KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 37

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--1--

Okay, this one is way more of a plot episode.

My favorite part, though, is the further exploration of the difficulty and necessity of acceptance. Last episode put the spotlight on Mari and Keitaro, and how they weren't able to be the friend that Takumi deserved. This time, the spotlight swings back to Takumi. We're going from what happens when you can't accept a friend, to what happens if you aren't accepted.

It's... it isn't good. Takumi's tendency is always to blame himself, to endure the judgment of others. It's worse when he thinks of himself as responsible for a massacre at the Ryusei School reunion ("Run Meteors!"), but more on that later. For now, he can't really live with himself.

He so can't live with himself that he spends the episode's opening fight begging Faiz to kill him. Yuuji won't, so that makes Takumi run for the woods. (He is a wolf, after all.) After that, we get some small, but crucial, looks into Takumi's crumbling sense of self.

Murakami brings up in this episode, when the Lucky Clover is talking about how ill-suited Takumi is to be a member, that Orphnochs are at their most powerful when they shed their humanity. He says that Sawada couldn't shed his. But he says that Takumi has to shed his.

The thing that's killing Takumi isn't that he's an Orphnoch, it's that he can't be a human. His friends, accidentally or not, regretfully or not, have closed that door on him. When Mari calls, he tells her to forget him. When Yuuji calls (in just the loveliest scene, there's always so much warmth when Yuuji talks to Takumi), he asks how he can move forward. He's adrift. He can't find an answer that makes sense. His friends don't want him. Lucky Clover would be the death of his soul. He doesn't know what to do.

We got to see Takumi trying last episode to be worthy of being accepted. It didn't work. The people he trusted most viewed him as a threat. Now, the lack of acceptance calcifies in him, fills him with this unshakeable belief that he's wrong, that he's bad, that he doesn't deserve to feel at peace. It's the tragic consequence of being turned away. It's listening to people that are wrong, and believing they're right.

The parts of this episode that let that idea play out, that really allow Takumi to feel upended by his new isolation, it still works amazingly well.

--2--

It's just, that's not really the episode that got made? Hoo boy, there's a whole bunch of setup for the final run of the series shoved into this episode, and it is inelegant.

The Ryusei School reunion plot comes out the least worst, since it's the most tied in to what's going on. We get to see why Kusaka's always cleaning his hands (he's been cleaning off Mari's blood that he can't unsee), and we get Mari sharing her memories of the event with Kusaka. It ends up motivating Kusaka to try to do what Yuuji wouldn't, which is kill Takumi.

It's... I'm not that into it? The big problem is that we still don't have the full picture. I don't believe that Takumi just showed up and murdered a whole bunch of kids for no reason. Moreover, Kusaka is a very unreliable narrator at this point, since he's losing his goddamn mind (that crazed look when he tells Mari that he's fine!), so a lot of what he's "seeing" or "remembering", I don't a hundred percent buy it. So that leaves a lot of the big motivators of the story feeling indistinct, or slight. I get that Kusaka's swearing vengeance, and I get that Mari's traumatized, but the why of it feels so difficult to believe in or care about that it's... hollow? There's a hollowness to the plot, a space where the part that connects with the audience should be.

It leads to some good fights, that Kaixa/Wolfeyes fight is pretty brutal, but I'm mostly waiting for more information before I can start caring about it.

--3--

Speaking of waiting for more information, we get another check-in with Kaido, whose plot with the kid he saved inches forward.

It's funny stuff (holy shit, he does the Ichigo pose when he scares off those bullies), but it feels like we're just waiting for more to happen. It's cute, and I'm reluctant to ever call a Kaido comedy runner a waste, but it feels so weird to pull focus from the very very good Takumi stuff to do a couple scenes that are clearly just setting up some future story. (I mean, they've mentioned this kid in multiple episodes; I don't feel like I'm out on a limb here.) It's that Inoue thing of maybe not being disciplined enough with what plots get addressed when?

--4--

Like, holy shit, Soeno's back?! And it's connected to the orphaned kid? And all of the many, many explosions that have created (or nearly created) decades worth of orphans? It's sort-of hilarious that this show found time to include Soeno again, and that he comments on how irrelevant he is to anything, but... him?

I mean, where the hell is Yuka? Has she gotten anything more than a role supporting Kaido and/or asking Yuuji questions in the last ten episodes? She's in the credits of every episode and the show can't find anything for her to do, but we're back with Soeno?

And, did Kitazaki go back to his home planet or something? He gives the Delta Gear to Sawada and then, like, vanishes. He's not in any of the Lucky Clover scenes at the bar, and when Houjou attacks Takumi for failing to defeat Yuuji, he brings a completely new Orphnoch with him. (I get that Houjou wouldn't necessarily bring Kitazaki, but it's bonkers to bring a third Orphnoch to a Lucky Clover fight that isn't Kitazaki.) Where is the fourth member of the group?

That sort of stuff wouldn't bother me if this episode had spent more time on Takumi's story, or even Kusaka's story. (It sure as shit didn't bother me last episode!) But this one has time for all these subplots with background characters, but there's so many regulars we barely see. Even Keitaro's just in one small scene. Maybe he'd do better with the blonde hair again?

--5--

I probably sound like this episode was a disaster, but it really wasn't. The Takumi stuff alone makes it a must-watch. It's just, it's a little less tight than last episode, a little more sloppy. The Kusaka plot, honestly, it's a big Ask Again Later for me, and the other little plots are slightly frustrating for their inclusion while still being fun in the moment. (That Kaido scene, for real, so funny.) But the more they focus on the long, difficult road of valuing your own feelings and finding the strength to say to others that those feelings matter, it's still a good show.

At its worst, it's still got Houjou, you know?

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Answer the question, Die. Who's cuter!?

These stretch of episodes have been doing such a good job of making Takumi's situation feel dire and miserable. Or at least, I was very much rooting for him to finally get a break from the universe. There's so much time spent where he's without his gear and without his friends, it's like the whole world is topsy-turvy and inherently not right, but that's what makes it so engaging too.

This being Faiz and how it never seems to care about what people expect, I wonder if there were viewers, whether kids or adults, who started to wonder if maybe Takumi was never going to be Faiz again, if this was actually the new status quo?! After all, it's not like the opening credits care to ever change to reflect plot developments anyway.

There's more Yuka stuff coming. The return of the cops who were investigating her after ~20 episodes of absence is a sign that she's going to be moving back into focus again in the near future. Faiz is somewhat haphazard in its pacing and it has a lot of characters to juggle (we're at basically nine regulars, six recurring, and whatever the hell you consider Smart Lady at this point); the show does know where it's going, though, so you can get some foreshadowing like this.

I also want to add that I'm so happy to see the illuminated suit again, and with Kaixa getting that treatment, too. I'm sure they're much less durable than the standard action suits (plus they really only work well during more expensive night filming), but they look so goddamn good. It's a rare treat when they show up.

This is a somewhat pedantic bit of translation policing, but I feel like you'd appreciate the explanation.

So basically, it's not actually a translation error, but it's still a mistake.

Oh, for sure! The crazy thing is, I'm pretty sure this episode is the first time the show actually used either of those suits in the series? Part of my brain always wants to remember every scene of Faiz at night (like the first episode) having him all lit up, but I don't think it's actually the case.

Kaido doing the Ichigo pose (complete with SFX) is the one moment I remember above all else from this series.

HOUJOU. FOREVER HOUJOU. Truly, Kageyama's hesitation is her most villainous act to date.

I'm a superhero fan from way back, and there's always a special joy to seeing someone else in the suit for a minute. Falcon taking over as Captain America, Nightwing taking over as Batman... it's just fun to see how a different character would approach the role of Main Hero. So, this show, it's activating a lot of those parts of my brain, as multiple established characters get to show off what their version of Faiz is. I hope there were some kids in Japan who were equally excited!

I mean, some of my objection is just that the Takumi stuff is so compelling that any time the show cuts to another story, if that story isn't at least as compelling as the Takumi stuff, I'm going to be slightly frustrated.

But, I get it, they're setting up a bunch of endgame things. I just feel like maybe they should've let the Takumi stuff breathe for another episode or two.

It is pretty gorgeous, but all I can think is "That stunt guy has zero visibility."

Yeah, I read that weirdo line as that he'd disappeared from their observation, that they didn't know where he was. It's a bizarre translation!

My headcanon is that (like is sort-of established in Fourze) all of the Showa Riders are urban legends, and that Kaido is a huge nerd about them. As a kid growing up, he got obsessed with stories of Kamen Riders. He internalized all of that iconography, so when he had to be a hero to that orphan, his go-to was Ichigo. (Also, Yuuji and Yuka are thoroughly sick of him talking about Riderman.)

Another fun little theory is the idea that Smart Brain is just simply another evil organization controlled by the Great Leader. And being honest here I think Kaido knowing the Ichigo pose is Inoue paying respect to his dad. Masaru Igami a prolific writer for Showa Kamen Rider.

Oh, neat! Thanks for bringing that up!

Since Inoue is a pretty dramatic guy, the scene with Kusaka imagining Mari's blood on his hands could've been a reference to MacBeth.

So yeah, it definitely doesn't look like Kusaka has any intention of showing his gratitude to Takumi. Kusaka is a protector of humanity and now that Takumi is a known Orphenoch, he decides that gives him carte blanche to murder him for apparently attacking him and Mari at the reunion. He won't hesitate to destroy an Orphenoch even if it's a comrade. Whether or not it was actually Takumi is irrelevant to him, it's just another excuse to do his job. Takumi does put up a fight to protect himself but it's mostly for show and he's probably just waiting for Kaixa to destroy him like he thinks he deserves.

Kiba as Faiz, who he wanted to destroy him earlier, instead ends up saving him from Kaixa. Right now, Kiba is the only one actually standing up against Kusaka since he knows he can't be trusted and unlike Takumi, he doesn't tolerate him. Mari and Keitarou may be struggling to see Takumi the same way, but Kiba understands how painful and lonely it is to be a monster feared and hated by humans, to betray and be betrayed, to try and hold on to his own humanity while Smart Brain pressures him to throw it away like something that doesn't have any value. They're very different people but their experiences are similar and that means they can help each other. He's the friend that Takumi needs right now.

If Kamen Rider Faiz has a flaw, it's the scarcity of Yuka focus. She has such a great arc but it's all broken and scattered, the same with Keitarou. Most of the action and plot progression happens around the other members of Team Faiz and Orphenoch, Kusaka, Lucky Clover, Sawada and sigh.... Mihara. But yeah, this show could've used more Yuka. We've had our disagreements about her but at least we can agree on that, right?

Too bad Powerful Keitarou's blonde hair got singed black in the fire, according to Kaido. :p

I'm pretty sure you're right. Delta had the lights on in the cold open of Episode 28, preceding both illuminated Faiz and Kaixa in this episode. It's so cool how their lights are on for the whole scene which makes it so much more dramatic. They really show the raw power of the suits in a way that other Riders don't and it's especially cool for Kiba since he gets the lighting effect before Takumi. It's a shame that the effect wasn't used more often.

At first, I thought that. It seemed like the show was hinting at Kusaka's foul deeds with him unable to cleanse his hands of all of the blood.

But then they're like Hey Mari Got Hurt At The Reunion And Kusaka Got Blood On His Hands And He Blames Himself For Failing Her, and... I guess that's it? It's more literal, and a lot less fun. I don't know. I definitely like it better if it's guilt, and not guilt plus a memory.

I think there are a couple other wrinkles. First, Mari still believes in Takumi, so killing him eliminates a competitor for Mari's attention. Second, I think it's also that Takumi's reached the end of his usefulness. Kusaka doesn't currently have a huge problem keeping Yuuji alive, because Yuuji has a beef with Smart Brain and that can be leveraged for Kusaka's benefit. Takumi's joined up with Smart Brain, so he's got to go.

I mean, it's such a Kamen Rider thing, isn't it, Suicide By Combat? (I mean, there're probably some roots in ancient Japanese society, but that's above my paygrade.) It's not just that Takumi wants to be killed by someone, but that he has to be defeated and killed. Dude definitely wants to feel punished!

Yeah, boy, a lot of what Takumi's going through must look pretty familiar to Yuuji. I'd kind-of love if, during their phone call, Yuuji went, "Hey, if you feel like killing one of your friends because you feel like they betrayed you, maybe don't? Especially if they have a brother who might want vengeance. I've, uh, I've heard some Orphnochs do that and they totally regret it. Not me, though! I love humans! I definitely never felt relieved by snuffing out their organs!"

Absolutely! It's weird how much the show front-loads Yuka's story. Do they think they've said enough about her?

From what I remember, they didn't have very effectient LED lights back then and the suits were extremely hot, making it impossible for the actors to use them for any extended periods of time.

I think that was intentional, since Kusaka is a morally ambiguous character who clearly had something he wanted to hide about his involvement in the reunion so it's believable he could've done something worse. Even though it wasn't his fault what happened, it's still a traumatic event for him and like he said, the power of Kaixa isn't what changed him.

Oh yeah, for sure. Takumi was the first person to see through Kusaka and a rival to his quest for Mari. It's likely that Kusaka wanted to kill him for a while and learning how he's not only an Orphenoch but possibly the same one responsible for his past was the perfect excuse to be rid of him.

As a Jidaigeki fan, I can confirm that suicide by combat was indeed a popular honorable way to die for samurai, second only to harakiri. It was even more popular with vikings.

This is the third time Takumi tried to get himself killed. First by Kiba after Mari's death, second by Faiz and now by Kaixa, who actually wants to kill him.

Well the conclusion of her arc is yet to come but I think maybe there was a lot of unseen potential with her interactions like when Takumi asked her for advice about Kiba. She's an important character but she does feel detached from most of the story, possibly due to the focus on those Ryusei School guys ever since the Delta arc.

I feel like you're not a real Kamen Rider until you beg a friend/frenemy to murder you. It's maybe more important than saying Henshin?

It's just weird that, after her story with Takumi, she's such a background player. She's definitely in the mix when it comes to the romantic hijinks plot, but she's not a prominent player in anything else. I'm glad to hear the show ain't done with her, but, man, a lot of episodes where she is not well served.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 38

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--1--

Alright! Had my Nando's for dinner, watched a Faiz, gonna have one of those Insomnia cookies from last night after writing this up. Let's talk Kamen Rider!

One of the things I like about the villains on Faiz is that they're so much more competent than the heroes. Not more effective, necessarily (there're too many dead Orphnochs to claim that), but there's a professionalism to them that I really appreciate. To paraphrase Emma Stone in Maniac, they're not crazy, they're goal-oriented.

(Give or take a Kitazaki, who's back like he never left. They even bring back up the Kill Kiba bet, which, how long ago was that a thing, a year ago? A hundred years?)

I think a lot of it comes down not to the structure of the show, or the teamwork of the Orphnochs, but to Murakami. God, I really like Murakami. He's like a less ridiculous, more ruthless Kougami from OOO. I totally buy that this dude could both run a hugely successful company, and motivate a variety of monsters. There's a... calmness, maybe, to his performance? The same focus and dedication he applies to spreadsheets and mergers, I feel like he's that way with building up the Orphnoch army he needs to rule the world. (Or whatever his goal is. I genuinely don't know what this is all supposed to be leading up to, if I'm even meant to. In all of the fun emotional stuff, I very much lost the thread of what Smart Brain wants.) He's got a flexibility that I find difficult to root against, a sense that he's judging each circumstance individually rather than by some strict code. Like, the Evil Mad Bomber that got caught mad bombing, when Murakami tells Kageyama to get rid of him, it's not because he mad bombed a bunch of stuff against orders, it's that he got caught by the cops. That's refreshingly level-headed!

In general, everything Murakami does in pursuit of his villainy, I get it. I get why he tolerates some people, and disposes of others. I get why he has faith in his plans, even if it's not clear that he should. I just... I think he's neat. He's an approachable villain, if that makes sense.

--2--

On the other hand, Kusaka, which, maybe time to cancel that dude.

He's confronted by Mari over him attempting to kill Takumi. She screams at him that she can't trust him, that she trusts Takumi more. He slaps her in the face.

No. Just, no.

I'm not sure the show knows what it's doing here? I hope it does. I hope it understands the weight of Kusaka hitting Mari in the middle of an argument. It treats the aftermath as... not exactly an explanation, but with enough There's Something You Don't Know that it's uncomfortable. I get that a monster like Kusaka would have some bullshit excuse for why he's sorry, he won't do it again, he would never, but she doesn't understand what's really going on, etc. But Mari hearing him out is... no. Just, no.

Basically over Kusaka now. Your mileage may vary!

--3--

Washing the taste of that scene out of my mouth, hey, let's talk about how the whole storyline about acceptance swings (briefly, but still) back to Mari.

The show seems to make the point in this episode that it's not Takumi's responsibility to try and win Mari over to accepting him, it's Mari's. She screwed up. She hurt him, and she needs to fix it.

There's a lot I've enjoyed about this storyline, and this is another super smart move. Takumi tried to fit into a shape she'd be comfortable with, and she turned him away. It's up to her to confront her biases, get over them, and patch things up with a friend she hurt. Like, that's it, that's all she can do, and it's a pretty mature story to tell. It's not just about apologizing, it's about becoming a better person to better support your friends. It's about acknowledging the innate humanity of everyone, even if you find it confusing or uncomfortable. It's about doing the hard work of, not excusing your mistakes, but confronting them and atoning for them.

Just, man, real into this part of the show.

--4--

Also, there are super-powered men fighting monsters, if that's something you care about. (I'm probably on the wrong board for that.) Both of the final battles had some very fun ideas in them, enough that I feel like I want to talk about them. I hope that's cool!

It's tough to talk about Kamen Rider 555 fights, I've found. They're very fun, but, like, sort-of inessential? It doesn't feel like there's a lot of storytelling to them. There are fun effects, and good choreography, and neat designs, and cool songs, but a lot of what I have to say about them is There Was A Cool Fight. Doesn't really seem worth bringing up?

With these, each had something that I felt elevated it above the baseline.

The Kitazaki/Faiz fight, I love that Kitazaki has multiple phases to his Orphnoch form. I like that there's a slow, tough outer shell that he can shed to be a fast, lithe striker. It's a move I wasn't expecting in the fight, which made it really work for me. I thought we'd get indifferent Kitazaki, ignoring Faiz's blows, No-Sell Boss style. But then he's everywhere, running rings around Faiz Accel. It's a great twist in the fight, and a solid indication that Kitazaki is as serious as it gets.

The Murakami/Wolfeyes fight was just gorgeous. (And funny, with an all-time great Mihara contribution, see below.) Two Orphnochs fighting can be a little bland, visually. It's two white suits, swiping at each other. With Murakami, we get this whirlwind of rose petals, enveloping both fighters and exploding around Takumi. It's a beautiful sequence, ending with some great shots of Murakami and Takumi, tiny in the frame, with Murakami slowly choking Takumi to death. It's a neat idea, to place it so far from the viewer. When it's up-close, large in the frame, you're Takumi. It's a fight for your survival, you feel like you can affect the outcome. When they push it out, farther from the camera, you're a helpless participant. It makes the action seem unstoppable, something you can only watch in fear. Smart camera moves!

--5--

I'm generally liking how this series is approaching its final episodes. It's maybe not the mix of characters or stories I was expecting, but this installment really felt like it was tooled up to conclude things. The threads are all being pulled closer together, and it really feels like time is running out for the good guys.

Thankfully, Mihara's ready to OH OUCH DAMN

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Yeeeeeah Kusaka hitting Mari isn't great. Not that I find it particularly out-of-character for the people involved, but it's treated simply as just one more instance of Kusaka's facade cracking instead of the tipping (spilling, really) point that it should be. I don't think the show realises that action is on a completely different level from everything else he's done.

Better things to think about are Murakami. I don't know why I seemed to have completely forgot about him sometime after I finished watching the show, because he's actually pretty cool as the big-brained leader of Smart Brain. Not that much depth, but that's on par with Lucky Clover. Then again, I somehow also forgot that Kitazaki has an 'Accel Mode' of his own. If he was still Delta at this point, wouldn't it be funny if he just could move that fast on his own because he felt like it?

Speaking of, Mari has a flashback that shows Kitazaki there during all the traumatic stuff, and it's probably fair to assume that he's more responsible for all that slaughtering that happened that day instead of Takumi. You mentioned that you like Mari has to make up for how she treated Takumi, and I do too, so that's why this revelation kinda bugged me a bit?

Obviously I get why they wouldn't just have Takumi responsible for killing a whole bunch of Mari's old classmates, but the way this plays out now, it feels less like Mari is getting over her biases and more like 'hey it turns out I was just mistaken and never had any reason to be afraid of Takumi after all'. I wished her inevitable coming-around to Takumi would have been more remembering how close they've gotten over the last 30+ episodes and that becoming more powerful than her fears stemming from the past. Again though, maybe actually making Takumi responsible for her trauma would be too much, even if it was something like him going berserk due to a full moon or something, so I understand this decision.

It's going to be different for every viewer, but for me it's just not something you sprinkle in, you know? This is so far from the realm of That Dastardly Kusaka, and it's a frustrating misstep for a show that was saying such smart, empathetic things. Bummer!

It's not just that he's smart, though, it's that he's damn near unflappable. He's literally clear-headed!

I didn't really get around to talking about it because it very much felt More To Come, but I don't love the Ryusei Bloodbath story element. I'll probably talk more about it next time, but I think they went about misleading the audience badly. Like, I don't fault them for trying to mislead the audience, but they did it badly.

And, yeah, it's not great that Mari's epiphany is more about, like, Takumi being One of The Good Ones (ugh), but I'll try and withhold judgment until I see how the show plays it. In fairness, she was 99% of the way to fixing herself before she remembered that stuff about Kitazaki.

Regarding plot vs characters, personally, I think either is okay, if both can create a proper story for the series, and not play the series out in a purely formulaic way (watching the exact same thing over and over, not even a little difference too). OK then, for some reason Murakami still gives Takumi a chance, like saying Takumi has to shed his, while he's easily the most rebellious Lucky Clover "member". even more than Kusaka and Sawada. Kageyama and Takuma (whose name is just Takumi but replace i with a! And both became Faiz!) obviously won't be accepting, but I wonder which criteria for Lucky Clover that they will accept, admittedly yeah every Lucky Clover criteria shown up so far are probelmatic against them while Murakami is more tolerant. And for the latest episode, Mari and Keitaro being put in spotlight like that, that'd probably sum up Takumi's greatest fear of connecting with people that he'd be detrimental to them. Yuji just assumes here that Takumi wants to kill himself because of his fear of his Orphnoch form, so that's true this time, all of him going to Lucky Clover and carrying out their mission is meant for that? Takumi would still likely act the same that he attacks without explaining the reasons.

O̶r̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶R̶y̶u̶s̶e̶i̶ ̶S̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶d̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶t̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶s̶l̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶e̶n̶ ̶m̶a̶s̶s̶e̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶W̶o̶l̶f̶ ̶O̶r̶p̶h̶n̶o̶c̶h̶?̶ ̶O̶h̶ ̶w̶a̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶g̶u̶l̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶e̶d̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶i̶l̶a̶r̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶g̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶l̶e̶.̶ Yeah, Kusaka refusing to tell Mari, while if Kusaka forces Mari to do so, she tells him (but still, this is in-character for Kusaka, complain to the character instead of the writing for this!). For some reason here, Kusaka just consoles Mari here instead of reaffirming that Takumi is rotten. And for Kusaka losing his mind, was he a sane person to begin with? Kusaka is not only a PTSD victim, but he also suffers from a high-functioning mixed personality disorder with both antisocial and borderline traits. So for Takumi in the flashback (and Kusaka's narrating, but I mean, Lucky Clover also showed Wolf Orphnoch slaughtering others and Takumi is that type of Orphnoch), bringing it up again from previous reply, that'd mean mystery genre isn't for you right? Otherwise, what I can say for Takumi flashback, it's not looking good for the others, Kusaka can utilize that even more effectively to give Takumi even more of bad reputation by revealing that Wolf Orphnoch slaughtered innocents.

Yeah, he does Ichigo pose, and to think Kaido was Faiz, I only wish he was still a Rider wielder (the gear's in Yuji's hand, can have Kaido borrow it from him temporarily or something) so that the Rider pose would totally make sense. Dunno if Kaido was acting tsundere towards Teruo, but with Teruo being a total ungrateful brat, Kaido's disdain towards him is even more justified (justifaiz). Also this kid is far more important than you think. I wonder why Keitaro wasn't reported at all, Kaido indirectly rescued Teruo by rescuing Keitaro (who is holding Teruo) who's collapsing from the burn. Even if Keitaro was seen as the burn victim, he's still not heard anywhere, just Kaido saving a kid. Also you saying Kaido has better resistance, would that mean Orphnoch is far stronger overall than ordinary humans even in human form? And the actual reason why Takumi got "protagonist strength" by fighting off Kaido in episode 6 in human form?

Like you said, this episode is more plot-driven, so they're pushing those that are plot relevant first? Those you mentioned except for Kitazaki, are involved in the "soap opera" (daily life) part of the series, Yuka and Keitaro are involved in love triangles with Kaido and Mari too (and those 2 aren't about their love problems here). Also Keitaro dying his hair blonde was about him moving on from love... I mean why's he even moving on? He hasn't talked to Yuka about their love again (and even if they do, even if Yuka's probably feeling for Kaido for real, she'd probably still proclaim her love to Keitaro too, trying to have both of them, being a pleaser). Also the fourth member of the group? Hasn't it been like, the plot of Lucky Clover up until now? There are no fourth member, they're looking for them, with Murakami giving others more chance and Kageyama & Takuma being hostile to the "new kid", but every single of the 4th member being rebellious or not meeting their criteria.

I wonder that you think of this as a weird, but when I talk about people probably (just probably) can think of Kaido as inconsistent, you agreed with that. The thing is people also can watch fiction as escapism with all the powerful badass characters doing awesome things so they can feel the badassness by proxy. To see Mihara denying that, either it would deny their wish of watching this or thinking it's stupid for someone to be denied power in a dangerous hostile world.

What I talk about was people (either in-universe, or out of universe) that pushes the trope of girl can't know the truth, because they fear about the girl being totally traumatized and broken over it, even if the reaction is justified (justifaiz). They want the girl to remain calm and collected, keeping a grip on herself in the face of the truth, to make them able to allow giving that to the girl. And Mari knowing it, has the exact same reaction they fear about, which could make those people push forward the girl can't know the truth even more (Mari lashing out at Kusaka aside, Kusaka does have that mindset, and actually gets mad at Takumi for letting her know the truth).

Well, for starter, Takumi being an Orphnoch is the very reason that he can be Faiz in the first place, which carries Keitaro's wishes and can save him and Mari at times. I guess it doesn't matter to him if Takumi's attitude doesn't change that much that he also has already experienced his Orphnoch perks all this time as Faiz? In this series, being a Rider and being a monster is always mutual.

Feel hilarious that this discussion we just had... is brought up on episode 37, where Kusaka tried to push the same thing on Team Faiz regarding Takumi, bringing out Sawada who betrayed the Team Faiz' trust. I understand what you're talking about here though; Sawada's humanity is only a delusional optimism, while Takumi's humanity has been proven, albeit shaken by the Lucky Clover getting the recording of Wolf Orphnoch slaughtering Ryusei alumnis. And also others are trying to reach out Sawada who's closed off, but here Takumi's the one trying to reach out others with others closed off (though I don't really feel like others are closed off, except Mari at first, they're just shaken but they acknowledge Takumi's humanity and importance to them).

I would probably think if Yuji still sees Takumi as rotten manipulator Kusaka made him up to be, he would think it made sense for Takumi to be hidden evil that he's an Orphnoch.

This is the point where I was probably a bit lower on the series than you are. There are still a few good stuff left (and when Faiz gets good it's really good), but Murakami didn't click for me (I understand your reasoning but he's just not that interesting to me for some reason), while the jarring transitioning between sub-plot/characters and uneven pacing have become increasingly noticeable. It felt like they're attempting to juggle too many balls than what they can handle.

I mean.. who really gives a damn about Mihara's story at this point of narrative and with everything else that's been going on (even with the occasional hilarity he provides!).

I don't think that Kusaka scene is really jarring; at that point, I've stopped to chuckle at Kusaka's antics (ever since Mari's 'death' probably when he lashed out at everybody; that's the tipping point I think) and started to think "whoa this guy is genuinely fucked-up and started to crumbling apart". The tongue-in-the-cheek sense of "'That's Our Kusaka!" moment has been gone for a while, and the show now frame him as... not a villain, per se, but a genuine threat? That's how I read it at that time, at least, and I was super invested at how far the deep end the show would push him.

Just a reminder, this is the light and fluffy version of Kusaka compared to other versions of the Faiz story.

Thank you for this. I could watch this on repeat for ages. There's a reason you will never hit a moment in Faiz when your reaction is "Oh thank goodness, Mihara's here. Things are going to be all right now."

Damn, I'm surprised you've lost your tolerance for Kusaka. Slapping Mari was uncalled for but it shows once more that he loses all his skill and cunning when he doesn't get his way with her, like when Takumi was able to catch his fist even though Kusaka had been consistently outclassing him until then. He can't think straight when he feels rejected by Mari. He can't stand the thought of her trusting some despicable Orphenoch more than him. He didn't want to hear her say those things. And that's what caused him to release all his pent-up frustration in that moment, like he was punishing her for what he considered a betrayal of his feelings. If she won't love him, he at least expects her to trust him. Mari is his weakpoint and when he can't control her, he loses control of himself. It breaks him that despite everything he does, he still can't get her to reciprocate his feelings. He's very pathetic.

The funny part is that Murakami misses his chance to swipe Delta Gear. Mihara means that little to him! Or perhaps the task of collecting Gears is below him.

Oh, for sure. I just have more fun thinking about the character-driven stuff. The plot stuff can be a ton of fun, too!

I mean, they're in the soap opera parts now, but they used to get their own stories.

They hadn't given up on Takumi as the 4th member, I thought? It felt like Murakami still thought he'd come around.

Sure. For me, it's that I find Mihara so funny that it feels like people who are mad at him are missing the joke.

Yeah, I thought it all hung together better in this one, but you're not wrong about how jarring some of the story choices can be. There's an effectiveness to it, how it's drawing parts of the narrative together, but it's not as pretty as it could be.

I think a lot of it for me is context. When it's a fight scene, friends attacking friends feels... metaphorical? Everything is a physical manifestation of their words, their feelings. Kusaka slapping Mari in the face in their living room because he's upset at her during an argument, utterly inexcusable. And, like, there's a realness to that kind of evil that... I don't want to deal with that reality in Kamen Rider. I don't think it's a specific kind of real-world evil that the show is built to address properly.

I hate making gifs, but sometimes something needs to be a gif.

It's very much a moment that, subjectively for me, is the irredeemable moment. He's done scummy things, slimy things, but this felt... unforgivable for me. I don't know. There's maybe a way that the show treats it as unforgivable that can get me to be less offended by it all, but we'll see. Not something I feel like giving the show a lot of slack on.

Murakami's just so professional and disciplined that he realizes that he needs to take care of the real threat first, then loop around and grab the Delta Gear. Then there's the added psychological benefit of knocking Mihara aside which a) rattles Takumi, b) scares Mihara, and c) I gotta assume makes Murakami feel like a million bucks.

Who even needs the Delta Gear, that stopped being cool years ago.

I heard Delta was so cool, he was the first person to think the Delta Gear was uncool.

Nice of you to finally talk about the fight scenes in an episode only to call no attention to how Takumi becomes Delta here, and then pointedly refuses to use the gun in favor of his usual "punch the guy in the stomach until they give up" strategy. I mean, sure, Mihara wasn't blasting away either right before that, but that's just what makes it so much more embarassing. Takkun can completely fail to take advantage of the Delta Gear's actual strengths, and still win.

Anyway, now that Kitazaki's finally shown his monster form as the Dragon Orphenoch, I figure this is a great time for some more trivia. The motifs of Lucky Clover's Orphenoch forms (a crocodile, a lobster, a centipede, and a dragon) were all directly taken from a group of antagonists called the Hakaider Squad from Kikaider 01, the sequel to classic non-Rider Ishinomori series Kikaider.

That might not mean much to you as someone who doesn't truck with Showa, but you probably at least remember Kikaider's guest appearance in Gaim to promote his reboot movie. It's kind of hard to forget Professor Ryouma putting his brain into Hakaider's body and going on a rampage. Which brings me to my next point, that Hakaider's iconic exposed brain was the inspiration for Murakami's see-through dome in his Rose Orphenoch form. Hakaider's overall design was also the inspiration for Kaixa's design, which is evident in the color scheme and overall silhouette. The two takeaways here are that someone who was desiging things for Faiz REALLY loved Hakaider, and that choosing a character who's name is taken from the Japanese word for destruction as Kaixa's motif maybe tells you something about Kusaka's character. Actually, about Kusaka...

I'd argue that slapping Mari isn't that far from anything Kusaka normally does. The man is a bigot, a thug, an attempted murderer several times over, and a nearly pathological liar who constantly engages in gaslighting and other kinds of emotional manipulation without remorse due to his sociopathic inability to acknoweldge the autonomy of people that aren't himself. I reject the idea that there are different levels of unacceptability to all of that. I feel like putting any one of his sins above another diminishes the weight of the things he's done. Wrong is wrong, and, from my subjective point of view, that's really the end of the story. I don't think the show needs to do much more than it is to address this. It may not directly admonish his behavior through the other characters, but Kusaka is being swallowed whole by his own madness by this point in the story, and I don't think even Inoue is insane enough to ask you to just brush behavior this reprehensible off.

All that being said! I do understand where you're coming from here, especially if this kind of thing is a particular hot button issue for you to begin with. This absolutely feels different from your everyday terrible Kusaka, but I would personally suggest the issue isn't that the act is more heinous, but that it's only heinous. When Kusaka hits Yuuji in the face, it's so out of nowhere it becomes darkly humorous, right? When he cooks up some elaborate scheme to turn people against each other, he's trying so hard it's hilarious, right? Hitting Mari the way he does here, that's none of those things. It's a lot more visceral than normal. It goes back to what you were saying about context, but that slap is a lot less... theatrical, than his usual stunts, for sure. A lot less fantastic. Mari recoiling in fear in the next scene when an "apologetic" Kusaka tries to stroke her face is legitimately a little gut-wrenching? I mean, right now I'm playing devil's advocate for a guy who might actually manage to qualify as the devil, but it's not like I truly disagree with anything you're saying. Hitting people for not agreeing with you is bad! And it's petulant, too! Don't be like Kusaka, kids! I think there was some other show with a protagonist who talked a lot about this kind of thing? I can't remember his name right now, but he was probably a very Cool Guy.

And, I mean, I get it. Kusaka's a manipulative sociopath for the length of the series. The first time he meets Yuuji, he tortures him. He's tried to murder Takumi multiple times.

But, for me, there's a level of villainy I'll accept from Kamen Rider, and there's a level they are ill-equipped to deal with narratively. Two costumed people screaming their issues at each other while punching and kicking, yeah, of course. Schemes and duplicity, sure. Kusaka hitting Mari, it's an escalation with real-world consequences that I don't think this show is ready to address. Since that's the case, I'd really rather they stick to metaphorical versions of these issues.

Like, I wouldn't enjoy a Fourze episode that tries to tackle teenage drug addiction and how damaging it can be for a recovering addict to reenter a judgmental peer group. That is going to be impossible for that show to handle honestly, seeing as it's full of astrology monsters and toyetic gimmicks. But! Make it a story about a kid who's addicted to Astroswitches, and I'm totally onboard.

I don't know if that makes any sense? My reaction to the Kusaka development is... I don't know if people think I'm being unfair? Maybe it's no big deal to folks. I don't blame anyone who thinks it's well-established as how Kusaka behaves. For me, it feels like the show going to a place it is not prepared to see through.

Late response but yeah.... so even if Izumi is not chosen to be Faiz he's still chosen to play a role of someone else instead.... still good then. Also for Takumi it's not about him hiding it, but also from how he was apparently bloodthirsty by slaughtering Ryusei School alumnis, so OOC. Assholes aren't inherently psychopatic or villainous.

Ha yes, the villains are more competent and goal-oriented than the heroes, which also makes for something that work less well to you... Which is not that much interiority to Lucky Clover, no sense of who they are when they aren't in Lucky Clover. Because they're solely focused on their mission, where heroes can neglect or be distracted by the daily stuff. The heroes change and grow because they're as you said, less competent than the villains, albeit the villains aren't necessarily more effective, but there's not much to change or grow for the plans. The thing for Murakami and Smart Brain is that as Orphnochs are the evolution of humans, they want the Orphnochs to replace the humans as Orphnochs are superior (blatantly power wise).

Keitaro too for confronting him, the one person that idolizes Kusaka... now probably has finally seen his true colors. "Your mileage may vary" hahaha.... actually for this one, you just joined in the majority of KR fandom (not for people here perhaps), for the Kusaka bashing, and here, you just see for real, why Kusaka is so infamous within the KR fandom. Though for this one, I feel you're talking about this subjectively? As others have said, while this is an escalation of Kusaka's insanity, with him finally lashing out at the only one person he cares about, the one person he acts nice to, this isn't worse than any acts Kusaka has committed before (or in this episode hey? trying to spread more of Takumi's infamy like to Mihara). I mean the thing you've complained about Kusaka before was him interacting with Mari like.... getting in the way of Kaido/Mari.... so his way with Mari is the only thing that makes you complain about Kusaka like this one and treat this as a far worse thing he has done? That's quite subjective, treating an important character bad doesn't make the act worse than his acts to a less significant character just because it has more spotlight... or because a bias to a specific thing.

Real right, Takumi being an Orphnoch isn't his fault (other than the mysterific Ryusei School massacre flashback), you cannot change that (at least no found way currently to erase your Orphnoch inside) but the way a friend treats that to make him feel unacceptable, that's the actual wrong move and the thing you should take responsibility of. And yeah about apologizing, if you want to apologize, freaking back it up, not just uttering that word. Honestly I've lost trust in a mere apologizing word because that can be used as an excuse to get away from your faults. With you talking about how Yuji being the only one can properly approach Takumi.... her "dating" with the only man she likes, should remedy the methods.

"If that's something you care about"... lol, that's obviously the main reason and the appeal for tokus like KR and the reason people watch it. For me being one of those who actually care and tolerate about the parts not about that in KR series and wishes for people to also think like that.... For the fights, I've talked about various things of it previously like a finisher in Faiz, cool looking as it may be, can be blocked like in Faiz vs Horse Orphnoch's first fight. I guess for Dragon Orphnoch, his ability to turn things into ash seems to be unchanged as his blows don't have that effect on Yuji Faiz, unless for prolonged one like Kitazaki stomping on Faiz. Also I never knew that Dragon Orphnoch has his own Axel Mode. Just strangely for one of most significant Orphnoch, and Faiz version of Ouja, Dragon Orphnoch only truly fought now. And ha.... you said you weren't into Murakami as a monster? What you described here, is actually what makes me intrigued to Murakami as monster, not to mention, with so little info about him as a monster otherwise. Also I wanna know about his power level compared to other Orphnochs, because flashy =/= actually powerful. The stereotype is that the leader is the most powerful yeah but...

So Mihara scene is a proof that Kusaka fully being cordial (at least on outside, dunno what he wants to get from them if he's two-faced too) to any Ryusei School students (though in flashback he was only concerned about Mari) right to actually believe what Kusaka told him about Takumi being a threat.

I was half-stirring shit with saying them being in soap opera parts (this can still hold truth though) but real talk? The real one holding soap opera parts? Kusaka! (that I've said multiple times that never get response unlike the characters I mentioned here) Turning on the TV and have it air a soap opera program recently just served as a reminder of how soap opera-ish his sthick are, about constantly scheming with exaggerated expressions to create drama and animosities based on lies and slanders while relying on two-faced personality.

For Murakami it's adding more variation to me. It would be generic if all the villains are equally as sadistic and remorseless as the other Lucky Clover members, like Saeko, Takuma (outside his fear of...), and especially Kitazaki, the most evil person in the series. He's more businesslike in his approach, prefers negotiating with others, and is seemingly more tolerant of any misdirections while also seemingly more sensible and knows more than any of the other straightforward villains, unlike other villains who has more brutish approach with usual throwing power around. Also for villain vs threat, villain is about how you act, not about which position you have in the story. Kusaka is just on the protagonistic side, because he fights off Orphnoch due to racism, but the fact is actually, a rather unknown one, protagonist isn't synonymous to hero, and antagonist is also not synonymous to villain. Those 2 words are just roles. Protagonist is the main character, the character story revolves around, antagonist is anyone opposes the protagonist, regardless of their morality. There are various villain protagonists in stories. Kusaka is one of the protagonists, but doesn't mean he can't be framed as villain (only as a threat) because he's in that position.

I don't think I really find the villains lacking in specificity anymore. At one point, sure. But recently (mostly with the arrival of Kitazaki) I've got a much better sense of what each of them is about. Like, there's a real sense of what their group dynamic is now, how they behave around each other. It's gotten a lot better!

Yeah, it's not that it's hard for me because it happens to Mari, it's that the visual of Kusaka slapping Mari in the middle of an argument that takes place in their living room is a loaded visual. That type of story element... they are opening a door to some incredibly difficult storytelling that I don't think they want to walk through.

I mean, I don't know how much more I can say about this. When I see Kusaka hit Mari in the middle of an argument, it takes me out of a TV show where men in colorful suits punch monsters. It so far removed, for me, from the sort of allegorical storytelling that allows for relatively consequence-free violence and peril. This is... it is an order of magnitude larger than the usual Kusaka Is Terrible. There isn't enough distance for me to be able to view it as a story. The can of worms that they've opened!

And, again, as always, I don't know. It is super subjective! I just got a real tough time watching this show try and add regular-world evil to the cartoony evil they normally traffic in. These things aren't apples-to-apples substitutions.

I did say that, yes! I liked his monster stuff here, but I still prefer him as Smart Brain's president. Like, I think I enjoyed the scene where he's on the phone with Kageyama more than I did the Orphnoch fight? I like how he approaches his Lucky Clover team as though they're valuable employees who he has to be a little sweeter to. He can't boss them around, he needs to cajole them a little, make them feel like they're doing him a favor. I love that stuff.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 39

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz39a.png

--1--

I love it when a show comes up with an inventive way to resolve a cliffhanger. Last episode had Faiz completely at Kitazaki's mercy. How were Yuuji and Mari going to survive?!

Hey, what if some kids were flying a balsa wood plane, and Kitazaki wanted to do that instead?

It's such a perfect, in-character thing for him to do. All he wants is to be entertained. Fighting Faiz is okay, but doesn't that plane look way more fun? And then he just walks away, leaving Yuuji and Mari to escape. It's completely character-driven, totally established, but still wildly unpredictable. I'm so happy when shows can get a cliffhanger resolved using only what's at hand, only the things a character would do. Great writing!

--2--

The Ryusei Reunion stuff, though. Not crazy about how that story played out.

For a season-long mystery, it's important to pace it well. You can't just go There Is A Mystery And We Won't Solve It Until The End. That makes a show a slog. You've got to make the audience feel like it's being solved, create little milestones of clarification, while still withholding enough so that you can have that Big Reveal in the final act.

Misleading the audience is a great way to both resolve and add tension. You can do stories where the mystery seems solved, feels solved, go do other stories for a while, and then maybe make some firm details seem a little less firm as new information comes to light.

The trick, though, is that the lies you tell the audience have to be believable enough to be plausible, while leaving enough wiggle room to reframe things down the line. Make your lie too solid, and the truth will feel unsupported, tacked on. But if you make your lie too implausible, it's hard for the audience to feel shocked about the reveal.

So it was for me and the Ryusei Massacre, which shock of shocks sees Takumi absolved. I never, ever, for a single second thought he'd somehow murdered a group of kids and forgot about it, so the only tension was in waiting to find out what really happened. That made, for me, a lot of the Kusaka/Mari stuff feel pretty dull. Without believing Takumi's capable of this crime, I just couldn't invest in his eventual acquittal.

(I honestly don't know how much the show expected me to believe Takumi was even a little bit culpable? I don't think they ever played it as less than absolutely serious, so it's not like Takumi Is A Killer plays as too grandiose to be a real theory. I want to think that they knew we'd know it was false, but nothing on the show as played supports that. Tough to give them the benefit of the doubt!)

And, I mean, the way we got there depends on multiple false memories and a few convenient amnesias, which are rarely hallmarks of solid storytelling. It's been a season to get here, and it's hard not to feel frustrated. I don't know why Mari didn't remember that she and all of her friends had been murdered. I don't know why Kusaka lied about not being at the reunion. I don't know why every single murdered kid forgot they'd been murdered except for Sawada. I don't know why Mari's memory came back when she got extra murdered. I don't know why Mari remembered it wrong for several episodes. I just... it's so much contrivance for a plot that's fundamentally still not that interesting to me.

It still feels like a distraction from what this show excels at, in that it mostly excludes, at least on an emotional level, two-thirds of the cast. It's still a plot that only really affects Mari and Kusaka, and mostly just Kusaka. (I genuinely do not care about the fates of the other Ryusei doofs, so please don't bring them up as relevant characters.) Mari wasn't really haunted by the events of the reunion prior to two episodes ago, and she doesn't even want to know what happened for her sake, she wants to know to help Takumi. And Takumi gets dragged into it, but his story with Mari is about something so much bigger than being accused of a homicidal rampage. It's about how Takumi reconciles the person he is with the person people see, and it's about how Mari can make Takumi feel safe to solve that problem. Adding in the But Maybe He Murdered stuff... it's gilding the lily. It's unnecessary.

Just, man, a long road to get somewhere I didn't enjoy visiting. Hoping this plot is in the rearview!

--3--

Real happy to see Takumi interacting with Team Orphnoch, though. Hey, remember them?

I hope I'm not the only person who wanted to see Takumi get incorporated into their dynamic for a few episodes. Unfortunately, it's probably just this one scene. It's great to see Yuka's excitement, Kaido's puffed-chest button-pushing, and Yuuji finally getting Takumi into his be--- Yuuji seeing to his friend's safety. (I loved that, when Takumi went missing in the woods, it was Yuuji who found him, not Mari. TAKKIBA FOREVER.) It would've been nice to see more of that, but I feel like this is all we'll get.

--4--

And, man, this is a little bit of a Thank You But I Wanted More episode, because holy shit Mari and Rina simultaneously putting on the Delta and Faiz Gear?! I absolutely gasped in excitement. I was so happy with Mihara's weird I Don't Want To Go To School Today tantrum, where he fakes a debilitating injury so he doesn't have to be Delta again, that I wasn't even prepared to see Rina be all gung-ho and show up to the fight herself. And Mari! Throwing on that belt, ready to do her part.

So of course my joy is immediately snuffed out.

The Rina part was almost gallows humor, with her getting in zero offense and losing the belt in about three seconds. Worst showing ever for Delta, and a real disappointment for me personally.

Mari's part in the fight was weird, with her continuously trying to activate the Faiz Gear despite it never ever working for her. At first, I'm like, Why is she still trying? But then I remembered that, as a Ryusei School alumnus ("Go Meteors!"), she will keep getting shocked by the belt forever and never stop trying to use it. Like everyone who went to that school, she doesn't understand that pain is how we learn not to do things. It's like Orphan Daddy always said, "You can't spell 'Ryusei School' without 'OUCH'!"

--5--

I'm honestly pretty glad we finally got what's hopefully the final word on the Ryusei Reunion. I want that plot to be done. The meat of it, the What of it, it's fine. There was an Orphnoch attack. The Why of it is maybe/probably still to come, and I'm not even mad about that. I'd like to know what the point of that plot was, even if I feel like it took too much attention away from the character-driven stories that defined the show for me.

Still, yeah, happy to move on from the mystery of what exactly happened a year or so ago, and get back to stuff that matters in the here and now. 'Cause, like, a satellite made Faiz red all of a sudden? And I'm curious what that means!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz39b.png

This is actually one of the most derided moments in all of Faiz. A lot of people complain that it's a cop-out way to keep Kitazaki from killing Yuuji. I agree with you that it's in-character, though, both in the sense that Kitazaki would wander off from a fight and that he would feel bored even in the middle of a battle.

You're not quite done yet. The show still needs to get around to explaining both why the students were attacked and how they un-died. Both of those answers are coming.

Yeah, when it happened, I was like Oh Of Course. Even setting aside the darts scene from the previous episode (which this visually pays off), Kitazaki doesn't fight to win. He fights to relieve boredom, and that's about it. He bailed on the Faiz/Horsepower fight because they wouldn't let him play. The second something more interesting happens, he'll do that. This is all very established behavior! Crazy that it bugged some folks.

I figured! I'm just glad that the dull mystery of it, the What Happened part, that seems done. Whys are more interesting to me than Whats, so that could be fun.

One funny thing I remember about Faiz Blaster’s new weapon, the er, Faiz Blaster, is that it has input codes for “Merry Christmas” (one-two-two-five) and “Happy New Year” (two-zero-zero-four). The only other item with similar codes in any Tokusatsu is Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger’s Mobilates (though not only do they have more holidays, but the New Years Corde is changed to zero-one-zero-one).

He's red! Yay! He's red!

Faiz Blaster is a bit of an expansion on how I like this season being much more... practical in its upgrades. For the most part the base body of Faiz here doesn't actually change; the satellite beaming down at him has done very little to magic up matter out of nowhere (well. Aside from the most important thing that we'll see in a bit), mostly just inverting his colour scheme. I like Faiz's commitment to this right to the end.

Iirc I believe the reason he turns red is because Faiz Blaster form is basically a form that expands the amount of photon blood flowing through the suit from those linings on his suit to the entire suit.

Redder than red!

The satellite transmits a signal to Faiz's antennae for Faiz Gear to increase production of Photon Blood to the extreme, spilling out of the Streams and on to the suit, turning it red with power! In addition to Faiz Blaster's Faiz Blaster which enhances all of his finishers, he has access to the new Bloody Cannons on his suit which, let's be honest here, is a totally awesome name!

Not a good day to be Kitazaki.

You a SMART BRAIN sales rep? :lolol

Life is frail. Life is limited. So why don't you think about true life? Be smart! True life is your start!

ORPHNOCH! RUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN!!!!!!! :lolol

John Toei: "Hey, Faiz department, you haven't had a red form this year, looks like you're in violation of our contract of 'There'd better be Red we all know kids like red'"

Faiz department: "Faiz has red accents!"

John Toei: "Sounds like a department that wants to lose funding. What are you going to do for the final form?"

Faiz department: "Make it very red..."

Also I googled a "Kamen Rider Faiz" to remind myself how red he was, and this was the first image that came up.
https://fatglobules.files.wordpress....kr-faiz_05.jpg

Ha ha, neat!

As Final Forms go (and I'm assuming it's his Final Form), I like it? I don't really feel like I've seen enough of it yet to form a real opinion, but... I generally don't like Final Forms a lot when they just pile shit on. (Cosmic States, for example. Hate Cosmic States.) I don't like the visual signifier of More Complicated = More Powerful. Here, it looks more powerful without feeling busy. It doesn't look like it was over-designed. Cautiously optimistic that I'll keep liking it!

So a satellite shoots him with satellite beams that make his veins and arteries explode and that covers him with superhero blood which makes him more super okay got it.

John Toei: "Good idea, glad you thought of it. Hey, by the way, we're all a little bit behind on your show upstairs. You put that third Rider in, right?"

Faiz department: "Delta? Absolutely! He's been in a few storylines."

John Toei: "And he's kicking ass, so that kids want to buy his toys?"

Faiz department: *sweats profusely*

SafeSearch ON, always ON.