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11-18-2020, 12:48 AM | #1 |
New Member
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 2
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Hey guys what literary themes do you see in TOEI installments that you really like? Why do you like them in particular? For me I like in Timeranger how they actually explored the notion of freewill given the plot of the police travelling back in time to the 21st century.
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11-18-2020, 02:11 AM | #2 |
WONDER RIDER
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,713
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TOEI Installments? You mean tokusatsu done by Toei Studios?
In that case, I like Gaim's themes of struggle, growth and maturity which is seen in the characters, as well as the different ideas of justice that was explored. What can I say? Toei hiring the Urobutcher to write toku was a genius idea. And then there's Ex-Aid which explores the theme of death. Really brings the medical world, which deals with preserving life, and the gaming world, which has the gaming mechanics of 'restarts' and 'extra life', together to explore the idea while introducing moral questions.
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11-18-2020, 02:32 AM | #3 |
Chou Henshin!
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 519
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I've been rewatching Kuuga, and I really love how it explores that paradox of a hero having to embrace violence to achieve peace. Yusuke has subtle but pronounced depth with how his outward optimism contrasts with his growing melancholy. I also feel like the filmmaking of the show is a bit above later KR shows
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11-18-2020, 05:03 AM | #4 |
Reiei
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 3,691
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The "no longer human" theme of Kamen Rider is something I enjoy a lot. They don't do this a lot anymore, we were given a reason why too, but I miss it. Zero-One KINDA goes into with the humagears with the "Humagears aren't humans but they're people too!" thingy.
There was the beginning part of Gaim where Kouta was almost killed by Zangetsu and completely lost it after that, refusing to wear the belt because he might meet him again and die, or he'd have to kill to. Then there's this one in Kuuga, I can't remember exactly what it was. There was this teacher looking at the window. He said something like: "I'm a teacher, I'm supposed to teach kids. The students are all thinking about this, that, and this. What am I supposed to do?" I think it's something like that. It got real for me cuz I do one of my old math teachers was kind of in the same situation. |
11-18-2020, 06:33 PM | #5 |
Fangirl-Type Humagear
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 703
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Zero-One touched on a lot of interesting stuff for me. The Humagears raise questions about A.I. and what it means to have a "dream," and the way the various human characters treat them also brings up themes of prejudice and how we treat those different for ourselves, you could even see a theme about how it's easier to treat someone badly if you can rationalize it by saying they're not really a person. I remember there was some argument on here about the HumaGear protest marches and whether or not they were inspired by any specific real events, but I hope we can at least all agree that the allegories for racism are in there. Also, I don't know if this was intentional by the writers, but Delmo's speech about "pride" and being true to herself even if people wanted to destroy her for it really spoke to me as a queer person.
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11-18-2020, 06:33 PM | #6 |
Fangirl-Type Humagear
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 703
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And the deep themes aren't limited to the HumaGears! All the main Riders, even Naki and Ikazuchi, were dealing with some form of grief, trauma or abuse, and reacting to it in different ways. Yes, the show could have handled some of their character arcs better (Yua was robbed), but it was still interesting and moving to see the show touch on those themes at all. That's why I think that even though the ending was a mess, it was still very powerful, since it was about two people who had both been through tragedy each realizing that the other was in just as much pain as they were, and that the only way to break the cycle of violence was to reconcile. I'm especially impressed that the show sent that message without naively thinking love and peace could just solve everything: The Ark still needed to be destroyed, and mbjr.net still needs to guard against it rising again. I guess the final message of Zero-One is something like "sometimes force is needed to stop evil in the moment, but only compassion and understanding can bring peace in the long run."
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The mask you wear by choice shows more about you than the face you were given by chance. |
11-18-2020, 06:34 PM | #7 |
Fangirl-Type Humagear
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 703
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And then there were also themes about corporate greed and the dangers of perusing profit regardless of the risks or who gets hurt in the process, mostly through Gai and ZAIA in general, though I wouldn't really say that Zero-One was anti-corporation because Aruto and Hiden were always shown in a positive light. I guess since Toei is a big corporation itself and always looking to make more money, the writers could only take that message so far XD But even the job battle arc, for all its faults, touched on themes of automation and the fear of machines taking jobs away from humans.
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The mask you wear by choice shows more about you than the face you were given by chance. |
11-18-2020, 06:34 PM | #8 |
Fangirl-Type Humagear
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 703
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(Sorry for spamming, I just kept thinking of more things I wanted to say about Zero-One)
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The mask you wear by choice shows more about you than the face you were given by chance. |
11-18-2020, 06:47 PM | #9 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 3,510
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Hasn't anyone done romance themes in KR? Would be nice if Kamen Rider does those concepts more.
Fairy tale endings? The hero gets the girl? |
11-18-2020, 06:52 PM | #10 |
WONDER RIDER
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,713
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Quote:
Oh, and I'm talking about the situation in Another Ending: Brave & Snipe.
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