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04-15-2020, 09:51 AM | #421 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Quote:
You want to hear from someone who preferred the special? That’s my cue to enter then.
I’m more fond of what this special does to characterise the two leads than the series itself, namely because it ignores ALL the problems I had with their in-series characterisations. I also love seeing Shinji trying desperately to hang on to his innocence during all this, namely because I’m trying to do the same thing in real life. And also, when people talk about all the casting and character milestones concerning the Riders in this show, they overlook one in this special. The guy playing Verde was not only the first non-Japanese actor to play a rider (half-American) but was also at the time the oldest actor to play a Rider at 38 (the current record holder is Kamen Rider Jun, at age 60). And the original Ryuki manages to make an impression on me, purely for the casting joke he entails. (For an explanation, he was the Red warrior in a past Super Sentai show, who had this (the first in the video) as his main mecha https://youtu.be/nOZfBmR546s Quote:
What do you mean that "you can't reuse their Deck"? Anyone can henshin with the Deck, not just the owner, just that it's not performed by anyone else at the moment in the main series. Ryuki is the first series that introduces henshin device that can be brought anywhere, pocketed. If you talk about how anyone who contracts can't go back and must keep fighting, it means that your Contract Monsters should be constantly fed by fighting other monsters or that you'll be eaten, changing your life completely. But it doesn't refer to the Decks. For breaking Decks, no, the wish is created from the lives of the other 12 Riders, so they have to tatakae and die.
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04-15-2020, 10:11 AM | #422 |
take me to space
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Far as I recall, the things they have hard established are that if you die, that deck is gone. If your deck is gone, you die. So yeah, 13 Riders operates weirdly no matter how you look at it.
Anyhow, I would have voted that Jason Todd lives to end the Rider War. (Well okay, he'd go Red Hood on the competition but whatever.) |
04-15-2020, 01:02 PM | #423 |
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Unless I've forgotten something from the show, once you form a contract and get a logo on your Card Deck, it's your Card Deck. No one else can use it. Hell, they can't even use the cards in another Deck, normally. With this one, people are tossing Decks around and swiping each other's cards. It feels like it changes the stakes of battle, if you can have multiple Ryukis and Knights. That's definitely not how it's worked on the series thus far.
The Ryuki & Zolda scene at ep. 26 means that Magnugiga's Advent Cards will only give weapons to anyone becoming Zolda, not necessarily Kitaoka. Quote:
Far as I recall, the things they have hard established are that if you die, that deck is gone. If your deck is gone, you die. So yeah, 13 Riders operates weirdly no matter how you look at it.
Anyhow, I would have voted that Jason Todd lives to end the Rider War. (Well okay, he'd go Red Hood on the competition but whatever.) |
04-15-2020, 01:39 PM | #424 |
take me to space
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04-15-2020, 06:21 PM | #425 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Yeah, I...
I'm watching this thing and talking about it episode by episode. I'm going to say stuff that gets clarified later in the show, and I'm going to guess stuff that might be hilariously wrong. If I'm wrong because of something that gets revealed later, please don't tell me! Just let me be wrong! If I make some joke about Shinji being vegan, but there's a bit in a later episode where he kills, cooks and eats Ren, don't correct me, please. Let me have that surprise. You can have the knowledge that I'm going to be proven wrong later by the TV show, which is hopefully a delightful consolation prize. Most of my concern, in approaching these shows, is dealing with the text of the show as aired by that point. There's definitely going to be stuff from later in the show that recontextualizes elements of the story, or outright retcons things. When I'm talking about it, I kind-of don't care yet about what hasn't happened, because people watching the show as it aired didn't have that knowledge. If it's been in the current episode, or any previous episode, it's a fact and it's valid. If it's something from a later episode, or some piece of supporting media, I'd rather not know about it. I hope this isn't a big deal for folks! Thanks!
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04-15-2020, 06:59 PM | #426 |
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I bet you can't wait for the episode where Shinji finally takes out Asakura by bonding with him over their shared love of cannibalism as they roast lawyer-man over a fire.
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04-15-2020, 07:11 PM | #427 |
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I just watched an episode where Asakura drank four raw eggs, so I don't think there's a culinary thing this show can do that'd be worse than that.
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04-15-2020, 09:58 PM | #428 |
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MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 34
It's rare to get an escalation episode like this one, where it feels like multiple storylines reach a crescendo. To move one group of characters into a do-or-die situation is rare, but two sets? Pretty amazing. Obviously, this is an episode built around Ouja vs Zolda, and later Knight vs Ryuki. Those are great stories, with excellent fight scenes, and we'll get to those. One of the things that impressed me about this episode, though, was that the way in to those two fights was through non-combatants. There's a bunch of time spent with Goro and Yui in this one, specifically about how powerless they feel to save the people they care about. They feel the weight of Rider Battles, but they can't really help the people in their lives who've signed up to Fight Or Die. It's a tough tone to make work in a series like this, to have someone who's all Please Don't Fight, no matter how realistic that plea would be. We need to see fights, or there's no catharsis. Having someone who's all broken up about that constantly, it's a great way to make the audience more bloodthirsty, not less. Here, the show balances it well, with Goro trying to minimize Kitaoka's exposure to Asakura, and Yui (and Auntie) just losing her shit at how childish Ren and Shinji are being lately. Both actions set down stakes for the relationships, and do a great job at keeping the character relationships central in the discussion. It's not some blanket I Wish The Fighting Would Stop, it's Goro fearing for Kitaoka's safety, and Yui needing the men in her life to stop falling apart for five goddamn seconds. It feels personal, and that makes it mean more when the fights end up happening anyway. We'll start with Ouja vs Zolda. When their fight starts, something struck me that I'm not sure the show has covered. They jump into a car's window to enter Mirror World. When their time is up, they'll have to leave through the same surface. What if Goro drives the car away? Does the car move in Mirror World? What would that even look like to Zolda and Ouja? We never see moving cars in Mirror World normally, so maybe it doesn't move in Mirror World, but it does in the real world? So they leave through the same spot, but come out miles away? Weird. Lot of questions came up for me about Mirror World travel. Anyway, yeah, let's start with Asakura and Kitaoka. While multiple other characters are given gifts or threats from Shiro to get them back in Rider Battles, I like how Asakura must've just looked at his Days Since A Fight calendar and went Time To Make The Donuts. Everyone else feels the tightening noose of Shiro's manipulations, but for Asakura, it was Tuesday. He's so uncomplicated, at least in this one, you know? For Kitaoka, it feels like he's made peace with what he has to do. He's no longer that interested in trying to kill other Riders, but he's not going to run from a fight, either. (At least with Riders. He will 100% run from fights with non-Riders.) There's just this feeling of, like, inevitability to this fight. Asakura does it because it's like breathing to him, but Kitaoka seems to do it out of obligation. It's a good fight, with a nice jump to the Final Vents, but there's an almost melancholy to it, a sadness. But, man, it's nothing compared to the sick self-negation and frustration at the heart of the Ryuki vs Knight battle. It's taken plenty of episodes to get back to this point, to have Ren challenge Shinji again. The show has drawn the two of them closer together, before having Eri's perpetually-imminent-but-now-really-imminent demise pull them apart again. A nice day at the amusement park can't last, and Ren needs to start killing if Eri's going to ever start living. He forces Shinji to fight him, not with threats or insults, but with a heartfelt request from a friend. So Shinji suits up, to face him in one-on-one combat. I love the Ryuki vs Knight scenes in this episode, and I presume I'm not alone. It's the two major characters, fighting in a battle that neither of them really wants to fight. It's not rage or hope that drives this conflict, but sadness. Appropriately, the score drops out for a bunch of this, making the fight seem hopeless and raw, and there's plenty of long, slow shots of each fighter. All of Ryuki's body language when the fight starts is haunting. He looks utterly defeated just as he's about to start fighting. Much like the ugly humidity of the park (I lived in Florida as a kid and you never forget the kind of humidity where it's like the rain forms on you), there's a heaviness to the fight, with Shinji playing defense and feeling cornered by Ren's demands. Ren keeps pushing, and Shinji keeps retreating, until it's clear that Shinji's going to have to fight back. Luckily, he got a shiny new Survive card from Shiro. (I want to say it's a promo card, for attending Shiro's "Fight Or Dine” Rider Battle tournaments each Friday at the local diner. I'm pretty sure they established that in episode 28 or 29. It's mostly Sealed Card Deck stuff, to make it easier on newbie Riders, but those Survive promo cards are all foil, and it's 10% off on cheese sticks. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night.) I like that the power-up is called Survive, incidentally. I think that's clever. For a tournament like this, the most incredible thing you can do is just survive, to stay in the fight the longest, so it makes sense that that's what the power-up would be called. It has the double-edged thing of feeling powerful, but also reminding you of the stakes. Like I said, clever. With the Survive card, Ryuki gets a power level to match Knight, and the fight reaches a new stage. But, not because of the power, but because of the resolve of the fighters. Ren can't keep putting off these fights if he's going to save Eri, and Shinji can't just lay down and die. If that's where they left it, I'd still really like this episode, but they give it just a little bit more juice at the end with Shinji's vow to defeat Ren in order to save Ren. If Ren kills Shinji, if he takes a life, then there's no redeeming Ren ever. So Shinji has to save himself in order to keep Ren from destroying himself. It's a hell of a motivation, for a hell of an episode. These Rider Battles are pretty great! Shiro was right!
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04-15-2020, 11:25 PM | #429 |
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There’s a bunch of time spent with Goro and Yui in this one, specifically about how powerless they feel to save the people they care about. They feel the weight of Rider Battles, but they can’t really help the people in their lives who’ve signed up to Fight Or Die. It’s a tough tone to make work in a series like this, to have someone who’s all Please Don’t Fight, no matter how realistic that plea would be. We need to see fights, or there’s no catharsis.
Quote:
We’ll start with Ouja vs Zolda. When their fight starts, something struck me that I’m not sure the show has covered. They jump into a car’s window to enter Mirror World. When their time is up, they’ll have to leave through the same surface. What if Goro drives the car away?
Quote:
Anyway, yeah, let’s start with Asakura and Kitaoka. While multiple other characters are given gifts or threats from Shiro to get them back in Rider Battles, I like how Asakura must’ve just looked at his Days Since A Fight calendar and went Time To Make The Donuts. Everyone else feels the tightening noose of Shiro’s manipulations, but for Asakura, it was Tuesday. He’s so uncomplicated, at least in this one, you know? For Kitaoka, it feels like he’s made peace with what he has to do.
Quote:
But, man, it’s nothing compared to the sick self-negation and frustration at the heart of the Ryuki vs Knight battle. It’s taken plenty of episodes to get back to this point, to have Ren challenge Shinji again. The show has drawn the two of them closer together, before having Eri’s perpetually-imminent-but-now-really-imminent demise pull them apart again. A nice day at the amusement park can’t last, and Ren needs to start killing if Eri’s going to ever start living. He forces Shinji to fight him, not with threats or insults, but with a heartfelt request from a friend. So Shinji suits up, to face him in one-on-one combat.
A̶n̶d̶ ̶G̶D̶I̶ ̶Y̶u̶i̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶a̶n̶g̶e̶r̶'̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶g̶.̶I'd say they cool off rather quickly (possibly even instantly they got kicked out), even Ren only taps Shinji when he hypocritically teases him. Quote:
I love the Ryuki vs Knight scenes in this episode, and I presume I’m not alone. It’s the two major characters, fighting in a battle that neither of them really wants to fight. It’s not rage or hope that drives this conflict, but sadness. Appropriately, the score drops out for a bunch of this, making the fight seem hopeless and raw, and there’s plenty of long, slow shots of each fighter.
With the Survive card, Ryuki gets a power level to match Knight, and the fight reaches a new stage. But, not because of the power, but because of the resolve of the fighters. Ren can’t keep putting off these fights if he’s going to save Eri, and Shinji can’t just lay down and die. If that’s where they left it, I’d still really like this episode, but they give it just a little bit more juice at the end with Shinji’s vow to defeat Ren in order to save Ren. Last edited by DreadBringer; 04-15-2020 at 11:28 PM.. |
04-15-2020, 11:29 PM | #430 |
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I am shaking with excitement just thinking about the end of episode 34. First time I saw it, I only barely grasped the story stuff, but the sight of Ryuki and Knight facing off with flames all around them before Ryuki used Survive left a permenant image in my mind.
Watching it again later, I realised it really is just a perfect scene that I think encapsulates all of Shinji's best traits. His dramatic (downright heroic) declaration that he simply will not die, and telling Ren there's no going back once you've taken a life, it's like... If I didn't quite get his character before, I definitely got it at this moment. He'll see all these fights to the end, no matter what, for himself and for Ren... That he says all this while Revolution plays for the first time just makes it especially amazing. For a long time, I forgot Ryuki had insert songs other than that one! Wow, let's all give our thanks to Kanzaki Shiro for bringing us the medium for all this drama. Maybe I will vote for 'FIGHT' if another poll comes up. |
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