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04-27-2023, 07:45 AM | #151 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
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Random tidbit I did find interesting for this episode is that... the Stamps already have the Rider stuff in them to a certain point? Like Brachio wasn't calibrated last episode, but it still had the Zi-O stuff in it, but if a remix had happened uh... yeah. So I just find it interesting that these things were already half baked before they were stolen.
Our Deadman spotlight this week is also interesting, seeing as this is the first time we have a Planarian monster. It's freaky and weird in its first and second states (probably one of my favorite Phase 2 designs tbh) and just generally an out there theme for a monster. Also it's nice to see how Revi, Vice, and Live work together. Our usual duo are the main attackers while Live provides support via his gun. I also like it when Riders loan each other their weapons so getting to see Live dual wield his own weapon and the axe gun that Revi has was fun for that first fight. And of course we've got a big Sakura focus as she's slowly closing in on becoming a Rider. It's fun to watch really, seeing her family pretty much try and keep her grounded to not fighting monsters. Which you know it makes sense, very much a family of overprotective siblings/parents, especially since we're only just coming out of the Evil Arc that Daiji was a part of and I feel that's a big driving factor in everyone reacting to Sakura's proclamations of wanting to fight like they did. But yes, we're very much approaching one of my absolute faves in Revice and I can't wait. Thankfully, we won't have to wait long for that compared to if we were watching this as the show came out! |
04-27-2023, 08:45 AM | #152 |
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I would also like to apologize for my previous post, as I see now that it was too broad a statement to give the insight I was going for. Like Daiji, I'm trying to hold back a lot of thoughts that may be perceived as unhelpful, or, "a bummer to read", but the desire to complain is tempting sometimes and I guess the Kagerou got out here.
Fortunately (unfortunately?), your review of Episode 11 gives me the perfect opportunity to complain in a way I hope you will find relevant! Putting aside the narrative problems, if there's something I can blame for the immediate decrease in my enjoyment of the show, it's the focus on Little Miss Angst, whose existence may have contributed to me softening on Reika a little. You've already compared Sakura to Ren and Aguilera to Kaito and I'd compare Sakura to Yaguruma and Aguilera to Kageyama, which in your case, that probably just makes you like her more. However, as I mentioned in the Kabuto thread, I have little tolerance for pretentious types and I think this is one of the worst examples, cause now Yaguruma is the female lead, there is no escape from it. A kid talking about how they want to become invincible and beat everybody is typical kid behavior, but as a young adult, it sounds insufferably pretentious and edgy! I don't recall this getting brought up yet, but Kinoshita's original pitch for Revice included a female Primary Rider due to his confessed bias towards what he calls, "strong women". It was vetoed, mostly for marketing reasons. Makes you wonder who that character would've been, doesn't it?
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04-27-2023, 08:51 AM | #153 |
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04-27-2023, 08:57 AM | #154 |
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04-27-2023, 11:14 AM | #155 |
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That said, I love the very videogame gimmick of needing to do more damage than it can regenerate, so it's just the Kamen Riders spamming powerful attacks with every tool available. Always entertaining to see the heroes just punish a monster. Quote:
Now we're really getting into the part where the show starts taking off for me. Sakura is absolutely my favorite of the Igarashi siblings and probably my favorite character on the entire show. Finally getting her out into the spotlight absolutely kicks the show up to another level.
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Thanks for the screencaps! Quote:
Which you know it makes sense, very much a family of overprotective siblings/parents, especially since we're only just coming out of the Evil Arc that Daiji was a part of and I feel that's a big driving factor in everyone reacting to Sakura's proclamations of wanting to fight like they did.
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Like, I really think Sakura's a relatable and unique character for a Kamen Rider show -- we don't usually get stories about teen girls trying to define themselves -- despite her motivation being one that's landed on a ton of great characters over the years: how do we find our motivation and resolve, when we thought having power would make that clear to us?
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04-27-2023, 08:08 PM | #156 |
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KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 11 - “WHY DOES THE UNBEATABLE SAKURA NEED POWER?”
The Igarashi Brothers spend an episode dynamically mopping up Deadmans with a synchronicity that borders on the superhuman, and it’s wonderful to see. Very exciting to watch Live and Revi (and Vice) get gigantic fight scenes where they use combo tactics to detonate monsters. Quote:
Sakura’s one of my favorite characters on Revice, mostly for how incongruently she’s fit into the narrative thus far. Much like Daiji’s great for his laundry list of psychological defects, Sakura’s teenage prickliness and barely-restrained aggression makes every one of her scenes fascinating to watch. She’s coiled at almost all times, appropriately, like a cobra. There’s a restlessness that seems natural for a girl her age, but it’s turned up a few notches too high. She doesn’t fit in this family, and I don’t mean that in an emotional way. They all love her, and she loves them. But she needs more than that, and she can’t articulate what.
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It’s the core of her story in this episode, the belief that more power is the answer, even when she doesn’t know or understand the question. She’s someone looking desperately for a purpose, and she’s lost herself in a life that’s thus far avoided the necessary engagement to secure it. She trains, relentlessly, but that’s inherently a hollow pursuit. Training for what? Becoming stronger why? Since she was a little girl, she’s seen Being Stronger as a goal in and of itself, with a clarity that would give Ren from Saber pause. But now that she’s becoming an adult, she’s learning that strength only matters if it’s in the application of a greater cause.
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I appreciated the show treating her like a child, despite generally losing my temper with shows that treat male characters as unstoppable beacons of moral justice whose resolve and self-sacrifice are only questioned to be proven unimpeachable, while women are things (not people) to protect and patronize. Some of it is for my favorite Sakura expression – wide-eyed, stunned, paralyzed with fury – but a lot of it is for a clear division between the adult cast-members and the youngest Igarashi. They’re wrong to hold Sakura back, but it’s right for these characters to hold her back. In much the same way that Ikki struggles with being overprotective because he's always been the oldest kid, and Daiji struggles with defining himself outside his brother’s shadow because he's the middle sibling, Sakura’s frustration and desire for power spill directly out of how powerless a large family can make the youngest child feel. The way this show uses relatable family dynamics to quickly and precisely shape its cast is great, and Sakura’s stifling but well-meaning family is a perfect foil for a young woman who is determined to test her own boundaries.
I guess, Sakura also has similar resentment to Ikki as Daiji's due to how Ikki takes care of her siblings? As she hates being treated "like a kid", and of course, Ikki can be overbearing on taking care of them, not giving them a room to solve their own problems. The scene of Ikki assuring Sakura to be a help seems to be played off as a joke a bit, or is it Ikki not fully learning his lesson? Now Ikki and Daiji as expected becomes a brother tag team, with Vice thriving on them (but finally got his consequence for his 4th wall breaking, being punched by Planaria Deadman), and as families... both will have catchphrases based on their Rider name. So Daiji seems to be content on both brothers fighting together or giving Ikki the ViStamp (but Ikki being primary... will have him getting more upgrades), but this episode reaffirms that Daiji is a genuinely heroic person, as he knows that one's predicament (Seiko's) isn't an excuse for them to terrorize people (even if it's to get what they want), and it applies for himself too before, where he didn't act on his jealousy on Ikki who overshadows him, unlike Kagerou, and in the next episode, it seems that Daiji calls out Sakura for endangering Ikki (the reverse of what happened in ep. 4, so Daiji's quite neutral in how he treats his siblings). Even Ikki justifies Seiko a bit before, but that influence leads for him to fight her off. And as usual, he takes his Fenix duty very seriously, and Ikki's not the only one getting called out on this, but Sakura too, of being overconfident to use only karate skills to solve those, but the supernatural threats are beyond human level, thus she's not enough, at best humans can only take on Giff Juniors, reminding her that the stakes are far bigger than what she thinks (just like how Ikki thinks fighting Deadmans can be a secondary priority to Happy Spa before, so she does have a bit of an Ikki trait too here). Albeit his move to tell her to just stay in safety is the usual stigmatizing move that can be applied to women... Quote:
The thing that made Diend great (stay with me here) is that his actor, seemingly all by himself, decided that he and Decade were constantly flirting with each other. It’s barely on the page; it is almost entirely in the performance. It’s the same thing with Aguilera here, who brings a romantic charge to any scene that even hints at Sakura’s existence, even when it could read through dialogue as menacing or bored or jokey or whatever. Find you someone who looks at you the way Aguilera looks at Sakura. I could watch those two Fight As A Metaphor for an entire episode and never get sick of it. Aguilera’s a temptation in a lot of ways, but she’s mainly here to get Sakura to understand that her power as a human fighter is irrelevant in a world of demon-powered superheroes and Cinco de Monsters. If she wants to have her family actually hear her, she’s going to have to meet them on their level. She’s going to have to become a Kamen Rider.
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04-27-2023, 09:02 PM | #157 |
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I guess, Sakura also has similar resentment to Ikki as Daiji's due to how Ikki takes care of her siblings? As she hates being treated "like a kid", and of course, Ikki can be overbearing on taking care of them, not giving them a room to solve their own problems. The scene of Ikki assuring Sakura to be a help seems to be played off as a joke a bit, or is it Ikki not fully learning his lesson?
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04-27-2023, 09:13 PM | #158 |
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KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 12 - “WEAKNESS IS STRENGTH!? THE UNBEATABLE JEANNE!”
My general rule for buying merch is to hold off until after I’ve fully watched a show. A couple exceptions – I’ll get a Driver when I’ve started watching a show, I’ll preorder the Figuart of a main Rider for a show I haven’t watched yet – but I’ve held to that rule pretty firmly. Mostly because it all means more after I’ve watched a show, and there’s nothing more dispiriting than buying stuff you don’t care about yet. For example, I could’ve ordered SHF Blades at any time. He was cheap and plentiful. But I didn’t know anything about Saber when he was released. I didn’t like the look of the suit, and I assumed he’d be another surly rival for our main Rider. Now that the show’s over, I was rushing to get him. I needed to own Rintaro, in all his stammering and non-suspicious glory. The figure wasn’t just a cool toy, it was a manifestation of my appreciation for a performance; a record of art that resonated with me. I can’t care that much about a piece of merch for a character I haven’t even met yet. Except for Lovekov. That’s a giant Lovekov I preordered months before I started watching Revice. (Rex Vistamp for scale.) It showed up a few months back. The design of Lovekov transcended my awareness of the character, and it obliterated my flimsy rules. I couldn’t wait until after I loved Lovekov, because I already knew it was inevitable. Watching Revice, getting to know the Igarashis… all of that was just prelude to the introduction of Lovekov. The actual show starts now. And what a grand debut for the best Kamen Rider character of the Reiwa era! Vice was the embodiment of the life Ikki wouldn’t let himself live in the name of being there for his family: adventurous, self-involved, thrill-seeking. Evil was the embodiment of everything Daiji hated about himself: vindictive, jealous, manipulative. Naturally, Lovekov is the embodiment of the parts of Sakura that she thought were weak about herself: unbridled joy, affection, vulnerability. The show’s thesis statement is the hollowness and failure of an unexamined life, so it’s time to see what Sakura’s been keeping from us. It’s a nice lesson in the value of vulnerability. There’s strength in letting people in; strength in accepting that people care for you, want you to be safe and happy. It’s no surprise that the site of Sakura’s failure to Henshin is an empty room, all by herself. She’s convinced herself that a facade of self-sufficient power is enough to overcome any obstacle, but it’s not. It’s her at half-strength, cut off from the totality of her resolve, as well as the support of her family. She’s stronger for saying that sometimes she isn’t strong. It all leads to a thrilling action sequence, likely on par with the climax of this weekend’s Beyond Generations. Sakura’s fighting abilities, coupled with the Libera Driver, trounce the rapidly multiplying Deadmans. (Very nice of this story’s bad guy to create so many scrubs for Jeanne to one-shot!) Aguilera’s there to show her support and cheer on her girl, which is adorable. Hiromi's there to randomly mention his backstory and motivation, like he wanted to get it on the record before Sakura overshadowed him for good. Ikki and Daiji are there to show the difference between teammates and siblings in a perfect closing scene. It all wraps up beautifully. It’s my favorite episode of Revice, and not only because Lovekov finally validated this show’s existence. It leverages every Igarashi kid in interesting and dramatically compelling ways, from Ikki’s pep talk at the playground, to Daiji’s inability to not ruin an emotional moment despite trying to be cool and worthy of respect, to Sakura’s growth into a woman that is okay acting like a girl occasionally. It’s sweet in its portrayal of family, smart in its exploration of vulnerability as a part of a healthy psyche, and glorious in its incorporation of toku action in the midst of all of the above. Finally, a show worthy of Lovekov.
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04-27-2023, 09:35 PM | #159 |
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I'll be upfront: These past two episodes of Revice were the first two that I actively didn't like. At all.
When it comes to what is supposed to be the main focus of it all, it in essence just comes across like a slightly less forced version of the Ryuga arc from Zi-O: Everyone in the cast keeps insisting that Sakura is in actuality a total wimp, despite there being very little indication of that up to this point, making the entire point/message feel unearned. In extension to that, these episodes really had me turning on Mama Igarashi. Her blatant double standard of insisting that Ikki has to go out and save the world despite his own desires, yet telling Sakura that nothing in the show is Sakura's' responsibility despite Sakura wanting to contribute really rubbed me the wrong way. I don't care if it's human, or realistic, or accurate representation of a family unit or not, it's still a double standard and I found it very annoying. Hiromi just dumping his backstory out of nowhere was not only forced, but made it really seem that the writer's' found him as more of an annoyance to work with rather than wanting to actually think of giving him any proper focus. The backstory itself is fine, but it would've been nice to actually explore that in a Hiromi focused episode, rather than just stapled into this randomly. And lastly, and most importantly... that child is dead. There's no two ways around it. But yet we're still supposed to see the mother as in the wrong for wanting to do whatever she can to save her child's' life. This is what I was getting at with my fears of villains talking to much sense: Something like this where I am outright rooting for the "bad guy" despite the show not wanting me to. It's a really cruel message to end the episode off on and it seriously killed the momentum built up by how good episode 10 was. No Line Texts this time, as there were none in the episode itself. Such a disappointment.
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04-27-2023, 09:53 PM | #160 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
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Toei saw how well Kururun did in Precure and realized they needed that for Kamen Rider. Thus Lovekov was born and by all that is great, I love Lovekov.
Like, just give me a fun mascot character, check. Do they need to do anything? Not really no. I should be honored to be blessed by their existence. So once again, I thank Lovekov for existing. This episode is a fun one, in that it does a storyline I've enjoyed seeing from time to time and that's... it's okay to be weak, to not be strong. As long as you're true to yourself, that's where your real strength comes from. So yeah, really enjoy Kamen Rider Jeanne as a design, given we don't get many snakes in Rider, it's always fun to see how they differentiate them. The debut is pretty fun, because you've got the kickass momentum of her fights... contrasted by Lovekov just being there all while Vice basically has to play babysitter. Of course beforehand we might just have one of my favorite bits in Revice? While Hiromi's alright for me as a character, the dude's actor excels at straight faced comedy, in which he's entirely serious during his backstory drop that it loops around to hilariously endearing. To the point where Daiji's so distracted that he's unable to time the Henshin with Hiromi properly. Now then... let's talk the Libera Driver. Mostly in how simple it is in function and I like that a lot. Sometimes you don't need a big fancy belt. Of course, I should also mention, P-Bandai. It strikes me odd that a belt like that is sold P-Bandai given how simple in function it is. Though it also doesn't strike me as odd because well... it's a girl exclusive Driver, I shouldn't be surprise, even if some countries outside of Japan will just sell it normally at retail from what I've seen. So yeah, 4 Riders, 2 Retail, 2 P-Bandai. And so far every stamp a Rider uses that isn't the 10 Genomes, Bat, Batta is P-Bandai or Promo Exclusive. Just something to keep in mind for the moment. |
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