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02-07-2020, 05:28 PM | #181 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 37
This show has never done a great job, for me, of making the Unknown interesting. They're frequently well-designed, and some of the kills are real clever, but they don't have any character to them. They just show up, murder, then get murdered. Even Spooky Man and Truegami, who seem to be on an extended sabbatical, don't do a lot to flesh out the threats Agito and his allies face. So goddamn is it good to see Kino as an antagonist. His presence, his energy, it makes these episodes of Agito into a taut thriller, with allies unwittingly aiding the enemy as the walls close in around our heroes. It's not totally tense, thankfully. It's hilarious to see Hikawa all starstruck and fawning over Kino. (That dude has zero chill!) And it's a blast to see Ozawa just cut right through the bullshit, hearing about Kino for maybe twenty seconds before realizing that he's a liar and a creep and definitely undertips when he gets delivery. She's, as always, the greatest. Otherwise, it's a consistently bleak episode, with Ryou nearly killed and suffering from pretty serious Rider Kick-related injuries; Houjou and the police restarting the Agito Capture Program and accidentally/fortuitously snagging Shouichi instead of Kino; and Kino getting a gift from the heavens as a comatose Ryou is totally at his very-non-Hippocratic mercy. Things are just super shitty for our heroes this time out. It all makes for a great episode, though. Kino's an adversary this show has desperately needed, someone who can match wits with our heroes, and someone who complicates the Mutants Good, Unknown Bad dichotomy. (I mean, okay, Aki, but she thought she was avenging Ryou.) More than anything, though, it's Kino's fanaticism that's refreshing to see, his weird devotion to being Agito and protecting people even if it means murdering potential rivals. He's like a less sympathetic Snipe, an unlicensed doctor who believes it's his responsibility to save everyone. But, like, on Ex-Aid it was something that felt like a burden, like something he didn't want to have to do alone, really. With Kino it's Full Villain, lying and betraying to get everyone else out of the way, to... it's like divine providence, like he alone shoulders the burden and deserves the power. It's a complicated character, and easily the best villain this show has had. I'm liking where this story's going.
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02-07-2020, 09:00 PM | #182 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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So I went skimming back through the A New Transformation special on a whim (I think I mostly wanted to see Ryou punch Houjou in motion), and I just want to take a second to mention that the new-viewer-friendly opening narration (WATCH OUR MOVIE) describes the Riders using what I think were actually like, taglines or something to promote the show throughout its run, but were almost certainly part of the elevator pitch for the show used by whoever thought up the idea to make a Kamen Rider show with more than one lead.
Really really loosely (because you tell me how to translate なってしまった in a way that stays as succinct), they're: Shouichi Tsugami: The man who is a Kamen Rider. Makoto Hikawa: The man who wishes to become a Kamen Rider. Ryou Ashihara: The man who wishes he never became a Kamen Rider. I love those descriptions so much. They convey so clearly what each character's function in the story is, and exactly how they reflect one another as protagonists. All in so few words. I've raved about this a bit in this thread already, but Agito has such... precision, I guess, in how it uses its at the time unique premise that I can't ever get enough of. Agito was actually one of the last Heisei shows I watched, so I spent a good couple years mostly just hearing about the premise like that, and seeing this perfect, beautiful trio of cool mystic looking dude, mecha-Kuuga, and gross guy, that it built up tons of hype in my mind. I have to say, it lived up to that hype. Oh no. I've seen this happen at least a few times, though it's not like I have a list written down or anything. Everyone feel free to jump in and share your story of confused reaction about Shining Form! Mine was something like "Wait... is Agito... solar-powered?" Kino is definitely a very Toshiki Inoue kind of character that way. It's a thing about his writing style that can bounce between being a positive and a negative, which is just how much he likes to deal in extremes, even as he handles other elements in subtle ways that make it clear he's perfectly capable of using a lighter touch. I don't know the guy personally, obviously, but I get the feeling if you asked him why Kino couldn't just perform one surgery at a time, he'd tell you "because that's boring". Wait, seriously? What line is that?
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02-07-2020, 10:06 PM | #183 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
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02-07-2020, 10:48 PM | #184 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
So I went skimming back through the A New Transformation special on a whim (I think I mostly wanted to see Ryou punch Houjou in motion), and I just want to take a second to mention that the new-viewer-friendly opening narration (WATCH OUR MOVIE) describes the Riders using what I think were actually like, taglines or something to promote the show throughout its run, but were almost certainly part of the elevator pitch for the show used by whoever thought up the idea to make a Kamen Rider show with more than one lead.
Really really loosely (because you tell me how to translate なってしまった in a way that stays as succinct), they're: Shouichi Tsugami: The man who is a Kamen Rider. Makoto Hikawa: The man who wishes to become a Kamen Rider. Ryou Ashihara: The man who wishes he never became a Kamen Rider. I love those descriptions so much. They convey so clearly what each character's function in the story is, and exactly how they reflect one another as protagonists. All in so few words. I've raved about this a bit in this thread already, but Agito has such... precision, I guess, in how it uses its at the time unique premise that I can't ever get enough of. Agito was actually one of the last Heisei shows I watched, so I spent a good couple years mostly just hearing about the premise like that, and seeing this perfect, beautiful trio of cool mystic looking dude, mecha-Kuuga, and gross guy, that it built up tons of hype in my mind. I have to say, it lived up to that hype. Hikawa and Ryou, they want something. Either to be a Kamen Rider or not to be a Kamen Rider, but they are grappling with their circumstances. There's drama to that, as we've seen! Hikawa's stress and constant failures, Ryou's grim determination and quest for meaning, these are strong arcs that propel characters through the series. But, Shouichi? He is a Kamen Rider. He doesn't want, or not want, anything. He exists. He is. And, yes, that's what's special about his character, the zen nature of the man who loves everyone. But holy shit is it bad at generating stories. It means that Shouichi has to be acted on externally to get a story out of him, and even then it's other characters who go on the journey because of that. Kuuga had the same problems to me at times, where Godai was content to just hang out and cook, and the story happened around and occasionally in spite of him. I do enjoy Shouichi as a Rider. I do. He's a perfect cinnamon roll of a man, and I'd say he's easily my third-favorite character on the show. (Houjou first, obviously, followed by Ozawa.) But, it's just... he's not a character that generates stories, and that's sort-of the job of the main character? It unbalances the show, at times, to have to depend on the secondary Riders like Hikawa and Ryou (and now Kino!) to actually create drama and stakes for the series. Quote:
Kino is definitely a very Toshiki Inoue kind of character that way. It's a thing about his writing style that can bounce between being a positive and a negative, which is just how much he likes to deal in extremes, even as he handles other elements in subtle ways that make it clear he's perfectly capable of using a lighter touch.
I don't know the guy personally, obviously, but I get the feeling if you asked him why Kino couldn't just perform one surgery at a time, he'd tell you "because that's boring".
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02-08-2020, 02:11 PM | #185 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 38
God, it's just firing on all cylinders, isn't it? It's very difficult for me to not just post a few dozen screencaps to demonstrate how excellent this episode was, how much the dialogue feels evocative and still informative, how the performances make every joke pop, how the idea to keep Shouichi on ice for this episode does wonders to align everyone against Kino in organic ways, how there's just no fat on this thing, how it's lean and clean and so goddamn good. Okay, I said some words, let's go to the tape! I love this sequence. It's great to see trusting, hero-worshiping, deferential Hikawa start to figure out that maybe he trusted the wrong guy, but only after that guy cracks him in the face and tells him to stay down. Like, it's so in-character for Hikawa to be so far past the point where something's obvious, and he's still like I Don't Know, A Lot Of People Are Making A Lot Of Good Points. My dude. Come on. But it's... I don't know, it's sort-of adorable how naive and trusting Hikawa is. As Ozawa has pointed out before, those are attributes that are probably terrible for a detective, but it's appropriate for a Kamen Rider. And, hey, he's thick as shit, but he does realize after getting punched in the face that maybe he got it wrong on Kino, so, okay, he got there in the end. This is it, the best scene in the episode, and maybe one of my all-time favorite Agito scenes. Houjou and Ozawa are easily my favorite characters in the show, and this scene is why. Houjou's got proof (I mean, "proof") that Shouichi is Agito. Getting that proof was alternately ridiculous and thrilling, which: Houjou. But now he's got it, and the first thing he does is track down Ozawa to hang it over her head. (I think it's great how Houjou needs to so blatantly show off to Team G3-X. It's so needy and pathetic, and totally transparent. God bless him for being so jealous of their bond.) But, it's Ozawa, so she immediately guesses it's Shouichi that's Agito. Of course she does. She's the only one on the show with a brain! Which, that's great, she's awesome, but then Houjou is crushed. He wanted to gloat, and she robbed him of that. His whole body language changes, the smug confidence transformed into moping defeat. It's like he shouted Henshin and became Kamen Rider Just The Saddest Man. It's a great, great scene. I will never get tired of scenes where Houjou comes in a braggart and Ozawa completely owns him. Never. And, god, the easy bond between Ozawa and Shoucihi. I wonder if she's ever looking at Shoucihi and thinking, "So this is what it would be like if Hikawa didn't suck." Like, she believes in Hikawa, but she trusts in Shouichi to save the day. At a point in the series where trust is in short supply, the way Ozawa instinctively knows Shouichi is Agito, is a good person, can help her friend... it's the perfect capper to this episode. Everything about this one sparkled, with the right amounts of warmth, danger, action, humor, and Houjou getting kneed in the gut. A+ episode.
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02-08-2020, 03:11 PM | #186 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Middle of an episode, but, JFC HIKAWA:
ACE INVESTIGATOR, EVERYONE! STICK HIM IN A TIN CAN AND NEVER LET HIM OUT. OH MY SWEET JESUS.
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02-08-2020, 04:25 PM | #187 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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MASKED RIDER AGITO EPISODE 39
Look, I know some big, serious stuff happens in this episode. Kino tracks down the still-injured Ryou, faces off against Agito and G3-X, and we get a big TV-series debut of Exceed Gills. (Still don't like that suit!) It's all done very well, with some great flourishes. (Kino keeps Ryou at gunpoint while he's fighting Agito and G3-X!) And, yeah, it's a nice framework for the episode to go into what humans think of Agitos, what they assume about them. It's smart. But, like, come on. That's not what anyone should remember this episode for. The biggest improvement over Kuuga, for me, is how much the comedy in Agito lands. Sometimes it's big, broad physical comedy, the kind of wacky-faces-and-mugging you'd expect of a kids' show, but a lot of it, the best of it, is all rooted in character. It's a great gag that Omuro doesn't know who Shouichi, the star of the show, is. But it's a better gag because that's a dude perennially on the outside, never getting the whole picture or the whole story. While the rest of the cast is fretting about monster attacks and crazed antiheroes, I'm pretty sure Omuro is heading home to play Zelda and fall asleep on the couch. Houjou and Ozawa scenes kill because we know that Houjou's going to find some way to spin his never-ending defeats as some weird moral victory, and that Ozawa has zero patience for his schtick. It's great, how the character development necessary to tell a season-long story can be leveraged to have me laughing my ass off. Behold Hikawa. Just, the "Hikawa suspects everyone in the cast of being Agito except Shouichi" runner, amazing. Amazing. Never got sick of it. Wouldn't have minded if they'd done ten more versions of it, with Hikawa eventually thanking Taichii for his service as Agito. I don't know if I'm supposed to read Hikawa's obliviousness (literally everyone in this episode knows but him and Omuro!) as stubbornness, or what, but it's an insane story for this show to do. Like, this is their square-jawed hero, the pride of the Metro Police, and he just cannot figure out that Shouichi is Agito. And they keep piling on the jokes at his expense! I love it. I love that they had enough confidence that viewers would go along for the ride, that it wouldn't ruin Hikawa or G3-X or anything, that you could do all of that insanity and then close it off with a brutal fight scene where Shouichi has a gun pointed at his head. It's... it's like this series got a swagger to it, where crazy tonal shifts are handled deftly, where any type of scene they want to try is within their grasp. (Okay, maybe not every scene. The shot where the Child Of Light pitches forward 90 degrees to bond with Ryou? Hilarious, and so cheesy.) The storytelling feels confident and assured, nailing the basics so they can take a few big swings here and there. It's making for some surprising and fun episodes.
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02-08-2020, 09:55 PM | #188 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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I've just gotta say, it's been really nice seeing you find a show you just absolutely love and almost always have nice things to say about; given your biggest criticisms so far are "one episode has a really bad camera" and "I don't like this one suit"
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02-09-2020, 12:03 AM | #189 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
And, y'know, I like Kamen Rider shows? It's fun to watch them, and it's fun to process those feelings with a bunch of (far more) knowledgeable fans. I'd have a tough time watching a show I disliked, let alone spending weeks complaining about it. I think there's enough interesting elements in any Kamen Rider franchise to find something positive to say about them... wwwwwhich I hope aren't words that come back to haunt me later in the Heisei Era.
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02-09-2020, 01:39 PM | #190 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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So, I'm still thinking about that last episode. I'm feeling like I missed talking about a major, positive element. I was so into how funny it was, I think I missed how poignant it was?
I mentioned before that the framework of the last episode, the "what do humans think of Agitos" part, was really smart. It's just, there's a thing they do with Hikawa and Kino and Shouichi that feels like a mission statement for the show, and a road map for the franchise. Hikawa's inability to realize that Shouichi's Agito, it's funny for the obliviousness, but it's true to how Hikawa would think about Agito. Hikawa's conception of heroism is of someone like Kino: serious, strong, dedicated, cold, hardened by sacrifice and duty. That's the sort of masculinity Hikawa associates with heroism, and it's a reason he frequently doesn't see heroism within himself. That's an ideal he doesn't feel like he lives up to. Shouichi, he's 100% not that guy that Hikawa would see as Agito. Shouichi's goofy, empathetic, nurturing, sweet. Those aren't the things that Hikawa would see as a heroic nature. The reveal, then, is that Hikawa's gotten it backwards. Kino's aloof nature doesn't speak to a dedication to justice, it's because he's a power-mad asshole. Shouichi's sweetness isn't because he's weak, it's because he cares about people so deeply he can't hide it. Kino wants power for himself at the expense of others, while Shouichi accepts power to help others. Kino isn't someone to emulate or idealize, Shouichi is. That's a lesson Hikawa learns over the course of the episode (in the funniest way possible), but it feels more like a message to doubting fans, that Shouichi is a valid Kamen Rider, someone whose version of heroism might not be the taciturn badass version that Kino's coded as, but an equally real hero. Someone who believes in justice can still be funny, absent-minded, domestic, emotionally-present, and a contributing member of a household. There are a million different ways to be a hero, and every type of person is capable of heroism. Kuuga was a show that was difficult for me to see a lot of what I liked about the Kamen Rider franchise, while Agito's been more of the things I love. This episode, in retrospect, it really feels like they're making a case for all those good parts of the franchise.
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