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01-19-2024, 12:31 PM | #51 |
I have a problematic type
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-Zero recollection of this one, so I?m not playing coy about what Asuka?s mom may or may not be up to. I don?t remember anything about this one! Probably? probably not a great sign for its quality, now that I think about it?
This is my second time through W: I rewatched the first half of the series a few years ago but got distracted and didn’t finish it. I have seen these episodes twice already though. I also don?t remember them at all. |
01-19-2024, 02:01 PM | #52 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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Yes it's also revealed that Shotaro's tryhard of being hardboiled is emulating Sokichi, as Sokichi demonstrates being an ideal detective to him, but being hardboiled involves supporting one another in Sokichi's eyes as well. Shotaro also does that in non-behavior related like the retro fashion sense like his fedora hat, as well as using old-fashioned tools like his typewriter.
He just wants to be like his Work Dad! The only reason I could even do a project like this is that my memories of W are basically all just vibes -- I don't think I could tell you a single mystery-of-the-week resolution in advance. (I mean, these are for children, so it's never THAT hard to predict, but...)
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01-19-2024, 02:25 PM | #53 |
Standing By
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Akiko is appointed as the chief of Narumi Detective Agency, so ofc she does what you said there. I think being the heart is the emotional center to prevent the team falling apart, where their presence brought the better, more sensitive side of everyone (among assholes who are really at each other's throats), having their beliefs challenged and being pressured to change, which commonly happens in main Rider type of character who sets an example for others or have them rub off on them, among assholes thanks to their morality, like Shinji delaying the fighting where even at late series where he wants to fight, none complies even Asakura, thus my point about Shotaro and Philip honestly debating and making up, I think they don't really need an anchor to prevent them escalating or such. What you said about Akiko sounds more like, well, yeah chief/leader role rather than being a heart IMO.
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For the rank part, yeah... I thought Phase 1 ones would be the ones with really low bar before, considering that they're usually hated for being the loads/useless/damsel in distress, or yes, having the emotional or moral support role which people think it's really reductive of women to put them in that role. I wonder if you tend to like those better, who'd you like among them, perhaps other than Inoue show ones (seems obvious guess). What I read was the Hirose one in Blade, but that's just one example.
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 5 - ?GIRL? A - PAPA?S A KAMEN RIDER?
So we get a mostly flustered Shotaro in this episode, who basically takes the case on Asuka?s behalf (assuming Akiko would?ve given him a choice not to take the case) while still not really knowing how to deal with a charming child who is convinced that Double is secretly her father. Said father is, naturally, dead ? ALL DADS ARE DEAD ? and her mother has been hiding this fact for like a year, which is completely normal and not a weird, potentially abusive thing to do to your child. It makes Asuka?s emotional state the most precarious thing in an episode field with aquatic snipers and Sonozaki scheming, which is exactly what I want out of Kamen Rider mystery this early in a show. Quote:
But the Shotaro and Asuka stuff, what little there is of it? I like that. I like Shotaro reflexively wanting to shield a child from harm ? both physical and emotional ? while not being able to carry on a conversation with her, or even coherently express his interest in protecting her from harm. He just, like, doesn?t want this kid to cry! But kids are hard to have a conversation with, because kids are all weird! I get that!
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When the two minds cross, the green and black detective Double is born!
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01-19-2024, 05:32 PM | #54 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
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Let's see the last time I actually watched W was in... 2012 as the first Kamen Rider I've ever watched...
Yeah I think a Rewatch is in order, it'll take a bit to catch up but I'm here! W's Search/Don't Touch the M: Gonna clump these first four episodes together since I don't have much to say on them. But man is it definitely weird revisiting this show seriously after like... 12 years or so, I forget when in 2012 I first watched it. When it comes to the first two episodes, I remember them very vividly. It might be because Toei Tokusatsu World ended up releasing them during their "First two episode" releases and that's how I remember. It might also be because I tried to do a W Rewatch around the time the Decade thread ended but that didn't end up panning out past Episode 2. Either way, both episodes are rather simple in that they're presenting the world and characters to us. Normally I wouldn't focus on the background the characters are in, but Futo is a heavily unique location to the franchise. Any chance they can get to put pinwheels or anything that represents wind blowing, they do. It really helps add to the location and makes W's setting a standout among every Rider before and after. Also, Double himself is definitely one of my favorite Riders in concept and execution. Having a fairly experienced Rider from the get-go, with a few rough edges, is rather fun. Not to mention the Driver system in how we get our base set of 9 forms from the start. It's unique to see a Rider have a fully decked out starting kit, and the main reason they show off new forms is because they need a new strategy in battle. I totally don't regret getting a Doublerdriver... even if I cannibalized half of it for reasons we will understand later. I'd rather not get too wordy, so I'll just say that rewatching has definitely surprised me in that I had mostly forgotten about certain details. 3 and 4 definitely feel like a good conclusion to the starting setup that is introducing us to all our major players which I had assumed mostly happened in 1 and 2. But also... I did not remember that Shotaro and Philip didn't actually use the name Kamen Rider until the end of Episode 4 happened. Like I recalled they had it to where Futo treated it like an urban legend of sorts, but I didn't remember the term being coined during Wakana's radio segment and our detective duo rolling with it. I had thought they had that title pre-Magma/T-Rex Dopant case but I guess not. Speaking of our detective duo... Akiko very much surprised me. Given what I recalled of her, and her mostly mellowing out throughout the series, I had thought I'd find her annoying, but I don't. I suppose hindsight definitely helps but despite knowing how these characters end up, I'm excited to see them grow all over again. Shotaro Hidari Hard Boiled Delusion Diary: This is fun because this is something entirely new to me. Like, I didn't even know this existed until I read the list of what we'd be covering. It's very exciting and it basically boils down to giving us some fun skits with our lovable trio. This mini-episode gets extra points for bringing in the fabulous T-Rex Dopant. Some people may find a giant T-Rex head slapped onto a human body silly, I find it endearing so I'll always root to see this suit return. |
01-19-2024, 07:10 PM | #55 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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But also... I did not remember that Shotaro and Philip didn't actually use the name Kamen Rider until the end of Episode 4 happened. Like I recalled they had it to where Futo treated it like an urban legend of sorts, but I didn't remember the term being coined during Wakana's radio segment and our detective duo rolling with it. I had thought they had that title pre-Magma/T-Rex Dopant case but I guess not.
You are not alone! I am a huge fan of this giant hand-puppet of a suit, and it's totally fitting for it to return in bizarre dream sequence. Even Shotaro likes it!
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01-19-2024, 08:19 PM | #56 |
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 5 - ?GIRL? A - PAPA?S A KAMEN RIDER?
So we get a mostly flustered Shotaro in this episode, who basically takes the case on Asuka?s behalf (assuming Akiko would?ve given him a choice not to take the case) while still not really knowing how to deal with a charming child who is convinced that Double is secretly her father. Said father is, naturally, dead ? ALL DADS ARE DEAD ? and her mother has been hiding this fact for like a year, which is completely normal and not a weird, potentially abusive thing to do to your child. It makes Asuka?s emotional state the most precarious thing in an episode field with aquatic snipers and Sonozaki scheming, which is exactly what I want out of Kamen Rider mystery this early in a show. Quote:
Like, I don?t care about Fuuto?s second wind tower (it?s neat-looking, though) and I don?t really care what happens to Asuka?s mom (she?s a cutthroat politician who is maybe trying to honor her dead husband, if we take her at her word), but I ONE THOUSAND PERCENT don?t want that kid to cry. The monster peril in this episode is almost beside the point to me ? the real tension is in trying to get this kid to understand that Double ain?t her dad, and her dad is never coming home. The stakes of that? it?s good, man. Those are good stakes.
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The leader and the heart can sometimes be the same person though. There's usually a correlation between them, since the heart inspires people to follow them, believing that their hope will lead to victory. You make a good point though, that Shoutarou brings out the best in others. Even though he struggles to convey his own feelings clearly, which is why Akiko is important in their dynamic. If she's not the heart, then she's at least the heart's advocate, to make people take the heart more seriously. And people definitely need to take the heart seriously.
Correlated with above, this seems to be the reason why the heart isn't taken seriously. Power and abilities are what valued the most by general people. Even Shotaro's that type too where he's mocked as half-boiled, like other main Riders being dismissed as naive. And by extension, I think that, regardless of how well-received a Kamen Rider series is, the message often doesn't land, partly because some people only want to watch toku for actions and special effects, and/or that a kid's show isn't worth getting deep into, or people dismiss the heroes' views and achievements as being favored by story or carried by "plot armor", particularly if it had them surpassing the supposedly more credible hardened people who are trained to make "hard choices". For this, it's about Hikaru, but I kinda like that in Revice, he calls out Tasuke, a pragmatic leader, for forcing his views on other people and that, it's just being a control freak under a guise of doing what's "necessary".
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01-19-2024, 11:38 PM | #57 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 6 - “GIRL… A - THE PRICE OF LYING”
It’s just… it’s such a weird ending. The last scene alone points out the absurdity and cruelty of what’s happening. The voiceover says that Asuka will inevitably be told, despite literally nothing in the story to date pointing in that direction. (Certainly her mother never seems like she’s just waiting for the right moment.) The implication is clear – it is unconscionable for this girl to be lied to indefinitely. And yet! And yet, after a series of well-meaning evasions and obfuscations, the solution that Kamen Rider Double comes up with is to let this little girl think that her father is a) still alive, b) protecting the city in lieu of spending any time with her ever again, and c) STILL ALIVE. All of this is horrible, considering that this little girl has been lied to for over a year, with no off-ramp to this deception in sight. But the show treats it like she’s being let down easy – a gentle deception to save a kid from pain – and then is just like Someday It All Works Somehow ROLL CREDITS. It’s… man, it’s cowardly. I don’t wanna play the Kuuga Woulda Done This Better card, but there are shows that understand that kids need to confront hardship sometimes if they’re ever going to become healthy and emotionally-secure adults, and then there’s whatever this was. Multiple opportunities for Shotaro or the kid’s mom to come clean and make this a teachable moment about honesty and taking solace from grief in the people around you, but they just gaslight this kid into thinking her dad simply doesn’t want to come home. Worse! So much worse! Like, I was genuinely hoping that the final moment between Asuka and Double was going to be Asuka telling Double that she knows he isn’t her dad, but it’s nice to pretend or something. Some way for the show to feel less like it’s traumatizing this kid In A Nice Way. But it never does, and just goes all in on it being a heroic idea to lie to a child about their dead dad. That’s it, that’s the lesson – it is okay to spare kids from reality by lying to them indefinitely and assuming it’ll all work out in the future for some reason. Jesus. If it weren’t for that nightmare of an emotional resolution, this was actually an okay episode! It’s not a great Double episode – the mystery is sort of nowhere in this one, honestly – but it’s a decent Kamen Rider adventure. The fight between Nazca and Double is an episode highlight, with some intriguing character development for both characters. Nazca’s boundless ego runs up against Shotaro’s unpredictability, to explosive effect. It’s a neat look into how Kirihiko has some nobility to him, and how he’s also fighting for Fuuto… sort of, in a Mine All Mine way. The fight itself feels a little more dangerous and calculated than the various Dopant battles of the last few stories, which is a plus. Beyond that awesome fight, we get a few check-ins with a variety of characters (the ramen cart scene!), but it’s pretty much just a Shotaro story. Akiko’s barely in it, and Philip plays the role of rueful sidekick, without ever really interacting with anyone else in the story. Fun segments, but it never feels like anything more than a break in Shotaro’s narrative. Not… not my favorite thing for an ensemble show to do this early in the run? None of the scenes are bad, mind, but they don’t… they all feel very vestigial. You could cut just about any of them and the core Shotaro/Asuka story would still work, for better or worse. Worse for me, I guess, because of that ending. Can’t believe I forget an ending I hated as much as this one. Yikes! — DIE-A MEMORIES -The little doll that Asuka has looks like an HBV suit for Kamen Rider Knight that Ren used a wish on to make everyone forget about. -Nazca… I don’t remember how I felt about this guy on the first go around. Not my favorite Sonozaki character, if I recall. He was okay, and the Nazca suit was great, but I’m sure I appreciated everyone else more, for reasons of, uh, story impact. This time around, I definitely like his smarmy nonsense quite a bit. He’s a guy that has smirked and flattered his way to power, but it’s power he only gained by proximity and seduction; he’s a useful idiot, rather than a brilliant mastermind. (I mean, he’s not an idiot idiot, but he definitely doesn’t have the undying respect of his in-laws.) And I like his ascot or whatever!
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01-20-2024, 03:36 AM | #58 |
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This probably won’t crack any top 10 lists. I’m not even sure the culprit received any focus prior to the reveal (something that’s kind of necessary if you want the audience to possibly unravel it).
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01-20-2024, 09:30 AM | #59 |
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Join Date: Apr 2014
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 6 - ?GIRL? A - THE PRICE OF LYING?
It?s just? it?s such a weird ending. The last scene alone points out the absurdity and cruelty of what?s happening. The voiceover says that Asuka will inevitably be told, despite literally nothing in the story to date pointing in that direction. (Certainly her mother never seems like she?s just waiting for the right moment.) The implication is clear ? it is unconscionable for this girl to be lied to indefinitely. And yet! And yet, after a series of well-meaning evasions and obfuscations, the solution that Kamen Rider Double comes up with is to let this little girl think that her father is a) still alive, b) protecting the city in lieu of spending any time with her ever again, and c) STILL ALIVE. All of this is horrible, considering that this little girl has been lied to for over a year, with no off-ramp to this deception in sight. But the show treats it like she?s being let down easy ? a gentle deception to save a kid from pain ? and then is just like Someday It All Works Somehow ROLL CREDITS. It?s? man, it?s cowardly. I don?t wanna play the Kuuga Woulda Done This Better card, but there are shows that understand that kids need to confront hardship sometimes if they?re ever going to become healthy and emotionally-secure adults, and then there?s whatever this was. Multiple opportunities for Shotaro or the kid?s mom to come clean and make this a teachable moment about honesty and taking solace from grief in the people around you, but they just gaslight this kid into thinking her dad simply doesn?t want to come home. Worse! So much worse! Like, I was genuinely hoping that the final moment between Asuka and Double was going to be Asuka telling Double that she knows he isn?t her dad, but it?s nice to pretend or something. Some way for the show to feel less like it?s traumatizing this kid In A Nice Way. But it never does, and just goes all in on it being a heroic idea to lie to a child about their dead dad. That?s it, that?s the lesson ? it is okay to spare kids from reality by lying to them indefinitely and assuming it?ll all work out in the future for some reason. Jesus. If it weren?t for that nightmare of an emotional resolution, this was actually an okay episode! It?s not a great Double episode ? the mystery is sort of nowhere in this one, honestly ? but it?s a decent Kamen Rider adventure. The fight between Nazca and Double is an episode highlight, with some intriguing character development for both characters. Nazca?s boundless ego runs up against Shotaro?s unpredictability, to explosive effect. It?s a neat look into how Kirihiko has some nobility to him, and how he?s also fighting for Fuuto? sort of, in a Mine All Mine way. The fight itself feels a little more dangerous and calculated than the various Dopant battles of the last few stories, which is a plus. Beyond that awesome fight, we get a few check-ins with a variety of characters (the ramen cart scene!), but it?s pretty much just a Shotaro story. Akiko?s barely in it, and Philip plays the role of rueful sidekick, without ever really interacting with anyone else in the story. Fun segments, but it never feels like anything more than a break in Shotaro?s narrative. Not? not my favorite thing for an ensemble show to do this early in the run? None of the scenes are bad, mind, but they don?t? they all feel very vestigial. You could cut just about any of them and the core Shotaro/Asuka story would still work, for better or worse. Worse for me, I guess, because of that ending. Can?t believe I forget an ending I hated as much as this one. Yikes! ? DIE-A MEMORIES -The little doll that Asuka has looks like an HBV suit for Kamen Rider Knight that Ren used a wish on to make everyone forget about. -Nazca? I don?t remember how I felt about this guy on the first go around. Not my favorite Sonozaki character, if I recall. He was okay, and the Nazca suit was great, but I?m sure I appreciated everyone else more, for reasons of, uh, story impact. This time around, I definitely like his smarmy nonsense quite a bit. He?s a guy that has smirked and flattered his way to power, but it?s power he only gained by proximity and seduction; he?s a useful idiot, rather than a brilliant mastermind. (I mean, he?s not an idiot idiot, but he definitely doesn?t have the undying respect of his in-laws.) And I like his ascot or whatever!
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01-20-2024, 09:45 AM | #60 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
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Very much a set of episodes in which they frontload all of the background details and main detective work so they can focus on the child in the latter half. And depending on what you think of lying to her like that with the inevitability of her learning anyway... yeah. I'm admittedly surprised they didn't go for the "I know you're not my dad" route like Die suggested since that would've been a solid way out.
It was still an enjoyable enough twofer though, especially when it came to trying to figure out the Dopant abilities. Everyone slowly piecing together that the shooter is in the water and not invisible. My memory was vague so I didn't remember the finer details so there being two Alomalocaris Dopants caught me off guard. I had completely forgotten that detail and it allows the two-parter to still happen despite Shotaro managing to get the drop on the "attacker" at the end of the first part. Nazca though! I always did enjoy the smarmy yet sophisticated Kirihiko and I'm reminded of why exactly in this episode. Just the way he gets pushed back and his "That attack was ridiculous... wait, that's exactly why he did it!" epiphany that just sends him over the moon. Also Nazca is still probably my favorite of the Sonozaki Dopant suits. Also mostly on the technical side of this rewatch, but I've noticed that the OST editing for this series is odd in certain places. Certain songs are cut weird and end up abruptly repeating or cutting to a further part in the song. Also as much as I enjoy cleaned up subs from OZC, man can they get really wordy at times to the point where I get overwhelmed by how much text is on screen. |
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