trying to imitate his special technique, it's so sweet? I love the bit about Boss's students not being able to keep up and become "heartbroken", to which Nigiro repiles he has no heart to break? That's golden.
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06-20-2022, 03:13 AM | #66 |
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Yeah, Iw as sold on Yaiba at first. Only at first thought, later on… yeah, don’t get your hopes up.
And for some casting trivia, the guy playing Ikkan Nigiro is both the guy Kintaros was originally contracted to in Den-O and the journalist’s friend in Drive. He’s better known as Teppei from Ultraman Mebius. As for RealXEyes… I was never really sold on this song. It sounded a bit too generic rock for my liking. And as Sh Ranger pointed out, the lyrics don’t really have much going for them beyond (IYAM) 404 not found. Anyway, now for miscellaneous trivia. The long haired Is seen in the opening wasn’t in the script for said opening. The director threw her in there to challenge Takahashi to do something with her. And he did. Boy he did. The Magia this week, in addition to being created from a barber Humagear named Scissormenz (yeah, all the Humagear have some bad pun in the names, like Mamoru = protect) is based on a Neohibolites, an extinct genus of cephalopod. And now for the form showcase. Progrise: Speedy Nanda! Rushing Cheetah! Try to outrun this demon to be left in the dust. And now to make you watch the least watched video on my YouTube channel (tied with chapters 3-4 of Sailor Rainbow, a Sailor Moon OC fic that eventually transplants its character to Harry Potter. And both keys introduced here were remixed for Legend Riders. Hawk Tiger Hooper, TaToBaSinging OOO! The king who controls desire. 3 2 1, switch on! SpaceComing Fourze! Friendship so powerful it shines into space. |
06-20-2022, 09:29 AM | #67 |
Kaiju or Hero?
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Even I Don't Know Anymore.
Posts: 1,397
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Yaiba absolutely killed it (literally) in her debut as Valkyrie, and for female Riders in general, where even after a certain other female Rider's debut, I'm still thinking on which one I like better.
Now, I'll talk more about the theme going with the Humagears in a later episode (there's one in particular I really like), but it's pretty clever how they set up the weekly dynamic of Metsubojinrai.Net hacking them into the monsters of the week (look at those transformations, pure robot horror), and just how the designs somewhat blend a streamlined, linear robotic look, with a warped bestial form consuming them. RealXEyes, I'll admit, out of the three Reiwa openings, I feel like they got better onwards (even though I'm still at odds with myself on which one I like better). Nothing against RealXEyes, the lyrics are clever (I'm not going to go nuts thinking there's references to past Riders, but I did put together some connections), Zero-One's name is part of the opening, something we haven't gotten since Drive, and the visuals are excellent. I'm just not too into the song, but it's not bad, it is good, but not my favorite from Reiwa. |
06-20-2022, 01:06 PM | #68 |
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I love how the Opening has such and action-packed energy to it. We've got all the protagonists going about their daily lives, teasing the villains (and their Rider forms), and the heroes fighting off a robot apocalypse. Is with long-hair. Also dramatic posing at the end. Why is Valkyrie doing that? Why the jump and twist? We may never know.
It's a tale as old as time...fresh young cook trying to learn from the master and inherit their secret technique, now only with robots! I'm glad Nigiro getting turned forcibly into a killing machine didn't sour him on the whole deal. Biting Shark! We're finally at the part of the show where we're introducing form changes, but it's interesting how the show is introducing new Riders while also letting it's protagonist get to show off their latest cool form. Like usually either the form or the new Rider would take precedence, but their balancing things out here. Speaking about the form itself, I like how Zero-One's form changes are so distinct yet simple like Rising Hopper and how they carry such a strong silhouette. Biting Shark is kid of your typical "Speedy with an Edge" form and it just looks cool. Yua probably has one of the better female Rider debuts (how much of a strong competition is there)? I mean, just from the name alone..."Valkyrie." That is like one of the most awesome names you could give a female Rider, especially one who is so efficient and effective. And it makes for a nice contrast/compliment to Vulcan. It's like they both use guns and have similar looks yet are so different and distinct. |
06-20-2022, 03:59 PM | #69 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Valkyrie's pretty great! It doesn't surprise me that they went for orange as the suit's trademark color, considering Yua and Fuwa are very much meant to be a pair. Vulcan contrasts Zero-One's design well enough, but it's not really a Ryuki thing where we're dealing with some main triangle here. Aruto's got his whole completely different fluorescent yellow thing going on (to the point his alternate forms keep the Rising Hopper armor just to keep the color), and the AIMS Riders get this movie-poster blue/orange dynamic going on with their shinier metallic colors. It's all about contrast -- hence the whole cat/dog thing -- and that extends to the characters as well. Like, you'd definitely have to try way harder to find something they do have in common, beyond their occupation? Even the direct honesty that comes as an upside of Fuwa's constant emotional intensity is contrasted by the shady actions that come as a downside of Yua's much more calculated approach to life.
So yeah, I definitely remember really liking this episode at the time. It does a great job building up the principle characters in exactly the way I expect from Writer-san, but I distinctly recall being surprised how much I enjoyed the guest-character plot here, because I remember the patients of the week in Ex-Aid rarely managing to grip me all that much. And also Valkyrie is really cool, so who even cares about that! Genuinely my favorite debut fight out of the three Riders so far. Going back to the whole "contrast" point, they do *such* a great job getting across that Yua is the only Rider right now who really thinks about how to approach a fight, as opposed to the heroic bumbling and vengeful fury of our other heroes. REALxEYEZ is pretty great too, if that needs saying. And even though she isn't the sole lyricist for it, this was also the first Rider opening since Drive to have Shouko Fujibayashi write for it, so just on that level alone, I would already like it.
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06-20-2022, 03:59 PM | #70 |
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So, 1) Ozawa always hung out with her team, which is the opposite of aloofness, 2) these ladies all have to juggle incredibly unhelpful men, which is going to wear on anyone's nerves, and 3) I never once thought that characters like Ozawa were less feminine for their ability to navigate workplaces that were occasionally hostile to their frequently-established competency.
Quote:
KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 3 - ?THAT MAN IS A SUSHI MASTER?
My favorite character on the show, and I already love a half-dozen of these dorks. A lot of it was her barely-restrained aggravation at existing next to Fuwa?s whole Automatic Fire As A Personal Philosophy thing for what?s probably way too much of her career, sure. The foil to that dude is always going to look like a superhero, even before she gets a tokusatsu suit. What this episode manages to do, though, is expand her character in a whole bunch of really interesting ways. Quote:
It?s a neat turn in the story, because it ends up painting both of the AIMS characters as zero help in Aruto?s mission to create empathy for Humagears, which is what most of this episode is dedicated to. Fuwa?s obsessed with destroying them, and Yua?s obsessed with dehumanizing them. Aruto?s seemingly alone in his bid to show how human the Humagears really are, but then the sushi chef he?s spent the episode with points out that the AIMS crew isn?t doing all this because they don?t think the Humagear are real people; they?re doing this because they do think of them as real people. Fuwa and Yua can?t admit it, even to themselves, but they both see a humanity in the Humagears, or they wouldn?t care about making the arguments they make. Fuwa?s anger and Yua?s detachment are both a result of their need to keep Humagears at arms length, and they only need to do that when they start seeing greater possibilities than a machine that follows its program.
Quote:
KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 02: KAMEN RIDER VALKYRIE - RUSHING CHEETAH
Another Shotriser suit, and pretty much the best one so far. I think Valkyrie - Rushing Cheetah was the first Zero-One suit that I really loved when I saw the photos. Shooting Wolf?s good, and Rising Hopper?s iconic, but everything about Rushing Cheetah works for me. Going with orange as the color is fantastic, since it misses the easy Third Primary Color thing of a red suit for something more unique. Not a lot of orange suits in Rider, you know? The asymmetry of the coloring carries over from Shooting Wolf, but the proportions are more uniform now; there?s no giant spikes or whatever. It?s a leaner suit, and one that feels more intentional than Fuwa?s pile of childhood trauma. Quote:
To virtually nobody's surprise, my favorite character from Kamen Rider Zero One is the wolf-themed Tokusatsu hero called Isamu (no, I'm not referring to Wolzard, but he's cool as well). He has the best development, an explosive personality, he often feels like more of a protagonist than Aruto, he gives a lot of epic speeches and his actor, Okada Ryoutarou, does a great job portraying his extremeness.
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