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09-16-2019, 11:40 PM | #51 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER BUILD EPISODES 17 - 18
There's a little bit of the show trying to have it both ways with this story. It wants to do a Horrors Of War story, with guilt, and fear, and sacrifice, but it also wants to poke fun at those tropes. It's intermittently successful, but this is still one of the weaker outings for Kamen Rider Build. There's a lot to cover this time, since (way more than the last two) this is the story that really feels like it's kicking off the next stage of Build. Hokuto's invaded Touto, sending their most fearsome weapon: three idiots and the world's laziest Kamen Rider. Yep, it's the introduction of Kamen Rider Grease and the Hokuto Three Crows! If there's stuff that works in this story, it's largely down to their introduction and piss-taking attitudes. It's tough to do a serious, melodramatic scene with these four characters. Grease is the sleepiest badass I've ever seen, and the Crows are just dopey-ass henchmen. I mean, I shouldn't say "just". The Crows have some good comedic chemistry, but it's predominantly of the "wacky" variety, something I was pretty much hoping Build could entirely avoid. It was not to be! They're portrayed as a threat, but it's hard to see them as more than chatty Smashes, not worth spending too much time on or with. Grease, though, that dude's awesome. He gets some super funny gags in, he's got a clear moral code, and he's more than a match for Sento and Banjou. If Stalk is going to have to take a step back for a bit, and Rogue has his hands full, Grease is a nicely charismatic villain (I mean, "villain", there's no way this dude doesn't eventually join the team, he's too cool) to keep things feeling dangerous. Take away Grease and the Crows, though, and I think there's a couple of misfires in this episode. It's interesting, I guess, that the show wants to do a thing with how Sento and Misora both feel responsible for the destruction in Touto. The execution, I don't know if worked out at all. Sento's guilt over Takumi's actions, like, I feel like we just covered this last episode? I know there's a war on now, but we literally just covered this, and resolved it. It's weird to do that story, and then immediately do that story again. I'm not saying there can't be nuance, a reexamination of culpability with regards to higher stakes, but, like, can we wait a few weeks? Go to that well too often, it's going to run dry. The Misora misfire is smaller, maybe, but more troubling. After some nicely understated emotional storytelling last story, in this one we get Wracking Sobs and WHY, WHY DID THIS HAPPEN, Pounding On The Sidewalk, the whole gamut of bad melodrama. Sure, it's because she maybe (almost definitely) armed a monsterized insurgency, and yeah, the Crows immediately crack wise about it, but the show still did a full To The Cheap Seats bit of bad writing and bad acting. Crack wise if you think it'll help, but also maybe just write it better in the first place? If shit like that keeps happening, you can't paper over it with jokes forever. That said, there's a bunch of great jokes in this. The Crows intro, Grease's nearly breaking his hand and getting lost, Sento's genre savvy (he knows that the secondary Rider can't ever be more powerful than the main Rider!!!), Grease's Miitan fandom, it's not like the show stopped being Build. Still funny. It did, however, stop being also W, and started being also Gaim. I got a huge Gaim vibe off of this one, and maybe, retroactively, for the season? Like Gaim, there really hasn't been much in the way of Monsters Of The Week. The few Smashes that are people, those are the early parts of an episode or a way to get at larger arc stuff. And it's been 95% larger arc stuff since, like, episode 5. Gaim had the same thing, where the villains all have personalities, goals, quirks. It's not just some random stranger with a problem to solve who becomes a monster for two episodes. Build's been similar to Gaim's early stages, and now it's a full-on city-occupying war between rival Kamen Riders who want an all-powerful McGuffin, soooooo... Yeah, bit of a Gaim vibe! Anyway, this two-parter, not my favorite. The action was solid, I'm ambivalent about the Sclash suits (Grease yes, Cross-Z no), I love how Military Adam Driver could not care less about how Sento motivates himself to fight in the war (Rogue is not your goddamn therapist!), and the various arc machinations are very, very appealing. There's just some nuts-and-bolts emotional storytelling that feels off-base. Hopefully just a hiccup, because this series is still doing a lot right.
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 10-13-2023 at 10:06 PM.. |
09-16-2019, 11:42 PM | #52 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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CHAIR UPDATE:
Stalk took it with him to Hokuto! STALK TOOK IT WITH HIM TO HOKUTO! HE DIDN'T TAKE HIS DAUGHTER BUT HE TOOK THAT CHAIR!
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 10-13-2023 at 10:06 PM.. |
09-17-2019, 03:53 AM | #53 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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I personally remember absolutely buying into the emotional moment of Misora crying over her part in the war happening, but I do in hindsight see how it might be too heavily done and too soon as well. And regarding Sento... I hope you don't get too tired of them running that Katsuragi well, because as far as I can recall, they never stop running it in some form or another.
I love Grease. And I don't mind the Crows, but I really love Grease and I'm happy he's already made a good first impression on you. |
09-17-2019, 04:31 AM | #54 |
Master Procrastinator
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 367
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One thing I do like here is them showing that sometimes war is not about good vs evil, but good people can be caught up in both sides and still be at war. Grease is clearly portrayed as still being a hero and a good person, but also very much an enemy and on the opposite side of the war. It's surprisingly mature and sober in spite of the all joking and silliness that gets thrown in. In a way, said silliness is necessary. This is HEAVY stuff they are dealing with for a kids show.
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09-17-2019, 05:23 AM | #55 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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Rogue and Slark paid good money for that chair, there's no way he's abandoning it in Touto when he could he sitting in it.
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09-17-2019, 06:55 AM | #56 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Oooh yeah, Cross-Z Charge! Welcome to everyone's least favourite Build suit!
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09-17-2019, 09:21 AM | #57 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,418
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The downside of binging this show after it originally aired is that you missed out on the week of speculation on exactly what the deal was with Grease’s initial reaction to Misora. I remember a lot of people guessing he was her brother or something.
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09-17-2019, 10:03 AM | #58 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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And it turns out she was just his waifu. Good times, good times.
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09-17-2019, 11:33 AM | #59 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
I personally remember absolutely buying into the emotional moment of Misora crying over her part in the war happening, but I do in hindsight see how it might be too heavily done and too soon as well. And regarding Sento... I hope you don't get too tired of them running that Katsuragi well, because as far as I can recall, they never stop running it in some form or another.
I love Grease. And I don't mind the Crows, but I really love Grease and I'm happy he's already made a good first impression on you. Grease is a very solidly realized character, after only two episodes. This show does a create job creating layered, compelling antagonists. No one's a one-note cackling lunatic, you know? No one just wants to blow everything up. That's why the Bikaiser stuff from the winter movie felt so un-Build, you know? I want my villains ("villains") to have more moves on them. Even Rogue straight up harrasses Sawa in his first scene! There's a lot of different types of villainy, and this show gets it. Quote:
One thing I do like here is them showing that sometimes war is not about good vs evil, but good people can be caught up in both sides and still be at war. Grease is clearly portrayed as still being a hero and a good person, but also very much an enemy and on the opposite side of the war. It's surprisingly mature and sober in spite of the all joking and silliness that gets thrown in. In a way, said silliness is necessary. This is HEAVY stuff they are dealing with for a kids show.
Quote:
Quote:
Build is a suit design that's based around model kits, and the snapping on of different parts to "build" a different design. Rogue and Stalk, the transteam suits, have an industrial, bolts-and-screws motif, as well as pipes to vent steam. Grease is covered in, y'know, grease, an industrial lubricant. Cross-Z is a dragon, while Cross-Z Charge is a jelly dragon. It's just so outside the established aesthetic of the show, and it really bothers me. He feels like he's from a completely different show. This is Kamen Rider 101! Gaim is all fruits! Ex-Aid is all motocross video games! Drive is all cars! The main Rider informs the rest of the suit designs and the internal logic of the suits! Banjou did not get that memo, I guess! (I also just, separate of the unified look, really think it's ugly. The mask, those shoulders, ugh.) Quote:
More than that, though, I really like how it's instantly paid off (no waiting weeks to find out their shared secret), not some dour thing, and that it allows the darker second act to keep my favorite element of Misora's character. It's a great move, and I applaud it.
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09-17-2019, 11:56 AM | #60 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Quote:
Cross-Z Charge doesn't work for me, and, honestly, Cross-Z doesn't work for me as a suit, either. I don't think it works in the show aesthetic. Build is a suit design that's based around model kits, and the snapping on of different parts to "build" a different design. Rogue and Stalk, the transteam suits, have an industrial, bolts-and-screws motif, as well as pipes to vent steam. Grease is covered in, y'know, grease, an industrial lubricant. Cross-Z is a dragon, while Cross-Z Charge is a jelly dragon. It's just so outside the established aesthetic of the show, and it really bothers me. He feels like he's from a completely different show. This is Kamen Rider 101! Gaim is all fruits! Ex-Aid is all motocross video games! Drive is all cars! The main Rider informs the rest of the suit designs and the internal logic of the suits! Banjou did not get that memo, I guess! (I also just, separate of the unified look, really think it's ugly. The mask, those shoulders, ugh.) Sento himself has a lot of duality to him in how he thinks things through; if not more. He constantly has so many things on his mind that's weighing him down and he tries to balance it out as best he can. It's natural that his rider form would be made up of two different sides, and that he'd be the one with the gimmick of finding out which sides are best for which situation and which ones work well together at any given time beyond even the general Best Matches. Banjou though? He's a bit more simple. He punches things. He's a one-track mind, and so having his design be a derivation of Build where it's just two of the same thing but enhanced works really well to me. That's not to say that Banjou Kazoouie doesn't have layers or complexities to him, of course; he's one of my favourite Rider characters for a reason (full disclosure? The three biggest reasons Build is my second favourite show is pretty much Sento, Banjou and their relationship), but looking at how he is consciously and how different he and Sento are in how they present themselves, yeah, I feel base Cross-Z makes a lot of sense. Of course he wouldn't bother with using a ton of different bottles and finding which ones go well with what and which one to use at which time; he just needs to know which one's the most powerful, which one lets him punch things, and how he can get two of them! ... also, given the gimmick; you naturally just kinda want to see a what-if scenario of if someone just used one bottle and how they'd do that. So that's cool as well. Going beyond thematic stuff for a second as well; there's actually some really nice touches where the 'inorganic' Dragon side has a few flames on it where the normal organic Dragon side doesn't. And going back to thematic stuff for a second, actually, that works even more with Banjou's differences to Sento. Sento's slightly more reserved side with Banjou's all out I'M GONNA PUT FLAMES ON EVERYTHING side. Sorry I just love this design a lot lol Last edited by Kurona; 09-17-2019 at 12:01 PM.. |
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