Was Emperor's debut really on this episode? Well... jeez, that's unfortunate, because it's the one that made me hate Jiro and the series as a whole. I guess that's why I've never loved the form until recently.

On a lighter note, a later movie did actually come up with an alternate solution to Emperor Form in order to have base Kiva be present in a bike scene without, y'know, killing the actor! ... it's just it looks really, really funny

https://i.imgur.com/xMpK6Mk.png

It's nice to have this directly confirmed by you, because this was the episode (even though I forgot it was also Emperor's debut as well) I immediately starting thinking of when I started to understand what your problems with the show were, and I was worried I might just be projecting my own issues with Kiva onto you or something. :lol

Again, to say the least, I wasn't a big fan of Jirou after this one either.

I think maybe you're being a little unfair on Tatsulot? It seems like the only reason you're complaining about him is due to the circumstances surrounding his debut. Personally, I think he's an adorable little addition to Kiva's team and he's one of Wataru's biggest fans. He's so excited for him to become Kiva Emperor for the first time and with such an awesome suit and insert theme, I can't blame him! Maybe he'll grow on you so that you will like him almost as much as you like Kivat (actually, you haven't talked much about Kivat, so I presume you like him?).

I also think this is the perfect timing for Emperor's debut. It's unconventionally early for a final form debut, but there's a minimalism to this particular one that makes it seem like it's holding back. This is cause it's one of the few final forms that become stronger throughout the show. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but if this wasn't enough to excite you, then don't worry, there are way more awesome opportunities to appreciate this bad*ss form! Even at its most basic, I like how the original Wake Up leg design moves to the chest and then his Riderkick takes the shape of fangs!

There are two scenes from other Inoue shows that this climactic scene reminds me of. The first is Jetman Episode 32, where the cool antihero tries to save his distressed love interest, who finally reciprocates. The second is Faiz Episode 22 where Kusaka confesses his love for Mari but Takumi tells him they'll never be together. I love both of those scenes, so naturally, I really love this one!

I'm not going to defend Jirou's yandere behavior and his abduction of Yuri. However, I will praise him for doing what Kusaka was too pathetic to do. When Yuri confessed her love for Otoya, Jirou conceded. The sad part is that while Jirou claimed he only wanted Yuri to make more Clawolves, I think his love for her was actually sincere, or else he wouldn't have bothered with sparing their lives.

Honestly, I'm surprised how little you've talked about this and the Wataru and Mio developments, since I think I disagree with most of what you said about this episode. It's one of my favorites and I recall it very fondly! You remember who the actual main characters are, right? :p

I was hoping you would give excellent praise to Supernova and you sure delivered, Fish!

I mentioned in the Den-O thread that it's in my top 5 KR insert themes, but thinking about that further, it's also my favorite final form theme and second only to Cyclone Effect. Seto is one of the best things to ever happen to a KR show.

I like how Supernova is used as metaphor for change. When a dying star is at its smallest and weakest, its most helpless, suddenly it becomes a powerful force stronger than anything it was before and that change has the power to affect everything around it and shape the events that revolve around it. That's why it's such a genius progression from Destiny's Play, which is all about the old Wataru's desire and courage to change. Supernova is the new Wataru, without his inhibitions, realizing all that potential he never knew he had. It may still be related to his moon motif as well, with the last lyrics:

"In the midst of this invisible darkness
As though creating a faint light"

Yeah, I think it's really cool how meta that is. It's Wataru and also Takaiwa breaking their chains, so they can both give everything they got to protect Mio!

You bet!

One of my favorite things about the Shinji/Ryoko story is that only Shinji thinks it's a tragedy. He's beating himself up about all the things he wasn't able to give Ryoko, and he's feeling like their time was squandered, but she doesn't feel that way at all. She spent her life with someone she loved, who loved her in return. It's only at the end of the story that Shinji realizes how good he had it.

God, I wish I had anything close to this reaction to the suit. Maybe it's just a problem with everything going on around it, how it feels like a fashion show put on in an ICU, but I don't think I like the look of Emperor Form too much?

I mean, thematically, sure. Wataru is significantly more confident and assertive in this episode (I love Megumi getting up and walking away from her mentor-y pep-talk with Mio because Wataru's already got it covered), and having him burst out of his Daddy Issues cocoon into something glorious and liberated? Yes, okay, got it, agreed.

Just aesthetically, though? Not a fan! (I haven't really seen it in much action, so maybe that'll change.) The gold isn't my favorite color-scheme, I don't really dig capes on my Riders, and it feels more like a secondary Rider to me than an upgrade for Kiva. I don't hate it or anything; like I said, it's just a slight downgrade for me from the base Kiva suit. But, yeah, did not feel too thrilled to see it in 24.

It's a bummer. Most of the second half of this episode doesn't land the emotional beats it thinks it does (Mio gets knocked out in the most basic A Bystander Is Thrown Aside way, something we've seen a dozen cast members shrug off, and the show treats it like she just got impaled), and the result is a bunch of heroic moments that all feel tainted and regrettable. I don't think the episode where Wataru's self-confidence grants him a bold new suit should feel tainted and/or regrettable!

One of my big concerns for 25 is How Do You Walk Jiro Back From This. Like, of the two conclusions to 24, Jiro is the monster who deserved to die, but they killed Shinji. Can't imagine the hoops the show is going to have to jump through to rehabilitate a Clawolve who attempted to murder Otoya and was 100% planning on forcing Yuri to bear his children.

Maybe! But I also sort of viscerally disliked Tatsulot's entrance? It's a little forced, where Tatsulot is here to put on a show and brighten the mood and be awesome, and it's all just trying way too hard. It's pushy, and I just didn't connect with that.

Still, maybe I just haven't given a chance to this unique character who gets biz-zay, consistently and thoroughly. Maybe I just haven't gotten used to its totally outrageous paradigm. Maybe if I could find a little room in my heart, we can laugh and cry until we grow old together. Maybe!

(And I like Kivat! He doesn't really ever get a story, so it's tough to feel like bringing him up. But I do like his weird energy and his stewardship of Wataru!)

Sorry to disappoint! Rest assured, if I'd spent more time on Wataru/Mio (it's cute, but there's not much to address beyond She Is A Fangire Probably And Wataru Doesn't Know It) or Otoya/Yuri/Jiro (Jiro is at his most supervillain-y here, in this story about the weight of relationships and how they don't need outside forces to make them complicated), you'd only find more reasons to disagree with me. I didn't think they were particularly insightful or dramatically interesting.

And, man, I would love for any of the main characters in this story to be treated with the care and intelligence Shinji and Ryoko were. That is my dream. But as long as they're subject to weird heel turns (Jiro) and ill-timed power upgrades (Wataru; fine for it showing up at this point in the series, not fine with it being in this episode), I'm probably going to connect more to the well-written, powerfully-acted, beautifully-shot love story.

Like everyone else, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and feeling generally uncomfortable about it, but also... I think I realised that what I wanted and what the show tried to do with the character from here on in were maybe at odds from day one, and this was simply the apotheosis of that. In many ways, The Matter of Jiro has always felt like a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it; he's a cool, bad boy alpha male who doesn't play by the rules, what an engaging hero / he's a monstrous, predatory force of nature with little concern for the mores of human concepts of morality and/or social interaction, get out of his way. I would never wish to advocate for the latter in real life, but I absolutely do feel that it makes for a better story.

It interests me that there is apparently this beef between Kobayashi and Inoue, as, to me, Takayama from Amazons—who I am clearly an advocate of—feels to me to be another kind of Jiro in that they both seem representative of a certain masculine aggression that their shows struggle to frame within the context of "exciting superhero adventure show" whilst still maintaining the animalistic violence at the heart of their characters. In both cases, I think it is sad that the shows back down on the latter in order to accommodate the former, not because I want to watch dreary misogynistic misery for 42 episodes or whatever, but because I think there is a story that you can tell there about such people that does not make the concessions that both Amazons and Kiva do and yet still deals with these themes without delving into grotesquery.

I think this is what I like about the portrayal of Kusaka, you know? I don't like Kusaka at all, I think he's awful—and I think his presence absolutely raises the quality of what 555 is as a work. I also feel that the horror of Jiro's actions, the inhumanity of Jiro's actions, could have done the same for Kiva... but didn't, because Kiva always seemed to strive to find some middle ground between two depictions of a character that could not be reconciled, whereas 555 was more comfortable with presenting the ambiguity of a character of this caliber.

I don't quite know if I am making myself clear; how do I explain that I yearned for Jiro to be more monstrous, more inhuman, without sounding like I glory in nihilistic brutality? I'm not sure I have the right words. Perhaps it is the characters that I dislike, the characters who represent the opposite of my beliefs and feelings in real life that I am most interested in seeing depicted? Perhaps this is just a dreamcastegirl thing.

Gosh, whenever I speak up in this thread, I sound really broken. I promise I am normal in real life!

I think the current problems with Jiro (obviously can't speak to a Redemption Arc or whatever the hell the next 24 episodes look like for that character) are:

1) A CHARISMATIC MONSTER IS A GODDAMN TIGHTROPE

The idea of the seductiveness of evil is hugely compelling, and it always has been. A villain with a point of view is great; a villain with a point of view who can win you over is even better. Of course a show is going to want to toy with that approach, and of course a show is going to want to write towards a performer that is as good as Jiro's actor.

The problem is that you're left with an impossible set of potential resolutions to that story. You can either show the tragic consequences of the character's worldview/goals (The Takayama Approach), and give a brutal end to a popular character; or you can try and salvage the viewers' affection by reforming the villain, asking the audience to consider the villain's misguided feelings while they were doing reprehensible things (The Alain Approach).

Both of those choices sort of suck? Rider shows usually go with the second one, and it means making your peace with, like, assault and kidnapping and gaslighting and a non-zero amount of attempted genocide. It's a lot of mental gymnastics, and it's sort of inherent to the medium.

2) MAYBE HE SHOULD BE LESS OF A FULL-TIME KILLER

The trouble with Jiro is that he's been very upfront about his evil behaviors (he definitely murdered and ate innocent people!), but the show continues to treat him like a misbehaving puppy. It's one thing for Otoya to write off frequent ambushes as, like, Boys Being Boys, but it's another for the show to try and forget that Jiro has eaten innocent people and hid the evidence.

3) HIS EVILNESS HAS A MUNDANE QUALITY, AND THAT'S WAY WORSE

It's pretty much the thing that made Kusaka incredibly difficult to stomach in Faiz: it's all about emotionally isolating and physically controlling a woman. It's a kind of real-world evil that lacks the heightened details to make it forgivable. (Arguably, Faiz wasn't really interested in forgiving Kusaka, which was key.) It's a question of scale, you know? Jiro blowing up a city block (or whatever) isn't anything I can relate to or connect with emotionally. It's TV violence, and TV stakes. But Jiro threatening Yuri's safety and autonomy is sickening in a realistic way, despite transformations and musical cues. There's not enough dramatic distance to create space for me to feel like I need to give this guy the benefit of the doubt.

4) EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE YURI/OTOYA/JIRO PLOT

I think this thing just mostly doesn't work, narratively. Even when Yuri declares her love for Otoya, a character I've largely come around on, I was like... Why? Why would she love a womanizing buffoon? Why would a controlling pile of machismo in a silk shirt ever feel like a compelling alternative? Nothing in this three-way dance ever felt like it was coming from an understandable place, so there's even less incentive to explain away Jiro's sizable flaws.

Absolutely agree, although I do feel that Yuri's... reaction to the oncoming train-wreck of the concrete evidence of the status quo in the 2008 setting vs what the 1986 setting has been flirting with is actually really compelling as a narrative—an unpleasant one for sure, but also something that I found really moving. This story about attempts at forgiveness where forgiveness is impossible is where I found Kiva to be at its best, and maybe a lot of that is me sitting on my own personal baggage as I watched the show unfold, whilst the original creators were all perhaps like, "Don't think about it Character A loves Character B now. What? A mass murderer, you say? Don't worry about that."

I don't want to touch on this subject, to be honest. I think I can, however, empathise to a degree with loving someone who is cruel. Not grand guignol cruel, but nonetheless cruel.

But yes, the show does a poor job of reconciling Jiro's nature with the role it wants him to play later on and it suffers for it. You said all this far better than I did so I won't try and rephrase all your points.

Gosh. I am inarticulate today.

I don't blame you for feeling like you're not expressing your thoughts on intensely emotional content well. I remember having a tough time in Faiz, where it was difficult to explain why Kusaka slapping Mari was way more unforgivable than his frequent schemes to murder Takumi. It's hard to talk about things like vulnerability, and trust, and informed consent instead of, like, collectibles and finishing moves. It's one of the reasons why I'm a little less Let's See Where This Goes when Inoue starts dealing with those themes, because it requires a level of delicateness that I just basically don't think a show designed to sell toys to Japanese children is equipped to handle.

Like... you can hit those themes in a metaphorical way, absolutely. The best shows have! But approaching them literally is... I would maybe not crawl out on that limb if I was writing a tokusatsu show.

For me, and I don't wanna get into it too much (because it's an uncomfortable subject that concerns a show I'm really not crazy about otherwise), it's

A) "Forcing a woman to have your kids", is... it's not a subject I really want to see? I'm happy to see a show go dark places, and I'm very much for artistic freedom in being able to portray a lot of those dark places rather than hiding from them; but there's also the onus of responsibility on the artist to actually treat those important subjects with the maturity and respect and weight they're due? And... this is barely treated as anything more heinous than Jiro's other acts and doesn't portray him any worse. It's not something I personally want to see anyway, but I would at least want it done well.

B) Perhaps more pertinently, even if you had portrayed it extremely well; is this seriously something that needs to be in your children's show about selling toys? Remembering this was the Emperor debut really puts this into perspective to me when it's contrasted with the introduction of Tatsulot and everything he is. Something I like about Kamen Rider is that it isn't afraid to challenge interesting subjects, and oftentimes doesn't patronise its audience of children and respects their intelligence to the point where they feel they can think about some of this stuff; but there's certain things where I think there's a limit, and this is a big one.

Agreed! It's a weird irony to this story, where the relatable intimacy of the Shinji/Ryoko plot is what gives it so much beauty and power, while the Jiro plot needed to go way way way bigger and more unrealistic (like sticking Yuri in a machine to resurrect the Clawolves or whatever) in order to dodge its many, many pitfalls. There's a time for realism, and a time for metaphor, and this story just couldn't figure out which was which.

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 25 - "FANFARE: THE QUEEN'S AWAKENING”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva25a.png

Kamen Rider Kiva is a story about love.

I don't mean to say it's a romance, although that's part of it. It's a series about all types of love, and about what they mean to people. The love for a parent. The love for a child. The love for a sibling. The love for a romantic partner. Why do we love other people? What does it mean to love someone?

The show's gotten at these questions in different ways since the start, and they've been as tentative and oblique as Wataru used to be. It got at the idea of love through art, through the act of expressing yourself through music or craft. It talked about how precious that can be, and how finite a resource it can seem to those who covet it. It's all neatly metaphorical and clever.

Now, though, the show's in a different phase. Much like Emperor Form heralded a Wataru who was unchained and ready to engage with the world in a more open and honest way, we're at a point in the show where it's just coming out and asking its big questions: Why do Fangires love humans? Why do humans love Fangires? Why does anyone love anyone else?

Instantly I'm more dialed-into this show than I was for some of the previous stories. It's like the Shinji/Ryoko story wasn't just some immaculately constructed one-off; it was the template for everything this show wanted to do going forward. We're now at a stage where characters are pairing off and making commitments to one another. The stakes are higher and more personal. It's a version of the show, that, like... it is deploying its cape and turning gold. Everything seems grander and more dazzling.

Which is to say that, yes, this is a Maya/Mio spotlight episode. It's a story that's mostly concerned with the intersection of humanity and the Fangire, and how these two women navigate it.

Maya, always so great. Her main mode in this episode (besides that face) is a kind of Amused Curiosity in Otoya specifically and humanity in general. This should feel like a major Yuri/Otoya episode, what with their very sweet domesticity and newfound emotional honesty, but it's not. The second Maya and Otoya cross paths, Yuri is a runner-up. Maya flirts at Otoya's level, and her playful banter comes across as charmingly condescending, just as much as his does as needlessly protective. It's not the formerly crude come-ons and genuine rage that Otoya and Yuri had, nor is it their current overly enthusiastic dedication that's clearly masking some misgivings and doubt. No, Maya and Otoya are perfect together. Just perfect.

They're so perfect that it's making Maya's overall frustration with the endless amount of human-loving Fangires into something she needs to see for herself. She lets Otoya drag her all over town, lets him "protect” her from Rook, because... shit, maybe there's something to all of this? None of it really makes any sense to her (self-sacrifice?!?!), but she finds Otoya's nonsense exactly as funny as she should (mildly amusing in a clownish way), and there's a very clear sense of romantic adventure to their frequent meet-cutes. Maya's only known Love as a pejorative, as a death sentence, and now she's wondering if it might have other meanings.

The Mio stuff is like the other half to the equation, as her new role as Queen in 2008 is making her feel like she's putting Wataru in danger. (Very funny inversion of the whole Otoya Protects Maya thread.) So she breaks up with him, and it doesn't matter, because her problem is very quickly becoming a Kiva problem. They're entwined together by fate, just like Maya and Otoya are.

It's not as much fun as the Maya/Otoya part of the episode (almost nothing could be), but I liked how it made Mio's fear and confusion more than just an immediate problem for Wataru to solve. I mean, it's definitely going to be that, this is his show, but it gave a little space to let Mio try to dodge the enormity of what's about to land on her. The Maya part of the episode is very curious, while the Mio part is more about avoiding finding out the truth. Maya's exploring new possibilities, while Mio wants things to stay as they were. They make for nice counterpoints, these two stories.

I liked almost every decision this episode made, which was a very pleasant discovery after the last story's conclusion. Jiro's just gone, Wataru's moping in the tub (always means a good episode), Maya and Mio's stories are both about them and their choices, we're talking about love as something worth examining honestly... it's a good episode. I'm not even too mad at the convenient bout of amnesia that Otoya suffers at the end!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva25b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva25c.png

P.S. I don't know if anything in this show has made me laugh as hard as this episode remembering Shizuka exists:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva25d.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva25e.png

My joke for this episode was captioning the final shot with a sappy song lyric I remembered (I don’t know what the actual song is, though) : “And they called it, puppy love.”

And like with Maya, I’m holding off on what type of Fangire Mio and the Bishop are until they debut in show. But I will say that Mio is the same class as Maya.

And now, for the Fangire of the week.

Shark Fangire

True name: The Stamps that Reach the Ash Higan (灰の彼岸へと到る切手 Hai no Higan e to Itaru Kitte)

Human identity: N/A

Class: Aqua

Rank: Pawn

Actor: Daisuke Endo (voice)

While I’m here, I’ll bring up two things.

1. The Bishop is played by Mitsu Murata, who was previously all of the male villains in Hibiki (plus the voice of some female villains) and later went on to play Legion in Wizard.

2. From this point on, there’ll be less Fangire that have human identities. Not sure how much of a turning off point that is for you, it does make it slightly easier to swallow Wataru killing them instead of merely destroying their bodies and imprisoning their souls to feed to the Arms Monsters, like he did before.

Agreed. That moment was horrible in a way that was shocking and alarming, and it's a card that, when played, either breaks the rules of the fictional world or makes the story that much more serious. Gosh, for all of the floating away in rivers, I am struck anew by what a clever piece of television 555, a series that can be ham-fisted and absurd, and yet manages to pull off such moments.

I think sometimes I forget this, which is absurd as I spend a considerable amount of time each year standing in the aisles of toy shops cooing over colourful pieces of plastic. I think maybe this is the problem I'm having with Toei's current shows, I keep thinking everything is going to be able to walk that line like Liveman did, or like cartoons such as Gatchaman did, and I don't stop to read the room, or consider how the audience and the expectations of the genre have changed.

Ah! Enough of my grumpy old lady act! Every time I reply to this thread, I inadvertently burn whatever is in the oven and I am determined not to do that today!

I figured that's who that was. Thanks for the confirmation!

I can't say it really bothers me if we're done with human identities for the Fangires. Once you do a story like Shinji/Ryoko, there's no point in going back to stories about evil chefs or whatever. The show's sort of outgrown those smaller stories, and it has more than enough tools to spend a couple dozen episodes drilling into its cast.

For the whole A Dragon Cathedral Eats The Souls Of Decorative Vampire Monsters thing, I don't know. Part of me sees it as an unfortunate escalation in Kiva's war, a disregard for penance that indicates Wataru's self-confidence may have some negative consequences. But then, like, the show never really did anything with the concept? So it's maybe just eight seconds of stock footage we don't have to watch every other episode?

There's definitely a bravery to Inoue's storytelling that can 100% miss the mark and become foolhardy. But, even when I greatly disagree with the end result, I never feel like he's not trying to tell a story that means something to him. He's, uh, maybe not always great at communicating his thoughts, but he's always trying to be understood. It's no surprise that Faiz is his best work, I guess!

Don't have too much to say about this episode, but I think it's appropriate to ring in this more dramatic direction for the series with a suitably depressing piano melody, used in this particular episode when Mio is trying to break things off with Wataru.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuKK-RuY6r4

Actually, now that I type that – you weren't kidding about that last story being a template, were you? Mio is doing broadly the same thing Shinji was here. Between that and the overall thing of both time periods dealing with their respective Queens, it kinda seems like the show is doing an exceptionally good job keeping all the plots (give or take a bad day for Nago) looped in on each other right now?

Keep in mind, too, I think the official lore there, as Androzani mentioned, is that the Fangire souls were just snacks for the castle and the Arms Monsters, so I'm not sure this makes a huge difference on that front?

Depending on where the Nago/Megumi stuff heads, I can even sort of see the story of Nago confronting his limitations as something that's in-line with Maya's skeptical views of the value of self-sacrifice and caring for others.

Or, y'know, Nago can just go on a random button rampage again. One or the other!

I mean, in that case, I assume it makes a huge difference to Castle Doran and the Arms Monsters! I don't want to see an emaciated CGI monstrosity shuffle onto the screen in, like, Episode 38 just because Kiva's been obliterating its food source!

On one hand, I do kinda like that dumb dragon castle. On the other hand, I honestly probably wouldn't lose much sleep over Jirou and friends going hungry. :p

Also, as I say there isn't much for me to mention about this episode, I only just remembered there's actually something that's pretty big for me!

25/26 are the very first episodes of Kamen Rider directed by Shoujirou Nakazawa, who was working exclusively on Super Sentai for a long time prior, and would go right back to that after Kiva... until he became the main director for Wizard, which naturally means he's a favorite of mine. I'm not to the point where I can actively describe his style very well, but there's a cleanliness to his work that I just adore. He was also Ex-Aid's main director, a fact I hope speaks for itself (both of these shows are known for being pretty to look at), because, again, I'm often at a loss for words talking about this guy!

If I can make a broad generalization after a single Kiva episode (and I can!), I'd say he shows a pretty deft hand at catching performances? A ton of this story rests on the viewer keying into Maya's deadly curiosity and Mio's existential despair, and I think the direction really brought those across. There's less frenetic editing, and longer takes, and a mixture of middle reaction shots to keep the performance grounded in a space. As someone who adored Ex-Aid, I feel like Makes Complicated Character Motivations Legible is his main skill?

Didn't expect this reaction to the comedy part of the episode. I thought the inclusion of the over-the-top comedy will be considered a show of versatility that this episode can contain everything; be it comedy, tragedy, and growth. Also btw (dunno about the next one) at least here, Yuri only suspects of Otoya teaching Riki to do that, though Riki denied it. Riki seems to be easily fooled by Otoya's arrogance, offering to teach him, but doesn't take into account if it's successful or not.

Though this also shows a negative consequence for the choices, heartbreak, and satisfying the loved ones, that after Ryoko's death, Shinji snaps as he becomes a typical bloodlusted Fangire (after conversing with Wataru who remembers him as kind and tries to bring him back to his senses), venting his loss to others, especially to Mio, considering her reveal with something that is planted on her hand. Though I dunno if this is triggered by Nago transforming into IXA nearby too or not. Though this is all about your ties to loved ones, I'd also want for this to be used as an example of how those who aren't non-loved ones are also people who deserve to be treated fairly and has their loved ones as well, and that you can't treat them as insects due to not having affection towards them (unlike what Shinji, and Ryoko did to Otoya at first), like here, while Mio is not Shinji's loved one, she's still someone else's (Wataru). I'd think the actual toku aspect would enhance this part as the venting he does to others will be more horrific with Fangire powers. I know that Ryoko only knew Shinji's Grizzly Fangire self at her death, but that'd mean they never had a child? I'd also like to know how Shinji can escape punishment from Maya in 1986 to 2008; as Maya easily kills disobedient Fangires, though Shinji seems to be one of the stronger Fangire.

I feel for some reason Yuri's love declaration of Otoya feels sudden here, as if it's done just to keep Jiro away from her, dunno. I know the near death moment at the end had them truly hugging btw, but that part still feels that to me, it's not that different from Jiro's declaration to Yuri not long before. The compromise also can be formed in other way, like you said in toku world, it'll mean the loved ones being kidnapped or something, and to prevent that, another kind of sacrifice is done like cutting off ties with them.

Jiro's abusive boyfriend trait has been shown before, but for this part, this just serves as a reminder of how terrifying the behavior of someone with questionable morals are, and comedic parts doesn't mean those acts are not wrong (Of course comedy can make those characters bearable or outright entertaining to watch, but still a reminder). I don't know if the shift is also meant to be a tragedy for Yuri as we're expected to feel scared of what will happen to Yuri, or that you're saying sadness (Grizzly Fangire's mourning) and horror (Yuri being held by Jiro) wouldn't mix?

While yeah we shouldn't root for Kiva or Mio to get demolished, doesn't mean that Grizzly Fangire's venting should be left unchecked. I knew that Wataru did try to bring him back to his senses. I'd think the solution that is likely more acceptable is successfully taming Grizzly Fangire's despair? Though or it's probably what he wanted to be reunited with Ryoko (though I don't know what happened to Fangire's souls after death)? Though the questionable moment aside, I'd think Emperor Form is also one of my favorite design of final form albeit with tiny problem of an all-red face to me, and the finisher is an enhanced. The explanation here that I read for Emperor Form killing Grizzly Fangire is that it's apparently based on a blind rage, which likely isn't exactly controlled, though likely blind rage beating would work better if it's given to an absolutely despicable monster (but doesn't mean it should be adopted as main way to deal with the ones that are bad, it'll turn someone into Nago).

I waited to give my thoughts on 24 because I couldn't remember if the next episode gave an explanation for Tatsulot or not. Nope. Just another case of random shit happening on Kiva. Emperor Form, for the record, has grown on me a lot. I've always had two major issues with it. The first is the overuse of it from this point on at the expense of Kiva's other forms. There's a behind the scenes reason for that, though. The other - and this is really nitpicky - is that I don't love the gold. It's too bright. I would have preferred a more subdued shade; this color always looked too much like plastic to me.

As for the song? It's good. It's not Believe Yourself, but nothing else is.

Now for 25, I'm enjoying seeing the show ramping up some of its subplots. Emperor Form hasn't done much for Wataru yet, aside from giving him another bath buddy (as a side note, I'm really curious about how waterproof the DX Kivat and Tatsulot toys were). We're getting a lot more cool stuff with Mio now and Bishop is here to add another high level Fangire to the mix.

The '86 side is where we really start seeing some changes in the show's status quo. Jiro's gone, Otoya is Ixa, and Yuri has made the highly questionable decision to be in love with Otoya, who is already drifting towards Maya instead. I feel so bad for Yuri at this point. First her creepy boyfriend turned out to be a monster with serious consent issues, and now her new boyfriend is getting mesmerized by someone else. In fairness, she really should have seen this last one coming considering Otoya is, well, Otoya. I can't help but feel for her, though, given that Otoya barely had time to digest that omelette rice before he was off running around with Maya, headlong into another one of Inoue's beloved amnesia stories.

My favorite part of this is that Wataru and Mio both completely ignore her like she isn't even there.

Tatsulot's sudden appearance is one of those things I'd love to get in on making fun of, but thinking about it... I'm honestly not sure the show needs to dwell on it too much? Like, Kivat exists to be armor for Kiva, and Tatsulot exists to be a key for that armor. The offhand mention in this one of Emperor Form being Kiva's true form and the mention last time that he woke up basically because Wataru wanted that power are ~maybe~ all you really need? At the very least, I definitely agree Tatsulot is keeping with Kiva's trends when it comes to writing the merch in, but man, for some reason, I've become way more generous towards those over time.

I will also say that I recall finding Tastulot pretty annoying? I'd probably be more mellow on his personality nowadays too, especially having heard Akira Ishida in other, significantly less grating voice roles, but his generically chipper attitude was never my favorite. (Again, the timing of that debut almost certainly did not help.) And while I'm on the subject of Wataru's living trinkets, I've always really liked Kivat as a Rider Belt who is also a character, although he became massively overshadowed in my heart once Drive started existing.

Calling Kivat a character always felt like a bit of stretch to me. Sure he talks and stuff, but how often does Wataru actually respond to or engage him in conversation? He never manages to feel more than a mascot purely for the viewer's sake to me.

I'm glad they revisited the idea with Belt-san, who's way better implemented and more memorable in all respects. Also more DX belts should have the ability to make cute expressions at a press of a button.

Quite frequently, actually. He’s often the character who Wataru holds the longest conversations with at his house (which is the set where he spends most of his time)

Huuuuh, is that right? The most vividly I can recall are instances where Kivat would offer some advice to Wataru about some problem of his, but Wataru doesn't really look towards Kivat so it looks more like Wataru's just talking aloud to himself while the CG bat is inelegantly inserted into the scene. I don't doubt there are exceptions though.

Yeah, pretty much this. For what it's worth, I'm realizing skimming through the episodes there's more material with him than I remembered, but I love Kivat's concept so much it was always disappointing to me he wasn't more actively involved with the plots.

Whoever came up with the idea of him hanging upside down on the belt is a genius though. The designers at Plex truly had their brains in top gear that day. :p

Honestly, it’s something I find really endearing about Kiva. Castle Doran starts shaking and Jairo’s all “Oh, that’s just Tatsulot acting up” like that makes any sense to the audience. My second favorite part of Zi-O’s Kiva tribute is that it brings back the “Wait, what is this and where did it come from?” “Meh.” new merch introduction that is just 100% Kiva.

Sure, but there's also a time and a place, you know? An episode can have comedy and tragedy, but it's a lot more difficult to include Wacky Comedy and A Spouse's Death From Illness in the same episode. Can it be done? Yeah, probably. It definitely wasn't done here, though.

I took Shinji's freakout as the standard Suicide By Rider that you get with your sympathetic monsters at the end of a story. He couldn't live with his loss, and here's a merciless agent of retributive justice, the end. It definitely goes up a level when he sees that Mio is the new Queen, though. Then it becomes about lashing out at the people who cost him the ability to be happy with Ryoko.

First, I'm not sure I'd read Ryoko's admission that she knew Shinji was a Fangire as something she just learned. I definitely read it as something she's known for years, maybe since 1986. The way she quiets him as he tries to unburden himself implies that she has lived with this knowledge for a long time, but let him keep his secret as a kindness. She had spent a long time caring for Shinji, and if he needed to pretend he was a human because he couldn't bear the thought of her hating him? She's okay with that compromise.

Second, the implication is that Shinji and Ryoko spent years living off-the-radar in not-great conditions to avoid being tracked down by Maya. Unless you mean how Shinji escaped originally? Because that was from Maya laughing so hard at Otoya that Shinji was able to make a run for it.

I'm okay with this interpretation! Because, yeah, Yuri saying she loves Otoya feels a little unearned. It's better if she's just saying it to protect Otoya and dissuade Jiro. I'm not sure the beginning of 25 supports it, but that could just be Yuri deluding herself.

It is neat that Yuri has become this woman with nothing but bad relationship decisions, although when your options are Clawolves, Frankenburies, and Otoya... I mean, it is okay to be alone maybe. I'm not sure there's a good pick anywhere in there. My OTP is Yuri/Her Career.

Yeah, I can't say I was ever super concerned about the backstory for Kivat and Tatsulot. It's nothing I've puzzled over. It's maybe a weird perspective, considering I came through Ex-Aid, where the entire show is built to constantly explain power-ups and form changes, but I generally don't give a shit where some of this stuff comes from. I kind of like the idea of it being totally reasonable within the world, to the characters, because then it feels like it's woven into the fabric without having to spend two minutes on exposition. It's got that Star Wars thing of feeling like you're getting a small piece of a much bigger story, and that's a fun tone for sci-fi/fantasy storytelling.

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 26 - "METRONOME: MIRACULOUS MEMORY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva26a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva26b.png

I don't feel like there are a lot of longform romances in Kamen Rider. Like, stories about heroes falling in love and navigating a relationship are weirdly few and far between.

Top of my head... well, most of the cast of Faiz, obviously. But after that? Ibuki. Todoroki. Maybe Drive. That's pretty much it? Everything else is fully-formed on debut (Miu and Shun on Fourze), basically tacked-on at the end (Accel and Akiko from W, Gentoku and Sawa from Build) or the far more likely Fridged Girlfriend (as featured prominently in Ryuki, Blade, Ex-Aid, etc). The arc of a relationship isn't really something Kamen Rider seems to have a lot of interest in, beyond Faiz and half of Hibiki.

And now Kiva, because Inoue. Inoue Forever.

I thought this episode was really tight. It's not exactly my favorite one ever, but I liked its thematic coherence. It's an episode about the figurative and literal Power of Love, and we get to talk about it over three different storylines.

The Yuri/Otoya one is very sweet. Maya wants to see what it means to Otoya to be in love. She's lying to him, pretending she's Yuri, but it's just to get him to talk about what it means to love Yuri. Maya doesn't want Otoya to love her (yet!), but she wants to know what loving her feels like for him, how it motivates him. For Otoya, love's about sacrifice and dedication, despite his normal womanizing ways. As he plays his violin, it connects him to his feelings for Yuri, and a promise he made to find her mother's ring that was lost at a beach. The first thing he remembers about Yuri is a vow.

Maya gets at the other side of the equation when Yuri tracks them both down at the beach. Maya wants to know what it feels like to be loved. Yuri's answer is Otoya's answer, but with words instead of actions. Being loved is motivating, it's empowering. It gives you the strength to be your best self, to be better than your best self. Loving someone and being loved, they're a power.

So, naturally, we get the Mio/Wataru story, where the power of love takes on a darker context. (I mean, Otoya almost drowned because he wanted to fulfill a promise to Yuri, so it ain't like that story was all happiness!) Mio's on the run from Bishop, who wants her to serve as the new Queen for Checkmate Four. She can't do that, because she doesn't believe that love is something to be punished for; it's something to be protected at all costs. Wataru feels similarly, and they both end up finding new strength in their feelings for each other. As someone in love, they view their responsibility to one another as protection. Mio broke up with Wataru to save him from danger, and Wataru gained Emperor Form because of his feelings for Mio. The power they get from loving each other isn't just some internal strength, it's an external force. It makes Kiva more dangerous. It gives Mio not just the ability, but the resolve to execute a Fangire. (I cheered a bit when I realized that she'd found a way to do her job as Queen by murdering the Fangire who hurt Wataru. Incredibly clever plotting.) What Mio and Wataru have found in their relationship feels a little scary, and that's a good way of examining the uncertainty of where a relationship can take people.

There's a third look in at The Power of Love, and it's delightfully off-beat. It's Megumi using the Fangire's love for her against it, delivering an unbelievably overdue kick to its balls as she swipes back the IXA Knuckle for Nago. It feels like it's going to be a story where Megumi and Nago find that the spark from their teamwork is maybe more than they thought, but the show swerves away from that. Instead, Nago uses his love for power to give himself the strength to lie to Shima's face, claiming contrition (he even fake cries) so that he can retain the IXA Knuckle. It's Nago as an Individual System (!!!), his own relationship, and using that to push himself to achieve his goals.

I don't know that anything here really blew me away, but there's really nothing I can point to as subpar. I thought the IXA fight was fun (those hand puppets on the IXA suit are... did they put them in the Seihou?!), and I thought Mio's justification for killing the Fangire was fiendishly clever. Beyond that, the story was just relentlessly well-executed, front to back. That's awesome, and I'd take a season as good as this episode in a heartbeat, but it didn't really have anything in it that I feel is going to stick with me long term. I liked what it was saying, and I loved how it said it (the direction in this one was impeccable), but it all felt very... I don't know, sturdy? That's a good thing! But it's hardly the sort of adjective you trot out to get people excited. Still, a very good episode for a show that is putting together a very enviable second-half.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva26c.png

Rip Spider Fangire

I haven't really gone in on any SHF Upgrade stuff, but I would buy Puppet Hands for Seihou IXA in a heartbeat.

Well, that’s it for the Spider Fangire. He lasted longer than a lot of other Spiders in this franchise (only the Spider Grongi and Heart last longer).

And we come to the debut of Emperor Form’s Arms Monster based “Fever” attacks. If you think there’s some similarity to Kuuga’s Rising weapons, it’s because there is. Emperor is based off both a rejected design for Kuuga Ultimate (which would’ve been golden and sleeker, with a cape) and an unused concept (wherein Ultimate would’ve had access to versions of the Rising weapons where all but the gold parts were black. Though toy versions do include the Ultimate weapons with figures of Ultimate Kuuga). Though I will say now, don’t expect to see Bassha Fever in the show. Video below for demonstration.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=UIB_H_q-C7s

(Disclaimer: that groaning in pain sound is totally not an indicator of later events, any more than a similar groan of pain when you scan the purple Core Medals in the CSM OOO Driver. Or the skin cracking SFX in the CSM Rouse Absorber and the DX Ringo Lockseed. It’s totally a hidden sound with no significance).

I mean not only about how Grizzly Fangire escaped originally, but about how Grizzly Fangire escapes from Maya every time, if Maya's threat to those who love humans like him is continuous. I'd imagine Maya would try to hunt him again if possible. I'd also think that other Fangires that Maya killed also lived off the radar... I didn't realize that the ones Maya hunted before in the wedding are Fangires before it's revealed.

Love triangle is one of the main aspect of Kiva as well, the most egregious one among Inoue's work. It hits all the bullseye regarding that part; there's men literally and figuratively tying up women to keep them from leaving for another man, men punching each other while the woman screams at them, two women barely avoiding a cat fight over a man, women lying to other women to keep or “steal” a man, a woman lying to a man to get him to kill his rival for her affections. Though I'd appreciate another insight regarding this, albeit I think love for relatives (parent, child, and sibling) is quite omnipresent, and one of the main ways KR series (or many pieces of media) give redeeming qualities to jerks are about those loves.

Well yeah, Kiva picked-up (woke-up?) after 20 or something episodes, starting with the introduction of Maya and Mio.

I know Otoya touches upon about the woman he already loved when talking with Maya at one point, but this kinda feels like how Otoya will be turned up into any women that he comes across, though the one with Maya will likely be the last, and shows he's a total playboy as a womanizer. He'd try to please every women as womanizers do that, but still. I'd agree the Maya's part is interesting here to learn about the species she looks down upon herself, as a mindset to look forward and process, not to ignore what she did to other Fangires. Killing own species, like in Faiz before regarding Saeko to "rogue" Orphnochs or Kitazaki (irredeemable villain) to other Orphnochs, is a trait commonly possessed by most despicable villains in the franchise, it always reminds me of Daguva in Kuuga killing many number (much more than Yusuke did) of Grongis.

So this part is the "realizing that you're the monster" plot, that Mio realizes that she kills people around her unwittingly. Though it'll also put herself in danger like Grizzly Fangire attacking her earlier, and the Fangires that hunt her here, or force her to do her job as the Queen. I guess for her to not realize her Fangire powers, she's somehow the one that only had human-level physical stats in her human form and never feel super strength or anything like for example accidentally breaking mundane tools, like Hiyori in Kabuto?

At first glance this seems to be just a throwaway moment for Shizuka, but this will play much important role later, revealing dark sides of the people involved.

... Heart counts as a spider monster?

He’s a spider-type Roidmude.

I guess, but... hm. Does it really count if he stopped being one very quickly?

There's also Tsurugi/Misaki and arguably Sento/Ryuuga. In the Ghost novel, Takeru/Chloe gets this as well.

Wataru/Mio is like what could have been for Takumi/Saya, since both are ships with a shared trait, shyness for the former and nekojita for the latter. Too bad Saya didn't last very long.

Most egregious? I have to disagree with you here, since I think that both of the 1986 love triangles are easily some of the most exciting that Inoue has made. While Yuri did become a passive role in the Otoya/Yuri/Jirou triangle, that propels her in to a more active role in the following Yuri/Otoya/Maya triangle where she shows a lot of resistance to stop Maya from trying to homewreck them. It's not even done in a spiteful way, since as the current gf, Yuri has every right to want to stop Maya and defend her position in the relationship. I actually support both Otoya/Yuri and Otoya/Maya. Otoya loves Yuri, but he loves freedom as well, so it's difficult for him to be content when there are two very interesting girls in his life and I think Inoue does an excellent job at showing why they are both viable options and why Otoya is so conflicted between them.

Of course!

Well, a couple things.

First, I imagine something happens to Maya between 1986 - where she is very active as Queen - and 2008, where Mio is the current Queen. There is probably a story yet to be told about why there wasn't a Queen tracking down Shinji and Ryoko for the entire 22 years.

Second, the Bishop gave Mio a dossier on Fangires who'd transgressed, so I assume the Fangire culture has some system of ferreting out traitors. I don't think the Queen needs to be constantly hunting them (there's only one of her and a lot of human-loving Fangires), but there's no one to take them out without the Queen.

Sure, but it's foregrounded a lot more in Kiva. It's less a part of the formula and more What The Show Is About. It's addressing and interrogating the concept a lot more regularly.

Not sure I'm taking your point here, but I don't think Otoya's really shown to be disloyal here. There's a difference between an Otoya who dates women (so many women) and an Otoya who's in a relationship. Relationship Otoya is more focused, less obnoxious. His flirting is all to entertain Yuri now.

Yeah, there's a real positive change in the two triangles, where we now have one with two fantastic people fighting over one generally-decent person, which is a better dynamic than Yuri needing to choose between An Abuser and An Unreliable Clown. I much prefer two competent, compelling women trying to navigate their feelings for a funny, passionate champion of justice!

Though the bulk of the track goes unused in this episode, the rather ethereal music playing when Otoya gives Yuri back that ring is a pretty natural choice here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRzoKeOobPM

This is a pretty dang good episode for Otoya, by the way. I have a feeling you'll say everything I could want to way better than me over the next few weeks, Die (this IS an Inoue show we're talking about), but I'll readily agree the current '86 love triangle is preferable to the old one. Like, by far.

(Also, my favorite bit of direction I caught in this one has to be Megumi dissing the Spider Fangire and then stepping out of frame to reveal Nago all Ready to transform behind her. It's framed so perfectly to make you expect a cut to a different shot when she's done speaking, which makes Nago secretly being there the whole time such a fun bit of showmanship.)

This moment is not only something I used to use as an avatar on TFW2005 and/or HJU, but it's also peak IXA. Everything else is downhill from here, including his upcoming new form.