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03-05-2024, 07:01 PM | #351 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 36 - “BEYOND R - LEAVE ALL BEHIND”
Let’s talk about Terui first, since this is his Upgrade Form story. Like I mentioned last time, I’m good with them landing this story on Terui’s protective feelings for Nagi outweighing his hatred for Isaka. While Shroud’s here to yet again get it wrong, I don’t feel like this story ever really tried to say that Terui’s motivation was anything other than saving that girl from Isaka. There’s no conflict in Terui, which makes his attempts to tame the Trial Memory come off less like a spiritual awakening and more like a fairly standard training montage. (And, look, I’m just saying: a guy who turns into a motorcycle should’ve been able to run that track on his own power.) It’s nice to see him succeed, and his victory over Isaka is pretty glorious, but this all felt like a semi-perfunctory Time To Close The Book On Isaka story, not anything that required a reexamination of Terui’s psychology. Not exactly the same as Shotaro having to reckon with the power of his weakness, you know? Quote:
And then there’s Saeko choosing Isaka over her family, and it’s… shot well? I liked how it all looked, and I like the escalation of tension within the villain group just as the heroes are becoming more powerful, and I like the idea that Isaka is – like Terui – finding a motivation beyond where he started from, but I kind of don’t care a whole lot. Saeko’s scenes with Isaka have always been too one-note for me (and that note is There Are Kids Watching), and I don’t know that she’s ever been portrayed with enough nuance to care about whether she feels like she gets enough respect from her crime-boss father. Isaka, meanwhile, is clearly just counting the 9.8 scenes until he’s offed, so his threats against Ryubei are a nice nod to an overall goal that is basically never ever going to happen. So much of the middle part of this episode feels like it’s killing time until Terui is allowed to leave the track, even if it’s the best version of killing time that I can think of.
Wakana finally speaks up against Saeko to express her feelings about Isaka that he's only using her, and reminds her about their family business as well as the love provided by her father, but Saeko would also confess that Ryubee never loved her unlike Wakana, and used her as untrustworthy slave, with an evil laugh. She then offers a choice if Wakana is with her or against her. Wakana views Saeko as acting strange and thus is deaf to reason.... like she's always been like this? Like her speaking up here, I'll also do it; honestly, I think since her setup in ep. 13-14, Wakana was kind of just there, mostly rolling along with what Museum does with occassional questioning, with ep. 23-24 as an exception (the other one had her experimented by Isaka). Her refusal to use Claydoll Dopant seems to instead relegate her into more minor roles, the character development she got was mostly used to tolerate Saeko more (her disdain is fully aimed at Isaka here). Quote:
It sounds like I hated this episode, but I really didn’t. It’s fine. The debut of Accel Trial is super cool, and this whole story is a gigantic win for the most appealing version of Terui. It just – it never felt like it had any fun twists on it, and so much of the Sonozaki side of things featured the inner lives of characters I was never terribly curious about. It’s a solid episode, but something this important to the character of Accel should’ve probably managed better than “solid”.
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DIE-A MEMORIES
-Accel Trial! -Not many Upgrade Forms are actually slimmer than the Base Form (not counting, uh, all of Kabuto and Ex-Aid?), but I really like it here. It sells Speed in such a simple way, which is very fun. The blue is also an easy flip from Accel’s red. Just a couple clean decisions that result in an attractive suit. -I love that there’s a yellow mid-form change that doesn’t actually do anything… yet.
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03-05-2024, 08:24 PM | #352 |
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I infact, will! And on that note, I should probably talk about the Trial two-parter! For sure liked part 2 alot better than part 1. Mainly because alot of stuff in the first part felt a bit stretched. The most blatant thing being Tsaka's' first bout. It's a primary example of what I mean when saying that I find Isaka stupidly and boringly invincible. If trapping Double in a pillar of water and Accel in an electrical storm were things he was always capable of, why did he never do it up to now, other than that our heroes would be long dead and the show would be over? Part 2, however, was alot more my speed. With Terui himself still trying to hold onto the fires of hatred in his heart(even assuring Shroud that he still seeks revenge), until the dream about his sister is ironically what wakes him up. Though I will say, this conclusion to Terui's' arc definitely would've landed way stronger if not for how his introductory arc had ended: Showing that as bad as he could get, he'd never go over the edge. It makes the conclusion of these episodes feel less like a hill he overcame and more like a reassurance that there was no chance of any sort of relapse. But you know what, none of that matters to me and my brain from half a decade ago when I first watched the show. Why? Because it has my second favorite Shroud moment in it. The sheer "screw this, I'm outta here" energy of this scene never ceases to put a smile on my face. I've said before that I love Shroud, and, intentional or not, find her over the top dramatic flourishes really funny. Heck, even ignoring that scene I made a gif of, part 1 features her somehow having explosives planted on every single rock of the avalanche she causes solely for when Terui inevitably screws up the training course. It's the sort of thing that's so ridiculous I can't help but love it. So yeah, while there are some complaints, I overall had a good time with these episodes.
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03-05-2024, 08:39 PM | #353 |
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It's a primary example of what I mean when saying that I find Isaka stupidly and boringly invincible. If trapping Double in a pillar of water and Accel in an electrical storm were things he was always capable of, why did he never do it up to now, other than that our heroes would be long dead and the show would be over?
That all said, I am mostly just play Devil's Advocate here. I genuinely don't think the show did a great job creating a coherent framework for Isaka's objectives; it's a forgettable mix of Gathering Data and Team Rocket stuff.
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03-05-2024, 09:20 PM | #354 |
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It's been a long time since the show originally aired, so I don't remember if there was as much fan demand for Shining Accel as their was for CycloneAccel Extreme. I also don't remember if Bandai ever made one.
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03-05-2024, 09:26 PM | #355 |
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03-05-2024, 10:06 PM | #356 |
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SHOTARO HIDARI HARDBOILED DELUSION DIARY EPISODE 9 - “WHAT IF AKIKO WAS A LITTLE SISTER?”
It’s an episode that starts off inexplicable, even for a Delusion Diary – Akiko wants to be a little sister RIGHT NOW – and it sort of never really figures itself out. The slow roll-out of Philip as a bespectacled little brother, Terui as a stay-at-home mom, and the Weather Dopant as a possibly-abusive dad are all nicely surprising gags, but they never add up to a full concept. This one had a ton of non-Delusion content, relative to how quickly other episodes launch into Shotaro’s fantasies, and I think it’s because there was sort of no inherent logic to Akiko’s nonsense. Still, some decent laughs to be had in this one. Akiko’s hyper-specific checklist of what she wants in a big brother was horrifyingly humorous, as was Shotaro’s dismissive vision of Philip as an overlooked little brother. (Casting Terui as a warm, maternal presence… that tracks? I can see it.) Not an idea that had a lot of meat on the bone, but I laughed a few times.
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03-05-2024, 10:10 PM | #357 |
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Terui dressed as a mom is a terrifyingly cursed image.
On the opposite end, I started giggling when I saw the Weather Dopant wearing a hat and tie. |
03-05-2024, 10:13 PM | #358 |
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They swerved from Philip being the mom, despite him being canonically the most feminine member of the team.
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03-05-2024, 10:32 PM | #359 |
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Philip being dressed like my friends is what killed me in this one. I will never not get a giggle out of standard nerd comedy.
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03-07-2024, 11:21 PM | #360 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 37 - “VISITOR X - THE BRIDGE OF PROMISES”
If I have any fondness for Wakana’s character (and I do!), it’s largely because of her scenes with Philip in this episode. She’s been frustratingly underdeveloped these last couple, uh, dozen episodes? Her arc was hitting an intriguing point of uncertainty back before the Winter Movie, where her friendship with Philip was causing her to question her loyalty to her family. Then… nothing. Terui shows up, which takes time to deal with. Isaka shows up, which takes time to deal with. Saeko’s arc becomes the central story of the Sonozaki family, which relegates Wakana to either a pawn or an exposition prompt, there to ask other characters to explain things to the audience. She wasn’t really about anything, for a good long while. But I instantly forgot that when she stepped into view on that bridge. The two of them just have such compelling, natural chemistry. Philip becomes suave and emotionally present. Wakana becomes effervescent and charming. The two of them… it’s not flirting, even though it can easily (and unfortunately) be read that way. It’s more that they feel safe with each other, because they don’t need each other to be anything but themselves. There’s no pressure to fight/commit crime, or a larger family to protect. It’s just two people who care about each other, and that’s the scope of their world. They get to fantasize about a carefree life of emotional support, which they’re largely denied in the real world. (Philip less so, but Shotaro’s partnership is not the same thing as Wakana’s.) And to admit that it’s easier for them to dream when they can escape to being a voice on the phone… so great. Such a thoughtful, sentimental way to frame their bond, in a set of scenes that almost single-handedly make me care about Wakana again. It’s an episode that does a great job of making all of the Sonozaki family interesting again, actually. Saeko being on the run creates a wild card scenario in the city, as well as exposing Ryuube’s familial bond as being a distant second to the needs of the Museum. It creates additional pressure on Wakana, because she’s being asked to step up at exactly the moment where she’s acutely aware of what reluctance or failure will get her. The Sonozakis get to be even more of a nightmare as they better express the stakes of their story, even if their specific objective continues to be disappointingly vague. But, hey, at least we also get some additional backstory on Philip, for a big flashing sign that might as well say We Are In Our Final Act Of The Series. The neurology professor that I briefly thought was Narutaki – Neurotaki – pops up to start to lock down details on Raito’s past, which is sure to be massively coincidental that it’s happening in a story so heavily featuring the Sonozakis and Shroud. (Hard to really “speculate” on this plot point. Sorry!) What we get here is thrillingly conveyed and kinetically supported, thanks to the Hopper Dopant assassin lurking on the fringes. It’s just enough info to feel like you’re seeing more of the picture, but not so much that it feels like homework. Neurotaki was one of a half-dozen scientists that helped design the Gaia Memories for the Museum, which included wiping Raito’s memory. Thats what we get, and it’s the perfect nugget of information in an episode that has a ton of table-setting to do. — DIE-A MEMORIES -Speaking of table-setting! I really love that the Ryuube won’t let a little thing like Saeko’s defection and Isaka’s recent demise keep him from enjoying a typically-ornate family dinner at a preposterously large table. Dude’s got the Habit Memory! -Didn’t really talk about the Hopper Dopant, who mostly exists to be a cool looking gothic lolita assassin and not, like, a fully-fleshed out character. (Cool outfit and aesthetic, though!) The REAL interesting part is that this episode’s director also got to handle the Hopper Dopant actor’s later TV debut as… well, I’ll let Androzani cover that part. As trivia goes, it’s a real peach.
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