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05-17-2020, 03:05 PM | #201 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,091
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I have some thoughts regarding Kaixa as well but I'm going to reserve them for his official debut. The character hasn't even showed up in person yet. And you can't really appreciate the suit from the teaser alone.
As for pronunciation, it's like "Kaizer" but without the elongation. The 3 in goroawase can be read as "sa", "za" or "mi". The x is probably just there to give him more of an X feeling.
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05-17-2020, 03:26 PM | #202 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Kaixa is pronounced like the letter he's named after, so, weird romanization choices aside (I think they just really wanted the "X" in there), it's pretty clear cut.
Also, I'm shocked Die didn't make a post that was just "Oh no!" like a dozen times with how happy everyone is to talk about [REDACTED]'s role in the show in detail based on the zero seconds of screentime Die's seen of him so far.
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05-17-2020, 03:32 PM | #203 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 11
--1-- OH SHIT IT'S HOUJOU!!! Everything after the Lucky Clover scene is an afterthought at best, since this episode peaks early with GODDAMN HOUJOU back on a Kamen Rider show. It's the star of Kamen Rider Agito, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Admittedly, he doesn't, uh, do anything this episode, but he's bound to return and that's almost all I need. The idea of Houjou being around (I might never call him Takuma) is so reassuring that his actual activities are irrelevant. Houjou Forever. That shirt, though! Goddamn! Nice to see that Ozawa's been upgrading his wardrobe in the last year or so. --2-- Speaking of couples! Yuka and Keitaro's story this time out is very sweet. It's not a lot of, like, plot or anything, but it's a very cute little date they go on. I like how their story is mixing the drama of a long-distance relationship with the optimism of a chance encounter, except it's only happening to two characters. It's fun to see them growing closer together, finding some joy, but (at least Keitaro) sabotaging it mentally with the regret of hurting the person he's unknowingly actually on a date with right now. It's ridiculously convoluted, and it relies solely on the two of them never saying their first names to each other or trading phone numbers, but Complicated Romance is such a core trope for superhero stories that I can't even muster up that much objection to it. It's goofy, but played very sweetly. A ton of that for me is how expressive Keitaro's actor is. Yuka's incredibly damaged, and doesn't convey a lot of strong emotion, so it's really on Keitaro to sell you on the way this new relationship is important to the story. And, man, he really nails it. Some of it's the chemistry he has with Yuka, and some it's how much innate joy he has in a Resting Frown of a show, but some of it is how hurt he is when his friends don't give a shit about his internet girlfriend. That bit, where he comes in hot after getting a message from Yuka, and Mari and Takumi just blow him off, perfect. Team Faiz is just reflexively mean to each other. Shit like that is the heart of the show for me, and I need a little bit every episode. --3-- I'm still enjoying the new combos the show keeps throwing at me, though, and this episode kills with the Mari/Kaido stuff. Mari just does not have time for Kaido's bullshit, and she immediately gets him to take care of himself. It's a nice counterpoint to the earlier scene of Yuka trying and failing to care for Kaido, mostly for how it exposes Kaido's feelings about caring for people. Yuka's trying to be empathetic, to be nurturing, and that just reeks of weakness to Kaido. That's lacking a spine, that's being pathetic. Yuuji standing up to Kaido and calling him a friend, that's still lame, but there's some respect for having a perspective and defending it. Mari gets the best result, since she gives Kaido no room to act out. Do this! Right now! What is your problem?! Come on! Kaido's someone who wants to argue, wants to push buttons. Mari coming in and saying My Feelings Matter More Than Yours... it cows Kaido, gets him to realize that he might as well take the help since she ain't gonna buckle. Plus, Mari and Kaido, so it's super funny. Her complaining that saving his life is already making her late so stop being a baby and put on a clean shirt, yes. Yes. These two, it's just one more killer pairing on a show that seems to have an endless variety of killer pairings. --4-- And on the topic of killer pairings, wow does Faiz get his ass beat in this episode. The Faiz Fight against Mr. J (while Chaco looks on approvingly) is great for how much punishment Faiz takes. The flipside of the way Faiz rushes through a fight, the way he's a burst of speed and strength, is that if he can't get a quick win he's probably not getting a win at all. There isn't a lot of staying power to Faiz. Here, he gets his finisher blocked and then just gets demolished. And it looks great! He really looks like he's going to get murdered. There's a bit, when Mr. J gets shot by someone offscreen, that Faiz cowers a little from the gunfire. It's a kind of vulnerability I don't remember seeing in other Riders, a sense that he's not great at taking punishment. I think that's an interesting attribute for a Rider. --5-- Oh, and that offscreen gunfire came courtesy of the Mystery Rider, who it looks like will be a big part of next episode. Which, that sort-of hung over this episode maybe too much, how it's all When Do We Get To The Kaixa Factory. What's in this episode was good, I enjoyed how relatively laid-back it was, but leaving another episode until the new Rider shows up gets distracting. Or, it did for me, anyway. A fun episode, but one that feels like it's killing some time until the new Rider can take the stage. (j/k this episode had houjou a+ series best)
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05-17-2020, 03:33 PM | #204 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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....... ................... That was Houjou's actor??!!
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05-17-2020, 03:37 PM | #205 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Kaixa is pronounced like the letter he's named after, so, weird romanization choices aside (I think they just really wanted the "X" in there), it's pretty clear cut.
Also, I'm shocked Die didn't make a post that was just "Oh no!" like a dozen times with how happy everyone is to talk about [REDACTED]'s role in the show in detail based on the zero seconds of screentime Die's seen of him so far. Like, I get that Kaixa's a big deal! I don't want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm for a major character that has a ton of fans 17 years later.
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05-17-2020, 03:39 PM | #206 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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05-17-2020, 05:37 PM | #207 |
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Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 104
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The flipside of the way Faiz rushes through a fight, the way he’s a burst of speed and strength, is that if he can’t get a quick win he’s probably not getting a win at all. There isn’t a lot of staying power to Faiz. Here, he gets his finisher blocked and then just gets demolished. And it looks great! He really looks like he’s going to get murdered. There’s a bit, when Mr. J gets shot by someone offscreen, that Faiz cowers a little from the gunfire. It’s a kind of vulnerability I don’t remember seeing in other Riders, a sense that he’s not great at taking punishment. I think that’s an interesting attribute for a Rider.
There's a precarious balance between portraying the humane and less heroic side of a Rider (it's relatable to get shook when things don't go your way!) and not having your supposed hero look a like a complete pushover, and the show's been nailing that so far. |
05-17-2020, 05:41 PM | #208 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
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It’s a hell of a shot, that Faiz Finisher just millimeters from Horsepower’s face. More than that, it’s yet another deeply empathetic moment from Yuuji. He’s got a bunch in this episode alone. I loved the moment when Murakami’s like You’ve Disappointed Me and Yuuji’s just Why Should I Care About That? It’s not adversarial, but simply noted to Murakami. Don’t assume that Yuuji is looking for your approval or respect. For a character that’s searching for direction, for some way to define himself, Yuuji manages to give off such a mature, calming aura. He’s open and considerate with Mari when she coincidentally drops by with his dry-cleaning. He’s able to give Kaido space, but willing to be stern if things get out of hand. He’s maybe the best?
The downside is that he’s still very much in a mode where he’s defining himself by what he won’t do, same as Kaido. If there’s a problem for me with this episode, it’s how the Team Orphnoch stuff feels maybe a little too introspective. It’s fun to see these characters interact, and god bless any time they run into Team Faiz out in the world, but it means that there’s an entertaining episode where not a lot really happens. Most of what moved Yuuji and Kaido forward in this episode is in maybe one minute’s worth of story. It’s a good minute! But it makes the rest of this episode a little, if not forgettable, then inconsequential. And speaking of differentiating like Yuji, for Yuka what differentiates between a facade and a real wicked people? Like when she just decides to kill the people who harasses her. The backstory shapes her mindset and ideal, that she would be merciless to anyone she perceives as evil. Quote:
The whole episode this time, Takumi is hilariously adrift without the Faiz belt. I don’t know if his brain was inside that phone, but he’s like a zombie in this one. It’s terrific, and it’s clear to everyone around him that, like Kaido, all of his assertions are because he feels exactly the opposite. Him shouting I DON’T LOVE BEING FAIZ AT ALL is because he misses it so much. It’s stupid funny to watch, and it made what little of Team Faiz was in this episode really work.
But they needed to end the plot, get Takumi back as Faiz, and holy shit did they shortcut it. Keitaro swipes the belt from an injured Kaido, mostly because Kaido was being mean to Yuka. He gives the belt back to Takumi to fight an Orphnoch, mostly because he felt sorry for him. (I mean, he totally respects Takumi in general, but that belt toss is probably 70% pity.) Takumi gets to smile because he’s Faiz again, and still accepts the honor of being a Kamen Rider with a definitive I Love This I Guess It’s No Big Deal Whatever You're The One Who Cares Not Me. (Him and Yuka, they don’t love being honest about their feelings!) It’s a story that should be all about Takumi asserting his desires, owning his feelings, and instead he just mopes until someone gives him the belt back. And, like, that’s funny as shit. It’s totally in the spirit of this show for Takumi to internally change while externally staying the same. It’s just, there’s almost no catharsis to Takumi becoming Faiz again. It’s totally anticlimactic. You can spin it as a cunning subversion of storytelling tropes (Takumi never ever articulates why he wants to be Faiz), but it’s still totally anticlimactic. Worse, it’s placed after a genuinely emotional, fully-earned moment between Kaido and Yuuji. They had an episode-ending story beat, and then they were like Now Here’s The REAL Ending, and… no? Weird choice. Weird, unfulfilling choice. Quote:
Or, shit, maybe it’s totally irrelevant. Maybe no one was even paying attention to the Faiz Fight, because of the shadowy new Rider lurking on top of Gills Bridge. (There’s a tension I get when I see that bridge. I’m both excited over the big Gills/Agito fight that occurred there, and depressed when I think about how bad the next two episodes of Agito after that were. Complicated feelings about Gills Bridge!) I don’t really have much to say other than… it looks like we’ll be getting a new Rider soon! I like that they seem to be the X to Faiz’s O! It’s probably Kaixa, which is a name I think I’ve heard more often than Faiz! I’ll know for sure in another episode or so!
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05-17-2020, 05:59 PM | #209 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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I like the way the show's been testing Takumi for a while now (temporarily losing the belt, getting his first beatdown, the insinuation that someone else may be better at Kamen Rider-ing than him...), and how he responds in a way that's... very Takumi-esque, shall I say. It's indeed very interesting, the general idea of a more physically/mentally vulnerable Rider than what we're accustomed to. Ryuki had that fish out of the water element as well, but Shinji's also a way more self-assured person than Takumi is, particularly in knowing and truly believing the exact reason he's fighting for.
There's a precarious balance between portraying the humane and less heroic side of a Rider (it's relatable to get shook when things don't go your way!) and not having your supposed hero look a like a complete pushover, and the show's been nailing that so far. But then I remember that Keitaro and Mari couldn't even Henshin, so it looks like Turning The Damn Thing On is maybe the most heroic criteria possible? Quote:
And speaking of differentiating like Yuji, for Yuka what differentiates between a facade and a real wicked people? Like when she just decides to kill the people who harasses her. The backstory shapes her mindset and ideal, that she would be merciless to anyone she perceives as evil.
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As for the other names... eh, I don't feel that bad about it. I put a disclaimer right up-front that this isn't a Wiki entry, so I hope no one's using this to actually experience Faiz for the first time. Also, and maybe this is just me, I don't love having to read supplementary material to understand something I just watched. I like being able to process the show as a TV show, episode by episode. Sure, I could go to the Wiki and find out the exact names of everyone involved, including characters who won't be identified for a dozen more episodes, but that's a weird way to watch a show for me. I don't mind digging that stuff up later, but I think it's fair to ask a show to get the relevant information out in the show. If they can't do that, I'm going to fill in the blanks myself.
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05-17-2020, 06:05 PM | #210 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,410
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This is a big one. We kinda get the debut of the second Rider and we get the introduction of the show's next big faction: Lucky Clover. I hope it's not spoiling anything, but these guys aren't going to be dusted off like that first executive that reached out to Yuuji and Yuka. The show makes a big deal out of how scary these guys are and it is not artificial hype.
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KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 11
--1-- OH SHIT IT’S HOUJOU!!! Everything after the Lucky Clover scene is an afterthought at best, since this episode peaks early with GODDAMN HOUJOU back on a Kamen Rider show. It’s the star of Kamen Rider Agito, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Admittedly, he doesn’t, uh, do anything this episode, but he’s bound to return and that’s almost all I need. The idea of Houjou being around (I might never call him Takuma) is so reassuring that his actual activities are irrelevant. Houjou Forever. Quote:
It’s ridiculously convoluted, and it relies solely on the two of them never saying their first names to each other or trading phone numbers, but Complicated Romance is such a core trope for superhero stories that I can’t even muster up that much objection to it. It’s goofy, but played very sweetly.
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