Yeah, I...

Man, I don't know when I'm going to be watching that. I'm sort-of not doing great with emotions right now.

I'm a small business owner in Chicago, and my governor just told me I have to shut down my business for the next seventeen days at a minimum. (Strangely, "comic book shop" was not designated an essential business. Tell that to the dude who's outside my store first thing every Wednesday for Spider-Man comics, Pritzker!) The guidance from the city makes it unclear what I can do to support my customers and generate any revenue. Can I go in to pack up books for USPS delivery? Unclear. Can I go in to ring up books for curbside pickup? Unclear, but looking like a no. Can I get in a car to drop off shipments outside customers' houses? Unclear. In the meantime, I've got leases on two locations to pay, bills coming pretty goddamn steady from suppliers for standing orders placed months ago, and my own personal expenses to worry about. I'm low-key freaking out right now. I'm trying to watch a funny episode of Better Call Saul (Kim's impression of Kevin is Emmy material) and I have to keep stopping it every commercial break because I'm too anxious to enjoy it.

Like, I legitimately don't know how my business survives this. There're promises of loans, but I'm not sure if we'll qualify, I'm not sure if they'll be enough, and I'm not sure how we'll be able to pay them back with long-term reductions in walk-in traffic and everyone in America being broke. It's a kind of stress I've never known in the twelve years I've owned a business.

So, yeah, unfortunately, real hard to take my mind off of things and have fun with Kamen Rider right now. It should feel like an escape, but as my financial reality is crumbling with a speed hitherto unimagined, it's a little distracting. I don't know. I'm remembering Chris Onstad, creator of the comic strip Achewood, explaining why strips would be going on hiatus while his family moved: "There would be comics about crying." Like, man, I don't know if you want to read my thoughts on Ryuki right now. It would maybe be disappointing.

But, like, that's right this minute. Probably ain't going to be another Ryuki write-up tonight, is the short version. I'll try for tomorrow, if my anxiety abates. If I don't get around to it for another few days, it's because I just couldn't get to a space to really process anything else.

It's rough out there, y'all. Take care of yourselves, stay safe, and try to take your mind off of things if you can. Sorry this thread can't do that right now.

Nah, don't force yourself or feel pressured to post a new review right away. Take your time. :rock:

Yeah, you absolutely do not need to apologize for being a bit distracted right now. I think that's pretty understandable.

These threads need to be fun for you before they need to be fun for us. Take as long as you need, man. We'll still be here when you're feeling up to it again.

Damn man, I'm so sorry. This whole lock-down quarantine situation is so fucked up. Right now its seems to be hurting a lot more people than the virus is.

That whole situation is more screwed up than a Rider War, so I don't think anyone would blame you for taking a break to either focus on work and/or doing something that'll be more effective for your nerves. This is just a silly forum about bugmen (dragonmen and batmen and minotaurmen right now?) at the end of the day, so don't go fretting about it!

Thanks, gang. It's mostly that I like watching Kamen Rider and talking about it, so having the real world encroach on that is... it's like there's no refuge. It sucks to not be able to lose myself a bit in entertainment.

But! It's temporary, that feeling. Things seem insurmountable, you pick away at them a bit, try and make plans, shit gets a bit more manageable. We'll take what steps we can, but, y'know, it's a viral outbreak. A ton of this is out of anyone's hands.

Feeling a little better after making some plans of action with my friend Patrick, the stores' other owner. Feel like we're doing as much triage as we can, hoping to weather the storm. Not optimistic, exactly, but things feel slightly less impossible. Think I can find my way to some Ryuki tomorrow night. I hope! I didn't get through those last two episodes to quit now.

Like I said before, Shinji has to return the favor with all of his friends' loyalty (even Ren) in episode 10 against Kitaoka, this time to Ren, now it's time to show his loyalty to Ren. This one's actually what I talked about the previous episode (corresponding to the Ren gag), as a countermeasure to Ren's reckless actions. This time Yui gotta believe Shinji that his injuries aren't monster attacks.

Also JDM cars chasing them! Nissan Skyline GTS Type M (R32) and Nissan Silvia S13. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQyQ46EU...jpg&name=small

Well it's not more about the lab, but more about Shiro (seemingly the main villain as seen in previous episode, and that he's scientific), what he's done like making Eri in coma (Ren's main drive in Rider War, which would make sense later in context of the war for him regarding Eri), and causes problem to others (Yui's main drive, her idol being an evildoer, also others being troubled as well esp. Shinji and Ren). A big irony of Ren, having to work with the very monster that causes his problem aka Darkwing. Ren IS truly self-destructive person (especially to do something to those he loves), not only in previous episode where he's reckless to go to places despite his injury, but also on where he tortures himself to work with Darkwing, especially when he summons him.

And no Yui doesn't have actual guilt (other than people going "ONORE YUI"), it's just her self-blaming tendency (comes within a good-natured person) as Shiro was implied to create catastrophic events for her sake "If only I didn't exist the others wouldn't be this troubled".

I mean I'm talking about this logically. Ren and Shinji (chasing him) left Atori in previous episode by their bikes. No way Yui can chase after them without any kind of transportation (Ren won't take her as he forgot about her and Shinji's bike is only 1 seater), she even has to take a cab (
m̶e̶a̶n̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶K̶i̶t̶a̶o̶k̶a̶ ̶l̶e̶v̶e̶l̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶r̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶f̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶a̶b̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶J̶a̶p̶a̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶e̶n̶s̶i̶v̶e̶) to go anywhere, and obviously cabs won't immediately appear when you need it, they appear random.

Though I don't think Ren cares about knowing about the Ejima Laboratory events, he only wants to win the Rider War (and he's done his objective, regaining his memories), while Yui wants to stop it....like Shinji, only that she has family relation with the person behind it unlike him.

Ejima isn't meant to be a major character, just to show a consequence of Shiro's actions. Ejima is on the same page as Eri and Nakamura (they were on same lab after all), as the survivor of Shiro's actions. Also btw, keep remembering Nakamura, because for later part of the show... And what makes you worked up of "pointing a Yu-Gi-Oh card at reflective surfaces"? That's the Seal card, the same card Shinji ripped up at episode 2. Also lowkey Nakamura seems as abrasive and violent as Ren. And you're selfish to only think about fixing what happened to your clique, ignoring someone's pleas to prevent that disaster to escalate even further. It's like criticizing Shinji for not being able to prevent a death of a little girl's mom in ep. 2 where then he tried to prevent more of that deaths by becoming a Rider.

ORE (as for Reiko) seems to be the only one trying to investigate the disappearences, without any help of those knowing about Rider stuff (like the main trio) so, ofc they gotta need more clues to be a help to citizens, who are skeptical about the disappearences. The train conductor must trust Reiko's explanation as he has experienced that, unlike the other skeptical, and it would probably do something if Reiko asks for the train conductor to help ORE in alerting the others too.

Many second Riders have this trait too tbh, but yeah I do think Ren is a thug, with his violence and temper, just that he's a loner instead of travelling in a gang. Well Yui was there to be his moral compass... (like Goro to Kitaoka), even breaking a public glass.

Not actually important, but an extreme rarity in Ryuki that they stand out.

I guess I'm reading "this is all my fault, they're right" as a kind of guilt? Rightly or wrongly, Yui seems pretty crushed by Ejima and Library Man's accusations. I gotta think that, in the short term, she's going internalize that as All My Fault, and feel guilty for the consequences other have suffered due to Shiro's actions.

I'm going to assume that, in general, Ren is none too pleased with Shiro's actions to date, including Secret Science Club. And, for Yui, I'm taking her previous reaction to being accused by two strangers of bringing doom upon the world as landing somewhere between Embarrassed and Horrified. Either way, it's at the very least an awkward conversation between Yui and Ren, and it could've been a good scene to watch.

That one was a joke. Ejima... I just felt like he didn't really get to do enough, be enough. It's maybe asking too much of any show, but I appreciate it when two-episode characters get to have a little something to them, add more to the plot than Hit Your Mark and Deliver The Exposition. Ejima, he looked cool, and him brandishing a trading card like a crucifix is a great goddamn image, but his character is just a name and other people's recollections. I thought they could've done more, considering he's in two whole episodes.

I just thought the scene with the two of them was hilarious. The train conductor has this thing of, like, it just occurring to him that maybe it's slightly unusual for three dozen people to disappear off of a moving train, like it's nothing more than a funny anecdote. And Reiko's reaction is similarly bonkers, treating the conductor's admission that it's not a typical day on the ol' train-line as, like, huh, weird, a real head-scratcher. There's a baffling sense of boredom to the performance, like it's not three dozen human beings who are probably dead.

Oh, that time I took your phrase "Yui's guilt" and "Yui silently hiding her guilt" as you saying she did an actual mistake and felt bad for it (as in the phrase example "Both suspects admitted their guilt to the police"). And I said once again, you should remember Nakamura, like how you should remember Masamune in Ex-Aid when he only appeared as a minor in ep. 12.

Dunno if I'm right or not about this but my take is that Ren's obviously not pleased because Shiro's the one responsible to send his beloved Eri into coma (Ren has immense care for loved ones), but probably not really about Shiro's other actions, as his main concern is winning the war for Eri, essentially following and playing right into Shiro's hands. Where Yui's not pleased for different reasons, that she just felt bad to the others, to the victims, who are suffering or dying like this, and she wants to make things right; fix what already happened and prevent this tragedy from spreading further (including...Shinji and Ren facing each other someday, now head injury, what's worse next?), which would hinder Shiro's doing.

Awkward conversation? Sure! Probably for the contrasts. But I feel that Ren doing a research for answers there won't help his fighting and his goal, or may even deprive him of it (esp. when Shiro assumes that he may try to defuse the game).

One of the lucky to possess a Seal card.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQyPyJuU...g&name=360x360https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQyPyJxU...g&name=360x360

What's known about him is that he's the one running "Secret Science Club" and did an experiment with Shiro but became his victim as well....I guess you want to make use of his professor knowledge and/or give more knowledge about the experiment (which he may not know either as a victim)?

Unfortunately this funny moment that comes from people acting ordinary isn't as known as RON! She's still hiding the bizzare moment towards the train conductor, despite it being a common event. Probably because giving explanation or not won't do any good. They gotta believe Shimada this time because she's half right for "alien abduction", for an environment that doesn't know at all about the fantasy elements in their world.

Which, yeah, there's a chance that Yui could've launched into a tearful This Is All My Fault, and you're wondering if Ren's going to be angry, or if he's going to be comforting, but then he just goes What's Done Is Done and walks out of the scene. There are so many fun options to have those two characters process the climax of this episode, and maybe it'll be addressed in future episodes, but I thought it was disappointing that the two of them didn't really get a scene about it.

He must've opened so many packs of Advent Cards to get that one. It's a Super Rare! They only show up once per case! That's every 180 packs! I've got to think that the search for the Seal card is what drove him crazy, just discarding so many duplicate Ryuki Sword Vent and Scissors Guard Vent cards. Just so many goddamn commons! I mean, he could maybe proxy with them, but that'd only work with casual monsters. No tourney monster is going to let him get away with that.

Yeah, it's maybe a little nit-picky. I guess I wanted him to have more dialogue, to feel like more than an inevitable monster victim. He's clearly got some spark to him, in that I just spent a paragraph concocting a headcanon wherein he's an obsessive TCG collector in a world where trading cards can actually save you from monsters, but he doesn't really interact with the cast in any compelling way, aside from dropping dead and guilting Yui. Like, I think Library Man executed on what Ejima added in a more interesting way, give or take a meme-worthy card brandishment. Library Man got to have a little scene with Yui, where the conversation escalates from her hopeful questioning to his cruel accusations. There's meat to the scene. With Ejima, all the interesting stuff happens with him in isolation, keeping his fun stuff from playing out with/for the rest of the cast.

It's... it's not like it really bugged me, or that I'm mad at the show for how they used Ejima. It's more that there's really not that much (non-TCG) stuff that's worth talking about with him. There's no real arc to his story. I didn't mean to, like, harangue the show about it. It's mostly that he doesn't contribute as much to the story as it seemed like he could've.

I mean, I love Yorgos Lanthimos films (and, yes, spelled it correctly on the first try), so people saying insane things in monotone ways, everyone sounding like they've been lobotomized, anti-comedy creeping out of the edges, I am so into that. I'm criticizing it a little because Reiko scenes aren't usually that.. not dumb, but basic? But I was 100% ironically entertained by that scene. Laughed real hard at it.