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01-15-2024, 08:15 PM | #31 |
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Damn... missed some episodes, gotta be some work to do to reply.
Though fortunately I already watched this show, thanks to my country airing it on TV, and did my (almost no reply) own writing starting here. Quote:
KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 1 - ?W?S SEARCH: TWO DETECTIVES IN ONE?
That?s my favorite thing about this premiere, how much it foregrounds the dynamic of Akiko and Shotaro. While the series as a whole is memorable for our two-in-one Kamen Rider, I found myself endlessly delighted by the way Akiko?s snarky self-regard ran up against Shotaro?s performative cool. She?s new in town, and just wants to avoid Encyclopedia Brown But A Junon Superboy Contestant as much as she can. Shotaro?s attempts to be suave and sophisticated just bounce right off her disinterest, while still creating a sense that she?s sort of intrigued by his dedication to helping the people of Fuuto. It?s? like, it could easily come off as grating ? generally no fun when someone shows up to shit all over the star of the show! ? but Akiko?s insults land pretty well on a doofus who could not be less manly or cool if he tried. Quote:
Shotaro? he?s so great, in how performative all of his noir detective shit is. He?s a child?s conception of a world-weary gumshoe. His office is littered with toys and trinkets. (There?s a wagon full of junk in a corner! He looks like he has his office in a day care!) He?s a kid acting like his idol, to distract from how massively unprepared he is to be a man. It?s charmingly vulnerable, even as it lends immediate credence to Akiko?s frustration with him. Like, he sort of sucks at making a case for himself, while constantly demonstrating both his dedication to helping the people of Fuuto, and his analytical prowess. He?s a great detective in the body of a child that wants to come off like a great detective.
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And, hey, speaking of Actual Children, it?s Philip! (Of all the cast, I would actually believe he?s in middle school. Shotaro?s insulting the wrong cast member!) He?s a fun source of mystery here, but not exactly a fleshed-out character. For what little time is spent on him, though, he?s a fun third part of the equation. He?s the exact opposite of Shotaro ? all id, no ego. He pursues his passions without caring what anyone thinks of them. It makes for a fun balance with Akiko?s audience-surrogate curiosity and Shotaro?s generally-embarrassing Dashiell Hammett cosplay. Collectively they?re all kind of a formidable team? Sort of?
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But it?s really Philip and Shotaro who have to combat the forces of evil, leading to the debut of Kamen Rider W. It?s one of my all-time favorite designs ? the split vertical shape, the green/black/gold/purple motif, the scarf, THE SCARF ? and the debut makes it suitably memorable. (I mean, the modern-day debut, I guess. The prologue sequence almost feels like a tease, for how hilariously EXPLOSIVE it is.) It?s that killer catchphrase, wedded to a sense of investigative justice, all wrapped up in form changes and a (clunkily-animated) Rider Kick. It?s a little showy, you know? The show makes it feel like W arriving isn?t just a savior to innocents or a thrilling climax, but the successful solution to a mystery. It?s W as AHA moment, and that feels nicely unique to this show.
Shotaro supplies W's weapons, while Phillip supplies W's powers, and the weapon side is the left part of W, accurately referenced in Shotaro's surname Hidari, which means left. W ends the fight with Maximum Drive attack Joker Extreme, though not that flashy, still a neat idea of literally splitting W's body into both halves for.. doubled finishing kicks, double the damage. Dopants fight wouldn't kill the humans using it, it'll revert them back to human while wrecking their Gaia Memory. However, Togawa is then taken by a T-Rex Dopant, and RevolGarry from the secret room emerges, taking Akiko and Philip along. Quote:
I wish I could explain how bizarre it was to enjoy Akiko's high-energy antagonism and broad mugging. It's all the shit I usually hate in Kamen Rider, but now... I don't know, it really clicked with me? And it's not even in the sense of With Later Context, because boy did I not find myself missing Akiko when she rolled up in Girls Remix. She never worked for me on my first viewing, and she SUPER didn't work for me by the end.
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Akiko was and still is what made is hard to really sink my teeth into act one of W. It's alot easier nowadays thanks to the power of hindsight, but yeah, when I first watched it all those years ago, the early parts of the show felt pretty rough to me, so we'll see how much that impression holds up assuming I get to continue rewatching the show.
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As far as first episodes go, I think W's premiere is one of the all-time greats. It's relatively rare that we start with an established Rider instead of someone getting the belt for the first time, but it has some advantages. We do get a bit of Begins Night to start with, but mostly we're looking at a Shotaro whose fully realized as a detective and a Kamen Rider, with Akiko serving as the audience surrogate who's just seeing this world for the first time. I like this because it allows the show to focus more on the mystery and how Shotaro and Philip handle their cases, saving the recap of how they first met for later. It's a better primer for W's premise.
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That's why Shoutarou has that line about punishing anybody who would make the city cry. Of course, a city cannot cry in the literal sense, but figuratively, Fuuto is composed of the people who live there, so it's still alive in its own way. Like, there'd later be Saber's story about saving lives vs saving the world and how those lives are what make the world worth saving, which I think is even more at the core of this show's theme. Double being powered by the wind of the city is cool symbolism, as well as a pretty unique reference to the original Kamen Rider and giving a clear image of Shoutarou's type of heroism, while his co-protagonist Phillip's more mysterious and a self-proclaimed devil for now.
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Honestly, I like Akiko as the cheerful and goofy heart of the team, like Mei for SOL. When you're literally sharing a body with another dude, teamwork is pretty important, way more important for Double than any other Rider. They have to be in sync in both mind and body for every fight, but Shoutarou's impulsiveness and Phillip's stubbornness can often cause them to clash. Akiko, being the daughter of a man who Shoutarou and Phillip both respect, in addition to having a surprising empathetic side, makes her a strong mediator necessary for resolving their conflicts. Also, her slipper is an iconic weapon.
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01-15-2024, 08:42 PM | #32 |
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Anywho, the setup for this episode I felt was pretty weak, especially in terms of the Philip stuff. He's been in the business for a year now, in-universe, and only now is "Family" some sort of trigger word. Did they just somehow avoid it ever being uttered and/or heard until now? I also still want Akiko to get thrown off a bridge at this point in the show, given that she actively causes more problems for everyone involved than anything, and is a massive hypocrite about it to boot. It's not funny, it's not endearing, it's annoying. Especially as Shotaro and Philip only become more likable in contrast. Speaking of likable characters, we get a bit more with Kirihiko, and a very well done, subtle scene about how his new wife and family are manipulating him just as much as he tries to manipulate the people he sells Gaia Memories to. Not a bad start for my personal favorite of the villains in this show. Smart move in not revealing his full on Dopant form just yet, too. This episode also has what is most likely my favorite gag in the whole show, given it's been stuck in my memory ever since I first saw it(the bit where Money Dopant asks just how many Memories Double has). And I love we continue to get bits showcasing the camaraderie between Shotaro and Philip, with stuff like Shotaro hooking his bro up with an autographed photo of Wakana. I have seen many other shows fumble stuff like that. In other Rider shows, even. Overall, there's some good stuff here, some not so good. It's a decent episode.
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01-15-2024, 09:10 PM | #33 |
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The more surprising one to me would be you finding Akiko annoying previously, cuz throughout your watches you do enjoy these kind of high energy antagonism characters, like the plethora of bratty childs from phase 1 Heisei, and how you like Nico (she's even worse as she goes towards morally ambiguous territory, being another Rider starting out as anti-heroic), while the one you dislike would be more of the "wooden" "boring" lack of high energy stuff. Of course I gotta know you'd like Akiko based on previous that.
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He's great! I really enjoyed his moment of trying to flatter Wakana, and her immediately seeing through it. It definitely makes Kirihiko come off as a dude who is trying to insinuate himself into a family that is far more aware of his goals than he thinks.
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01-15-2024, 11:13 PM | #34 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 4 - “DON’T TOUCH THE M: BETTING ON JOKER”
Family! I hope you like hearing that word a bunch! It’s a theme in this episode, but maybe oppressively so. It’s there in Philip’s memories, in Shotaro’s role as his big brother, in the Narumi Detective Agency as a found family, in Yuuko’s backstory, in the Sonozaki subplot… it’s 100% what this episode is about, so it’s not like I’m mad at its inability to elucidate or adhere to a theme. FAMILY! That’s the whole thing! I just wish that it felt like we were getting more than just A Bunch Of Family Stuff. The Sonozaki/Museum stuff… it’s definitely there. It’s a plot that moves at a breakneck pace, but without really intersecting with this episode’s mystery at all, in any way. (At least last episode we got Kirihiko saving the Money Dopant.) It’s just here to flesh out the Dopant side of their group, and that’s all. We get to see Wakana’s Dopant form in action, Nazca gets a full reveal (as opposed to, uh, Kirihiko’s earlier “full reveal”) and a glimpse of the rest of the family’s Dopant forms in a cool/nightmarish wedding photo. Beyond racing through the wedding of Saeko and Kirihiko, there’s nothing in all of these scenes that narratively assists the mystery plot in this episode. It’s just, like, another thing that’s happening in Fuuto. While it’s nominally on the topic of Family, spoiler – a subplot featuring a family is sort of always on the topic of Family. The mystery plot fares significantly better, as it’s both a tense battle to defeat the Money Dopant through either high-level mathematics or bluffing through use of the worse gambling partner, and also a fun exploration of Shotaro and Philip’s unsteady dynamic. The bit that really landed with me is a two-part thing, apropos to Double. The earlier part is Shotaro trying to connect with Philip’s sense of frustration by quoting something Sokichi once said. It bounces right off of Philip, because he never knew Sokichi, and Shotaro’s invocation of his memory isn’t dealing with Philip’s current struggle. Philip feels an absence, and Shotaro’s like Let Me Talk Like My Work Dad. But later, when they’re at the Million Colosseo, Shotaro speaks from the heart and tells Philip that yeah, he’s following in Sokichi’s footsteps, but the result is him dedicating himself to protecting Philip. It takes what was previously a tossed-off detective cosplay and turns it into something personal and heartfelt. There's warmth and vulnerability where there used to be performative manliness, and it's Shotaro once again missing what makes him effective in pursuit of someone else's personality. It's always fun to watch that play out. It makes for a strong episode overall, with a bonkers pre-monster confrontation (Old Maid!), and a solid story about the contours of the Double partnership. Also, a whole lot with the Sonozaki family! OH NO I SAID FAMILY AGAIN I’M SORRY PHILIP — DIE-A MEMORIES -Akiko running down Shotaro is like oxygen for me now, but I’m glad that Yuuko’s able to realize that Akiko is pretty awful at every aspect of her job. I like when there’s parity! -I had a vague feeling that the Money Dopant was cheating at the casino, but I’m glad I misremembered that! This whole story avoids a lot of easy outs, and I appreciate that. Yuuko just sort of goes Money Crazy; she isn’t being warped by the Money Dopant or anything. Also, everyone knows a monster runs the casino, and everyone’s too greedy to care. I love that touch! -Santa’s here! I don’t… I don’t know why Santa’s a character on this show? Very weird, even for a toku show!
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01-15-2024, 11:39 PM | #35 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 2 - ?W?S SEARCH: THE ONE WHO MAKES THE CITY CRY?
Like, the mystery here is? I don?t know that it plays fair with the audience? Marina ends up being the T-Rex Dopant due more to the conservation of cast -slash- noir femme fatale tropes, than due to anything we learned in the previous episode. We only find out that she was another former Windscale employee after Shotaro figures out she?s the T-Rex Dopant, which feels sort of crucial to guessing she?s the culprit? And her whole plan depends on knowing that Shotaro is Double, which is definitely not common knowledge at this point in the show? It?s a mystery where the only other named character is the killer, and for reasons that are all but invented for the finale. It sort of works, because Shotaro?s reaction sells the effect, but it?s not a great puzzle to solve. Quote:
The reveal doesn?t even really land for me, because there?s not much to her after she goes Full CG Monster. She?s a raving lunatic, and then she completely disappears from the story so a CG Double can grapple with a CG dinosaur. The T-Rex Dopant suit is not going to be in any monster hall of fame ? it looks like an upscaled hand-puppet, which is the nicest way I can describe it ? but at least it allows for a physical confrontation. The big ol? metal monster version is? I just can?t ever care about that type of fight scene. Too? I don?t know, too sterile? It?s clean in the exact way that I want toku action to be messy. Not a fan!
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The character work is still strong, though, which helps the episode manage to be an overall enjoyable watch. (Not a success, exactly, but not a drag to get through.) There?s Philip and Shotaro fighting about Shotaro?s inability to embrace his empathy and weakness, which is ? if memory serves ? going to be something of a recurring bit in this series. It?s a neat other half to Akiko?s frustration with Shotaro, where his need to be seen as someone else risks missing what?s worthwhile about himself. He?s a guy that wants to be seen as tough, but his softness is why both Akiko and Philip rush to his aid.
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The punch he throws at Philip, though? kinda not sure on that one? Philip literally shrugs it off, and the show treats it as A Manly Disagreement, but it?s still sort of a big deal that the show?s not really willing to confront. Philip isn?t being a dick to Shotaro ? Philip is psychologically unable to see the world the same way Shotaro does, and is trying to navigate their friendship the best way he can. (Dude even shows up at the end to make things right after getting punched in the face!) It?s a cruel thing Shotaro does, not just an impetuous or ill-considered thing. I?d certainly love to see the show treat Philip?s condition more sensitively, but I also remembered that I?m watching a Toei superhero show from 2009, so I?ll try to keep some perspective.
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DIE-A MEMORIES
-Show is super-duper into all of Double?s toyetic gadgets! It?ll be a constant presence through the first half of Heisei Phase 2, and it never did anything for me. (Fourze? not looking forward to those Happy Meal toys!) I find it a little cluttered, as an aesthetic. There?s the superhero, and the toy accessories, and the multi-change bike? I don?t know, feels a little busy for one episode.
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01-16-2024, 10:48 AM | #36 |
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Quote:
KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 4 - ?DON?T TOUCH THE M: BETTING ON JOKER?
The mystery plot fares significantly better, as it?s both a tense battle to defeat the Money Dopant through either high-level mathematics or bluffing through use of the worse gambling partner, and also a fun exploration of Shotaro and Philip?s unsteady dynamic. The bit that really landed with me is a two-part thing, apropos to Double. The earlier part is Shotaro trying to connect with Philip?s sense of frustration by quoting something Sokichi once said. It bounces right off of Philip, because he never knew Sokichi, and Shotaro?s invocation of his memory isn?t dealing with Philip?s current struggle. Philip feels an absence, and Shotaro?s like Let Me Talk Like My Work Dad. But later, when they?re at the Million Colosseo, Shotaro speaks from the heart and tells Philip that yeah, he?s following in Sokichi?s footsteps, but the result is him dedicating himself to protecting Philip. It takes what was previously a tossed-off detective cosplay and turns it into something personal and heartfelt. There's warmth and vulnerability where there used to be performative manliness, and it's Shotaro once again missing what makes him effective in pursuit of someone else's personality. It's always fun to watch that play out. Quote:
I brought up Akiko in Saber thread before to you when talking about Mei (about her being similar to Mei yes), but you didn't address those (particularly about Mei's admiration of Rintaro part) so didn't know. I understand that Mei is the heart as she's even more optimistic than Touma, for W though, Shotaro is the certified heart of the team, it's what acknowledged by his companions like Philip much later on, and also what transforms a hate-filled men like Terui into someone fighting for love of Fuuto. And despite above, I think Shotaro and Philip typically gets along well and interact in pleasant manner, they almost never got into intense fights. Dunno if Akiko also ranks up high/peak among heroine list like Mei, of which, I wondered why do you think the bar of heroines (not female Riders) is low.
Agreed. For Metal finishers, I prefer Metal Twister.
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01-16-2024, 12:22 PM | #37 |
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I enjoyed the Million Colosseo hustle as well, showing how Shoutarou and Phillip work as a team to outsmart Money Dopant. This also shows how Akiko functions between them, when she translates Shoutarou's well-meaning yet vague Soukichi-like wisdom in to something clear, to make Phillip understand and appreciate that Shoutarou is being genuinely serious here.
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01-16-2024, 06:44 PM | #38 |
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The one lesson learned from Kamen Rider W is that the green slipper is mightier than a rider kick.
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01-16-2024, 07:35 PM | #39 |
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This two-parter ends up being solid enough overall, though I can't help but feel like it was too much too early. The scene at the end, where Philip declares that he found/made his own family with Shotaro and Akiko would've hit way better if this had been like, episode 10 or something. As it stands now, while I buy it with Shotaro, with Akiko I have doubts. Not just because I find her annoying right now, but because Philip has only known her for like a week at this point.
Also, I keep forgetting to note this so I'll do it now: While I stand by my statement that I think the viewing experience is better as 40-minute chunks, the major upside of them being split as they are is that it allows W to have what I consider the best and most memorable "Previously On" segment in the franchise. Absolutely love the Detective Dartboard aesthetic of it.
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01-16-2024, 08:46 PM | #40 |
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This two-parter ends up being solid enough overall, though I can't help but feel like it was too much too early. The scene at the end, where Philip declares that he found/made his own family with Shotaro and Akiko would've hit way better if this had been like, episode 10 or something. As it stands now, while I buy it with Shotaro, with Akiko I have doubts. Not just because I find her annoying right now, but because Philip has only known her for like a week at this point.
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