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08-29-2019, 11:07 AM | #101 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Quote:
Pythagoras is legitimately an amazing choice for an Eyecon. They just went for triangles. There's no attempt to pull out a deeper thematic resonance, or tie a story to a character. They're just, like, Triangles. He fights with triangles. It'd be like if the Edison Eyecon just threw light bulbs at people. Bonkers!
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08-29-2019, 11:30 AM | #102 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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If I remember right, the power of Edison is just being Edison. His sheer ego power you through.
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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08-29-2019, 11:45 AM | #103 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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It was his one regret from life, that he didn't get to shoot more people with a lightning gun. (Japanese shows are clearly a lot more diligent about showcasing the lives of historical figures.) It's nice that he could find peace as an Eyecon.
Quote:
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08-29-2019, 04:18 PM | #104 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,418
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08-29-2019, 04:31 PM | #105 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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On a somewhat related note, I'd just like to mention that the impression Tomokazu Seki does of an American speaking Japanese for Edison's voice is the best thing ever.
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08-29-2019, 04:44 PM | #106 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER GHOST MISCELLANY PART 3 - RIDER SPIRITS
It's hard to talk critically about this series of shorts because it is 100% fan service. Like, there's sort-of a story, but the whole point is to debut Rider Spirit Eyecons. Any themes are purely accidental, I'm sure. If a good story is a balanced meal, consisting of a variety of ingredients that all support a healthy experience, these shorts are a pile of candy. Even more so than the average sugar-shock episode of a Kamen Rider show, there is no nutritional value to these shorts. They're designed to spike your system. Much like eating too much candy can be bad for you, watching seven of these shorts in a row got a little exhausting and maybe gave me a headache. I love all of the shows these forms were calling back to, but the pattern of "old monster reappears, Ghost or Specter get beat up, Rider says totally out-of-character phrase that calls back to a Legend Rider, collectible item appears, Rider Spirit henshin and catchphrase, monster explodes" was maybe done four or five too many times. But, dang, how mad can I really be? I liked seeing the old monster suits again, I liked the Rider Spirit suits, I liked hearing those goddamn catchphrases again... It's fan service, and as a fan I felt served. Why complain?
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08-29-2019, 11:52 PM | #107 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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The Legacy suits in Ghost are probably the best version of this gimmick. Then again parka are just naturally more stylish than Gaim's head-shaped armours and Ex-Aid's weird cosplay.
I remember those suits also briefly showed up in the Ichigo movie and they were cool for the literal few seconds each were featuted. |
08-30-2019, 12:25 AM | #108 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
...that said, my favorite take on adding Legacy designs to a show's aesthetic is going to have to be Fourze: (Tomoko saying "A-ma-zon" in that garbage suit is maybe one of my Top 5 things in the entire Kamen Rider franchise. It's not #1, but it's up there.) Yeah, I watched these a bit backwards, so I saw these designs in Ichigou first, when I probably (maybe?) should've watched these first. I liked the designs when, like you said, they were up on screen for a heartbeat, and I wished I could see them a little more. Luckily, Bandai Namco Holdings decided that there is no limit to the amount of programming they'll create, so I got my wish!
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08-30-2019, 09:53 AM | #109 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER GHOST MISCELLANY FINAL PART - TRUTH! THE SECRET OF THE HEROES' EYECONS and RE:BIRTH: KAMEN RIDER SPECTER
Well, Saionji's back in "Truth! The Secret of The Heroes' Eyecons", despite dying 39 episodes earlier and not mattering at all to the plot since. Takeru's insistence on making an emotional connection with people, no matter how awful, is one of the lone bright spots in what is otherwise a complete waste of everyone's time. It's all so lazy. The Da Vinci Eyecon is reused from the (terrible) winter movie. The main set for the story is just a slightly/barely redressed version of the temple basement we've seen in 50 episodes of Ghost. The incredibly-late-in-the-game attempt to give Saionji some relatable motivation sort-of, kind-of makes sense, except that we never spent any real time with a Saionji and Ryu, so there's a ton of speechifying to set up exactly how and why Saionji held a grudge against him. Like a lot of times Ghost would bring a character from the first first act back, it feels so perfunctory, like a big ol' "Why not?" They're barely saying anything with the character, and no one really missed them, so why even tell this story? Far from reinventing or rehabbing a failed character, this story just reminds you why you didn't miss them in the first place. I wasn't sure what could even be in a Specter-focused sequel to Ghost. Of all of the characters at the end of Ghost, Specter was the one that had the least story ahead of him. (If the show had killed Makoto and had Mockoto take his place, then, sure, story ideas for miles. They didn't ask for my input three years after the series ended, though, COWARDS.) Alain obviously is headed back to the Ganma World to save his people, and Makoto... goes with? To support his friend? That's not nearly enough motivation to build an hour-long movie around. The solution, surprisingly, was to break Makoto down in the most catastrophically demoralizing way imaginable. I'm referring, of course, to the unspeakable: flashing back to elements from the Ghost Summer Movie. (Sorry, should've had a Trigger Warning.) Yep, it's time for a new entrant in ALL DADS ARE DEAD, as Makoto's heretofore unmentioned third dad, Danton, arrives from space to be not only a very charismatic villain with a legitimate point of view, but also a way to try and salvage some embarrassingly shitty ideas from 100 Eyecons. Danton tells us that Makoto and Kanon are superclones from the Ganma World who were stolen to Earth by Daigo who, after changing his name from Godai for no apparent reason (who on Earth would even care?), "raised" Makoto and Kanon until he mostly didn't want to anymore and left for a cave. (My absolute favorite part of a movie I generally enjoyed was that, when the producers needed to drop in scenes with Daigo to sell Makoto's love for his first dad, the best they could manage to describe Makoto's worst father was "strict", and the image they paired it with was Daigo giving no care to his son's rage at being abandoned. "Strict"!) Bringing up the convoluted mess of 100 Eyecons, while possibly regrettable, is part of the larger overhaul RE:BIRTH is doing to Specter's backstory. The other major part is resolving some of the vagaries of all them Mockotos at the end of Ghost. The show mostly hand-waved at the notion that the Deep Specter Eyecon connected with the Ganmeisers somehow to make a mess of Mockotos, and while all this clone stuff is a retcon, it's a lot more compelling and sensible, sort-of. It makes for a complicated combination, where the Daigo part makes way, way less sense, but the Mockoto part makes way, way more sense. I guess it helps (like it did for me) if you liked the end of Ghost more than you liked one of the worst summer movies I've ever seen. Your mileage may vary! The plot of RE:BIRTH was interesting, especially in how dark it got for the heroes. Alain's dream of fixing the Ganma World has, uh, mostly been killing people. A lot of people. The entire hope for his world hinges on Akari (who's looking great, I just gotta throw that in here) magically fixing a machine she's failed to fix six other times. So when a new, charismatic leader shows up offering an alternative to "hoping you don't die from atmospheric toxins", I feel like the Ganma aren't jerks for considering it? The movie is definitely pretty deep in the Pure Unaltered Humanity Is The Only Answer pocket, which, seems a little ableist, who am I to say, but it doesn't seem like the movie ever really disputes Danton's methods? Like, he's a lunatic, he kills people, bad guy, boo, sure. But before that, it seems like he saved a bunch of lives? And, yeah, Akari's device works in the end, but why not have two solutions? Alain never seems like he has a counter-argument beyond "I don't like that" and "My dad didn't like that", so, A+ leadership there. His dismissal mostly serves as a reason to have Makoto and Alain fight, which I guess is fine. More importantly, it's an excuse for some snazzy new suits. Those new suits! Aces. The Mugen-ish design for Specter looks regal and yet still menacing, while Necrom's Burst design is a fun take on Ghost's Boost form. Two new suits! In one movie! We're being spoiled. I didn't love the Necrom/Specter fight (too dark and rainy), but I love those new designs we got because of it. The final fight between Specter and Danton, though, probably the highlight of the movie. (I mean, you'd hope that the climactic fight would be the best one, but not always the case!) After just under an hour, I totally bought that this was an emotionally fraught battle between father and son. The action was intense and well-choreographed, with some very fun effects- and camera-work. (That Omega Drive!) I mostly enjoyed RE:BIRTH. I wish it hadn't brought back nonsense from 100 Eyecons, but I sort-of respect them trying (and partially succeeding!) to make them better. A solid movie, and a pretty okay coda for the full cast of Kamen Rider Ghost, with the most Ghost ending possible: ALL DADS ARE DEAD
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08-30-2019, 10:26 AM | #110 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Aaaaaaaand it looks like that's it for me and Kamen Rider Ghost!
Thanks for letting me write about it here. Should any other Ghost-branded pieces of entertainment drop, I'll probably be back in this thread writing about them. Also, I'm happy to keep talking about this show as long as anyone else feels like it. There's definitely stuff to unpack. I didn't love Ghost, but I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. The characters grew on me, even if they never had the easy connection of, like, the Fourze cast. (Best ensemble, no contest.) The main plot said some interesting things about Takeru and Alain and Adel, but it never really overcame its dull, slightly cheesy origins. (Those Ganma sets! Spend a few more bucks, producers!) It was a very compromised show, screwing up its foundations but managing to create something memorable, nonetheless. Like I said way back in this thread, basically, any Kamen Rider is good Kamen Rider to me. The bad stuff still has things that make it worth watching, even worth recommending. (I didn't love Wizard, but you have to watch the Phoenix origin two-parter. All of the villain origin two-parters are great, but that one knocks it out of the park.) Hopefully, all this talk and exploration of Kamen Rider Ghost can get people to see the flecks of gold in an otherwise admittedly rocky show. I'm going to move on to rewatching the Ex-Aid movies next, starting with the Dr. Pac-Man winter movie. I'm planning on doing the three theatrical films, now that I'll maybe get more of the references, but I might just do the Another Ending films, too. I don't know. We'll see how I feel. After that, it's onto a first viewing of Build, which I'm really looking forward to. Thank you all, seriously, truly, for giving me a space to get all of these thoughts about Kamen Rider Ghost out of my head. You've definitely improved the lives of my friends who don't care about Kamen Rider and roll their eyes when I casually mention stuff from it during larger conversations. Their eyes hurt so bad, you guys! From all of the rolling!
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