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10-08-2019, 10:15 PM | #231 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Quote:
Luckily, even for folks who didn't like much of Wizard, it definitely has some strong episodes, and the middle section with Beast is a breath of fresh air. Also, it's a ton of work to get there, but the ending is a pretty great finale to the season-long arc. I don't know if the show really changes, though, so much as it papers over some weaker elements with more interesting characters and cool twists. I mean, I found Haruto dull in the beginning, and I found him slightly-less-dull-but-still-pretty-dull at the end. Like I said, though, tough call. If you're not into it for the first dozen-or-so episodes, I don't know. Maybe watch a show you'll like better?
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10-09-2019, 02:10 AM | #232 |
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Cool, I'll probably finish it at some point. It would feel weird to leave part of the Heisei era incomplete permanently. It's just not one I'm in a rush to get to.
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02-22-2020, 10:31 PM | #233 |
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KAMEN RIDER BUILD NEW WORLD: GREASE
I… Oh my God, I remembered none of these people. There was definitely a spinning up of my Build memories at the beginning of this one, trying to remember what the hell was going on and where people had been left and what their storylines were and who the hell was Takumi again (no joke, when Buildad mentioned him, I’m like, who?) and just, like, 90% of Build. I feel like I should have reread this thread to bring myself back up to speed. I got there, though. It all pretty much came back. (I even got jokes and callbacks, like Sawa’s “It’s better if you don’t know.”) It’s like riding a bike, but in this case the bike is a 49-episode TV series I watched less than six months ago. I’m… you know, I’m not sure I should’ve had this difficult of a time remembering Kamen Rider Build. Low level troubling! Anyway, this movie! It’s maybe a huge disadvantage for New World: Kamen Rider Grease to kick off with the short film “I Heard the Idol Otaku is Dating His Fav”, since that goddamn thing killed me. Much like (my memories of) the HBV Prime Rogue short, this is unmitigated comedy, with Kazumin at his most problematic (I’m not sure him being an obsessed lunatic is as much a cute thing as this movie seems to consider it) and Misora instantly regretting trying to connect with him as a human being. It’s slight, it’s really just jokes and a setup for Grease and the Crows hiding on an island until Kazumin can face his New World of heartbreak, but it’s so fan-servicey and ridiculous that any serious story is going to feel misguided afterwards. Like a lot of fans, I assume, I’d’ve been okay if they stretched this short out to full-length. It’s not that the movie itself was bad, though. It was good! It was not great! But it was good! There’s a thing in the Uraga character that felt… not undeveloped, but more like it was underutilized. Uraga’s a guy who longs for the old world, the flames and terror and violence. He doesn’t see a place for himself in this New World, so he’d just as soon burn it down into something that feels familiar. He’s a Phantom in this world, roaming and isolated. He lacks connections, and he can’t let go of the past. That’s a solid character (I don’t feel like the actor did much with it, though), and honestly, a great villain for an epilogue. The story he wants to be in is over, and he can’t see that. He wants to wind things back to how it used to be, instead of moving on and making a new life. The problem for me is, so much of the climax of the film hits the lack of connections, but it ignores all of the Phantom stuff that feels like it’s right there. The heroic speech lands on Kazumin’s friends, and a weirdly generic Kamen Riders Fight To Protect Us All spirit, but it feels like the similarities and differences between Kazumin and Uraga, that stuff doesn’t feel like it’s integrated that well. As a villain, making Uraga’s whole thing But He Doesn’t Have Friends Like The Crows… I don’t feel like it’s enough for a movie. If they’d hit some deeper levels, or tied the hero and villain together more, I think it could get to that next level, the heights Build could hit as a show. This one, what looked to be some interesting thematic work ended up just being the Kazumin Fights For His People Not His Country story we’d already seen play out on the show. And, yeah, for a movie that felt like it was partially telling a story about being trapped in the past, and choosing old conflicts because they feel safer than living in peace, it’s weird how repetitive it seemed. Like, you can say it’s callbacks or whatever, but a lot of this movie is rehashing moments we’d already seen. Metal Build, I mean, it’s Hazard Form, I love that goddamn suit, but we saw an incredible arc of Build where Hazard Form kills a Crow and draws Grease’s hatred. Doing a riff on that for the middle section of this movie, but doing it without the sick shame of Sento at its core… I’m not sure that’s a comparison you want to invite on your story. Not going to look great playing those notes. Using the Crows’ death and then swerving it, I don’t know. I thought they’d swerve it, I didn’t think they’d be dumb enough to just kill the Crows again, but that means that a lot of Kazumin’s reaction felt hollow, and the whole scheme felt overly manipulative of Sento. He gaslighted that dude into thinking three of his friends had died. I don’t… that’s like Evol(t) shit. Like the Miitan obsession, I don’t think it’s as cute as the story thinks it is. In general, I was surprised how little new story this movie felt like it was telling. I love these characters, I’ll spend as much time with them as I’m allowed, but so much of this movie felt like it was retreading ground, and that’s a bummer. I didn’t need a movie to tell me that Grease draws strength from his friends, that he fights to protect them, and that he’s got an unhealthy obsession with Misora. (HE WANTED TO DRESS HER UP LIKE MIITAN ON THEIR FIRST DATE.) All of that was in the Build TV show, where it had room to breathe and ways to surprise. This, I know where that story goes, and I don’t really need to have it retold if there’s no new ways of telling it. I don’t want it to seem like this movie didn’t work at all, though. Like I said, it was good. The new suits looked great. Phantom Build has a great Military aesthetic to it, with the army green locking in well with the black base suit. Grease Perfect Kingdom, I think it’s tricky to have all primary colors in one design, but the way they all cluster around the head and shoulders kept it from being too garish and/or distracting. And, fake-out or not, I like the idea of a Kazumin suit that’s all about the strength his friends provide. That’s such a core part of his character and his arc, so it’s nice to have it signified visually. So, look, I think this movie has problems. I think it suffers from a lack of ambition in its storytelling, and it misses some opportunities to get at new and fresh concepts. But it’s a Build movie, so it’s full of great characters doing character-driven things, wrapped up in some fun fights and top-shelf humor. (Sento forgot Utsumi for three-quarters of the film! Sawa and Gentoku have couples t-shirts to tell people that they banged! Grease and the Crows went for a soak on an irradiated island because the hero of the movie had his heart broken!) Every Kamen Rider gets to Henshin, and the big explosive climax is centered around Peace and Love defeating the horrors of war. Even when it’s not great, it’s still exciting and funny and very very Build. I just know they can be great, so it’s a shame when it isn’t.
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03-08-2020, 11:00 AM | #234 |
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Ah, the series that aired on my TV and recently ended. I missed some part due to schedules but here we go. I have to give it to Build for instantly jumping to the plot from the beginning like Banjou's fugitive status and Sento's past and searching it out to Faust. I also have to say Build's Rider henshins are my favorites with the visual aesthetics for "armor engineering".
What if the true Shotaro/Philip mechanic was....Sento and Katsuragi?! "We are two scientists/Kamen Riders in one". Both are foils to each other where Sento befriends others, adapted through Build Station, and wants to protect humanity, but Katsuragi sees others as tools, unable to handle Build's more powerful forms, and only focused on destroying Evolt. Sento is when Kuroto is a total goody-two-shoes (he has a bit narcissm but he wants nothing more than doing good and helping everyone). Sento also lowkey looks like Taiga. Banjou's first name is Ryuga, and his Rider form has a kick where a Dragon burns the Rider's legs to kick....is this a coincidence?! His Cross-Z Magma form gives me Agito Burning form vibe. I thought at first Banjou is the one suffering the most with fugitive status, turns out Sento matches/surprasses him in that. I have to commend him for doing much fighting in human form against multiple enemies (One of the few cases was Alain in Ghost). Misora as Mii-tan immediately reminds me of Poppy, especially that it's from previous season. They created 2 heroines with secret idol persona back-to-back. Sawa was more than just a reporter who is a KR fangirl (and a promoted one to help them and stay in nascita), being a spy to Namba. Why Grease's human form has almost similar name to Banjou's dead girlfriend?? (Kazumi, Kasumi). Did Banjou even realise that? He calls Grease Kazumi. So as Cross-Z has fire/magma themed upgrade form, Grease goes for the opposite for ice-themed Blizzard form. Gentoku's the most varied character for sure with many roles he assumed like being Night Rogue, the scheming leader, then exiled and finally as current Kamen Rider Rogue on heroes' side. And wtf with him goofing around with horrendous fashion sense that time. Utsumi always seemed creepy and unsettling to me from the beginning even when he was calm (his glasses doesn't help), comes full force when joining Evolt. Though he's not as evil as it seems (backstabbing Evolt), the heroes still seemingly doesn't care for him at his death (deservingly so tho). Evolt is the "your important figure is the mastermind all along" villain in form of Soichi Isurugi aka hipster dad. I've always prefered Build design wise to others (for Genius the bottles in the eye kinda ruins the looks). The other one I liked are Rogue and Cross-Z Magma perhaps. Genius form sure cannot match the villain (Evolt) most of the time which seems a wasted upgrade. What I dislike is that its stats aren't superior to FullBottle forms. Gold Rabbit and Silver Dragon hilariously canonize the "Sento and Banjou are best match" gag like the Ep. 1 title and it's used even in the "back to base form" final fight with degrading Build and Evolt powers. |
03-08-2020, 11:55 AM | #235 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Dang! A lot there to unpack! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. A couple things I want to pull out:
Quote:
What if the true Shotaro/Philip mechanic was....Sento and Katsuragi?! "We are two scientists/Kamen Riders in one". Both are foils to each other where Sento befriends others, adapted through Build Station, and wants to protect humanity, but Katsuragi sees others as tools, unable to handle Build's more powerful forms, and only focused on destroying Evolt. Sento is when Kuroto is a total goody-two-shoes (he has a bit narcissm but he wants nothing more than doing good and helping everyone).
Quote:
Hey, thanks for sharing all of that! Build was a great show, and it's awesome to see people getting so much out of it.
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03-08-2020, 12:12 PM | #236 |
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Dang! A lot there to unpack! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. A couple things I want to pull out:
I think that's an interesting point, to contrast the two groupings. With Double, it's about that synchronicity, the way the two of them complete each other. With Build, Sento and Katsuragi, it's not about seeing in the other person what you need, what you're missing, but what you wish wasn't there, what disgusts you about yourself. Sento abhors Katsuragi's lack of empathy, his belief in science at the expense of human connection. Katsuragi belittles Sento's ability to forgive, to atone. It's only late in the series, with the formation of Build Genius, that they try to bridge that gap. Interesting idea! I can definitely see the Misora/Mii-tan stuff being a reaction to the Asuna/Poppy stuff. Build constantly subverts expectations, so folks that expected another Poppy get a money-grubbing idol who sleeps all day. It's a fun twist. Hey, thanks for sharing all of that! Build was a great show, and it's awesome to see people getting so much out of it. |
03-08-2020, 12:30 PM | #237 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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Oh, man, I'd never say "wrong". It's all personal opinion, and I'm as thrilled to read stuff I disagree with as I am to read stuff that matches my views. (Well, I think you might be wrong about the EyeBottles for Build Genius. That is some stellar suit design, and a great way of using every part of the aesthetic.) Aside from the couple things I wanted to directly address, the bulk of your post seems spot-on to me. I'm glad you brought up Sawa, since she was a far more complex and three-dimensional character than she needed to be, and I find that's one of the hallmarks of Build. There's a lot of nuance to the cast, a lot of extra details that help them feel like more than a thematic lever or a way of commenting on the hero. Sawa has goals and fears that exist outside of the main hero, and that's a great thing to see.
But, yeah, no, your views on Build are real good. They were fun to think about again! Quote:
Still, it doesn't strike me as an unreasonable request. People can always not use it if they aren't into it. It's something that'd take more than a minute to do, though, so I'd probably not be able to tackle it until the post-Ryuki break. So, like, end of April/beginning of May? Something like that? I'll definitely give it a shot. Thanks for the feedback!
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