For those debating if Alternative is a Rider or not.... let's wait for next episode. And here's another tips to get massive thoughts on episode review.

I think, Ren's Contract as a Rider is unrelated to Eri's condition right? Darkwing's still there and still will eat Ren if he doesn't feed him, so it's inevitable that he needs to keep fighting because of how a Rider works in this series. Whenever Eri truly returns or only temporarily awake, if Ren's truly want to change I think he has to deal with his Rider self like, deal with Darkwing (can't think any ways of doing this, I do want some enlightenment of this, correct me if you can), right? The consequences of becoming a Rider, even if you get your wish prematurely, still...

H̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶s̶h̶u̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶l̶i̶f̶e̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶r̶u̶s̶t̶s̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶E̶r̶i̶.̶

The other characters plans are still new (I mean SSSS just recently gets introduced, even if Nakamura already appeared early), just wait until they also get stuck in the loop. I think this series is just hopeless, I can't even think of headcannons to solve this. Dunno if you actually read above, but what other ways Shinji could do to prevent Mirror attacks again, not just for Yui but also everyone else? SSSS are seemingly another one that probably has a way to end all of that, other than Tezuka previously, and they are seemingly ideal for Shinji to work on (at first glance, he stumbles more upon their dark secrets bit by bit).

The show does push back a little bit on whether Ren's situation has even improved with Eri's recovery ("recovery") when Shinji tries to be all But Now You Don't Have To Fight and Ren reminds him that they're still in a battle to the death. That could be a compelling thing, Ren dedicated to fighting in a Battle that can't help him, trapped by his choices. It's just, that doesn't seem to be what the show is dramatizing? If Eri recovered, you can do a storyline where Ren has to keep fighting, but only for his own survival. But if Eri's perpetually only 1% alive or whatever, you've still got Ren fighting for her survival, not his own. Nothing's really changed in the nuts and bolts of the show, and that's a disappointment for me.

But, like, I think that's a failure of the writing, not of the concept. There've been plenty of places on this show where things seemed hopeless, and the writing provided an in-character, in-universe solution. The Zolda/Ouja fight from just a couple of episodes ago! That was one where Kitaoka had no chance, until he had every advantage. Plenty of other characters, Reiko being a prime candidate, have found ways out of dead ends. Right now, though, all three of the main characters seem to lack, if not direction, then a plan of action. It's cool if it's just one (Shinji is someone who will totally charge in without a plan), but when it's all three... ugh.

Hmm... so what you expect is still about Ren keep fighting.... just for his survival. Either way that would've Ren also trying to hide his Rider activity like this episode to save his relationship.

Well Zolda/Ouja was merely about taking down 1 opponent, but to reach your actual big goal (Immortality for Kitaoka, or the others)? Yeah that's the hopeless part I speak about. As for Reiko she's kinda like Shinji there, constantly denied of the information they seek; Kitaoka for the former, SSSS for the latter.

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 38

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This one felt better to watch. The Ren stuff, it's kind-of nails on a chalkboard to me right now, but all of the stuff with Shinji and the Second Secret Science Society, yes.

A lot of it is the way that Ryuki as a show seems to prioritize motivation over action, how why you're doing something is maybe more important than what you do. Shinji may rarely have a plan of action, but he has a commitment to his principles, and maybe that's the best thing he can have. Because a plan with muddled intent, or conflicting desires, that's a recipe for disaster.

It's also a recipe for a tense, twisty episode, and I really needed that right now. We get a lot more detail about the Second Secret Science Society, what their deal is, and how they're going to stop Shiro. They're of one mind on their goal, but they're at odds on why they're doing it. (I can't really remember their names yet, so this might be harder to understand than usual.) Angry Man has seen his friends die due to Shiro's schemes, and he'll do whatever he has to in order to stop him once for all. Professor views their mission as serving the greater good, a necessary sacrifice to save more lives. Intern is looking for certainty, first from Professor's view that the ends justify the means, then from Shinji's view that there's no such thing as a good sacrifice.

Intern -- Sato? I think his name was Sato. -- Sato is a great way to explore the Second Secret Science Society, and a great way for Shinji to feel vital again in this show. There's the exposition necessary to understand what the Second Secret Science Society is doing, and why they're doing it, and it's all told in a dramatically interesting way. I love it when antagonist groups have dissension. I love it that this group has so much of a headstart on the other characters in reaching their goal, but minor divisions end up magnifying into executions. All of that makes for great TV. But the way that Shinji's attitude wavers slightly, then solidifies around his righteous anger that Murder Is Always Wrong, and how that becomes an immovable center to a show that was almost swallowed up by indecision and repetition... it all really made this episode for me. I like how Sato pushes Shinji towards saving many at the cost of one, but then Shinji pulls him back towards trying to save everyone.

Except, uh, Sato also murders Alternative (awesome name, awesome suit, I love how it drops all of the flourish of the Rider suits for as much of a Mad Science aesthetic as you can get from the Ryuki template and still look like a bug) when Alternative jumps Ryuki. I dug the ambiguity of that scene, of Shinji being apoplectic at Sato's Oh Did I Do That attitude at murdering someone, how you can see that rage on Shinji's face start to shift into regret and confusion, how Sato doesn't seem to grasp the enormity of his actions while still feeling liberated by them. It's this thing of Shinji never quite getting a pure win in the Rider Battles, of the show finding a way to complicate all of his choices. I actually really like that part of the show, how it's never easy for Shinji to live by his code. This episode did an awesome job of really interrogating both what the Second Secret Science Society and Shinji stand for.

(Also, Ren runs through Ren's Greatest Hits, riding on his motorcycle and taking Eri to the beach, and I can't bring myself to talk about it more than that. If you all have strong feelings about Ren's storyline right now, have at it.)

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki38b.png
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Oh man, you're starting to get into the stuff I really love about Tiger. I'll save my full thoughts for later to avoid spoilers, but I find the dude's motivations fascinating.

This is not relevant to the discussion, but there are ryuki stage show riders, and they look kind of terrible.

Yeah, I don't want to be all Tiger Saved This Show, but, man, I'm struggling to think of what I'd've gotten out of this episode without those characters. The Kitaoka/Ore phone call? That was some choice comedy. It's fun to have a semi-flustered Kitaoka. That's a dude who knows how to get laughs. Also, man, Reiko's completely got his number, and I love it. I love how outmaneuvered he is. Give them a fast-talking spin-off, where they solve mirror crimes. Reiko Time: Ryuki, please and thank you.

Anyway, yes, sorry, Tiger. Very interested in where that story goes!

It's not not relevant. I try to watch whatever stage shows I can get my hands on. They're neat! It's a much more juvenile version of Kamen Rider, but I enjoy how earnest and cheesy they are. It's like, recalibrate your expectations towards I Hope This Doesn't Suck Too Bad and you'll have a good time. Hopefully I'll be able to turn up that Ryuki stage show. Thanks for the heads-up!

Well I found this youtube which has stage shows from 1 to 4 years ago, so that's a thing.

Edit: also I found this and it's very funny

Edit 2: Also torrents for the musical

I've always refered to them by name. Angry Man = Hajime Nakamura, Professor = Hideyuki Kagawa, Intern = Satoru Toujou. All usually refered by their surnames.

Nakamura is the only one with different motivation from them as he only wanted to get revenge, also is the one threatening his teammate Toujou (he's abrasive too to his teammates...really dark reflection of Ren!), and almost (ironically) went Yui on Room 401. Nakamura's different motivation of revenge is the one getting him killed because of the revenge motif, hence "he's not a hero". Kagawa instead is a dark reflection to Shinji that both wants to stop the Rider War, but Kagawa's an extremist.

If only there are more people like Kagawa, but not being a straw vulcan extremist, his talent can be used to save people from Mirror Monsters by creating mass Advent Decks for people, nope, not for them to fight, leave it blank with no need to contract monsters, just for people to use to Henshin and escape the Mirror World when pulled there.

His debut episode name in Japanese is a pun of the Tiger user, "Enter Tiger" is "Tiger Toujou" in Japanese (Sato-chan is what Sanako calls him, others usually goes by Toujou). Toujou is the one becoming the temporary MVP of Atori between strangers (instead of Ren with waiter background), but Shinji, you only wanted to live there right? Not doing waiter's job shouldn't be a problem if you still live. There goes Shinji's chance of stopping the war knowing the truth of SSSS. What makes this one different for Shinji compared to previous episode where you compained about him merely asking for SSSS help again? Now he's back to square one again, even more hopeless that he has no alternative (pun intended), no other way to stop the war, hesitating again over the morton's fork in his code, only can hold up his principles of no-sacrifice by protecting someone (who happens to be his best friend), which goes against a known way to stop the war, seemingly making the war possibly go longer, aside from the mystery if SSSS is right or not.

Alternative is not a Kamen Rider as Toujou stated in this episode (ironically being the one with bug motif), for the debate last time. I gotta hand it to Shinji's suspicions of being fishy when Toujou, someone he saw at SSSS, comes to Atori, and figures out that he may be the one hunting Yui (thank Okubo too for allowing him to leave, despite his annoyance to Shinji in previous episode), especially the way he leers at her. He thinks it can't be a total coincidence. Shinji also practically wins the fight with Alternative, he just attacks from back. Though his assumptions were still wrong, Nakamura is the one becoming Alternative, he was half-right that it's SSSS' plan attempt, and gets him to act. I want to know what Nakamura meant when he says Shinji is wrong/misled?

Alternative being a carbon copy, is a total opposite of Shiro's Riders in every aspect. Alternative's visor speaks with a female voice instead of a male one, its belt spins vertically instead of horizontally when it appears, and its Advent Cards are swiped across the visor instead of being inserted into them. Alternative's Advent Cards are also laid out lengthwise (name on the right, image in center, stats on left) instead of the regular heightwise (name on top, image in center, stats on bottom). It's sword can also fire blue flames which makes for long range attack.

The end of Ren's arc here. His first and potentially last date for a while. Another thing I can say for Ren is... look at this bromance upgrade.
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Sad to see dwindling faith over the leads. Now it's probably seen what can be problematic for Shinji. Also for spin-off idea, like Kitaoka would actually agree to cooperate like that. He loves Reiko yeah but that'd lead into another thing other than that. Kitaoka still doesn't really realize what she's up to at the end to Asakura.

Interesting analysis! I think, for me, it's more that the three of them are on a spectrum, with Sato being caught in the middle between Revenge/Anger and Duty/Sacrifice. He's internalized both motivations, and it leads to the memorable conclusion from this episode.

This one worked better for me because Shinji's maybe still not effective on a plot level, but he's enormously effective on a moral level. His scenes with Sato had great performances, character-driven conflicts, and a chance for Shinji's specific brand of heroism to get the spotlight in a really rewarding way. It just worked great for me.

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 39

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki39a.png

Man, what a difference a couple of episodes makes! If last episode was a solid course correction after a real weak outing, this one's firmly in Damn Near Perfect territory. Some smart writing, a few fun teases, terrific action sequences, and a great use of the cast.

Even Yui! In an episode that's got two main storylines that're basically Yui: Threat Or Menace, it's a little weird that she's talked about far more than she's seen. I actually thought that there was a reason behind that, that she'd had something happen to her off-screen, but ha ha NOPE she's just something for men to argue about for two-thirds of the episode, same as always. But! But once she's chased by a mirror monster, she gets (a very small amount of) agency, activating some weird powers in the Mirror World and getting saved by a Sort-Of Troubling Bit Of Cultural Appropriation Slash Stereotype Just I'm Not Sure Having A Native American Warrior Is A Great Choice monster. All the while, she's thinking back to her and Shiro as kids, drawing pretty much all of the Contract Monsters on Ryuki. That... I feel like that's going to be important! The whole thing with Yui in the mirror-version of Kamen Rider Warehouse, she doesn't really do a lot, but it feels more like she's got ownership of her story than, uh, maybe ever? It feels like it's valuing her reaction to what's happening as a primary consequence, at least. It's usually like it is in the first two-thirds of this episode, dudes arguing about protecting or destroying Yui, but this one felt like it valued Yui as more than a plot commodity. Really nice surprise!

That said, I really enjoyed all of the scenes of men arguing about Yui. The Second Secret Science Society continues to pay dividends, sparking some of my favorite challenges for the main cast.

Shinji and Tiger, very strong stuff. It's fun at first to see Shinji try to be a mentor, to try and bridge this empathy gap he has with Tiger. Shinji's someone who's demonstrative and forthright, so it's cool to see him have to play off of the unnerving and false Tiger. You don't find out until the end of the episode that Tiger's been faking (to some degree) everything he's been saying to Shinji, but even before that you kind-of know. The performance is all big smiles and dead eyes, this weird feeling of ingratiating interloper. There's no connection, and the things he says feel constructed, rehearsed. When he drops the mask, it's fascinating how little of his behavior changes. Yes, he's going to kill Shinji, and yes, he despises Shinji's weakness, but he's still going to feel sad. Oh, not because he's going to kill Shinji, but because Shinji's weakness made him have to die. Tiger's view of heroism won't allow Shinji to disgrace it. This kind of antagonist, he's got so many intriguing steps, from his awesome costume to his distant behavior to his heartbreaking betrayal, and he's really helped the show elevate its game.

I still don't love where the show has left Ren after Eri's recent flare-up of EGS (Endangered Girlfriend Syndrome, the only known cure is a penultimate episode), but they throw him into stories with a couple characters that help... not fix what I didn't like, but put it into a more appealing relief. His first scene is with Shiro, who, as goddamn always, needs someone to go help Yui. (I am honestly unclear why half of the cards in Riders' Decks aren't, like, Buy Groceries For Yui Vent or Tell Yui Her Hair Looks Good Today Vent. Just be more upfront with how this whole thing is about his sister being taken care of.) It's in that scene where I feel like Shiro sees a lot of himself in Ren, someone who's willing to damn everyone else, even himself, to save the person he cares about. It does a lot to, my jokes aside, humanize Shiro's actions, in a way that him being a Mirror Creep sort of obscures. It's also great for Ren's character, to have Shiro act as a Worst Possible Version of Ren, someone that he's on the path to being. It's a great little scene.

The scenes he has with the Professor, it's like the flipside to his scene with Shiro. The Professor (I'm sure I'll remember his name someday, but it ain't today) is the opposite of Ren. Ren loses himself in isolation and brooding, while the Professor is a gregarious family man. Ren's quick with threats and loath to explain himself, while the Professor gives honest explanations and tries to avoid conflicts. But, the big one is how they view sacrifice. Ren's a guy who will burn everything down to save the person he loves, while the Professor will look at the costs involved and decide what can or should be saved. There's a logic to the Professor that's the opposite of Ren's emotional decision-making. Way more than the debate about sacrifice we saw in the past between Shinji and the Professor, the Ren/Professor conflict feels more vital, more direct. Pairing them up, it's fantastic.

All of that work on the character pairings and the thematic opposition, it made the fights really pop. The Knight/Alternative one was the best, with some early Knight ass-kicking giving way to a huge Taskmaster-esque rally from Alternative, incorporating his photographic memory to predict Knight's attacks. It's got a nice sense of storytelling to it, where there's a well-delineated and clearly explained change in momentum, instead of the typical Bunch Of Moves Final Vent. The pacing for the fight was good, with a fun mix of sword moves and card effects, and it was all refreshingly coherent. (I don't want to make it sound like Ryuki fights are something I suffer through. I genuinely enjoy watching masked superheroes beat the holy hell out of each other with crazy effects from cards. It's just, this one seemed to have more thought put into what was happening when, a good rhythm to it.) The Tiger/Ryuki fight was a little less flashy, a little more Monsters Are Tough To Fight Wait Final Vent, but the cruelty to Tiger's beatdown of Ryuki was a great twist. Or, not cruelty... nonchalance? He's just stomping Ryuki down and telling him he's a disappointment, whatevs. Great storytelling in all of the fights in this episode.

This was an overall stellar episode of Ryuki, and I didn't even get a chance to talk about the awesome Reiko/Kitaoka stuff! Well, real quick, defining interaction between the two of them: He's trying to get her to give up on investigating Asakura, telling her that things that are difficult to learn are usually too dangerous to know. Her response is that it's literally her job to learn difficult truths, and, hey genius, it's a lawyer's job, too. It's the perfect comeback, and I maybe actually out-loud cheered when she said it. I want a million more scenes of hard-charging reporter Reiko and Kitaoka, her Guy Friday. It's the best, all of these scenes were amazing, this show's so good again, I love talking about it so much you guys.

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I feel like this is the first good and fully proper showing of Alternative, so I feel like taking this moment I really love everything about his aesthetic, both by itself but also he and his equipment contrast the regular riders. In present day, a new guy showing up with a whole new belt that's similar but clearly different from the main characters is just tradition, but little me watching Ryuki for first time was (and still is) so enarmoured with Alternative. Like woah, who is this what is this he's so cool.

It's kinda funny how Tiger was introduced as sort of a tag-along powerset with the science team, but he's now established himself as his own 'unique' piece of work. His suit, his axe, his big claws and big tiger pal all accompanying possibly the most twisted player in this game make for a really memorable character. Yeah, Asakura's a violent killer who murders for fun, but Satoru has a murderous ideal of heroism that nobody else could even wrap their head around. Makes you wonder where does Shiro find these people.

Personally; the only thing I don't like about tiger is his final vent. Last I recall it was pretty boring. To be fair though it has been a while because I refuse to rewatch ryuki after realising how much asakura and satoru remind me of myself. There also is this occasional debate I hear where his name is actually taiga. Which I think works better than tiger.

HELP WANTED
Job: Murderous fighter in a 'Rider War' for a wish, also must be willing to help Yui if needs be.
Skills: Having no morals, be a willing killer, enjoyment of risk, good with animals
Shinji Kido need not apply.

Wut... so her victim episode is the one you talk about like this? I've been trying to predict your reviews from before (including Shinji in ep. 38 ofc! because your complaints in ep. 37 got answered in a dramatic way there, or even for no really drastic changes for the leads in these 2 next episodes), but I guess now I feel what Tezuka feels...
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...70/predict.png
Aside from that, are you sure that it's her power to make GuldStorm (the monster Tiger finished in ep. 35!) defend her? She's confused and there's Shiro thing you talk down there. There's a little misconception there; Yui knows nothing about her past. Yui's whole deal about her past is, actually, like amnesiac Ren's in ep. 11-12, both having no knowledge of the past, but something/a certain event spurs pieces of their past bit by bit and also gives them aneurysms (her asking for childhood pics is also a work of searching for truth, that she has no memories about her past and Sanako being avoidant). Here something (Psyco-Rogue's explosions) again, spurs her past memories (it's not her thinking back about it), just like Ren regaining his memory or her in ep. 20-22, albeit in significantly more detailed way, though for some reason she didn't get aneurysm here. What do you mean about valuing her reactions?

Actually, for the "arguing about Yui", what I like about it is that Shinji also does it because of his mindset of keeping everyone alive, not agreeing to sacrifices. Not merely because him being biased towards one of his best friend (Ren's deal here). I don't want those that presents themselves as selfless is blinded by those closer to them.

Shinji putting himself on odds with Ren by trying a way to seal the Mirror World. And this brings me back to what I said during Ren's amnesia 2-parter... Ren investigating Room 401 together with Yui is incompartible at the first place because... that would get in his way of winning Rider War, as shown to Shinji here potentially jeopardizing their relationship. And being a derp once again, Shinji gets them both lost, lol. And coincidentally bumps to Reiko. Didn't you make it there previously when Shiro strips your Rider power? Tiger isn't really faking, you just find out how much of an insane lunatic he is. He knows more about Shinji, and by his depraved mindset, he concludes that Shinji is also like Nakamura, doesn't fit to be a Rider unlike what Professor Kagawa taught him, and for Toujou, those like that must die. Tiger is more dangerous as an ally than as enemy! "A hero kills everyone who doesn't match his ideals! Hail Hitler!" "My mentor is the one who told me that sacrifice is what makes a hero! But he also told me Kanzaki Shiro is the villain. Oh well he can't always be right."

Shiro, as established in ep. 25 (though probably Inoue also had a hand on this), is someone bloodthirsty who uses violent threatening just to get someone to do stuff, after constantly trying that to Ren, like mysteriously hurting Eri, or forcing him to choose between his friends or Eri, he's finally forced to be honest to him and just get to the point. This also brings back Ren to Atori (and gaining Sanako's full approval now)? Jokes aside the one I'm unclear about is actually why Shiro didn't pull out the stuff he did in ep. 25 when Yui was like, in worse situation like being kidnapped. And you realize it early that Shiro is like a darker counterpart of Ren, though I can't bring up about it more due to spoilers.

Probably it's also presumed by here that... the other reason Shiro gives Shinji a Survive card (not a wise move for his war to give Shinji a higher chance to, well, survive greater odds!), is to get him stronger to fight back those after Yui like SSSS. He's the single biggest obstacle for Rider War, but he's the one that cares about Yui and therefore Shiro has no choice but to.... rely on Shinji to keep her safe.

Other than that, Odin being killed is only to show yet another broken trait of him. He can be replaced like he did here. As long as Rider War exists, 13th Riders will always exist, so killing Odin (by luck or purposely) is only a futile rare occurence.

Kagawa prioritizes being hero, but he's losing and detaching himself from his humanity himself. While Ren prioritizes humanity (another moment he calls out people perceived as worse than him, after Kitaoka, Asakura, Toujou). It's natural for human to keep someone they care about safe at all costs, but Kagawa seems to be losing humanity in his hero mindset. The family moment makes Ren cannot treat Kagawa as a monster like Asakura yet, but Ren gives a selfish-vibe here that even him hearing the presumed benefits of SSSS' plan, he insists to protect her only because he's close to her, completely uncaring about the other consequences without any other solution (even at odds to Shinji like above). Probably this is the beauty of Ryuki? There are wrongs on both sides. Though to Ren's credit, it's also partly due to distrust of SSSS, as he stated to Shinji. Also other than Ren being conflicted to Kagawa, I see Ren as resembling one of Kagawa's underlings, Nakamura ("Angry Man"), at least just in personality and behavior, t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶K̶a̶g̶a̶w̶a̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶i̶c̶e̶.

I do like that Kagawa's genius, photographic memory specifically, can be used as an advantage in a fight too as a move and pattern analyzer, then adapt with it, he's not that much of a fighter but his brains make up for it, giving a trait a fighter would possess. There's also strategy involved where Knight uses Blust Vent to escape and save Yui, after Alternative Zero monologuing about his plan in motion (why should you tell him?).

Yep, confirmed here that this is another case of someone constantly denied an information he wants, and also a show that Kitaoka genuinely cares for her. Obviously Kitaoka would give vague response about it, where Reiko feels it's only about her cannot handling the harsh truths, but Kitaoka, unbeknownst to her, thinks it's about her wellbeing, her safety, presumably he wants to prevent her being attacked or hunted by Mirror Monsters, or worse, Shiro (I still wonder why he killed his professor instead of Reiko in ep. 33), which will get her killed quickly, "Curiousity Killed The Cast".

Apart from those 2, there's A Dangerous Sign (episode title) for Asakura! Due to that lawyer, Morimoto, who is an idiotic idealist on even worse level than probably Shinji by seeing only good in Asakura, even when Asakura's a nationwide infamous felon (every stuff with him is a breaking news!), and only seeks to prove that he's truly good and mistreated, by catering to every single of his needs like his Deck (he probably thinks spoiling him would get on his good side). This one's also something to cheer for Kitaoka without feeling conflicted, really 1 to 100 difference. I want to know what are the contents of Morimoto files Goro give to Kitaoka, no subs translate them!

Tiger's Final Vent is also impractical. There is wide window for Riders to free themselves. Asakura's real life equivalent would be more like Luis Garavito. Also if you learn Japanese, non-Japanese names/words are spelled in katakana, based on how they're pronounced, but in available katakana Japanese letters. "er" usually becomes long "a" in katakana.

His Henshin is also bizarre. On a show with a dozen different Henshins, his is the one where I thought they'd go small (he's a scientist, he'll probably just say "Henshin" in a regular voice and insert his Card Deck normally) but they went SO BIG. He throws his Deck in the air, leans in super close to the mirror to shout Henshin, catches his Deck and inserts it. Man, what.

In my head, he's some goofy dad who doesn't really get it, but wants to play along. His Henshin is like some middle-aged dude learning a TikTok dance to impress his preteen daughter. Like, Dad, no, that is not how you Henshin, oh my god please don't do that in front of my friends from Rider Battle.

It's definitely not my favorite.I think it's that it's got all this momentum from the Contract Monster, and then there's a switch-over, a hand-off to Tiger, and it just halts. It's like a roller coaster that gets to the top of the hill, and up there's a platform to unload the passengers.

Man, I ain't sure about nothing on this show. These are all just guesses!

I mean, this is a show that doesn't do a great job of keeping Yui central to any story that is largely about her. There's a ton of time spent protecting Yui, which becomes a story about the men protecting her. There's a ton of time spent investigating Yui's background, which becomes about the investigators (Reiko, Tezuka). There's a ton of spent on how Shiro's actions reflect on her, which becomes about Shiro's motivations. This show has an uncanny ability to start a story about Yui, and end it about someone else.

This one, it felt like it ended being about Yui, about her, on her own, learning something of importance that could affect the trajectory of the story. That's pretty rare to me!

Oh, absolutely. One of my favorite things about its construction is how every option feels bad for the cast. Like, the Second Secret Science Society is a terrific endgame-ish adversary because they aren't a more powerful group of villains, but because they're a more effective team of heroes. (Well, maybe not Angry Man!) The way that their plan unfolds here, it marks them as cunning foes, but it's in service of Shinji's own goal. They're a combination of the At All Costs attitude of Ren and the End The Rider Battle goal of Shinji. They're Team Ryuki, but they work together. Like, they have a plan to save the world, it's just a plan that's abhorrent to Ren and Shinji. That's what makes them so fun to watch, the way that, from a slightly different angle, they're as much the heroes of this show as the actual heroes of this show.

I love that shit, that kind of moral complexity. No heroes, no villains, only Riders.

That's something I like a lot in this one, is how Professor's busting to tell Ren what's going on, what his plan is. He's secretive with Shinji for a while, but this episode shows he really wants to tell someone about his cool science plans, because he's a big nerd. Nerds loving talking excitedly about stuff to sometimes exhausting ends. Just look at me!

For bolded one, what's the difference between then and now part? If you talk about "on her own", would that mean stories about her should be done by yet isolating herself from the main cast/everyone again so it's clear that it's only her without others' involvement (Tezuka's only around shortly, then died, then her going back anyway)? And isn't this one also about... her background again? She tried to stop the Rider War by investigating, and the aneurysm-inducing regained past memories are potrayed as presumed clues, and this episode shows deeper part of those memories.

SSSS is a group who wants to achieve good intention by doing bad things.... that means an anti-villain. I think someone having wrong or right part in them doesn't negate your current allignments (hero/villain), just confused on what's the best choice. This is kind of what happened if everything you deal is a human, instead of just monsters like in previous Rider series (Ryuki being an oddball again which gets some petty flak), it's good lesson to teach about human nature, human contradictions but, for this series (I'm not criticizing here btw), seems like it's presenting a choice between supporting one of two equally horrible groups or hoping for one of two equally despairing outcomes, making those not choice at all; the outcome's going to be awful either way. And like I told you before keep remember Nakamura (though he already died) when he appeared first, for this part.

Apart from the connection of SSSS to Team Ryuki, have you also read my part about how Alternative is opposite to Shiro's Riders in every way? I forgot that the belt (with difficult transformation pose Kagawa employs) only forms in this episode, spins vertically.

Talking about how Kagawa tells Ren he already hunted Yui with Psyco-Rogue while battling with him. Or is that the one you talk about? (I think you may refer to the one Ren confronts him in his lab).

It's a difficult thing to define, but I feel like I know it when I see it. Too often, Yui stories barely even guest-star Yui. I don't need it to only feature her (although, Jesus, that would be a start) but I need to feel like it's about her, how she changes or grows as a result of a story. I don't feel like the show does more than pay lip service to Yui's character when it comes to the plots she's in (a ton of times it's just Protect Yui, like she's a priceless vase instead of a human being with thoughts and emotions and a rich internal life), so a story like this where she has to protect herself, it's a tiny step in the right direction.

I don't know who "Psyco-Rogue" is (I guess one of the monsters?), but, yeah, I meant that scene in the lab.

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 40

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki40a.png

It is insane how quickly some of these episodes evaporate from my memory. One of the reasons I stopped talking about two episodes at a time during Agito was that, a lot of the times, I just ended up talking about the second episode because I could barely remember the first. Now, I finished watching an episode, hopped on the boards to respond to a post, and now I'm like What Happened In This One Again?

And it's not a bad episode! I'm pretty sure I liked it! It does a good job exploring the various values of heroism in the cast, how a concept like heroism is largely subjective, how anyone can create a justification to think of themselves as a hero. Some of it's a little repetitive (Shinji's 8th or 9th I Don't Know What To Do/It's Better To Do Something Than Nothing story beat), but nearly everyone shows up to the party, and it's a fun little watch.

If the plot's ever in danger of stagnating, that's a good time for Shiro to stir things up, and boy is he ever all over this one. He gets a little moment with Yui in the beginning setting up her new perspective of having sympathy for Shiro rather than anger. It's a mature outlook, seeing the bad decisions he's making as similar to Shinji and Ren and all the rest, men who need to fight against their fates and try to change things. It's a different version of Yui and Shiro's relationship, and I appreciate that, but... Shiro's started a murder club? And he controls (?) mirror monsters? And he's directly or indirectly led to the deaths of maybe hundreds? This is not some small mistake Shiro made. This is not an Oopsie. For her to be wanting the Rider Battle to end partially so he won't feel sad... it's asking for a lot of sympathy from the audience that I don't think the show has written Shiro to deserve. Like, I see where they're going, but it's a little too much like Morimoto's incredibly misguided defense of Asakura. I feel like she's projecting a humanity onto Shiro that really isn't there beyond the motivation of Protect Yui.

I mean, he definitely sent a monster to kill Professor's wife and child, so, yeah, not exactly too concerned about Shiro's emotional well-being. It's a good tactic, though. Professor's whole thing is about necessary sacrifices, so forcing him to live that creed, it's a great threat. It also completely doesn't work, as he chooses to stay and fight Knight with Tiger, rather than save his family. That decision, it's the crux of the episode, and leads to the one thing I really liked about Shinji's role in the story.

In general, I'm kind-of done with Shinji's crises of conscience. Forty episodes in, I think we've got a pretty good read on Shinji's character. Especially since this episode treats Tiger's betrayal of Shinji as both physically and emotionally devastating (Shinji drops his Rider Deck to the ground in some very heavy symbolism), but also something he gets over with a quick Yui pep-talk (sort-of?) and probably just remembering all of the past instances when a morally complex situation could be resolved by deciding to do something rather than nothing. So it is with this one, as Shinji saves Professor's family. I liked the idea here, a refutation of Professor's It Is Heroic To Sacrifice in Shinji deciding to save an enemy's family because all lives have worth and no one needs to be sacrificed if you have the courage to try and save them. That saving people doesn't have to serve a greater good, or be part of a heartless calculus. That real heroism isn't sacrificing the people you love, it's saving even the people your enemy loves.

But, you know, it's all self-justifications on this show. I love that. I love how everyone's right and everyone's wrong. How Shinji's view of heroism has the unmistakable ring of truth, but it's still just one view of heroism. Tiger's not willing to suffer false heroes, and that's got something to it. Ren's willing to burn everything to save one person, and that's got something to it. Professor's willing to lose everything to save the world, and that's got something to it. And, of course, Kitaoka understands that the world is better for him being in it, forever, and maybe that's the real heroism.

Sounds like it to me!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki40b.png

Yep Psyco-rogue is Kagawa's advent monster and the design is believed to be a indirect nod to Jason Voorhees particularly the face mask iirc. The name is most likely a portmanteau of either psycho, koorogi(pronounced co-ohrogi)which means cricket in Japanese, and rogue, or cyborg and saikoro which means dice in Japanese, probably because its face is arranged like the surface of a dice.

Yeah, keeping up with the plot in these early Heisei shows is a problem I’ve had. I don’t think I got up to speed with Faiz until episode 34 (you’ll see why when you get there) and I never really got into Kuuga. I’ve just started on Blade, and I’m two episodes in with a good handle of the plot, but let’s see how that lasts.

Blade gets better around episode 14-16ish. A bit of a struggle at first but totally worth it.

This is a problem I have with late series Ryuki. I love the show, it's got a great cast of characters and as you've said many times, some fantastic morally gray themes. Shinji though. He can be a frustrating character at times, sometimes I just want to yell "Get in the damn Rider Battle, Shinji!"

Neat! Thanks!

For me, I'm not sure if it's a case of watching too much Kamen Rider, and that part of my brain just melting from overuse, or if there's a certain sameyness to the series plot that's happening in this part of Ryuki. The Second Secret Science Society is a great burst of ideas, but every other Rider... I don't know what they're trying to do? I don't know what the show is doing with them beyond random monster fights and inconclusive Rider Battles. There's points (last episode) that feel like we've got to be close to the end, and then there's an episode like this one that you could plug in anywhere over the last twenty episodes.

Yeah, this time it felt too much like storylines that I thought they'd already resolved with Shinji. The whole Why Can't I Make Other Riders Understand That Fighting Is Wrong, followed inevitably by All I Can Do Is What I Think Is Right And Maybe That Can Be A Guide To Them... y'know, I definitely liked that story the first few times I saw it, a little less this go-around.

I mean, I like the way the show challenges Shinji's outlook and code. I like that his heroism is hard-fought. This one, I really thought he'd already learned this lesson, so watching him fall apart completely and get rebuilt in one episode, not going to be my favorite Shinji episode.

(Very) late to the party, but oh man, Ryuki’s my all-time favorite. A lot of it might be nostalgia; along with Black and Kuuga, it’s the KR shows I actually watched on TV and through VCDs during childhood and formative years.

About the 13 Special Riders: I watched it through a VCD lent by by classmate before I even finished the series, and yeah, I was pretty underwhelmed. But then, it’s pretty much impossible to have all the nuances from the series in such a short duration (especially since they decided to re-tell it from the very beginning), and after I finished the series, I actually gained a newfound appreciation toward this special… for spoiler-y reason, I suppose :v Still, definitely the worst among the three Ryuki timelines/narrative products at that time; Episode Final vs. the series would be a far more interesting debate to me at least, but we’ll cross that bridge once we get there.

The VCD I watched only shows the preferred ending. I wasn’t surprised at the audience choice; the common discussion theme among Ryuki viewers at the time was how annoying and cowardly Shinji and his philosophy was, and how Ren (a character archetype that was extremely popular at that era) should totally be the main character instead. I assume it’s similar in Japan. I eventually warmed up to Shinji a lot, though (him and Kouta from Gaim might actually be my favorite main Riders, and I think it’s not a coincidence that Gaim was the one show that managed to rekindle my interest for KR as an adult).

This was very much my way of thinking during my first watching of Ryuki. Like you though, I eventually warmed up to Shinji.

I think that's probably the idea behind Ryuki -- to force you to like and respect this guy you can't understand at first sight.

Maybe that's a reason Ryuki didn't work for me - because I was at worst fine with Shinji from the beginning. A bit dumb and naive, sure, but his heart's in the right place and he's clearly risking everything to do what's right. That's the sort of thing I have the most respect for, so he didn't need to do much more to win me over

Well yeah, my point was that if it only feature her, there's a potential "sidelining her to a less important part" thing, because being separate from like main cast.

Separate the first and second episode review, don't unite it (ex: 11-12 then talk only about the 2nd).

Yep as stated before, others are maybe new and fresh, but they would also be stuck in the loop sooner or later, considering the kind of universe this series is. As for the battle itself (2nd full Rider War after ep. 19!), Knight clones are fragile here? Dying in one attack each by Alternative Zero and Tiger. And Alternative is somehow a Rider with Survive-level Final Vent, it has 8000 AP, clashing with Knight Survive's equally big AP Final Vent. Forgot to cover Ryuki Survive's Final Vent, as seen here it's really effective that it can cover AoE while still having Final Vent's one-hit-kill properties. I think the attack (Dragon Firestorm) showcase is hindered by a mediocre effect though; the fireballs doesn't seem to blend with the environment, moreover with the monster seemingly unflinched by the attack, making it seems that the flames are in the background instead of hitting the monster. And Ouja being manhandled by Ryuki Survive nonchalantly.

The plot stagnats because they're powerless against a man who can do... like what I talked about before, yes Shiro has full control over all Riders/monsters (didn't you admit here that he has special powers?). He didn't simply create a calamity and leave them be like Banno with Roidmudes. He can control the monsters if he wants, so probably mostly it's indirect murders (mostly he let Mirror Monsters operating on their own eating humans as primary needs, the direct ones are like eating his American professor) but definitely he's still guilty, as he can control the monsters to prevent them eating humans if he wants, and the aim of people like Shinji, Yui, Tezuka, and presumably SSSS by going directly after him to stop the Rider War, which would mean him doing that (and deactivating Rider's powers, possibly closing Mirror World) so Mirror Monsters would starve to death. The outlook talks about how despite all the creepy qualities he has above, and his ghostly presence, Shiro still touches aspects of human nature. Even a powerful cosmic being like Shiro isn't exempt of humanity concept Ryuki clashes with.

And also from previous post, yeah I don't really advocate giving sympathy due to a bias towards someone related (Close friend, relative, etc. Also what bad decisions of Shinji?). But I gotta say this one's closer to Shinji's view to Asakura instead of Morimoto's I guess; I feel like Morimoto just straight wants Asakura to be cleared of all charges, completely freeing him, ignoring everything bad about him, unlike these 2 who acknowledges they're bad and they can't give them leeway. Shinji still had a sliver of sympathy of Asakura due to him being human, like not wanting him to die, but he still won't let him get away with his deeds, insisting him to go back to jail, and personally did so in ep. 36 (he saves him from Mirror World, but still hands him over to police). It's a little update that she's concerned about Shiro's state but Yui still wants for Shiro to stop what he's doing for the sake of everyone (not just her friends), that part didn't change.

Yeah, Kagawa's ideal is really tested here, if he truly lives up to it. And he truly does, though it had heavier weight for him to do so (his family). But it's also very risky for Kagawa, for sure his family will die, but there are no guarantees that his mission will be completed, with obstacles like Shinji or Ren, or the fact that his theory can possibly be wrong (for starter: Shiro has Time Vent, as we already know in ep. 28). Hilariously I just talk above about how some good-natured characters can still have a bit bias that can be a flaw and hindering, but if you have completely none of that, you are Kagawa, quite a messed-up person (as Ren remarks when he joined the fight).

It's a good thing that Knight Survive left the previous battle (thank Kagawa for telling his plan in motion mid battle), because it also inadvertently saves his other friend Ryuki, by having Alternative Zero stop Tiger from dealing the final blow. Dunno why, I feel like even if it's bad for him with Tiger's betrayal, Shinji already had it worse with previously worse Riders like Scissors, Gai, Ouja (and that time, the devastating part of him is finding people that evil and irredeemable). I think that's the reason Shinji gets over it, he's in process of development of turning from idealist into realist, that that the world isn't all right or wrong. Which would be a shame that the next 4 episodes are written by Inoue.

This is one of my favorite Shinji moments in terms of warming, him saving the enemy's family. How did he know about the family being hunted though? And after the attempt failed, Shiro doesn''t continue hunting Kagawa's family (as he did to Yui, in an ironic reversal), either by the same Mirror Monster continuously hunting the humans he failed to eat, or just sending monsters if the family is unguarded?

Other than that... a missed chance for his friends grouping up (Atori & ORE) with Shinji in hospital like in ep. 9-10, possibly in coincidental visit. Okubo is the one truly concerned and minds his derailing workers. The 2nd time a camera captures Mirror stuff at ORE, a monster this time. So cameras can expose Mirror stuff here for some reason.

Ren confrims here that Shinji's ideal is impossible, with him.. somewhat agreeing with that. Also speaking of Kitaoka, this episode is also my personal favorite moment of him. With Asakura finding out that his arch-nemesis is again representing him as his lawyer. Kitaoka trolling Asakura with the harsh truth that the blindly good lawyer Morimoto can't represent him and potentially free him (unfortunately though) due to Goro poisoning him (wtf? another morally questionable moment of him), and Kitaoka announcing his plan to make Asakura guilty, and therefore won't escape prison and potentially eaten by his Contract Monsters for good. Asakura can do nothing but reduced into throwing a tantrum, kicking the screen as he waits for his impending doom. I like this moment specifically for how (rightfully) hopeless and suffering Asakura is here, and Kitaoka is the one instigating most part of this. A shame he can't show off his Final Vent though.

Welcome aboard!

The 13 Riders special is so weird because it's such an obviously flawed idea that I can't figure out why they went ahead with it. Taking a show that's (especially as we're in the final stretch now) explicitly about how heroism is not a binary state but a series of self-justifications, to take that and just do a 40-minute thing about Fighting and Survival and Good Guys fighting Bad Guys... like, why even make a Ryuki special at that point? What good is it doing to tell that story? If you can ever describe your storytelling as "a dumbed-down *fill in the blank*", you have fatally miscalculated.

I really dislike playing backseat showrunner. It's very hard to come up with a story to tell, and make it work onscreen, on time, and on budget. But. If you've got to tell an alternate universe story that fits into an hour, why not use Ryuki #0 (I don't know anyone's name, the guy who gives Shinji the Ryuki deck) to tell a story about him and Shinji? Keep Ren and Yui at the edges, bring back Gai and Tezuka if you want, but use Ryuki #0 to tell a story about why Shinji needed to be Ryuki, why he matters and makes a difference. You can use all the suits and whatever, bring back or introduce villains, but you have a story you can tell in the time allotted that can work the same thematic ground the show does. You can tell a different story about the same things as the weekly series: personal motivations, the ways guilt and rage become a license to be selfish, the subjectivity of heroism, the perils of inaction, etc etc etc. To do it the way they did, to just do Ryuki But Worse... I'll never understand why they chose that story to tell.

Thanks for posting!

Yeah, man, I really liked Shinji right away. (I think? Cue Fish Sandwich throwing my words back in my face.) There's a warmth to his character that I think makes him a great foil for Ren, but it's also why I think of Ren as the secondary Rider. Ren's an asshole who can be really fun to watch, but that dude's not the hero of the show to me. There's ups and downs to Shinji's story, but I think the exploration of his character, and the centrality of his dilemma (how to save people who don't want to be saved), it's so much more thematically rich than Ren's various levels of brooding.

Oh, I don't know about that. I think Morimoto sees himself (like everyone else on this show!) as a hero, fighting for what he thinks is right. He sees the treatment of Asakura as inhumane, and it definitely looks that way to folks who don't know about Contract Monsters and Rider Battles. He wants to see Asakura given some level of human decency, to be treated as more than an animal. It's played for laughs, since we all know Asakura's going to take advantage and wreak havoc, but in the world of the show Morimoto's got some legitimate grievances with the treatment of his client.

I think I'd phrase it differently, since Shinji still has a huge amount of idealism to him. (I mean, he never seems to give up on anyone, which sure seems idealistic to me.) I think it's more that he's changing from someone with an objective view of heroism into someone with a subjective view of heroism. He's starting to understand that everyone decides their own truth, and he can't force other people to see things his way. All he can do is be an example and hope others follow him.

Shinji probably sensed the monsters headed for Professor's family with the same geographically-vague Monster Sense that all the Riders have. It's incredibly convenient that Shinji was able to get to the monsters in time, but it's only a slight contrivance.

For Shiro not sending more monsters after Professor's family, I can see why he wouldn't. He only sent the monsters in the first place as a threat, and now he knows that it wouldn't do any good. Killing his family wouldn't sway Professor. It's not that Shiro would care that much about needless bloodshed, but it's a waste of energy to follow a useless tactic.

Yes, allow to me throw in your face how in the very second post in this thread, you spent an entire paragraph talking about... how much you liked Shinji right away. Well, that was anticlimactic.

By the way, and I guess this is a result of seeing a lot of myself in Shinji, but it's honestly hard for me to even process the idea that somebody could be watching Ryuki wishing it weren't about Ryuki. I'm telling you guys, a Kamen Rider who rides around on an embarrassing moped the entire series was a huge breakthrough for this franchise. He was a very specifically constructed character who perfectly fit the narrative he was in.

It's all about balance. If the show actually was Kamen Rider Knight, lots of fans would probably instead complain Ren was too angsty and distant, and wish the series were about that fun, light-hearted side-character Shinji.

Fortunately, the actual show is about both of them, and how they make each other better, so what's even the issue here?

I think it's just as simple as Ryuki's supposed to be a crazy fun Battle Royale scenario, and Shinji being the guy who wanted to stop all that. Also, angsty and distant characters were all the rage for kids and teens those days (see:Cloud and Squall from Final Fantasy VII and VIII, Sasuke from Naruto), which usually entails hating on the "annoyingly cheerful gullible pacifist dork" counterpart.

As a gullible pacifist dork, this news is both eye-opening and heartbreaking.

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 41

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki41a.png

This is it! The final ten episodes of Ryuki start here! We're in the home stretch! The endgame! The countdown to the finale starts here in a pretty arbitrary way, I guess, because I have no idea if the showrunners consider "80% done" to even be close to the end of the show!

Watching the Phase 2 Heisei shows, I got to feel the storytelling rhythms pretty well by a certain point. Act 1, Introduction. Spend a dozen episodes setting up the Rider, the supporting cast, the gimmicks, the premise. Winter Movie. Act 2, Expansion. The secondary Rider(s) gets some storylines, maybe some lieutenant villains show up to round out the bad guys, an upgraded form for the main Rider. Spring Movie. Act 3, Escalation. Big reveals about the nature of the villains, some hidden secrets about our main cast, conflicts between the Riders, a shift in the status quo. Summer Movie. Act 4, Resolution. The run up to the end, and the conclusion of our story.

That was the formula I was used to. With the Phase 1 Heisei shows, with (currently) no mid-series movies, it's harder to get that indication of what gear the story is in. Like, this episode of Ryuki, it's so close to the end that it feels like we should be moving to wrap things up. But, hey, here's another new Rider, and his whole thing, while the other characters mostly take a break after the big battle of last episode. I'm worried they're not leaving themselves enough room to wrap things up.

And, I mean, that feeling of Isn't Too Late In The Show For This Story, that's about the only thing I disliked about this one. It's a very funny episode, first off, with some neat character pairings.

Let's see what we've got!

ASAKURA AND KITAOKA: One of the things I liked about this episode is how, like, collegial all of the Riders are in this episode. It's maybe out-of-character (it's definitely out-of-character), but I liked how sportsman-like everyone was being about Rider Battles. (Well, one exception, which we'll get to.) There's a lack of darkness to this one, less of a life-or-death feeling to the competition. Having Asakura get info on Toujou from Kitaoka, never threatening him or even touching him, it's a great new energy to their rivalry. There's a thread of deal-making, of extracting favors for mutual benefit in this episode, and it starts with this sequence. Kitaoka's completely willing to sell out the other Riders to Asakura, and Asakura is fine putting Kitaoka on the back-burner if there's a dude he wants to murder more. Win/win for these two.

ASAKURA AND SHINJI: Just a bonkers storytelling move to have Asakura walk into Ore Journal to grab a quick five with Shinji, and I love it. I love seeing characters in unusual settings, and it might never be weirder than a wanted lunatic walking onto the newspaper set. (I guess Atori would be weirder, if only to see Asakura get curb stomped by Auntie.) I kind-of love how Asakura assumed Shinji would give up Toujou, despite the audience knowing that there was zero chance Shinji would ever help Asakura track down another Rider. It's a bit of a narrative dead-end in this episode, but I really like how casual the energy was between Asakura and Shinji. It crackled with This Should Not Be.

REIKO AND KITAOKA: Always, forever. The stars of the show, in my mind. I never get tired of Kitaoka's bullshit and Reiko's lack of tolerance for said bullshit. I wasn't a huge fan of the slow accrual of details to get Reiko to figure out the plot of Episode 1 of Masked Rider Ryuki, considering we are now on Episode 41, but I do like that she put it together with the help of nothing but a crack team of journalists and a lizard. There's an undeniable sense of accomplishment to that, something the performances really harness into forward momentum for the show. Which, again, none of this was new information about mirrors and their monsters, but new people knowing it starts to change the game. It upsets the precarious balance, making conflicts escalate. It puts Reiko in the crosshairs of Tiger, and forces Kitaoka in a confrontation to protect her. I'll never, ever love Reiko Gets Knocked-Out Just Before Rider Battles, so that was a bum note, but all of the Zolda/Tiger stuff was great. Kitaoka starting his Henshin in a window's reflection as the blinds go up to reveal Toujou starting his own Henshin, awesome. Awesome. Top 5 moment from Ryuki for me. The fight that follows is short but sweet, with Tiger maintaining his dominance.

REN AND KITAOKA: It's fun to see these two assholes play off of each other, so I dug that it was Ren to intervene and keep Tiger at bay. Also, nice call back to the post-Zolda/Knight fight, with Kitaoka wondering if Tiger was too strong, or if he'd gotten weaker. After a quick Let's All Remember Kitaoka Is Dying trip to the hospital (where a doctor just flat out tells Ren, who is just some guy who brought Kitaoka to the hospital, not a husband or family member, exactly what is wrong with him, do the Japanese not have a version of Hipaa or what, are they just pulling people aside and saying Hey Do You Want To Hear What's Wrong With This Guy, I mean why did they even tell Ren what was wrong with Eri, that's her information to give out, does Ren just have a face that doctors trust, seriously, a million questions about this), we get a cute scene of Ren and Kitaoka having that same genial sportsmanship we've been getting all episode. I really love it, them being chummy in a way that still tells you they'll kill each other soon enough. This whole episode has a, like, halftime feel to it, where no one's forgotten the stakes but everyone's okay with a time-out.

TIGER AND PROFESSOR: Well, y'know, not everyone. Tiger's getting a little disillusioned with Professor in this one, you can tell. Tiger has yet to encounter a problem that can't be solved with an incredibly judgmental Final Vent, and that's causing a bit of friction in the Second Secret Science Society. It leads to a great scene, with Professor desperately trying to keep this train on the tracks, despite Tiger not really grasping why. It's creating an interesting space to deconstruct Professor's whole argument, that you can sacrifice some to save many, as Tiger keeps upping the bodycount. If one person is a worthwhile sacrifice, how about two? How about four? Fourteen? Four hundred? The incremental way that Tiger's embrace of violence chips away at Professor's cost-benefit heroism, it's much more compelling to me than some grandiose Shinji speech. I mean, I'm sure it'd be a great speech! But this is better.

IMPERER AND WHOMEVER: Imperer is the best though. (Just, "impala" and "emperor"? Am I getting that right? It's a fun portmanteau, if I am.) I adore the concept of a mercenary Rider in this story. It's totally unexplored territory, and the approach the show takes with Imperer's character, five stars. His ingratiating interview shit, great. His showmanship to get the job, great. How he immediately gets the read on the whole battle as breaking down to a couple main sides, super smart. I'm deeply curious about this dude's backstory, why he entered a life-or-death supernatural battle if he really just needs a steady paycheck, which is exactly where I want to be after a new Rider is introduced. Also, comedically, I love his energy. I love how over the top he is, how every comment is flattery. Every scene was cracking me up. The fact that he has business cards!

This episode was a blast. I don't know if it feels like there're only nine episodes left, though. With this one, it felt like it could run another twenty or so. I might be okay with that! That feels a little horrible to say, what with the various death sentences hanging over the cast, but it seems like maybe they're having fun with that now?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki41b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki41c.png

Oh wow, I didn't realize you were up to Imperor already. Man, that guy. For a character that showed up so late, he's going to be doing some really memorable stuff.

Man like.. just like Shinji being a hero, Rider or not, Asakura is a bloodthirsty villain, Rider or not. He's the most infamous felon at least nation-wide. He has been a wanted fugitive before he becomes Ouja. Sure being Ouja escalates his crimes, but you don't need to know about Contract Monster or Rider Battles to know that Asakura is an extremely brutal monster, considering how infamous he is and how everyone, every civilians outside Riders also knows how evil he is and him being feared because of that. Apart from that, everything involving him is publicly announced, in various newspapers and breaking news. It's impossible for anyone, Riders or civilians, not to know Asakura's deeds in this series, yet Morimoto somehow is the only one like that (or actually know but abnormally tolerant; want him to be completely free despite his publicly known severe vile acts - Shinji's not like that actually).

Probably yeah your phrase works more. But yeah just want to point out that Shinji already had his crushing moments with previous Riders too before Tiger, as severely crushed physical and emotional-wise. But for the realist part I mean like when him actually being fishy about Toujou when he comes to Atori or something, or that I feel he actually probably gives up on certain people, just that he doesn't kill humans, that's it.

Don't know how difficult or long Kagawa creates Decks, but Kagawa was asked to give up his Deck to Shiro or lose his family. I guess if Kagawa has no problems creating Decks, he can just recreate the Deck, but I guess that wouldn't fit him living up to his ideal. I also don't know if there are more than 1 Psyco-Rogue (yes as explained before, his Contract Monster), each contracted to Alternative and Alternative Zero, or each Alternatives are contracted to 1 Psyco-Rogue.

People just think of "hero" definition as someone the main character who you root to win with the job he's doing, or just won't differentiate them as protagonist role, instead of being the one actually doing something heroic. Ren's only other Rider War participant who seeks to win by killing other Riders, and making himself able to do that, like every others, but he gets the most focus between other Riders, while Shinji is the actual biggest obstacle to Shiro regarding the war (but of course those ragey kids and teens hate cheerful pacifist and only bring up negative stuffs about Shinji and treat them as his only traits throughout the series, like treating him as useless and lucky to be carried by Ren the whole time, etc.). There are also people who won't care about stuffs like exploring characters and dilemma or stuff (even feeling that kind of stuff are fillers in Ryuki which takes away from Riders killing each other), and just want to see the 13 Riders going toe-to-toe with each other, with Ren being the main focus of that therefore he's the one to cheer to win. And even if those opponents are humans? Nah, for them in action show "it's all about kill or be killed", don't concern yourself over keeping humans alive, so it's perfectly fine to relentlessly kill humans and actually it's not fine not doing that (their mindset is like Shiro, not wanting to fight and kill means you're weak).

Probably the reason that Phase 2 is hugely more popular on internet, other than the petty reason of worse special effects.

Forgot to cover this on ep. 40, Asakura is someone who's obsessed with finishing something he's started, and Toujou is on the 3rd list of the Rider he hates and wanted to kill the most after Kitaoka and Shinji. He remarks "a continuation from yesterday" when fighting him at ep. 40, even ignoring other Riders present like Zolda, due to the sneak Final Vent on him in ep. 37. Kitaoka should just tell him (or that he just didn't know) because that'd reduce Riders 1 less amount quickly by him starting a fight with another Riders, or he thinks about 2-in-1 with both Shinji and Toujou? Asakura's already established as possessing "sportsman-like" quality regarding Rider War before, because he finds the Rider battles to be the most fun including fighting and finishing off his Rider enemies on Rider battle (doesn't mean he won't play dirty before battle and obviously won't care for non-Riders), by that he won't finish the Riders as humans like in this conversation. Other than that, Asakura is lucky to taste Goro's meal, other than just intimidating Kitaoka, Asakura is having one of the best meals, far cry from eating muds.

Oh yeah! Even if Shinji treats Asakura as human, he clearly dislikes him as shown here, that he doesn't want to associate or help him in any way. Asakura somehow knows that Shinji resides at ORE in afternoon, only helping out at Atori during evening. Other than that, Megumi is established as a good fighter right? The one thing she's equal to Kitaoka's other assistant Goro. I'd like to see Megumi trying to take on Asakura in hand-to-hand combat (she shoudn't need the protective gears non-action ORE workers wears to confront him), and probably surprise the other ORE Journal employees.

Wut... them, not Kitaoka-Goro? But the difference is all of the Kitaoka's bullshit is meant to protect Reiko's well-being (not about Kitaoka thinking her being unable to handle the truth, but Reiko being possibly hunted by Shiro and the Mirror Monsters and dying). If only Reiko wasn't separated from Shinji at episode 1, who discovers the Deck and the newspapers covering the mirror...(there's also Shinji discovering the monster photo at ORE Journal) Why don't you love Reiko being KOed before Rider Battles? It's just how regular humans fare against Mirror Monsters, they can't fight them at all. And it's still a mystery of what happened at ep. 29 before, Sonorabuma (the monster) abducting her (or Shimada), didn't she feel the physical contact of Sonorabuma and possibly look back on the strange thing abducting her?

Just one sentence: Knight saving Zolda from Tiger's impractical Final Vent. It's the point where, those 2 may won't be able to properly fight and kill off each other again. For the doctor - it's just Inoue's problem at privacy stuff in writing. Aside from that, in inverse to Ren knowing Kitaoka's illness, I'd like to know, what if Kitaoka learns about Eri's condition? Kitaoka can only show sympathy towards people who has dying illness like him, but this one's someone close to another Rider and his motivation to win the war. I wonder if Freeze Vent can be used against other Riders directly other than their Contract Monsters? And it's even easier for Zolda to free himself from Tiger's impractical Final Vent, just shoot Destwilder lol, with long range weapon.

Kagawa's teachings to Toujou starts to backfire here. Toujou thinks that Kagawa doesn't live up to his ideals he taught to him by still caring and valuing the people he wanted to sacrifice. By his lunatic mindset (yeah probably Asakura's the most evil, but Toujou is probably even a bigger lunatic than him, it does nothing to deconstruct Kagawa's ideal, because Toujou's take of it is far more psychopatic and worse than Kagawa's, Toujou's definitely a far worse person than Kagawa, Kagawa constantly keeps Toujou in check from previous episodes), sacrificing someone means you should no longer value them anymore and try to keep them dead if you can. There's also Ren, now not just being opposed to Kagawa's plan, but being disgusted of Kagawa himself going that far to sacrifice his family to become a hero, opposite to Ren who will choose the people he love over everything. I was wrong before, now this is the moment Ren calling out people worse than him. But you won't deconstruct Kagawa's argument (impossible for lunatic ones like Toujou)? I'd like to see how you are more righteous compared to Kagawa (other than his plan won't work at all, Shiro has Time Vent!).

Imperer's name comes from the Latin root word, Impero, which means "to command," signifying his ability to command hordes of Monsters. His actual Contract Monster is only Gigazelle (see the cards), but he's accompanied with other Zelles to form an army. While the bonus Zelles can be an advantage for Imperer by fighting in numbers, the non-Gigazelle ones have a potential to attack Imperer himself. And speaking of his monsters, this also reflects to Imperer himself, just like his monsters fighting in numbers, Imperer also seeks for more Rider allies. I find Imperer's flattering at Atori to be gratituous to me, it feels so forced (or that's the point?), I'm saying this because he's better in that to other people and in the next episodes. Him taking off the Rider stuff as a mercenary just shows how naive he is towards the Rider War (him wanting to ally with Riders who are supposed to kill each other is just a start), him being the newest and one of the youngest Rider. Shinji also has business card though... but for him as ORE employee.

Yeah, but... Morimoto's job is to provide the best defense for his client? It's funny that he's going to be such an easy mark for Asakura, and he's definitely a moron (a 1 to Kitaoka's 100), but he's acting within the boundaries of his profession. It's taken to hilarious extremes, but even vicious felons deserve an amount of human decency. This goes into a debate on rehabilitation versus punishment, which is slightly outside the scope of a thread about how I'm enjoying watching a Japanese TV show designed to sell children toys of superheroes. (Or, at least, this thread about how I'm enjoying watching a Japanese TV show designed to sell children toys of superheroes.)

Everyone's mileage will vary on this, but I think the popularity of the Phase 2 stuff relative to the Phase 1 stuff is a) the easier accessibility of newer series on the internet activated a lot more fans than it used to, and b) as the franchise expands to tell new stories, attack new themes, it increases the number of fans it appeals to. There're probably a ton of folks who couldn't care less about Agito that adored the stories from Gaim, or Build, or whatever.

But, yeah, again, just my take!

I mean, about 15% of Kitaoka's bullshit in this episode is about protecting Reiko, if we're being extremely generous. The other 85% is, as always, about making himself looking good and trying to date Reiko.

It's just a secret identity trope that I've never enjoyed. Reiko can't know the truth, so every time a monster shows up and/or she's with someone who needs to Henshin, she's got to get knocked out. Bystanders frequently see monsters when they're being saved by Riders, but Reiko's always got to be unconscious. It's not just this show, I've hated it in plenty of other superhero stories. I just think it's lazy writing.

Yeah, I think the point was to go over-the-top with it at first. Like, they start big, to make a point of who he is, then they shade it in more on future appearances. (He's not even as over-the-top in his second interview from this episode.) It's a good way to introduce characters in an ensemble, a way to make them pop.

I can't look at the T-rex dopant or Guardian Union State or Thouser's recent henshin model and seriously believe that people watch newer Kamen Rider for the special effects.

Yeah, I mean, I don't want to Name And Shame, but Captain Ghost. That's something that aired 13 years after Ryuki, and looks more amateurish than anything I've seen on this show.