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02-02-2021, 09:40 PM | #911 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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I was trying to think of an answer, but then my mind locked onto what I really wanted from the final fight against Goro: For Kabuto and Gatack to defeat the Perfect Native, and then for him to dehenshin into a critically-wounded Kitaoka. They're confused, and we cut away to an already-dead Goro lying on a couch, flower in hand. (Renge is waiting at La Salle, adjusting the screwdriver and fidget spinner she's left out as silverware for their lunch date.) But we didn't get that. Cowards.
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02-02-2021, 11:28 PM | #912 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,426
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Just realized I misinterpreted Fish’s question and answered with an alternate Tomohisa Yuge role, not another character called Goro.
I stand by my answer. |
02-04-2021, 02:56 PM | #913 |
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Tendou is a character that, on paper, 100% should not work. He starts the show as an arrogant know-it-all, and ends the series as a slightly less arrogant know-it-all that you love regardless. His arc is one of the saving graces of the show, as he never really smooths out his rough edges, while still making you feel like he’s worth caring for. Tendou’s all about one of the main themes of the show, that individual success is a societal good. He’s a hero who is more interested in protecting people’s potential than in protecting people; encouraging them to become their own heroes, asking them to succeed so the whole world could be that much better. He’s like the sun, shining down on the world. The sun isn’t creating millions of individual beams of light, personal and unique. It’s bathing the world in light, and trusting you to go bask in it or not.
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Kagami was the opposite, able to see the worth in everyone. He’d risk it all for a single person, anyone. While Tendou hid his heart behind a god-level view of the world, Kagami and his Very Big Feelings were us, were the people who could never be Tendou. Kagami was achievable, recognizable. Kagami embraced the world, and tried to make sure everyone in it was happy. Tendou was someone who wanted to let people achieve; Kagami was someone who understood what it felt like to not achieve. Kagami was the other main theme of the series, that humility is the key to pursuing success. We got to see Kagami struggle to live up to the success of others. We got to see him feel like he’d never make anyone proud. But then we got to see him succeed on his own terms, by not trying to be Tendou or Yaguruma or his dad or anyone else. Once he owned his limitations, stop judging himself for his shortcomings, stopped measuring himself against others, he could finally succeed. He’s the beating heart of this show.
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Or, y’know, maybe Hiyori is? The most relatable character of the show (YMMV), Hiyori was the most fascinating character to follow in the early going. Someone who was like a raw nerve, exposed to the world, expecting everyone in her life to let her down. She was rude, closed-off, and endlessly watchable. Getting to see her grow into a friendship with Tendou, to see her faith restored by Kagami, those were some series highlights. It’s unfortunate that we never really got to see what the show would’ve done with her. I honestly never liked the reveal that she was Tendou’s sister, but maybe that plot would’ve won me over in time. (It was super easy to forget about in later episodes, which I really appreciated.) As it is, her absence from the show leaves her diminished in my memory, all of those beautifully acted scenes as present in my mind as episodes of Hibiki, or Blade. Her return to the series is like an afterthought, a story that becomes more about Tendou than her. Her journey feels like it stopped at the midway point, and that’s a real shame.
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The rest of the cast was fantastic, up and down the credits. Tsurugi, the adorable comedy relief who got the loveliest send-off, living happily in France. Yaguruma, always keeping the core of his identity, no matter the shell he was in. Kageyama, a ridiculous man who died a ridiculous death. Misaki, the only one at times who seemed like they were saying things I believed in. Tadokoro, stuck between a shadow war with monstrous invaders on one side, and two insubordinate underlings who needed to tell him everything ZECT is doing wrong on the other side. Juka, who is incredibly well-fed. And Daisuke and Gon, who were on this show just often enough to remind me that they’re great, while always feeling like the show had to stop to accommodate them. (Worth it!)
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There are times when I wonder what the show could've done differently. I don't really bring them up here, because I think How I Would Change Things misses the point of art. It's not about how I'd've told a story, it's about how the story was told. I can like or dislike things, but I don't want to spend a ton of time trying to fix something that ended over a decade ago. But with this, I wonder if the show would've been better recasting (tough, but possible) or just eliminating Hiyori entirely. I imagine both of those choices would've been distracting for fans (and potentially incredibly divisive), but it would've kept the show from feeling tethered to a plot it couldn't really progress.
And I don't know if those weekly viewers feel the same like this for this real life events that influenced the show (at the time of Kabuto's airing). Renge was the show's choice as an attempt ro replace Hiyori btw. How about characters like Daisuke though for the real life events (him focusing on music career)?
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02-04-2021, 04:23 PM | #914 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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My point in that paragraph (that was from over a week ago so I had to reread) wasn't that there aren't villains, or that the villains aren't characters. It's that the villains don't have long-term schemes (what exactly do the Worms want, and how are they going to get it ) or demonstrable arcs. Worm Widow has some nice scenes, but there's never really a sense of what she's doing to further her goals beyond her current actions. Dark Kabuto is an intriguing villain... for literally two episodes. After that, he recedes to the background until he sacrifices himself. And Negishi is in maybe four episodes, one of which is for only one scene! These are not great series-long villains!
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02-05-2021, 12:28 AM | #915 |
I got nothing
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 148
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My point in that paragraph (that was from over a week ago so I had to reread) wasn't that there aren't villains, or that the villains aren't characters. It's that the villains don't have long-term schemes (what exactly do the Worms want, and how are they going to get it ) or demonstrable arcs. Worm Widow has some nice scenes, but there's never really a sense of what she's doing to further her goals beyond her current actions. Dark Kabuto is an intriguing villain... for literally two episodes. After that, he recedes to the background until he sacrifices himself. And Negishi is in maybe four episodes, one of which is for only one scene! These are not great series-long villains!
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02-05-2021, 12:41 AM | #916 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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I wish it wasn't left to a viewers interpretation in the series but going by how they act and their animalistic intelligence the Worm are an invasive species that act solely on their aggressive instincts. They're essentially the Helheim forest from Gaim when you exclude DJ Sagara from the equation. Going to other planets to continuously expand as a species and to appropriate anything and everything they can from the dominate species of these planets by killing and replacing them to make up for their relative stupidity.
And, to use your example, Gaim knew that Helheim itself wasn't a super compelling threat, so the show had a variety of warring Riders (if you'll pardon the term) as well as Helheim survivors. Helheim was background noise, baseline threats, not the narrative engine of the series.
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02-05-2021, 12:53 AM | #917 |
I got nothing
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 148
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So, I don't disagree with you (that's definitely their overall behavior: multiply, replace, repeat), but that in and of itself is a huge narrative problem. For a season-long plot to have any momentum to it, there needs to be more at play emotionally than just survival or extermination. Without the Worms having a perspective, a voice, a strategy, a consistent metaphor, anything... I mean, what in that struggle is worth paying attention to? It's the difference between fly-fishing and Moby Dick.
And, to use your example, Gaim knew that Helheim itself wasn't a super compelling threat, so the show had a variety of warring Riders (if you'll pardon the term) as well as Helheim survivors. Helheim was background noise, baseline threats, not the narrative engine of the series. |
02-05-2021, 01:04 AM | #918 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Like, I think the show is still great, even if the lack of thought/care/energy/interest put into the season-long villain arc is a problem.
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