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03-31-2020, 09:44 PM | #241 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 20
Wow, a really strong Shinji episode! That's dressed up like a really strong Ren episode! Neat! If there's a thing I might always remember about Shinji, about why Ryuki is the star of this show, it's how mad he gets at Ouja (they just toss that out like he was wearing a nametag) for killing Gai (same, no idea who told them his name). Like, this is the flipside of the scene where Shinji is so glad Goro isn't dead that he forgets to be mad at being tricked. Gai was an asshole, who arguably got what he deserved. Live by the Forcing Riders To Kill Each Other, die by the Forcing Riders To Kill Each Other, you know? But Shinji is furious that Ouja took a life. It doesn't matter if that life was someone who literally no other Rider is crying tears over. It's that core Rider thing of all lives being worth saving, and it's an attribute that only Shinji seems to have so far. (Tezuka's a good guy, but he still ain't immediately fighting Asakura over Shibaura getting killed.) There's your regular heroism, and then there's Star Of The Show heroism. Between Shinji holding a little girl's hand even when they're both knocked out from last episode, to his untethered rage at Ouja in this one, it's a nice window into why Shinji's the lead. It's fun to stan for Shibaura or get obsessed with Tezuka's off-hours, but, for real, I'm watching this show for Shinji's story. The rest of it this time, though, not bad! Throwing Ren and Asakura together is genius, and it's so intriguing that I don't mind that it's mostly padding. (Like, they don't really talk, and most of the middle of this one they're absent from.) The idea of why Ren is helping Asakura hangs over nearly every scene, and, again, it's super-smart to not really get anything out of Ren. Tezuka's got a theory, that Ren basically needs a different Ridder Buddy if he's going to be the killer Eri "needs” him to be. I... I wouldn't be mad if Tezuka guessed it 100% right, but I'm hoping there's more to it. As is, though, it's super fun to see Shinji furious and confused at Ren's actions, and Ren's disinterested Oh Are You Still Here look on his face in every scene with Shinji. Just some great, great character stuff with where those two are at right now. The plot, too, it's nicely done. The gimmick of Asakura crashing the car but escaping through the mirror, tricking the cops into thinking he's dead, real clever. The cops don't exactly win any awards for competence in this one, but that trick from Ren and Asakura is a pretty believable reason for the police to call off the search. Plus, just a damn cool stunt. That car immediately explodes. If there's a weakness in this one, it's down to some of the edits. I'm not sure anything in the show would be worth cutting away from a Kamen Rider Beach Battle, the most iconic of Kamen Rider fight scenes, but it sure as shit wasn't worth it for a crumb of a nugget of a wisp of Yui's childhood backstory. I'm sure it's information that'll be valuable eventually, but I did a full ARE YOU KIDDING ME when they cut from Ouja and Ryuki squaring off to Yui walking out of a photo lab. Like, who in the world is not going to be frustrated with that editing?! It's Riders fighting on a beach. You don't cut away from that unless it's to different Riders fighting on a different beach. Read the room! But, yeah, still a really good episode, and a great exhibition of why Shinji's the heroic lead in a show full of Riders.
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04-01-2020, 10:29 AM | #242 |
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But the other thing, it's how isolated Yui feels from the main action. Like, remember the first episode, where Yui got to go fight Mirror Monsters with Ren? Because they don't seem to let her leave the restaurant much, let alone help fight monsters. Was there a cut scene where she accidentally got a school bus full of children killed by a monster, so now she's banned from monster-fighting? No one seems to let her help fight monsters, and they barely talk to her about the Rider Battle stuff. If the show didn't want me to resent Yui scenes, maybe start putting her in the more important plots?
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There are a lot of times when, compared to the fun of watching the Riders go at it, it's hard not for them to feel like an obligation more than anything.
She's stronger than you think, but not in the way you seem to be expecting. She's never going to turn into Reiko overnight, because they're two different characters serving two different roles, even if the investigative angle is overlapping a bit. Quote:
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And if part of the reason Shinji thinks Rider War is pointless because he (again, have to give credit for him to be the only one who may consider that, not the other smarter, less-naive Riders) thinks that Shiro is only manipulating the Riders, what makes Tezuka think Rider War is pointless? He knows that Rider War's winner will be granted a wish, and he thinks Shiro knows what he's doing too. From the Scissors experience up until now, Shinji should just realize this, as Tezuka said, Shiro specifically chooses morally ambiguous people as Riders as they are more willing to do whatever it takes and kill to do their job. Speaking of Tezuka, he deserves thousand medals for this (man you should've posted this one as your episode screenshots) Quote:
Beach battle is the most iconic? Anyway talking about the battle, it shows again where Ryuki can gain upper hand to Riders like Ouja, and he did it a bit in the first part of the episode too (though it's probably the first time Shinji fiercely fights back that the opponent is off-guard by the "pacifist") means that the showing in consistent. But people probably just have it for kind characters and just undermine Shinji in everything, like "kindness is weakness" (when you're kind you will be more likely to let people step over you like in fights) mindset. Last edited by DreadBringer; 04-01-2020 at 11:31 AM.. |
04-01-2020, 12:48 PM | #243 |
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Not sure if this vindicates anyone, but it’s worth pointing out that in a toyline dedicated to doing notable female characters in Super Sentai that branched out into Kamen Rider for two waves, Yui was in neither of the two waves. And the characters who are are ones I can’t vouch for on popularity
https://powerrangers.fandom.com/wiki...der%20Vol.%201 |
04-01-2020, 12:57 PM | #244 |
I have a problematic type
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Not sure if this vindicates anyone, but it’s worth pointing out that in a toyline dedicated to doing notable female characters in Super Sentai that branched out into Kamen Rider for two waves, Yui was in neither of the two waves. And the characters who are are ones I can’t vouch for on popularity
https://powerrangers.fandom.com/wiki...der%20Vol.%201 |
04-01-2020, 04:37 PM | #245 |
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I think that her fighting (actually what fight?) Mirror Monsters together with Ren feels redundant for some reason. Her ability currently shown and utilized there is to see and detect Mirror Monsters, but all Riders (or anyone possessing card Deck) already has that too. For italic one, more like it's from Scissors kidnapping her before, she doesn't really have a transportation other than Ren's bike (Ren witnessed the kidnapping, Shinji's bike is 1 seater), she has to take a cab (so expensive in Japan) in ep. 11.
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And I can't call investigating for Shiro being a non-important plot part because well, he's the one behind Riders and Monsters at the first place and keeps commanding them via Rider War, that also actually lowkey defies her friend's insistence to keep her in the restaurant and stay safe, but now her path strays from them.
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Well, performance is the most subjective part, your mileage may vary, just don't want the other part of her to be dismissed. But, didn't you also complain about her being mildly inconvenienced by her circumstances when Gai "kidnaps" her, yet you don't like her mourning for Riders and others (like Emu scenario below) who suffer from tragedies caused by her brother (because for you it's, and to an extension Rider War, isn't a big deal)? The Gai one is a terrible scene for sure, but you seem contradict yourself here.
Also, to be honest, I'm having a hard time parsing that paragraph. What do you mean about me contradicting myself with the Gai kidnapping scene? (Plus, I'd love to stop talking about Yui! I don't know how I spent so much time thinking about maybe my least favorite character on this show and explaining what's not working for me, but I'm okay to move on from this! Don't love complaining about this show! This show is a good show!) Quote:
Yeah, the Ren thing, I sort-of get it. Ren's a brooding bad boy, that's almost always going to appeal more than a goofy hero like Shinji. Quote:
Beach Battle is the most iconic. If a Rider's ever going to fight another Rider on a beach, or even just a lieutenant-or-above villain, it's going to be a big one. That's a Feelings Fight. No more iconic venue for a Kamen Rider fight scene. Very heavy iconography, that landscape.
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04-01-2020, 06:37 PM | #246 |
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There’s your regular heroism, and then there’s Star Of The Show heroism. Between Shinji holding a little girl’s hand even when they’re both knocked out from last episode, to his untethered rage at Ouja in this one, it’s a nice window into why Shinji’s the lead. It’s fun to stan for Shibaura or get obsessed with Tezuka’s off-hours, but, for real, I’m watching this show for Shinji’s story.
One of my favorite moments in all of Ex-Aid (which I seem to have on the brain a lot lately!) comes from episode 3, where the concept of the Life Gauge is first made a point of. Hiiro and Taiga deem the situation too risky, but Emu charges into a hail of gunfire to keep a promise he made to a child. That scene (especially thanks to Kouichi Sakamoto's weighty direction) forever sold on me on Emu, and it was all because he was asking the question the star of any show with a ton of other Riders should: What Would Shinji Do?
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04-01-2020, 06:44 PM | #247 |
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Now, this, I can't do anything but agree with wholeheartedly. Ryuki absolutely nails making it clear why Shinji is THE Kamen Rider of the show, which is something important for any huge multi-Rider show to get right. You never want it to feel like they could swap out the name in the title and have it still make as much sense. There's just no question that Shinji's values make him the logical candidate for the starring role.
...but now I've got to finish writing about Episode 21, which may or may not undercut the point I just made!
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04-01-2020, 07:16 PM | #248 |
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MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 21
The Shinji and Ren stuff in this episode... fantastic. Smart and nuanced. A storyline that gives weight to seeing other perspectives, to allowing your mind to change. It's pretty much all I want to talk about from this one. A few non-Shinji/Ren bullet points, first. -Two contract monsters for Asakura?! I love it. I love how that dude makes it look like he's playing on Easy Mode compared to everyone else. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that a Homicidal Lunatic would perform better in battling than, if I can remember them all, a Dying Lawyer, a Fortune Teller, a Programming Student, a Corrupt Cop, a Journalist, and Whatever Ren Does, but it's really not looking good for the other Riders. The most violent dude is now twice as powerful. -I super don't want to be that guy, and I ain't gonna dwell on it, but I'll mention that once Tezuka gets involved in the search for Shiro, Yui literally has to wait outside of her own goddamn plotline, doubled over in fear. Just... this show! It's doing it to me on purpose! It's all the Shinji and Ren stuff that works so good, though. Real smart writing. A lot of it is based around Shinji, and his struggle with the weight of the Rider Battles. With the reveal to him of Eri's predicament, and Ren's vow to save her, his whole Riders Shouldn't Fight thing comes off as myopic and insensitive. Even Tezuka's like, People got problems! You don't know, Shinji! It's something Shinji spends the rest of the episode puzzling over. How can he ask Ren to stop fighting if it's to save a life? But how can he support Ren, knowing that's endorsing murder? (Including, y'know, his own!) It's to the show's credit that it doesn't give an easy answer. Moreover, it reframes some of Shinji's earlier declarations of Rider's Shouldn't Fight as naive and condescending. In a very Shinji way, he jumped in, quickly made up his mind, and then forcefully stuck to his guns. Even as it drove Ren away, he felt sure of his principles, and safe in his views. He spends a lot of time in this episode feeling uncertain, and it's smart to have Shinji lean into that uncertainty, to suggest he doesn't know enough, to try and understand Ren's point-of-view better. And, weirdly, that becomes the key to (maybe?) redeeming Ren. There's a great scene with Ren and Asakura, where Ren sort-of serves up Shinji, telling Asakura to fight him first. When Asakura wonders if it's because Ren has a beef with him, Ren admits it's because he doesn't that he needs Shinji gone. I love that. I love that Ren thinks his problem is that people like Shinji want him to be better, and that's holding him back. They've got a view of him that he doesn't want to be, and the more he tries to be the person they want, the less likely he is to save Eri. With Shinji gone, it's pure self-negation for Ren. No one judging him, not one wanting him to be safe, to be kind. He can just fight. But Shinji nails the big hero move by meeting with Ren and saying that he was wrong. He doesn't have all the answers, he didn't know what Ren was going through, he didn't know why he was fighting. He thought the Rider Battles were some cruel decision Ren was making, not the only hope of a dying woman. He doesn't have that in his life, that kind of relationship, so he can't really know what Ren's going through. He can't judge him, but he can try to understand him. He'll fight him, to try and see what Ren sees, to understand why he's fighting. It's a huge swing for the show, what with Ren 100% throwing in with a murderous fugitive last episode, but I think it works beautifully. It starts episodes back with Tezuka forcing Ren to be honest with himself, with who he is and what he wants, and then it sticks the landing by making Shinji acknowledge who Ren is and what Ren wants. Some of my favorite Rider stories are ones that refuse to be didactic, that aren't about clear right and wrong, that value the idea of understanding, of empathy, of suggesting that sometimes people disagree and that's okay. It's refreshing to have a hero realize he acted rashly, and in doing so hurt a friend. And to have the emotional climax of a storyline be I Didn't Understand What You Were Going Through But I'd Like To Try... that is 1000% my jam. All of that arc, it's perfect to me. I get the decisions Ren and Shinji made, and I love that the show took its time resolving their conflict. I like that it needed time, you know? That it wasn't a one episode Ren Is Bad followed by Ren Is Good Again. It's fulfilling. I feel good about how this plotline went.
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04-01-2020, 08:10 PM | #249 |
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Last edited by AkibaSilver; 04-01-2020 at 08:13 PM.. |
04-01-2020, 10:07 PM | #250 |
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It’s to the show’s credit that it doesn’t give an easy answer. Moreover, it reframes some of Shinji’s earlier declarations of Rider’s Shouldn’t Fight as naive and condescending. In a very Shinji way, he jumped in, quickly made up his mind, and then forcefully stuck to his guns. Even as it drove Ren away, he felt sure of his principles, and safe in his views.
Being able to add that... honesty, I guess, to the narrative, to take this very obviously heroic character, and start saying "hey, maybe this guy's chronic self-righteousness is actually kinda a problem?", I can't stress enough how smart that was. Not only does exploring Shinji as a more flawed character ensure the kind of "gray and gray" drama the story needs, making it a direct outgrowth of the same traits that make him a hero keeps him sympathetic, and keeps him in a spot where you can still root for him, preventing the show from becoming too dour. The question the show asks is less "Is Shinji a hero?", and more "What good is Shinji being a hero doing anyone?", which is infinitely more clever and interesting in my book. Also, just for Die's benefit, since he's not using those subs, I should probably explain that if anyone ever talks about Asakura and his habit of being "vexed" by things, it's because that's how TV-Nihon translated his catchphrase, and it kind of left an impression on a lot of fans.
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