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04-11-2020, 09:32 PM | #361 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Oh, man, smart move. She's definitely the thing Ore Journal was missing.
EDITED TO ADD: hey what if i talked about why First of all, I love that the only reason she became a secretary is because she wanted to be a journalist and accidentally took classes to become a secretary instead. That concept, of her tripping and falling into a completely different career and her being, like, *shrug emoji*... perfect. Gold-plated perfection. I don't know if I've ever heard of a better origin story. But, for the mix of Ore Journal, she's just the right kind of weirdo to level up the dynamic. Dedicated, but sloppy. Manipulative, but scatterbrained. Earnest, but untrustworthy. And she immediately creates an entertaining rivalry (unknowingly, because: Megumi) with Shimada. It's a great time for more Ore Journal scenes, which is something I'm not sure I expected to ever say and mean.
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04-12-2020, 06:11 AM | #362 |
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Quote:
A little girl is the only survivor of a cruise (or something?) that has everyone else onboard disappear. All she says is that a man was there, and everyone was taken by three monsters. Shinji assumes it’s Asakura, enlists Ren, and they go out on a heavily-covered-by-journalists trip by the police to recreate the initial voyage and see if they can discover the truth behind the disappearances. Asakura’s on the boat, the crew freaks out, people start disappearing, everything points to Asakura… except maybe it’s not him? It’s not his monsters, and he’s basically calling dibs on them, ignoring Knight and Ryuki so he can feed his hungry monsters. Also, the little girl says Asakura saved her?!
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There’s a bunch of mysteries left over in this one (what happened on the previous trip, most of all), so it’s tough to talk too much about the plot other than recounting it. Hard to know how I feel about some of this story without knowing how it ends. Still, I did really enjoy the plot of this one. It’s a tense locked-room mystery for most of it, Ren and Shinji running all over a boat, trying to figure out what’s going on. There’s a real patience to the storytelling, holding off on the monster reveal until very late in the episode, leaving Asakura’s involvement an open question. Keeping Asakura largely off-screen helps the story in two ways, building tension for the monster reveal, and also leaving the nature of his connection to Mika mysterious. Even at the end, we don’t really know what Asakura did before Shinji and Ren showed up, so every scene with Mika and Asakura is as baffling to us as it is to the heroes. Why isn’t she scared of Asakura? Is he really blameless? It’s a possibility that seems more likely than the previous time folks thought Asakura had a heart of gold, that’s for sure. Things are kept appropriately open-ended in this story, with a few theories and no real answers. Everything’s subjective, which is a nice way for Ryuki to do a monster plot.
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I mean, in fairness, this is a very Ryuki version of a monster plot. While the monster reveal is a nice surprise, and the how/why hasn’t been fully explained yet, this is still a plot about whether or not Asakura can be redeemed. It’s not about Mika, exactly, or anyone the monster killed. She’s a victim to protect, and a way to ask questions about Asakura. (It’s not really a story that does much to explore Shinji or Ren. This is, despite him not being in a ton of it, 100% an Asakura episode.) I guess you could make the argument that basically every monster plot in Kamen Rider is about the Kamen Rider, that doesn’t sound wrong to me, but the ones I like do more disguise it a bit. This one managed to get me thinking about the monster’s agenda more than most Ryukis, so I’ll thank it for that.
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How about Yui with long hair instead? Quote:
First of all, I love that the only reason she became a secretary is because she wanted to be a journalist and accidentally took classes to become a secretary instead. That concept, of her tripping and falling into a completely different career and her being, like, *shrug emoji*... perfect. Gold-plated perfection. I don't know if I've ever heard of a better origin story.
Last edited by DreadBringer; 04-12-2020 at 09:38 AM.. |
04-12-2020, 10:58 AM | #363 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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Quote:
So this is the time where, a dead topic usually ORE only follows is actually popular, with all the other journalists there. It's not that often for Shinji to ask for an Atori crew to help his ORE job... And also, does this remind you to the "Ren amnesia" 2-parter where everyone on a public transportation disappears except for one person (and the time you complained about how Mirror Monster works by that, yet it's maybe similar too here)?
I think it's a little different, though. One, in that previous episode a Mirror Mmonster was able to grab the entire contents of train car in a fraction of a second and in total silence. Here, it takes three monsters to pick off a few people in a room, and it usually takes them long enough for folks to scream and the heroes to race to get there. Plus, having not seen the first boat attack, I'd just assume that the monsters took their time in grabbing humans. Quote:
Asakura should've probably just feed his monster upon humans considering his morality, especially when he's extremely close to dying, but I guess that he likes it hard way (or rather, fun way in form of fighting as Rider, as seen where he gives his Rider opponents a chance outside Rider fight)? This is one thing even Asakura doesn't (but perfectly can as seen with Akira) do as habit unlike another evil Rider (Scissors).
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Obviously this is an Asakura episode. Shinji and Ren are just his judges (and again a bet between them if Shinji's ways are sensible or not). Battle-wise, Ryuki and Knight scans his Final Vent card but it somehow gets negated after the Buzzstingers escapes (while Ouja prepares Unite Vent, they're more scared of that?!)... Also previously, can we talk about how something (Buzzstingers) manages to survive Final Vent unharmed, knocking Ouja back?!
Less into it, honestly? There's a thing she does in this one, where she uses some (I don't know anything about hair products for women) hairpins or something to bring the sides of her hair in, so it's not this dome of hair. I'll have to find a picture later. I thought it was pretty stylish and framed her face better. Quote:
What was Okubo thinking? Looking for insane people to hire and prioritizes situations over performance. No wonder ORE is failing.. apart from keep following dead trends (Mirror stuff). Besides here Megumi got what she wanted in ORE, not that she's any better there and will torture ORE like she did to Kitaoka. Megumi is like the emotion pair to Shimada's intellect. And you have to remember that ORE gives the monster plot in this episode, so what were you saying again about this series workplaces?
I'm going to defend Okubo's hiring policies. I like that this dude took in the abrasive reporters and neophyte photojournalists and socially-awkward IT managers and clumsy office workers and made them all a workplace family. I don't know if any of these people could stay employed under anyone else. (Reiko's a great reporter, but she's terrible at following instructions and mostly disrespectful to her boss, and that ain't gonna fly at a lot of companies.) I think it's cool that Okubo takes the dregs and says I Can Make This Work, I Can Make Them Great, They Also Probably Aren't Aware How Much I'm Under-Paying Them.
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04-12-2020, 11:15 AM | #364 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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I like how you've gone from thinking Yui seems pretty interesting, to thinking the show needs to do more with her, to thinking she's pathetic, to thinking the show's using her a bit better, to now just thinking she has nice hair.
That's the kind of critique that makes these threads special. It's like if you take time to blink, Die will already have a completely new wildly different hot take on Yui.
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04-12-2020, 11:49 AM | #365 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
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I like how you've gone from thinking Yui seems pretty interesting, to thinking the show needs to do more with her, to thinking she's pathetic, to thinking the show's using her a bit better, to now just thinking she has nice hair.
That's the kind of critique that makes these threads special. It's like if you take time to blink, Die will already have a completely new wildly different hot take on Yui.
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04-12-2020, 12:10 PM | #366 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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Quote:
I like how you've gone from thinking Yui seems pretty interesting, to thinking the show needs to do more with her, to thinking she's pathetic, to thinking the show's using her a bit better, to now just thinking she has nice hair.
That's the kind of critique that makes these threads special. It's like if you take time to blink, Die will already have a completely new wildly different hot take on Yui. (Also, it's a total accident, but I maybe could not have picked a more representative image for my thoughts on Yui than her looking confused and saying "What happened to you?") My main thing is that I never want to be unfair with these threads. If I dislike a show and it does something good, I want to call it out. If I like a show and it does something bad, I want to call it out. Yui's character has, for me, been remarkably inconsistent (her only scene this episode is thinking about her brother and watching Ren go do hero stuff!!!), but her hair was on-point this episode, and I wanted to compliment it. I would love to have a consistent take on her, but the show would need to have one first. I love Thousand! He's my favorite. I like the way he fights/is a monster.
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04-12-2020, 01:11 PM | #367 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 32
I feel like this is the best kind of story you can do to deepen Asakura's character. Let other people try and divine his motivations, let them project their biases onto him, but never really nail down what he's thinking. The more mysterious you can make Asakura, I think the better he plays. Mika's certain he's a good guy, Ren's certain he's a villain, and Shinji is the audience, wanting to believe he can change but knowing he probably won't. It's tricky, to find that balance. In the Asakura's Brother story, the show veered too far into having the heroes be trusting dopes. In this one, there's circumstantial evidence that Asakura didn't hurt anyone on the boat, that he protected Mika with no ulterior motive, but he never really defends himself or explains his actions. (I mean, there's the bit at the end where he says Mika was just his hostage, but it's not real convincing.) It makes him complicated, in a dramatically compelling way. Having a complete redemption story for Asakura, I feel like it'd ruin his character the same as keeping him a maniacal killer. This middle ground where maybe, under exceptionally heightened circumstances, Asakura might have a sliver of empathy inside of him... I think it's the smartest way to evolve his character. It's funny, to lead this write-up off by talking about Asakura, because in opposition to last episode's It's About Asakura Even If He's Not In It story, Asakura's all over this one, and yet it's not really about him. It's about what he represents. He's a killer, and an unrepentant one at that. He's a monster, and there's no restraining him. The longer he's free, the more innocents are at risk. He's made his bed of surrounding himself with hungry monsters, and now he gets to lie in it. It's justice, by nearly anyone's definition. But. But Mika cares for him. Mika needs him in her life. She needs him to exist in the world. Asakura's death would hurt her. His death would make someone's life, even if it's only one person's life, worse. And that means he deserves to live, same as anyone. The loss of a life isn't just about the person who dies, it's about the people they loved, the world they inhabited. Asakura has earned his fate, but he deserves to live. Not for himself, but for the people who care about him. It's a sweet message, and one only Shinji could properly articulate. It's hard to give a speech advocating for the continued existence of a man who just had his brother devoured by a monster, but the actor's performance and the beautiful spring There Is Beauty After Rain montage really sells the necessity of saving Asakura. It's a monumental ask of the audience, but I was like, Yeah, Shinji should save him. That's the crux of the episode, a make-or-break point for the story, and I thought they landed it gracefully. I sort-of wish that was all that was in this episode? The last one gained points for staying pretty laser-focused on the boat story, while I felt like this one lost points for trying to serve other plots. There are a few scenes of Reiko investigating what happened to Shiro in America, and I found it typically dull. One, I can't believe that, after Tezuka's death, someone else has hijacked Yui's only plotline. Hilarious! This show! Second, I just don't care about the small amounts of information Reiko gets about Mirror Worlds and Secret Science Societies and things that viewers have known about for 30+ episodes. It's so boring to me, watching her catch up to the rest of the show. If this was shocking information that changed what we knew about Shiro and Rider Battles, I'd be into it. But, like, she's just learning the plot of Masked Rider Ryuki. I already know that! I've been watching that for 32 episodes! That part was a bummer, but the rest of this episode was a surprisingly sweet story about the ways even the worst people have value, and can enrich other lives. A real pleasant episode.
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04-12-2020, 01:12 PM | #368 |
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I think it's a little different, though. One, in that previous episode a Mirror Mmonster was able to grab the entire contents of train car in a fraction of a second and in total silence. Here, it takes three monsters to pick off a few people in a room, and it usually takes them long enough for folks to scream and the heroes to race to get there.
Plus, having not seen the first boat attack, I'd just assume that the monsters took their time in grabbing humans. Quote:
I wonder if Asakura's monsters are like Kitaoka: they'll eat anything, as long as it's high-class. People are probably like junk food to Contract Monsters, good for a quick rush but with no essential nutrition. They need the vitamins of other monsters to sustain themselves. Picky eaters, you know? It's better to just give them what they want than force them to eat.
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I'm going to defend Okubo's hiring policies. I like that this dude took in the abrasive reporters and neophyte photojournalists and socially-awkward IT managers and clumsy office workers and made them all a workplace family. I don't know if any of these people could stay employed under anyone else. (Reiko's a great reporter, but she's terrible at following instructions and mostly disrespectful to her boss, and that ain't gonna fly at a lot of companies.) I think it's cool that Okubo takes the dregs and says I Can Make This Work, I Can Make Them Great, They Also Probably Aren't Aware How Much I'm Under-Paying Them.
Last edited by DreadBringer; 04-12-2020 at 01:50 PM.. |
04-12-2020, 01:17 PM | #369 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Hmm I think I understand more about your complaints right now that time. Like being in total slience. Though I think in that part, the train iirc also wasn't seen and the monster actually take time too to eat all the humans? (Or your point was that, the train were in total silence as the humans are wiped out one by one).
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04-12-2020, 03:17 PM | #370 |
I have a problematic type
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If memory serves, for the train car scenes, Reiko looks away for 1-3 seconds and everyone is gone. That's one monster grabbing a few dozen people so fast they can't even scream. I don't think it fits the monster M.O. we've been seeing everywhere else on the show. Most of 'em struggle to grab one person without alerting anyone, and this monster grabbed dozens, multiple times.
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