I've been waiting for Kitazaki to show up. I've been dropping a lot of casting trivia recently and this is my favorite.

Kitazaki is played by an actor named Ray Fujita. A couple years after this, he would be cast as one of the main characters on one of my favorite tokusatsu shows of all time: Garo. He plays the character Rei, aka Makai Knight Zero in that series and has gone on to reprise the role multiple times over the years, most recently in Zero: Dragon Blood, his second standalone miniseries. It's a completely different performance, but he's equally great in that part and I've long been a big fan of his work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM4CXQ0ze-Q

Yeah, now that I think about it in hindsight, there are several 'big things!!' that happen in the movie that could reasonably become an actual plot point in the show itself. Without prior knowledge, Die probably won't be able to immediately assume which of them it will be. (That could probably make for a fun guessing game in of itself)

I think a lot of it just comes down to how much exposition is required to justify their presence. They're so outside of the day-to-day reality of the show that the show has to reorient itself around them. Like, they become the defacto Main Plot every time they show up. The effort of that... I'm not sure if there's a story that'd be worth all of that effort.

"Team Rocket but kinky" is a pretty great way to describe their dynamic!

For me, this episode helped elevate them in the narrative by creating an internal tension that defined the group's hierarchy and struggles independent of the rest of the cast. Like, this story is just about Lucky Clover, and it managed to be as compelling (to me!) as a Team Faiz or Team Orphnoch story.

Much like Team Orphnoch excels by having a plot and a goal that doesn't depend on interacting with Team Faiz, this story gave Lucky Clover a spotlight that's all about Houjou's crumbling ego, Kageyama's matchmaking, Murakami's belief in solid teamwork, Sawada's desire to lose his remaining humanity in carnage, and Kitazaki's search for meaning through also carnage. The fact that there's a belt or a Rider involved is almost incidental? I really like that.

I am a-okay being this board's test subject!

Uh, holy shit that video!!! That was sick as HELL. Garo's going on my post-2021 list! Thanks for sharing that clip!

(Also, so, when Bloodborne came out did every Garo fan just start drooling at once or what.)

Yeah, like, I've seen movies from the Phase 2 Heisei shows that have definitely ruined things from Faiz for me... but I don't even know what those things are, because when I saw those movies I didn't have a context for Faiz stuff. There are probably things from this movie that are going to go right over my head. We'll see!

No problem. I will always happily spread the word of Garo. It's a show that originally aired at 1am, which gave it leeway to have more adult elements and a stronger horror theme. It's also an arena for director Keita Amemiya to cut loose and go crazy with his imaginative visual design aesthetic.

The first two series and interstitial specials/films got official blu-ray releases here in the US. Unfortunately, nothing from after the second series followed suit and the sets seem to be out of print. Fansubs are still readily available, though.

Yeah, it's the Chuck Norris of Smart Brain suits. :lolol

Die had better not be able to tell what things in the movie are actually going to be part of the series (and I will say, there's a LOT of crazy s*** in Paradise Lost that's entirely original, so it will be hard to guess), because I've been eagerly awaiting his reaction to a lot of different often spoiled plot twists in Rider history, and if he ruins that for himself because he couldn't wait a "month" to "go to the theater", that is tragic.

On an unrelated note, did you guys hear about Delta? I heard he's so amazing, he gathered 15 Eyecons in a day!

I hear Delta's so cool, he can beat Hyper Muteki.

Ugh.

UUUUGGGGGHHHH.

This stupid franchise!

So, okay, fine, the Faiz movie.

I only get one chance to watch Faiz for the first time, and I'd like to not end up regretting my choices in how things got watched. Am I colossally boning myself if I watch the movie? I'm 80% sure I want to watch the movie before Episode 29, but there has been a wall of Why Would You Do Thats, and it's starting to get to me.

Two questions:

1) Where is the optimal point to watch the movie?

2) Without getting spoilery, and assuming I even notice what everyone's so freaked out about, how much does knowing this ruin the experience of Faiz? Am I going to not be able to enjoy the next 22 episodes?

I'm not saying I'm changing my mind, but I'm looking to solicit some more opinions.

I wish I could ask Delta, though. I heard Delta is so smart, he's got two Gaia Libraries in his brain.

Personally and from what've seen most people just watch the movie after the show. And that's what I did.

I wouldn't say the spoiler would ruin your enjoyment of the upcoming episodes. But I was unfortunatly I had already known the big reveal going into the show. And I distinctly remember just waiting for the show to get to the reveal already. But like you said this is your choice and I hope me and the others aren't pressuring you into how you should watch this movie.

Take what I say with a grain of salt, because I was not and still am not a fan of Faiz; but while this can be said for most Riders, Faiz especially cares much more about the characters, their drama and their dynamics than The Plot. So any plot developments that happen in Faiz, being spoiled on them doesn't really matter as much.


Which is why you should absolutely leave the movie until after finishing the series.

Okay, so Faiz's movie is very much an AU story, way more so than probably any other Rider movie. It's not an alternate ending or a slightly different version of the story and it is entirely irreconcilable with the show's continuity. It takes place in a world where Orphenochs have taken over the world and the remains of the human race are barely holding on. I don't consider that a spoiler, as it's the movie's basic premise.

A lot of stuff that happens in the movie does not happen on the show. You will not see Kamen Riders Psyga or Orga on the series, for example. Some things in it will kinda happen but in very different ways. There are two major places where the movie jumps the gun on the series. The first is the debut of Faiz's final form, Blaster form. The other is in the show's biggest plot twist. I'm going to try to be vague, but there's a thing that happens in Faiz that is a VERY. BIG. DEAL. If you want a comparison, think about what it would have been like to watch the Build/Ex-Aid Movie War, about 13 episodes into Build, and to have a scene where Coffee Dad transforms into Evolto, weeks ahead of it happening on the show. It's that level of spoiler.

The best place to watch the movie, if you want to experience the twist in its original context, is after episode 35 (and I feel a little guilty for naming a specific episode here, but it was either that or "wait until character x shows up!").

And if it makes you feel better, this is the only time one of the movies really infringes on the development of the corresponding show's story like this. Most of the others are alternate endings, disconnected AUs, or canonical side stories.

Switchblade, nooooo. By specifying what other things that happen in the movie that won't happen in the show, you just narrow down what the actual spoiler twist is.

Thanks for the feedback!

I think, by soliciting feedback at all, I've forced myself into watching the movie a little later in the run. I know a little too much about the plot now. I definitely feel like watching the movie is going to make me too aware of a/the twist, so I'll hold off until after the show.

I hate this franchise right now! It is weirdly hostile to its fandom at times!

I don’t think of Movie Riders as a spoiler. Every series has at least one.

Well still, the shocking twist(s), as far as anyone who didn't already know, could have been that humanity nearly goes extinct in the show, or that one of the movie Riders end up actually happening, or that Delta is actually not the best most awesome guy around.

At the risk of spoiling more, I will say that Delta's role in the movie lines up exactly with how I've always remembered the character.

I'm sorry if we're putting all this peer pressure on you, but also I really don't think you'll regret waiting just a bit. After Faiz's final form debuts on TV is probably a good time to get around to the movie if you still want to do it during the series. If you're super concerned about that 2003 fan experience, just pretend Mom keeps telling you "you can already watch Kamen Rider at home!" :p

I will say though, you'd never see Delta putting up with something like that. I heard that guy is so cool, he had three copies of Paradise Lost on Blu-ray before Blu-rays were even widely available to the public!

My headcanon is that I got grounded because of a fight I got in with a kid at school. I said Delta was so smart he made Takeshi Hongo look like an idiot, and this other kid said Delta was so smart he only made Takeshi Hongo look like a simpleton, so I punched him right in the mouth. HOW DARE HE.

MOM YOU DON'T GET IT.

Mum: We have Kamen Rider at home

Kamen Rider at home:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20190819075117

But that's not Deltaaaaa *pouts*

Delta once reached 33% of his power, and that's why God had to push Paradise Lost into a parallel Rider World.

And Die, to offer you a little sympathy, I've did the thing of watching the Blade Movie recently as "when it was released order", and that was equally happy to just drop things the TV show was getting to casually into the plot. Of course, the Blade movie is almost on the same level of AU, so it's also interesting to see how the different writers take the ideas. Not as if Inoue has much time to develop them, but hey, it's something.

I haven't covered this yet.... but I guess not even on person (Die's probably understandable for being new), Takumi and Kusaka had their birthday not so long ago, 4th June for the former, and 1st June for the latter.... it's so coincidental that the primary and secondary Rider has a very close birthday date!

:(:mad:

Oh, I just thought that with the 4th note you wrote in the very first post in this thread.

For bolded one, it gives me the vibe that you changed your stance that now here you can only talk about the "good parts" (the parts liked) of the series, or just agreeing with anything said, no creating heated situations like debating or something, which can be done if there's alternate/dissenting views. And as for the memorable one at every level, well, I mean it's obviously great if they can achieve making guest star with comeplling arc, or deep victim, but I probably also think that making the series all 100% like that is out of the people's capabilities (I read somewhere that western's expectations are too high), I mean even making every single recurring cast equally as deep and completed is known as an enormous task, let alone the victims and one-time people (which some also think they should balance the focus which means not giving much to the very minor ones to not ruin the major one, that they think it's ok for the minor ones to only serve as that role proportionate to their purpose).

Yeah, the thing I was looking into for Ryusei Cram School scenes, was about Kusaka being cordial to them.... I was fascinated on what's on his mind during that, though it's also helped by Kusaka's infamous reputation in the fandom for me wanting to know. I'm never into demonizing every single part of those people don't like (thankfully you didn't really do that, for now, to Kimura), like calling every Ryusei Cram Schools idiots or maniacs or something, but by this episode seems that term is completely right on them. So they're the hidden evil twist type too for being power hungry for Delta belt, and enjoying the use of the superpower Delta belt granted to them for their sinister purposes... And for your last plead to follow Takumi.... probably even like me here, Mari has always been presented as significantly more amiable and fond to her old friends at the school here, but she just witnessed their rotten traits here. And Kusaka... even he also seems the same like Mari, or even further than that, his old friends are some of the only people he's not cruel to, showing no animosity to (like above, still wondering what Kusaka thinks of them, and hope no bias; no projecting what people feel about the students to speak about what Kusaka thinks, not you), which obviously would mean Kusaka would take the Ryusei Cram School students side more compared to Takumi, and even more to Mari obviously.

Delta is my favorite, design wise, for Faiz Riders. The helmet seems to be a cross of Faiz and Kaixa's, where the upper part are diagonal lines, and the lower part is vertical line. And yeah, after Takuma being one of the biggest badasses for the first 20 episodes, his downfall began here. I wonder what makes Kaido despondent this time (it's really ridiculous and amusing to have him in completely limp state like someone being in coma or even dying!). Yuji still thinks of Takuma as Faiz right to go completely livid at his presence. And with Keitaro again finding Orphnochs and calling Takumi to fight them, but how would Takumi know Keitaro and their locations?

Yeah, it's not really different if it just shows Takumi having usual secondary Rider personality of "asshole with gold heart", the anti-heroic persona they take ("he’s rude to people even though he’s a hero", anti-heroes are heroes with less heroic qualities like that). Actually, I was more into the idea of Takumi assuming a rare more approachable persona like he did previously with Saya (I feel uneasy for that name due to my country) due to both being nekojitas. But actually nope... Takumi reverted back to his usual self. As for Kimura's performance, I think I would bring up what I said for Yuka previously (fixing it too with my second explanation due to it not being so clear):

Probably for Saya, her having no spark, is in the character, that she's meant to be a shrinking violet-type of person that is meek, shy, quiet, anxious, insecure, apologizing a lot, etc. The character type like that is obviously, doesn't stand out (because that's what they want, not wanting to stand out among the crowds).

There's also Mari managing to message Takumi to inform her kidnapping. I mean yeah crushing on Mari is one of the show's sthick, but to think Sawada was like that too based on the scene they were little? She described him as kind, so what if he was truly having a good side beneath his nature by realizing he was going too far on her that time and helped her out (who just fell)? I don't like dumbing down someone doing a good act as having more self-interest deep down like wanting to suck up to that person, which can also count as demonizing them IMO. Switchblade did mention that Sawada is the one that will be remembered (meaning he was right), but also yeah.... Sawada, unlike the others, is meant to be a major, or at least recurring character. BTW what makes the Lucky Clover thread is done in more relevant way here?

So, I guess to clarify, when I said I'd be talking about what's fun for me to talk about, that doesn't mean I'm only going to be complementary or that I'm going to ignore the flaws. It can be fun to talk about those! I mostly meant that if I didn't care about something in an episode, I wouldn't bring it up at all. It's not about avoiding talking about bad things, it's about avoiding talking about boring things. I enjoy talking about non-boring stuff, even if it's a disagreement!

I took it as Kaido finally letting out his sadness about Mari. He went pretty quickly into Rage and Bargaining, what with him throwing the ring into the river and then trying to become powerful enough to forget his pain. This is Depression, and he's being very theatrical about it. That's maybe a good sign!

I just felt like it had more juice to it, more moves. It's not just Go Kill This Traitor or Steal This Belt. The plot had a lot of moving pieces to it, and that kept me pretty interested. It was a story that fleshed out their group to the degree that I'd watch scenes of just their dynamic, same as I would for Team Orphnoch.

KAMEN RIDER 555 MOVIE - PARADISE LOST

OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE no I'm just kidding I didn't watch the movie yet

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 29

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz29a.png

--1--

Why isn't Kaixa in the credits yet? He's been in this show for, like, more than 15 episodes. They put all of Team Orphnoch in the credits before they even all had debuted, and nothing for Kaixa in what would've been four months? Crazy!

In fact, they've added nothing to the credits. No Faiz Accel, no Lucky Clover, nothing. Weird! I wonder why?

--2--

It's nice to ponder unanswerable questions like that (unless someone wants to point me to an Inoue interview where he says he despises the weakness of altering credit sequences), since a lot of this episode is given over to Not All Orphnochs.

It's, y'know, not where I thought this episode was going to go! There's a little bit more of the Delta vs Faiz/Kaixa fight in the beginning, which leads into Lucky Clover's contest to see who can kill a traitor Orphnoch first. It's... it is not the smoothest transition. It's mostly Kitazaki saying that, while Murakami wants more belts, he doesn't give a shit. He just wants to fight traitors right now. And, sure, Kitazaki is an impetuous monster, but it feels a little poorly motivated. Like, he doesn't even know Yuuji's name yet. Why make killing him (or another member of Team Orphnoch) a priority? It's something I could maybe explain away as Kitazaki wanting the fresh challenge of a new Orphnoch, rather than fighting Riders again, but it's still a thin motivation.

But it mostly doesn't matter, since that's not really what the episode's about? It's a framework, but it's not what the episode's about.

It's about Orphnochs, and whether they're worth sparing.

--3--

Takumi's having a tough time of it, after seeing Skullcandy kill Saya. He wants to believe in the innate humanity of Orphnochs, but the murder of someone he'd grown to tolerate (Takumi's closest type of relationship!) by what was basically her brother, that changes his feelings. He's seen the worst Orphnochs have to offer, and now that's all he can see.

One of my favorite threads in this episode is watching Takumi just process his grief in the most Takumi ways possible. When Keitaro is crushed by Saya's death, Takumi tries to console him, but he does it by saying Hey You Can Stop Mourning Her Pretty Soon. He's trying to say something about the necessity of letting grief end, of letting someone live in your memory, but he's incredibly/naturally tactless, and it just makes Keitaro wonder what in the hell is wrong with Takumi. Which in turn makes Takumi defensive, and more tactless, and withdrawn. It's a classic Keitaro/Takumi Mess-Around!

It keeps Takumi in a funk long enough to be a horrible employee of a dry cleaners, loudly berating customers to do their own damn laundry. Takumi is losing his mind about all of this rage that he can't put anywhere.

Cue Yuuji, the rest of Team Orphnoch, a melon, and some awkward conversation.

Literally nothing makes me happier on this show than when we get all six of the main cast in a scene. Having them all sit around a table, speculating about whether Orphnochs are innately human or whether human-seeming Orphnochs are an aberration, it's a great way to surface the episode's themes while still being as charming as possible. Because, like, it's a pretty split decision! Yuuji's confident that Orphnochs are human, and so is Mari, but Kaido needs some prompting. (At least he got his Sour Kelp!) Yuka's onboard... sort-of? Keitaro is so ashamed to be around Yuka that he abstains. And Takumi thinks it's a question that can't be answered by a vote, partially because he's currently being outvoted.

It's a big question, and one the show isn't super into answering right this minute. Mostly because it's using that discussion to reiterate how in-the-dark Yuuji and Takumi are about their secret identities, and that's important to do since they are no longer in the dark.

--4--

THAT ENDING!

I'd gotten so used to Takumi and Yuuji just missing the chance to learn each other's secrets that, uh, I sort-of forgot they actually could learn them! And holy shit they just did!

For a show that's had a crazy amount of good cliffhangers, this one has to be in the top 3. (I can't rank them, but this was a really good one.) This episode had given us both a very sweet Takkiba scene (Yuuji asks if he wants to talk about what's bothering him!), as well as another brutal Faiz/Horsepower fight. We'd seen the bond of their friendship, and the depths of their hatred. That's precisely the moment you want to expose their secrets.

Oh, also, Delta shoots a billion missiles at them from the most Delta ride machine.

--5--

Just a top-to-bottom great episode, even if it surprisingly moved Delta to the background a bit. Seeing the whole core cast together is a huge treat, and the way the show used Saya's death to reexamine some of Takumi's heroism, that was unexpected but really neat to see.

Didn't really get to talk about it, but goddamn do I love the story this show is telling with Houjou. He's shed the skin of a tactical genius and emerged, gloriously, as a snivelling coward, terrified of Lucky Clover's resident bully. He's full Houjou, and it's my lifeblood. That scene with him hiding on the roof, being consoled maternally by Kageyama! Beautifully shot and so wonderfully weird! I love him as a helpless baby!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz29b.png

Faiz's credits never get a Kuuga or Agito-style reworking. If you look closely, though, you'll see that each episode's opening includes a few clips from that specific episode in some of the background shots.

I've been thinking about mentioning this for awhile now. I love how this show does cliffhangers. For all his faults, Inoue had a great sense on when to end an episode with this series. I've seen the entire series before and I know where every character's story ends, but I've still gotten to the end of multiple episodes with no idea of how the hell Takumi and/or Yuuji and/or Kusaka are going to get out of things this time. The show has such a knack for ending on obvious no-win situations that make you want to start up the next episode right away to find out who's going to get knocked into a fight-ending body of water.

I have noticed that (I called out the Takumi Tennis Serve Of Perfection way back in the teens), but it's not really the same. It's a little weird that Kusaka's in the show as the secondary Rider and he can't get a look in. No wonder he's so intent on proving his superiority!

He's great with the cliffhangers, not always so great with the payoffs. Like, I would not be surprised of the next episode starts with Auto Vajin blocking the missiles, but the ensuing explosion gives both men short-term amnesia.

Still, this one? The one where Kaixa's going to murder Faiz for the first time? The one where Houjou and Kageyama Henshin into Faiz and Kaixa? Memorable-ass endings!

Delta is so cool that he rides in a giant hoverbike that shoots a hundred mis- Oh wait, that actually happened. It's ridiculous (and amazing).

I've always liked the relationship between our two leads but I don't think I ever felt much about their 'rivlary' as Rider and Orphnoch. The show really tries to make it a point that they hate each other, and while I kinda get behind Yuuji seeing Faiz as this ruthless slayer of his kind, Takumi's only view of Horsepower is just 'that guy keeps beating me up'.

That doesn't take away from how much a shock this moment is though, when they finally find out about each other's secret identity. Absolutely agree that it's top-tier among cliffhangers.

Jet Sliger is the second best Rider in the show. I still prefer Auto Vajin because of his arc and growth, but damn if Jet Sliger isn’t cool.

Hey, you think that's bad, imagine how vexed Asakura must've felt back in Ryuki! Or, heck, Kitaoka probably would've wanted every shot in the opening replaced with ones of him... as long as they're from his best angle, anyway.

Anyway, this is another great episode I also don't find myself having much to say about, but there were quite a few errors I caught skimming through it, so:

- This is something your brain probably made right because it's so glaring, but "Even when [Sawada] changed into an Orphenoch, he didn't act any different towards his Ryuusei School friends" is more like "Even though Sawada's become an Orphenoch, it doesn't change that he's one of our Ryuusei School friends" or whatever. I mean, I could take the time to come up with something less clunky than "Ryuusei School friends", too, but you get the idea. Sawada acted VERY differently towards his friends! This is a really big, obvious mistake caused by what I'm noticing is a trend with TV-Nihon even to this day sometimes, which is not paying enough attention to grammar. I think they heard "became an Orphenoch", "Ryuusei School", and "no change" and were just like "I GOT THIS!"without thinking about it very hard.

- Takumi's response to Mari saying Saya would've wanted to help Sawada right after this also really shouldn't be "I knew that already." It's literally more of a blunt "Why should I care?", which is equally standoffish, but what's important here is that Takumi genuinely hadn't been considering that idea.

- And speaking of small lines from Takumi, when Yuka starts raising her hand to at that meeting to vote in favor of Orphenochs being able to have human hearts, the thing he whispers to her is along the lines of "I mean, of course you think that, but...", which is basically the complete opposite of the surprised "Even you think so?" TV-N has it as. I don't think theirs really gets across how much of a stubborn jerk Takkun is actually being right now. He doesn't process grief very well!

You know, I bet Delta wouldn't have any trouble with bad translations though. I heard that guy is so smart, he speaks, like, eleventy-billion languages! Yeah!

Not gonna lie, I never saw this episode in full due to a problem with my provider (I won’t mention names, but it rhymes with hiss sasian). So I had to look it up on the Rider Wiki. Pretty annoying.

And as for where to watch the movie, the big reveal it handles is handled in episode 33/34 (my memory of which in particular is hazy) of the series, so I’d recommend watching it around then (I didn’t watch it around then, but I’m not trying to be a role model).

You remember incorrectly. I did look it up and am not going to say.

I'll remind him when it happens. Assuming a ton of other people don't beat me to it.

Errr, no, at this point might as well just save the movie until after the series is fully completed. Probably better for the discussion too, people can then freely compare and contrast between the movie and the whole show without tiptoeing around and inevitably spoil Die on the remaining episodes.

Yeah, if we can keep the movie/show comparisons until after I watch the movie (which is now going to be after Episode 50), I'd be grateful. It shouldn't be that long from now!

Yeah, I think the show realizes how lopsided the rivalry is, with Yuuji viewing Faiz as a continuous threat to the existence of him and his friends, while Takumi views Horsepower as That Asshole Orphnoch Who Keeps Jumping Me. I think that's why it's important to do the reveal when Takumi views Orphnochs in general as irredeemable monsters who deserve swift executions. Like, the Faiz/Horsepower fight is less about Takumi hating this guy and more about trying to get revenge for Saya's death. It gets the emotions to the right place in the end.

"Arc and growth"?!?!?!

At least Ryuki's credits made room for that negative-image fishbowl and those people with their eyes obscured. You know, the real stars of the show.

Without having watched Episode 30, I feel like that would be the one I wouldn't want to have missed. This one, the first part of the story... I mean, I'm sure it sucked to miss the end of the first Delta fight, but I've got to think the meat of this story is going to be in the next chapter.

I know the discussion about the theme song has passed but I stumbled across this and need to share it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvEvQZNW9Kc

That's actually my rule for any summer movie whether it's Sentai or Rider. I always watch them after the finale even if it doesn't always make sense. I feel like it's appropriate to finish watching a series with a climax, y'know? For such a spoilery movie as Paradise Lost though, I commend the decision to leave it until the end.

Funny story: I watched a certain show before Faiz which made the plot twist easier to predict. Anybody whose name isn't Die will probably know what I'm talking about.

So Saya is the second victim of the female Rider curse and unlike Miho (Kamen Rider Femme), her death wasn't even obligatory! It's a shame we didn't at least get to see her henshin. Saya seemed like an innocuous person which made the reveal of Delta's identity even more surprising. Her body failed her at the critical moment but she was strong enough to control Delta, which made her the most capable user we've seen so far, until Kitazaki picked it up.

My head canon is that when Mari asked Takumi if anyone in the reunion photo was his type, his second option was Saya. This is the first time the show has ever given Takumi a love interest and for her to die so soon, it's definitely a wound that he won't recover from easily, even if he acts like everything's fine like he usually does. When he told Keitarou to get over her, I think he was projecting again. He wants to get over her but it's not as easy as he makes it look. The first nekojita he ever met like him. That's got to be fate, right? And now she's gone, just to give Takumi another reason to loathe himself. People just keep dying around him.

When it comes to melon, I'm more of a cantaloupe kind of guy. Not like I eat it much anyway.

This isn't the first cliffhanger to have the protagonist about to get blown up by missiles, nor is Jet Sliger the first vehicle to shoot missiles. Side Basshar has been blowing up Faiz with missiles before it was even cool!

Y'know, I don't know that I warmed to Saya, but maybe she could've been a fun character? It certainly would've been interesting to see how Takumi navigated a romantic relationship. At the very least, the excruciating awkwardness of him trying to express desire would be some great TV!

Ha! this is great

Yeah, I think so as well, if the show let her live a little longer. We were just getting to know her before Sawada killed her. I would have liked to have seen how Takumi would have reacted to her being a Kamen Rider all this time after he dismissed her so quickly. 3 episodes wasn't enough to show us why we should appreciate her.

The novel (the one where Kusaka does you-know-what) shows another side to her but it's distasteful and, thankfully, non-canon.

This is also can be about when someone feels that you're being unfair or misunderstanding something, and complaining about it, which would likely about either the bad things (dunno if you mean just something bad in general or something occassionally bad in a generally good things?) or boring things, and wants to correct/point out, how about that? Also I want to hear about what you think about I'm talking for Saya being a character type.

Wasn't it also still steal the belt, but Delta's? And there's one more recurring move that you didn't mention there, looking for another 1 member.

I wonder if you only mention Mari's state here only because the Ryusei School involved were the mattered ones - Kusaka and Sawada. Because for your comment of wanting Mari and Kusaka to listen to Takumi and leave these turds... you confirmed here that "These are people she grew up with, cares for deeply. This is her family, and they are literally killing each other in front of her" and even if the other Ryusei School is nowhere as important to those 2, they are to in-universe characters, she would side with them more compared to Takumi. Also btw wdym for the version of Mari and Kusaka we never saw?

Kitazaki is like Faiz' Asakura/Ouja. Not only in how him having serial killer personality, and how he lives to bathe in battle, but there's a final trait they share you'll see much later in the series. His power is to turn everything he touches to ash, but I guess, that power also depends on the durability of objects he touched right? Other Orphnochs doesn't immediately disintegrate into dusts. Yeah, there's a new take for Takuma, cowardly one, this can be polarizing too, those who like to see the ruthless unstoppable Takuma from the first 20 episodes. Also yeah for the members, Kitazaki is already a past member, he only just appeared now. The one that got replaced was Mr. J.

Oh I have to apologize, I didn't realize that "Saya" and "Kimura" was played up as a twist here. Though it does mean this is another Ryusei School stuff.... right? Also the Delta that was facing Takuma and instilled fear on him in previous episode was her btw. The Delta gear wasn't harmful in the way Kaixa Gear is, but it does have side effects. For Saya, it may have activated some of her Orphenoch DNA, as she died in flames. She fell ill due to the strain on suppressing the Delta Gear's influence and her Orphnoch DNA.

The ending is similar to the ending on episode 24 here, and I feel that is more of a total victory there, because the protagonists has exactly zero way to fight back there, while here, they are still in Rider forms, though outnumbered.

I think this was my point for "making the series all 100% like that is out of the people's capabilities, even making every single recurring cast equally as deep and completed is known as an enormous task, let alone the victims and one-time people", that it's too high of an expectations, not enough room for 100% everyone.