oh thank god you saw it too

The Three Belt song is so brilliant, I really wished they released an instrumental/karaoke version.

It's a super solid song! Musically, it's pretty beautiful, and lyrically it is incredibly thorough. Like, you could run that song as a Previously On Faiz with almost no editing!

Welcome to the club Kamen Rider Die. The I-Saw-The-Faiz-Hyper Battle Video-And-It-Was-Glorious-Club. :lolol

It's all been leading up to this, all hundreds of hours of Kamen Rider I've watched, and it was worth it.

As one internet commenter put it, “Takumi’s Brain scares me.”

-He didn't put Kaixa in his dream because he subconsciously knows that Kaixa doesn't belong!

-He doesn't know what Smart Brain is or how it works or what its plans are, so he just gave them a vague World Domination scheme!

-He can't communicate with his friends the way he wants to, he feels like they don't really hear him, so he wins the day with a machine that's all about being loud!

Pretty much everything about Takumi is in this HBV.

Yeah, probably Takumi's claim of Kusaka-like Orphnoch hatred can be his usual outwardly asshole ways, though I got caught off guard more with his claim regarding Orphnochs. Probably because of him forcing Mari and Keitaro to give up on people they like that are Orphnochs. For simple description to Kusaka, he's someone downright racist to Orphnochs.

To me it's not how Kusaka's villainous but, the way he acts in his villainy.... so (my country's) soap opera-y! Not all villains act like Kusaka. But there's something not good with Takumi here yeah. For all the crap he gives to other people.... he's more lenient to Kusaka here, even compared to Yuji, probably only because Kusaka turned what happened into his advantage, with Kusaka holding the Faiz belt to give to Takumi, successfully deceiving him.

You mean that Sawada is someone who's like the arc done to the Orphnoch Trio? The thing is Sawada is actually villainous, even if he has to grumble inside himself about his humanity, unlike them (Kaido's an asshole but not a bad guy). Kusaka is a yandere, obviously he gotta fear Mari redeeming Sawada, and have him got in his way to possess Mari. While Sawada is an another case of feelings to her, Kusaka goes downright destructive on any implication of anyone taking Mari, like, just conversing or standing next to her. Kusaka convincing Mari that Sawada is irredeemable now got some right points, but it's also partly to keep her away from him too.

Yeah, the blame doesn't go to Keitaro or Kaido, but obviously to Takumi and Yuji themselves with their issues (actually, it's obviously Kusaka). It's also probably coming from Kaido who is the one misinterpreting/misremembered the message but Keitaro was all just catching what he tries to say. Keitaro claims that he wants to live powerfully, I wonder what's the definition of powerful to him. O̶r̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶a̶t̶t̶e̶n̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶t̶e̶s̶t̶s̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶T̶a̶k̶k̶u̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶K̶u̶s̶a̶k̶a̶ ̶(̶I̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶ ̶o̶b̶v̶i̶o̶u̶s̶l̶y̶!̶ ̶K̶u̶s̶a̶k̶a̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶o̶i̶c̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶n̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶K̶e̶i̶t̶a̶r̶o̶)̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶r̶e̶.̶ True, this is the part people got problems with for "misunderstandings" or "miscommunications", but I generally say less about plot qualities ("good/bad", like that), because it's arguable for everything, if that's a writing flaw, or intended character flaws.

Takuma suddenly forgetting who asks for the handshake?! Also Kitazaki doesn't specify about how long they must do the handshake so that can be used to talk back. I wonder what will happen to Orphnochs that is dusted by Kitazaki later, Takuma lost his hand, but as I've said before, it proceeded much slower on Orphnochs than humans so I guess Kitazaki's ability to turn things into ash also depends on the strength of something he touched? And I wonder if the more force Kitazaki gives in his touches (like for example, punching), his ability will be even more dangerous.

But are you ignoring Mari pushing Sawada away from Kaixa's Gold Smash?

Yeah, I think "racist against Orphnochs" is maybe a great way of putting it.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 32

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz32a.png

--1--

Not really sure why this one didn't do it for me. It's got some interesting ideas behind it, for sure. There's a few really fun ideas about how best to open yourself up to people while still protecting yourself. But, man, a messy episode to explore those ideas.

--2--

And, yeah, that's why it didn't work for me. Glad I wrote that paragraph! It's too messy of an episode.

Like, the core threads, the Mari/Sawada and Takumi/Yuuji stuff, yes. The idea of Sawada feeling conflicted about his nature and choosing to snuff out his humanity, that's a perfect story to tell while Takumi's trying to find a reason to patch things up with Yuuji.

And it plays out great, too, with Takumi trying to listen to opposing points of view, to let people explain themselves. I always love when a Kamen Rider wants to hear from a monster instead of just fighting, and the why of that is so present in this story. Takumi needs Sawada to make a case for amnesty. He wants Sawada to convince him. He's ready to fight, but he'd prefer not to. It's optimism, tempered with pragmatism.

But then it all goes sideways, with Sawada brutally attacking Mari, trying to close that door and embrace evil. It's a scene that's a little hard to watch. There's the physical violence, sure, but there's also Mari's confusion and despair. It's tough to see someone get their hopes crushed, even if we're very much in a Hopes Crushed phase of Faiz.

--3--

All of the Sawada/Mari stuff, it's really there to add more complications to what Takumi and Yuuji are dealing with. Well, mostly Takumi. He's trying to decide if he should view all Orphnochs as enemies, and Sawada makes that sort-of an easy Yes.

Once again, I like that Kusaka's shown to be right in this situation. There's wanting to see the best in people, and then there's being reckless with your sympathy. Sawada killed two Ryusei School alumni, and had threatened Mari's life just a few days earlier. (Plus the dozens of kills to which Mari wasn't privy.) He's a member of Lucky Clover, the definitely evil Orphnoch group. He also just killed Saya, which was the reason Takumi was so conflicted about Orphnochs in the first goddamn place. It is literally the thing that started this storyline. Like, this was straight-up a bad call by Takumi. Sawada should've been given a wide berth, not a clandestine meeting.

(I mean, I'm okay with it on a storytelling level. Takumi was letting his desire to patch things up with Yuuji maybe cloud his judgment here, and Mari was 100% not taking no for an answer. Kusaka tried to help!)

For Yuuji, he gets his answer from Takumi through Kaido and Keitaro, which is naturally garbled. Takumi's "I was a fool to trust you" comes back as "Fool." It's heartbreaking, to Yuuji. Someone he trusted is laughing at him.

It gets worse (trademark Faiz) when Yuuji sees what's happened to Mari.

Holy shit, Kusaka lying to Yuuji and blaming Takumi. Highlight of the episode, by the way. It's not just that Kusaka lies to Yuuji about what happened to Mari, claiming it's Takumi who attacked her. It's that he leverages Takumi's guilt, so when Yuuji asks Takumi if he's the reason Mari's injured, Takumi says yes. It's so goddamn clever of Kusaka.

Honestly, man, all issues I had with this episode aside, it's a great continuation of Yuuji and Takumi's dissolution. It's these little decisions, little recriminations, that keep pulling them apart. That stuff came out great.

--4--

It's just, man, a really distracted episode.

Like, prime example, Mari's beating at the pier. Huge, emotional moment. Mari, bloodied, watches the symbol of her friendship with Sawada burn as she passes out. Next scene, Kaido and Keitaro are having an adventure in the city!

Tonally, it's an insane swerve. There's a reason it's in the episode, it's more about the innate humanity of Team Orphnoch, but it's a massively distracting shift.

At least that scene has a reason to be in this episode, because, I love Houjou, but what in the hell was that Delta scene doing here? The only Lucky Clover stuff that works in this episode is the Kageyama scene, because it's directly supporting the key plotline of the episode. The Houjou and Kitazaki scene, it's like they're filling a quota. It doesn't do anything for the main plots in this episode, and it doesn't do anything to set up another plot. It's just a wacky scene of Houjou and Kitazaki's rivalry, but it's got no reason to be here.

--5--

There's a real lack of discipline to this episode. There are some smart ideas, and good scenes, but it's just not structured in a way that feels right. Too many side plots, maybe? (I don't know that you needed the Keitaro and Kaido stuff, even if it fit in thematically.)

And yet, I'm not sure that what works in this episode is enough for a full installment? The Yuuji and Takumi stuff is good background material, and it's about the two main characters. But the Sawada stuff, maybe it didn't need to be two episodes as the main-ish plot? Maybe it's too thin? It doesn't help that Sawada's been around for only a couple three episodes before we're supposed to feel for his plight.

I don't know. I liked what this episode was saying, but I didn't really love how it said it.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz32b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz32c.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz32d.png

You have to respect Kusaka's devotion to being a complete dick. Mari, the woman he wants to be his mother/look at him, is lying in a hospital bed, seriously injured, and Kusaka is still focused enough to pit Takumi and Yuuji against each other. That is dedication.

He is a very fastidious schemer! He uses every part of the tragedy!

Of course Kusaka still has his head in the game! He's not some sloppy, overly emotional idiot, like that horrible monster Inui!

In all seriousness, one thing I really love about Kusaka's lies in this part of the show especially is how, and I'm pretty sure this a real thing emotionally manipulative people do, he likes to tinge his falsehoods with bits of truth. Was Mari attacked by Takumi? Absolutely not. Was her getting attacked his fault? Debatable! Same thing with him brushing off trying to murder the s*** out of Yuuji by telling him that whole thing was just part of a plan to destroy Smart Brain from the inside. This is why I say he seems to believe everything he says the second it leaves his mouth. Past events always exist to whatever level is most convenient for him at that particular moment. Sometimes it feels like he's deluding himself as much as his victims.

A couple translation cop notes for this one, by the way, and what do you know, they're both from Kusaka, during his conversation with Takumi early in the episode:

- "...it seems you're quite interested in my past. I'm not going to tell you anything about myself." is "You seem to be pretty interested in my past, but you never talk about yourself." Part of the actual thing Kusaka is doing here still survives in the next few lines, but Kusaka's jerk move here isn't merely stubbornly refusing to give information. What he's actually doing is trying to posit that Takumi is the REALLY suspicious one, which is just so much more Kusaka.

- Unfortunately, the part of this that made it in is still messed up. The "about that house" bit is complete nonsense, and a result of TV-N not being able to figure out what sono uchi meant. The full line is something like "I'd really like to hear about it someday. About your past."

By the way, Die, I'm amazed by the restraint you had not to make one of the screencaps for this one Kusaka saying "It's a terrible story." Refusing solid gold like that is how I know you really do like this show!

The Kaido/Keitaro stuff... is it the fire incident? Yeah that one may seem random, but it'd be quite important later on.

I don't mind the distracted feel of this particular episode, because Faiz has long established itself as a more character-driven show than a plot-driven one. I think it's worth it even with the risk of awkward transitioning/tonal dissonance, just to keep having the relatively balanced amount of character focus without forcing all of them to be involved in the same plot. Also, I think this is usually the point where the non-transforming/non-fighting supporting character started to really become obsolete and a non-factor in the grand scheme of things, so I appreciate that they constantly have new separate stuff to do for Keitaro (who, bless his heart, I have a hard time imagining would contribute much to the current Plot A besides the usual "TAKKUN, ORPHNOCH!!").

Eventually, the threads tend to converge at some point, though it'd naturally feel disjointed if you evaluate them on individual basis. I do think that early in the show, it did a much better job transitioning/juggling several plot threads than at this point, but obviously it's easier to do so when the stakes are lower and there were fewer number of characters.

Not to spoil anything, but the next episode’s title has “shin” in it.

FYI Sawada/Spider Orphnoch is played by big-time actor Gou Ayano, and this show was his debut work. He has been doing all sorts of roles post-Faiz and around early 2010s he just kinda had a big break as an actor and has been doing well ever since.

Yeah, I think he lies in a very tactical way, making sure that what he's saying is tailored to his target. I said it before, but I think it's awesome how how he lies to spark suspicion, and then his target fills in the blanks. It's very advanced assholery!

Thanks! This exchange makes a lot more sense now. I... geniunely didn't know if I'd forgotten a scene with Takumi's Mystery House. Phew!

The problem I think this episode has, as I've thought more about it, is what stories these plots are serving. The A-plot is Mari and Sawada, but the focus pivots from Mari, a character we're (hopefully) fully invested in, to Sawada, someone who's brand-new and part of the villain group. That makes the A-plot feel so much less compelling to me, since it's not really about Mari's arc anymore. She's fully committed to Sawada's redemption, then she's betrayed. We don't even get to see her reaction to being betrayed! The story's entirely about Sawada, and his choices.

Worse, that A-plot is pretty much only there to provide a viewpoint for the B-plot, which is the Takumi and Yuuji plot. Sawada's decision-making is important because of how it affects Takumi's feelings for Yuuji, and vice versa. The entire A-plot exists to support the B-plot, which... not a great way to construct a story!

For me, this episode is built around character-driven storytelling, it's just applied in a way that makes elements feel more hollow than I'd like.

Shin Godzilla in Episode 33, confirmed!

He's pretty good in this one! I can see why he'd do well in his career.

Takumi made a fatal error in trusting Sawada to take care of Mari. Between feeling betrayed by Kiba and seeing the consequence of his misguided judgement with Sawada, a complete stranger to him, he's starting to lose his faith in the humanity of Orphenochs. He also blames himself, due to his lack of self-confidence, for letting them deceive him. It's partially his fault, this time wasn't caused by inaction, he consciously made a decision and it was wrong. However, his guilt is excessive which is typical of his personality. He can't see past his mistake and he's determined to atone for it.

He's convinced that Orphenochs will eventually turn bad and should be destroyed, starting with Kiba, who conveniently wants to beat him up for attacking Mari, as Kusaka misled him to believe. You can see that as much as Takumi judges himself, he refuses to be judged by who he considers some heartless Orphenoch. He immediately turns hostile towards Kiba. These events have shaped him in to become a more indiscriminate killer of Orphenochs like Kusaka and it's not a good place for him right now.

Kusaka is such a talented manipulator! Even with Mari in her critical condition, he still finds something to salvage from the worst case scenario to continue his schemes. It's diabolical, but hard not be impressed.

Building his elaborate web of lies on a foundation of truth is what makes them so verifiable. He knows Takumi feels guilty for what happened to Mari, so he twists the truth to make him look worse and the rest takes care of itself. However, I don't think he's completely deluded by his fantasies, although he definitely has a warped narrative of himself and other people. He needs a grip on reality so he can remind himself that Sawada is the guy he wants to kill the most. Having Takumi scapegoat himself is just a bonus. His manipulation isn't without reason after all.

"Shisu", to be specific. "[insert name here] Shisu" is another one of those Inoue-isms. If my recollection is correct, next episode is the 4th written by him to have such a title.

Fiveman Episode 32

Jetman Episode 18

Die should be familiar with this one from Agito:

Agito Episode 27

If I missed one, let me know.

Oh okay, I see it now. About Mari in particular, I honestly felt at this point she's a shell of the super interesting, fun, girl we saw in the first few episodes. The whole Ryusei plot should've revolved around her and build up her character, and yet it felt like she's only there to provide sad/anguished reaction faces (sometimes not even that!). As I said, Faiz is still pretty good at making sure every major character gets plenty of screen time... so we saw a lot of her, but not enough about her. And it feels like she's increasingly fallen to the trappings typical to character of her ilk, namely she's primarily there to serve as the male characters' development and point of conflict.

Man, what is it about Faiz where all these actors in it either had notable roles prior, or went on to have major roles after? I'm not imagining this, right? This kind of trivia is there for most shows, but it seems like Faiz has a neat casting choice like this every few episodes.

During my rewatch, I remember feeling like the acting in Faiz was a slight cut above its contemporaries, but between all the experienced talent and rising stars, I guess there was a good reason for that.

Ah, yes, Kusaka's favorite class back at college! :p

Man, I know you don't truck with Showa, but I'm still legitimately sad that this was the "Shin" your brain went to in a thread about Kamen Rider.

Given his start, I'm surprised his brain didn't go to a certain someone else...

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/71/84/13/7...6ea1d2aa8c.jpg

I think I might interpret it a little differently.

Takumi's guilt is maybe pretty justified? He made a few bad decisions, and his friend got hospitalized because of it. Sawada was a bad dude, with plenty of evidence to support that view. Takumi wanted him to be not a bad dude, because that'd mean Yuuji wasn't a bad dude. So Takumi went in wanting to be swayed, and that got a friend seriously hurt.

So when Yuuji shows up blaming him, I think there's a part that wants to punish Yuuji because he couldn't punish Sawada. But I think there's a part of Takumi that wants to be punished. He messed up, and he needs to pay for that. If that means he gets beat up by someone he hates, all the better for his penance.

I'd agree with you for the most part about how the Ryusei School stuff fails Mari. I think that the few before this really worked, though, the end of the Delta Reveal arc. Those ones, they really put the spotlight on how Mari was dealing with all of it. Here, it's back to being about some other character. Not a great choice?

Yeah. I know this is going to sound obvious, but I haven't seen anyone terrible get invited back to another Rider show. (You'd think it'd only be good people coming back, but that is not always true!) But, universally, the folks who show back up are all great. Terrific casting direction for this franchise.

Fish's post was at the end of Page 58, and I'm like, "Oh, shit, Shin Kuroto Dan, shoulda gone with that one." And then on the next page.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 33

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz33a.png

--1--

hey guess who's back

UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH

--2--

So, yeah, the Ryusei School alumni. Jesus.

It's not worth rehashing all the ways the Ryusei School storyline disappoints, but in the interest of new content, let me add one more way the Ryusei School storyline disappoints.

Its main problem is that it's a huge, important, convoluted plotline that doesn't involve Takumi at all. He's friends with Mari, and he (on a good day) grudgingly tolerates Kusaka, but there's nothing in this whole Ryusei School story for him. He's constantly outside of it, asking questions but emotionally unconcerned. Worse, the few times that he tries to involve himself, to get the goddamn star of the show involved in the A-plot for an episode, he's rebuffed by these unwelcome guest stars.

If you're ever going to do a plot like this on Kamen Rider, it has to emotionally connect with the hero. It has to. When you do it like this, where it's a glorified subplot that just blots out every other story (this episode starts with Yuuji and Takumi battling in a grudge match and then has no time to deal with it!), it feels intrusive and distracting. It's a story about nobodies that gets more time and attention than the star of the show.

Just, it's such a dumb way to anchor the Ryusei School stuff. So dumb.

--3--

But, y'know, fine, it's here, let's talk about it.

The Ryusei School alumni ("Go Meteors!”) have gathered to visit Mari in the hospital, as she lays dying from Sawada's attack. They mostly end up more useless than normal, a shadow made of four humans that follows Kusaka around, but there's one part I loved. There's one dude who, right away, wants to bail. He's got work, and she's in a coma, so maybe he should just split, if everyone's cool with that. One dude blows up at him, accusing him of being heartless in abandoning Mari. But he's just like, I Did Not Sign Up For This To Be My Life. And I get that! That is a real human emotion to have about all of this!

I love the idea of how the Ryusei School alumni seem to this one alumnus. He got a job, he's building a life, and these assholes keep dragging him back into Belts and Gear and Orphnochs and then this one girl he hasn't seen in years is in a coma now? And he's got inventory on Monday, and he was going to take his car in for an oil change today, and, like, no. You guys.

The other students are like those high-drama high school friends you had who think you're still friends, while you're living an adult life and trying to escape their depressing gravity. This guy, I kind-of wish we could follow him more. But, I mean, he's almost definitely going to get killed next episode?

--4--

The rest of the plot, I'm straining to remember. This one was... not a great episode.

The Takumi/Yuuji stuff, despite an awesome intro, gets such short shrift it is criminal. They fight to a draw, which frustrates Kitazaki so much that he gives up the Delta Gear to Sawada, who views it as a crutch and gives it up to Kusaka. Meanwhile, Takumi once again feels so trapped by indecision and guilt (can't kill Yuuji, can't get killed by Yuuji) that he gives up the Faiz Gear to Keitaro, who can't use it so he gives it up to Kusaka.

Kusaka has every belt at the end of this episode, and he mostly got them because everybody else thinks they're lame.

This episode 75% didn't work for me, but that being how the Belts are treated? I love it. It's the ultimate Faiz thing, no one giving a shit about the main weapons of the show. (Houjou is so furious when he thinks Kitazaki threw the Delta Gear away, since they were killing themselves to get it!) It's such a fun, backwards way of moving pieces around, having it all happen through apathy and boredom rather than concerted effort. Brilliant.

--5--

Besides that, though (and Kaido's hilarious moment), yeah, god, no way this one was going to work with so much of it being about Kusaka and the Ryusei School alumni. And, it's in-character, but I was getting a little sick of how much Takumi gets frozen out of the goddamn A-plot of the show. It's probably supposed to feel motivating for him, how much Kusaka is sneering at his weakness, but I found it sort-of infuriating. There's a point where I wanted to scream JESUS CHRIST KUSAKA I'M PRETTY SURE THE NAME OF THE SHOW IS STILL KAMEN RIDER FAIZ, YOU GIGANTIC SON OF A BITCH, MAYBE YOU CAN LET HIM BE A PART OF YOUR STUPID-ASS PLOT?!

That level of frustration.. I don't know if that's what the producers intended. Feels like maybe not! Am I alone on this one?

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So... what's the problem here? This is a bait and tragedy part a story has. And as you said, Faiz does this regularly. But yeah to have a monster that can be reasoned with, you have to make the monsters originate from humans with their innate humanity. While Sawada was conflicting before this happened, how about every other Orphnochs who functions completely like MOTWs?

I agree that this is clever for Kusaka to make the best use of the situation. Knowing that Takumi blames himself for what happened to Mari, Kusaka just twists the truth around to Yuji to tell Takumi directly does that, instead of indirectly. Kusaka was in the right one this time yeah, though I'm not into that (or at least, not into glorifying that, anyone can make right points), partly for his personal reasons like racism to Orphnochs (he also pulls this before to Yuji for Takumi) or Sawada threatening Mari. Also for Lucky Clover, probably it's not indicating pure evil, as if you kill even evil humans, you at least aren't branded as traitor by them, and is still appropriate to their way of living.... or like Kusaka, joining them for other agendas. And for Sawada, there's an indication of this previously with him defying other Lucky Clover also for Takumi and Mari, the act of that and saving her (and to us, him thinking like Kusaka, Mari can bring back his humanity, they really baited us too).

So all about Sawada burning origami foldings before he started his murder spree was his attempt to get rid of his humanity. Was Kaido's stronger resistance to the fire that he's forced to carry both Keitaro and the kid attributed to his Orphnoch body? I probably think that you just lumped the Delta scene here together for problems... I mean it's a new breed of Takuma and Kitazaki rivalry, him doing new stuff like trying to steal Delta belt. And also the first showings of Dragon Orphnoch.

Yep. Ray Fujita went on to be Rei/Zero in GARO, Mitsuru Karahashi went on to portray Juzo, Takeru/Shinken Red's nemesis in Shinkenger, Yuria Haga went on to portray a pivotal role in Kiva, Kento Handa who played Takumi became a well known celebrity himself especially after he started showing off how much of a retro Japanese music geek he is, and Kouhei Murakami went on to be Kaixabird, the best bird of all of super sentai in Zyuohger. :lolol
Seriously though, it was fun to see Kouhei play a polar opposite to Kusaka.

I mean, some real-life people are not super-introspective? For every new Orphnoch who wrings their hands at their place in the cosmos, or who wonders aloud if they still have a soul, there're going to be Orphnochs who are just like Yep Kill All Humans Got It. Some folks are okay doing their assigned task and not thinking too hard about why!

Yeah, I assume that Kaido's physiology allowed him to survive the fire in a way that Keitaro couldn't.

For the Delta stuff in that episode, it just doesn't have any point, other than being funny. They'd had conflicts before, this wasn't really different enough to feel like an escalation. It doesn't tell us anything new, it doesn't alter the dynamic, and it doesn't pay anything off. It's total filler.

So much about your reaction to this episode makes me giggle but I won't say why.

Anyhow, I'm all for the way Faiz subverts many expectations of how these merchandise-driven superhero shows should be, the way big toys are just tossed around or discarded, or how the protagonist takes a backseat. But sometimes when nothing particularly good comes out of those decisions (like everything in this episode if you ask me), then I start to think the show is just doing umconventional things entirely for the sake of being uncoventional, instead of for the sake of the story.

Admittedly, part of why I'm saying that is because I know ahead of time how some of these plotlines resolve (or how they don't), but maybe that's just a personal issue, like I'm not focusing on the present entertaiment enough and just thinking solely about how it'll pay off.

I mean, look, there are definitely ways we could find out new info about Takumi or Kusaka or Mari that'd tie all of this together and create real personal stakes for Takumi. Sure! But boy does that not help me right now. Right now, I've got Kusaka telling Takumi to stay out of it, I've got a whole lot of the action hinging on how the Ryusei School alumni feel about Sawada, and I've got all of Team Orphnoch confined to half a fight and one funny scene.

I really hope there's a point in the future where all I remember is how great this plot ended. I want to go to there!

All I want to say now is, Open Your Eyes for the Next Faiz, Die.

(*but yeah, this is what I alluded to several pages back when I said Faiz has great characters that often end up being misused and led to a lot of frustrating moments. My frustration with Faiz was really not about not being able to connect with the characters (I love these kids from the start!), or even the misunderstandings (I can tolerate and justify some of them); it's when... the A-plot happens).

I'm glad I've somehow provided a cliffhanger to this thread!

It's an Inoue weakness, I think, where maybe he doesn't know which is the right story to focus on? I mean, I get that he seems really keen to tell stories about groups of teenagers who are trying to deal with new forms of life and powers and getting murdered and not trusting outsiders and secret histories that only they share. It's... I mean, I've seen Agito, you know? But it's frustrating when he seems willing to briefly ignore all of the hard work he did over the last three dozen episodes to spend an installment with more random Ryusei dillholes. To see this show squander so much momentum... I know it can do better. I'm not angry, I'm disappointed.

The dude doing the full Dante Hicks "I'm not even supposed to be here today!" routine is played by Atsushi Harada, one of the rare Faiz actors to have a notable tokusatsu role before Faiz. In this case he was the Green Ranger on 1999's GoGoV, the show that was ported over to the US as Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue.

Sadly, here's where the plot gets a little bit iffy. Hope the next couple of episodes do something to shake things up a bit.

Here comes my first Delta nitpick. Something that I found really annoying about Kitazaki Delta was that he never seemed any more powerful when transformed than in his Orphnoch form. In fact, many of his OP abilities are sealed away, so he never actually feels like the threat he's supposed to be. And as per gun-wielding hero tropes, the Delta Blaster is either underused or rather nerfed when it is used. It's one thing if he were too OP as Delta and got bored of it, but that really wan't the case at all.

Hell yeah. Not only that, but I love how the belts aren't locked to a single person. This is kinda meta, but this is why the Faiz Gear are some of my favorite belts, along with the belts from W and Gaim. If you have the roleplay toys, it's actually within the realm of believability that you'd be able to wear them and use them.

Also, if I remember correctly, this is the only time when we see all three belts together, being owned by one person. Don't mind me bragging, but while it took quite a bit of time and effort, I finally managed to recreate that scene with my CSM collection and replica cases!

Reading so many parts of that overview was... really amusing. Looking forward to your reaction on future episodes.

Given that Kitazaki gave up the Delta Gear in the same episode that new guy Mihara appears, you can see where this is going.

As I promised back when Kusaka debuted (I’m too lazy to quote myself) and because you’ve already had Harada’s previous major role explained to you, here’s the second part of that compilation. https://youtu.be/uI8nEnrSUaU

And since Kento Handa’s over Tokusatsu role is in neither of those videos, I’ll tell you he was the top third of this robot https://youtu.be/w43OQpL8zVQ

Ps. I told you the title of this episode included “Shin”, because one of its meanings is “death”. I was playing around with the intricacies of the Japanese language.

Could you not keep hinting at events that haven't happened yet? I myself might accidentally speak too much on occasion due to foresight, but you're just giving away future plot points for no reason.

Why.

Somehow, in an episode titled "Mari Dies", Die finds absolutely nothing to say about Mari's death....

HUH?!

Androzani84 and I were looking forward to your reaction. :(

You're actually not too far from the truth. Takumi wasn't quite at the "I want to be punished by my arch enemy" stage then, but now he's not just responsible for putting Mari in a hospital, he's responsible for putting her in an early grave and it doesn't get much worse than that. Imagine how vexed Kusaka's going to be when he finds out.

I think we interpreted it mostly the same way, except my take is that Takumi's change of mind is something that happened gradually from wanting to punish Kiba for deceiving him to wanting to be punished. He saw Mari die in front of him and there was nothing he could do about it. That was the trigger. He didn't just screw up, he failed his purpose as Faiz and that takes his self-loathing to a whole new level where his hatred for himself surpasses his hatred for Kiba, even giving up on being Faiz since he feels unworthy of it.

I said Takumi's guilt was excessive since his attempt to redeem Sawada wouldn't have been so reckless if only Kusaka hadn't intervened in his friendship with Kiba, screwing up his whole opinion of Orphenochs in the process. Kusaka can't see it but he's indirectly responsible for Mari's death by catalyzing Takumi's change in behavior. It's good that Takumi accepts the blame for his role in her death but the problem is how he deals with his guilt. He mopes, beats himself up and gives up on being Faiz and none of that punishment is helpful to anybody, least of all himself.

It was so weird watching GoGo V after Faiz (both of which have 555 in the name!) and being surprised by how autonomous, confident and un-Mihara-like Shou was compared to Mihara! It's like the difference between Smart Lady and Shimada. I'm also surprised that you find Mihara so remarkable. Or perhaps it's just remarkable how unremarkable he is compared to virtually everybody else in this show, almost like he doesn't belong. He's definitely some kind of average guy for sure.

Kusaka really lucked out here, getting all three Gears given to him on a silver platter since nobody wanted them. It's such a turnaround from the Delta arc where everybody wanted to be Delta and now Kitazaki's like "meh" after Takumi and Kiba don't let him play with them and he gives it up just like that. Shows how lame and small-minded those Ryusei School guys were for making such a big deal out of it.

It wasn't even "Shin" in the title. It was "Shisu". The joke about Shin Dan Kuroto Kami-sama was all for naught!

Look on the bright side! It is never a waste to reference our divine game-master.

Neat!

That dude really finds some honesty in his performance, and it's the best thing about the Ryusei School story. I'm so incredibly into the thought of one guy feeling shackled to these other orphans he grew up with. It's bad enough he had to spend his childhood in a mysterious school for mysterious orphans. Does he seriously have to squander his adulthood with the same group, now that they've graduated to full-on sacrificial combat? It's a great time to have other plans!

I feel like it's the other way around, where Kitazaki felt too-overpowered as an Orphnoch, so he became Delta to have more of a challenge and get the other Riders' attention. (Which, ha ha, man, making the most powerful, feared form on the show a handicap for an Orphnoch? Hilarious.) Now that Delta isn't even getting to fight, he's fine giving it away.

Wow! Congrats! I hope they were all given to you by people who fought hard to obtain them but then didn't care anymore.

I'm glad to get this stuff down before everything changes. I like, I don't know, preserving that moment right before a reveal. (It definitely seems like one is imminent, from the chatter.) I hope that's fun for other people to read?

I mean, I guess I can now!

Sorry to disappoint! My reaction was mostly that it was a a cliffhanger that I felt like would be resolved in the next episode with Mari not being dead. It's not a development I feel is more than a one or two episode blip, so it didn't do much for me.

If it turns out that she's 100% forever dead... I don't love it? There's the obvious trope of Now All These Men Are Upset of it all, but more than that, I don't know that I like it as the end of Mari's story. Her dying because she trusted Sawada and wanted to see the best in him is... it doesn't feel like where 30 episodes of Faiz were building up to?

So, yeah, felt like the middle of the story, not the end, so I wanted to wait to talk about it.

The thing I liked about Takumi in this episode is how established his behavior is at times of crisis, and that is to quit. When people turn on him, when he feels responsible for tragedy, he internalizes all of that judgment and gives up. To quote Achewood, Takumi "folded with a focus and intensity normally seen only in successes." There's something so pure about that, to me. That, as much as Takumi has grown and changed through the show, he's still got the reflex to give up that he did before the show began. He still inherently sees himself as what's wrong with a group, and his version of protecting his friends is limiting their exposure to him.

That's... actually rather brilliant. Never thought of it that way! (^.^') Still, I really wished Delta lived up to its initial hype.

I average about one good observation every thread, so I'm glad you found it useful! But, yeah, they hyped the shit out of Delta and then he's swatted aside during that Faiz/Horsepower fight.

It's weirdly common for Kamen Rider, though. So many new forms or upgrades or Riders are introduced as None More Powerful, and then a handful of episodes later they can't keep up with the monsters. Usually it's power creep, but here it's just like the show decided Delta being powerful was dumb, so they ignored it.