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11-25-2023, 06:52 AM | #1 |
Have Zord, Will Travel
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: MI
Posts: 5,739
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The Sisters' experiment activates a mysterious new Driver- and a powerful Dark Rider...
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11-26-2023, 07:59 AM | #2 |
Dai Shogun
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 7,536
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Dread's design is pretty cool. Reminds me of Guyver, I like that.
I wasn't initially sold on it being a mind-control Dark Rider and much less Sabimaru as the host, but I was quickly proven wrong as the episode progressed, the drama that ensued was very well done. Sabimaru essentially being the attacker and the hostage in one package works, the way the helmet opened up as a defense while also revealing him crying inside was great. They went really dark in certain scenes too, like the way Dread pummels Houtaro and Rinne being forced to watch. Or Minato being immobilized with his hand stabbed. Gutsy stuff for children's TV. So I liked all of this, what I did not like is that through the appearance of Gotchard's new weapon as well as the preview for next episode it is painfully obvious that Dread was created just to be immediately disposed. Like, use the drama and have the situation on the slow burn for a few weeks. The gang trying to figure out the situation and continue catching Chemies while Dread lurks in the back and strikes occasionally. That would be cool. But no, of course the hero immediately gets the power-up and wins next week, lame. I hope they somehow keep Dread around and maybe even have the guts to let Gotchard fail regardless of his power up, so the situation isn't immediately reset to the status-quo. I also noticed Houtaro was able to "see" his future new form in his mind's eye, much like he did with SteamHopper in the first episode. That's kinda neat, especially if it is a puzzle piece to tease his dormant abilities. Like, him being able to see what he will become is essentially a way to look into the future in of itself, or a way to link with Chemies to see unseen possibilities. I don't remember if I said this before, but that is also an elegant way to explain a Rider being immediately familiar with how a form they just gained operates. We are so used to just accepting that they can, but I prefer it if the writers at least attempt coming up with a reason for it. |
11-26-2023, 07:38 PM | #3 |
Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 686
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I'm not gonna go too deep into this, cuz the I know the usual suspects are likely writing a college essay on their thoughts about the episode right now, so I'll just keep it short and simple: Jesus, what an episode.
Like... it was obvious last ep that the show was trying to get out of the Toy/Card shilling phase every rider has, by Houtaro using 5 Wild Forms to absolutely fuck-up a single MotW's day. But the decision to have the "New direction" of KR Gotchard be kicked off with "the MC is suddenly exposed to the very real possibility that he's gonna die" is a hell of a choice. Boy is taking 14.2 tonnes of Force to the skull and still got up afterwards (that whole Chemy catching trip must've really meant a lot to him). KR Dread himself is... really well done. I was worried how black armor on a black undersuit would look in motion, but the whole thing actually works great. I also like how he uses the RepliChemies (y'know minus the whole "killing them" thing) similar to modern Ultramen; Just jam the collectible into the toy, get covered CGI effects or a prop flies into his hand, and continue fighting. It's a lot faster than Gotchard having to freeze the entire pace of the battle to show off the cards so he can summon one of his 50(ish) extraneous forms so he can use their power in this one instance. The Ex Gotcha Riser... I actually kind of like how it was introduced here. It's the obligatory "Power up weapon given to the MC by just appearing in his hands cuz of ___", but the context of it appearing before Houtaro at his absolute lowest point (so far) as a literal shining ray of hope to him, is one of those cliches I can't dislike. Plus, I'm just glad he didn't immediately go Super Gotchard this ep and beat Dread within the same ep as his introduction. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote:
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11-26-2023, 11:34 PM | #4 |
Super Lawyer
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Posts: 208
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Sabimaru says @ 00:33 that dimension-bending/space-retransmutation is a forbidden alchemy. So, it seems like there are forbidden aspects of universe/nature that must not be violated with alchemy. Several things in nature are forbidden to be tampered with. Space is one of those forbidden aspects. Several other forbidden aspects, I suspect, are time, birth, and death. Will a divinely powerful, fate-manipulating object in the vein of Philosopher's Stone/elixir like I mentioned here eventually appear? And, as I suspected, Shiori's rotten left hand is not only caused by the overuse of her dimension-bending ability, but rather by the mere use of it, no matter how much, as pointed out by Isaac @ 00:39. Shiori's response to it kinda creeps me out, haha. It seems like the members of Atropos' death cult do have a nihilistic tendency. Shiori echoing Licht's view of Chemies as tools could be a setup for a red herring to make Licht look like he's a part of Shiori's death cult. The vertical kabe-don scene @ 01:17 makes me chuckle for a moment, haha.
Rinne suspects that Shiori may be brainwashed by Atropos, but her suspicion is immediately dismissed by Shiori herself who says that her betrayal is because she worships The Sisters. It seems like Shiori's death club is some kind of The Sisters' fan club. This death club is similar to the Siths in Star Wars or the Death Eaters in Harry Potter. They're groups formed by practitioners of dark arts of their respective fields. Shiori says @ 04:23 that what The Sisters have been doing is a beautiful thing that will open the door of darkness to change the world. As I have stated several times, it seems like The Sisters' final goal is bringing a new natural order, very possibly one where humans transcend death, and not only blur but also destroy the boundary between life and death altogether. Although, personally, Shiori's own goal seems to be more motivated by lust for power than the desire to transcend death. She mentions an event 10 years ago where the people she calls hard-headed idiots screwed up a once-in-a-lifetime chance to grasp the truth about alchemy. Who were these "hard-headed idiots"? I think they were the AU's top brasses who managed to collect all 101 Chemies. And what does she mean by this "once-in-a-lifetime chance to grasp the truth about alchemy"? Is she referring to the RCC theft by Fuga? Or is she referring to the Gotchardriver? I doubt it, because the Gotchardriver was only recently finished. It seems like one or several people had almost successfully executed the grand plan of opening the door of darkness in the past. It seems like there was another tool that was the Gotchardriver's predecessor that when combined with the 101 RCC's also had the ability to "grasp the truth about alchemy", very likely referring to the ability to access the power of the Ouroboros. After that squandered attempt 10 years ago, that tool was probably lost, hidden, damaged, or destroyed by a sabotageur, very likely Fuga, whose motivations and goals are also still mysterious. Is this tool the main villain's Driver, similar to the Evol Driver/Ark Driver/Zillion Driver? Shiori has finally got her starstruck moment @ 05:50 when The Sisters appear before her... And gets vaporized by Atropos not long after that. Atropos retires her from duty because she dislikes her indiscreet method, also probably because her jig is up. Also, if this is Shiori's first moment of seeing The Sisters, then it means that there's at least one other spy that acts as an intermediary between Shiori and The Sisters. Who is it? Is it Minato who uses his real identity? Is it Renge? Is it Licht? Or is it another offscreen character that has also been active behind the screen? Unlike the Kamen Rider Club, the AU/AA is a big organization, similar to Sword of Logos, so this is very likely the case. I thought it was Shiori who would conveniently use her dimension-bending power to put the new Driver onto Sabimaru, but she is killed before the Driver even appears on screen. So, I was wrong on that. Haha. Oh, and I notice that Shiori's Ring has red gem, so her rank is likely similar to Minato's. Atropos says @ 06:59 that human lives and friendship are weakness. She seems to be a Machiavellianist who sees friendship as merely another form of tools that can be discarded when it's no longer useful to her. I wonder if she and the two other Sisters will betray each other. It'd be very interesting if it actually happens. My hypothesis in episode 11's thread last week is mostly proven to be correct in this episode. The user of the Dreadriver, the new Driver created by Atropos is Sabimaru. I thought that it was Shiori who would put the Dreadriver onto Sabimaru, but it turned out that they only need Clotho's muscle. Sabimaru is chosen to be the user of Dreadriver due to his extensive knowledge of alchemy. Fittingly, the Dreadriver plays a creaking door sound effect when the lever is pulled. The piano standby music is also equally creepy. I hypothesized last week that Sabimaru was gonna transform using the Jamata no Orochi RCC (Occult 8) due to the hydra motif on his helmet (which I can't un-see, haha), but I was wrong. It turned out that he transforms using the Steam Liner Repli Chemy Card, a whole new (!) group of Chemy Cards that are said to be the negative copies of the Ride Chemy Cards created from the huge stock of Blank RCC's stolen by Shiori from inside AU/AA's vault, hence the inverted color scheme and the dark aura. Yep, as Atropos herself says herself @ 11:22, it turned out that RCC's can be copied into Blank RCC's as I suspected here. Both their names start with the letter R. How am I supposed to abbreviate the phrase Repli Chemy Card? Haha. There you go, collectors. A whole another group of 101 (!) cards to collect. Dread transforms using (Repli) Steam Liner as his default form, but I still can't see where the steam train motif on his suit is. All I see are skeleton... And hydra, haha. Dread looks great, though. I'll definitely preorder the SHF. The Dreadriver's Drain function seems similar to the one on Gotcharge Gun where the user can fuse the power of several RCC's, although Dread can generate new weapons from the almost infinite combination of RCC's, not only energy attacks. Oh, and the Dreadriver can fuse more than 2 RCC's simultaneously, when the Gotchardriver can only fuse 2 RCC's at the same time. As shown @ 17:56, it seems like Dread is controlled by Atropos. Sabimaru was spied on by Shiori, apparently through Isaac. Does this mean that Isaac is a spying program/device? This is quite satirical because the majority of the so-called smart devices today are actually spying on its users in real life. And wasn't Isaac created and programmed by Sabimaru himself? If Isaac's behavior is intended to deceive the AA/AU members, then it must've been programmed that way by Sabimaru. It's also shown @ 12:43 that Sabimaru is still connected to Isaac eventhough he's already transformed into Dread. If so, then what exactly is Isaac? Spanner attempts to fight Dread using his usual elitist, Chemies-are-merely-tools philosophy... And proceeds to get immediately defeated by Dread/Sabimaru, who has extensive, deep knowledge about Chemies. It seems like he'll be forced to up his game and change his view of the Chemies. His change of view will probably coincide with him getting his Rider form and a new Driver (yay!). In the midst of the crisis, the white version of X Gotchalibur suddenly appears out of nowhere, apparently sent by UFO-X that comes and goes as it pleases, as usual. Haha. It looks like it's gonna be this season's Kougouken Saikou aka the sword of light that can fight Dread's power of darkness on equal level. And as always, Houtarou gives it a name on the spot, like what he did when he transforms using the Gotchardriver for the first time. I like the shape and the color of X Gotchalibur. Minato has a crucial trick up his sleeve: Escape teleportation spell. He states @ 21:07 that this problem is beyond the students' ability. He's planning to report it to the top brasses, although he himself is not sure whether it's a fruitful effort or not. Does this mean that Minato has known (or at least suspected) that there's something fishy with the top brasses at AU? Does this mean that more top brasses will appear, probably with their own Drivers and Rider forms, like the Genesis Riders and Laser Raise Riser Riders? Yay, more new Drivers! The voice @ 21:28 is actually Houtarou's, not Sabimaru's. I got fooled on that one, haha. Spanner, as usual, frankly points out the possibility that he, Houtarou, Rinne, and Renge could've died during the crisis a few moments ago. He shows how the students' naive ideals, dreams, and shallow optimism clash with the harsh reality of being alchemists, which is actually closer to being knights of Sword of Logos than Pokemon trainers, haha. He also mentions that many alchemists have died when performing their duty of protecting the natural order of the world. This could be a foreshadowing of a big reveal of the AU/AA's past and the root of their conflict with (or even connection to) The Sisters' death club. Like I stated here, they were probably once allies. It's revealed at the end of this episode that Licht has been watching the whole crisis unfold from afar. Although it seems like he's grading Houtarou's performance as a Rider, it's still unclear what his true motivation is. He could be another spy from The Sisters' death club, or a mid-level manipulator sent by Glion himself, or a potential mentor, etc. I hope he doesn't end up as the new Akaishit, haha. Next week, Sabimaru will debut as Atropos puppet in civilian form, although he doesn't change his attire to match The Sisters'. Atropos says that when someone transforms into Dread, his life is over. Does this mean that Sabimaru will be a permanently brainwashed puppet controlled by Atropos? I doubt it. Kajiki will finally manage to channel his UFO-ria to summon UFO-X with Houtarou and the others. Houtarou will attach the X Gotchalibur to the Gotchardriver and access Super Gotchard's first Level 10 form, Cross UFO-X. I'm fine with the goofy armors. It's the undersuit's color scheme that I dislike. I hope DreadSabi can still kick Houtarou's and Spanner's butt next week. Oh, and Minato's attire will look a bit tidier than usual, haha. |
11-27-2023, 12:24 PM | #5 |
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
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Unfortunately, being smart provides disaster to the cast in this case.
I guess more insight about the Dark Sisters' goal is given by Shiori, courtesy of her admiration, the Door or Darkness is described as something that would bring change to the world, and what's supposed to be room of improvement for Academy by learning the truth of alchemy. Shiori deems the Academy as idiots for not as hungry for knowledge/power as she does to stoop to working with Dark Sisters. Ofc it won't be done by those with more regard to others well-being than solely being power hungry. And her path only led to her demise that Dark Sisters only used her as a disposable tool.... like general view on Chemies. Feels as if Hotaro regards Chemies better than humans, to describe Chemies as inherently pure, but corrupted by human malice. Guess that can explain Hotaro only shouting over Chemies over humans. This'd put him at odds with Shiori who hurt them for her actions. Shiori also looks down on Hotaro's view, and as usual, it's proven wrong with the Chemies she stole fighting back. Ofc Hotaro still regards humans highly to call out Atropos for disposing Shiori. He also continually vow to bring smile to everyone for the drama that happens. Shiori got Sabi chosen to be Dread, and though Dread's actions are outside of Sabi's control, Dread makes use of Sabi's intelligence and Chemies knowledge to act as the dark counterpart of Gotchard, mirroring his fighting style and usage of Chemies. Isaac seems to be more important than to act as Sabi's here, where it'd be the closest one can communicate with Sabi in his current state as Renge did. Atropos' answer to Hotaro was to test humans depending on camaderie by taking them away. The Dark Sister fight with their repsective rivals, Lachesis' swordmanship with Supana while forcing Rinne into misery, and Clotho's brawl with Minato. So far, the battle has false hope like Hotaro receiving Exgotchalibur, and Sabi regaining his senses, only for Hotaro to get tired and Dread to go after Renge. Renge and Sabi also finally show off their alchemy, so it's not exclusively Rinne. Now it's the heroes who pull the "exit stage left" move after losing by Minato's alchemy. It's typically done by villains after losing. Afterwards, Supana gets sick of the "amateurs" treating the alchemist job like fun and games, when it's a life and death situation where alchemists can die to preserve the natural order. While Hotaro isn't strong enough as for now, upgrading your abilities don't necessarily have to mean you can't lighten up anymore. Though there are room of improvements for them, complains coming from no-nonsense professionals like this can come off like hating humans being happy.
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11-28-2023, 11:51 PM | #6 |
Kaiju or Hero?
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Even I Don't Know Anymore.
Posts: 1,398
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"Did someone mention the Door to Darkness?" -Mickey Mouse
Boy. Gotchard really pulled a great Villain Rider debut this episode. And I know people will bring up the "I told you it wasn't going to stay happy-go-lucky," which yes, it is a darker episode but I'm going to give it some time before jumping on that boat, not like it was one that we shouldn't have expected. Anyway, I did figure the Inspector seemed to be just "there" and given how obvious she tried to lead them to thinking it'd be the old guy, it's pretty obvious from previous Rider Seasons to see that kind of twist coming. But anyway, I'm glad this episode didn't skimp out on the focus of the fight like retreating midway through the episode (they left at the end, which is great because we got a whole episode dedicated to a great fight and debut) since boy, Dread's debut and everything was just perfect! An unwilling host instead of a twist villain, using the protagonist's kindness with their hostage host not as a "I'm wearing your friend's face, betcha can't punch it" or how well using Sabimaru worked as the host since he knows a lot about the Chemies to better utilize them against Gotchard. Look, I know Spanner's giving a reality check to the kids, but you got owned too. Twice in fact during that fight. I do appreciate the theme of starting out simple and innocent with Chemy Catching to what an Alchemist's duty really is, and I'm sure we all know they're going to pull the old Rider Heroine trope about some special power Rinne has or something, given how the Goth Girl Brigade told her it would be her fault for everything. Of course, now we're definitely in the "introducing too many forms and discarding them too early on" phase of Rider which does concern me, but we'll see how Gotchard plays out before judgement. Next Episode: "Ah! UFO!" -Shotarou Hidari, 2010
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12-01-2023, 10:59 AM | #7 |
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Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 1,967
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Wow, what an episode! Like the 10th, this is essentially one big fight scene, but so much happened during it. At the beginning, Houtarou showed off his friendship with the Chemies, but things quickly took a turn for the worse. We were right that Shiori joined the Abyssal Sisters of her own free will, but they clearly do not consider her an equal. Although, it is quite possible that Atropos can also easily get rid of Clotho and Lachesis, these two are just useful for now.
As for the Dread, he is sinister and threatening. Essentially, he combines the power of Valvarad and the creativity of Gotchard, and therefore easily defeats them both. Although, Hotaro still lasted noticeably longer. The beatings are brutal and any attempt to resist is mercilessly interrupted. Now I understand what Atropos meant when she spoke of falling into the abyss of despair. But the light of hope has not yet gone out and the audience is made to understand that Sabimaru can be saved. Also: Kugimiya just watched the battle without interfering? Well, at least it looks like he's ready to recognize Houtarou as worthy once he gets level ten power. Also: I don't quite understand Spanner's claims at the end. After all, he himself took part in the fight and did not particularly distinguish himself. Or does he think he could have done a better job with the belt? But we weren’t really shown how and in what ways Valvarad is inferior to the Riders. As for the awareness of mortality... Don't forget that Hotaro and other teenagers. It is at this age that one begins to understand what death is, its inevitability and, in some cases, that it can happen much earlier and completely unexpectedly. It can be unsettling, especially after a terrible beating. Also, as far as I remember, no one had died before Houtarou’s eyes. Even Clotho's thugs didn't show their worst sides in front of the alchemists. So nothing unusual. P.S. I liked that Minato acted like a teacher, saying that children have no place in war, and let adult alchemists deal with the sisters. But the preview of the next episode shows that Kajiki will be involved in the capture of the UFO-X. I wonder if his memory will be erased again after this? Poor fellow! Last edited by Mesnick; 12-01-2023 at 11:13 AM.. |
12-06-2023, 03:22 AM | #8 |
New Member
Join Date: Sep 2023
Posts: 6
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Thanks for the reviews..
Last edited by ArthurTuck; 01-12-2024 at 08:56 AM.. |
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