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03-08-2020, 05:26 AM | #261 |
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Join Date: Oct 2019
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02-06-2021, 12:22 AM | #262 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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MASKED RIDER AGITO HYPER BATTLE VIDEO - THREE GREAT RIDERS
Well, I’ve just spent some time watching WandaVision, a TV show about an all-powerful character who manipulates reality and kidnaps people to paper over their own sense of helplessness amid a world of constant dangers, so now let me take a nice long drink of water before starting to enjoy this 19-year old Agito short that is going to be a nice breath of uncomplicatedly fresh air… ... ... ... Okay, so, that didn’t work out so great. Yep, some slight similarities between this goofy-ass clipshow and a harrowing exploration of a woman’s grief, and I found them to be equally enjoyable. It’s an HBV, so there’s really not a ton to unpack. (The Build and Faiz ones are, like, the only ones I can recall getting at larger themes. Speaking of HBVs, did anyone watch that recent Gaim Gaiden, the Bravo/Guridon one? Same deal, where it’s just this thin as hell plot and a few new suits, but with the troubling addition of nostalgia as an alternative to character growth. Didn’t love it!) It’s mostly an excuse to have the three main Riders (sorry, recently-killed Another Agito) be weird around each other and desperately avoid being seen as functional heroes, something that could not be more Inoue if it tried. It’s a fun conceit, all three heroes putting their friends over as the Strongest Rider so that they can bail on this story. (The correct answer to Tele-pi’s dilemma, of course, is Leangle. Failing that, G3 but only when Houjou is piloting it.) I liked the touch of Hikawa immediately being okay with admitting he’s not that great, which is Hikawa’s eternal opening gambit. The escalation of Shouicihi’s Aw Shucks humility at actually being incredibly cool, yes, and I missed it so much. He’s the Sweetest Rider, and that’s not worth nothing. Ryou’s tendency to appear and disappear from this story, ceding a ton of the narrative to the Shouichi/Hikawa partnership, reminds me of the way most of Agito’s stories broke down: specifically, Ryou’s mostly parallel storylines and his occasional appearances for a group fight. Him being Incredibly Tortured in his monologue and then having Tele-pi’s reaction be OH MY GOD THAT IS THE BEST probably mirrored how the younger audience was viewing Gills’ unending torment and one-foot-in-front-of-the-other pragmatism. As always with these early-Heisei HBVs, it’s nice to finally get names for all of these parts of Agito? The forms and gear and moves? (“Gills Feeler”, though… could’ve lived a happy life never knowing that!) It’s all said so casually here, like DUH everyone knows it’s called the Gills Heel Claw, dummy. It would’ve been nice to know these things as I was watching Agito? Ah, well. Hard to get mad about it now, you know? It’s a cute little story, this one. The action is minor, the canonicity is questionable, and the new content is brief, but I had a good time with it. Building a story around Riders recounting their awesome abilities while throwing their friends under the bus to avoid an embarrassing hat? Sure, why not. At least Tele-pi let them all leave in the end! Not every traumatized god-like character would!
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02-06-2021, 04:40 AM | #263 |
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Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,553
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While I haven’t seen this video, I can feel you about the “shorter video productions with little to no plot” thing. It’s the one thing I’m dreading about Inoue’s “Zi-O vs Decade/Decade vs Zi-O” two-part special (though it seems there is one guest character shared between the two, so I’m probably just worrying for nothing)
Speaking of the “names only revealed here” thing, I’ve got a pair of fan comics that basically poke fun at that (Den-O gets confused upon learning his finishing move is called “Extreme Slash”, Kuuga gets confused upon learning his blue transformation is called “Dragon Form”). I might share it with you sometime. |
02-06-2021, 06:21 AM | #264 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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I watched this recently and adored it. It's just a good, what, 15 minutes of the Agito characters being Agito characters to each other? It's all you need really!
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02-06-2021, 06:34 AM | #265 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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Frankly I think it's hilarious how all the characters are trying to shoehorn in the 'cool' names for all these things in this HBV when they're obviously not meant to be called anything in the show itself.
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02-06-2021, 11:46 AM | #266 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
Speaking of the “names only revealed here” thing, I’ve got a pair of fan comics that basically poke fun at that (Den-O gets confused upon learning his finishing move is called “Extreme Slash”, Kuuga gets confused upon learning his blue transformation is called “Dragon Form”). I might share it with you sometime.
Quote:
I was vaguely reminded of a Red Dwarf joke I've forgot the exact phrasing and provenance of. (Nope, found it, Timeslides.) Who's the real Strongest Rider? Agito, with his form changes and catastrophic finishers? G3-X, with his cool armor and mechanized weaponry? Or Gills, with... with what he's got? Quote:
I just miss it, though. Ex-Aid guy, you know? There not being constant exclamations from belts, from heroes, from monsters... it's like it's not Kamen Rider without those things. HBVs like this, for all their low goals, are maybe more Kamen Rider to me than the series themselves? Tricky. Tricky stuff!
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02-06-2021, 03:09 PM | #267 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,553
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Ask and ye shall receive
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02-06-2021, 04:16 PM | #268 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Really, between episode 28 and the HBV, it's kind of a shame that Kobayashi didn't get to write more with Agito's cast. It seemed like she had a great grasp on the characters, based on the two short chances she got to prove it. This is a pretty definitive HBV, actually. Interactions between the cast that give you a good feel for how the series works (namely: Shouichi and Hikawa are hilarious, and Ryou desperately needs a hug), some token exclusive action, and some pointless trivia for the fun of it. I especially like how it treats the three Riders with such equal weight (the plot literally revolves around how hard it is to say one of them is for sure cooler and better than the others), which, as I'm sure I mentioned in this thread before, is the absolute core of what makes Agito special in my eyes.
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02-06-2021, 09:19 PM | #269 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
Really, between episode 28 and the HBV, it's kind of a shame that Kobayashi didn't get to write more with Agito's cast. It seemed like she had a great grasp on the characters, based on the two short chances she got to prove it. This is a pretty definitive HBV, actually. Interactions between the cast that give you a good feel for how the series works (namely: Shouichi and Hikawa are hilarious, and Ryou desperately needs a hug), some token exclusive action, and some pointless trivia for the fun of it. I especially like how it treats the three Riders with such equal weight (the plot literally revolves around how hard it is to say one of them is for sure cooler and better than the others), which, as I'm sure I mentioned in this thread before, is the absolute core of what makes Agito special in my eyes.
My favorite thing about Shouichi and Hikawa is something she nails in this one. Hikawa's go to is A Thin Layer Of Pride Over A Deep Well Of Inadequacy, while Shouichi's thing is Goofy Deflection Of How Awesome And Cool He Is Because He Doesn't Want Other People To Feel Bad. You put those two things together, and it's like an ouroboros of You're Great/No, You're Great. This non-stop interaction of Hikawa's certainty that he's a failure and Shouichi's need to make other people feel good about themselves. It's Shouichi trying to praise Hikawa, which only makes Hikawa more certain that Shouichi is better than him. (why does that all sound so familiar) I love it? I love it.
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