"Talk... character... Kusaka" really sums up where the Faiz fanbase is at after 15 years :P

Axel FTW! Accel means someone else to me. My romanization choices can be unpopular sometimes. I feel like I'm one of the few people in the world who uses Tajadol and Balon.

I can't believe nobody mentioned this yet:

https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0b&oe=5F24F79A

It's infuriating to me that no one cited LIVE KEITARO, which is the endpoint of Takumi's character arc and a main theme of the show. I'M PRETTY SURE I COVERED THIS! Now I gotta start this thread all over, since it was unclear...

Weirdly, I think I like Axel better for the guy who turns into an actual motorcycle? If it's a choice between the two, that's where I'd put each name.

No, np you did caught the other parts, just that there's something missed that I still want to know. Probably something like Takumi is actually the accepted one like you said here, not the turning off one. I know folks want different things, but regarding non-toxic flaws, unlike what Takumi has there, I want a fair treatment for that too. For early standoffishness, it's regarded as relatable and realistic, but the non-toxic flaws is instead more likely to be hated also because it's relatable. I want fair treatment; let it be known that entertaning qualities aren't inherent toxic qualities, or that being toxic doesn't mean automatically being interesting like the hate sink type of character. I think I don't want for assholes to be glorified all the time, also for people to judge merely from the type of something, but be objective and more like, judging things by how actually good/bad those something that type, not just declaring something is good/bad just because it's the prefered type/not. (ex: "this character covers the dark part well/that one is too edgy", instead of "I don't like this character simply because he's not the dark or gritty type!").

"wants to tell stories where truly bad people make fun of truly good people", obviously KR doesn't want to tell that, but I may be wrong but as you begin with Ex-Aid (not saying those are bad ofc), it can seem like this (not only Ex-Aid, but other similar genre shows); the Riders smack talking each other, where Emu seems to be on his ropes most of the times regarding that - enough to be the fandom's punching bag in my country. And dunno if this is a too-serious take, but something fears me is that, an actual verbal abuse that is dismissed as jokes (at the beginning of Kusaka's appearence, you give me the vibe of treating Takumi and Kusaka as this), because of the word they utter is not that different from the gentle-ribbing type (well, Vitrolic Best Buds; part of those dynamics are acting like worst enemies on the outside), letting the terrible people get away with their acts because they're dismissed as joking, or simply because it's funny like you said for Takumi above (for those not directed to you, so can freely laugh at others' misfortune and keeping those people around). For villain whose cruelty is so unreal and ludicrous, actually this can be a reason to forgive them more, because their actions are more abstract, being less unsettling and tragic.

That's Japanese language for you. Foreign words (like English names/words) are written in katakana for Japanese, and the katakana version of the foreign words follow the pronounciation for that foreign words, not the spelling, but the katakana version of that foreign words chooses which are the closest provided by the words:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...0/katakana.png
Tiger is not a Japanese word, and its pronounciation is /ˈtīɡər/. From the provided katakana letters, "Ta"(タ) and "i"(イ) are chosen for the "tī" part, and "Ga" (ガ) is chosen for the "ɡər" part. But because the katakana words are decided by the pronounciation and what's provided, there are conflicting translations from katakana to English due to some different pronounciation in foreign using the same katakana letter.

Sure! I think the best way to approach any character is to try and enjoy them on their own terms. Dark characters can be as entertaining as comedic characters, you know?

The problems are, for one thing, people bring all of their baggage to art. It's nice to hope that people would be able to appreciate different types of characters in different types of stories, but people will always have preferences of what they'd like a story to do. Always. Everyone. It's innate. It's why art is subjective, you know? There will always be people that get upset (or disinterested) when a story features character-types that don't click with them.

The other problem is how effective a story is in highlighting why certain character types./traits are worth having in the story. If a show can't get the tone balanced correctly, some cast members are going to grate on the audience. If a writer is great at comedy but awful at melodrama, all of the melodramatic stuff is going to feel less compelling, leading to folks wanting the melodramatic characters to be more comedic. Quality will frequently dictate what traits an audience cheers versus what it criticizes.

So, yeah, I agree with you in theory, but folks are messy, contradictory. People are going to respond to art in ways you might think are unfair, but they're just processing it differently than you. It's best to not take it personally.

Well, Ex-Aid, I mean... Hiiro and Taiga, those are two unhappy men. I don't know if we're supposed to view their harsh treatment of Emu in a positive light? I never took it that way, at least. If people in your country took their side in not valuing Emu's heroism, that's maybe less a criticism of the show propping up Brave and Snipe, and more the show not communicating Emu's side of things well enough.

As for letting mean jokes slide... it's context? If it's two people who genuinely don't like each other, that's just rivalry. They're both guilty of trying to insult the other, so it's all fair game. If it's two people who like each other, that's friendly teasing. I have been known to take a potshot or two at a friend, but it's never meant with any malice. If it's one person hurting someone who's vulnerable, that's cruelty. I feel like Kamen Rider always gets which is which. The biggest thing is that the world the characters operate in is built to punish cruelty. No one gets away with hurting other people indefinitely.

Also, just an info, for Paradise Lost, and how Murakami only ends up as a head (literal head of Smart Brain), where you thought it was a bonkers part of the movie. It was covered in an S.I.C. Hero Saga, where it's titled Lost World for Faiz (can't find any other source than the wiki for this one). It's set as the prequel to Paradise Lost, and also explains the reasons of some characters not appearing.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20130621032451
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20130621032633

And forgot to post this, but dunno if this is a dirty joke:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...60721/mask.png
"Relevant in 2020"

Thanks! Sh Ranger brought it up (I think?) right before I watched Paradise Lost, but I didn't have a chance to read it. But thanks for the heads-up!

(NOT SORRY)

Bit of a heads up. Most of my come,nuts on the Blade thread will be revealing the full names and abilities of every gimmick item in the show (since only a few get their names displayed prominently and (I think) only one gets named on screen.

My two “big” comments on the other hand… they’ve been planned well ahead of time and both concern music in some way. And one of them has evolved to the point I’m contemplating putting it in a thread of its own (the only reason I haven’t is that I doubt people would understand the question I’m asking).

Cool! As long it's not stuff that's relevant to the plot later in the series (like, explaining the origins of the Build Driver in Build would give away so many twists), then I look forward to them! It kills me how much the early Heisei stuff shrugs at naming moves, collectibles... Riders...

Also looking forward to this! I definitely have a tough time talking about the music in a show (a little better at talking about the absence of music in a show), so that all sounds fun to me. Thanks for coming up with stuff to talk about in Blade!

While we're mentioning Blade, my current plan is to start the Blade thread on Monday night, the 13th. I'm really interested to start it, but there's work and social stuff that's taking up the next few days. I'm aiming for this Monday, though! Can't wait to get back to watching Kamen Rider!

Die, I'm telling you, just start trucking with Showa already. Back in the day, toku shows were so dedicated to clearly naming things onscreen, Black had an entire special move he had to verbalize just for listening to things.