That was delightful! Thanks!

I mean, sure? People can bring up whatever they want to about Faiz!

For Saya, I must've missed that. Can you remind me?

Sure, both of those things are what kicks off the story for Lucky Clover this time, but it spends a lot more time getting into the character relationships.

So, all of these questions have the same answer.

When the Ryusei School alumni were first introduced, my problem was that while Mari was the way in for that story, she didn't really develop emotionally because of it. We knew that this was a part of her past, but that information lacked emotional context. She reacted as though these were next door neighbors she fell out of touch with, not pseudo-siblings. Worse, the only emotional connection we saw with the Ryusei School was her as a kid, which is "the version we never really saw" in the sense that the kid versions are not active characters changing and growing on a weekly basis. Seeing her be happy or sad as a kid is largely irrelevant to the modern-day storytelling. (Unless they're doing a Faiz Babiez spin-off?)

But! The whole point of that last Ryusei episode was that this was crushing Mari. The previous connection to Sawada wasn't trivia, it was the lynchpin for her decision-making. By letting Mari's emotional stakes be the stakes for the story, it made the Ryusei stuff work. Prior to doing that, I absolutely wanted her to abandon them. But the show ended up making it work!

So, I stand by all of those previous statements.

To me, the problem isn't the high level of quality, it's the high quantity. They've got twelve-ish main characters! That's too many! The answer isn't to make five of them more boring, it's to cut characters.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 30

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz30a.png

--1--

It's tough to care about fictional characters.

Not, like, "it is difficult to feel an emotional connection to fictional characters", but, like, it can put you through the wringer. You care about someone in a story, and then something happens in the story that just breaks your heart. That's a good thing! That's a story getting an emotional response out of you! But it sometimes feels so bad that you resent it a little. The twist in the story stops being something that you marvel at for its effectiveness and starts being something you abhor for this pain in your chest. It's like you're being punished for investing emotionally in what you've been watching.

It's a little like a betrayal.

--2--

And betrayals are at the heart of this story. Takumi thinks he's been betrayed by Yuuji, Yuuji thinks he's been betrayed by Takumi, and Kusaka is betraying them both.

But that all comes later. First, it's the show rewarding you for caring about Yuuji and Takumi.

There's the requisite I Don't Even Know Who You Are stomp-off by Yuuji in the beginning, where he thinks his friend is a Smart Brain assassin. And Takumi handles that rejection as well as you'd think, namely by making that face and irritating his friends. (He still tries to play the Stop Having Feelings For Someone But I Can't Tell You Why Card! Still! He never ever learns!)

That's expected, but the pivot the show makes after that is extraordinary. You've got two men who have found out they don't really know their friend at all. So they go to a friend of the friend to find out what the deal is.

The whole middle section is great, where the two Teams pair off for some character definition. Mari tells Yuuji that, uh, Takumi does not have grand plans for the power of Faiz, he's 100% not a plans guy, have you spent more than one minute with him ever. Yuka tells Takumi that, hey, Yuuji would never harm a human (again?), he's a total sweetheart, you could do a lot worse. (That last part is implied.) Meanwhile, Kaido and Keitaro dye their hair in a hilarious attempt to reclaim their self-worth after being destroyed by love. The last one doesn't really go anywhere, but it's sincerely delightful. Those two actors are a comedic treasure.

--3--

After Mari and Yuka play matchmaker, it's time for Yuuji and Takumi to have their heart-to-heart, to really talk about all of the various conflicts between Orphnoch and RidHA HAHA HA HA HAHAHA

Oh, shit, I almost got all the way through that! No, what happens is that Takumi is so visibly uncomfortable trying to bridge the gap between them, the mistrust that still lingers, that it is a goddamn miracle that a nearby Orphnoch attacks so that Takumi and Yuuji can restore their bond the old fashioned way: killing a monster.

It's your basic Rider Restoration, where a difficult-to-articulate emotional problem seems less important after two (or more) men righteously battle against the forces of darkness. It's a beautiful sequence, where they're utterly in sync as they just humiliate the unlucky Orphnoch.

The whole entire scene of Yuuji and Takumi together, it's beautiful. The sunset, the summer bug noise, the tranquility of nature. And then the performances, with both men trying to find some way back to what they had. Takumi agreeing that it'll take time to trust each other, when you can see it's killing him that Yuuji doesn't trust him. Yuuji's smile as Takumi rides away, the weight off of his heart. It's been dozens of episodes to get to this point, to see this friendship blossom into a connection. The two halves of this show united, finally. It's so fantastic. It's such a reward to fans.

Enter Kusaka.

--4--

I mean, that's drama, right? Something good happens to make it more powerful when something bad happens, and vice versa. But, god, it hurts so bad.

Kusaka sees a future with Takumi and Yuuji working together, and he hates it. He'd be marginalized, made redundant. They'd be saving people, protecting some Orphnochs, fighting Smart Brain, being heroic in front of Mari... it's his nightmare. And after Sawada brings up the mysterious events of the Ryusei Reunion, tossing out a Failure insult for good measure, Kusaka is feeling boxed in.

So he schemes. He tears Yuuji and Takumi apart, framing each of them in turn for betraying the other.

It's honestly a pretty great plan! He knows that while they want to see the best in each other, those old resentments haven't just disappeared. They've fought enough times that it doesn't take a complicated lie to turn them against each other. (Although, when Kusaka calls Takumi "a silver-tongued liar" to Yuuji? And Yuuji's like Wow Really? Again, have you spent even one minute with Takumi my dude.) There's plenty of blame to lay at the feet of Kusaka, but I don't think Takumi and Yuuji are blameless here. They both very easily believe the worst about the other.

Takumi's flaw is that he's always waiting to be villainized, so he's not surprised if people hate him. If Kusaka says that Yuuji really hates him and has a grudge, that sounds correct to Takumi.

For Yuuji, his trigger is feeling betrayed by people he trusts. His cousin. His fiancee. Letting someone get close and then having that used against him, it's one of the few things that enrages Yuuji. (He loses it at Kaido after he learns the truth about Takumi.) He'd thought he'd misjudged Takumi, been angry for nothing, but that knee-jerk is what Kusaka manipulates. Yuuji falls back on his original anger, forgetting his forgiveness.

And, man, maybe that's why it hurts so bad? Their culpability? It's not just Kusaka tricking them, it's him exploiting their insecurities, encouraging their worst behavior. They make the decision to see the worst in one another, and that's heartbreaking.

--5--

But, shit, maybe folks feel differently! I can see this being a thing that, to some, smacks of writerly contrivance. Kusaka has to scheme a bit to tear them apart, and schemes can make viewers feel manipulated.

It didn't for me. I thought it all worked like gangbusters. (Well, maybe not some of the Jet Sliger effects work. Definitely took too big a swing on having two of those in the climax!) I loved how internally generated all of the conflict was, how it harnessed 30 episodes of character growth to just grab my heart and squeeze.

Did this one work for y'all? Let me know!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz30b.png

Here:

Yeah, as I said before, Kitazaki is Faiz' Asakura. Don't think about why he specifically targets someone name he doesn't know yet. He has the same feeling as him when he's "vexed" as Fish pointed out, he attacks and kills indiscriminately! He kills to have fun, and anything's fair game to him. Which also speaks about how horrible of a being he is, he's the most evil being in Faiz, just like Asakura in Ryuki, and it actually speaks more about it when he murders indiscriminately, instead of picking certain targets he specifically has animosity of. It's just that in this episode, he coincidentally happens to fight someone a part of main cast.

Takumi was at first, only trying to take Kusaka's (prejudiced) stance, with killing all Orphnochs indiscriminately. But finally, he does bring up the topic, to Yuji, which, being a humane Orphnoch himself, he's not shy to point out that Orphnochs isn't inherently evil. Yuji was still nonchalant of his seemingly normal longtime friend suddenly bringing up a "bizzare" topic, moreover with him threatening all Orphnochs, which Yuji also is. For Takumi and Keitaro, this is a fun sthick they're going with (I forgot to write this in every of the character vs irl people moment comparison), but there's definitely numerous people in real life that would do something like that, labelling either people or characters being emotional about anything (except anger) like Keitaro's grief here as whiny, wimpy, spineless, etc and just overall sign of weakness, and I don't like that stance not even a bit. For Yuka, Fish covered the mistranslation, though I still wonder what takes her so long to raise her hand.

I've always wanted for them to learn the secret identities though, even more with Takumi bringing up Orphnochs to him. Even when they fight, like when one of them wins, the loser will revert back to their human form and revealed, I guess their previous fight didn't last long enough simply to send them to that state. But I guess this one still qualifies, and better with Delta showing up that way from Jet Slinger.

Delta is so strong that he gives most memorable cliffhanger even in the background! He chooses to keep anyone alive to balance everything! For Takuma yeah as I said, this is polarizing, there are people who accept this stance, there's also people who only wants to see the ruthless unstoppable adversary and not liking him being reduced to that.

So overall you meant that she doesn't react as deeply (she blatantly does react in sorrow) from previous times like when witnessing the deaths in present day?

I now can finally participate in the translation blunders, because I did, was genuinely confused af for the dialogues you mentioned. Sawada blatantly changes, and I didn't know even a single bit why she said he didn't act any different, but the actual translation is actually this. And for Takumi and Yuka to be confused of asking human hearted Orphnoch based on the translated diaogue...wtf man? Both of them have witnessed by themselves about that type of Orphnoch, and especially Yuka herself who acts like that, and why Takumi would be confused of the same type of Orphnoch, raising her hand?! So this is actually how it is.

Sure, okay. I mean, it's a choice a writer can make, to have Saya be a very passive character. But, like, it's not a great choice? I'm sure it's intentional, it just didn't click with me.

It's like, if you enjoy spicy food, and someone makes you a very mild dish. That's intentional, but it's not to your taste.

Probably because she's killed so many people! This is maybe not a deeply-held belief of hers!

Yeah. In previous episodes, the focus was on the Ryusei School alumni. Here, the focus was on how the Ryusei School alumni were affecting Mari.

I like this episode, by itself. I mean, it was absolutely devastating to watch, but I knew it was in a good way. On it's own, it's like full of shocking gut-punching moments that leave you wondering all sorts of things like 'How will our heroes get past this new horrible wrench that has been thrown between them?!' or 'How will they discover what has Kusaka done?!' and so on, so forth.

A question you should not bother asking is "Where did Faiz suddenly get a new Jet Slinger and why did it show up just to get immediately blown up?".

I feel like the answers to both of those questions are fairly straight-forward!

Where did Faiz suddenly get a new Jet Slinger: He watched Delta type in the code that summons one. I mean, Delta literally just walked into a tunnel and found one the other episode, so Takumi totally earns his by comparison. (It's also great because when he types in the code, Kaixa's like What Does That Even Do and Faiz is all Shrug Emoji.)

Why did it show up just to get immediately blown up: All new equipment on this show is garbage the first time the heroes use it! At least it didn't actively try to kill Faiz!

Honestly, this was my gut reaction toward this development. I had a hard time in particular wrapping my head around how easily Yuuji swallowed Kusaka's bullshit, and I think it's because there's been so much time since the thing with his cousin and gf (way back in Ep 2!). Ever since then he's always portrayed as this sensible, level-headed, guy whose good traits stand out even more among the dysfunctional bunch, it's easy to forget how traumatized he must be and how it'd make sense that it only took a slight nudge from Kusaka (who is such an Obvious Bad Dude only to the viewers, not necessarily to other characters) to unleash all the insecurity and paranoia.

In retrospect, it's indeed in-character for all three parties involved. Once you can buy that, it's engaging material; at that point, I was certainly more invested in discovering whether Yuuji and Takumi would eventually make up and beat the shit out of Kusaka together, than anything else in the plot!

Also, I always find it fascinating when Yuuji and Kusaka shares a scene b/c of the diametrically opposite way the show is framing them, a sort of subversion to their supposed role. Yuuji is the first 'monster'we ever see, the guy who went on a murder spree on civilians, but the show absolutely want us to like him by doing everything to make him seem the most sympathetic person in the cast. Kusaka is the secondary Rider who's supposed to get along and kick ass together with the MC once they eventually overcome their differences, and his motivation on the most general sense is heroic: he wanted to extinguish all the Orphnochs, the threat to humanity, and protect the girl he loves! Isn't that a good goal? But no, they took painstaking efforts to highlight his toxicity and how much of a bad apple he is. I used to be bothered by how Kusaka's actor frequently overplay some of his scenes to the point of unintentional hilarity, but it makes sense if you consider that the show really want us to unambiguously dislike the guy while hammering home the whole role subversion thing. That scene of their first meeting together, that 'water scene' when Kusaka being such a hilarious asshole to the wounded Yuuji? That's the show in a nutshell.

In a way, it's a bit of a shame that the Ryusei plot is such a flop, since I can see how it can contribute to Kusaka's (and Mari ofc) characterization. Instead, they wasted all the time on a bunch of cannon fodders (even Saya was nothing more than a Plot Device; her story landed so badly to me).

Yeah, Kusaka's shit-stirring here is one of those moments where the show gets its reputation for miscommunication issues. Yuuji may not have known he was Faiz, but he's known Takumi much longer and more intimately than he ever knew that asshole who betrayed him to Smart Brain that one time. It does make sense that Yuuji's in a pretty screwed-up headspace right now and not thinking clearly, but it still feels wrong how easily Kusaka pulls the wool over his eyes. Come on, man, you've fought Faiz enough by now to realize that no wrist-flick = not the regular Faiz, even without him pulling a classic Kaixa collar straighten.

Well, I was taking about non-main characters (you said here about 12-ish), because previously you ask for like, even normal humans, civilians, or victims to possess the same high level of quality. And now you say about cutting characters.... while it's reasonable for main characters to be cut, it's impossible to cut every other living beings, if they all can't have that high level of quality. Dunno if this is understandable, sorry for bad English.

Obviously not every type of something is going to click for someone, but I just want to say that, for "it's a choice a writer can make, to have Saya be a very passive character.", something that doesn't click isn't necessarily something obscure (though in Faiz it probably is), it's an already established type of character called "Dandere". Other than that, sorry for this one this is more of a personal issue, but to rag on her (like mocking, though note that saying her not clicking is different though), based simply on who she is (of a shrinking violet type), and wanting her to not be herself, that sinks for a bit to me.

Same goes for the "spicy food" thing, they can enjoy spicy ones more, but I don't exactly approve if they call non-spicy foods as bad or uneatable (to themselves yeah, but can't speak on the same behalf for others), or especially call those who doesn't like spicy ones (actually... that's me) are bad to not enjoy what they think are good/better.

I guess early on you did say about the worldbuilding is interesting to you if it affects a character, and this part comes full circle and implemented on the series. I personally was only interested in what shit would be pulled on to the cast with the Smart Brain, or the father, or Sawada, or something, and therefore, only those characters part, but yeah audience have to go through the Ryusei School students for that, the ones who hold the most informations about that.

hey what if i stayed up late one night for no reason and wrote answers that probably don't make sense or address points

Maybe it's just me, but every time Yuuji does the Heroic Orphnoch thing, I think, "But you murdered two people." I'm not sure if the show wants me to remember that, or forget it, but it's something I can't let go of. So the rage we see at points from Yuuji, it's like, There He Is. It really doesn't take a huge story from Kusaka to get Yuuji to feel that betrayal viscerally.

To your point about how they've layered villain attributes onto Kusaka and hero attributes onto Yuuji, absolutely! The big Hell Yeah point in this episode is Faiz and Horsepower, fighting together! I... I don't remember feeling that great when Faiz and Kaixa teamed up!

Kusaka's a real gift to this plot, since he's pretty well-defined as Just The Worst, so his motivation to create chaos doesn't have to be greater than This Friendship Might Make Me Look Bad. And, yeah, the heightened sense of villainy he brings is really something else. He feels worse than some of the monstrous characters, I think, because of the ease with which he attacks them emotionally. They are so easily spun around by Kusaka!

One of the things that's been hilariously established on this show is that Kusaka's, like, power only extends to the kids in Team Faiz and Team Orphnoch, but they are defenseless against it. Kusaka did try to murder Yuuji just a few weeks ago, but, like, how many times has Kaido said he'd murder Yuuji? When you're a superpowered murder horse, I guess you've got a pretty thick skin against being threatened/assaulted?

Still, I think the telling part is that, yeah, it was easy for Yuuji to buy Kusaka's lies about Takumi. Maybe that says to some people that Inoue didn't do the work to make it believable, but I see it as Yuuji failing his friendship with Takumi.

All the other stuff... I am regularly not recognizing people I've known for years because half of their face is covered. I totally buy that Yuuji would assume that Faiz is Takumi in that scene!

It's good! I get what you're saying. My criteria, that I'm articulating for the first time ever, is probably that any character that's in more than two scenes, they should be compelling. The guy who screams at an Orphnoch is okay just screaming at an Orphnoch. Folks who recur, I'd like them to feel fleshed-out.

And, for the trimmed cast... this show definitely has too many regulars. However, one of the advantages is that stories can generate internally (like the last two) way more reliably than on other shows. I'm okay with the big cast as long as they're using everyone effectively. It don't work so great when the show brings in a half-dozen more characters for a story.

I don't have a problem with Saya's character as a starting point. It's not my favorite type, but sometimes a story or an actor can surprise you with what they do with it. For me, her story only had one compelling scene (that But Why Heroism scene paid off huge in the next episode), and the actor just didn't have a take on it that connected with me.

There's very, very little I'll preemptively judge on a Kamen Rider show. I try to give everything a fair shot, even if it's a trope or a type that I've never enjoyed. Saya... I hope I'm being fair to her?

I don't think it is something the show expects you to brush off. The way it doesn't actively spend time judging him for it might give that impression, but, you know, it's Faiz. That's not really what it's about. What's important about those early episodes, especially in ones like these, is that Yuuji's strong sense of righteousness means he can also be vengeful. You can see that with stuff like him snapping at Kaidou and literally digging nails into his knee out of sheer frustration. The thought of being betrayed by people he trusts, it absolutely makes him go through some extreme emotions. He doesn't like the thought of his faith being taken advantage of.

The obvious way to look at it is Yuuji is this real hero and good person that jerk Takumi should be looking up to, and that's the whole subversion the show is doing with its main characters, but I'd argue it's a lot more complex than that. Underneath the smart mouth, Takumi has a sort of nobility to him that surpasses Yuuji in some ways. His constant habit of blaming himself for everything, the way he's always prepared in his head to find out he's the one ruining things, it's all extremely unhealthy, but it shows how deeply he wants to avoid hurting people. It's not about having a code of ethics like Yuuji, he just instinctively feels that way. Back in episode 17, you know, Yuuji has to be the one to tell Takumi that Orphenoch has lost his human soul, because Takumi can't make himself pass judgments like that on anyone, even if it's right.

In a way, I think that's what really makes them opposites. Takumi, he'll call you names, act extremely unmotivated and disinterested, have generally terrible manners, but that's all he'll do. He's all bark and no bite. Yuuji is the pinnacle of class, and one of the kindest, most gentle people you could ever hope to meet, but a lot of that is about how good he is at practicing restraint. We're seeing Yuuji at his best most of the time, because he keeps himself in control, but that begs the question of what his worst looks like. For Takumi, you see him at his worst pretty often, and, even if he needs more pushing when he's in those moods, not much about him changes. If you wrong Takumi, he just starts barking louder, but if you wrong Yuuji enough, he starts pulling against the leash he's on.

Here’s an advance notice (not that you’ll understand that reference). This arc with Faiz vs Horse lasts for a tenth of the series and the HBV falls in the middle of it.

Takumi and Kiba finding out they were secretly arch enemies all along is totally a major development for their steadily growing dynamic and makes them question everything they thought they knew about each other. Takumi telling Mari to give up on him without explaining worked just as badly as it did with Keitarou but I guess he remembered what Kusaka warned him about the consequence of telling Mari about her father. Of course, keeping people in the dark works in Kusaka's favor and allows him to manipulate them easier.

It was good to see Takumi and Kiba trying to find out more about each other from Yuka and Mari. Takumi knows that Yuka is a good Orphenoch so he'll believe her if she says Kiba is good. Kiba has trust in Mari and wants to see the good in people in general so he'll believe her if she says Takumi is good. And sure enough, none of their descriptions match up with what Takumi and Kiba previously thought of violent rampaging Horse and cold mercenary Faiz. They weren't fighting each other as arch enemies, they were fighting fabrications of evils that didn't exist due to a series of justified misunderstandings.

Peak Kusaka! The taller you build the tower, the more disappointed you are when someone comes along to destroy it. He considers Takumi and Kiba his rivals and he needs them to hate and fight each other so he can keep Mari for himself. Without that hatred, he wouldn't be able to manipulate them anymore so he needed to make them hate each other again.

This is why Kusaka's so infamous, how destructive he is, the way he so easily and nonchalantly ruins relationships in pursuit of his love. Before, it was just Faiz vs Horse. Takumi and Kiba didn't hate each other at all. They were starting to become good friends. But now it's even worse. Kusaka has fabricated more imaginary evils and misdoings on both sides of the conflict to give these people who should be friends another reason to fight while behind the scenes, he just laughs at their hurt feelings and reaps the rewards of their destruction for himself.

Yeah, I agree. I don't have any preference for spicy or mild dishes. I think they're both great in their own right! It's good to have a variety of different flavors to enjoy. I think this show has the perfect balance of comedy (mild) and drama (spicy) and to remove either of those flavors would be to destroy half of what makes the show so unique.

Good points!

I think some of it also comes to down to how the show examines the strengths and weaknesses of the idea of motivation, of having a code. Yuuji answers a higher calling, the defense of Orphnochs' right to self-determination, and that gives him a certainty that can both give him strength and cause him to lash out. Takumi doesn't really have that core ideal. His faith is in other people, definitely not in himself, and that uncertainty in his actions both frustrates him and keeps him from making an unforgivable mistake.

Noted! Thanks!

I don't know if Takumi not telling Mari about Yuuji's true nature was a reference to Orphan Daddy, but maybe! I think it's more that Takumi's frustration with the situation leads him to be a judgmental dick to his friends, like always. (He totally makes the situation all about him! He gets so mad at his friends for accidentally falling for Orphnochs!)

The were two things I especially loved about that sequence.

First, I like when the show remembers that Yuka and Takumi have a history. She's the first Orphnoch he met that had a humanity, and that was a huge moment for him. They don't get a ton of scenes together anymore, so it's a great callback to have her be the one he reaches out to. Great use of character history.

The other thing is that the things Mari and Yuka say are things that Takumi and Yuuji could never ever say about themselves. Takumi, in particular, needs a Heroism Translator like Mari to make the case for why he's a good person. And, y'know, it's great to see them making a personal, specific case for their friend. Mari lets Yuuji know that Takumi is not a great friend on the outside, but he genuinely cares about people. (Yuuji doesn't have as many flaws, so Yuka's defense is more glowing.) It's just a great way to sketch out all four characters.

Kusaka loves scheming, and he loves winning, so this was a pretty great day for him!

This is also a point I would've made given the chance, but sure enough, you're just doing it for me. Man, and I remember when I thought there was a possibility I'd be the only person in this thread who actually liked Faiz. :lol

I remember being pretty impressed going back to Faiz at just how good a job the show does juggling that convoluted web of how all these main characters know each other and what their feelings toward one another are. Little moments like Kaidou recognizing Takumi as the guy who beat him up as Faiz and trying to leave him floating down a river, or even early in this episode where Takumi only just figures out Yuuji, Yuka, and Kaidou all live together, and Mari and Keitarou are like "wait, did you not know this already?" go a long way towards making the world of the show feel that much more well-realized.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 31

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz31a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz31b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz31c.png

--1--

I'm sure I'm supposed to find Kusaka impossibly villainous. I'm supposed to be booing him when he enters a scene, hissing at his self-satisfied smile, longing for the moment when his treachery is exposed.

But instead, I am laughing my ass off.

The fact that this show had the goddamn brass balls to have Kusaka answer Takumi's questioning of last episode's events with an I Am Unbelievably Offended You Wouldn't Believe Me? That Takumi went in thinking that there's a good chance that a man who has gleefully manipulated him to his face and vowed to turn his friends against him might possibly be innocently mistaken, and he leaves the scene apologizing to Kusaka?

YOU GUYS. How can I be mad at that? That turn when he says "Guess I'm alone”? That little sigh of disappointment? Chef's. Kiss.

I mean, okay, yeah, I can't wait to see Horsepower and Faiz team up to punish Kusaka. Yeah, totally. But this way he has of deflecting all blame and coming out on top... only God can judge him. All the rest of us can do is delight at his awfulness.

--2--

And that dude is working overtime this episode to keep everyone apart. He's gaslighting Takumi, sure, but he's also worried that Mari might end up redeeming the actually-sort-of-cute Sawada. (Kageyama was right!)

The Mari/Sawada storyline is a good main plot to do when the Takumi/Yuuji plot might need to simmer on the back burner for a minute. (And it's smart to let it simmer!) Both storylines are about whether humans and Orphnochs can be friends. The Mari one, though, it's all about redemption, rather than overcoming mistrust.

I really like that Mari's got a storyline of her own that's still woven into the fabric of the show. They could've given her something with the salon she worked at for one episode a million years ago (holy shit, remember when Soeno was on this show?!), but, nope, it's all Orphnochs and Lucky Clover and the themes of the show. It's as dialed-in as anything, but it's still Mari's story.

It's, frankly, a lot of Getting To The Stuff in this episode. Honestly, the whole thing feels very transitional, very contemplative, which makes it tough to discuss. The Mari plot in particular is about her hoping there's still some humanity to Sawada, and Sawada fearing there's still some humanity to him. And, like, that's it? It's not a bad story, I'm really into it, but it's mostly just clarified in this episode, rather than moved forward.

--3--

The Takumi/Yuuji plot is pretty much the same. Both of them feel out-of-sorts after last episode, and neither wants to risk being hurt again. Yuuji decides to use Kaido as a go-between, wanting to know if Takumi actually betrayed him. He wants to salvage their friendship, but he doesn't want to make himself vulnerable. It's a totally in-character move.

It is also so obviously going to get screwed up by Kaido, and that's before Kaido relies on Keitaro to finish relaying the message.

Like, you know the second Yuuji says his message out loud that it's going to get garbled, confused. You know it. And, for real? I don't blame Keitaro or Kaido! They're barely aware that anything's wrong, and they certainly don't know that Yuuji and Takumi think they've been attacked and betrayed by the other. So, no, they don't understand the weight of the message they're supposed to convey, and they don't realize that they've made everything worse. Yuuji's search for an explanation is relayed as a severing of ties, and Takumi responds with a declaration of war.

Again, I get it if this all feels forced. It's a bit of a clunky device to have a misremembered message make a falling-out worse. But, for me, this isn't wacky Kaido and Keitaro screwing up. This is confirmation bias. It's Yuuji assuming he'll get hurt, so he keeps Takumi at a distance. It's Takumi waiting to be hated, so he responds with hatred. It's a frustrating spiral, these two people abandoning hope for sadness, letting their worst instincts lead the way. I get that it can feel exhausting to watch. I really do like how it's all rooted in character, though. Great story for that.

--4--

Similarly, A++ episode for Houjou being a terrified coward! The way that nightmare sequence was shot, with Kitazaki going for the handshake, glowingly lit from below, all smiles. Houjou smiles back, glad to be done with this anxiety-inducing rivalry. His hand dissolves, that over-the-top reaction, big and broad and so funny. And then he wakes up, leaving Kitazaki hanging. Fifteen seconds or so of pure joy.

There's a brief discussion about Lucky Clover getting back in sync, working as a team, but we don't really see it in this one. It's that goofy-ass Houjou nightmare, and that's about it.

--5--

Yeah, it's pretty much all about the Mari/Sawada plot (which is not the most robust story when they don't even share a scene until the end) and the Yuuji/Takumi plot (which, hey, they also end up not sharing a scene at all).

It's an episode about trying to kindle some hope, to allow for reconciliation despite everything that happened. It's all pretty tentative, folks dealing with their feelings first to understand what outcome they want. It makes for an episode of good scenes that somehow feels incomplete. I didn't dislike anything in this one, but it feels like it's more about mood than content, if that makes any sense.

Great mood, though.

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Takumi overall just bears deep hatred for the Orphnochs, not too different from Kusaka, where he seems prejudiced against Yuka before, and Yuji here to force Keitaro and Mari drop their interest to them. Takumi still not wanting to tell them the specifics smh, even when he's warmed up to them to claim he's doing this for their sake. Takumi and Yuka's situation make most of the sense for her to explain that Yuji is targeted by Smart Brain because he doesn't want to regularly attack humans generic Orphnochs do, but still not enough to get rid of the problem. While it's already seen multiple times Mari rejecting Kaido.... Keitaro didn't go through that right?

The root of their problem that they can't really explain away; In Faiz, Kamen Rider isn't only wielded by 1 person. Yuji thought Faiz was in the hands of an evildoer, Takumi thought Yuji was hunting him (who he thought is an evildoer) behind the back. But then again yeah... Yuji saw it in his own eyes that Takuma, a different goddamn person, henshins into Faiz right? That's the evildoer with Faiz belt. I agree Takumi and Yuji teaming up is more rewarding than any of Faiz/Kaixa teaming up because that one doesn't have a good relationship, and never intended to have one, Kusaka's only on the protagonist side due to mutual opposition against Orphnoch they have, he hates Orphnoch more compared to humans.

While Kusaka's been horrible before, Kusaka's true colors is revealed more here (or at least, the most infamous parts of him known to fans blossoming), complete with soap-opera esque plan enhanced with tokusatsu tools. And you're right this is also partly on Mari's name.
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Though yeah there's dysfunctional part on both Takumi and Yuji, it doesn't absolve Kusaka's horrible traits here at all. He still did this horrible thing, even if it's worsening Takumi and Yuji's personal problems. What Yuji probably doesn't know for have you spent even one minute with Takumi my dude, is that Kusaka's been living with Takumi in Kikuchi household, and latest episodes have them team around. Here they really exploited the thing this series run where belts here can be wielded by anyone. But Yuji has witnessed the belt being worn by Takuma! He clearly just wasn't right in his head. It seems that here, Yuji didn't really fight back, I wonder if Yuji doesn't because of his emotional ties to Takumi, who he thought is a primary Faiz user. Then again he's now convinced that Takumi is a horrible person Kusaka described to him but still didn't? If he defeats Faiz right there he'll demorph into human form and it's revealed it's Kusaka wearing the belt. And instead it's Kusaka knocking him down, and serves to help his plan further by deceiving Takumi too that Yuji is stealing/wearing the Faiz belt in an attempt to hunt him.

For people here, probably this works. But this part of the episode is what cements not only Kusaka, but also Faiz' infamy. as a whole. Also Faiz having Jet Slinger too (never realized, I thought he only has Auto Vajin, and Jet Slinger is exclusive to Delta)... would that mean Faiz (and Kaixa potentially) actually has better arsenals than Delta? He has 2 assists compared to Delta's 1 (only Jet Slinger so far).

Kusaka is one of the funniest characters in Kamen Rider history. I mean, he's a horrible person and irredeemable and also maybe pitiable and whatever else, but he's hilarious. Dude is so overly tense at all times and seems to honestly believe every word out of his mouth once he's said it, even when he doesn't, which is most of the time. It's endearing after a while.

You really have to admire the iron will that guy has when it comes to his goals. Even when his stupidly obvious plan to join Lucky Clover inevitably failed, he just brushes it off and moves on like it's nothing. You never know what antics he's going to get up to next. He's so lucky his primary targets are the specific group of people they are, because if he said "Do I look like a guy who would knock you out cold and steal your stuff as part of an elaborate plan to frame you?" to most strangers, his eyebrows alone would probably tell them "yes" in a heartbeat. :lol

I don't know if I'd call it "deep hatred"? He certainly vacillates more between anger and forgiveness than Kusaka every does. A lot of Takumi's story is built around finding something to protect in some Orphnochs (he lets his pizza boss go), and when he does swear them off as a species he doesn't really mean it. Like, after Saya's death when he's gritting his teeth and swearing that All Orphnochs Must Die, Mari immediately says that doesn't sound like him.

I think it's that Yuuji is holding out hope that there's been some mistake, that Takumi has an explanation for his actions, so he doesn't want to beat him up. Takumi, however, is more ready to throw in the towel on a friendship. A lot more ready.

Well, there's having it, and there's being able to use it. Delta definitely knows how to use it, while Faiz destroys his almost instantly. I'd still say Delta has the advantage in gear!

The thing that kills me is that I'm sure there were plenty of people watching this, screaming at their monitors that Takumi is an idiot for trusting the obviously lying Kusaka, and it's like, that's the joke!

(Also, Kusaka's lies are perfectly calibrated to let someone's suspicions and insecurities fill in the rest, but it's all still funny as hell.)

Definitely have some opinions about Delta, which I will save for later in case I accidentally spoil something. Suffice to say that it's my favorite belt, design and function-wise. As I said in my CSM Delta Gear review, unlike pretty much every other Rider belt, this one, being voice activated, actually gives the user a diegetic reason to say "Henshin!".

+1 for watching the movie after the series is complete. I think the movie is a great experience in and of itself (again, one of the best stand-alone Kamen Rider movies ever, in my opinion). It distills the best elements of the series into a single movie and does away with quite a number of its biggest issues.

Oh, man, and it even comes in a little Smart Brain case! That's terrific!

I do think the voice-activated nature of the belt is cool. There's something a little more terrifying with Delta saying what he wants the belt to do, like he's ordering carnage off of a menu. It's a cool belt, for sure!

Glad to hear the movie's a winner! Most of the chatter has been about plot points and their impact on the show, not necessarily the quality of the movie itself. I'm excited to know it'll be the worth the wait!

It's a good one, definitely one of my favorite movies from this era. It has some fantastic stuff with Takumi and Mari that I really look forward to seeing again.

I will balance out expectations for Die by claiming that the movie sucks butt. (I don't actually think this.)

It's sort of nice to have an episode where instead of any important events being the draw, t's more about about stewing in the circumstances and the feelings the characters have about it being brought to the front! I certainly don't recall that kind of thing being too common in today's Rider, outside of a scene or two that's usually meant to come right before a character makes another triumphant declaration that they know exactly what they want to do now (I love those too though).

As I'm rewatching, knowing how everything happens, yeah, some of Kusaka's manipulation is so deliberate to the viewer that it's starting to become a joke about how terrible he is and how terrible everybody else is at noticing. I guess that's okay though since it does make him fascinating to watch and it's not like the characters have the same perspective advantage that we do. They have no choice but to be fooled by him since he's so good at what he does. I thought that sudden laugh he did after finding out Kiba mistook Faiz for a pawn of Smart Brain was pretty funny as well, seeing him switch between his personae so quickly. No matter what he does, he does it with so much expression and flair.

I know this is one of those misunderstandings that was completely accidental and could've easily been prevented but watching it unfold with the worst couriers ever is just too humorous not to love. The whole scene in Kiba's apartment when he enters to find Powerful Kaido playing loud music and Yuka enjoying his performance, all of it is the best comedy! Kiba really needs help with his problem but he can't rely on his friends at all and it's hysterical how annoyed he gets about it. I'm surprised it didn't feature in your screencaps.

Neat!

Yeah, it's a real epilogue-y episode, at least for the non-Mari stuff. All of the Takumi/Yuuji/Kusaka scenes are basically asking Hey Is This For Real and the answer, sadly, ends up being Yes. There's definitely weight given to previous events, and this structure abandons the assumption that this is all one quick conversation away from a positive resolution. Bad things happened, and the show wants you to understand what that means.

All of the Kusaka stuff... it's like, in some slasher films, the victims are so bad at doing the smart thing, and you start rooting for the killer? I feel like there's some of that in what makes Kusaka so funny. I love Takumi and Yuuji (and I love Takkiba), but I am also rooting for Kusaka to destroy them emotionally in the funniest way possible.

It was on the shortlist! As were a few of the Keitaro/Kaido scenes! This episode was spoilt for choice!

As much as we don't like to admit it, sadism is one of the most effective sources of entertainment. Fiction is driven by conflict after all. We want our favorite characters to be happy and get along, but that would be boring. We want to see them earn their happiness. And Kusaka is a major source of conflict. I usually cheer on the killer when there's an unlikable victim.

And maybe that's where some of people's dislike of Faiz comes from, The Call Is Coming From Inside The House of it all? Kusaka eating lunch with the same people he's trying to destroy, hiding right under their nose, it's a tough thing for some viewers to deal with.

KAMEN RIDER 555: HYPER BATTLE VIDEO

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--1--

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I...

--2--

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Wh--

--3--

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I...

--4--

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Th--

--5--

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The hour has come! HE has come! Who is beyond good and evil? Who is the Rock, the Chain, and the Lightning? All powerful! All unforgiving! All conquering! WHO IS YOUR NEW GOD NOW AND FOREVER?

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Bury me with this video.

I don't like Faiz. I'm just not a fan of the type of story it's telling and the directions the characters ultimately go, and it's really just not for me. Not a series I personally enjoyed.


I FUCKING LOVED THIS HBV



This is, just-- this is Inoue's best worst traits distilled into the most perfect 10-minute trip of stupid. Every moment is wonderful. Every second a joy. Every frame effervescent. Fourze, I'm sorry, I adored your teamup with Amazon; but this takes the cake for the best HBV of them all. Absolute quality.

Go West!
(Life is Peaceful there!)
Go West!
(In the Open Air!)
Go West!
(Baby, You and Me!)
Go West!
(This is our destiny!)

so this was not just some beautiful dream of mine

this happened

this really happened

The best part was that his HBV was made as result of design contest.

I read that! It's pretty amazing how much they ran with "Faiz battles Orphnochs with a boombox now".

Post #555! We did it, everybody! Have some gifs!

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One of the most GLORIOUS things to come out of Kamen Rider

It really is. I mean, a fully musical installment of Kamen Rider that still has all the regular attributes of a Kamen Rider story? It's pretty wonderful.

You know, it's funny, because as much hate as Faiz gets, I don't think I've ever seen a single person try to deny the greatness that is the HBV. Like it's just that good, that it gets a lifetime "well, I didn't like Faiz except for this" pass?

They seriously did knock this thing out of the park though. I'm trying to think of an HBV that even comes close to this level of brilliance, but it's just not happening. Type High Speed or something maybe?

I almost don't even want to talk about it, because trying to put it into words just, like, diminishes it.

The only other HBV that even comes close to breathing the rarified air that this one surpassed is the first Build one. Like this one, it took what could've been a blow-off and told a real, actual story.

Here, it's like they decided musical episode, and then said No, Really. Both Teams are in it. There's a Smart Brain plot that needs to be foiled. There's a "Takkun, Orphnochs". There's a Henshin. There's a battle. There's a finisher with the new Gear. Like, that's the checklist for a Kamen Rider 555 story.

But then they do the whole thing in song and dance. Front to back, no dialogue. There's even an operatic recap version of what each Rider is all about!

And, and, since it's a Takumi dream you can dig into it if you really want to. Look how Team Orphnoch has knowledge of the plot without working to either enable it or prevent it. That's Takumi's fears of Yuuji's evilness, counteracted by his hopes for goodness. Look how outside of the story he is for the most part. That's his belief that being there for his friends is the best he can do, that they're better off with him on the fringes of connection. Look how grandiose the celebration is at the end. That's his hopes for validation, as well his hopes for accepting validation. Look how crushed he is at the end, that it was all a dream.

It's so stupid and so smart at the same time.

I usually don't watch HBVs, but I decided to give it a go this time since I'm all-in on the rewatch and it was only ten minutes. It... it is definitely a thing that happened.