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01-19-2021, 09:59 AM | #681 |
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This is another Kabuto story that really stuck with me; every time I've heard Ave Maria for the last, uh, 14 years, it's reminded me of Kabuto. I can't say anything about the Reina and Daisuke story that hasn't already been said - it was low-stakes and absolutely stunning and beautiful (also Gon with the fire extinguisher FOREVER, that was amazing). It's a solid, dramatic pair of Kabuto episodes that I really liked and that hold up amazingly when watching them again.
On a separate note, I laughed pretty hard at Tsurugi in his one dissonant scene, so I can't hate that part; I felt like it was a nice breather, even if it was such a tonal shift from literally everything else. I am slightly less annoyed with his crush on Misaki, retrospectively, since he is now not pressing forward with it. (Tho it does reinforce the patriarchal BS of Well She Belongs To Another Man, This Is A Valid Reason To Step Aside. I may still be slightly annoyed with it, haha) |
01-19-2021, 10:46 AM | #682 |
I have a problematic type
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Posts: 10,418
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I read it as more of an “I Want My Two Favorite People to be Happy,” personally. Tsurugi is definitely prideful, but he’s also been remarkably adept at recognizing and respecting their people’s relationships.
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01-19-2021, 11:22 AM | #683 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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Like, there's a spectrum of Worm/Native characters in this story, from Deserve Love (Hiyori) to Possible Threat (Tsurugi) to Inevitable Threat (Reina), and the show's case is that all of them deserve love, or at the very least, a chance to find love. They made me care a ton about some formerly-bland antagonist (stylishly shot, but I wasn't a fan otherwise) in just two episodes! This show! Quote:
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I am slightly less annoyed with his crush on Misaki, retrospectively, since he is now not pressing forward with it. (Tho it does reinforce the patriarchal BS of Well She Belongs To Another Man, This Is A Valid Reason To Step Aside. I may still be slightly annoyed with it, haha)
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01-19-2021, 02:00 PM | #684 |
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I mean, it can be both things! Tsurugi is, I think, genuinely rooting for Misaki and KaGAHmin to have a happy relationship, but there's no disguising the fact that Tsurugi stopped pestering Misaki once he thought she had a boyfriend. The subtext is still a little gross, even if the text views it as incidental.
I agree that he's definitely genuinely rooting for them and it's very sweet. He wants the people he loves to be happy! That speaks to a depth of emotional maturity that he doesn't always (ever?) show, in that he is willing to give up on the idea of a relationship with Misaki because she's telling him she's happy with Kagami - like, I love him for this. So many people do not do this. But the subtext still being there is why I have that residual bit of annoyance. It's a small bit. I have net positive feelings about this whole minor subplot so far, lol |
01-19-2021, 02:18 PM | #685 |
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I agree that he's definitely genuinely rooting for them and it's very sweet. He wants the people he loves to be happy! That speaks to a depth of emotional maturity that he doesn't always (ever?) show, in that he is willing to give up on the idea of a relationship with Misaki because she's telling him she's happy with Kagami - like, I love him for this. So many people do not do this.
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01-19-2021, 02:34 PM | #686 |
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01-19-2021, 04:48 PM | #687 |
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01-19-2021, 06:44 PM | #688 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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This is the best shot in the episode, because it has Hiyori playing with a bird and that's adorable. No other reason. I mean, it's framed nicely and everything – of course it's framed nicely – but I just want to lead off with an obvious display of simpleminded bias to emphasize how unqualified I feel to dissect this episode. Like, Die is outright expecting to me to flip out over the direction, and I can do that, but this thing is WAY too cultured for me to even fully comprehend, let alone explain to other people. There's a perfect example of what I'm talking about right after the opening. These episodes make repeated use of a Shinto shrine for a setting, and at the start of this one, Yaguruma and Kageyama are introduced walking up on Daisuke and Rena there, looking for trouble and each spouting some dialogue in a threatening tone. The trick is that it's shot with closeups of the pair of komainu statues at the shrine, making it look as though the statues themselves are talking, before the Hoppers brush by the frame. Now, I only even know what a komainu is because I looked it up, so as for explaining the significance this has? I can only grasp at straws. It could range in complexity from Tasaki simply happening to think that made for a cool and interesting sequence with no deeper thought, the fact that komainu also come in pairs, or something even more over my head. The statue shown first, with Yaguruma, even has its mouth open, while the second one for Kageyama has its (mostly) closed, which is also apparently some symbolic thing with komainu representing the beginning and the end (so like, big bro/little bro?) through Sanskrit, but... man, do you see how deep this is getting already? This is less than half a minute of the episode and it's not even important! Tasaki might be as crazy as Ishida, in his own way. Sure, he's not lighting everything on fire, but this man will point a camera at basically anything that catches his attention. He seems to live for finding these focal objects to frame scenes through or around, and I can't even hope to track every little instance of that in this one. Or rather, I can sit here and point at them all day, but anything more than that is beyond me. Here, I'll give one more instance of a sequence that's way too smart for me – it's Die's first sceencap, actually, when Rena is giving Daisuke that message for when she loses herself again. It consciously defies basic film conversation logic by having Daisuke's reaction shots on the exact same side of the frame as Rena, looking in the exact same direction. The latter is because Rena is turned away from Daisuke, but I mean, go look at that picture again. Your brain assumes there must be someone on her left there, doesn't it? And again, I'm reasonably sure this is somehow brilliant, but I couldn't pin it down if I tried. And that's so much of this one. Even the most simple things in this episode are still completely genius, like a lovestruck Yaguruma noisily clicking his heels together as he stares at flowers in the grass. It even gets added on to later, when Yaguruma casually steps on the same flowers as he's walking off with Kageyama at the end, having gone back to the usual brooding routine. It's all so great! I seriously do want to just sit here listing off moments, but I've got other things to talk about, too, so I'd better do that. Once again, the script is quite good, and Die put it all very nicely. Also once again, I'll add on a bit about Tendou, which is just how much I like the way he's used here, with him finding common ground with Daisuke, and having the obligatory Kabuto fight be him simply making sure Daisuke and Rena don't get interrupted. Having Tendou be sort of adjacent to the spotlight is the kind of thing I find his character is practically made for, and this was a fun way to show that Daisuke is someone he has respect for, at the end of the day. It fits a rivalry that was never too serious. I also have to give the episode due props for shutting me up about two things I bemoaned last time. Not only does Drake use Clock Up in a memorable fashion during the climax, but the Hopper scene in 39 turned out to be less redundant than I thought, acting as a clear contrast to Yaguruma's short-lived shift in attitude here. Fantastic fourth installment for the Drake trilogy! It maybe needs a new name now, but Daisuke's appearances are firmly a matter of quality over quantity, and that shows as much as ever here. Major props to this one in particular for not even having a cliffhanger for the next arc. This is Tasaki's final episode on Kabuto, unfortunately, but Inoue will be back for one last pair soon – and just in time for Christmas, too!
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01-19-2021, 09:48 PM | #689 |
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What's a night off even worth, when there's great direction to dissect?
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Now, I only even know what a komainu is because I looked it up, so as for explaining the significance this has?
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Here, I'll give one more instance of a sequence that's way too smart for me – it's Die's first sceencap, actually, when Rena is giving Daisuke that message for when she loses herself again. It consciously defies basic film conversation logic by having Daisuke's reaction shots on the exact same side of the frame as Rena, looking in the exact same direction. The latter is because Rena is turned away from Daisuke, but I mean, go look at that picture again. Your brain assumes there must be someone on her left there, doesn't it? And again, I'm reasonably sure this is somehow brilliant, but I couldn't pin it down if I tried.
Some of the framing is to draw attention. By putting the speaker somewhere other than the center of frame, you're forcing the viewer to work to find them. It gives the dialogue more weight, because the viewer is more active in the process. Also! The thing to remember in these scenes, these shots, is that the plot involves three characters, not two. It's Daisuke, Reina, and Worm Widow. Every time the frame is empty, that's where the missing third character is. In the first shot, when Reina's telling Daisuke how she wants him to talk to Worm Widow, it's shot like this: That dead space on the left side, that's where Worm Widow would be. It's Reina, trying to appeal to her shared existence with Worm Widow, trying to get her to understand how much Reina's life should matter to her. In the second scene, with Daisuke and Worm Widow, the right side is empty. That's where Daisuke is speaking through Worm Widow to Reina, trying to find a way to bring back the woman he loves by repeating her request. The right side is Reina, listening for her chance to reassert herself. At least, that's my take! --- Okay, since no one else brought it up, let me call out my favorite visual motif in the episode: The director is constantly looking for ways to keep Daisuke and Reina in the frame together, while still separating them. In an episode all about these two trying to forge a connection in the face of overwhelming odds, these shots subconsciously reinforce all of that tension. Daisuke can't seem to get close enough to Reina to rescue her. Reina is getting all of this encouragement, but she's still trapped, boxed in. It just burns with longing, with hope, while countering with unease, with foreboding. Super smart blocking! A billion things to talk about from this episode. I even have half a take on this one as an unintentional trans narrative, but there's no way I wouldn't mess that up in an attempt to analyze it. Definitely has other things to draw from it!
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01-19-2021, 10:04 PM | #690 |
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There's this whole amazing episode to be discussed, and I'm just sitting here with my biggest takeaways from scenes like these being "Ooh look! Yaguruma said 'Kamen Rider Drake!'"
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