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02-15-2020, 11:01 PM | #231 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 49
I just like when heroes can be kind, you know? Warm. All-Star Superman's a great comic series, and it's got plenty of amazing moments. (It's a story that starts with telling you everything you need to know about Superman's origin in eight words.) One of my favorites, and one that makes its way around the internet pretty often, is this page for the tenth issue: Regan isn't anyone special. They're just a person, and they need someone to be there with them, to let them know things will get better, and Superman's that person. It's, honestly, a more valuable kind of heroism than punching space tyrants or thwarting criminal schemes, because being there for other people is something anyone can do. That notion, that anyone can do it, it makes Superman's actions so much more compassionate and kind, because he could be out punching space tyrants, but he stopped to let this one person know that someone cares about them. It's when heroes choose to do those small actions, to help one person, it's one of my favorite things in superhero stories. So, yeah, feeling pretty good about most of this episode. I love that Shouichi loses to an Unknown, and then rushes to help Kana with her cooking. I love that Ryou loses to an Unknown, and then rushes to race bikes with Scorpion. There's this story building in the background, of Spooky Man realigning stars to make people kill themselves according to their zodiac sign (not crushing humanity with a star, sorry about that, this is maybe more insane though), and it's creepy and dangerous and all, but I liked that Shouichi and Ryou have been largely kept out of it, save an Unknown fight or two. It's better to use Hikawa on the investigation. Let him have one last absolutely bonkers leap of logic to land on exactly what supernatural phenomenon is at play. (He just guessed dopplegangers?!) Shouichi and Ryou will no doubt be there for the final fight, Shining and Exceeding until humanity is saved. But in the meantime, let them save these two people. It's just as heroic.
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02-16-2020, 11:26 PM | #232 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 50
This last Agito story is so, so good. They are nailing all the thematic stuff I’d want them to, making it a story that’s about both what being Agito means, and what the show itself means. The metaphor of Agitos drives a lot of this story. To me, the Agito metaphor is change. (I’m sure there’re plenty of other interpretations!) Change doesn’t have a moral dimension. Change can be seen as growth, or change can be seen as disruption. Change occurs, but it's how people respond to it that gives it meaning. For this story, that meaning is applied by civilization, as portrayed by Houjou (truly the best of us), and Kana. The stuff with the police department, honestly, it’s a little heavy-handed as far as laying in the metaphor of change. The Agitos are referred to as chaotic, and the police would rather the terror of the Unknown than the terror of the unknown, the Agitos. That whole part of the story, to me, it’s about how society would rather have a dangerous stability than an uncertain future. The police would rather have the devil they know, who may be an actual devil, than trust their future to Agitos. Houjou, bless him, is a man who sees the whole world as a reflection of himself, a variation on his perfection, so he naturally believes that his innate fear of Agitos, of power not his own, is not only valid but common. He’s willing to protect the Unknown, even though there’s this nagging voice inside him saying, “This is too far.” (I assume that voice comes from a lower height and smells like yakiniku.) The Agitos must be worse because they‘re new, right? Fear is justified when things change, right? Being unafraid of change, embracing it and hoping for the best, that’s just naivete, right? Houjou, like humanity, would rather keep things the same, even if that means allowing terrible things to occur. Which, you know, that’s why we have shows like Masked Rider Agito. The world can be a scary place, and things can seem bleak, so a show that says that changes are going to happen, and that you should embrace them and make a better future, that has real value as art. The stuff with Kana, and her metamorphosis into an Agito, it’s got the same fear baked into it that the Houjou/G3-X stuff has, but it’s also got Shouichi, so there’s hope. Shouichi’s been where Kana’s been, but he’s also felt the weight of choices that women like Kana have made. He’s had to find a way to balance the demands of Agito with the need to live a life, and he’s watched people give up rather than try to live as Agito. Kana’s surrender, it’s got two moves on it. The first is that it’s a way for Shouichi (and Truegami) to save a version of Yukina, a woman who sees no hope in a life as an Agito. They can be the support that Yukina couldn’t accept, living proof that it gets better. The other thing it does is remind people of the kind of show the producers have been trying to make, a Kamen Rider show with heart and hope, and how that should be an important ingredient going forward, to balance the monsters and terror with optimism and joy. But, man, you still need stakes and consequences, and of course those were going to land on Ryou’s shoulders. As a man who loses people the way the rest of us lose skin cells, Ryou barely starts to let Scorpion in (he’s only negging her medium-hard, the ol’ softy) before she’s monster-murdered and he’s fighting like he has nothing left to lose. (And this is all happening on his birthday, which, show. Amazing. Chef’s kiss.) I said before that I like how this show was running Shouichi and Ryou through the same story, and this is one of the reasons why. If there’s just one woman in it, and she has to die so that a man can have something to avenge, lame. Tacky. Gross. But! Two women, in two versions of the same story, now you've got one can be saved so Shouichi’s hope can be rewarded, and one that can die so Ryou can suffer endlessly. It allows for multiple lessons, instead of a binary Heroes Always Win or Everybody Always Dies lesson. Agito as a show, it gets to do both, to have a story about how change is good or bad, how some people can be saved and some can’t, how life is something that has light and darkness and joy and pain and all of that. A thing that happens is a thing that happens. How we respond to that, how we move on from change, that’s a story worth telling. And, man, that’s the big difference for me between this story and the one that preceded it. The last one, it was just things that happened. This one, it’s about how we respond to change. The last one was plot, this one is theme. I will take a theme story any day of the week.
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02-17-2020, 05:29 AM | #233 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,554
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Well since you’re about to move onto Ryuki and I’m about to have space in my schedule for a show I can watch 5 episodes of a week, I’ve decided to start on Ryuki next week. (I have the space now, but I reserved it for another show months ago).
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02-17-2020, 05:56 AM | #234 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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You definitely aren't wrong. I don't know if you know this already, but the name "Agito" was chosen in the first place because in Latin it means "to set in motion". I'm pretty sure it's the root of the word "agitate"? Basically, to provoke a reaction in something. Agito's Japanese Wikipedia page gives "awakening" (覚醒) as a translation, which likewise covers it pretty well.
This is Heisei Kamen Rider, so there's actually like two more meanings behind the name, but "change" was absolutely the big one.
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02-17-2020, 06:41 AM | #235 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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I don't entirely agree Scorpion biting it was much better than the usual example of killing off someone just to make the hero even more sad and mad (as if Ryou was lacking in that department already...), but I get that it was probably so we'd feel the stakes even more when it came to Kana. That moment when other Tsugami comes in to grab her hand, desperately telling Shouichi not to let go? That's a scene that has stuck with me since the first time I watch the show oh so long ago.
Actually the whole episode's best moment has stuck with me pretty well, including Shouichi's transformation at the end where he heroically declares how he'll protect everybody... and the fact that they play the exact same clip of Kana calling out his name two times within close proximity of each other. |
02-17-2020, 06:55 AM | #236 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,558
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Kamen Rider Die reaching the final episode of Agito: AWWWW YEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Kamen Rider Die some time later in the future after seeing episode 6 of Ryuki: YO WHAT THE #@%$!
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02-17-2020, 01:03 PM | #237 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
Quote:
You definitely aren't wrong. I don't know if you know this already, but the name "Agito" was chosen in the first place because in Latin it means "to set in motion". I'm pretty sure it's the root of the word "agitate"? Basically, to provoke a reaction in something. Agito's Japanese Wikipedia page gives "awakening" (覚醒) as a translation, which likewise covers it pretty well.
This is Heisei Kamen Rider, so there's actually like two more meanings behind the name, but "change" was absolutely the big one. Quote:
I don't entirely agree Scorpion biting it was much better than the usual example of killing off someone just to make the hero even more sad and mad (as if Ryou was lacking in that department already...), but I get that it was probably so we'd feel the stakes even more when it came to Kana. That moment when other Tsugami comes in to grab her hand, desperately telling Shouichi not to let go? That's a scene that has stuck with me since the first time I watch the show oh so long ago.
Actually the whole episode's best moment has stuck with me pretty well, including Shouichi's transformation at the end where he heroically declares how he'll protect everybody... and the fact that they play the exact same clip of Kana calling out his name two times within close proximity of each other. But, yeah, Truegami showing up to tell Shouichi to never let go? Awesome. Just nailed that emotional climax. It's a soaring end to that whole journey, for all three of those characters, and it felt really earned. One more to go! And then a break! And then Ryuki! Thanks for hanging out for these write-ups!
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02-17-2020, 10:37 PM | #238 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 51
If last episode was a contemplative, thematically-rich chapter that laid out everything Agito does well that’s unique to its place in the franchise, this one was 100% a Kamen Rider Series Finale. It’s a wall-to-wall episode filled with thrilling action, heroic moments, and absolutely everyone getting everything they want. (Even Spooky Man, sort-of!) It’s all dessert, this one. And I loved it. The action in particular, was surprisingly strong. They don’t do it a lot on this show, really turn it up, but I’m glad they delivered on the finale. Each Rider gets to deliver an indelibly memorable moment, from Hikawa reclaiming the primacy of man, to Ryou declaring himself to be immortal, to Shouchi using a Rider Kick to detonate the concept of fear of change. It’s all beautifully done, and an unexpectedly visceral end to the season-long Spooky Man/Unknown plot. That plot, though. I loved last episode because of the way it addressed its core themes, and focused on them through characters, and character choices. I loved this episode in spite of it being about the Unknown stuff. It was, you know, it wasn’t what this show did best. The things that made this show great, when it was great, it was all character stuff. Decisions being made by characters, and how that affected other characters, how they reacted to change, how they supported one another, that’s when this show was transcendent. (Maybe overselling it!) Like, the Shouichi stuff, the things it was trying that it maybe was the first to try, emphasizing domesticity and emotional availability as commendable traits in a hero, that all felt totally dialed in. The monster stuff… not so dialed in. The Unknown never felt fully realized, even compared to the Grongi. While the Grongi had a weird code, or a goal that felt terrifying in its inevitability, the Unknown were barely more than obstacles. They’d show up, fights, eventual death. They never really had schemes, they didn’t feel thematically connected to an episode or a victim, they didn’t seem to bring anything in particular out of the heroes beyond general heroism.. They felt, from beginning to end, like those level one mooks plenty of other Kamen Rider shows have. They’re like the orange-masked Bugsters. This is a show that never really had a villain with personality, outside of Kino for a minute. Like, Spooky Man. It’s an interesting idea, a god who returns to correct his creation. But, it’s impossible to execute as a mastermind for a superhero program. Spooky Man isn’t a character, he’s a concept. And you can’t fight a concept. You can, I guess, punch it once, and then Rider Kick it in the finale, but it’s not really the kind of thing you can dramatically confront over 51 episodes. Spooky Man spends a ton of time waiting in rooms to be worked back into the plot, and he only shares a few scenes with anyone other than Truegami over the course of the show. A franchise like Kamen Rider has a lot of versatility to it, you can tell a lot of different kinds of stories, but things like Fightable Villains? That shit’s pretty non-negotiable. Masked Rider Agito managed to still tell an interesting story over its season, but I don’t think the villains were anything to recommend about it. The heroes, though! So great, and this episode found a little moment for all of them. Like, of course Hikawa didn’t get on that plane. Of course he couldn’t leave when he knew something unjust was happening and he could stop it. And, Ozawa, hero of the show Ozawa, is going to take back the G3 trailer at goddamn gunpoint to make sure Hikawa can join the fight and help save humanity. All of Team G3, they were like the beating heart of this show, and I’m glad they all had a happy ending to their story. I loved that Hikawa went back to being a detective, happy just to be of service. I loved that Omuro takes his hero-worship and instills it in the next generation (G5!) of mechanized police, even if that moustache is horrifying. And, as is probably no surprise, I loved that the show found time for one more Houjou/Ozawa sparring match, him flying to London to tell her how much better he is than her while she completely blows him off. They are endgame, and I’m glad this show realized it. I didn’t need to see Ryou pull himself off of that beach, because I know exactly what that scene would look like. Stubbornness mixed with anger mixed with resignation, he drags himself to his bike and keeps fighting. He never stops fighting. And when the fight is done? He gets a dog, which is immortal, too, nothing can happen to that dog, and just keeps living. (The dog’s name, I assume, is the oft-mentioned but never-seen Count Zero. That’s what the theme song is about, right, that puppy? “You can do it, Count Zero!” Yeah, the dog’s name is definitely Count Zero.) They don’t get a lot to do in this finale, but it’s good to see that Mana, Taichii, Uncle, and Majima (okay, why not) are doing well. Just a brief check-in, but they’re a family, and they’re happy. They are not eating well, though. So they go to Shouichi’s (not very well attended) restaurant, Restaurant Agito. He survived Rider Kicking a primordial concept, because, what, you think this show was really going to kill off a man who loves everyone? No, Shouichi is pursuing his dream, and it’s a nice ending. They’re all nice endings. Everyone’s life keeps going, with new challenges and new opportunities, but with a positive outlook. It’s maybe a little predictable, as endings go, but it’s all very sweet. And, y’know, it’s a sweet show. It’s a show about how change isn’t something to run from, but something to be accepted. It’s a show about how you need to find something in your life to find comfort in and protect, whether that’s a home, family, friends, a dream, or just the knowledge that you made it through one more day. In a show about all of those things, what better message is there than that, no matter what, the world keeps spinning, a new day dawns, and if we keep trying we might be lucky enough to become better, happier people. What happier ending could you ask for? NEXT! A little bit of wrap up, hitting some points I maybe overlooked, and I don’t know what else because I haven’t written it yet. That’ll all be tomorrow, for a final-ish look at Agito.
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02-18-2020, 01:04 AM | #239 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,426
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Quote:
When I first started watching the show I went in completely blind having only seen one episode of Decade and 2-3 of Kuuga. I assumed that Count Zero was the name of the villain, not just Engrish. I'm so glad to see that someone else read that as possibly being a character name. |
02-18-2020, 11:14 AM | #240 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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Quote:
Thank you!
When I first started watching the show I went in completely blind having only seen one episode of Decade and 2-3 of Kuuga. I assumed that Count Zero was the name of the villain, not just Engrish. I'm so glad to see that someone else read that as possibly being a character name.
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