Um, actually, I think you'll find it's spelled "jirenma."

If nothing else, it would mean that we'd have a couple episodes where Murakami tries to get Keitarou into Lucky Clover. That could be fun.

This is one of those images that makes it so much easier to see Knight's eyes and I hate it

Technically, since ma starts with a bilabial consonant, it's phonetically closer to "jiremma".

That would be hysterical! Murakami would have to lie so hard about their true intentions to convince Keitarou that Lucky Clover aren't the genocidal club he thinks they are.

I mean, this is a topic for the end of the series, but they are mining a lot of the same thematic territory!

It's an incredibly tough thing to balance, and I think these last two episodes did a good job of it. And, like the ways the hangout scene added more loss to Yuka's predicament, the humor provides a baseline that the tragedy can exploit. There's a great symbiosis right now between the two tones.

How dare you imply that there's an error in TV-Nihon's translation. I am offended to the very soles of my banana new shoes!

No offense to Yuka, but I think at this point Murakami is just getting desperate. If the show went on past episode 50 I feel like we'd see him start trying to track down Chaco for the fourth position.

The worst part is, "Dilemma" is just written in English in the lyrics...

Well, when it comes to dogs, Chaco is the best of the best. I'm not sure how that translates to killing humans (poorly? I'm going with poorly), but Murakami can probably work out a bribe with a briefcase full of treats or something. :lol

Sure, Keitaro's a bit inappropriate here (and you saying "a little too aggressive"... this is still far better than Kaido's hijinks to like, Mari, in fact some people only dislike that part of Kaido, but like every other part of him, because it's too creepy, not to mention Mari being 16 years old), I mean even for "keeps trying to butt in", Keitaro and Yuka iirc only interacted again IRL for now, Keitaro definitely isn't the part to consistently butting in to the point where it becomes unbearable. but I would like for Yuka to find another way, instead of acting like stereotypical snobby girl (I mean, girls can give hints to boys that she likes them without showing/uttering it openly, the opposite can be done, and probably it'd be even better if Yuka done it in an indirect way, indirectly hurting Keitaro too).

It makes sense, but you saying "great at running down people verbally" indicates to me that it's the asshole act being successful, not impotent, that it gives me a vibe that you like it that Kusaka's so successful of being an asshole that he's so charming in it to win over others with his acts. But I've understand now the funny part also partly due to it being ignored by others, though there are definitely assholes who are consistently the most successful in-universe, like Kitaoka who is the super lawyer, which would mean the asshole acts can't be impotent coming from someone so influental.

For all the talks about the art discussions and how opinion can't change, I sort of disagree with that, because of someone stated here, and your review here is also an example of changing opinions, based on what I judge from the previous episodes. Oof no, don't cement Kaido's decision as smart! Don't promote dick acts! It'd be benefical for sure, only for Kaido, and obviously the idea of smart to people like him is gaining advantage as much as you can. Yuji makes sense because what he advocate is justice for Orphnoch, which would mean it's meaningless to solely focus on Yuka, if he's on similar position, he would get the similar treatment as Yuka too, so he's the one that has to deal with this. Not to undermine that this is a good thing, but it doesn't have to be something like Yuka's story to have many interpretations. Anything can have many interpretations, but many of them can be clouded by many things like biases or lack of understandings. Like someone is established as selflessly heroic and saves/takes care of someone, particularly of the opposite gender. but people interprets (demonize) them as wanting to suck up to that person to get laid or something. This is apparent in shippers but not necessarily from them.

That's what Sawada wonders too, him the only one that becomes an Orphnoch. Also glad to see you still think about very suspicious way for Kusaka comforting Mari in this episode (it can be mistakenly thought as "Kusaka is actually good guy, look how he interacts with Mari here", nevermind I'm just stirring shit, Kusaka's infamous for good reason). And with Kusaka assuring Mari that the reaction makes sense, what's in him to avoid telling her and went apeshit to Takumi for making her know? (oh wait, probably nvm for the latter)

With Kusaka being in steadfast that all Orphnochs should be killed indiscriminately, we got another one that runs on that, which is Minami, but purely on antagonistic side, with him capturing Yuka and experimenting on the other Orphnochs, and deeming her life as worthless. Oh and also, leaving his workers on their fate when the Crab Orphnoch intervenes. Takumi defending Kusaka here is futile because that Orphnoch is killed while running away, and that Kusaka still succeeds in his objective here.

So Soeno types on the place that is used to be where Mari lives, for in-series?!

Well, not all horrible is expressed in the same way. Kusaka obviously runs in different way than Kitazaki. Kitazaki is a plain murderer who simply just wants to have fun, no convoluted schemes, just kill to get what he wants. Kusaka wants to have Mari and destroy Smart Brain, he operates by soap opera-ish scheming and manipulating, by that he would keep the people who would be useful to him around, that can be a trait of manipulative sociopaths to be two-faced and keep certain people around as long as they're useful to them but discard them when they're no longer such. Takumi is useful to him as another force to fight Orphnochs, and that's why he can keep him around and seemingly works outside. But obviously he's also a threat to Mari, another part of his goal, so he also schemes to give him and others like Yuji bad name. When their goal is completed, who knows what'll happen that they won't share any mutual goals anymore and him disposing others, but of course, we'll never get to see that. Also what's with you saying "goal to protect humanity"? You summed up there he's not of justice. He can kill Orphnoch and it can indirectly protect humanity but doesn't mean he has a goal to protect humanity. It's actually one of the opposites highlighted between Sento and (Takumi!) Katsuragi in Build, the former wants to protect and atone, while the latter only focused on destroying the enemy. Wanting to destroy something considered an enemy isn't necessarily a goal to protect humanity, and Kusaka is certainly that, even much worse. And you also get Minami here, who also operates on the same way, to exterminante Orphnoch based on racism.

Oh yeah, Crab, the one Ren witnesses killing Scissors, placing the blame on Volcancer to reassure that he hasn't killed yet. And beat the crap out of him before Shinji came.

Sure, that's fair. She definitely snaps at Keitaro here, but I'd argue that it's all heightened emotions with this group right now, where Yuka's desperation to get Kaido's approval/interest makes a little less considerate of Keitaro's feelings. No one's blameless in this one!

I mean, there's a real pragmatism to Kaido's actions. Yuka publicly attacked a squadron of cops, who are probably not just going to forget about it. Turning herself in would deescalate the situation for everyone. It'd help Kaido, for sure, but it'd also probably keep another squadron of cops from attacking Yuka. There can be other beneficiaries of his self-preservation!

They had a decade to rebuild it after the fire, I guess?

That was my mistake. I meant that they're aligned by their actions of protecting humanity, indirectly for Kusaka, despite having different goals. Minami isn't sympathetic like Kusaka though, we don't know his backstory or why he hates Orphenochs so much. Kusaka is wrong to hate all of them for the actions of Kitazaki alone but there's a foundation for him to feel that way. Furthermore, Minami is an unethical scientist, experimenting on them against their will, just like the Devil Scientist in Build although he was experimenting on his own kind and out of ruthlessness to save the world rather than hatred. Kusaka still wants to protect Mari though and he'll always put that above his desire to destroy the enemy, unless it means assisting Smart Brain. That's one of the lines he won't cross, another being that he won't kill a human even if he has Medium Contempt/Low Useful for them. He doesn't have many principles but he's not completely unfettered like that murderer Kitazaki.

Alright, I still need to write up Episode 43 (Sneak Preview: "OH MY GOD THIS PERFECT BEAUTIFUL SHOW"), but in the meantime I'm assigning homework. Please spend the next however-long-it-takes-until-I-post-next to marvel over this exquisite shot:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...amaoneshot.gif

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 43

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz43a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz43b.png

--1--

I'm not sure if I've brought this up before (I never remember what I talk about in these threads), but I love the central irony of this show. Faiz is a show where the core gimmick is cellphones, and it's about the impossibility of communicating with people. It's like making a show with a ton of doors where the main theme was about keeping people out. It's kind-of perfect.

But, I don't know, it's also more specific maybe than "the impossibility of communication”. It's about how we take these surface-level things like phone calls and emails, along with our prejudices and our biases and our failings and our hopes and our selfishness and our empathy, and we use that to define other people.

And it's also about how we can communicate without being honest, without being open. How we don't necessarily know what we want, so we don't know how to ask for it, to demand it.

There's a... I don't know, a weight to communication. As we have more technology, we have easier and easier ways of staying connected, of communicating, but we stop saying anything that matters. We talk and we listen but we don't share.

--2--

So much of this episode is about how hard it is for Yuka to communicate what she's going through, to feel safe, to feel free.

There's so much space to this episode, so much silence. It's a very introspective design, built to make a viewer focus on details. Everything in this episode is about what Yuka's not saying to her friends, so things like overlapping dialogue, quick edits, background music, it'd all be a distraction. Instead we get long takes, tense pauses, and a light soundtrack.

The dialogue scenes are great, especially the domestic moments with Mari, Keitaro, and Yuka. We get the full tragedy of Yuka's life in just a couple minutes. There's a hollowness to Yuka's life that she just can't fill. It's Takumi's dilemma, the lack of a dream, but answered with sorrow instead of frustration. She isn't angry about it, she despairs for it. She sees it all around her and longs for it. Something to hope for, something to become.

There's that scene near the end, and I feel like it's going to haunt me. It's Yuka staring at a red balloon, caught in a tree. She realizes she's the balloon. She's entangled, restrained. She wants to float away, to be weightless, and she's held in place by fear, by pain, by other people's cruelty. But working against her bonds, fighting to be free, it might be more painful than being held in place.

The idea of that, of someone acutely aware of their imprisonment and resigned to it, it's heartbreaking. It's the thing that makes Yuka's story feel so devastating, and so effective. Other characters on this show deal in self-deception, or wrestle with impossible choices. They're trying to establish who they are and what they want. Yuka knows how broken she is, how far her life is from what it should be. She feels it, now more than ever.

It's a portrait of someone who feels like freeing herself from pain could destroy her, and so she accepts suffering. It's beautiful in its misery.

--3--

The thing that makes Yuka so certain that she can't be happy, can't be accepted (there's that word again), is because she's an Orphnoch. She was tortured because she's an Orphnoch. She can't let Mari or Keitaro know she's an Orphnoch. Lucky Clover wants her because she's an Orphnoch. It's key to her identity, and it's her main impediment for happiness.

But, y'know, why? Why does it have to be?

We get a variety of characters in this episode talking about the inevitability of conflict between humans and Orphnochs. Kusaka talks about sides being drawn up. Minami talks about how anyone who doesn't see the threat of the Orphnochs is an enemy. Murakami talks about the natural antagonism of humanity and their inability to allow for cooperation.

Except, maybe none of that is necessary? Maybe Yuuji and Sawamura are right to ask why everyone seems so ready to fight, to destroy one another. There can be coexistence, as long as each side views the other as worthy of existence.

Which is maybe harder to do in practice than it is in theory. Yuuji remembers how hard he had to fight to save Yuka, how many police officers stood in the way of him rescuing a tortured friend. So when he sees Sawamura wounded, begging for help, he doesn't see another person who deserves to live. He sees an adversary, an obstacle, someone who hates him and his friends for no reason. He answers humanity's prejudice with more prejudice.

But then you get Yuka, despondent, adrift. She reached out to Lucky Clover to find some refuge from a world that hates and fears her, but they'd kill Keitaro if he tried to stand her way. She can't let that happen. She has to expose herself as an Orphnoch to save his life, dooming her to one more friend who'll turn his back on her, one more terrified look.

But he isn't scared. He sees her fear, her self-loathing, her sadness, and he reaches out. He holds her. Not to trap her, or to bring her down. To lift her up, to liberate her. To remind her that she is loved, and she deserves love.

To give her the safety to dream.

--4--

I don't want to make it sound like this whole episode was a grim meditation on one woman's tortured existence. (I mean, it was, but it wasn't just that.) It's also a pretty thrilling action-adventure episode, with some fantastic fight scenes.

The Yuka/Kageyama fight was exceptionally well done, with some dynamic camera moves. I already posted it, but that single shot where they switch out Kageyama for her Orphnoch form? Insane! That's all done in-camera! But it's also key to the storytelling, where the danger comes from how quickly these things can happen. It's not Kageyama showing off, declaring her actions. It's an example of how quickly and easily she could kill Keitaro, how important it is for Yuka to defend him.

The other clever choice in their fight is how little fight music it uses. It gives a weight to the fight, makes it seem more brutal. It isn't... it makes it feel like Yuka's struggle is never-ending, that her fights don't ever stop and start. It makes the combat grueling, eternal. Really smart move.

--5--

OH MY GOD THIS PERFECT BEAUTIFUL SHOW.

Another high point for the series, at least in how it worked for me. I generally don't care that much about world-ending plots or whatever, but centering the idea of whether two lifeforms can coexist peacefully on one sad, broken teenager? I could watch a million more hours of that. I don't know if I'd ever get tired of seeing this show peel back the layers of Yuka's character, at least when it's done this well.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz43c.png

Hey did you know this episode is directed by Hidenori Ishida? Is that my catchphrase now? I feel like I'm saying this a lot!

But yeah, this episode has him written all over it. While I was skimming through this one on the off chance of catching some translation errors, I couldn't help but notice the scene where a rift starts forming between Yuuji and Takumi very deliberately has each character saying their lines without the other in-frame. It's jarring, and in a technical sense, arguably "bad" direction, but by refusing to show them on-screen together past the establishing shot, it works wonders to emphasize a sense of distance between the two of them. It's the kind of crazy stuff I'd expect from a guy who lit like half a dozen cars on fire back in Kuuga's final episodes for only like a couple seconds of footage.

Oh, and speaking of errors:

I'm maybe a little extra picky when it comes to Yuka's dialogue specifically because it tends to be some of the show's most interesting. Fortunately, these errors don't seem to have prevented you from enjoying what I would agree is an exceptionally interesting late-game Faiz episode.

I mean, I sort-of figured it was. The beginning sequence, where the fight that Horsepower's having with the cops is mainly communicated by the shadows cast on a wounded Yuka... like, he basically signed his name.

Thanks for the confirmation!

You thought it was weird that Matsuda Satoshi voiced Crab since you typecast him as a Ren personality, but I think it's weirder that his role as Crab was immediately succeeded by Bat Cowboy!

That combination of motifs would later be used for a Rider:

https://ukiyaseed.weebly.com/uploads...32469_orig.jpg

Keitarou/Yuka is the most romantic subplot I've seen in the franchise! I love how the episode ends with Keitarou hugging Yuka, showing that he's not scared of her, that he likes her for who she is, not what she is. He shows her that she doesn't need to hide herself from him. Just like when he accepted the truth about Takumi, he knows that the kind and generous Yuka he loves is still the same person. They finally found out each other's identities and there's nothing stopping them from being together now. The love between a human and an Orphenoch is proof that these 2 species can co-exist peacefully and prosperously. It's a perfect time for this to happen when the war between both species is starting to escalate.

If only the Bat Cowboy Orphnoch had been voiced by Takeshi Kimura, doing a Western American accident, my head would've exploded.

Accepting people is pretty much Keitaro's superpower? I think that's why when he was scared of Takumi, it felt especially brutal. Keitaro cares for everyone. He wants the whole world to be happy! If that dude can't care about your comfort, things are in bad shape.

Anyway, yes, Keitaro and Yuka, it's an incredibly lovely scene. I love the small gesture of it, how he doesn't do a whole Yuka Is Yuka speech or whatever. He just stands there for a second, hugs her, holds her, and it's a cut to Open Your Eyes For The Next Faiz.

This episode was sad and solemn, but it made me so happy.

It definitely hurt seeing Keitarou's initial association between the Takkun he cares about and a monster to be feared. That's why his development was so important. His acceptance is a rarity in this world. If nobody else will care about them, then he needs to.

Epic speeches are Takumi's department. He doesn't want people to know he cares so he can't exactly show them. Speeches work for him, but Keitarou doesn't mind looking like a sap. He's genuine like that. Sometimes actions are more important than speeches. It's what Yuka needs right now. Yuka wants affection and Keitarou wants to solve people's problems. They're very compatible in that way.

I'm so invested in this ship!

Oh, for sure. It's just, Kamen Rider is a very Big Speeches type of franchise, so any time they go small instead of big I want to celebrate it.

So, this might not shock you, but I'm actually not into them as a couple? I'm still thinking of Yuka, first and foremost, as someone who needs to work on herself instead of having her fold her identity into that of Girlfriend.

Like, I think Keitaro is very sweet. But I like his sweetness more as someone who wants to help a friend, rather than someone looking for a romantic partner. And, I like Yuka's story being similar to Takumi's: someone doesn't really know what she wants, but is trying on a lot of different kinds of Yuka until she figures out who she really is.

I don't know. I can absolutely see how and why people would want these two to get together, but I'm more concerned about Yuka fixing Yuka, and Keitaro assisting that process.

And for some others, the one you talked about having problems with miscommunications and misunderstandings? This irony is the main reason, because this show's main motif are phones, but they are so underutilized that they have all these drama.

Because one of the show's theme song lyrics are "the dilemma won't end even if you keep running". Also there's the Takumi trait of her story about dreams, but the different answer is obvious because Yuka isn't a major asshole like Takumi (even if Kusaka is a monster, being hostile to him because of being jealous, before knowing him more is a common bully or similar kind of asshole's trait) but instead supporting them and wants to be like them. And this finally happens after you summarized her situation as a cage, but in this episode it's summarized as balloon instead. But one thing that I'll never ever understand, how did they only know their surname all this time, but didn't catch their full name? I actually would understand more if they don't know their names at all, but they call each other "Osada-san" or "Kikuchi-san", but never knew the "Yuka" or "Keitaro" part.

Why do you even consider about the words from horrible people like (both Kyoji and Kohei!) Murakami, and especially Minami? Those words are their foundation of them doing their villainy, and obviously you aren't meant to side with them, because even those with right goal but wrong methods aren't one to be sided either (although some people will ignore the methods and only see the end goal, and cementing them as similarly good as the pure heroes - but the end doesn't always justifaiz the means). Also for Yuji, where everyone seems ready to fight, it's not only trait in Orphnochs, but also in humans, as he has painfully experienced in his revival, especially in a dark world such as Faiz's. Also you talk about how the world hates and fears Yuka? I don't know if she has that as an Orphnoch, but she has been hated since she was human previously, in every environment, by her family and classmates (I can't call them her friends if they bully her), and I don't recall her utilizing her Orphnoch form except against those she deems as bad (and they're killed so she's still unknown) so I don't know about fear.

How's the choice is only for her to reveal herself to protect him. The only thing that would be better is to let Takumi witness this, because he constantly forces Keitaro and Mari to give up on Yuka and Yuji because they're Orphnochs, and never explained them even after Takumi warmed up to those 2.

Well you did at episode 15 (and I defended her too, by making it confused if it's truly bad or just the non-tolerant audience), but not anymore, but this also proved your sentence wrong that because this is art, opinions can't be changed. I wonder what will you say to other people regarding Faiz outside this thread because this is perfect beautiful show, scold and chastise them? Cementing them as having sh*t taste?

This is something that needs to be acknowledged more in fandom discussion. Don't demonize other's kindness acts as only done for their inner self-interest more because it's "more realistic", "more relatable", etc.

Superpower? (I'm onboard with you on this but...) This episode just yet again, portrays it as weakness, when Mari made fun of him for having that kind of wish/goal. There's also multiple times that goal is talked down upon by her, Takumi, or iirc Kusaka (lol this one is obvious) in the past. Also as always, obviously real life people also can see that trait as weakness in someone, like for this series, probably point up to the Mari/Sawada moment which gets her killed.

I think you’re going to love Kiva (when you get to it, of course)

I really hope so, Faiz and Kiva are two of the best Rider shows that people always spurn. Seeing how Die has connected with Faiz, I've got high hopes for Kiva.

And about Toshiki Inoue?

Yeah, when one of the big parts of the premise is These People Can't Communicate With Each Other, viewers who are frustrated by characters who don't communicate with each other are... they aren't going to have a great time with this show!

I can see it? I'm going to assume first names are as common in Japan as they are in America. (I mean, there was the whole story earlier about the two Masatos, right?) Even if Keitaro learned that Osada was Yuka Osada, he might not make the connection. I don't know. There are a lot of people in the world, is what I'm saying. For this reveal to work, a bunch of things had to line up. I liked it!

But that's what makes them interesting villains? That they've got points of view? I think it's more compelling when you can see a kernal of righteousness in there (protecting your people) that's been warped over time.

A billion cops tried to capture her over the last two episodes, and she's had multiple stories about people being terrified of Orphnochs. She's got problems beyond that, sure, but the show has definitely established that normal folks would be scared of Orphnochs.

(Also, "hated and feared" is an X-Men reference, since there's a whole bunch of X-Men similarities late in the show. Murakami is basically Magneto.)

I'm pretty sure I ended up liking that episode through writing about it. Thought I didn't after watching it, but after a few paragraphs I realized I really liked it.

When I talk about people's opinions about art not changing, I don't mean that people can't appreciate stuff they wrote off, or hate stuff they once loved. It's more that I don't think you can get others to change their minds about stuff. People's tastes evolve all the time! But I don't think someone's tastes can be changed by someone else. To wit:

Oh my god, never. I had a reaction to this show. Someone else is going to have a completely different reaction to this show, and I'd never want to take that away from them. If anything, I'd love to hear why it didn't work for them.

I mean, Keitaro gets teased for having an unrealistic goal, but I don't think the show portrays it as a weakness. Just because some characters don't appreciate his dream, it doesn't mean the show is condemning it. Mari's been shown to be someone who's fiercely loyal to her friends and family, while not really been too high-minded about saving others. There have been a few stories about Keitaro trying to help strangers that Mari had zero interest in. Of course she'd tease Keitaro about it!

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it! (I'm looking forward to everything.)

I recall you saying how you don't think Yuka is in the right place to have a relationship while discussing the benefits of her newfound friendship with Mari so it's not that surprising to me at this point. She did just get rejected again by Kaido so I can see how maybe you think she rebounded to Keitarou. I think it's different this time though. They both know the truth now. Since the start, it was Keitarou who supported her. Every successful romance has a foundation of friendship after all. That platonic friendship has been growing for a while so it makes sense that they would want to escalate their relationship now.

Wrong! There are two Kusakas but only one Masato. That misunderstanding only happened since Mari asked for "Kusaka" which refers to either Masato or Ichirou.

Sure, and I can see that. She just still feels too vulnerable for me to want to see her get anything but platonic support right now. I feel weirdly protective of Yuka's autonomy and identity!

Good point! Maybe that's why they took so long to reveal that Onada was Yuka, since there are, like, five family names in Japan but a billion first names?

Protecting her autonomy and identity is a good thing for sure. It's good that you want her to get that basic moral support which Keitarou gives her without too much commitment so it's totally fine if you're not ready to ship them yet, or ever. We want our favorite characters to earn their happiness and I think she's earned that now. Whether you prefer platonic or romantic, her relationship with Keitarou is the best thing to happen to her, better than leaving her old life behind, like her journey in the show was a transition all leading to this.

The two Kusakas are even spelled with the same kanji. Meta example: The two Murakamis, Kyoji and Kusaka's actor, Murakami Kohei, are also spelled with the same kanji. There's a surprising lack of variety of names in this show!

Oh, for sure. I'm much more ready now to see her in a place where she could be with someone else. And she could do worse than Keitaro! (Kaido, for example. He would be such a worse boyfriend.)

Weird! And thanks!

Which is the general consensus of the series for majority.

As already pointed out by Sh Ranger, it's 2 Kusakas not 2 Masatos. Also they already know there are people named Kusaka in Ryusei school, and she just latched on someone that responds when (randomly) called "Kusaka". But what I'm wondering is how Yuka and Keitaro got to know each other's names... and only just their surnames (I already explained, they know Kusaka's being in Ryusei school, and it made more sense to me than the Keitaro and Yuka part currently).

Sure, villains can make legit good points (or accurate observations) about the state of the world and humanity in general, but that doesn't mean that the solution is to follow the villains' philosophies and/or course of action. They're interesting that way but god help I don't want them to be considered righteous (especially not Minami wtf) simply only because of that observations, and ignoring everything they've done.

Like I said before, it's all part of Minami's schemes of xenophobic racism against Orphnochs (Kusaka but even worse). All of the fear is only caused by Minami. It's not publicly yet.

Well, currently I see appreciating stuff they wrote off and vice versa as opinion changing...

Because you should actually explain to them the real establishment of the series (like characters, etc.), who knows if this is just underrated and they got it wrong. Don't let the insights go waste. Just that be prepared because most of those are in the not working part, in contrast to this thread.

Well, no, I don't think I'd call them righteous now, but even Minami (for all I know of the guy) probably started from a place of wanting to keep people safe. The Minami story isn't a million miles away from the Houjou storyline from the middle of Agito, where you've got someone who's so convinced, they are so sure, their thoughts like oil, black and pure (whoops those are Superchunk lyrics), and they can't see this new lifeform as anything but a threat. I don't agree with that guy, but I think we've all seen people so afraid of the future that they'd risk destroying the present.

Maybe not public, but she's been in plenty of situations where she's been scared of people learning that she's an Orphnoch, and had to reaffirm her humanity.

Also, she doesn't know that the cops are following one guy. Team Orphnoch as a whole seems pretty scared that this is humanity as a whole that's marked them for death.

I mean, that's all just my opinion. It's great if folks find some value in it, or agree with it, but I'm no more "right" about Faiz than someone who hates it. I'm cool talking about it if people want to, in other threads, but I'm not going to swoop into any post where someone slags it off to say UM ACTUALLY. I'd rather let people have their own journey with Kamen Rider.

Something else I noticed, so many characters have names starting with K.

Kikuchi Keitarou
Kiba Yuji
Kaido Naoya
Kusaka Masato
Kusaka Ichirou
Kimura Saya
Kitazaki
Kageyama Saeko
Murakami Kyoji

This is where I mention that the two main characters of Gaim are Kouta Kazuraba and Kaito Kumon.

Hey, considering the currently airing Rider show is written by a guy named Yuuya Takahashi and stars a completely unrelated guy named Fumiya Takahashi (same kanji and everything!), I'd believe it. Coincidences happen!

Funny you should mention that, because I read somewhere that "Coincidences Happen!" was the poppy, "Anything Goes!"-style opening song for Faiz, until "Justifaiz" beat it out.

(I did not read that somewhere.)

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 44

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz44a.png

--1--

Oof.

Oooooooffffff.

Heavy episode, man. Some real joy, and some real darkness. One of my favorite characters gets an end to their story. One of my other favorite characters struggles with their core defect. Kaido abducts a child I guess?

It’s a big episode, for good and for ill, for Team Orphnoch.

--2--

Hey, let’s talk about Yuuji first.

Yuuji’s most heroic quality is his belief in people, both singular and plural. He has friends and family that he’ll fight for, but he’ll also protect total strangers from Orphnochs. Yuuji’s most fatal flaw is that he can’t handle being betrayed. When his compassion is taken advantage of, he’ll straight-up heart-murder someone.

So, you can imagine the conflict he feels when it seems like humanity as a whole has betrayed him. Everything he’s been doing for the last year has been to protect humanity, and now he feels like they’re manipulating him, betraying him. Does humanity deserve his help when they’re trying to kill him and his friends?

It’s tough to see Yuuji so pitiless, so enraged. (I mean, it’s fun to watch. There’s a really fun almost-single-shot dialogue scene with Takumi and Yuuji in a car that’s a little showy, but still impressive. The way the camera starts on Yuuji’s side and then rotates around the front of the car to end on Takumi answering his phone? Definitely working hard to make that scene pop!) He’s long been the most empathetic, most measured of all the Orphnochs. To see him decide that Orphnoch safety isn’t worth jeopardizing anymore… huge development.

The episode doesn’t really get much of a chance to interrogate it, beyond a few characters being unnerved by Yuuji’s new attitude. With Yuuji’s tentative hope that things could improve being assaulted by a ton of snipers, I’m guessing we’ll get to spend a little more time with Angry Yuuji.

--3--

Hey, let’s talk about Kaido next.

I’m having a little bit of a tough time seeing where all of this Kaido/Teruo stuff is heading. I like what’s been in here, but it’s definitely the most Wait And See plot on this show right now.

I feel like there’s a side to Kaido that just hasn’t been explained yet. Because what I know about him… I don’t know if it’s at all clear why he’s so invested in this bullied kid. At first, it seemed like it was out of guilt, and maybe it still is, but I really hope there’s more to it? I’m excited to get to a point where Kaido explains to someone why he’s so worried about this traumatized kid that he’d skulk around outside his school and abduct him.

Visually it… man, it don’t play real great! “Problematic” would be an understatement. I know this kid’s been bullied, but this is a grown man taking him away from his (like it or not) home, without informing anyone who’s responsible for him. This is a pretty big deal, and it needs a really good explanation in the next episode.

--4--

Hey, let’s talk about Yuka.

I mean, it felt like she wasn’t going to make it out of this one. She was so happy. Everything was working out. Dramatically, it all felt like One Last Good Day. And, like, she’s got a date with Keitaro planned? Jesus, was it also her last day before retirement?

But it was still a lovely episode for Yuka. She got to have some affection from someone. She spent some time fretting over whether or not she’d ruin Keitaro, before Mari told her to choose happiness instead of misery. And she died like she lived: with someone telling her to just drop dead already.

That Kageyama scene! I keep rolling it around in my head. Of all of the last people to see Yuka alive, they made it Kageyama. And she tells Yuka to die, here and now.

There’s a clear disappointment to it. Kageyama hoped for so much more from Yuka. Every other young Orphnoch, all of the pretty boys, she’d treat them sweetly, nurture them. With Yuka, she was stern, imperious. She knew that Yuka held back, and it insulted her. She tried to tell her that caring for humanity would get her killed, and it did. So she sees Yuka there, wounded, unable to summon the Orphnoch form that could save her life. And she just watches Yuka.

But she changes into an Orphnoch beforehand, and I feel like I know why.

I think it’s breaking her heart.

I think she saw something in Yuka that she didn’t see in any of those others. She wanted her to succeed in a way she didn’t for any of those others. And this is the end of Yuka’s story. She’ll never be anything more than she already was. She’ll never be the person that Kageyama hoped for, and it’s shameful. It’s a loss for all Orphnochs.

I think she’s crying.

But, y’know, Yuka isn’t. She’s been through so much, suffered so often, rarely felt accepted. But right at the end, at the very end, she got to live her dream. She was accepted by someone, and she knew she deserved that acceptance. It didn’t last, but dreams rarely do.

--5--

Poor Yuka. And, man, poor Keitaro. All-star episode for that guy. (I made a joke about him not making a “Yuka is Yuka” speech last time, which he then trots out in his scene with Takumi. Inoue’s got a catchphrase! I’m excited to find out who on Kiva gets to have a tautological affirmation of their innate goodness.) He’s so in the zone on this one that Takumi, Takumi, is overjoyed. Keitaro’s a character that could’ve been a one-note punching bag, but he ended up being a series highlight. I wish things would’ve worked out better for him and Yuka. They earned a happier ending.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz44b.png

Yeah, this is one I was really curious to hear your thoughts on. It's a real gut punch of an episode.

It's interesting how you interpreted Kageyama transforming beside the injured Yuka. I think the general reading is that she didn't watch the injured Yuka die, she actively delivered the killing blow (albeit one that left her enough time to type a lengthy goodbye message on an early 2000s cell phone number pad).

Wow, that honestly didn't occur to me? I think Kageyama sees what happened to Yuka as a tragedy, not as something she should punish. I think her cutting remarks are her trying to regain emotional control, her putting up a facade. And when that fails, it's only her Orphnoch form that can protect her emotionally.

They've done so much with Kageyama as a mentor figure in this show, and it'd be a bummer to me if she murdered (or finished off) Yuka.

Still, this is all just how I processed it.

Oh this episode man do I have a few comments about this one. Let's start off with the peak comedy of both Keitaro and Mari receiving concussions this episode, Keitaro from Takumi roughhousing with him after proclaiming how he's so cool and awesome ...... and Mari from falling up the stairs in a perfect gif moment.

Regarding Kageyama killing Yuka I think the reason that's more acceptable is for how it makes everything that's going to happen from here on out all the more tragic.

And I want to go back to my comment about Kiba using his left hand in his henshin pose as Faiz how if you know the older connotations about left handed people and how it tends to be used in media paints the idea that something is off and just wrong. As Kiba is someone who in another Rider series would be the main character excluding his two murders but he's been at best an incredibly heroic and just anti-hero as I feel Takumi's comment about how they're fighting in an attempt to deny what they truly are has merit for Kiba. He's someone who after resurrecting as an Orphnoch experienced first hand how scummy people can be and killed his ex-girlfriend and cousin for betraying him and being assholes about it. and his steadfast refusal on killing other people was due to wanting to repress those memories and pretend that it never happened. With that being why he's claimed a few times that he's a human first and foremost *providing I'm remembering correctly).

The Mari thing is great for how absolutely out-of-nowhere it is. It feels like improv, rather than anything on the page.

Which, sure? I don't have the context to say how/if it fits into the final act, but I like Kageyama being saddened by Yuka's death. I think there's a tragedy to Kageyama losing out on that mentor role, to see a life that held so much potential be squandered thanks to humans.

Sure, I can definitely see some of that. Yuuji's a guy who has a real violent dark-side, and that don't come out of nowhere.

I'm not sure I see a lot of repression in him, though? There's atonement, maybe, when it comes to him trying to deal with the lives he's taken. But he seems to be the least interested, of Team Orphnoch, in pretending he isn't an Orphnoch. His thing is about trying to show that Orphnochs are just another type of humanity, which is maybe why he claims to be a human so much. Like, I don't think he's ashamed of being an Orphnoch, or hiding from it, but I think he views Orphnochs as part of humanity.

I don't think he's ashamed of being an Orphnoch (what with him objecting taking offense that they need to be made "human" again to be accepted) and more afraid of that darkness in him that he might associate with his Orphnoch side what with both coming to light at the same time in the narrative and that's what he's trying to repress and deny due to it running counter to his true nature. That no matter what he does or says that dark side of him is the correct choice and the sole truth of living as an Orphnoch, that he has to give up his compassion in order to survive. The fact that all of his fears are being played on by this betrayal by Humanity as a whole is tearing him apart and without knowing the truth of Yuka's story in this episode that the guy she likes now is Keitaro the only guy nicer than him.

I like your interpretation on the last scene between Yuka and Kageyama and will choose to see it only that way now, because if she did just finish Yuka off, it unneccesarily muddies the whole thing about humans being the ones hunting Orphnochs.

Angry Yuuji? Hahaha... no you'll see more than just that. But yeah now, the last arc has been dealing with humans as the real monsters, to show that morality isn't dependent on what species you are (has been shown on other Rider series too), other than Kusaka previously (who commits all his cruelty in the name self-entitlement, pettiness, and spite), there's Minami right now, who represents the absolute worst of humanity, far more monstrous and cruel than any of the Orphnochs in the series. Also with Yuji witnessing more cruelty committed by humans and decided if they are probably not worth saving, his species is no different either, there are a bunch of MOTW who just attacks people, and those that he already killed too, directly or indirectly. Yuji's probably being irrational here, and probably just drives home that he's dysfunctional inside. The point is any species have good and bad sides of them.

So is it confirmed that Kaido is a tsundere to Teruo?

What I read in other infos, are that Kageyama killed Yuka. But with the scene actually played out probably it's made more ambiguous. Like others said, Kageyama just watching Yuka died is meant to serve a point where humans (Minami) can be the cruel one. But as the episode played out, it also emphasized the part where Yuka can't henshin (yeah she's not a Rider but that's what she said!), which would serve a point where Yuka cannot defend himself by becoming an Orphnoch from Kageyama's attacks and forced to take it on human form, easier to die. Also the part where Keitaro and Yuka are still sending emails (the one time where phones are used for "unecessary" things) as if it's status quo... they're wasting cellphone credits! (well probably not for Yuka as she's dying). Either way, the vengeance will be coming to the one actually deserved it more next.

Now into them as couple now? Keitaro and Yuka are star-crossed lovers (also Yuji want to drive them apart this time). Also Takumi was hurting Keitaro like he's an enemy by tackling him to a nearby tree.

I sense the "compassion is weakness" mentality here... and I don't like it. good for them to have some level of moral and/or professional constraint. If we throw away compassion and all other forms of restraint, we'd easily end up unhinged and trigger-happy at just about anyone, and that is definitely not good for others. The truly strong, gritty, resilient characters aren't those who abandon the things that tie them down, but rather those who nevertheless continue to shoulder on those things and move on towards the future, and eventually making new grounds and unlocking more of their potential. There's also a fictional example where the "emotionless, hide one's intentions and vulnerabilities", "cool", no-restraint anti-heroic approach may be less effective than the "expressive, display and admit one's vulnerabilities", "soft", compassionate heroic approach in solving problems like Itachi from Naruto. Also Minami here is solely to show the rare absolute worst humanity can offer, proved himself to be far more evil than many Orphnochs, so don't treat him as guideline for humanity, or justifaiz his actions and instead pinning the advice to Kiba.