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01-19-2021, 10:08 PM | #691 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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can you imagine how insufferable i would be if i didn't have the outlet of these boards
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01-19-2021, 10:29 PM | #692 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Quote:
also i'm really glad you found this site before you watched faiz
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01-19-2021, 10:38 PM | #693 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
I... my thoughts on Kamen Rider have definitely sprawled more, given the (relatively) infinite canvas of these boards. Previously, it would've been more Phase 2 insanity, colorful action and bizarre juxtapositions that I needed to excitedly share. Now, it's more critical thinking about themes, arcs... and bizarre juxtapositions that I need to excitedly share. Definitely more of a lateral move... Honestly, me too? I can't imagine it would've been half as rewarding an experience without being able to share it. Fond memories!
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01-20-2021, 01:37 AM | #694 |
I got nothing
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 148
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I just realized what's going to happen in the next 2 episodes, and holy shit I think you're in for a treat with the B plot.
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01-20-2021, 07:12 PM | #695 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Hey I'm really feeling how true this is right now so I'm just gonna rattle off a few more random things about this episode if that's cool:
- The thought occurs to me that this two-parter is actually the first ever time Inoue got to use Yaguruma, and that's kind of shocking to me when he seems like exactly the sort of unstable, obsessive character he'd be eager to write. It's maybe appropriate, then, that the first thing he does when given the chance is put the Hoppers in a subplot where they're basically written like children, with Kageyama getting upset with Yaguruma for having a crush on a girl. That definitely feels very Inoue to me. Like, you can replace the spiels about darkness with Kageyama saying Rena has cooties, and the plot plays out exactly the same. It's no wonder they get handily outmatched by Gon with a fire extinguisher... - I've mentioned the trouble Kabuto has sticking in my brain before, and, to be clear, I didn't remember this two-parter in the slightest either. In fact, I didn't even remember Rena herself at all. I mean, once she showed up, it was sort of like "oh... yeah, that one", but this is not a character I've thought a lot about in the past few years, you know? - Which is why it's all the more remarkable to me how utterly spectacular these episodes were, in retrospect. You see, Rena lived and died by the grace of the overarching plot. She was a character defined by function more than personality or individual goals – introduced to give a mouthpiece to the Worms, building the world by creating an easy way to give a sense of them as an actively scheming group intertwined with ZECT, and she's only leaving the show because her role has become unnecessary. They didn't need to make anywhere near the event out of this they did (she could've easily been bumped off in a big Plot episode that didn't center specifically around her, for example), and that makes me all the more grateful they found this latent storytelling potential and proceeded to deliver on it to this level. These are likely two of the show's best episodes, and they didn't even "need" to exist. The more I think about these ones, the more impressed I become. - Also, I happened to read about something that seemed worth bringing up in her character's final episode – Rena's actor Hitomi Miwa apparently fractured her leg at some point, and despite having trouble walking normally, was still filming for Kabuto, with the help of painkillers. That's some dedication right there!
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01-20-2021, 08:44 PM | #696 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
The thought occurs to me that this two-parter is actually the first ever time Inoue got to use Yaguruma, and that's kind of shocking to me when he seems like exactly the sort of unstable, obsessive character he'd be eager to write. It's maybe appropriate, then, that the first thing he does when given the chance is put the Hoppers in a subplot where they're basically written like children, with Kageyama getting upset with Yaguruma for having a crush on a girl. That definitely feels very Inoue to me. Like, you can replace the spiels about darkness with Kageyama saying Rena has cooties, and the plot plays out exactly the same. It's no wonder they get handily outmatched by Gon with a fire extinguisher...
-the doomed romance of Reina and Daisuke, which is dark and sad; -the doomed romance of Tsurugi and Misaki, which is funny and bizarre; -and the doomed romance of Reina (to her surprise) and Yaguruma, which is dark and sad and funny and bizarre. It's... these Inoue stories, man! They're only ever about one thing! Quote:
Which is why it's all the more remarkable to me how utterly spectacular these episodes were, in retrospect. You see, Rena lived and died by the grace of the overarching plot. She was a character defined by function more than personality or individual goals – introduced to give a mouthpiece to the Worms, building the world by creating an easy way to give a sense of them as an actively scheming group intertwined with ZECT, and she's only leaving the show because her role has become unnecessary. They didn't need to make anywhere near the event out of this they did (she could've easily been bumped off in a big Plot episode that didn't center specifically around her, for example), and that makes me all the more grateful they found this latent storytelling potential and proceeded to deliver on it to this level. These are likely two of the show's best episodes, and they didn't even "need" to exist. The more I think about these ones, the more impressed I become.
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01-21-2021, 12:46 AM | #697 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 41
Ah, the endgame. I'll be honest, it's not my favorite part of a Kamen Rider series? I can't remember if I've said that before. The beginning of a series is great, getting to know everything about the characters and the world. The middle's a lot of fun, as things get both deeper and looser. The end, though... there's a process to it that I don't love? It's mostly down to how smoothly a show shifts gears, into its final stage. There's this crush of plot, sometimes, where things are just More Tense without it feeling like anything really escalated? It's just... heavier, all of a sudden. It's like someone flipped a switch, and everyone's in danger and time's running out and motivations are revealed and and and. It's an almost necessary part of landing a 40-odd episode story, but it doesn't mean I need to look forward to that descent. So, yeah, I was mostly just okay with this episode. There's some big parts I liked (Kagami's Very Big Feeling of betrayal) and some small parts I liked (Tsurugi as SwordHopper seems like a fun lark), but overall I just found the whole thing a little tedious. I still have no idea what the deal is with the conflict between the Worms, the Natives, and humanity, despite several expository scenes. (Boy, the director did not feel like rescuing those scenes at all.) For as much nuance as previous stories have tried to give through characters like Hiyori, Reina, and Tsurugi, everything here just boils down to Good Monsters and Bad Monsters and Humans Who Are Forced To Work With The Good Monsters I Guess. There's no sense of plan yet for the Worms (I guess they're replacing everyone in the world? For some reason? To just keep working jobs or something?), and the conflict with ZECT went from this Cold War of minor aggressions into full-blown warfare, and it all feels so abrupt. It feels plot-driven, not character-driven, which is one of the reasons I feel so ambivalent about this episode. Stuff happens to and around the characters, and it doesn't really feel like they've got much agency in this one? And, like, that's not automatically disqualifying, despite my personal preference for something that draws from the characters and relationships. This episode gets some juice from Kagami finding out that both his dad, the returning Kagami Outrageous, and Tadokoro, his work dad, have been lying to him for years. Kagami has always drawn his confidence from his ability to follow his heart, to do what he thinks is right, so it is devastating to him to find out that Everything Has Proceeded According To His Dad's Design, and that Tadokoro has let him be in the dark for so long. It makes Kagami feel like a pawn, and that's a thing he can't abide by. My favorite exchange in the episode is a really quick Tendou/Kagami one, and I think it gets to the heart of how those two see the world differently. Tendou sees the world as a series of manipulations that can be turned to his advantage. Everyone wants something, which he can leverage to get what he wants. People keeping secrets isn't breaking the rules, it's how the game is played. Finding out that Kagami has been manipulated gets him saying Yes And, not reacting with commiseration or anger. (It helps that Tendou was also hiding some of this from Kagami!) Now that Kagami knows the truth, Tendou thinks he should accept it and find a way to use it to his advantage. The mission is still the mission. For Kagami, why you do something means as much as what you do. Success isn't just about achieving, it's about finding a reason to achieve. To learn that everything he's done, every choice he's made, has been orchestrated by ZECT to get him to this point... it's like nothing he's done has mattered. He's achieved nothing. Worse, the people he looked up to, respected, they're the ones who took it all away from him. He's got all this power, but any use of it feels fraudulent. The Rider who was defined by his Very Big Feelings, now he only feels betrayed. It's a fun idea, seeing how a dispirited and disillusioned Kagami processes his betrayal, but a lot of the execution is him sort of acting like a baby? I'm not saying he's wrong to feel upset at someone like Tadokoro, or especially at Outrageous, but what's presented is him basically throwing tantrums, and it wears a little thin. It's like, I was on Kagami's side! And then by his final scene, I said out loud, "Quit being such a baby.” I don't usually talk to these episodes! But that performance really brought it out of me! So, yeah, between a ratcheted-up series plot that sort of comes out of nowhere, a Kagami plot that has a good idea that it buries in some off-putting storytelling, and fights that act like Clock Up never existed (WHY DOESN'T KAGAMI USE IT IN HIS FIRST FIGHT), it's not an episode whose main plot was that great for me. Not terrible, but not that exciting. But then we have Tsurugi's plot, and that one is a roller coaster. It starts with a Tsurugi/Misaki plot that dials back what I loved about 40 into what I grudgingly tolerated from 39. Kagami immediately tells Tsurugi that Misaki was never actually his girlfriend, they were tricking him, and Tsurugi views that betrayal as a test of character from his best friend and crush. It's sort of adorable, how quickly he forgives two people that were lying to his face. Unfortunately, that clears the path for Tsurugi to start pursuing Misaki again, a thing I was very much not looking forward to. It's a creepy couple scenes that get nipped in the bud (thankfully) as Misaki outright tells Tsurugi that they are never going to happen. It's a level of bluntness that I really appreciated, even if I wish the show had done it from the jump. What follows is a concept that is so good, so the kind of thing I'd joke about because I'd want it too much to ever think it could be real, that I can scarcely believe it really happened. Tsurugi, the man who now stands at the top of depression, is adopted by the Hoppers, two men who stand at the bottom of happiness. Everything about that is... like, forget all of this ZECT/Worm/Native whatever nonsense. Pointless. Irrelevant. This is my endgame. KickPunchSwordHopper is my grand finale. I cannot give two shits about Worm Widower kicking Hyper Kabuto out of his Hyper Cast Off, because literally the only thing I can anticipate from this episode is What Happens Next With The Hoppers. That's it. Only plotline that matters now! A QUESTION Tadokoro's big reveal here was both surprising, and something I sort of didn't care about. I have some vague questions I'm not sure if the show plans on answering (Is Tadokoro's entire family Natives? Did he kill the real Tadokoro at some point and take his place?), but it didn't really make me reconsider Tadokoro as a character or anything. It did make me wonder if I'd missed a ton of clues along the way, so I'm curious if y'all were as surprised as I was when you watched this episode. When did you figure out Tadokoro was a Native?
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01-21-2021, 02:26 AM | #698 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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Wow, episode 41. Feels like just a week ago when you made that post about the end of episode 4 with the baseball.
I don't remember anything about the plot regarding the Natives and Tadokoro, but I definitely remember the bits with Sasword hanging out with the Hoppers, so clearly that means I'm in the same boat as you in thinking that's the only part of the story that matters! |
01-21-2021, 02:58 AM | #699 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
Sometimes it's really bittersweet, where you feel like your time with a show is running out. (Faiz and Ryuki? I think those were ones where it was tough to leave those casts behind.) Sometimes it's a thing I'm just sort of ready to be done talking about it. Not because I don't like it, but because I feel emptied out by the process. (Kuuga and Hibiki, those are two where I remember feeling like Hi I Don't Want To Talk About This Show For A While.) For whatever feelings it generates, there's always this, like disbelief. However many days or weeks or months I spent living this show, and now it's just a few more to go. Almost done. The end is close, to quote a man I've begun to think of as a crazy Adama from Battlestar Galactica, as Edward James Almost. (It's this specific mix of gravitas and humor, that's where I get the Adama stuff.) I don't... I don't really think of the time investment to do these things, really. I just do them. Perpetual motion, like Tendou. But you get that minute as the end of the path is in sight, and you're like Oh Shit. Definitely has a moment where it's hard to grasp. Quote:
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01-21-2021, 04:29 AM | #700 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,553
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I figured out the reveal when it happened. As an episode of Hurricaneger said, “the person sitting next to you could be an impostor”. And I honk that partially sums up this series.
I will say, I wasn’t quite sold on the idea that the Natives were supposedly good all along, considering Tendou’s backstory has his parents killed by Natives. |
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