I just realized, isn’t Inoue influenced by Showa rider when writing his series? Is that true?

Yeah, I guess I must’ve ignored the abuse undertones. Moving on...

Prawn Fangire

True name: The Candlestick and the Compass Promise a Party (燭台と方位磁石が契る宴 Shokudai to Hōijishaku ga Chigiru Utage)

Human identity: Count Inukai

Class: Aqua

Rank: Pawn

Actors: Sakaki

And the first thing I remember from this two-parter: It’s not actually something in the episodes, but a fun thing Tv-Nihon did with a scene of Megumi with a fish in her mouth. Namely, captioning it “Remember kids, don’t talk with food in your mouth. People won’t understand what you say. Yo Joe!”

Of course not to Wataru, but like before regarding Otoya, I also worry about the audience wishing the story (Wataru) to be turned that way, and act as it's completely ok and fully heroic for him to only care about loved ones (and I get this vibe from yours too to lump Otoya's part of story as empathy and non-selfishness) and ignore the rest. I really want for KR to convey the message that "irrelevant nameless nobodies" and strangers are people too, and that heroism isn't only about saving people.

And processing art also means people shouldn't limit how others express and create their work (doesn't mean no giving any tips), like preventing others making something that isn't suitable to their preference, and encouraging others to make things only that suit their taste by "this is what I want for..."

Now here... if the term bickering is usually refered as gentle-ribbing between allies, the spat between Megumi and Nago, is clearly not about friendship that acts like bitter enemies outwardly. They're in clear dispute and friction, mostly in Nago's side for showing sexism to her. Neutrality is something a straight hero should display between this to not focusing on giving benefit to only 1 side, make it balanced. And well, the hate of Wataru here, is something I talk about regarding others who fully hate before, about his "weaknesses" (timid and socially-awkward) for a main hero role, and you didn't do it fully towards anyone with this (and has mixed concern to Wataru), but this is still a hate shown for ordinary flaws (naivety, misplaced trust, etc.) where people give passes to dark flaws (greedy, violent, etc.), which is double standard-y to me, especially for the cries of giving characters flaws to make them believable. And don't want to give the implications that people like Wataru deserve the misery like bullying and ostracization they got (I know you also said to want to save Wataru too, but still this is common for fandom to only throw hate to this type of character), and other than that (for you claiming this part isn't dull), the hate of boring and dull can also play a part in this too. Otherwise story wise, of course Nago is the Kusaka, so he'll be charismatic and charming enough to manipulate others, and be successful in doing it, along with Inoue's miscommunication.

Though it's maybe hard to deal with Wataru here, it's expected, because Wataru is a doormat, not even someone like Nago, a regular newspaper scout also had Wataru easily swayed. Though still, sense of despair, grittiness, realism, evoking those feelings in stories can be good (though can backfire, everything can) to introduce which shouldn't be used as an example, though of course too much of this (and more again, if it's needlessly added) will turn this to edgy instead, where Inoue frequently veers to edgy territory. It seems that although the children of divorce aspect here is on the later planned date part for Megumi to Wataru where Nago intervenes and turns it into "investigation" instead, but there are actual spat not based on that earlier which is based on Nago's ego and sexism. Other than that, Shizuka seems to play a part in taking Wataru's phone and disrupting his conversations with others. Jiro's bad side is revealed here.

Nothing about this stayed in my long term memory, so it felt like a completely new experience. I do enjoy the double act of Megumi and Nago, but it is slightly dampened by the fact that you're absolutely right about Nago being an abusive jerk and the behavior becomes much worse when he's paired with Wataru. Megumi, at least, refuses to take Nago's shit, but Wataru just stands there and accepts it like a complete doormat.

This is part of why I've never really liked Wataru. He's passive and reactionary in ways that make him a complete pushover for anyone with a stronger force of personality. He knows it, too, but his response is usually to sulk in his tub instead of trying to stand up for himself. I always compare him unfavorably to Ryotaro, who also had more of a weenie exterior but had a strong core of resolve and inner strength underneath it. Wataru often comes across to me as weenie all the way down. Not always, but often enough that it tends to frustrate me.

In any case, I'm looking forward to the next episode. It has what is, to me, the single most quintessentially Kiva moment in the entire series.

I think it does that! A lot! Kiva alone just had a plot where Wataru tried to improve the lives of two strangers his dad screwed over decades earlier. I mean, they got killed by a Fangire, but Wataru was still working on their behalf.

I don't really see Kamen Rider as a franchise that values saving people over improving lives? I mean, the whole Heisei era is living in the shadow of Protecting People's Smiles, and that comes from a show about the horrible cost of violence. I don't think you need to worry about Kamen Rider forgetting about the innocents!

The hope is that this chapter is just to get him to a place where he's able to push back against Nago's manipulation, but, yeah. Wataru is so incredibly sweet that he's able to be strong-armed by someone as self-involved and controlling as Nago, which is as heartbreaking as it is infuriating.

A lot of it... it's that this story has no one looking out for Wataru. It should be Megumi, but she's so wrapped up in her rivalry with Nago that she can't really see how this is hurting Wataru. Again, this is a story that's probably going to land harder for kids of divorce, where the children become less important than Winning against an ex. It's part of the narrative that Wataru is being buffeted by Nago's iron grip and Megumi's hot temper.

So, I mean, I know what you're saying. I do not love seeing Wataru depressed in a bathtub! But there's an element of it feeling necessary to this story that... I don't know. I'm coming around a bit on it. It helps that I'm not experiencing it anymore, because that was rough. Definitely improves in the memory.

Wataru's problem is that he really needs someone caring and responsible to look out for him and help him out of his shell, but he's in a Toshiki Inoue series so those are in very short supply.

Well, Wataru's also in a franchise where All Dads Are Dead, so he's doubly-boned.

In a larger sense, though... I don't want to jump out to Big Proclamations after only seven episodes, but there's a feeling here that we're watching Inoue's take on Hibiki. Not Inoue trying to land Hibiki, but what Hibiki would've been if Inoue had created it. Kiva's a series that's devoted to how Wataru grows up, essentially. It's about how the forces in his life shape him into a man. In Hibiki, Asumu has one clear person to pattern himself after, because that's the type of show it was. With Kiva, Inoue is introducing a bunch of competing forces in Wataru's life, and Wataru is the eye of the storm.

So, like, it's not that Inoue hasn't written in someone who can nurture and guide Wataru. If anything, he's introducing a bunch of people who are offering to do that for different reasons (some good, some Nago), and it's Wataru's journey to figure out what he can learn from those people.

That’s a pretty good take on it. I also feel that if Inoue had more of a hand in creating Hibiki, some of the other Oni would’ve had larger roles than showing up purely to remind us they exist. Or at least, the novel version would do that, since novels based on Inoue’s shows tend to do that. (Kiva’s novel, among other changes, makes Shizuka a key part of the plot).

Probably, yeah. There's still plenty of It Takes A Village stuff in Hibiki, but the main relationship is just Hibiki+Asumu. Even when Asumu's off having an isolated adventure, the Hibiki scenes are there to put the harsh reality into a superhero context. Kiva is... way more Inoue, with motivations and metaphors that are darker and more subjective, and greater pitfalls for Wataru.