Originally Posted by OmegaEclipse (Post 763116)

Be prepared for terrible writing regarding the new rider. He is considered the biggest jerk in all of KR but unfortunately; the way it comes off is just...dull; the character is just a jerk with very little real explanation due to the fact inoue basically gave up on being good at his job after agito.

Originally Posted by BagJo (Post 763136)

The actor is well loved in the community, to the point that Kaixa Day is a thing.

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver (Post 763119)

X-Rider time

X-Rider time

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die (Post 763083)

--3--

It’s a hell of a shot, that Faiz Finisher just millimeters from Horsepower’s face. More than that, it’s yet another deeply empathetic moment from Yuuji. He’s got a bunch in this episode alone. I loved the moment when Murakami’s like You’ve Disappointed Me and Yuuji’s just Why Should I Care About That? It’s not adversarial, but simply noted to Murakami. Don’t assume that Yuuji is looking for your approval or respect. For a character that’s searching for direction, for some way to define himself, Yuuji manages to give off such a mature, calming aura. He’s open and considerate with Mari when she coincidentally drops by with his dry-cleaning. He’s able to give Kaido space, but willing to be stern if things get out of hand. He’s maybe the best?

The downside is that he’s still very much in a mode where he’s defining himself by what he won’t do, same as Kaido. If there’s a problem for me with this episode, it’s how the Team Orphnoch stuff feels maybe a little too introspective. It’s fun to see these characters interact, and god bless any time they run into Team Faiz out in the world, but it means that there’s an entertaining episode where not a lot really happens. Most of what moved Yuuji and Kaido forward in this episode is in maybe one minute’s worth of story. It’s a good minute! But it makes the rest of this episode a little, if not forgettable, then inconsequential.

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die (Post 763083)

--4--

And, honestly, some of that is because the Takumi story is funny without really growing his character. Or, I don’t know, it does, but it also doesn’t do a great job of writing itself out of last episode’s really smart developments.

The whole episode this time, Takumi is hilariously adrift without the Faiz belt. I don’t know if his brain was inside that phone, but he’s like a zombie in this one. It’s terrific, and it’s clear to everyone around him that, like Kaido, all of his assertions are because he feels exactly the opposite. Him shouting I DON’T LOVE BEING FAIZ AT ALL is because he misses it so much. It’s stupid funny to watch, and it made what little of Team Faiz was in this episode really work.

But they needed to end the plot, get Takumi back as Faiz, and holy shit did they shortcut it. Keitaro swipes the belt from an injured Kaido, mostly because Kaido was being mean to Yuka. He gives the belt back to Takumi to fight an Orphnoch, mostly because he felt sorry for him. (I mean, he totally respects Takumi in general, but that belt toss is probably 70% pity.) Takumi gets to smile because he’s Faiz again, and still accepts the honor of being a Kamen Rider with a definitive I Love This I Guess It’s No Big Deal Whatever You're The One Who Cares Not Me. (Him and Yuka, they don’t love being honest about their feelings!) It’s a story that should be all about Takumi asserting his desires, owning his feelings, and instead he just mopes until someone gives him the belt back.

And, like, that’s funny as shit. It’s totally in the spirit of this show for Takumi to internally change while externally staying the same. It’s just, there’s almost no catharsis to Takumi becoming Faiz again. It’s totally anticlimactic. You can spin it as a cunning subversion of storytelling tropes (Takumi never ever articulates why he wants to be Faiz), but it’s still totally anticlimactic. Worse, it’s placed after a genuinely emotional, fully-earned moment between Kaido and Yuuji. They had an episode-ending story beat, and then they were like Now Here’s The REAL Ending, and… no? Weird choice. Weird, unfulfilling choice.

Originally Posted by BagJo (Post 763136)

Respectfully, I couldn't disagree with this more.

I don't want to get at all spoilery, so I'm not going to list off a bunch of in-show examples, but I would say Kaixa is a very compelling character. The actor is well loved in the community, to the point that Kaixa Day is a thing.

Originally Posted by Cocoturtle (Post 763109)

Faiz was my introduction to the madness that is Toshiki Inoue. Buckle up because it only gets crazier from here

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich (Post 763113)

I disagree Takumi becoming Faiz again had to be anything bigger than it was. Having Takumi be too assertive about that only 10 episodes in would be... like, I just don't think it's time for that yet? As you've already admitted, there's a point where something like that would no longer fit the show, but what I think you're underestimating here is all the things that do work about that seqeunce.

Having Takumi the one to grab the belt back himself, speech or no, I think it's way more likely that would lack catharsis. Joke all you want about it being pity, but for it to be Keitarou snatching it back from Kaidou after seeing him be a jerk, to have him, one of the most morally upstanding, nicest characters on the show, be the one asserting himself, and then saying that Faiz has got to be Takkun, that's great. It's the best possible way for the show to validate Takumi as a hero. That big, dumb grin from Takumi when he hears that, how he lets his facade slip a little with that downplayed "maybe you're right" in response, that's a wonderful little moment between these characters that are gradually growing closer to one another. I guess the actual act of retrieving the belt was low-effort, I can't argue that, but I also feel like that's maybe the least important part of what's going on there?

It's also hard to compete with that Kaidou/Yuuji drama too, admittedly. Man is that good stuff.

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger (Post 763140)

Keitarou seeing how much better Takumi was compared to Kaido really says a lot about how much Keitarou has started to see Takumi as someone with potential to be a good guy. Even Takumi openly acknowledges that maybe he really was meant to be Faiz. In a show where anybody can be Faiz, only Takumi is Kamen Rider Faiz.

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger (Post 763140)

The only Kamen Rider to have his own national day, Kaixa Day otherwise known in Japan as 913 Matsuri, September 13th (913). He's definitely a big deal! There was even a manga published recently which adapted the events between Episode 5-13 from his perspective:

https://kamenrider.fandom.com/wiki/Kamen_Rider_913

Might be worth checking out once you're caught up with those episodes.

Originally Posted by FreshToku (Post 763153)

A single screenshot of X-Man is enough for you all to just divulge all your thoughts about him before Die has even seen a second of him on screen, huh...

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die (Post 763154)

Folks got feelings about Kaixa! They haven't even said his name onscreen yet and I was like I Bet That's Kaixa. Like I said before, I think I've heard his name on these boards more than I've heard Faiz's.

(Also, yeah, boy, definitely some paragraphs up there that I decided I'd be better off skipping.)

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver (Post 763155)

Before you've heard it, how are you pronouncing "Kaixa"? Because I was getting it wrong for years before it cropped up on screen for me to notice.

Originally Posted by Kurona (Post 763156)

Personally I pronounce 'Kaixa' as 'Motherfucker'