Wait, is this true? I was under the impression Kaixa Break was some photoshopped, purely hypothetical thing from some magazine or something. At any rate, I highly doubt that would have any real influence on how the show ended up being written. As much as I like to stick up for the indefensible, I think Inoue just legitimately didn't put a lot of thought into how that watch got introduced. It's never addressed directly, and trying to put together an answer from the facts you do get later only leads to more questions.

That all being said, I really, really love how the Faiz Accel is introduced. That simple shot of the watch smacking Faiz in the head, and him awkwardly just looking down at it sitting on the ground? There's just no way I can't love that. Again, Faiz is a show that loves to give the middle finger to tradition anywhere it can, so in that sense, it's a perfect introduction for the first real power-up to have. There's really no excuse for not cleaning up the "why?" of it, but the "how?", the show totally nailed in my book. Moments like these are why Kusaka is such a "lovable" character. The only way that could've been more characterful is if he tossed the watch straight into a nearby trash can instead.

Every episode since the second one! I think you paying less attention to the music is probably another result of the difference in our formative shows. Ex-Aid had a bunch of great insert themes... all of which were only used about twice in a row before disappearing entirely like they never existed. Not so much the case with Ryuki! Hatenaki Inochi has the kind of place in my heart BELIEVE YOURSELF has to anyone who's seen Agito. It was a real motif, and something I strongly associate with the series. To this day, it's impossible for me to not get psyched about some Final Vent action about to go down whenever I hear those sweet guitar riffs kick in. That, plus OOO being on the air, with its simple and appealing set of themes for each Combo means I've just always been paying plenty of attention to this stuff. I had a huge attachment to Kiva's soundtrack a good couple years before I even watched the show. :lol

Die's threads do some wonderful things, because I think right now I'm about to disagree with you in favour of Faiz?

Because I think the real beauty of how the Axel Watch is introduced, about how much it doesn't care as much as other powerups; would be heavily weakened by giving it some sort of explanation or origin. Like chucking it at Takumi's head would still be hilarious and memorable, but having no backstory or no reason for it to even exist just compounds the enigmatic egregious entity that the Axel Watch is. No Why. No How. Kusaka just gave Takumi the ability to Clock Up and we're never going to say why or bring it up ever again.

Yes. Good. Do more of this.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 22

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz221a.png

--1--

I missed Kusaka! He’s the worst, but I missed him!

He’s a shit-stirrer, is his thing. It’s not that the show lacked for drama in his absence, but him showing back up propels so many plots that it feels like I just watched three episodes instead of one. He’s a busy dude!

--2--

First off, he has to throw shade at Takumi, which is always welcome. I love how casual he’s gotten with it, dropping his friendly demeanor that the others see, and telling Takumi that he owes his survival to Kusaka. Just the smarmy way that he demands Takumi’s thanks, and how happy he is that Takumi tells him to go screw. He loves rivalries, I think? I know he said he likes proving himself in combat, but I sincerely think he just likes conflicts. Physical, intellectual, emotional… he stirs shit so that he can get that rush of beating someone at something, anything. Even if it’s just that they got mad easier than he did, it’s a tiny victory for Kusaka.

Plus, like, so fun. So perfect for each other. Him and Takumi, it’s like the inverted version of Takumi and Yuuji. With Takkiba, it’s very sweet, very nurturing, them stealing little glances at each other. With Takusaka, it’s them being total jerks to each other until the room sets on fire, not even looking at each other. I’m shipping all of them!

--3--

And, man, shipping episode!

It’s all weird relationship drama, convoluted and captivating. It’s almost all centered on Mari, the somewhat surprising hub of these tangled emotions.

So, let’s see if I’ve got this right:

Keitaro likes Yuka
Yuka likes Kaido
Kaido likes Mari
Mari likes Yuuji
Kusaka wants to possess Mari, which is both irrelevant and incredibly relevant

It’s a lot for one episode! I think the show balances it all pretty well, finding time for all of these variables, as well as Takumi, Yuuji, and their feelings about these shenanigans.

I really dig how the one thing you can always count on Takumi to care about is relationship drama. He’ll opt out of most non-Orphnoch heroism, but he’s always got a taste for other people’s tortured romance. That makes him a great sounding board for Mari’s options, and I adore how much he’s supportive of her dating Yuuji. It’s so nice. I also love how he didn’t immediately vomit when she asked if she should date Kusaka.

The Kusaka thing… his whole scene with Mari in the van where he makes his appeal for her hand? It’s like cringe comedy. It’s so blatantly false that I was howling. (This and the You Guys It Was Killing Me Not To Call You Back bullshit from the beginning of the episode, huge fan, big supporter of Disingenuous Kusaka.) Mari is so visibly uncomfortable during his heartfelt (“heartfelt”) plea for her affection, and he just lays it on thicker. Like, she is clearly not into him like that. He’s embarrassing himself, and it’s brilliant.

Even better, when he overhears that she likes Yuuji, Kusaka somehow convinces him to go to Kamen Rider Warehouse for a chat. (Definitely a cool place to get dragged for a conversation with a guy who looks as intense as Kusaka, smart thinking from Yuuji.) He basically can’t decide whether to beg him for info on how to make Mari like him, or just beat the shit out of him. We don’t get the answer, unfortunately, because one-half of Lucky Clover’s Internship Program shows up for a fight.

--4--

The Lucky Clover stuff in this one was pretty fun! First, I didn’t realize that Murakami wasn’t a member of Lucky Clover, so that’s more clear to me now. (I thought he was in the group before he became president of Smart Brain.) Second, after not really caring about the dude who wanted to join and got immediately murdered last time, I was decently interested in the two new candidates. It’s mostly down to how involved Kageyama and Houjou are in the process.

(Let me quickly call out the delightful recurring gag of Live Action Hatsune Miku giving the Lucky Clover pitch to an Orphnoch, only for Kageyama and Houjou to shove her out of frame before she can finish. Houjou basically unfolds in out of her shadow!)

The two new Orphnochs are fairly distinct, a skateboarding street youth and nocturnal salaryman. While it’d’ve been fun to see Kageyama with the uptight nerd and Houjou with the disobedient slacker, I like that what we got feels like who they’d pick. I can see Houjou admiring the stoic effectiveness of the bespectacled nerd, and I can see Kageyama digging the iconoclastic flair of the hooligan. The two new characters are pretty well realized, and they still end up saying something about the older characters. Smart writing and design!

Having two teams of two gives us a really fun Faiz ‘n’ Friends Fight, with Faiz using Accel to take out the salaryman and damage Houjou (big day at Kamen Rider Stadium); and Kaixa teaming with Horsepower to square off against the other two.

(Incidentally, standing ovation to Kusaka and Yuuji sharing, like, one scene together before they learn each other’s secret identities. Takumi and Yuuji still dance around it in a great beginning to this episode, so everyone else gets to learn their secrets pronto. Amazing!)

That shot of Kaixa and Horsepower, back to back, swords at the ready, with the camera rotating around them… chills! Very exciting way to end a Kamen Rider episode!

--5--

This was a really good one, and it was good in a way that I think is more… typical? It doesn’t really tweak the format a ton, it just ratchets up the romantic dramedy, while still leaving room for monsters and fighting. This one… I think the levels were right. I love the weirder ones, the funnier ones, the emotional ones. This one, it’s a solid bit of Kamen Rider. And it’s mostly thanks to Kusaka!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz221b.png

I think you got all that right, besides that Yuuji clearly has the hots for Takumi, while Takumi likes... himself, I guess. He's the sort of guy who's more hyped in discovering who's gonna end up with whom, rather than doing it himself. Damn, they keep finding new ways to make him sneakily relatable.

This stretch of episodes... was the part where I did enjoy the Magnificent Seven interaction (as I always do), but the lack of world-building kinda bothered me. KR shows usually aren't good in developing the world and society around the core characters anyway, especially the less episodic ones, but it's particularly noticeable in Faiz where it kinda felt like the core characters just exist in their own cocoon and keep weirdly running into each other in a world where nobody else really exist; you just don't really get a good grasp on how an Orphnoch-infested world looks like besides the very few obligatory appearances from the police character.

On the other side, I was really sold on the potential drama between the seven core character, that every time the Smart Brain/Lucky Clover stuff came up, I got annoyed because their shit was just way less interesting. It's good that you get the villains' perspective yada yada, but I was so much more intrigued at the potential Faiz Quartet vs. Orphnoch Trio collision over anything else, especially with Kusaka being such a wild card and very atypical secondary Rider.

I think that's the trick to what's making Faiz so special, though. Instead of spending a ton of energy building out the world and then filling the space around it with character drama, Faiz is spending a ton of energy building out the character drama and then filling the space around it with world building.

And, yeah that can be a bummer for folks that'd (understandably!) expect more details on the villains or the series arc, or just get some context for what this world is like. For me, I kind-of love that everything that usually makes a Kamen Rider show a Kamen Rider show is almost totally incidental to what's most fun about this show. The other stuff is still there, and still good (that Kaixa/Horsepower team-up!), but seeing the core cast bounce off of each other is something no other Kamen Rider show can really do. (I mean, Fourze, but it wasn't really two groups like it is here.)

Yeah, I totally agree that it's the show's main appeal, but that's also a dangerous game the show's playing; they keep expecting the audience to not just tolerate, but also put the effort to understand and empathize with the oftentimes atypical and counter-intuitive way the characters are behaving. They... didn't always succeed at that, I believe, even to the people like me who are really intrigued by these characters.

(Also, I just started watching Wizard, and my god, Shunpei is totally the homeless man's Keitaro)

Oh, for sure. Any time you subvert audience expectations, especially when you base a lot of that subversion on difficult characters, it's pretty much an All Or Nothing play. If you think it works, you valorize it. If you think it doesn't work, you crucify it. It's a very big swing by a creator. It's ballsy. I don't want to give this deeply idiosyncratic show unwarranted praise, but I feel like this series is cracking open the concept of Kamen Rider in a way similar to what Kuuga was doing. Really interrogating what kinds of stories are possible, you know?

(I hate Shunpei SO MUCH. There are very few characters in Kamen Rider that I instantly hated without ever revising my appraisal, and he's one. He's like if Keitaro had no interior life or ability to dress like an adult.)

I was going to mention this earlier, but kinda forgot, so here we go:

Toshiki Inoue's first big hit was Chojin Sentai Jetman, the Sentai series that aired right before some obscure, largely forgotten series with dinosaur robots. Jetman is often ranked as one of the best shows in the entire franchise and its breakaway character was Gai Yuki/Black Condor. He was the dude who spent most of the series butting heads with the team leader and aggressively creeping one of his female teammates. He was kind of an asshole but he was incredibly popular. I can't say that what happened next is Gai's fault or a pre-existing inclination, but all of Inoue's shows since then have featured a character who works with the heroes but who also stirs up loads of interpersonal drama while doing so. Houjou was a relatively low-key version of this and you'll see another example when you ignore my warning and watch the Inoue era of Hibiki. Kusaka is probably the peak version of this trope, though. Trust me when I tell you that we have only seen the tip of the doucheberg that is Masato Kusaka.

I'm going to mention this now because it's one of the more notorious things Kusaka is known for and its sometimes mis-attributed to the series. Toshiki Inoue wrote a novel version of Faiz that retells the story in an even darker form. Kusaka's attitude towards Mari on the show gets pretty creepy, but in the book he infamously straight up sexually assaults her. It obviously doesn't happen on the version that kids were watching, but there's a lot of overlap in how Kusaka views Mari in both versions.

Another thing I forgot to mention before now: the Kaixa blaygun (the X-shaped gun/lightsaber) is my all-time favorite Rider weapon. I love that damned thing so much.

Yeah, 2003’s SHT shows are the only ones where the topic of sexual assault is likely to come up in a discussion. And that’s all I’ll say on the topic.

Yikes! There are complicated, adult topics I like seeing Kamen Rider explore, but that is not one of them. That's fraught material for even the most delicate touch, which... I can imagine a whole bunch of ways for Inoue to be indelicate.

Thanks for the info!

Yeah, you totally understand the composition of the love triangle. And now you know Kusaka's primary goal, his twisted love for Mari, surpassing even his desire to destroy the Orphenochs. "When I henshined, it was for you." All his manipulation is for this. He can't let guys like Kaido and Kiba steal her from him! That's how he thinks. It must have been pretty tough for him as an orphan kid with a mysterious past he doesn't want to talk about. He had no parents to love him or teach him to be a good person. Kusaka's a broken man whose idea of love is built on this foundation from his childhood. He doesn't even realize when he's doing something immoral in pursuit of his goals.

Well the other show in 2003 is Abaranger so I presume you're referring to Yatsudenwani's crush on Ranru? That was mostly played for comedy though. At least the Faiz novel is non-canon and Kaixa has his own manga now where he's just the usual amount of a**hole.

Unfortunately, there are people who hate Kusaka, obviously because how he's a shit-stirrer.

Pretty much yes, Kusaka likes conflicts. He's an ultimate bully. He's a villain protagonist. Think of him the way people would see a villain (well, you're new one to the franchise, obviously others fully know about this). And this would be, conflicting here (but more conflicts yay!), but this is what I meant for the comment I said here about don't promote people being scummy and cruel to others and give them free pass in the name of building chemistry (more excuses for people being terrible then). Kusaka and Takumi having a total animosity towards each others, and you.... ship them here (nice ship name though, with the "k" on Takumi and the 2's names having initial K connecting well). :eek:

From the shipping, I feel that it can convince people that being cruel to others is just them building a tension relationship with you, giving them more free pass to commit vile acts ("he's only teasing you because he likes you" defense to bullies that happened in irl is a softer indication, of that)... bad message! By that, I would never ship arch enemies, like for Ex-Aid, as much as I like Kuroto and that I would like for him to never change his ways (he has no redeeming qualities or any plans to give himself one, but there's a way to lessen his threat in story like mutual goals so he wouldn't antagonize heroes), but god, I would like for the story not to build good relationship between Kuroto and others, I want everyone to keep genuinely hating/disliking him for what he's done, with exactly zero frenemy traits ("only behaving like worst enemy outside but deep down friends" type, like all the insults, threats, and potshots are all of genuine hatred. I also want for people to not have frenemy thoughts, like those who thinks Kuroto turned into new leaf). As much as I like the characters, I'm viscerally opposed against Kiriya/Kuroto pairing, I don't want them to warm up to each other and become bros, ever! And Ex-Aid actually did that so I appreciate (though there are people who thinks about frenemy vibes), like Emu never forgave him even with Kiriya being back.

It being centered on Mari, I've talked about it back in the very first episode, with the pushy dudes around her. This now just elevates more, if only because this revolves around the main cast instead of the unnamed like them. And this relationship drama is Inoue's sthick, a choice that diverges from the plot, and can be polarizing too, as with what Kurona said in Fish's Kuuga thread, some reason for people to hate romance is that it's forced in anything, in a story that doesn't demand it. So Takumi only fully respects Yuji, for now? To support Mari with him. And Kusaka's main character has just shown here, but what will he do to the cast wouldn't change, but that's his motivation, actually previously he also carried Mari's picture in his wallet, and sucking himself up to her, and threatening Kaido away from Mari (agreeing with Mari calling him her boyfriend too). He's a full on Yandere with him threatening Yuji at the end.

There's also Yuka and Yuji trying to hook up Mari with Kaido. Those 2 calling Mari up to discuss things like this... I guess they can be.. tactless sometimes :p Though it's nice to see both 2 sticking up for their friend Kaido, that he's more than just what's seen outside. I guess Mari should've expected this with her finding Kaido in the place where Yuji live. At least they're also balanced to consider that Mari isn't ready to fall in love yet (on the outside, but this being centered on Mari like the pushy dudes before, she's not genuinely neutral to boys like that).

So Lucky Clovers are taking turn type of villains? So yeah it depends on which Lucky Clover character making the move then for the fun part. Who they'd pick? Is that because Lucky Clover is restricted to certain number of members that they can only pick one? If not both can be picked no problem. Kaixa teaming up with Yuji to take out the nuisances... that's pretty much the only reason why Kusaka's on the protagonist's side, he hates humans, but he hates Orphnochs more. There's a part where Takumi and Yuji are considering themselves to tell the other about the identity though...

Though yeah, the weirder/funnier ones are those suitable for fillers like episode 20 back then. And it can be a break of the story, but unfortunately probably cannot be used all the time. And though you prefer it, weirder/funnier ways isn't the one objectively good for everyone (if Inoue hate is any indication), nothing is.

Yeah, it's almost like being adopted by an eccentric plutocrat and forced to go to a mysterious underground school with other orphans maybe wasn't the most useful upbringing for creating emotionally healthy adults? Just throwing it out there! Also, Mari referred to young Kusaka as a bullied coward, so... yeah, probably got a real weird idea about friendship and competition.

I mean, no? He's a terrible human being, but I don't want to think of him as a villain yet. I like to think of him as a complicated individual who views all interactions as a zero sum contest, where he can't win unless they lose.

Yeah, when I'm shipping characters, it's always about the specific chemistry of the actors. I don't feel like Kuroto and Kiriya have a chemistry I find exciting? Like for rivals, Kusaka and Takumi have a combustible energy in their scenes, and that sort of pairing has a ton of story potential. Honestly, though, it's Takkiba that has my heart. Those two are adorable together.

Oh, definitely. I'd never pretend that my very specific preferences were in any way universal. My brain thinks weird things about Kamen Rider!

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 23

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--1--

I feel like the show is still figuring out what it can do with Kusaka. There’s a… not a tentativeness, but a feeling out, maybe, of how far they can push him. This episode’s a Kusaka spotlight, and they pretty much give us a look at every aspect of his character.

It’s nice to see how much they can dig into him. We’ve seen him as a dick to Takumi, a creep to Mari, a rival to Yuuji, a menace to Orphnochs, and a powderkeg for everyone. What this episode has to do is take all of that, reiterate it, and try to make it all seem like facets of one (supremely unhinged) person. I think it was successful?

--2--

One of the big elements of Kusaka is his scheming nature. When I called Yuuji his rival, I just meant within the context of this episode. In reality, everything is Kusaka’s rival. Every interaction is a way to win, and a way to parlay that victory into more victories. Kusaka’s worldview is like a more murderous version of One Red Paperclip. He’s always leveraging whatever situation he finds himself in.

There’s a lot in this episode of Kusaka taking in information and immediately formulating a way to take advantage of it. Discovering Yuuji’s identity as Horsepower means a wedge to keep him away from Mari. Finding out about Lucky Clover means amoral teammates who’ll help him achieve his goals. He’s like a shark, but he can’t stop scheming.

It’s fun to watch him win constantly in this, because it makes it so much sweeter when he loses in the end. Kusaka’s basically playing on easy mode when he manipulates Team Faiz, and Lucky Clover uses that overconfidence against him. Him getting his ass beat is immensely cathartic, even if the scope of the story being told in this episode renders his corporal punishment a little regrettable.

--3--

And that’s not easy to say, because not only is Kusaka plotting Yuuji’s death in this one, he hits rock bottom with Mari and Takumi. Whatever amount of sympathy Mari had for him evaporates as he gets full-on Creepshow and demands she let him possess her. If last episode was cringe comedy, Kusaka embarrassing himself, this one’s horror movie terror. Whatever is churning around inside Kusaka bubbles up and explodes, with him screaming to a just-in-time Takumi that he needs to be saved from himself, and only Mari can do that. That losing his mother at an early age broke something inside of him, a wound he can sense but can’t heal. It’s a shocking display of vulnerability, explaining actions and motivations that are deplorable, grotesque.

That whole scene, it’s interesting to me in the way it’s defining Kusaka’s psychology without excusing it. He’s awful, and he’s hurting so many people. The things he’s doing are objectively wrong. But, like everyone in Faiz, it comes from a trauma he hasn’t processed. He’s earned our animosity, but he might also deserve some of our pity.

--4--

The rest of the cast is finding their way through their own poor decisions, at least the few of them who have meaningful screentime in this episode. (Seriously, it’s almost all Kusaka, Yuuji, and Lucky Clover this episode. Takumi doesn’t show up until halfway through, Keitaro and Yuka are each in only one scene, Mari gets one or two more.) The Love Polygon of the last few episodes gets some emotional maturity applied to it, to differing degrees of success.

Mari tells Kusaka she won’t date him, and I love that the show framed her decision not so much in choosing Yuuji, but in just not choosing Kusaka. She’s focused on her dream of being a stylist, and she doesn’t like Kusaka romantically. Like, that’s it. That’s excellent. Even when Kusaka presses her on her feelings for Yuuji, she shuts him down, keeping the topic on her lack of feelings for Kusaka. It’s a mature way of closing that door on someone, and I love the agency it gives Mari.

Kaido, on the other hand, might be a lost cause. After learning about Mari’s lack of feelings for Kaido, Yuuji tells Kaido to leave her alone because she's not interested and Kaido refuses. It’s romantic comedy nonsense viewed with an intensely skeptical eye, reframing it as harassment. It’s an ugly look for Kaido, but there’s a flash on his face that says he might be aware of that now. One can hope!

--5--

I’m curious how this episode played for other people. I liked learning a bit more about Kusaka’s psychology, and I really enjoyed the journey he goes on in this one. There’s a fun swing from Kusaka Is The Greatest Nothing Can Stop Him to I’ve Made A Huge Mistake in about twenty minutes of TV show.

But y’know, it’s also asking you to at least slightly empathize with Kusaka when he is at (to date) Peak Kusaka, and that’s maybe too big an ask for folks predisposed to viewing Kusaka as a two-dimensional bully. I mean, he’s awful to Mari and Yuuji, two of the kindest people on the show. Hard to find something worth saving in a dude who’d be horrible to them! I mean, Takumi’s one thing, but not Yuuji!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz23b.png

I brought up Kuroto and Kiriya for Doctor Mighty XX part where they're paired together. I mean for myself I've already written the reason I said no for Kuroto with Kiriya, or just with any other heroes he "sided" with. Which also applies to Takusaka here for me (prefering the harmonic one of Takkiba here compared to the conflict-based Takusaka, yay). I wonder if you get what I'm saying though there because probably that was some bad English.

I think about something like, you asking others why they like Kuuga at the end of the thread as if it's baffling. Also, the preference here, you know, led to the birth of overtop characters.... like Shunpei!

I'm sorry if I made the idea of people enjoying Kuuga sound hard to believe. It's more that I wasn't able to get out of it what other people did, and I wanted to hear what they enjoyed about it. It was curiosity, more than shock.

I mean, that's pretty much the whole reason I do threads like this, to find out what people are getting out of these shows. Some of it's me processing my own feelings, but I much prefer hearing what other people think about what's going on in a Kamen Rider series. Like, I'm already in my head all the time, I'm fascinated by what's in other people's heads. I'm glad people are comfortable sharing their opinions!

Actually, I was referring to how Dezumozorlya sired Rije using Asuka’s wife as an unwilling participant.

Underneath the guise of a hero and an efficient killer with the talent for manipulating people behind the scenes, Kusaka reveals to Takumi here that he's actually a very pathetic guy with some serious problems, trying to use Mari as a replacement for his mother. For that reason alone, calling him a villain, even at current peak Kusaka, just isn't apt. He's the worst kind of antihero, for sure. His concept of morality is terribly warped and he's always walking on that borderline between hero and villain, but his patheticness and desire to protect Mari and destroy "humanity's enemy" means he cannot be real villain, no matter how many terrible things he does to meet those ends.

He deserves whatever punishment he receives but I think the reason why he's so popular as a character isn't just about how terrible he is but why he's so terrible, how broken he is. His flaws make him relatable and, as you say, pitiable. Kusaka is the most infamous and hated Secondary Rider but he's not without redeeming qualities. The Secondary Rider of Gaim, a show full of depraved people, tried to commit genocide of the human race, that's way worse than anything Kusaka's done. Kusaka is ultimately a protector of humanity even if it's for all the wrong reasons and that's why, as much as I and many others hate him, there's something respectable about him.

Yuka's character development is great here and proves how much she cares about Kaido. She wants to be his girlfriend, of course, but more importantly, she wants him to be happy. She's still a little jealous of Mari, of course, but not spiteful at all, supporting Kaido/Mari since she believes that's the best way she can make him happy. Unfortunately, yeah, the ship isn't doing so good right now with Mari refusing to reciprocate any of Kaido's attempts.

Asuka sired Lije first so Dezumozorlya possessing her and making her age faster is more like the pseudo-filial relationship between Evolt and Ryuuga if we consider how Dezumozorlya was also trying to merge with his Another Earth half.

Yeah, I think this episode did a solid job of pivoting Kusaka from Total Asshole to Still A Total Asshole But Man This Guy Is In Rough Shape.

One of the things I found exciting about that whole Kusaka Breakdown scene is how quickly Takumi and Mari disengage themselves from Kusaka's toxicity. He's not in a space to really be around people right now, and they recognize that. There are people that you can try and save (Takumi, for example), and there are people you might just need to cut out of your life until they can get their shit together. It's nice to see the show have an awareness of which one Kusaka is right now.

For me, I still read it as Yuka eternally trying to be a peacemaker, to not burden anyone with her problems. The way she's crying at the beginning and, when Yuuji notices, she puts on a smile and tries to seem excited about Mari and Kaido getting together? Man, that is someone who's spent a lifetime valuing her feelings less than the feelings of others.

Kusaka is as complex as most of the characters in Faiz (if not more), and while it feels kind of viscerally disgusting to say there's any real humanity in someone who treats everybody around him as an object to that level, I do think it needs to be pointed out that he's, well, like you said, maybe at least worthy of pity. Kaixa is legitimately one of my favorite secondary Riders, and while a lot of that is simply down to the black comedy joy I get from his scheming, I do genuinely think he's an interesting ("interesting") guy beyond that. It's cool to see you not writing off the show's attempts to paint him that way, Die.

Also, fairly minor translation cop note, that big breakdown scene has this little exchange between Takumi and Kusaka:

"What is she saving you from?"
"From what you know."

That latter line from Kusaka is supposed to just be a simple "that's none of your business." TV-Nihon is making it sound like some cryptic clue or something, and I'm pretty sure that's not the intent. I don't think it affects the story too much either way, though. Honestly, in general, I'm finding, at least from the bits I'm quickly skimming back through, TV-N's Faiz subs are maybe more accurate overall than I was giving them credit for? After realizing what we had to put up with for Kuuga all these years, I'm feeling significantly more generous towards them, even if the mistakes aren't exactly uncommon either, and there's loads of issues beyond that. We'll see if I'm still saying this by the end, but that's where I'm at right now.

Thanks!

I think the way this episode tried to establish a vulnerability somewhere inside Kusaka, underneath all the layers of that gif from Finding Nemo of the seagulls going MINE, it's a bold choice. They waited until they made him his most awful (to date!) before asking you to care about why he's awful. I liked it, because I like vulnerable, complicated, awful characters. (Mitchy for life.) I'm really curious how this one played for people who don't want to be asked to have sympathy for Kusaka, though. Probably made the first two-thirds of this episode rough.

So at this point in the series has Kusaka said to Mari "I've been watching you, I want you to watch me too." Because that is some of the creepiest shit I've heard in my life.

Kusaka is a great character like Mitchy (Gaim) and Joffrey (Game of Thrones). They are awful people, they may have their reasons, but they are absolutely terrible. Damn do they add something to a story though.

He has! And they do!

Also, hey everybody, no Faiz episode from me tonight. I was about one second away from starting a write-up when I found out my River North (downtown Chicago) store, the one that was already being wound down due to the pandemic's effect on retail, just got its front window smashed in by looters. Remote camera caught a half-dozen guys rushing in through the broken glass and running off with armloads of stuff. Worse, I can't go out there and get the damage cleaned up and the site secured, since Chicago (and that neighborhood specifically) is under a curfew until 6am. The cops are going to go by, but they probably aren't going to stand guard for the next eight hours. Which means what's left of that store is easy pickings for anyone who wanders by.

Long story short, boy is my head not in a space to talk about Lucky Clover and Kaido right this minute. Since tomorrow's going to be a who-knows-how-long day of cleaning up and inventorying damage, not making any promises about tomorrow, either.

Everybody stay safe, we'll be back at this Faiz stuff before you know it.

No need to apologise. Take care during all that.

As for Kaixa, everything you've just mentioned has always been the appeal of the chararacter to me, alongside seeing what kind of ridiculous scheme he's up to next. I'm sure there is plenty more of that to come, but I remember my issues (and I assume a big part of mpst people's issues) is that the other characters don't exactly... respond to his continued menacing the way ai felt they should. I'll hold off elaborating because maybe when you get to future episodes, I'l suddenly remember differently.

Thanks. Right now it's stressful because I can't go take care of it. In the morning, it'll just be a bunch of tedious work. I've owned a retail business in Chicago for over a decade; this is not my first break-in experience.

It's a bummer, though. I believe in what the protestors are fighting for, and it sucks to see a few assholes tarnish that message for their own gain.

(hey what if i try and take my off of things by talking about faiz)

There's definitely some of that in Episode 24, but not a lot. Mari, for one, is acutely aware of Kusaka's transgressions. Takumi is more... okay, here's a story.

I've got this friend. I've known for a long time. He's a friendly, funny guy. You can not believe a thing he tells you. Nearly every explanation he has for something in his life, assume it's at least 40% fabricated or embellished. And, like, he's always been this way. It's not malicious, he's not scheming, but you basically have to treat his stories as apocryphal. If you can do that, he's a blast to hang around with.

I think that's how Takumi is starting to view Kusaka. He knows Kusaka's lying to everyone, so he doesn't care if Kusaka tries to lie to him. His interactions with Kusaka are calibrated towards He Is Up To Something, which creates space to actually communicate with Kusaka.

It's a neat dynamic!

The facets are varied, but one thing that's similar is that every single one of them are horrible things.

I mean, Kusaka does view everyone as rivals and competition, but he especially does this for Yuji, because his goal above everything else (like Orphnoch extermination) is possessing Mari, and Yuji's the one that potentially can take her away as she seemingly likes him. Though yeah, not seeing anything that would benefit him for Lucky Clover or Smart Brain, as he hated Orphnochs and it seemingly unrelated to Mari this time. So this is the meaning of creating a despicable character... to give a cathartic factor when he had downfall at the end?!

"our" pity hmm... a good number of people outright hated Kusaka for everything he has done (and if people enjoyed him, it's enjoying him all due to his vile actions, not due to pity), not to mention as you said here, others at Faiz has trauma too, but others aren't as depraved as him. The thing with Kusaka is, as you said, he's scheming and as I said, he's standard manipulative asshat seen in majority of soap operas existing in my place (Faiz is called KR Soap Opera!). It could be that Kusaka's just trying to make himself look sympathetic again, this time in front of Takumi unlike every other time. He can easily play with words in his own twisted sense of mind that he only sees Mari as something with value in this world.

Why this one time of her to Kusaka is a mature way of closing that door, compared to others? Also even if she's still that way, Kusaka's one person that she's softer too of being a childhood friend (still didn't get over you lumping her together with Keitaro previously for inviting Kusaka living together), like for simplest thing... using honorifics with him.

Yes for Yuji (for now) but you....changed your stance for the former? Again for Kusaka, you said it's a "maybe" for a big asking, but it's been proven it's not the case. People know full well of his horrible deeds, and probably, it's more clear to them because he's on the protagonist side, means he's someone you're suppossed to root for but he's given a plethora of horrible traits despite of his position, unlike those in antagonist position where people can be biased (even morality wise... something I'm not keen of the fandom) due to not having the obligation of possessing sympathetic traits.

Fair enough, and for another thing, even if at least you let other people free for this (want to know what's in other people's heads... means gotta know about the fandom in general too as they're made up by people, like Kuuga's influental position i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶S̶h̶o̶u̶m̶a̶ ̶K̶a̶i̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶m̶o̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶K̶R̶ ̶f̶r̶a̶n̶c̶h̶i̶s̶e̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶P̶a̶r̶a̶d̶o̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶o̶r̶), don't force shaping other Rider series with one like your preference either, or only limiting the good and bad based on it.

Which, you know, fair enough if Kusaka feels irredeemable. He's been resolutely awful, and I can't blame anyone who couldn't care less for a redemptive angle on his motivation.

For me, I take him at his word when he's losing it after Mari leaves. He's got a Manipulative tone that this definitely wasn't. I don't think Kusaka's that good of an actor!

There's a finality to what she's telling him, backed with a steadfastness. In other circumstances (Kaido), she'd bolt from an embarrassing romantic scene. Here, she's honest and direct, telling him that it's not going to happen. It feels different than how this show usually treats romantic plots.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 24

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz24a.png

--1--

Things seem pretty fucked right now, in the real world. Pretty, pretty fucked. People are protesting police brutality, the police are responding with more brutality... I don't know, man. I don't know.

I had one of my stores looted last night. Actually, due to not being able to get to the store because of the Chicago-wide curfew, it got looted six times. (Cameras caught it all, including one guy taking his sweet-ass time dumping Pop vinyls into a big bag.) Took over two hours to get there today (usually takes twenty minutes) due to sanitation trucks blocking off nearly every street into downtown Chicago. When I got there, the broken window had already been boarded up, but nothing had been cleaned up inside. Four huge metal bookcases had been knocked over, with product still inside. Total loss. Toys and games were stolen, along with office equipment. Filing cabinets and boxes were rooted through. A $1K life-size Spider-Man was stolen. Just a whole bunch of random theft and damage. No idea if tonight's going to be more of the same. Long day. Long day.

But, man, I still support the protestors. This wasn't them. This was asshole looters taking advantage of a situation. The protests, they still matter. They're still right. It's hard to give a shit about Kamen Rider when you watch some of these videos, people trying to save other people from open warfare. I don't know.

You probably don't care about my thoughts on this. There isn't going to be some smooth transition where I mention Kamen Riders fighting for justice or the power of entertainment or some horseshit like that. Centuries of systemic abuse and the frustrated response of a demoralized populace aren't something I feel like I can put a sweet bow on. It's on my mind, though. I... I don't know.

--2--

But, fuck it, let's talk about Kamen Rider 555.

I watched this one almost a day ago, and I'm not sure how much of it I remember. I'm pretty sure it's a lot of Kaido and a lot of Lucky Clover. Does that sound right?

--3--

The Lucky Clover stuff in this show, I think it's pretty good. I don't know where it would rank on a list of memorable Faiz things, but probably not super-high. There's not really been a Lucky Clover story or plot that's been as dramatic as, say, anything internally generated from Team Faiz or Team Orphnoch.

What I'm saying is, I don't know if this show really improves with an external villain group? I like the characters, they're never a drain on the show, but it feels (right now, at least) so unnecessary to the main storytelling. It's not as bad as the buried-alive workers at the Ryusei Cram School, who get a check-in every few episodes for one scene, but it's not something to look forward to.

Here, they're still trying to find a fourth member, since Kusaka has decided he'd rather not be a part of a group where at least 50% of them would be fine killing him. Also, he was only doing it to try and destroy Smart Brain, and this ended up being not a great scheme to do that.

So, they decide to choose some random kid who's become an Orphnoch. That kid, I'm just going to call him Kouhai (since Kaido's Sempai), isn't doing great. He's a monster, and he wants to die. He needs help understanding what it means to be a grey monster, and for better or worse he's got Kaido to lead him.

--4--

Almost the whole second half of this episode was Kaido and Kouhai, and it was a blast. Kaido's losing his mind after Mari's final-but-hopefully-final-for-Kaido-this-time-too rejection, and he wants some way to to get revenge on a world that's stolen all his happiness. Luckily, Kouhai's easily impressed by Kaido's strongly delivered advice on Being The Best Monster You Can Be, and praises Kaido's mentorship so much that Kaido goes totally off the rails.

(I love all the ways this episode establishes how crucial flattery is to Kaido's well-being. It might be the only thing that sustains him!)

With Kouhai's help, he gets a chance to join Lucky Clover's ranks if he completes one simple job: steal both the Faiz belt and the Kaixa belt. Easy!

And, holy shit, he does it. He plans a scheme that draws out the Kamen Riders, they tussle a bit over the belts (I know it's in context, but I love that there is a fight scene in a Kamen Rider where the monster's goal is to undress the Kamen Riders), and then they fake being cops to take the Smart Brain cases off of the heroes. Mission goddamn accomplished.

It's a bonkers plan, and the fact that it succeeded relies entirely on cartoon logic. It would not have surprised me if an earlier draft of Kaido's scheme included painting a tunnel on a wall and hoping Faiz drove into it. Like, where the hell did they get all of the shit for their barricade? But it's so goofy, and it completely works, so it's nothing I'm upset about. Worth noting, but not worth criticizing.

--5--

That plan's success gives us the awesome episode-ending image of Houjou and Kageyama Henshining into Faiz and Kaixa. (There's even a smaller person than usual in the Kaixa suit! Neat!)

This episode worked pretty well, I thought. It's heavy with Lucky Clover stuff in the beginning, but that transitions into a fever-dream of a Kaido story in the second half. Really fun stuff.

It's nice to think about Faiz. I really needed this. I hope things are less fucked soon.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz24b.png

Figured bringing this up would be a thing. Agree to disagree!

I'm really sorry for your financial losses. It takes a big heart to still be able to be thinking of others during that; and I hope you can get at least some things recouped.

(recouped is the right word, right? Or like, compensated?)

Thanks.

We've had break-ins before, so losing money to damages is kind-of a Cost Of Doing Business In Chicago thing. Generally, they're smash-and-grabs, where they got less money than we spend repairing the damaged door. (There was a point a couple years ago where it happened three times in a month, and we were seriously thinking of just leaving a hundred bucks outside the front door, so we wouldn't have to pay a grand to fix the door.) This was our first looting, though, so that's new.

We've started the process with the insurance company, so we'll see where that all goes. It's a tricky situation, since it's not completely safe to go back to that store. Kind-of a big ol' question mark as to whether or not the damage is done, or just paused.

Still, democracy's messy, right? It's just stuff. Some things are more important than stuff.

You disagree that destroying innocent people's livelihoods is a bad thing?

What happened to George Floyd was horrific, but what does rioting accomplish? Another person is already dead, more injured, business and homes destroyed. Does that bring him back? Does it stop it from happening again?

People are animals and they'll use any excuse to act like it.

Agree to disagree.

also hey what did we all think of kageyama's hairstyle in this one pretty great right it had a mid-century elegance i thought

So the Bunny Orphnoch, who probably has a human name, is played by an actor named Masato Uchiyama. He was an actor who did a lot of tokusatsu roles in the mid-00s. You will be seeing a lot more of him later this year when you go through Kamen Rider Kabuto, where he has a major recurring role. Before that, though, he played the human host for Ultraman Nexus in the second part of that series (up through the part where the final story arc got condensed down into two episodes because the show was cancelled for being too weird).

Kageyama always looks good; I definitely had a bit of a crush on her when I first watched the series. It's a real shame that there's so little known about the actress who played her. She's credited only by her first name, "Waka," and as near as I can tell the Rider fandom knows nothing else about her: she did this show and then basically disappeared, as far as I can tell.

Neat!

I thought that kid was pretty fun for what little he was asked to. He just has to look at Kaido as a heroic source of ageless wisdom, and Kaido pretty much takes it from there. It's a good comedy duo.

Dude lets not argue about this on a thread about Japanese superhero who beat monsters until they explode. At least when they get time off form all the personal drama and hijinks. It makes sense for Die to mention goings on, but that isn't an invitation to argue with him. Argue about Kamen Rider, if you feel like arguing.

Now if you excuse me, I'm going back to lurking and occasionally popping up to make a post or two.

The nation and world are going through a huge moment right now, and while the gut instinct we all have is to discuss it wherever we can, this is not the place. Our rules specifically forbid discussion of politics and related issues. So I'm going to ask that this thread get back on track immediately, or infractions will be issued to all those who continue the discussion beyond this post.

also hey so how fun is the management structure of smart brain and lucky clover i mean it feels fairly flat which is pretty progressive for a villain group what do you think