|
|
Thread Tools |
08-15-2020, 05:18 AM | #621 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
|
Quote:
Can you believe there was a time when I disliked Inoue?
Way back in the Kuuga days, he wrote some of my least-favorite episodes in a series that… I was not the correct audience for, let’s say. I hated those episodes so much that, when I found out he’d be (more or less) solely responsible for Agito, 555, and Kiva, I was dreading it. I thought it was going to be so infuriating to watch that trying to express those feelings on these boards was going to get me banned. I’m pretty sure I referred to him as my nemesis? Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
This guy seems frustrating enough to generate multiple nemeses. I am willing to share!
It's like he's building a square table, but he puts three legs on one side and one leg on the other side. It's got the right number of legs, and it doesn't immediately collapse, but it could be so much more stable my dude it is not that hard to build a table. Quote:
I can't speak to his later stuff, but, uh, I do recall his Kuuga episodes being somewhat less than excellent. I was actually dreading Agito, a little, since I found his Kuuga stuff to be infuriating. Pleasantly surprised by how fun Agito has been! I'll try and give his later stuff (folks do not seem thrilled with Faiz!) a fair shake.
Quote:
Like, I get what folks don't like about Inoue on Ryuki. Everything's turned up to 11: the humor, the drama, the everything. (He's the man who gave us DOUBLE SURGERIES a year earlier, so it's not like this is unexpected.) And, yeah, that can lead to him not, uh, finding nuance where another (better?) writer might.
But, man, there're points you really need to play it to the cheap seats, and when that happens, Inoue's your guy. He plays it to the goddamn parking lot. Quote:
I wanted to start this off by talking about how Faiz is a hard series to love. Like its protagonist, it’s prickly, sullen. It has to be cajoled into doing the most basic Kamen Rider shit, and even then it never lets you forget how much it doesn’t care about that shit. Over time, you get used to it, and it opens up more, and it leads to some really emotionally-exposed storytelling. All that taciturn ambivalence is revealed as a mask over a beating heart, and it ends happily, earnestly. You gotta meet it on its terms, but you’ll be rewarded if you do.
Except, man, I don’t know if that was my experience? At all? Quote:
Yeah, Inoue, right? I remember not liking his Kuuga's pretty much at all, and folks were like Oh No You Got Way More Inoue To Go, and I made a joke about him being my nemesis. Then Agito's actually really good? And his Ryuki fill-ins were mind-blowingly funny (Yui knocking over a bookcase, Kitaoka's silent Henshin)? And now Faiz? I'm not sure "nemesis" is appropriate, you know? Feels like a different connection he and I have.
__________________
|
08-15-2020, 06:19 AM | #622 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,825
|
Quote:
Oh, I also watched Missing Ace, since it premiered right around Episode 31. It was certainly a thing. Themes of moving on, being replaced by the next generation all tried to crop up, only to disappear into a big betrayal apocalypse plot focused on Hajime and Amane. Don't get me wrong, I like Hajime, but would it kill for our Blade movie to be about Blade? Or maybe that's the point - Kenzaki is just such an everyman, that it would miss the point to make a movie be about some big event happening to him. The Ace Riders are pretty big jerks, so that's unfortunate, because they're not played for huge comedy. Idk, Missing Ace was alright, but nothing really stuck out about it. And it's still weird to have a movie set post-finale when we're barely halfway through the show. Like, Ex-Aid got away with it because it aired during the endgame. This is just odd.
__________________
Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
|
08-15-2020, 09:36 AM | #623 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 2,481
|
Quote:
So like this hit really close to home right now, and just how it can feel like the crisis never ends (which for some people it doesn't). Since I haven't super been following this thread, I just want to wish you all well. Sometimes the hardest thing to do can be to take care of yourself.
__________________
|
08-15-2020, 10:58 AM | #624 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,157
|
Quote:
Just thought I’d point out that like Ryuki’s movie, a lot of stuff about the lore in this movie was later changed when introduced in the show (no doubt, due to the changeover in staff) So don’t expect them to mention humanity winning the previous battle fight.
I’ll also point out that Elements was originally written for use in this movie, but when the turnover happened, the new regime wanted a new theme song and rather than write a new one, they poached an existing one (which isn’t strange. Only Hibiki had a new OP written especially to go along with it’s retool). Neat to know that Elements was almost a one-and-done! And thanks for the card info! Quote:
Quote:
Missing Ace is a good movie. I've never considered it a great one, or one of my favorites though, so it was really cool to see you getting so much out of the story here. I don't have much to add other than the regularly scheduled reminder that this Kamen Rider thing you liked visually was directed by Ishida, and, although I can't squeeze a whole post out of it, just know that Leangle gets an unending amount of s*** from the meme crowd for using that Float card at the end when Blade and Garren are soaring into the sky on their majestic sets of golden bird wings.
Quote:
I guess I could argue that Kenzaki is the star of the movie, even as it's about Hajime and Amane, and maybe that's a good substitute, but I feel like I'm making excuses for it. Definitely not a flawless film! Quote:
So like this hit really close to home right now, and just how it can feel like the crisis never ends (which for some people it doesn't).
Since I haven't super been following this thread, I just want to wish you all well. Sometimes the hardest thing to do can be to take care of yourself. It's not a celebration of victory over violent monsters, or a remembrance of the cost of that victory. It's someone, by herself, overcoming years of emotional turmoil, while her friends and family are there to celebrate her. Just, man, yes. The value of empathy in a world of violence. That's my favorite Kamen Rider theme, and I think it's important even in a world that doesn't have monsters from eternity. I hope everyone is keeping things together, and that we're all on the other side of this someday soon, ready to be happy.
__________________
Currently working on: KAMEN RIDER W! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
08-15-2020, 11:30 AM | #625 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
|
Quote:
...it's so in keeping with the flaws of Blade The TV Show to have Blade The Movie not really have Kenzaki looped into the emotional stakes of the film. He's a hero, and he wants to do heroic stuff, he's still a very sweet boy, but this isn't really a story for him. It's totally fair to wonder if maybe the title Rider should've been the focus.
I guess to loosely tie this thought back in with the movie, it kind of seems like Hajime was just always intended to be core to Blade's overall story. I mean, I'd even make a joke about him being the "heart" of the movie, but you already did that. Maybe it just takes more work than the film could manage to make Kenzaki's character more directly invested in the plot? I mean, we have established that, by design, he's more of a follower than a leader, and also tends not to think too deeply about things in general. It seems like if you don't know what you're doing or just don't consider it an issue, it would very easy to accidentally write stories that don't give him a lot to actively contribute. Maybe! I'm mostly spitballing here, and a new guy just started writing the show at the point you're at, so it might be better to not get too deep into this until you've got that extra perspective on how you feel Kenzaki is or is not handled differently under Aikawa's pen.
__________________
|
08-15-2020, 11:45 AM | #626 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,157
|
Quote:
Maybe it just takes more work than the film could manage to make Kenzaki's character more directly invested in the plot? I mean, we have established that, by design, he's more of a follower than a leader, and also tends not to think too deeply about things in general. It seems like if you don't know what you're doing or just don't consider it an issue, it would very easy to accidentally write stories that don't give him a lot to actively contribute. Maybe! I'm mostly spitballing here, and a new guy just started writing the show at the point you're at, so it might be better to not get too deep into this until you've got that extra perspective on how you feel Kenzaki is or is not handled differently under Aikawa's pen.
I think Kenzaki is central to the plot, but he's not (currently or previously!) central to the themes or emotions. As a more direct character, one who is substantially less traumatized than the other three Riders, he's not really someone who gets to have Big Emotions or the sort of sweeping, thematically-rich stories the other characters have. But! As the show becomes more about plot machinations and combat against the Undead, he's your guy. He's the one who's front and center, driving the plot. Tachibana only gets invested when it's something he can feel guilty or ashamed about (those emotions are his rocket fuel), Mutsuki has broken bad, and Hajime is maybe more of a WMD than a fellow superhero. Kenzaki is all that's left, and he doesn't need any outside force getting him to want to save the world. The movie's got to be about more than plot, though, and that limits Kenzaki's usefulness. He's okay in the middle section, as it's the kind of hero stuff he excels at, but he's a bystander in the beginning and end because those things need some complicated emotions. Kenzaki's most complicated emotion is confusion over why people keep secrets!
__________________
Currently working on: KAMEN RIDER W! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 08-15-2020 at 12:09 PM.. |
08-15-2020, 12:01 PM | #627 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 2,481
|
Quote:
There's a great moment at the end of this movie where, regardless of what they've all just gone through, everyone gets together to celebrate Amane's birthday. They've all fought and suffered, and she's not even aware of what the stakes were for a battle she never knew about, but the story gets to end on this one girl feeling like it's okay for her to be happy. It's not a celebration of victory over violent monsters, or a remembrance of the cost of that victory. It's someone, by herself, overcoming years of emotional turmoil, while her friends and family are there to celebrate her. Just, man, yes. The value of empathy in a world of violence. That's my favorite Kamen Rider theme, and I think it's important even in a world that doesn't have monsters from eternity. I hope everyone is keeping things together, and that we're all on the other side of this someday soon, ready to be happy. Quote:
This is only tangentially related, but at the risk of kicking back up the "who's the secondary Rider" argument, I happened to notice lately that Hajime always gets billed in the credits second, behind only Kenzaki himself. In the first OP, that initial sequence of everyone ends with Tachibana, so he's kind of acting as a bookend, but for Elements, it's explicitly Blade>Chalice>Garren>Leangle, right from the very first shots of everyone's helmets.
__________________
|
08-15-2020, 02:45 PM | #628 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,546
|
In my experience, card-based Toei hero shows have 5 archetypes.
A spade-themed character who ends up in the background (Spade Ace, Blade, Cure Sword) A diamond character who’s the strongest of the ensemble (Dia Jack, Garren, Cure Diamond) A heart character who gets shipped with the spade character (Heart Queen, Chalice, Cure Heart) A clover character who’s probably the weakest of the bunch (Clover King, Leangle, Cure Rosetta) And a fifth character who’s much more badass than the others (Big One, the Missing Ace riders, Cure Ace) |
08-15-2020, 06:18 PM | #629 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,488
|
Considering how bittersweet or depressing the previous two rider movies were prior to this I actually enjoy this movie. Of course, no other summer rider movie will surpass the Kamen Rider W summer movie but this movie I say is a favorite. Kiba and Murakami as two interviewers who bicker with one another was fun to see as well as Kaido. Personally the best scene of the movie was the first time we see the new gen Ace trio strut their stuff early in the movie. One of the best choreographed scenes ever.
__________________
Last edited by Sunred; 08-15-2020 at 06:21 PM.. |
08-15-2020, 10:31 PM | #630 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,157
|
Quote:
Considering how bittersweet or depressing the previous two rider movies were prior to this I actually enjoy this movie. Of course, no other summer rider movie will surpass the Kamen Rider W summer movie but this movie I say is a favorite. Kiba and Murakami as two interviewers who bicker with one another was fun to see as well as Kaido. Personally the best scene of the movie was the first time we see the new gen Ace trio strut their stuff early in the movie. One of the best choreographed scenes ever.
__________________
Currently working on: KAMEN RIDER W! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
Thread Tools | |
|
TokuNation News & Rumors |
What's going on with CSM? |
Ultraman Arc Trailer |
2024 Kamen Rider after Gotchard Rumor |
King-Ohger VS Dekaranger |
Shodo SUPER JAKQ |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:24 PM.
|